3/28/10
Ran Allim ngenikemi ika neran nge nepong annim ika nepwin!
Man, so we're having Zone Conference tomorrow, which means that P-Day is today.... Yeah bad idea whoever came up with that idea! So I don't know what to say to you guys because you didn't say anything to me, but we went to Saipan and that was really fun! Elder Mafile'o is a stud!! I love him! Saipan was nice, similar to Guam but not as big and it was a lot slower which I enjoyed a lot! It had a more "islandy" feel if you know what I mean. It was really fun to work with the four elders up there and I even taught three or four Chuukese lessons so that was the bomb! There were quite a bit of Filipino's and there is a Filipino elder up there so I sat in a bunch of Tagalog lessons! Which is kinda nuts. I go to Pohnpei and Kosrae and sit in lessons where I don't know anything that is going on... Then I go to Saipan and sit in a bunch of lessons where I don't what is going on because it's all in Tagalog! ha
Ok so now I got a big favor... ha Elder Sorensen got accepted to BYU!!!!! He went to Boise State before he came out but he didn't want to go back so he got on the ball and applied for BYU after I talked him into it... and he got accepted!! So this is the favor! Since he just barely got accepted he doesn't have anywhere to live or anything soooooooooo when he called in for numbers on Sunday from Chuuk and he told me all this I was like brother I know a woman who does work like no other human being can and she can get not only you hooked up but me as well and whoever else is in on the party! So if you haven't guessed yet I was talking about you mom. ha Because you see here is the plan. Elder Sorensen and I know Chuukese like we were born there (something close to that) so Bro. Devalle (head of translation) is trying to get us to do translation stuff when we get home. I could talk a lot about that but anyway the real fact of the matter is that there are only three people on the Chuukese translation team and they honestly don't know that good of Chuukese because Elder Sorensen and I read their stuff and it doesn't make sense, but anyway, doing translation means money! And that is something that I will definitely not have a lot of when I get back! ha So translation is the way to go for some kind of date money. ha ha But Elder Sorensen and I are going to work together to translate everything they can throw at us! Yeah so you see where this is leading? I told President Dowdle and he was more than fully supportive of him and I translating and even more so on us living together. So what I would like to do more than anything is to be able to live with Elder Sorensen somewhere. That would be my number one choice over anything and anyone (except if Zach Miller could room with us as well that would be number one!) So I know I've asked for a lot of stuff recently but this one and a Chuukese dictionary are the only ones that really matter, and a room with Sorensen is the number one. Soooo there it is, I feel bad because I just say something and then leave you all hanging. But I love you all so much!
Thank you Mckenzie for writing your letter early so I had some letter to read! You're a stud!!
Love you all!
Tong Ennet fit Jaiwak,
Elder Wells "Ito"
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
More baptisms!
Ran Allim ami!
I don't know if I'll be able to pull another letter out like last time. Man that thing was long!! But so much good stuff happened I just had to let you all know! Well last Saturday Sampo got baptized! It was a wonderful service, and a lot different than any baptismal service that happened in Chuuk! It seemed so organized and everyone was on time... I didn't know what to do with myself. His whole family is Chuukese so it was pretty much a Chuukese baptismal service and I was asked to give a talk on baptism again so I gave it mostly in Chuukese and threw in some English because I felt bad for the branch president and the other missionaries that were there! Enrik baptized him! Enrik is another studly Chuukese guy from Toloas that is preparing to go on a mission! He should be getting it this week! He's amazing and is already so ready and focused to go on a mission! I love him to death and being able to work with him definitely keeps me sane! We're promise brothers so he's always got my back and he'll feed me a lot and I got his back and help him out with whatever it is that he wants! Yesterday he spent the whole day teaching with us! Which was awesome because me and him just tore it up teaching all the Chuukese here Guam! He's a stud and is one of the best parts about being in Guam. Him and another Chuukese guy named Cheech. He's my brother too, and he comes and helps us teach a lot as well!
Just yesterday Me, Cheech, Enrik and Elder Tew (I was on an exchange) went and set up four chicken traps for a member. The member's name is Tavita and he's a blind Samoan that wants to eat chicken way bad! ha ha So I told him that I got some Chuukese friends that could help him out! We went to his house and set em' all up and he's going to be eating fresh chicken by tonight! He's a stud, and he wants to learn Chuukese so that he can come to the Chuukese class on Sunday because he loves Chuukese people too, especially Enrik and Cheech. He just calls me "the Chuukese guy" and I call him pwipwi (which is like sole or si'i in or brutha) in Chuukese and he loves it! I'm pumped to call him and see if he caught a rooster because if he did he's gonna give it to Cheech and Enrik. Yeah they're studs!
