Clam-dellem

Family,
This week I had raw clam. Luckily it had some soy sauce and lemon, or else I probably would have barfed all over the girl that gave it to us. I tried to chew, but I just couldn't. I ended up swallowing it whole, and almost gagging as it went down. All of this while trying to keep a smile on my face - hopefully I fooled her, but I doubt it. Anyway, it was sick.

We went to a member's house for dinner on Thursday. He's actually Mexican and in the Branch Presidency. He's probably the only Mexican on the island. He and his wife met in Monterey California while they were going to high school. They got married, moved here, and now he's a dive instructor. Anyway, my point in telling you this story, is because I thought I had avoided the whole Edward Cullen/Robert Pattinson look-a-like business coming 8000 miles away from home. I was wrong. This wasn't the first time someone has told me that, but Brother Canseco took it to an entirely new level. He had me take pictures with him, and all kinds of ridiculous stuff. It was pretty funny, but even more embarrassing.

We've been struggling this past week with dropped appointments. Without any investigators really (since we've spent so much time working with less-active members), our appointments are scarce as it is, and to have one fall through is always so disheartening.

However, we'll finally have our first baptism this Saturday. His name is Tobi, and he's the one who carved my storyboard and is the chief of his village. He's very closely related to many of the less-active families that we've been working with, and he's super studly, so we're hoping he can set that example for them.

Rather than just focusing on less-active families, we've now directed our focus to those that are only part-member. It's been pretty successful, but we always run into the same problem. Betel Nut. Everyone has a different problem, so it's hard to cater to them and focus on what they can do. We have them make a list of times that they chew the most, and things they can do instead of chewing, or they cannot chew while doing. For example, some people chew the most when they are watching TV, and cannot chew while they are fishing. Therefore, the obvious conclusion is to eliminate lazily watching TV and instead going to fish, which keeps them from chewing and helps provide for the family. Unfortunately not everyone is that easy. Some people have learned how to chew and spit even underwater. There is one fool-proof solution. Not a single person we have talked to can chew while they read the Book of Mormon. I'll use the same less-active family as usual, as an example. One lady, Diza, can chew anywhere, everywhere, all the time. We tried to help her make a list, but the only thing she could not do while chewing is sleeping. We then found out that she stopped reading and praying. Therein lied our solution. She is currently on a 24 hour no-chewing test run. We'll see how she does.

The reason that Betel Nut is such a problem for part-member families is because we tell the investigator that in order to be baptized he/she needs to stop chewing. Then they look around at the rest of the family, and they all are members - and chew. Even though they may agree and commit, they still have that mental block in their minds, "Why do I need to stop chewing, if all of these people are baptized and still chew..?" It's extremely frustrating. Plus, it's making them poorer than they already are.

I'm loving all the pictures that you guys are sending. It's so fun to see how everyone changes.

I'll talk to you next week.

Love,

Elder Barlow