October 20, 2013

Dear Sucu (isn't interesting, I have been on Kosrae for almost a year
and I haven't used that word for "Family" once),

Happy Birthday, Dad.

We were able to watch conference yesterday and Saturday. It was
absolutely wonderful. Nobody was told about it until Wednesday, and
then locations got changed late Friday afternoon, so we were pretty
durned busy running around trying to get people informed. In regards
to people that we are working with, it was a little disappointing.
Nobody made it except for an ancient less-active man. But, I think
that the effects of the conference on him are longer-reaching than any
of us realize.
The Sunday sessions were available in English from an internet
connection in the chapel. I started watching it there, but the
connection kept getting worse and worse, so I ended up going in to the
other room and watching it in Kosraean. It was much more enjoyable
there.

As for the group in Malem, we are still working as hard as we can for
it. We now have President Mecham on-board, and have the full support
and approval of the District Presidency. We are now working with the
Utwe Branch Presidency. Edward is doing well, but is still kind of
struggling with a slight "I'm less-active because I'm less-active"
mentality. A few more times at church and finally receiving the
Priesthood should help him out.

We are working with Barry right now. He has been to church at least
ten times in the past, and is finally kicking his drinking and smoking
habits. He hasn't drank in over two weeks, and has cut down to one
cigarette a day. We are hoping to get him to the point where he could
be baptized next week. His kids are some of the greatest things ever
to happen to Kosrae, and I am planning on getting them all to baptism.
Wonderful family.

I went on an exchange last week down to Utwe, where I had a pretty
unique experience:
We had just finished watching the Restoration movie with Tomik Tomik.
During the movie, a small pig--maybe about six inches tall--started
running around. Now I'm not necessarily a pig-lover, but I do have to
say that it was pretty cute. It was affectionate, let's put it at
that. Anyway, it ran inside the house while I was bearing testimony.
As soon as I said the words, "By the power of the Holy Ghost, I know
that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God," the pig flew screaming
head-first out the door into the middle of our discussion. The
dynamics of that particular lesson changed quite dramatically after
that. Oh well.

As for package items, I am still doing well on white shirts and
garments. I will have to think about it.

Things are going really well. I am healthy and happy, and the
circumstances here are changing. What a wonderful time to be here. I
love you all very much.

Love,

Elder Gerber

October 6, 2013

Dear Family,

We have been slowly eating the stuff from the last package you sent.
We just finished the brownies today. It has been heavenly.

We are all looking forward to being able to watch Conference hear in
two weeks. It feels like we just watched the April Conference. What a
great thing to be able to have conference twice a year.

Nothing has really changed too much over the last week. Pat is
experiencing some pretty powerful negative pressure from his mom, but
is still doing pretty good. Edward is doing well. He is getting
excited about a group here in Malem. He wants to start a choir as
well, which is something that I have been tossing around for a while.
As soon as the locals get on board with things, they get done. We are
still working with the District President to try and get the
groundwork laid for the group. All of our leaders on the island right
now are converts of 5 years or less, so they are still pretty hesitant
about how to do things. They are incredible examples of how much the
gospel can affect people. It takes people who are at dead ends in
they're lives to being dynamite citizens in the community. I am
constantly awed by these men and their wives as they exercise they're
faith.

I ran over two dogs last week....

We are now working with Ishmael. He is the brother of a really active
member. He is really nice to us, really
likes us to go meet with him, really adamant about his baptism being
enough. We met with him a few days ago, and it was one of those
lessons where you know that the Spirit is the one teaching. I cannot
believe that the Spirit wastes his own time. I really strongly believe
that Ishmael is on his way to baptism and full activity.

...it was a little traumatizing...

Elder Blackwell and I have been really trying hard to find new people
to teach. My philosophy for this area is that I would rather have 1000
failures and 10 successes, than 100 failures and 1 success. So, we are
trying as hard as we can to teach everybody. We have had some
interesting exchanges with some good people. I know that there are
ready people in this area. And sometimes, they are hidden up in the
mountain roads or hidden in plain sight. It would be a wonderful help
if you could ask Heavenly Father in your prayers to help us find
people.

...at least I only killed one of them...

We are teaching a lay minister right now, Lipton (if you thought of
tea or soup, so did I). He is probably on the list of Top 5 Nicest
People on Kosrae. What a wonderful opportunity to teach him. Actually,
our contact with him was orchestrated by God: My first day in this
area, we went to contact Lipton as a referral. We parked at his house,
and I was inspired to lock the keys in the car while it was still
running (yeah, we'll go with "inspired"). He came out and started
looking at us kind of suspiciously, and then finally came over. We
explained the situation and he immediately started trying to help us
break into our own car. Finally, thanks to some ingenuity and some
bamboo, we got in and were able to get the keys. And, we made pretty
fast friends with this man, who agreed to let us come back and teach
him. Great person.

...I have discovered that I don't want to go into the meat grinding business...

It doesn't feel like my birthday, but it is starting to feel a lot
like Christmas. It has been Christmas for the last four months now. If
possible, when you send the memory card, could you put some Christmas
music on it? Thanks.

I love you all very very much and look forward to hearing from you each week.

Love,

Elder Gerber

September 29, 2013

Dear Family,

So right off, I laughed really, really hard when you asked about Elder
Blackwell. He is pretty sarcastic and pretty dang funny. He just
doesn't smile a whole lot. Kosraeans will comment on it sometimes, and
he is getting a little self-conscious about it. Needless to say, I
read that question to him:)

We just finished those cookies you sent, and they were absolutely delicious.

Pat (sorry, Dad, but it's pronounced "Bat." Actually, his real name is
Palikkuhn, but goes by Pat) got baptized Saturday. It was a really
nice service, and the river he chose was beautiful. He is a really
special kid, and is doing really well. His mom is still pretty
antagonistic, but allowed it to happen. He has a lot of faith. It is
really different teaching him because he was raised in America for his
whole life. His conversion is a miracle. There hasn't been a baptism
in this area for almost a year. He should be getting the priesthood
next Sunday.

We are also working with Edward. He moved to the States as a teenager,
and ended up in Utah for about 20 years. He actually lived in Layton
for most of those. I asked him where in Layton, and he described a
spot that I drove the work truck past for about 2 years. Actually, he
lives in Rolling Hills Estates, which is really why I noticed it in
the first place. Ridiculously small world. He was baptized in Utah,
but was never really active. Then he got deported, and I am convinced
that he was a literal God-send to the area. He has a knowledge of how
the church is run, and has a really good testimony. We are looking at
him as the potential group leader. Good fun.

So Bishop Page sent me a copy of the ward newsletter. As I was reading
Haden's letter, Elder Vesikula looked over my shoulder and asked if he
could read it. Later, he told me that he almost cried he was so happy
about Haden's successes in Fiji. He is from Suva, but knows the other
islands pretty well, and said that that particular island was kind of
a tough area. I thought it might be nice if the next time you see the
Heath's, you could let them know that their son made at least one very
big Fijian very happy.

I am very happy and excited. Walls are breaking down, and things are
happening. Thank you so much for the prayers and sacrifices--they
really make an invaluable contribution.

Also, it seems like Elder Richards should be home about now. If that
is true, I am really blown away at how fast time is going.

I love you all very much.

Love,

Elder Gerber

PS--I especially enjoyed the comics Owen and Andy sent last week. I
hope you two know that you are the best. No other missionary I know of
has brothers that write them, let alone write every week. I always
look forward to hearing about what is going on in your lives. I pray
for you guys a lot, mostly just in my gratitude prayers.