Family,
I got the package this week. It came on Thursday but I had to wait until Saturday when we drove into Koror to get it. I was probably most excited about the Sommer Sausage and the Cheesecake. Gross combo, but awesome separately. Thanks guys.
This week we had some sweet experiences with our investigators. We're teaching these two girls, who are actually the sisters of a member in Koror. The older one, Cassandra, had been taught by missionaries years ago, but she told us that the real reason she ever did was because she thought that one of the missionaries was cute - Elder Stowe (she remembered his name). Anyway, she told us all this after she read and prayed about the Book of Mormon and even wrote down a list of questions she had as she was reading. She said that this time was different, and she wants to be baptized. So she and her sister are planning to be baptized end of April, pending the fact that we have Sacrament meeting up there pretty soon. But she invited her boyfriend to talk to us, and as we talked he asked a few questions, but at the end he said, "wow, this all really makes sense." We told him that the two of them were planning on being baptized, and he turned to her and said, "you were just going to get baptized and leave me behind?" It was pretty funny. Now they just need to overcome their Word of Wisdom problems, and a clear Law of Chastity problem.
Our one active member (Toby) that we have comes teaching with us everyday, and he's probably the best person we could ask for. He has an awesome testimony and he doesn't put up with people's excuses.There was one guy that we were trying to contact and he basically shooed us away pretty rudely. When we went to pick up Toby, he said that he had just talked to a man named Petrus (which was the rude guy's name) and told us that he was actually a member - baptized in Chuuk. Toby said, "Good thing I followed the Spirit in talking to him because you guys never told me you went to talk to him! Anyway, he said we can come visit him." I was really proud of Toby. He's only been baptized for just over a year. Even after Petrus was rude to us, he was still on my mind for the next week and a half, and I couldn't figure out why. So I'm excited to see how things go when we go back.
Another guy that's "the man" is a Army guy named Brother Hibbard. He's from North Carolina and he's the new Army doctor that came with the CAT team (each branch of the military rotates every 6 months or so. So the Air Force just left when I got here and the Army came in). Everyone in the branch loves him and he is getting them all fired up about missionary work and home-teaching. He asked us for 10 copies of the Book of Mormon and a bunch of pass-along cards. Then he asked the Branch President for a list of all the members so he can go and visit them and invite them to church. And since he has all the gas he needs, he's offered to come teaching with us whenever. PLUS, as part of his being here, he's doing research on the health effects of chewing betel nut. He said that 90% of people that chew betel nut get some form of mouth cancer. And that's not even people that chew with a piece of cigarette. Those that chew with a piece of cigarette just accelerate the process. So he's supposed to finish the research and then do a presentation to all the schools. He's great.
Okay I have to go help my companion email - I'll talk to you soon.
Love,
Elder Barlow
Monday, August 29, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
22 Aug. 2011
Family,
This week was a roller coaster for me. I'm trying to adapt to a lot of new things at once. I struggled with my new companion in the beginning - he's just really different than my other companions, but now we're starting to figure out how to work with each other. I'm having to help him with the computer pretty often as I sit here, so my email might not be very long. He claims he's used a computer before, but he didn't know how to use the mouse or the keyboard, so . . . I don't believe him. Anyway, it's been fun.
We've been finding a bunch of new investigators, and I got a little ego boost when I was talking to a couple of Palauans the other day. After talking for a minute in each case they looked at me pretty confused and said, "Are you Palauan...or what? Where are you from?" Rather than lie to them, I said no, I'm from California. They were pretty confused still. They couldn't believe that I'd only been in Palau less than 18 months. Personally, I think that's a long time, but it made me feel pretty good, especially because it happened twice in a day. Elder Rokodakunivosa pronounces really well, so once he gets rolling, I think he's going to be awesome.
President Mecham is trying to get two basic units of the church started here in Palau. It's basically where we just have Sacrament Meeting in a location where there are members that can't make it to church. One will be in Meyuns (I'm really excited about that one because I spent most of my mission working with those people) where there are probably about 100 members - and 99 that are less-active. The idea is take away the transportation excuse, give a few of the priesthood holders the responsibility of being the "group leaders" and see what happens. The branch president is super excited. He said that very soon, we'll have a full branch there. The other is in my area. Right now none of our investigators can come to church because the church is an hour drive away. So even if they did have cars (which most don't) they wouldn't be able to afford the gas. If they had super strong faith from the start they'd be able to do it, but it usually takes time to build that kind of faith. So I'm really excited about this one too.