There are two more Chuukese boys that we are teaching that came to church last Sunday and should be getting baptized on the 17th of April! I'm pumped for that as well! I might say it too much for you all but Chuukese are definitely the greatest people ever! Oh yeah so transfers happened and Elder Sorenson is going back to Chuuk!!!!! He's so lucky! But Chuuk needs him! He needs to get the missionaries there whipped back into shape. I just wish I could be more apart of it. I wish I could be in the front lines with Elder Sorenson kicking trash and taking names. ha (figuratively) But he'll do a great job! Those definitely had to be the three greatest transfers ever! The three transfers Sorenson and I were together were amazing! I miss his guts. He's actually extending so he'll go home a transfer after me which means I'll be at his homecoming! Yeah!
Ok, before I forget could you send me the memory cards back please? I'm out of room on the one that I have right now and I need to take lot's more pictures! And one other huge favor. If you could find time could you look and see if they sell any Chuukese dictionaries online? I know there was one that was published because I saw it in Chuuk but if there's one online that would be sweet. The guy that did it was named Ward H. Goodenough. He lived for like 60 years on Romalum and then wrote a dictionary with the help of University of Hawaii. That would be so so so awesome but if you can't no worries.
We're flying to Saipan tomorrow morning and we'll be back in Guam on Friday. Elder Mafile'o is in Saipan so I'm pretty pumped to go see him and work with him again. He and Elder Mabey are companions now. They're studs! And I love them.
Anything else I need to do for school or for swimming? Tim knows I'm coming right? You can tell him that I'm going to blow him out of the water! ha Anymore news on BYU swimming? I'm working out extra hard in the morning now. ha Well as much as I can in 30 minutes and it's a lot easier to keep off weight here in Guam because I don't like this food that we get here that much, and they don't have parties where you eat until you fall over and go to sleep. ha So I'm looking good. Watch out!
Hey don't forget I love you all! So don't be going anywhere! Mckenzie guess what!? I had a dream that we raced.... I can't remember who won but it must have been me because my brain can't dream up something that is impossible! ha ha ha
Tong Ennet fiti Jaiwak!
Elter Wells "Ito"
I don't know if I'll be able to pull another letter out like last time. Man that thing was long!! But so much good stuff happened I just had to let you all know! Well last Saturday Sampo got baptized! It was a wonderful service, and a lot different than any baptismal service that happened in Chuuk! It seemed so organized and everyone was on time... I didn't know what to do with myself. His whole family is Chuukese so it was pretty much a Chuukese baptismal service and I was asked to give a talk on baptism again so I gave it mostly in Chuukese and threw in some English because I felt bad for the branch president and the other missionaries that were there! Enrik baptized him! Enrik is another studly Chuukese guy from Toloas that is preparing to go on a mission! He should be getting it this week! He's amazing and is already so ready and focused to go on a mission! I love him to death and being able to work with him definitely keeps me sane! We're promise brothers so he's always got my back and he'll feed me a lot and I got his back and help him out with whatever it is that he wants! Yesterday he spent the whole day teaching with us! Which was awesome because me and him just tore it up teaching all the Chuukese here Guam! He's a stud and is one of the best parts about being in Guam. Him and another Chuukese guy named Cheech. He's my brother too, and he comes and helps us teach a lot as well!
Just yesterday Me, Cheech, Enrik and Elder Tew (I was on an exchange) went and set up four chicken traps for a member. The member's name is Tavita and he's a blind Samoan that wants to eat chicken way bad! ha ha So I told him that I got some Chuukese friends that could help him out! We went to his house and set em' all up and he's going to be eating fresh chicken by tonight! He's a stud, and he wants to learn Chuukese so that he can come to the Chuukese class on Sunday because he loves Chuukese people too, especially Enrik and Cheech. He just calls me "the Chuukese guy" and I call him pwipwi (which is like sole or si'i in or brutha) in Chuukese and he loves it! I'm pumped to call him and see if he caught a rooster because if he did he's gonna give it to Cheech and Enrik. Yeah they're studs!
There are two more Chuukese boys that we are teaching that came to church last Sunday and should be getting baptized on the 17th of April! I'm pumped for that as well! I might say it too much for you all but Chuukese are definitely the greatest people ever! Oh yeah so transfers happened and Elder Sorenson is going back to Chuuk!!!!! He's so lucky! But Chuuk needs him! He needs to get the missionaries there whipped back into shape. I just wish I could be more apart of it. I wish I could be in the front lines with Elder Sorenson kicking trash and taking names. ha (figuratively) But he'll do a great job! Those definitely had to be the three greatest transfers ever! The three transfers Sorenson and I were together were amazing! I miss his guts. He's actually extending so he'll go home a transfer after me which means I'll be at his homecoming! Yeah!
