27 June 2011

Family,

What a crazy week. Mostly just a crazy weekend actually. There was a less-active Chuukese member that came over from Utah to get married here in Guam (probably so all the family could come). His now-wife isn't a member, but he is, so they were married in our chapel. President Dowdle was asked to perform the wedding (the groom's father is a branch president in Chuuk), and we were invited to attend. So we did, and arrived early, only to realize that the only person that we knew was the groom's father. So we kind of hung out in the car and then in the office waiting for more people to arrive. They all did soon enough, so we went inside the church, only to see that the baptism font had overflowed and there was a pool of water covering the carpet outside of the chapel. It was pretty bad. So we grabbed some mops, and did what little we could until our FM (facilities management) guy came with a wet-dry vacuum made it look as good as new. Luckily it wasn't any of the missionaries' fault. The Ward Mission Leader filled up the font and left (it's supposed to have a automatic drainage system if it gets too full - it turns out it didn't work), and overflowed the bathrooms and the carpet. So we got all that taken care of then went into the wedding. It was pretty entertaining. Chuukese music is pretty tacky, and they had it playing as the wedding party stepped in beat from the back to the front, and then again on the way back after the ceremony. The groom looked like a rapper in his white tux and long braids. It was pretty gangster over all. Right after that, we had another wedding of the sisters' investigator. It was very small and private - only about 20 minutes. AND THEN right after that we had a baptism for that woman and then also another investigator. We had a short break to go and finish a video that we were making for the Dowdles to show at his going away party that night. They had tons of food, cakes, people, and entertainment. Cultural dances, songs, drum shows, it was pretty crazy.

A lot of the rest of the week was spent in the office finishing the mission video and the one for the Dowdles. We should be having a baptism this week though.

Yesterday I taught the Gospel Principles class in church, since our teacher just got called. I decided to teach about the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity. I figure you can never be taught those enough. We have an investigator, Curtis, who looks like a skinnier Santa Claus. He's just awaiting trial, and then he can be baptized. We're pretty confident that the case will get dropped, but we have to wait and see anyway. His wife and 4 daughters are strong, active members, but he just never got around to it. He's loving it now though. He's reading and praying with his family, and it's been really fun teaching them.

I love you guys.

Love,

Elder Barlow