Guam

Family,

All right, let me give you the run down on what I've learned about Guam in the week that I've been here. We live in a place called Mong Mong, and cover most of the central part of Guam, and we drive a minivan (so we can transport lots of missionaries). Our Guam Zone is divided into 3 districts - North, Central, and South. This week we're getting 6 new elders and 2 new sisters, so we're going to have 20 total here in Guam, and then there are a few going to the other islands (including a new guy going to Palau to replace me). As you know, Guam was just made a stake (our branch is the Stake Center), but the wards haven't been created yet. They're still branches with branch presidencies. I don't really know what they're waiting for, but every week they make a few more stake callings, just a little at a time. I don't know if they're waiting to make all the stake callings that they need to or what, but it's already the middle of February. You'd think they'd have it all taken care of by now.

The native people in Guam are called Chamorros, and they all speak English (there are a few who still speak Chamorro, but I haven't met one who doesn't speak English just as well). There are a bunch of other Micronesians mixed in too - the majority being Chuukese. Because of the military, there are a lot of white people too. So, the members live in anything from normal suburban-style homes to plywood and tin.

Moving right along - we had such a great week. Until Elder Tuaitanu leaves this Friday, there are 3 of us, and there's a Chuukese member who has been going on splits with us all day everyday for about 4 or 5 days straight. He loves it. We were able to teach about 30 total lessons, we had about 7 investigators at church and 2 baptisms planned for this Thursday. It's been so fun. It's been good because it doesn't give me time to sit around and think about Palau. I just get homesick when I do that. We won't have as good of a week this week since it's transfer week. We'll have orientation, the baptisms, and we'll be living at the airport picking people up and dropping them off. But, that's all new stuff for me, so I'm looking forward to it. I'm trying to learn Chuukese and it's actually going okay. Elder Tuaitanu called on me to pray in the Chuukese Sunday school class (he teaches it), and I was pretty nervous, but I did it. Afterward, one of them came up to me and said (in Chuukese), "I didn't know you speak Chuukese!" and of course I replied, "I don't." I noticed that Chuukese people, if you say anything to them in Chuukese, they will assume you know how to speak, and from then on not speak to you in English. Whereas Palauans will respond to you in English until they are confident that you will understand, and then respond back in Palauan. I think it's because Palauans are much more proficient in English than the Chuukese. Anyway it's been fun for me. Especially trying to talk to the ones who don't speak a lick of English.

(You can go ahead and send those gifts out - no need to wait for anything. Did anything get taken in customs or anything like that?)

I'll try to get all those pictures for you, but maybe not the one's of members homes - that's kind of awkward. I'll see if I can do it nonchalantly (9-point Boggle word).

Love,

Elder Barlow

P.S. I realized last week that I think I forgot to give you my new address:

620 W. Route 8
Barrigada, Guam
96913

You can send any mail/packages to that address. That way it will go directly to the mission office rather than the post office - eliminating an extra trip for the office couple.