Hi mom and dad!
I'm online for a little while. It is HORRIBLY slow right now though, so we'll see how it works out.
(We told him all about youth conference this past weekend.) ooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOO Cami has a boy who likes her! How exciting. Crazy that Cam is going to go to EFY and that sounds like so much fun for mom! (I am meeting up with some of the moms of the Kiribati Missionaries from my Facebook group while I'm in Utah with Cami!) Funny you are going to meet sister Farley haha! Crazy how you guys are doing all kinds of different things (His other sister Taylor is leaving in a week for a humanitarian trip to Paraguay). Also Sion's
brother got called to the Paraguay, Asuncion north mission!
Work was good, we had a baptism and contacted 2 new families. We have one more we are going to contact this week. Its always a big deal with new people here, it takes a lot to have them even want to listen, so
we're going to be bold but careful with them.
The baptism was Titanebo, Temantio's son. He's 12. He's a good kid, he'll be our only deacon for a while. Members are great, Pres told me to give everyone callings so that's what we did yesterday. We'll work on having everyone give lessons and lead the opening and closing exercises in the various classes. We did the three hour block for the first time yesterday and everyone was exhausted haha! But its good - growing little by little.
They're doing a good job stepping up to the plate. Callings are a good way to make sure nobody falls away. It's so funny to me that I'm actually the Branch President hahaha! It's weird. Right now we have 6 brothers, with us included, sisters 4, kids - heaps. Still did both north and south, so I was in church for like 5 hours, and I ran it alllllll.
Today we have to teach religion class at the primary school for the kids. It's a weekly thing, every week on Monday we teach the primary kids, and Tuesday the middle school. They all are really obedient, and it re-affirms that I want to teach AP chem someday. I like being a teacher.
I think we'll also sleep and eat some food. Elder Tiaon is sick, he ate something and is really feeling it. Its a testament to my iron stomach (acquired after months of being sick at the beginning of his mission) that we eat the same food and I am unphased. (Elder Tiaon is even an I-Kiribati).
*The internet must have died, because his message ended abruptly. We are just grateful to know all is well!
Hi mom and dad! Happy father's day - hopefully it was a good one! How are you all this week? We had a good week, we postponed our baptism because we couldn't get the car hired - everyone here did fathers day bootakis too, so the car was too busy with other peoples' hires. Too bad. Next week though for sure.
Its okay for the baptisms, Our people are pretty ready. One of them at least. The other didn't come to church, we're a little worried. Hopefully it was just a conflict with times or something along those lines. Work was really hard this week. I haven't had a 1 lesson day since me and Sion were in that rut on Christmas, but it happened again on Saturday. Our "newness" is wearing off, and the ministers are in full force. They have given up on the people we do have already, but they're fighting really hard for all of our potential investigators. Before, they would try and shame people out of taking lessons, but now they're doing something good and strengthening their people, like giving them callings and things like that. Its really put a dent in our teaching pool.
My comp is good, he is a really hard worker. He doesn't like it when we don't have a lot of lessons. He started for a month in Bikenibeu, on Tarawa, and that area pumps out like 60 lessons a week, its a sick ward. So he sometimes pulls his hair out that we don't have a ward mission leader or a Bishop or a relief society pres, or an elders quorum. Its just me and him and sometimes he gets sick of that hahaha! But we get along well. He's learning lessons about work on outies and patience. My language is crisp, i'll admit it (since his comp in a native Kiribati). I'm reading the Book of Mormon in Kiribati too, so I literally don't speak or read English except for right now. Its weird. I obviously still think in English. Kiribati is too simple for describing things of any depth or complexity. Mom, I think deep thoughts, I need English for my deep thoughts :)
I was always anticipating the inevitable slow down. Its still sad though. It takes a lot to work through it, but we're giving it our best shot. Some of the other ministers are mean. Especially the one who is actually an RM. My word to describe him is 'sly'. That's the extent of my sophisticated English vocabulary at this point. (Dallin often feels sad that they can't seem to have a good relationship with other Christian congregations. They only see the young missionaries as a threat to their numbers.)
(I asked him about the package he received recently.) Slowly holding on to the food. I might have a Clif bar later as a pday present. They are soooo tasty! and I love the soap and deodorant. I smelled that deodorant and I remembered that 1) in America, you use sheets on a bed 2) when your sheets are washed, they smell so good and
that's what the deodorant reminded me of haha!
(His little sister is getting ready to go to her first youth conference and dance) Tell Cami to have fun at the dance! That is too crazy that she is going and that she's that old now! She might even start liking BOYS now -
ooooOOOOOooooo!