Ok, before I forget could you send me the memory cards back please? I'm out of room on the one that I have right now and I need to take lot's more pictures! And one other huge favor. If you could find time could you look and see if they sell any Chuukese dictionaries online? I know there was one that was published because I saw it in Chuuk but if there's one online that would be sweet. The guy that did it was named Ward H. Goodenough. He lived for like 60 years on Romalum and then wrote a dictionary with the help of University of Hawaii. That would be so so so awesome but if you can't no worries.
We're flying to Saipan tomorrow morning and we'll be back in Guam on Friday. Elder Mafile'o is in Saipan so I'm pretty pumped to go see him and work with him again. He and Elder Mabey are companions now. They're studs! And I love them.
Anything else I need to do for school or for swimming? Tim knows I'm coming right? You can tell him that I'm going to blow him out of the water! ha Anymore news on BYU swimming? I'm working out extra hard in the morning now. ha Well as much as I can in 30 minutes and it's a lot easier to keep off weight here in Guam because I don't like this food that we get here that much, and they don't have parties where you eat until you fall over and go to sleep. ha So I'm looking good. Watch out!
Hey don't forget I love you all! So don't be going anywhere! Mckenzie guess what!? I had a dream that we raced.... I can't remember who won but it must have been me because my brain can't dream up something that is impossible! ha ha ha
Tong Ennet fiti Jaiwak!
Elter Wells "Ito"
Friday, March 19, 2010
I Still LOVE Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae are pretty cool too.
This one is kind of long but we didn't get one last week and he was updating us on the new islands he went to which is pretty interesting. ---K
Fakkun Ran Allim Chapur Ngenikemi!!
Ifa ussen ekkana inis? How are those bodies doing? ha Man! It was so good to go back to Chuuk! It was so good and all the members and Recent Converts were doing so well! They are all amazing and were so beautiful! Chuukese are the most beautiful of all the Micronesians by far and I was reminded of that again as I went and saw them! I love them so much, and now I'm homesick for Chuuk. ha We went to all the areas that are open in Chuuk which right now is only Romalum, Mwan, Mechitiw, and Sapuk. Not too many but it was so good to see everyone! It was so great because after being Zone Leader for a while I knew tons of people in every area so each area I went to there was always someone that I was just dieing to see and it was so good to see them and talk to them! It was really overwhelming and I am a girl so of course I cried a lot, but definitely the happiest part of the tour and one of the happiest moments in my life was to be able to be at Mensi's baptism! It was amazing! To have found him and his family, to teach them, and work with them to baptism only to get pulled out of Chuuk the Thursday before they were getting baptized was rough, but the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen and it was indeed a very tender mercy for me to be able to attend the baptism of the father (his wife and daughter had been baptized on that week that I left)! Samone and Marsine and their family were at the baptism along with Matasio and his family and Estino and Mensi's wife and daughter were there as well!! I was asked to give a talk on baptism and I was pumped to do so! When I got up in the front of that rickety old chapel and looked at all those people that I loved so much, that I had labored with so much, with Mensi all in white (along with Matasio who baptized him) was too much for this heart of mine to handle and I, physically, almost fainted. I cried a good amount and talked about baptism and how this choice Mensi and his family had made was going to change their lives forever, just look at Samone and Matasio's families. He got baptized and it was studly and everyone was pumped out of their minds and I was just running around like a chicken talking to everybody. ha Mormon's abridgment of Ammon's experience with King Lamoni and the queen (Alma19), to me, is descriptive of what I felt. Except for in Ammon's account he was overpowered with joy and did in fact faint. That is definitely not a play on words or any other weird concept but it literally meant his body and mind was full of so much joy that his physical frame couldn't take it. It is real, I have felt that way. I honestly was at the brink of being overpowered by joy and sinking to the ground. The only thing that kept me going is I had a talk to give:) ha. Ok I could talk about that forever but I'll move on.
