Trunky for Chuuk

RAN ALLIM!

Thanks for e-mailing early! P-Day is switched permanently to Monday so (not that it matters for too much longer but...) keep e-mailing me earlier!

That's way awesome that you got to speak with Elder Christopherson dad, he's the man! Were you nervous? ha Every time President Dowdle received a call from him, before he came to Guam and Chuuk, you could tell that he was calling because President Dowdle would become real serious and walk into another room. That's neat though... I've told you what President Dowdle thinks and he thinks that you might be called to be a Mission President... You never know... Just released from BYU ward, speaks spanish, works for the church, kids are leaving home...... I don't know.... ha ha Just kidding. Have you heard anything about the Cranney's? Didn't he get called to go serve in Russia? How are they doing? Are they back?

You'll all have to tell me how Zach and Doug's talks went, that's so neat that they get to speak together!

Zach those are some killer shoes man! Those are way sweet the only problem with them is that they are Nike and not Adidas... someday you'll learn. I am on Moroni 10 in the Book of Mormon. That is the last chapter in the book (in case you didn't know. ha). I'll finish it tomorrow.

You all couldn't wait for me to come home before you had the Wells family reunion!? What is that? Just kidding, I hope you all have fun down there in St. George. Elder Hatch and I looked up our apartment on Google Earth from here in the office. It looks great! and so does Glenwood! I could care less, although I am pretty pumped about it being close to the Richards Building so that it's a short walk to practice.

I talked to Brother DeValle again today about translation. He was pumped as ever about having me join. He reaffirmed that they'll shove as much stuff as they can at whoever can handle it. ha He's going to send me a translation test before I leave so that they can evaluate me or something like that... (Ironic that I'm going to be evaluated by another returned missionary instead of a local hmm..... I guess that's just because there aren't any on the team. ha) After all that is done I'm pretty much good to go. I've completed all the applications that he has given me, the only thing left is that I need a worthiness interview with Bishop Dyer when I get home, which he sends to Brother DeValle and then I'm good to go! So maybe you could mention that to Bishop Dyer. I'll just get Bishop Dyer's info. when I get home so that I can send it here to Brother DeValle who will then send an e-mail to Bishop Dyer to confirm worthiness. That's it! Coolness!

What's going on with summer swim training? What are the UVRays up to this summer? Do you know anything about the training Tim will have going on during the summer?

We're pushing hard for Zone Leader Council next week! I think we're going to blow it out of the water! I'm really excited for some of the ideas that we've come up with. Orientation is going to be better too! We've added some new things to it and it's going to blow everyone out of the water! President Dowdle is going to love it! (he already does like the stuff that we changed but he's going to like it even more now!) I do know where Tanner's friend is going! But, if I told you I'd have to kill you... and I love you too much for that! ha

The new Assistant will be coming with us at the end of this week... which will be odd because I will kind of be the third wheel for the following weeks! It's cool, as long as we keep meeting Chuukese! I love them so much! The one thing I'm most scared about going home is not being able to be around Chuukese people. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself... I think about it and it doesn't quite make sense in my brain because I don't want to accept the fact that it's going to happen.

Lot's of people ask me if I'm "trunky" (ready/wanting to go home). I respond to them........ YES! I am very trunky!..... I am very trunky for Chuuk. That surprises them. ha

I don't know what else to say. We did a lot of finding last week with little success. I don't really enjoy finding all that much in Guam. In Chuuk it was great! We got into every house we went to! Here in Guam we can go all day without making it into one. (Unless we run into some Chuukese... which fortunately is often, as long as you know where to go) I'm not complaining! No way! Don't get me wrong. People like Jason Bodine are inspirations to me, because they can do that! They are amazing! For reals I look up to those guys. But it's rough coming from what has happened for the past 20 months and then to something totally new. It makes you grow a lot, so I take some comfort in that fact. ha

Yes, Chuukese are great! You are great! I love the Lord and His work and it is great!

Peace and love like a dove!

Tong me kinamwe ussun emon muro!

Elder Wells "Ito"

Photos of New Chuuk Chapel - The Nicest Building in Chuuk!