As for our investigators, I've been surprised how many actually read the Book of Mormon. We'll give a copy to someone and then walk up to their house the next night or something and they'll be sitting there reading it. The challenges that we've been facing are obviously betel nut, and even though they'll read it, people just won't pray and ask God if the Book of Mormon is true. They'll pray, but they won't ask! I don't get it. I think they're afraid to get an answer because they know that if they do, they'll have to leave their church.
People in the 2 villages we work in have been really nice to us. We're always getting bananas, and I'm finally starting to really like them. Usually I've just turned around and given them to someone else, or made banana bread or let them rot, but now I'm actually eating them. It's a good snack (the bananas are tiny - like 2 bites each).
Note for Kim: Invite Lindsay to church! If we didn't teach people that already had a church, we wouldn't teach anybody! When we ask members for referrals, that's the excuse we get a lot. "My friends already have their own church." We're not trying to get the last available slice of the pie. The gospel is for everyone!
Remember that time Heidi dated that "man" who was like 27 when she was like 18? And he came to Disneyland with us? Kim's story with the 30 year old dude reminds me of that. Sorry to throw you under the bus on this one Heidi.
I love you guys.
-Elder Barlow
P.S. No I haven't got the package yet. But we haven't checked the mail today. I'm sure if it's not here today, I'll get it Wednesday when we drive in for District Meeting.
This week was a roller coaster for me. I'm trying to adapt to a lot of new things at once. I struggled with my new companion in the beginning - he's just really different than my other companions, but now we're starting to figure out how to work with each other. I'm having to help him with the computer pretty often as I sit here, so my email might not be very long. He claims he's used a computer before, but he didn't know how to use the mouse or the keyboard, so . . . I don't believe him. Anyway, it's been fun.
We've been finding a bunch of new investigators, and I got a little ego boost when I was talking to a couple of Palauans the other day. After talking for a minute in each case they looked at me pretty confused and said, "Are you Palauan...or what? Where are you from?" Rather than lie to them, I said no, I'm from California. They were pretty confused still. They couldn't believe that I'd only been in Palau less than 18 months. Personally, I think that's a long time, but it made me feel pretty good, especially because it happened twice in a day. Elder Rokodakunivosa pronounces really well, so once he gets rolling, I think he's going to be awesome.
President Mecham is trying to get two basic units of the church started here in Palau. It's basically where we just have Sacrament Meeting in a location where there are members that can't make it to church. One will be in Meyuns (I'm really excited about that one because I spent most of my mission working with those people) where there are probably about 100 members - and 99 that are less-active. The idea is take away the transportation excuse, give a few of the priesthood holders the responsibility of being the "group leaders" and see what happens. The branch president is super excited. He said that very soon, we'll have a full branch there. The other is in my area. Right now none of our investigators can come to church because the church is an hour drive away. So even if they did have cars (which most don't) they wouldn't be able to afford the gas. If they had super strong faith from the start they'd be able to do it, but it usually takes time to build that kind of faith. So I'm really excited about this one too.
As for our investigators, I've been surprised how many actually read the Book of Mormon. We'll give a copy to someone and then walk up to their house the next night or something and they'll be sitting there reading it. The challenges that we've been facing are obviously betel nut, and even though they'll read it, people just won't pray and ask God if the Book of Mormon is true. They'll pray, but they won't ask! I don't get it. I think they're afraid to get an answer because they know that if they do, they'll have to leave their church.
People in the 2 villages we work in have been really nice to us. We're always getting bananas, and I'm finally starting to really like them. Usually I've just turned around and given them to someone else, or made banana bread or let them rot, but now I'm actually eating them. It's a good snack (the bananas are tiny - like 2 bites each).
Note for Kim: Invite Lindsay to church! If we didn't teach people that already had a church, we wouldn't teach anybody! When we ask members for referrals, that's the excuse we get a lot. "My friends already have their own church." We're not trying to get the last available slice of the pie. The gospel is for everyone!
Remember that time Heidi dated that "man" who was like 27 when she was like 18? And he came to Disneyland with us? Kim's story with the 30 year old dude reminds me of that. Sorry to throw you under the bus on this one Heidi.