Chuuk was the first place we visited. Pohnpei was next on our stop. It was crazy!! It was similar to Chuuk but at the same time not similar at all. It was huge!!! It was a sprawling metropolis compared to Chuuk!! The roads were nice, stores were nice, all the houses were very nice (especially missionary ones). It blew my mind! I had imagined it being similar to Chuuk seeing that they are both apart of the FSM but it was not. Much much much more developed! It was crazy!! Lot's of people knew English and even crazier is that there are about 4,000 outer island Chuukese that live in select areas on Pohnpei!! The first day I got there I taught four lessons in Chuukese on Pohnpei! It was nuts! In Chuuk only Chuukese are there and I thought that was how it was everywhere. Guess not. Pohnpei is really really green! Lots and lots of thick dense trees in Pohnpei it’s more jungly like than Chuuk is, but I suppose that that is due to the fact that all the islands in Chuuk are way too small to have a jungle! ha The whole island is surrounded by mangrove trees so you rarely see the ocean which was odd. They have a nice road that goes all the way around the island with a bunch of other roads that get me all confused. The mountains are really quite tall in Pohnpei and they have insanely steep roads going up them that are impossible to bike up and a pain and a half to walk up! ha Pohnpeians, I guess, like to live more in seclusion and while I was there we did some finding and we’d get on a trail and walk 45 minutes not seeing a single person until we got to the end of the trail and there was a house there. It was nuts! Similar to Wichap but multiplied by 5. We worked with all the elders and drove all the way around the island, we went to a district meeting and they have four sisters on that island as well which was cool to hear them speaking Pohnpeian. The elders were all very nice and seemed to be doing great! Oh yeah, it was kind of overcast the whole time I was there and I guess that is how it is all the time. Apparently it’s the 2nd most rainiest place on earth. I road on a bike for the first time in probably over 2 years and that was weird… I wasn’t too good at it, especially being with an elder that had been riding bikes for the past 8-9 months on his mission! ha We got there on Monday and stayed until Friday. Friday morning we took off to Kosrae!
Kosrae was very very pretty! I really liked Kosrae but I have no idea why a plane would fly into that place! No one lives there! ha Well I believe there’s like 8,000 people on the island but it’s the second biggest island in the FSM so it feels like no one is there. It is really nice though. They had a nice restaurant that we ate at that was on a plank path out into the mangroves! You can see the ocean a lot in Kosrae and I enjoyed that because in Pohnpei and Guam I didn’t or don’t see it that often. Chuuk you see it all the time like Kosrae so it reminded me of Chuuk. There are four missionaries on Kosrae along with a couple and all their houses are way nice!! I was blown away! If you were to take the worst living conditions/ apartment/ house, out of all the islands except Chuuk and then took the best living conditions of missionaries in Chuuk it wouldn’t even compare. The best conditions in Chuuk are light years behind the worst conditions on any other island. ha Here I thought all this time that all the missionaries were living like me on Chuuk (with the exception of Guam and Saipan) when in reality they have been living in luxury! It’s insane the difference! Chuuk is definitely not for the faint of heart. I honestly was dumbfounded. But then again I’m a Chuuk thug. ha Kosrae was great! The language didn’t sound anything like Chuukese or Pohnpeian (which do have some similarities) but the elders seemed to have it down pretty good. The road is really nice and flat and smooth there as well. We rode around on beach cruiser bikes the whole day which was sweet! I would have like to spend more time on Kosrae but we took a flight out of Kosrae Midday on Saturday. We just taught a bunch of lessons and had a good time talking about the mission. The ZL’s house was way cold, it reminded me of Guam. If someone were to ask me which island in the FSM they should go vacation at I would say Kosrae. It's a little tropical island with beautiful beaches, clear water and they had some really nice hotels. Don’t get me wrong Chuuk is definitely the best of all the islands by far. It puts everyone in the dust. But because tourists aren’t usually up for the craziness of Chuuk (not tough enough) Kosrae would be a nice place because nothing big ever happens there. It’s just peaceful. President says it reminds him a lot of Kauai(Hawaii).
After the tour my love for Chuukese people grew even more because they live, in general, in more humbling circumstances than the other islands. I love Chuuk so much! So this Saturday Sampo should be getting baptized! ha We just found some more Chuukese that are great and they’ll be getting baptized soon as well! If I can’t be in Chuuk and baptize I guess I'll just baptize Chuukese in Guam! Next week we’ll be flying to Saipan to go work with the missionaries there! And then two weeks after that we’ll fly out to Yap and then Palau.
Congrats Zach on winning your tournament bro. But I gotta tell you that Chuukese are known for being good at basketball and volleyball and I dominate in both of those now! ha Sorry this is a long one and I can’t remember what you all said but I really do love you guys a lot and I pray for you all to do well. Kelsey keep training hard! McKenzie you’re a stud! Zach keep trying to be like me! Syd you’re the cutest of us all! ha Mom and Dad I hope you have a super stellar time in Palm Springs!
Tong Ennet fiti Jaiwak!
Elder Wells “Ito”
P.S……………..Ummm I can’t remember anymore ha
Fakkun Ran Allim Chapur Ngenikemi!!
