December 15, 2014

Dear Family,

I am so proud of you for getting Brother Gimli's autograph. Ridiculously cool.

It's been an interesting week. One of the biggest piece of news is
that the last portion of the Book of Mormon has come for doctrinal
review. That should take about three weeks, and then it's back off to
Salt Lake for printing. We are expecting it to arrive around or a
little before June. Even if I'm not on Kosrae at that time, I will get
a copy and use it.

As for Ninac Esmina, she is doing very well. She just told her pastor
that she won't be teaching Sunday School next year, and that she won't
be going to the Protestant church any more because she is "joining the
Mormons." Durn it, I like her.

Also, we received a few boxes of eyeglasses last week to distribute.
They have literally opened doors for us that have been closed for a
long time. Also, there are few better ways to get into gospel
discussions than talking about sight. We had a very powerful lesson
with an older ninac. We had tried seeing her before, but she told us
to leave. We went to try somebody who lives in the same house, and she
started yelling from within the bowels of the building. We called back
and after a few questions, asked if she wanted some glasses. We ran
out to where we had parked and when we came back, she was sitting down
in the doorway. So we helped her for a few minutes try and find a pair
that was right for her. And then taught her about just how much God
loves her. It was a lesson where you saw immediate results, and she
now wants us to come back.

As for the group, it is still in the works. The land looks fine--with
a few hours of work it'll be perfect--but we are still scrounging for
a group leader. Actually, a potential group leader we had been talking
about just tried to get married. The wedding party was in full swing
(weddings are about as big of affairs here as they are in the States)
and they were about to have the ceremony when they realized the pastor
hadn't shown up. Turns out, he refused to marry them because our
member still happened to be married to somebody in the States. So we
kind of crossed him off the list of eligible candidates for right now.

We have received permission from Pres. Mecham to use a member's laptop
to skype for Christmas this year. The member is going to create a
skype account for us. So, all I need is to get the skype accounts that
you will be using, and I will add you when it is my turn to call. The
time slot that I have reserved is Christmas day (Christmas Eve for
you) at 7:00 am to 8:00 am (as far as we can figure, that comes out to
be 2:00 pm for you guys, but you might want to double check. Something
about daylight savings getting in the way of everything...). I am sure
excited to see you all. If you have any questions, we do have a Monday
left that I can answer in an email.

Owen and Andy: Good luck on your concerts. You guys are super duper
cool. I always tell the other elders here about just how great you two
are. I love you both and you might want to keep your eyes on the mail
next month.

I love you all very much. I am doing well and am happy and healthy.

Love,

Elder Gerber