We got the following photos from Elder Christopherson. Scott had called him before he left for Chuuk to dedicate the new chapel and meet with government officials. He talked with his Secretary to let him know that we had a son in Chuuk and to say hello to him. It was nice of him to call Scott back and report that he had spent a couple of days with Elder Wells and that we was doing well. He then forwarded these photos on to us that he got from President Dowdle who got them from the Duncans, the Senior Couple on Chuuk! The second photo is the new basketball court that is lighted and right next to the chapel.

New Chuuk Chapel

Thoughts from Elder Chistopherson

Ran Allim ami!

Wow! Two weeks of e-mails that is intense! Fun to read though... Thanks!!

The coaching job sounds great!! Count me in I'm all for it! Thanks for suggesting my name to them! I'm stoked I get to pound Zach into the ground! ha Packages take maybe a week to get here, sometimes faster. It's pretty easy here in Guam.

That's crazy that you're released from being in that Bishopric dad. It seems like you've been in that thing forever! What's your new calling going to be now!? Good work Syd on going undefeated and keep playing aggressive it feels good to knock someone over... ha Is Sydnee swimming this summer? Or is she just going to be a soccer girl? I think she made a good choice to play soccer over dance... I was getting a little worried there...

Ok, I'll share some thoughts from Elder Christopherson. The messages he shared were very different in both Chuuk and Guam so it was interesting to be there to listen to both and feel the difference. A question was asked in Guam about what we can do to keep our faith doubt free. I loved his response, it was interesting. "You can't!" He then went on to explain that from our peephole on the vision of eternity to keep our faith free of doubt was impossible. Not until we are exalted and inherit the Celestial Kingdom when every jot and every tittle... everything will be made manifest unto us will we be able to know everything and by knowing everything be free of doubt. I think that surprised plenty of the missionaries... but he continued. He held up the Book of Mormon and he said "But you can know enough that your doubts will not hold you back." He explained that a spiritual witness of the reality of the Book of Mormon will keep your faith more than strong enough to withstand the doubts and enabling us to continually progress spiritually. If we do not have a concrete witness of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon then our doubts will plague us and hinder us from progressing all our lives. On the other hand if our witness is solid and we know the Book of Mormon to be true our doubts will be resolved one by one as we progress to exaltation where we will know all things.

I enjoyed that. He's a stud. The meeting in Chuuk was just different all together. The spirit was stronger there and the spirit witnessed to my soul over and over as I sat and listened to him that he was an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was more personal in Chuuk. The Chuuk Zone has always been a band of brothers and you can feel it. It feels different than any zone I've been in or visited and it was felt by Elder Christopherson and has been felt and remarked on by General Authorities in the past. Because of that, I believe, Elder Christopherson spoke on a different level to us and the things he said to us there I take to be very sacred. I'll share them, maybe, sometime when I return.

I wanted to personally ask him what he thought of Chuuk, but we ran out of time. So I asked President Dowdle what he might have mentioned to him. President Dowdle said that Elder Christopherson was very humbled in going to Chuuk. (and everyone is) He said that Elder Christopherson was impressed by the wonderful spirit that he found in Chuuk in general and especially amongst the people. He'll give a good report on Thursday in his meeting with the 12 and First Presidency in the Temple. I just think that's so cool! They're going to talk about Chuuk in the highest councils of the Church! Hopefully they'll send more missionaries! There is just not enough Chuukese speaking missionaries to help the greatest people in the world!

Ok, I don't remember anything else. Oh, when we were in Kosrae we went to some ancient ruins of a city that was built out of these huge basalt rocks! It was intense! I have no idea how in the world they piled huge huge rocks on top of each other. It was pretty amazing... I'll just have to show you the pictures.

Ok, now I've run out of things to write, or at least forgotten most of the things I was going to wirte..... Oh yeah.... I love Chuuk and Chuukese people!!!!!!! I think that about covers everything. ha

Tong Ennet fit Jaiwak,
Elder Wells "Ito"

These Last Few Weeks are Packed

Ran Allim!!

Thanks so much for your letters, and I 'm sorry that today will have to be short. We are in Kosrae right now and don't have much time so I'm just e-mailing you to tell you that I'll be calling you all on my 17th which is your 16th at around 12:00 my time... So be there at sometime around then and I'll call. We'll be in Chuuk on Mothers day visiting the missionaries so we probably wont have time, but don't you worry... I'm going to call you all!

