End of February

Family,

So this week was my trip to Saipan. It was very different from Guam, and even more so than Palau. That's not really what I expected. I thought that it would be just a miniature Guam. The Micronesians that we met had been in Saipan for basically their whole lives, so they didn't really speak their native languages. The majority of the people we met were Filipino and American - I've never felt so uncomfortable in my whole mission. Anyway, the branch in Saipan is probably the most diverse and the most united. Everyone is friends with everyone and there are so many members! It was really cool to see a new place and meet some missionaries that I hadn't before.

Yesterday Elder Matthews and I asked all the zones to have a day of finding. They were to have no prior-scheduled appointments and avoid the homes of members. The point was to get the missionaries out of their comfort zones and go and talk to people. The results were tremendous, more than we expected at all. Almost every single number that we keep track of weekly went up, some doubled and one even tripled. I couldn't believe it. President Dowdle is out in Palau right now so I can't wait for our meeting tomorrow so we can show him what happened. Just goes to show how important finding new investigators is.

I got the Valentine's Day package, and it's been great. I had the Stroganoff for lunch after church yesterday. One of the wrappers broke open so there was a ton of ants in one of the little bags. I just shook them out and threw away a couple of little candies, but the rest seemed okay.

There's this girl and her aunt that we're teaching and neither of them speak English. It has been one of the most interesting experiences. The girl is supposed to be baptized this Saturday, and the aunt a few weeks later. I know they understand what baptism is, and they've agreed to be baptized but I'm not sure how much of what we're teaching is very clear to them. Our Chuukese friend Cheech is coming with us tonight to make sure everything is clear.

I'm not sure if I told you about the new mission president. He arrives July 1st and I forgot his name. President Dowdle said they were friends in college and in law school and spoke very highly of him, so I think it will be fun. You might be able to find out more about him in the Church News or something.

We should find out tomorrow if President Dowdle wants us to go to Pohnpei and Kosrae in the next couple of weeks. I'm pretty excited about that. We'll be having a combined leadership training in a couple of weeks, meaning there will be just under 20 extra missionaries coming to Guam. We have to run back and forth to the airport and find places for them all to stay and who's going to take them where and when and make sure that everyone always has a companion. It's going to be crazy.

Love,

Elder Barlow