Ifa ussen ekkana inis? How are those bodies doing? ha Man! It was so good to go back to Chuuk! It was so good and all the members and Recent Converts were doing so well! They are all amazing and were so beautiful! Chuukese are the most beautiful of all the Micronesians by far and I was reminded of that again as I went and saw them! I love them so much, and now I'm homesick for Chuuk. ha We went to all the areas that are open in Chuuk which right now is only Romalum, Mwan, Mechitiw, and Sapuk. Not too many but it was so good to see everyone! It was so great because after being Zone Leader for a while I knew tons of people in every area so each area I went to there was always someone that I was just dieing to see and it was so good to see them and talk to them! It was really overwhelming and I am a girl so of course I cried a lot, but definitely the happiest part of the tour and one of the happiest moments in my life was to be able to be at Mensi's baptism! It was amazing! To have found him and his family, to teach them, and work with them to baptism only to get pulled out of Chuuk the Thursday before they were getting baptized was rough, but the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen and it was indeed a very tender mercy for me to be able to attend the baptism of the father (his wife and daughter had been baptized on that week that I left)! Samone and Marsine and their family were at the baptism along with Matasio and his family and Estino and Mensi's wife and daughter were there as well!! I was asked to give a talk on baptism and I was pumped to do so! When I got up in the front of that rickety old chapel and looked at all those people that I loved so much, that I had labored with so much, with Mensi all in white (along with Matasio who baptized him) was too much for this heart of mine to handle and I, physically, almost fainted. I cried a good amount and talked about baptism and how this choice Mensi and his family had made was going to change their lives forever, just look at Samone and Matasio's families. He got baptized and it was studly and everyone was pumped out of their minds and I was just running around like a chicken talking to everybody. ha Mormon's abridgment of Ammon's experience with King Lamoni and the queen (Alma19), to me, is descriptive of what I felt. Except for in Ammon's account he was overpowered with joy and did in fact faint. That is definitely not a play on words or any other weird concept but it literally meant his body and mind was full of so much joy that his physical frame couldn't take it. It is real, I have felt that way. I honestly was at the brink of being overpowered by joy and sinking to the ground. The only thing that kept me going is I had a talk to give:) ha. Ok I could talk about that forever but I'll move on.
Chuuk was the first place we visited. Pohnpei was next on our stop. It was crazy!! It was similar to Chuuk but at the same time not similar at all. It was huge!!! It was a sprawling metropolis compared to Chuuk!! The roads were nice, stores were nice, all the houses were very nice (especially missionary ones). It blew my mind! I had imagined it being similar to Chuuk seeing that they are both apart of the FSM but it was not. Much much much more developed! It was crazy!! Lot's of people knew English and even crazier is that there are about 4,000 outer island Chuukese that live in select areas on Pohnpei!! The first day I got there I taught four lessons in Chuukese on Pohnpei! It was nuts! In Chuuk only Chuukese are there and I thought that was how it was everywhere. Guess not. Pohnpei is really really green! Lots and lots of thick dense trees in Pohnpei it’s more jungly like than Chuuk is, but I suppose that that is due to the fact that all the islands in Chuuk are way too small to have a jungle! ha The whole island is surrounded by mangrove trees so you rarely see the ocean which was odd. They have a nice road that goes all the way around the island with a bunch of other roads that get me all confused. The mountains are really quite tall in Pohnpei and they have insanely steep roads going up them that are impossible to bike up and a pain and a half to walk up! ha Pohnpeians, I guess, like to live more in seclusion and while I was there we did some finding and we’d get on a trail and walk 45 minutes not seeing a single person until we got to the end of the trail and there was a house there. It was nuts! Similar to Wichap but multiplied by 5. We worked with all the elders and drove all the way around the island, we went to a district meeting and they have four sisters on that island as well which was cool to hear them speaking Pohnpeian. The elders were all very nice and seemed to be doing great! Oh yeah, it was kind of overcast the whole time I was there and I guess that is how it is all the time. Apparently it’s the 2nd most rainiest place on earth. I road on a bike for the first time in probably over 2 years and that was weird… I wasn’t too good at it, especially being with an elder that had been riding bikes for the past 8-9 months on his mission! ha We got there on Monday and stayed until Friday. Friday morning we took off to Kosrae!
Kosrae was very very pretty! I really liked Kosrae but I have no idea why a plane would fly into that place! No one lives there! ha Well I believe there’s like 8,000 people on the island but it’s the second biggest island in the FSM so it feels like no one is there. It is really nice though. They had a nice restaurant that we ate at that was on a plank path out into the mangroves! You can see the ocean a lot in Kosrae and I enjoyed that because in Pohnpei and Guam I didn’t or don’t see it that often. Chuuk you see it all the time like Kosrae so it reminded me of Chuuk. There are four missionaries on Kosrae along with a couple and all their houses are way nice!! I was blown away! If you were to take the worst living conditions/ apartment/ house, out of all the islands except Chuuk and then took the best living conditions of missionaries in Chuuk it wouldn’t even compare. The best conditions in Chuuk are light years behind the worst conditions on any other island. ha Here I thought all this time that all the missionaries were living like me on Chuuk (with the exception of Guam and Saipan) when in reality they have been living in luxury! It’s insane the difference! Chuuk is definitely not for the faint of heart. I honestly was dumbfounded. But then again I’m a Chuuk thug. ha Kosrae was great! The language didn’t sound anything like Chuukese or Pohnpeian (which do have some similarities) but the elders seemed to have it down pretty good. The road is really nice and flat and smooth there as well. We rode around on beach cruiser bikes the whole day which was sweet! I would have like to spend more time on Kosrae but we took a flight out of Kosrae Midday on Saturday. We just taught a bunch of lessons and had a good time talking about the mission. The ZL’s house was way cold, it reminded me of Guam. If someone were to ask me which island in the FSM they should go vacation at I would say Kosrae. It's a little tropical island with beautiful beaches, clear water and they had some really nice hotels. Don’t get me wrong Chuuk is definitely the best of all the islands by far. It puts everyone in the dust. But because tourists aren’t usually up for the craziness of Chuuk (not tough enough) Kosrae would be a nice place because nothing big ever happens there. It’s just peaceful. President says it reminds him a lot of Kauai(Hawaii).