I love you guys.
-Elder Barlow
P.S. No I haven't got the package yet. But we haven't checked the mail today. I'm sure if it's not here today, I'll get it Wednesday when we drive in for District Meeting.
Monday, August 15, 2011
15 Aug 2011
Family,
So this internet place is having trouble, so I only have about 15 minutes left. I'm really enjoying my new area. I've noticed that things there are very different than here in Koror. People rely a lot more on the land and on each other. I'm learning a lot as far as the language goes as well. It's been a fun challenge.
As for my companion. He's pretty funny. If you've ever seen Mr. Bean, take him and mix it with a Fijian guy, and you have Elder Rokodakunivosa (none of these Palauans can even attempt to say his name). I'm struggling a little because he kind of likes to keep to himself, and in an area like the one we're serving in, where there aren't any members or friends yet, it makes it hard. But we're learning. We've only been together for less than a week now.
This last week we didn't have a great chance to work in our area because we didn't move in until Wednesday, then we had to come back for District Meeting, and then again Saturday night because Elder Marshall was sick, and we had to relieve his companion (Elder Wright) so that he could go with one of us to teach some important appointments they had scheduled for that night. And so we stayed for church on Sunday, and then now we're here for P-Day. We'll go back tonight. It looks like we'll be getting a unit up there pretty soon though, so we won't have to come in every week for church.
I love you guys, sorry for the short note.
Love,
Elder Barlow
So this internet place is having trouble, so I only have about 15 minutes left. I'm really enjoying my new area. I've noticed that things there are very different than here in Koror. People rely a lot more on the land and on each other. I'm learning a lot as far as the language goes as well. It's been a fun challenge.
As for my companion. He's pretty funny. If you've ever seen Mr. Bean, take him and mix it with a Fijian guy, and you have Elder Rokodakunivosa (none of these Palauans can even attempt to say his name). I'm struggling a little because he kind of likes to keep to himself, and in an area like the one we're serving in, where there aren't any members or friends yet, it makes it hard. But we're learning. We've only been together for less than a week now.
This last week we didn't have a great chance to work in our area because we didn't move in until Wednesday, then we had to come back for District Meeting, and then again Saturday night because Elder Marshall was sick, and we had to relieve his companion (Elder Wright) so that he could go with one of us to teach some important appointments they had scheduled for that night. And so we stayed for church on Sunday, and then now we're here for P-Day. We'll go back tonight. It looks like we'll be getting a unit up there pretty soon though, so we won't have to come in every week for church.
I love you guys, sorry for the short note.
Love,
Elder Barlow
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
8 Aug 2011
Family,
I forgot to tell you that my mailing address is the same as it was before. These smaller islands, including Palau only have one post office. So all the missionaries that serve in each island have the same address. So, it will be:
P.O. Box 551
Koror, PW
96940
As for retail centers, I'll have to drive down to Koror to do all my shopping and everything. Unfortunately, it's like a 40 minute drive, so I'm still trying to decide how to make this most efficient. I'll have to come down for church, district meeting, and P-day. I think I'll try and do all my shopping once a month and then hopefully find a laundry place that's close to the new house so I can limit the amount of times I have to make the drive. I might also have to start handwriting letters. It's just too far. I'll at least email again next week to tell you what we decide. I haven't actually had a chance to move into the new place yet (Elder Wright is in Guam for Zone Leader Council, and I'm here with his companion working in their area until he brings my companion back with him tonight. He went to the New Zealand MTC, so his arrival date was a little different than the other incoming missionaries.), so I can't really tell you anything about it. I do know that there are only little shops that sell like chips and betel nut, and there aren't any gas stations, and definitely no restaurants. As for my Palauan, it's getting there. It's harder to understand, but speaking isn't bad. I forgot some words, but they're coming back pretty quickly.
It was pretty exciting to come to church and see everyone again. What else was exciting was seeing people that didn't used to come, and new members that weren't baptized when I was here. It's good to see things growing. The only active member that lives in my new area broke his arm right below the shoulder while riding his dirt-bike (which he got so he can come to church - he doesn't have a car), so he may have to go to the Philippines to get it fixed. He's trying to avoid that, and I'm hoping there's another solution because I need him. He came to church yesterday with his sling and I told him we need 20 baptisms up there before I leave in October, and he said "don't worry about that. 20, 40, 80 - we can do that." So he's going to take me to all of his friends and since he's a chief, he's the best member missionary we could ask for right now.