Elder Paton and Colemere say hi! Ok so it turns out I just got a lot more time because the other elders got on and now we're going to be here forever! I think we're going to go see some Kosraen ruins. It should be pretty cool. I just came from teaching a Chuukese member... He was a stud!

Ok, so we'll be on tour until next Thursday and then we fly back! I'm sad because that will be my last time in Chuuk as a missionary but I'm happy that I do get to go back! Elder Christopherson is flying in to Chuuk on Wednesday and having a member meeting/dedication followed by a missionary meeting! That missionary meeting will have 12 missionaries there plus the Duncans and the Dowdles coming out to a whopping total of 16 people meeting with Elder Christopherson! Yeah it's going to be intense! I'm pumped about it! Then on Thursday he's going to meet with some government officials before he flies back to Guam. We'll be flying back on the same flight as him! Then Friday he will have another missionary meeting in Guam! There will be a few more missionaries there... only like 24 though, so I'm pumped out of my mind to be to all these meetings with an Apostle! These last few weeks are getting packed with stuff going down!

We have Zone Leader council the very last week of the transfer and that's always madness with getting all the ZL's in from their islands and then having crazy long meetings and a bunch of other stuff that comes along with Zone Leader Council. The new assistant usually comes a week or so early so that I can show him some stuff that he has to do, so that will be the last week of the transfer, right along with Zone Leader Council! Guam District Conference is happening after Elder Christopherson takes off. The two weeks that are sandwiched between Tour/Elder Christopherson and Zone Leader Council are packed as well. We need to go on four exchanges with missionaries in Guam, prepare everything for Zone Leader Council (which is a lot), the FINAL interview with President, and go to a final testimony meeting for departing missionaries! It's non-stop action for the next month so hold my breath and hope it goes well! Plus I have to train Elder Colemere in assistant stuff... Which really isn't all that much but he seems pretty overwhelmed to have me leaving! ha What he doesn't know is that I don't know what I'm doing half the time... I'm just making it up!!ha

What else..... Erevin Benjamin, the chuukese guy we baptized, got the Aaronic Priesthood last week and he's so pumped about it! He comes teaching with us 3 to 4 times a week and would like to come with us everyday if we could! I love him!

Happy Mothers day mom!!! All you kids better take care of mom well or I'm going to pummel you when I get there!

Zach Miller is coming home! That is insane!! You all better give him big huge hugs for me!! Same with Jason Bodine if you see him hanging around.. Give him a hug for me too! As well as Brady Hafen!! Better yet hug everyone that I know for me! THanks

Ok, that threw me off my train of thought... I've lost it... I'm coming up blank........... Yeah ok, I give up.

Oh, so translation is looking pretty good! Brother Devalle has had me do some stuff already and he liked it, which is odd because he can't read Chuukese. He's really excited about me helping out with translation, he says there is so much stuff that needs to be translated and they have no one to do it! Translation is based in Guam, but Interpretation is in Salt Lake. Interpretation does the General Conference and any other broadcasts that are translated in Chuukese. Brother Devalle said that Interpretation is full of a bunch of RM's that have been off their missions for 10-15 years. Translation on the other hand just wants anyone and everyone that is knew and fresh. Getting hooked up with him and the translation department is the way to go and I'm stoked about it!

Oh, something else that's cool. President Dowdle is making a formal request to the missionary department that all missionaries assigned to the Micronesia Guam Mission be taught Chuukese in the MTC!!! He says because the Chuukese are everywhere and they are, right now, prepared for the gospel and they are accepting it full on! If they learned it in the MTC they will no doubt use it at some point on their mission and even if they go to Pohnpei or somewhere they will use it and it will help them learn Pohnpeian or Kosraen or whatever it is. Then he talked about how if it was approved they would have two RM living together in BYU that could get the class started............. Elder Sorenson and Me! How sweet would that be!!!! Gangsta!! We don't know yet, but all the missionaries have agreed that it would have helped tremendously to have learned Chuukese....................! What can I say Chuuk is the best!! But you all already knew that............................. right?

Ok, so what was going to be a short letter turned out to be a really long one!

Ai tong ngenikemi! Love you all! Akkaeuin ngeni inach nan! First to mom!

Tong Ennet fiti Jaiwak!

Elder Wells "ITO"