Palau Post

Family,

So it turns out that the funeral isn't until this next Sunday. It's going to be a traditional Palauan funeral, and probably an abomination with betel nut and booze. The Branch President is struggling to let someone dedicate the grave, but other than that, the Church isn't involved. There's not much we can do at this point.

Elder Stanley has had an ingrown toenail for about 5 or 6 months now. He's afraid of shots I think, so he's been avoiding the doctor at all costs. Elder Lyman (his new companion) forced him to tell Sister Miyazaki (the mission nurse) while they were in Guam, and then she took him to the doctor right there. They fixed the toenail, but he has been in Guam for the last week because the doctor insisted he stay for a check up. If everything goes smoothly with his toe and with the flights, he should be back late tomorrow night - chances are he won't be. As a result, Elder Lyman has joined us until Elder Stanley returns (who knows when).

We had a CES guy here from Guam yesterday (and today and tomorrow) trying to work with the youth and get them to attend seminary and institute. At this point the seminary averages about 4 (when I taught there were 2), and the institute is at 0 I think. We took him around to some of the youth and he invited them to come. Then he wanted to look at some of the apartment possibilities for a senior missionary couple that is supposed to be coming next month.

For some reason, I think Palau gets left out of the communication web. We were supposed to be getting a senior couple this month (Elder and Sister Clark) but it wasn't until the Zone Leaders went to Guam and saw the new senior couple in the office that we found out that it wasn't the case. We also didn't know we were getting a new one until the CES guy arrived (we didn't know he was coming until he called us from his hotel) and let us know. It's pretty frustrating, but sure does keep things exciting.

My Uighurr buddies have gone M.I.A this week, so I have nothing to report on them. I'll keep you posted. If you find any cool articles about them, I would love to read them (not in my email but regular mail).

I promised pictures of the Ngardmau waterfall, but when we got there, the guide refused to let us go down. He said it closed in an hour and he didn't want us to make him late. Anyway, these pictures are from the dock in a hamlet (village) called Oel in a state called Ngaraard.
We've been teaching the sister of one of our recent converts, and she was supposed to be baptized this coming Saturday, but we found out that she and her "husband" are not married. We're working on getting that taken care of so she can be baptized mid-March. She and the guy are both for the idea, but the hubby's mother is adamant that they are culturally married. That would be fine, but the culture requires that the wife's family gives money or something, which this woman's family doesn't have. We're just trying to figure out what they can do.

I started reading the Bible from the beginning, and I never realized how many crazy stories are in the Old Testament. I figured out I have to read about 5 pages a day to finish in a year. I have a little chart with all the books of the Bible written on it and I will color in each square as I finish the corresponding book. It's pretty fun. I'm at the part where Jacob has 4 wives, a bunch of sons, and like one daughter and just left Laban's house.

I love you all,

Elder Barlow

P.S. I would love the "Nashville Tribute to the Prophet" CD, and any version of the song "My Kindness Shall Not Depart From Thee" as well as these jelly beans made by Jelly Belly that have gross flavors, but look the same as the good ones. I think they're called Bean Boozled or something like that. They will make for a great game.

Powered by Google

Family,

So we got a new email system this week. It's powered by Google, so obviously it's far ahead of what we were using before.

I couldn't forward all my mail to this new address, so if you could save any emails up to this point on your end, that would be great.

We learned that Chief Singeru's funeral will be this next Sunday...in the morning...during church. I was pretty frustrated because it means that there probably won't be anyone at church. To top it off, the reason they're doing it on Sunday is because one of the High Chiefs (there are 2 in Palau) is a Seventh-Day Adventist, and he demanded that the funeral not be held on his sabbath. We (the missionaries) were invited, but will probably only go to the burial.