After the tour my love for Chuukese people grew even more because they live, in general, in more humbling circumstances than the other islands. I love Chuuk so much! So this Saturday Sampo should be getting baptized! ha We just found some more Chuukese that are great and they’ll be getting baptized soon as well! If I can’t be in Chuuk and baptize I guess I'll just baptize Chuukese in Guam! Next week we’ll be flying to Saipan to go work with the missionaries there! And then two weeks after that we’ll fly out to Yap and then Palau.
Congrats Zach on winning your tournament bro. But I gotta tell you that Chuukese are known for being good at basketball and volleyball and I dominate in both of those now! ha Sorry this is a long one and I can’t remember what you all said but I really do love you guys a lot and I pray for you all to do well. Kelsey keep training hard! McKenzie you’re a stud! Zach keep trying to be like me! Syd you’re the cutest of us all! ha Mom and Dad I hope you have a super stellar time in Palm Springs!
Tong Ennet fiti Jaiwak!
Elder Wells “Ito”
P.S……………..Ummm I can’t remember anymore ha
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Never a missionary in February again
Ran Allim!!
I'll never be a missionary in the month of February again. Weird that I can say that every time we leave a month.ha You can e-mail to either e-mail address, the church has changed the e-mail service and my lds mail is now powered by google and is exactly like Gmail and runs a lot better apparently. I wouldn't know the difference seeing as I just started but hey it's cool. I actually think that anyone can use it but I don't know. ha The old account will just forward everything to the new one so either or.ha
We had a good week of teaching lot's of Chuukese people which only enhances a good week into a marvelous week! I love them so so so much! It seems that anytime I ever write anybody I tell them how much I love Chuukese people but it's pretty much the number one thing on my mind all the time so I think that's why it comes out so frequently. Anyways they're all studs and I love their faces off and I'm so pumped out of my mind because this Friday we are going to CHUUK! We are going to go to all the islands on the west half of the mission so we'll visit Pohnpei and Kosrae as well but we could skip those and just spend the whole time in Chuuk and I would be happy as a clam! We'll be gone for a week and half or so, and mother I don't know if we'll e-mail but if it's possible I will. The only place it's not possible is in Chuuk because Chuuk is for thugs!ha I'm excited to see all the members and Recent Converts in Mwan and Romalum and I'm going to stuff myself full with all the Chuukese food in the world because I'm going through withdrawals without it here in Guam, man! It is so good! Oh and guess what the best thing is!? Elder Kuss and I found a family before I left Chuuk and they were going to get baptized on the Saturday of the week that I left for Guam (lame right) Well the wife and the daughter got baptized but it turned out the husband needed to be interviewed by President Dowdle and he is supposed to be getting baptized this Saturday!!!! So I should be able to see it because we are spending Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and part of Monday in Chuuk!!!! I'm so crazily pumped out of my world I'm so excited!!!................Yeah so life is good here no complaints! ha
Kelsey, Elder Mabey, my MTC comp is living with me and he is way into Triathlons!! He's pumped that you're doing them. He said a great way to train is 3,3,3. 3 swimming workouts, 3 biking workouts, and 3 running workouts a week. He said spread it out nicely to give your knees time to recover from those workouts. He said it's just an idea but he's pretty hard core so I would do it. ha
Thanks for all the sweet updates about the Olympics, I hope you have recorded all that.... And dad I tell all the missionaries about how you just get to listen to General Authorities all the time and they're all way jealous. ha That's so gangsta that you got to listen to Elder Bednar and don't go forgetting those stories because you bettcha I'll be asking you about them! Which reminds me Elder Christofferson is coming to Guam in May!!! Crazy! President Dowdle is way excited about it but he says they haven't said for what reason he's coming out. Everyone is hoping that he will create a stake but it's all up in the air. Either way he will be having a missionary meeting and a member meeting so it's going to be awesome!! Missionaries here from Guam say that when General Authorities come to Guam they usually interview the Assistants. I don't know about that but they said it happened to a couple of Assistants the last time one came...... Yeah so that would be intense, but that's far away. Hopefully Guam will be able to become a stake because that would be super neat to be here for!
