Micro-Games

Family,

This week has been crazy. So starting yesterday, is the 7th Micronesian Games. It's like the olympics, but for Micronesians. It includes Palau, Nauru, Guam, Kosrae, Marshall, Saipan (CNMI), Chuuk, Pohnpei, Yap...and I think that's it. So there are over 1,200 athletes, and then about that many fans, plus the usual tourist crowd. Not to mention all of the people from Palau's outer islands that came for the games. All on like a 15 sq. mile island. They have the police force directing traffic all over the island, complete with cones and everything - for 10 days. It's stressing me out - I'm not used to this many people. On the bright side, it's been pretty exciting to see all the different kinds of people, and trying to guess what island they're from. Each of Palau's states, plus various other stores and groups, set up booths as fundraisers and stuff. It's going to be a pretty cool P-day activity this week and next week.

We finally picked an apartment to move to. It's on Meyuns island (where we want to start the branch) and has a pretty sweet view. Plus, we have 4 people scheduled to be baptized over there. Two of them are sisters, one is their cousin, and the 4th is another guy, named Odi. We're looking at the first week of September, since I'll be in Yap the last week in August.

There's this less active family that we've been meeting with ever since I've been here, and even way before that. They've never come to church at least since I've been here, and again, probably way before that. The youngest daughter is great though. They had a copy of Gordon B. Hinckley's "Way to Be" that her older sister got in Young Women years ago, and it's just been sitting on the shelf. We had an appointment with them on Saturday, and this girl (Chanel) was reading it. She put it down, and someone was going to move it so they could sit where it was, and she pretty much yelled, "don't lose my page!" - she's like 11. Pretty funny. Anyway, we have a copy of the old First Vision movie, that was translated into Palauan by the former Branch President here, and we showed it to them Saturday night. Then they came to church the next morning, and the father even bore his testimony. We've had so many great things happen after showing that movie to people. It just shows how important it is for people to learn the Gospel in their language.

That reminds me, Fast and Testimony meeting is the best meeting for less active Palauans. Many of them will wait until then to make their triumphant return and bear their testimony to the branch about how long they were less-active, but now they're back! Then everyone else gets up and bears their testimony about how great it is to see so-and-so back at church. It's really a pretty interesting thing to see.

I'm going to stop writing "Elder" on my letters - we'll see if that changes anything. I'm still trying to figure out why they aren't getting there.

Love,

Elder Barlow.
(it's ok on emails though.)