6 Dec. 2010

Family,

I've been waiting for the rainy season to really hit (it came much faster last year), and this week I think it finally did. It's been soaking us pretty often, and I'm loving it. My new companion has all silk ties, so I think I'll have to give him some of mine. He's a pretty goofy kid, but he's really working hard. He's struggling a little bit with Palauan, but with some effort and a portion of the Spirit, I'm sure he'll get it. He just has a hard time remembering what sound each of the letters make.

I've been back in Ngerias (of the two areas in Palau, the one I'm in now covers the north half of the island) for about 2 weeks now, and it's been rough, but I've been enjoying it at the same time. We started out not really having anyone to teach, so we've been spending a lot of time finding part-member families and contacting referrals. We've been having a little bit of success, so I see things moving forward gradually.

Something awesome happened to us on Saturday that just made my week. I don't know if anything will come of it, but the experience in itself is noteworthy I think. We wanted to look for a member whose name we found on the membership directory, so we started in the village she was listed under. We asked a few different people if they knew the person (there aren't any addresses, so really it's the only way), and they all said no, but gave us another name of a person we could ask. Finally our search brought us to a man named Charlie. We asked him the same question, and again, he said no. Just before leaving we asked him for referrals, and he gave us the name of a woman, and asked a little bit about us. As we continued talking to Charlie, his wife, Ann, came out of the house and talked to us also. Somehow we got on the topic of the Book of Mormon and Ann basically grabbed it from my hands and started to read. Immediately she started smiling and flipping through the pages and reading different parts. She sat down and continued doing the same thing. We were about to leave (we were still looking for this member), when Ann asked us, "Can we ask you two to do something for us? (Sure, what is it?) Can you come back and tell us why you guys, being so young, decided to come here and serve God?" Jumping at the opportunity, I told her we had time now, and if they did too, we could explain. So, we sat down. Elder Wright (we were on exchange) started by telling them why he decided to serve, and then I followed. We both shared passages from the Book of Mormon that have affected us, and we were able to bear our testimonies of the blessings of the Gospel. Ann then told us how they go to a church, but they still don't feel like they have strong faith in God. After a few more minutes she said that she was "hungry" for truth and the word of God. The only problem is that their preacher (a white guy from Wisconsin) is pretty anti-Mormon, and they wanted to share the Book of Mormon with him (and like 15 other friends). He has interfered in our lessons before, and it would be so sad for them to allow him to ruin this for them.

Just to toot my own horn for a second here. I asked them if their preacher speaks Palauan (he's been here for 4 years, and their church has a Palauan name), and they said, "A little, but not like you!" It made me feel pretty good, but it just goes to show you the difference that the Gift of Tongues can make when in the Lord's service.

We decided that for Christmas, we're going to get a bunch of the youth together and go to the church and make a bunch of gingerbread houses and then go and deliver them to less-active youth. I talked to the Branch President and he said if we put a shopping list together, the branch will pay for it. I'm pretty excited about it, and it seems like the youth are too.

I love you all, and happy December!

Love,

Elder Barlow