My dearest little pwipwi (Zach) I am afraid that you will never be able to beat me at anything, including basketball. It reminds me of a Chuukese saying "Ese wor namwotan kapas, ika ese fiti foffor." Which says " There is no need for words if your actions can't back it up!
Mckenzie I love you and I love dancing! You should too!
Sydnee you're so pretty!
Love you all like nothing else!
Tong Ennet fiti Jaiwak!
Elder Wells "Ito"
I'll never be a missionary in the month of February again. Weird that I can say that every time we leave a month.ha You can e-mail to either e-mail address, the church has changed the e-mail service and my lds mail is now powered by google and is exactly like Gmail and runs a lot better apparently. I wouldn't know the difference seeing as I just started but hey it's cool. I actually think that anyone can use it but I don't know. ha The old account will just forward everything to the new one so either or.ha
We had a good week of teaching lot's of Chuukese people which only enhances a good week into a marvelous week! I love them so so so much! It seems that anytime I ever write anybody I tell them how much I love Chuukese people but it's pretty much the number one thing on my mind all the time so I think that's why it comes out so frequently. Anyways they're all studs and I love their faces off and I'm so pumped out of my mind because this Friday we are going to CHUUK! We are going to go to all the islands on the west half of the mission so we'll visit Pohnpei and Kosrae as well but we could skip those and just spend the whole time in Chuuk and I would be happy as a clam! We'll be gone for a week and half or so, and mother I don't know if we'll e-mail but if it's possible I will. The only place it's not possible is in Chuuk because Chuuk is for thugs!ha I'm excited to see all the members and Recent Converts in Mwan and Romalum and I'm going to stuff myself full with all the Chuukese food in the world because I'm going through withdrawals without it here in Guam, man! It is so good! Oh and guess what the best thing is!? Elder Kuss and I found a family before I left Chuuk and they were going to get baptized on the Saturday of the week that I left for Guam (lame right) Well the wife and the daughter got baptized but it turned out the husband needed to be interviewed by President Dowdle and he is supposed to be getting baptized this Saturday!!!! So I should be able to see it because we are spending Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and part of Monday in Chuuk!!!! I'm so crazily pumped out of my world I'm so excited!!!................Yeah so life is good here no complaints! ha
Kelsey, Elder Mabey, my MTC comp is living with me and he is way into Triathlons!! He's pumped that you're doing them. He said a great way to train is 3,3,3. 3 swimming workouts, 3 biking workouts, and 3 running workouts a week. He said spread it out nicely to give your knees time to recover from those workouts. He said it's just an idea but he's pretty hard core so I would do it. ha
Thanks for all the sweet updates about the Olympics, I hope you have recorded all that.... And dad I tell all the missionaries about how you just get to listen to General Authorities all the time and they're all way jealous. ha That's so gangsta that you got to listen to Elder Bednar and don't go forgetting those stories because you bettcha I'll be asking you about them! Which reminds me Elder Christofferson is coming to Guam in May!!! Crazy! President Dowdle is way excited about it but he says they haven't said for what reason he's coming out. Everyone is hoping that he will create a stake but it's all up in the air. Either way he will be having a missionary meeting and a member meeting so it's going to be awesome!! Missionaries here from Guam say that when General Authorities come to Guam they usually interview the Assistants. I don't know about that but they said it happened to a couple of Assistants the last time one came...... Yeah so that would be intense, but that's far away. Hopefully Guam will be able to become a stake because that would be super neat to be here for!
My dearest little pwipwi (Zach) I am afraid that you will never be able to beat me at anything, including basketball. It reminds me of a Chuukese saying "Ese wor namwotan kapas, ika ese fiti foffor." Which says " There is no need for words if your actions can't back it up!
Mckenzie I love you and I love dancing! You should too!
Sydnee you're so pretty!
Love you all like nothing else!
Tong Ennet fiti Jaiwak!
Elder Wells "Ito"
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Chuuk, Chuukese, Chuukese . . . . . . . . . . . . I love them!
2/22/10
Fakkun Ran Allim chapur ngenikemi!!
Man, that was a good week of e-mails!! Thanks everyone! I'm still kicking around out here in the middle of the Pacific all systems are go! Sometimes I forget I'm on an island... Guam is sooooo big! But on a map it looks super teeny tiny, but after being in Chuuk for so long I can hardly classify Guam as an island. ha
Alright I'll give you the low down on my comp before I forget. His name is Elder Sandvik, he's actually a convert of about 2 1/2 years now. He is from Portland, Oregon and is the only member in his family, which is pretty neat. He served in Guam for 4 months then in Pohnpei for about a year and he's been back in Guam for about 4 months. He's a good guy, really dedicated.