We've been really struggling this week. I was lucky enough to have a companion from the islands before, so I never noticed how much they don't like white people. For example, one woman was sitting in front of the open doorway when we knocked and said "Alii." She looked up, then just looked back down without saying a word. Another woman heard us knock, started walking toward the door and then turned away when she saw us. I could go on and on, but I don't have the time. It's just really frustrating.

On the bright side, Elder Acton and I are currently the only missionaries for 500+ miles in any direction (-ish, I'm not sure how far we are from Yap). Elder Lyman and Elder Stanley went to Guam for a few days for a Zone Leader council. We can pretty much do whatever we want, and no one will ever know about it. They asked us to teach one of their investigators tonight though. He lives in Ngaraard, which is about 45 minutes away. On the way (it will still be P-Day), we'll be stopping in Ngardmau and taking some great pictures of the waterfall there.

I got the letters from Jackson, Lincoln, and Kenedee (really Heidi and Kandis) yesterday, one from Catrina Payne last week, and a package from the Austins before that. Just returning and reporting so people know I'm actually getting what they're sending.

I told you a couple of weeks ago about the terrorists from western China living near us. I guess they're called Uighurs. Sometimes we see one of them at the track when we exercise in the morning (I quit running - I hate it. Instead I do push ups and sit ups and stuff - slightly more bearable). Every time, I make a point to say good morning. Recently he started saying it back to me. My goal is to have a conversation and then eventually teach him the gospel and baptize him. We don't think they were ever actually convicted of anything, so they should be able to pass the interview.

It's time for me to wrap up, I spent way too much time setting up the new email. Thanks for everything - I'll have pictures for you next week.

Love,

Elder Barlow

Today is a beautiful "bidet"

Family,

It has almost been one week now since Elder Acton became my companion. We realized that he is now the oldest missionary in the mission, and I’m still the youngest (I don’t know when new missionaries will be coming). Just a piece of fun trivia for you. He is from West Jordan, Utah and has been in Palau for 4 months. He came just one transfer before me, but spent about a year and a half on Pohnpei. He speaks great Pohnpeian and talks about it all the time. He only has 3 transfers left before he goes home, and he’s very organized and I have a lot to learn.
Yesterday we were knocking doors pretty far from our apartment, and Elder Acton decided he needed to go to the bathroom. We couldn’t go back to our apartment, so we drove to a nearby resort (Palau Pacific Resort – which is where I recommend that we stay when we come back to visit after my mission. You can start making plans now.) and walked into their restroom. I was standing outside and Elder Acton says, “Elder Barlow, you have to come look at this.” He pointed out that the toilet looked space age. I looked, probably made a few witty remarks, and walked back out. About 30 seconds later he called me back in and pointed to what looked like a security system on the wall of each stall. These toilets were equipped with bidets. This is probably more information than you need/want to know, but seeing as I had never used a bidet before, I had to try it out. It was pretty weird, but we were so enthralled that we had to tell the other elders. So we called them at lunch and they decided to make it our next zone activity. Who would have thought that my first experience with a bidet would be in Micronesia?

Saturday morning we got a call from a member in our area, Carsla, who asked us to go to the hospital to give her uncle (a less active member friend of ours who is also one of the Chiefs) a blessing. When we got there, he didn’t look very good at all. Some of his family was there and we told them that Carsla asked us to give him a blessing, and they agreed (many of them are less active members themselves). I later learned that one of his relatives from another church had called Carsla and asked her to call “her missionaries.” I hadn’t ever really given a blessing before, but I was asked to this time. It was a very different experience for me. I expected something miraculous to happen, but the blessing was very simple: that his pain and discomfort would soon pass. He passed away early the next morning. The Lord has a plan for all of us. We all have a work to do. Whether it is through our family or the influence we will have on others, only God knows. Of course we come to Earth to learn and for personal growth, but we are also to help others, and to be an example at all times. Life is too short to be caught up in our own problems.

The branch president is going to ask the family if part of the funeral services can be held at the church. Since he is a chief, the funeral is going to be very large and will probably make missionary work very difficult while people are preparing. I’m hoping the family agrees, and that people start coming back to church.