Oh, I forgot to mention something. The mission office said that since the new apartment doesn't have a hot water heater, the mission will supply one. Lucky break for me. I was dreading cold showers that early in the morning. They're okay in the afternoon, but there aren't many things that make you dread getting up in the morning as much as knowing you'll have to take a cold shower.
Transfers went smoothly, people were pretty surprised with a lot of the changes. But now I'm out of the loop and don't have to deal with anyone's problems anymore. I heard someone (I heard it was a member) punched a missionary in the face in Guam - but that's not my problem anymore. It's kind of a nice feeling...not that he got punched, just that I don't have to deal with it. On the other hand, I'm kind of scared because I don't really know how the work is going to go in this new area. All I can do it work my hardest, and pray that things happen for me. I'll be sure to let you all know how things progress.
Love,
Elder Barlow
I forgot to tell you that my mailing address is the same as it was before. These smaller islands, including Palau only have one post office. So all the missionaries that serve in each island have the same address. So, it will be:
P.O. Box 551
Koror, PW
96940
As for retail centers, I'll have to drive down to Koror to do all my shopping and everything. Unfortunately, it's like a 40 minute drive, so I'm still trying to decide how to make this most efficient. I'll have to come down for church, district meeting, and P-day. I think I'll try and do all my shopping once a month and then hopefully find a laundry place that's close to the new house so I can limit the amount of times I have to make the drive. I might also have to start handwriting letters. It's just too far. I'll at least email again next week to tell you what we decide. I haven't actually had a chance to move into the new place yet (Elder Wright is in Guam for Zone Leader Council, and I'm here with his companion working in their area until he brings my companion back with him tonight. He went to the New Zealand MTC, so his arrival date was a little different than the other incoming missionaries.), so I can't really tell you anything about it. I do know that there are only little shops that sell like chips and betel nut, and there aren't any gas stations, and definitely no restaurants. As for my Palauan, it's getting there. It's harder to understand, but speaking isn't bad. I forgot some words, but they're coming back pretty quickly.
It was pretty exciting to come to church and see everyone again. What else was exciting was seeing people that didn't used to come, and new members that weren't baptized when I was here. It's good to see things growing. The only active member that lives in my new area broke his arm right below the shoulder while riding his dirt-bike (which he got so he can come to church - he doesn't have a car), so he may have to go to the Philippines to get it fixed. He's trying to avoid that, and I'm hoping there's another solution because I need him. He came to church yesterday with his sling and I told him we need 20 baptisms up there before I leave in October, and he said "don't worry about that. 20, 40, 80 - we can do that." So he's going to take me to all of his friends and since he's a chief, he's the best member missionary we could ask for right now.
Oh, I forgot to mention something. The mission office said that since the new apartment doesn't have a hot water heater, the mission will supply one. Lucky break for me. I was dreading cold showers that early in the morning. They're okay in the afternoon, but there aren't many things that make you dread getting up in the morning as much as knowing you'll have to take a cold shower.
Transfers went smoothly, people were pretty surprised with a lot of the changes. But now I'm out of the loop and don't have to deal with anyone's problems anymore. I heard someone (I heard it was a member) punched a missionary in the face in Guam - but that's not my problem anymore. It's kind of a nice feeling...not that he got punched, just that I don't have to deal with it. On the other hand, I'm kind of scared because I don't really know how the work is going to go in this new area. All I can do it work my hardest, and pray that things happen for me. I'll be sure to let you all know how things progress.
Love,
Elder Barlow
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
1 August 2011
Family,
This has been such a busy week for us. I told you about the guy that was going to get baptized on Saturday, well he did, but to prepare for that, we had to teach him every day. In between visits, his family would quiz him on the things we talked about and then review things from "True to the Faith" and the scriptures. They were a really big help for us. He was baptized on Saturday, interviewed for the Aaronic Priesthood right after, then confirmed and ordained as a priest on Sunday. We had 5 of our investigators come, not to mention like 5 or 6 other non-members that we aren't teaching yet. There was a really good turn out from the ward as well, a lot of people came to support him.
