March 25, 2013

dear family:)

i had to chuckle a little bit about the barbecue. here, whenever we hear about a barbecue, it usually is some chicken and a freshly killed pig. when i first heard about a barbecue here, i immediately thought about hamburgers and hotdogs; and i think that when i get home, if somebody mentions a barbecue, i will think chicken and pig.

i think i understand what you're talking about, mom. i think our spirit is very connected to our physical body, and when we exercise our spirit a lot (like trying so hard to help the people you are teaching understand and feel the spirit), our body gets physically tired. i am still trying to figure out the implications of this discovery, but so far thats about it;)

hiroshi did not make it to baptism last saturday. however, Pres. Mecham called me last week and talked to me about him. he told me to not keep postponing a baptismal date every time that Hiro backs out or doesn't prepare. he doesn't want hiro to become accustomed to backing out of baptism. we were trying extremely hard to help in any way we could last week--prayers, fasting, even a priesthood blessing; and right now, the only thing left that we can really do is not give up and rely on God and his Spirit.

real quick, i want to let you all know how much you mean to me. i bear testimony of you guys all the time. you are all being wonderful missionaries to these people by mere example (did i say mere? reminds me of the book, "Mere Christianity")

to owen and andy:
you two are my favorite. i just got another letter with notes from you two in it. you are both very special people, and not just to me. i want you both to think for a second about your talents--who can play the trumpet, almost be a black belt, still work hard in school, and be an active member of the Church? who can play the violin, sax, piano, take karate, and be an active member of the Church? and still have time to play? your lives are NOT ordinary, nor will they ever be. you are both living very blessed lives; due in part to Mom and Dad's righteousness, but also due in a very large part to your own. i praise you two for your goodness.

thank you for your prayers in behalf of our investigators. i saw differences after you started praying for them by name.

i finished the Book of Mormon challenge yesterday. i have marked every reference to the Atonement, the Gospel, the Plan of Salvation, the Holy Ghost, and the gathering of Israel. i was very pleased with the result, and now have plans to do as Elder Bednar(?) suggested: that we mark copies of the Book of Mormon by different topics, and end up with an entire library of them. The one i just finished is surprisingly precious to me, and i am a little hesitant to give it out to just anyone. i am excited for my future readings, though:)

today is the first day of the new transfer, and we find out the changes on wednesday. i am pretty sure that my time in lelu is limited, and am a little reluctant to leave these people. i don't know if i have explained this already, but even though kosrae is the smallest island in the FSM, there are three main different dialects and cultures. they aren't big differences, but they are noticable. for example, lelu to tahfunsahk is kind of poor, and very friendly and open to missionaries. they speak the fastest and hardest to understand kosraean. Malem is where the younger adults live and are known for being "shy" (this really just means that they stay in bed during the day and go out at night to get drunk). if there were a "south" of kosrae, that would describe how they talk--maybe not as hard to understand, though. Utwe is known for "nikkihn fessin," which translates directly to "don't know the culture." utwe has a lot of people who aren't very polite, but aren't necessarily rude, either. they speak slowly, but in a similar manner to people from lelu. i was amazed at the differences between these groups of people when they live so close to each other.

so i need to ask a favor: jared sent me a letter through jackson while he was still in the mtc, and i need his address in honduras. if you could also send me dates of arrival to the mtc for the people that im pretty close to so i could get them a letter, that would be great too. thanks:)

bro. smith asked me about a temple. the situation is that the temple that is the easiest to get to from here is the manilla temple. there is a temple trip about once a year, and we are sent temple clothes from headquarters. tell him thanks for thinking about us.

i love you all very much, and wish both kennedy and jesse very happy birthdays.

love,
Elder Gerber