March 18, 2013

dear family:)

im very happy that you were able to see the pictures from the Mechams. they did take a picture with Hiroshi and his family, so im pretty sure you saw them. they are really doing well. we had an incredible lesson with Hiro last saturday, and we found out a lot of stuff about opposition from his family. when we got there, he was very unhappy to see us. we had never seen that with him before, and we were a little worried. and then the Spirit stepped in and changed him. i saw him change in a matter of 45 minutes. we gave him another baptismal date for this coming saturday. his family will follow him into the church and are very excited to become members. however, they want him to go first. kosrae is very patriarchial based and usually whatever the father says goes; but this family has built their faith together and are ready to be baptized together. i am extremely happy for them. thank you for your prayers on his behalf. they worked.

anyway, about your question on tempora--im not sure about vegetables, but i think it is a japanese word. here, it's mashed bananas, flour, sugar, water, and a little cinnamon all mixed up together like a thick pancake mix and then fried in oil. it's so easy even a missionary can do it.

something kind of hard that we've been running into here, is that the gospel blesses people. haha let me explain: when people have been living the gospel, Heavenly Father is bound to bless them in all things. so, they start to become wealthy and get enough money to leave the island. so we keep having really strong members leaving the island to go to places with opportunities. im torn between my happiness for them, and my desire for them to stay here to strengthen the rest of the people. most people here don't want to stay, but they can't leave because of how expensive it is.

i also want the people to know who sent me letters or packages in the last couple of weeks that i received them, but had lost my folder where i kept recently received mail and letters i am in the process of writing and just barely found it again. so, i have been writing letters today, and was able to send a couple of them off. thank you so much and know that you will probably receive a note from me in a little while. i got both gma's and the hansen's packages. they were both wonderfully timed, and we have been enjoying them thoroughly:):)

one of our investigators, Lapus, was laid off at work recently and has been trying very hard to get food for his family without an income. so, elder conejero and i have been trying very hard to catch fish for him as a service; but so far, we haven't been able to bring him anything. he is starting a farm, though, and i hope we'll be able to help him more with that. we are going there tomorrow to help them clear the land.

in my last letter home, i mentioned Justus. we talked with his grandfather yesterday (who happens to be a deacon for the protestant church) and he told us that he absolutely forbids him to be baptized. but he still really likes us and wants us to teach justus. we found out that he was furious when karson, justus's cousin, was baptized and almost kicked him out (both justus's and karson's father doesn't live on kosrae, so they live with him. Also, extended families almost always live together). he told us that if justus gets baptized, he will kick him out of the house. it was one of the most odd experiences i've had yet: he's the nicest guy who loves to talk with us and does so many good things, and then told us if his grandson got baptized he would disown him. he told us the reason is the gossip of the protestant congregation; he doesn't want them to talk badly about him. so, i would ask for your prayers on their behalf. i know that they work.

i still love the farsides:) i just got one of your letters today and the farsides were particularly humorous. thanks for the notes owen and andy. and i got the quote buddy;)

im always happy to hear about what is going on in your lives, and i am so happy that things are going well. i love you all a lot:)

oh i dont know if i've mentioned already, but there are a LOT of frogs and crabs on the island. during a full moon, the crabs all go sit on the road together. hundreds of them will just be sitting on the road, and since they really just look like big bugs, i dont feel bad at all when we run over them.

my tongan companions back in the mtc taught me some tongan humor that whenever someone makes a not-so-funny joke, they all say "dry." the frogs here are pretty goofy, and i can see them saying "pwacr. pwacr" which, being interpreted, means "happy. funny." so, i have been mixing the two and whenever someone makes a joke, i just kind of croak out a "pwacr." i do want to make mention that a frog is probably the dumbest animal i have ever come in contact with. they will jump head first against a wall over and over and over again to try to get away from you. haha i say that but then there's probably a gospel related metaphor in there somewhere;)

im very happy and healthy, and things are going very well. i love you all very much:)

love,
Elder Gerber