We are doing well, hanging in there. Sometimes we look at each other and laugh
because of where the Lord has sent us. I
will try to explain that a little, bear with me. When we decided to go on a mission we talked
about where we would want to go. Elder
Tiffany said somewhere tropical, I said somewhere we could learn and experience
a new culture. So we put in our papers
and requested New Zealand, but the next sentence read: Or wherever the Lord needs us. Well we all know now he chose to send us to
Chuuk, Micronesia islands. It is tropical here and it is a learning experience
with an entire new culture to learn. “I
think maybe he nailed it”. I know without
a doubt he knows us, he is with us and knows what we need. Even if we don’t understand sometimes, Chuuk
is not somewhere we would have picked for ourselves. Like I said before it is
very third world. We live from container
to container here. Always hoping good
food will arrive.
We live in a hotel now called, “Truk stop” where we meet a
lot of different people. From all walks of
life, they vary from Government people, US and from around the world people, to
the humanitarian efforts, to conservation efforts, to the tourist here diving
the wrecks in the lagoon. First let me tell you about our move to Truk stop,
we used to live on the other side of the island call “Iras”. Our apartment was across the street from a
mining area. They are putting in new
roads here on the island and they use the rock from that mine. Needless to say it’s very noisy and dusty
(when we don’t get rain) muddy (when it rains).
We lived next door to the Public defender’s office, so we had a lot of
criminals trying to walk into our apartment daily. To simplify about the place, it was not good. Although we did like the people in that area
and made some friends. Well in April we
got the opportunity to move to the other side. Yea! It is in the main downtown
area (if we had something like that).
Trukstop has 24 hour security, it is cleaner, the view is amazing and
they do my laundry. Yippee! Yes I am super excited about that. I do not like laundry at home; here I have
had to use a laundry mat. Yuck! So that is priceless to me. I know what you’re thinking SPOILED… Well yes
I am and thank you very much.
Chuuk is known to be the islands of tough/mean guys. The history books tell stories about
tough/mean people of the past and the reputation has not changed after many
years. We were told if anyone messes
with us just tell them you live in Chuuk.
Just about every person that comes here can’t believe they would send senior
couples here. In Chuuk’s defense we feel
safe and loved here. In D&C 12:8 it reads “And no one can assist in the work except he shall be humble and full
of love, having faith, hope, and charity, being temperate in all things,
whatsoever shall be entrusted to his care”. The people here treat us good because we are
missionaries. They respect us because we pay our own way and leave our family
to come help them. They also respect
older people and to top it off we are white.
Not to mention that we are just dang fun people to have around…
What is great is how small the world is when you have the
gospel in your life. We have taken our
visitors to church with us, had them over for dinner. Sometimes it feels like we are bridge
builders to the outside world to give Chuuk a better reputation. Each day is a new
adventure; we take it in stride because we know we are on the Lords
errand. We feel him watching over us all
the time, as well as our young Elders.
We all have the Promise in DC 130:21 that reads “And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that
law upon which it is predicated.” Well our daily life is all about drawing down
the powers of heaven so we can teach with the spirit. We don’t have to know everything nor do we
need to, because the spirit already knows.
We don’t have to speak the language perfect because the spirit teaches
spirit to spirit. Elder Tiffany and I
rely much on the promises made in to us in the scriptures because we are tested
here daily. We are very thankful that we have the opportunity
to serve here in Chuuk.
What do we do? Well, we are in charge of a few different
things first off, we teach English once a week.
A lot of the people understand English here but don’t really know how to
speak the language. Next we do member
locating with a Gps unit to map out where they live. (they don’t have addresses) When doing Gps we
take the Elders and the Branch President with us. That gives them both an opportunity to
magnify their calling. A lot of families
here are part family members, so when we make the contact they can set up
appointments to teach, the Branch President can invite them to church and also see
how they are doing. It has been very
successful. For sure this work is
inspired from the Lord. Senior
Missionaries are doing Gps work all over the world now. One branch we finished working in, at the
first of the year hasn’t had missionaries in the area for many years. They now have missionaries there. They are
baptizing upwards to 9 people a month. The
branch has double in people attending church and continues to grow. It is exciting J
. Today we just finished Gps on a Branch
on the outer islands. We found a member that
had been lost; he was pretty excited about us finding him. (This has happened
many times) Another family we met is going to start lessons with the
missionaries. They thought it was
wonderful that we would come to find our members and see how they are
doing.
The truth and many of our Father’s children are beginning to
observe the effect of divine authority in this church. As President George Albert Smith said; If we were like other denominations, we
might seek the Lord and receive his blessings, because every man that does good
in this world receives a blessing; we might have all the cardinal virtues and
make them our own, but without the power of God and the authority of the Holy Priesthood
it is not possible for men to attain to the celestial kingdom. The only plan that will prepare men for the
Celestial kingdom is the plan that has been given by Jesus Christ, our Lord;
and the only authority that will qualify men to teach and to officiate in the ordinances
of the Gospel properly is the authority of Jesus Christ our Lord.
We have been teaching temple prep classes once a week, and have
been getting the computers, printers and internet working at the District
Branch so we can begin Family History Classes.
We are on island so that means everything takes a long time to get
started. The people in Guam that are in
charge of the things we need and have to come to our island (600 miles away)
and install what we need. They keep them
busy they have to take care of all the islands and they have a large mission
area to cover.
Sometimes when you are waiting or want things to be ready,
it can become frustrating, we have learned to roll with it. Everything always works out when it is
time. Our Mission President is an
attorney out of SLC it drives him crazy, it’s funny how the Lord test us. He is very entertaining when he visits us. He is such an organized, perfectionist would
like things to start on time etc., and well it’s just not that way in
Micronesia. (Elder T. feels like
President but he lives in Chuuk so he has learned faster)
Serving sometimes means we don’t get out much and have to
spend some quality time hanging out. (that is another test) We cope as well as
we can by reading and watching a few DVD’s. We also try to feed the Elders now
and then so they will get a feel for what it’s like to be at home. And we love them.
The deal about the food here is this. Breadfruit, yeah not so much, nor cooked
bananas or taro or tapioca. The Elders
eat a lot of spam and rice and tuna, also not our deal. Elder T says all the seafood here is
sketchy. So we are scanning the isles of
the stores for food that hasn’t expired.
I think they ship all the out dated products from the states to
Micronesia.
(I kid you not)
But we get the opportunity to serve and love the Chuukese people;
we have seen many miracles and have felt the presence of our Heavenly Father
with us each day. He truly loves each of
us equally and fully. I testify that it
is true. He has given us Prophets and Apostles
to teach the principles and patterns that will bring us back to him. As I strive to awaken the patterns, he desire
me to live I am taught line upon line, and drawn closer to Him. This mission is a humbling mission and I am
very blessed to know that. Please know that we love you all and miss you
all very much.
Stay healthy and pechechun (strong).
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