That’s mostly my week. We’re still struggling with investigators, but we’re doing our best.

I love you all, and it seems like all is well there.

Love,

Elder Barlow

P.S. to answer your questions Mom,

1) My bed bug bites are going away, and I sprayed every nook and cranny of my bed with permetherine (don’t worry its diluted), so I haven’t got any new bites yet. But no new mattresses.
2) The language is hard. I don’t really have much else to say about that at this point.
3) We successfully avoided having to eat shark. Lucky for me.

Transfer

Family,

First of all, the transfer call came last night, as expected. Here are the results:

-I will stay in the area I'm in (Meyuns)

-Elder Stanley will be moving to Topside to be a Zone Leader (still in Palau)

-Elder Acton, who was a Zone Leader, will be coming to Meyuns to be my companion, and the District Leader.

-Elder Lyman will remain a Zone Leader in Topside, with Elder Stanley as his new companion.

I'm very excited because this means I won't have to drive anymore. Elder Acton is the designated driver, since he'll be the senior companion and has a license. He and I also get along really well already, which is good. However, he only has 3 transfers left on his mission. I'm hoping he sprints through the finish line, rather than slowing down before.

As it turns out, I was the only one who didn't know about transfers beforehand. President Dowdle was here for Zone Conference, and told Elder Stanley and Elder Lyman because he called them to be Zone Leaders. The same thing happened for Elder Acton when he was called as the District leader. I guess that's what happens when you have a zone of 4 missionaries.

Moving on.

You may recall me telling you that I thought I had bed bugs, but in reality they were just mosquito bites I hadn't noticed. Well, now I have bed bugs. The bites that I'm getting are extremely itchy, and one in particular is starting to turn purple and yellow. Normally I would be alarmed, but it's not spreading, and I've never heard of anyone dying from a bed bug bite - so I think I'm good. We're going to see what we can do about getting our mattresses replaced - Elder Lyman and Elder Stanley (who's Chuukese and should be immune) have them too.

I just remembered that today is Tuesday and the Elder's Quorum President is making shark for us...I'm not looking forward to it. He even said it tastes bad, but he caught it, so they're eating it.

The story about Kim would have been much cooler if these animals weren't in cages (I'm assuming they were). It would remind me of Jumanji - but still pretty cool I guess.

I got the calendar from Hannah, then showed the other missionaries. They were very impressed, but pretty concerned at how close a few of the couples were (for example, the picture for July).

About the earthquake, the only news I get is what you tell me. It seems like a really bad situation. There's not really any way I can relate, but I think about the little kids that I know here, and I try to think what would happen to them if they lost their parents. I can't even imagine how terrible that would be, and is for the children in Haiti.

All of this talk about disaster and death is kind of ironic, and hopefully not prophetic - we were just given a "72 hour kit" and a new emergency evacuation plan this morning.

On a lighter note, President Dowdle just informed us that we will be getting chapter 3 of "Preach My Gospel" (all of the doctrines for the lessons) in Palaun. I'm pretty excited about it, because I'm really struggling with this language. President Dowdle said its one of the hardest languages in the world. I wouldn't go that far, but it just gives you an idea of what I'm up against. Most of the words are 8 letters are more, and often combined when speaking. It's nuts. Anyway, I'm trying.

I got the Betel Nut pictures, so thank you. However, they aren't very shocking. That's what everyone looks like. I'm talking about pictures of people who had to have surgery because of cancer or something. If it's a picture that you can barely look at because you're going to throw up, then it's perfect (on 4x6 photo paper would be ideal, if not that's ok).

I just decided I might call the mission nurse about my bite. It looks pretty gross.

Sorry, no pictures again this week. I'm sure there are some on the Micronesia-Guam Mission Blog, but I wouldn't know.

I love you all, and thanks for everything.

Love,

Elder Barlow