So I'm just wrapping things up here in Guam before I go back to Palau on Friday. It's still a secret until Wednesday, but I figured by the time you guys try to leak the secret to anyone, everyone in the mission will already know what's happening. Wednesday we're having a meeting with all the trainers, where President Mecham, my companion, and I will go over the new 12-week training program, and emphasize how important the role of a trainer is. I'm actually going back to Palau to open a new area that missionaries haven't been in before, and to train a new missionary. His name is Elder Rokodakunivosa - he's from Fiji. I won't get to meet him until next week, since he's coming from the New Zealand MTC and arrives on a different day, but I'm excited to see how things go. There's a lot of uncertainty ahead since it's a new apartment, new area, new companion, and just a handful of members that are all less-active. I've been communicating with Elder Wright (who's now the Zone Leader in Palau) on finding a good apartment in the area that we're looking at, but we've totally kept him in the dark that I'm coming. He and I got along really well when we were companions, so I'm excited to go back and work with him, even though he won't be my companion. I told Elder Malit that my goal for the rest of my mission is to teach more lessons than him every single week. It's not really fair because he'll be laden down with administrative duties and all I'll have to do is teach all day, every day. Again this is a secret, so hopefully none of the senior couples are going to read my blog and spill to the younger missionaries on their islands. Jacob, maybe you could wait to put this in until after 9:00 pm Wednesday night our time. Not that people care that much about what happens in a 4-man zone in the western corner of the mission, but secrets are secrets.
I don't really have anything else this week, we were just super busy running from appointment to appointment. We skipped dinner most days just because we had appointments scheduled (we just ate really quick when we came in for the night). I haven't been able to teach so much in months. We came in every night just beat, but it's satisfying to reflect back and look at the work you did and actually feel successful. Our area should be having a lot of baptisms in August. Things started working out for us all of a sudden. I'd much rather leave an area on that note, than leaving it dead.
I love you guys,
Elder Barlow
This has been such a busy week for us. I told you about the guy that was going to get baptized on Saturday, well he did, but to prepare for that, we had to teach him every day. In between visits, his family would quiz him on the things we talked about and then review things from "True to the Faith" and the scriptures. They were a really big help for us. He was baptized on Saturday, interviewed for the Aaronic Priesthood right after, then confirmed and ordained as a priest on Sunday. We had 5 of our investigators come, not to mention like 5 or 6 other non-members that we aren't teaching yet. There was a really good turn out from the ward as well, a lot of people came to support him.
So I'm just wrapping things up here in Guam before I go back to Palau on Friday. It's still a secret until Wednesday, but I figured by the time you guys try to leak the secret to anyone, everyone in the mission will already know what's happening. Wednesday we're having a meeting with all the trainers, where President Mecham, my companion, and I will go over the new 12-week training program, and emphasize how important the role of a trainer is. I'm actually going back to Palau to open a new area that missionaries haven't been in before, and to train a new missionary. His name is Elder Rokodakunivosa - he's from Fiji. I won't get to meet him until next week, since he's coming from the New Zealand MTC and arrives on a different day, but I'm excited to see how things go. There's a lot of uncertainty ahead since it's a new apartment, new area, new companion, and just a handful of members that are all less-active. I've been communicating with Elder Wright (who's now the Zone Leader in Palau) on finding a good apartment in the area that we're looking at, but we've totally kept him in the dark that I'm coming. He and I got along really well when we were companions, so I'm excited to go back and work with him, even though he won't be my companion. I told Elder Malit that my goal for the rest of my mission is to teach more lessons than him every single week. It's not really fair because he'll be laden down with administrative duties and all I'll have to do is teach all day, every day. Again this is a secret, so hopefully none of the senior couples are going to read my blog and spill to the younger missionaries on their islands. Jacob, maybe you could wait to put this in until after 9:00 pm Wednesday night our time. Not that people care that much about what happens in a 4-man zone in the western corner of the mission, but secrets are secrets.
I don't really have anything else this week, we were just super busy running from appointment to appointment. We skipped dinner most days just because we had appointments scheduled (we just ate really quick when we came in for the night). I haven't been able to teach so much in months. We came in every night just beat, but it's satisfying to reflect back and look at the work you did and actually feel successful. Our area should be having a lot of baptisms in August. Things started working out for us all of a sudden. I'd much rather leave an area on that note, than leaving it dead.
I love you guys,
Elder Barlow
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