Hey Bambi (his nickname for Cami)! So cool to hear that you are a freshman! Wow! That's way exciting. Summer is always so so fun. (She asked what kids on the island do every day) That is a good question! They play lots of games outside, and they go swimming a lot, but there is also a LOT of work to do everyday. Feeding the pigs, and cleaning and helping cook. Plus, they DO go to school. Their classrooms are just made out of sticks. Youth conference will be very fun! How are our dogs? We live next to the beach, but I don't get to swim. Sounds like you are still having fun and making lots of friends. Good work cam!
Talk to you all next week!
love dal
(Dal was able to email us yesterday. Internet had been down for 2 weeks and they had not been able to make any contact with the mission office through radio or phone, so they needed to check in and give stats. I was relieved to hear from him. Our letters in his inbox contained information about a missionary he served with on Christmas Island who lost his family last week in a plane crash. Because communication was down, he had not heard the news. I felt badly that he had to find out from us instead of President. This Elder's parents and two siblings were killed while he has two surviving brothers. I knew he would be upset as he had grown to love this elder as they served together. The missionary is planning to stay on his mission for now, but is being transferred where he can contact his brothers as needed.)
Oh my gosh... he always used to talk about how his dad loves to fly planes. That is the worst thing I could hear. I am so sorry for him. He's a tough kid, but that is something else, seriously so sad to hear. Pres did not tell us - internet has been down for 2 weeks. I can't even imagine what he is going through. That is so hard. We will be praying for him, of course.
(There has been some intense persecution in some of the villages. There are rumblings of worse things to come, but for now they are holding strong and the new members are handling it with amazing strength.)
Things are OK, but for a while we were on thin ice. I was scared the area was going to close. I'll forward an email I sent to Pres detailing our problems. It was crazy to say the least. They aren't forbidding us (to come into a certain village) but they're still thinking about it. It's good to talk to Pres again, I need that sometimes!
It's going well, slowly but surely. Last week we had 11 baptisms and 11 confirmations! It was something to see, honestly. What a treat! We need really badly to find new people now, but the ministers are actively scaring people into not wanting to have lessons. Its tough. We're trying to pray for them (the other ministers). Its tough to do that with real intent. We have a few referrals we're slowly working on them. Our recent converts are all really solid, along with our members. I love them. We just need to keep the momentum rolling.
(I asked if they get worried in the office if they don't hear from you on Mondays.)
Pres doesn't really worry about us. One time elder Mattison went like 11 weeks on Nonouti with no one hearing from him and no one went out to check or anything and when he finally got email again he just sent in his stats for the past eleven weeks and things were normal again. It just happens here I guess. It's okay they don't check on us, we were fine in the end hahaha
OH package came Saturday! THANK YOU SO MUCH I love everything. You are wonderful people. Packages make me so happy. Those cliff bars are delish, you guys should try them, definitely the best flavor (he requested coconut chocolate chip). I think I'll be addicted to coconut the rest of my life after here haha
That package made my day. Especially your letters you throw in there. Those mean a lot after 2 weeks of no email. The fans work. Farley is sad he left before he got his. Tiaon doesn't use one, he gets cold at night. He's crazy. It was rainy yesterday and it felt cool, he was like wrapped in a blanket. Not normal. Food is delish, we made one for FHE last night. I did see the pictures! I literally just love my friends so much. (For all my missionary mom friends... all of Dallin's high school friends here in Pennsylvania are members of other faiths, but you could not ask for a more supportive group for him and his mission. They think he's a little crazy, but they know how important this is to him and write to him and follow his blog. We really love them too, they are like family to us.) I really miss them. We had a very special high school run, and I am so proud of how everyone is staying on top of things pretty well. I love and miss them and I'm so glad that what we did in high school was meaningful to them.
Investigator story:
Bill's wife Teetei (pronounced kind of like taytay) was baptized, which completes their family! She couldn't get baptized with her husband and kids the first time around because she wasn't quite ready. But, she knew how important it was, so she didn't want her husband and kids to wait 2 weeks just for her. She is super faithful, and quitting smoking was SO hard for her. She told us a story of how 2 days after her baptism, the minister came up and said, "Hey, here's a cigarette, want to smoke?" and Teetei said, "No thanks, I have been baptized, so I don't smoke anymore." and then she walked away from the minister. WHAT UP?!? She's awesome.
Hi Cami! Sounds like you are having so much fun! love you lots pal. Glad that school is going well and ending well and such. So exciting for Taylor! Congrats on the graduation! Thanks for the pictures from the Grad Party! I have to go. So proud of all of you. I'll talk to you next Monday!
love, dal