Me being from Chuuk everything is very laid back and you have to adapt to that or you will definitely go crazy (especially on an island of 600... Romalum), and I had no problem with that seeing as I started out in Romalum.ha But it seems everywhere else in the mission is go go go all eight cylinders all the time! ha Which is good but I'm from a different world and getting adjusted to that is crazy. ha
This week I had another funny experience with my Chuukese. We ran into some Chuukese that knew really really good English, which is very odd. Anyway, I spoke to them in English and they looked at me and asked me if I was from Romalum. I told them that I served in Romalum while I was in Chuuk for about four months and then they just gave me this dumbfounded look. They said my English sounded like I was from Romalum! I didn't know that was possible but I won't lie I was stoked about that! Then a missionary serving in Palau that is from Chuuk said the same thing when I gave our Zone Leader Council training that I sounded like I was from Romalum the whole time I was training and so I started listening to myself and you know what? I did! ha It's crazy but it makes me happy! ha
Our Zone Leader council went well except for the fact that only half the ZL's showed up. ha The flight that picks up Pohnpei, Kosrae and Chuuk just decided not to come. So they stayed on their islands and they'll be flying in next week so that we can do another ZL Council for them! Gangsta! I'm so pumped to see Elder Kuss! I love his guts and I miss him a ton. We trained on Chapters 8&9 in Preach My Gospel and so we kind of took the needs of the mission and trained on how Chapters 8&9 can help fix those. It went really well with a lot of input from the Zone Leaders which always makes it better. The best part is thinking of sweet ideas and activities that we can do so that the Zone Leaders don't fall asleep on us. I came up with some good ones! ha The idea behind the activities is like what you talked about dad; about remembering the spirit and what we felt from the Zone Conference or the Zone Leader Council. The activities are easy to remember and it will bring back the feeling and emotions that were tied to that activity and to that conference, so the more memorable the better!
It looks like we'll be flying out to Chuuk, Pohnpei, and Kosrae in two weeks. We'll spend a week and a half visiting the islands and the missionaries on them and I'm pumped out of my mind to be going back to Chuuk! Speaking of Chuuk, the Zone Leaders got kicked out of their house by a mob of men Friday night! ha The new church is almost done and the Chuukese men are getting antsy and they really want the old church and the missionary house for their own. So late Friday night they came to the missionary house and told them they had to leave. Poor Kuss and Cherrington. Kuss was able to talk them into sleeping the night and then the next morning they took off to go live in Wichap with all their stuff. I'm sad I missed out on that! Now I'm not saying that they couldn't handle themselves but Kuss is a very humble very submissive Chuukese man. So a group of men coming to their house would equal Kuss agreeing to whatever they wanted. If I was there it would have been a different story... there is no way I would've been kicked out of that house! They would have had to physically remove me from the house if they were serious and I'm not just kidding! As soon as I heard that they got kicked out I had about ten different approaches I would've taken to the men and I'm positive we would've stayed in that house. Now I'm not boasting, don't get me wrong, but I've already dealt with people trying to get me off our land and I worked them over, all except for in Paata (But to be fair Paata people are a lot crazier than those from Weno). Yeah so anyway I was pretty disappointed about not being there for all the excitement it would have been a blast!!
The box came!! Thank you so much for that blanket!!!! I can survive at night now! Thanks for those cookies too! They were soft, and all the missionaries loved them! Oh man! Nerisa, the girl we baptized from Paata along with her Grandma and Grandpa came to Guam and the missionaries found them!!!! She is living with her real mom and dad and with all her brothers and sisters and I just talked to the missionaries and they said they're all golden and will definitely get baptized!! I'm so pumped about that!!! I'm going to have to work out an exchange with those missionaries so that I can go see her and her family and get them baptized!! She is so cute and her family is going to get baptized because they're all the blood of Abraham! Man! I love Chuukese!!
Ok, I gotta brag about the Chuukese real quick. The Chuukese in Guam are the people that missionaries have the most success with. Why? Because they are the most humble of islanders and they always want to learn about God! They're studs! There are Chuukese young men here in Guam that are preparing to serve missions, one actually just sent his papers in, and they all are just the most amazing investigators!! Every missionary here in Guam will tell you that Chuukese are the most humble and most accepting of the gospel! They just don't know english and most of the missionaries here don't know Chuukese so they progress slowly! There's just not enough Chuukese speakers! So yeah Chuukese are the bomb and my new Chuukese family here in Guam fed me some mai "breadfruit" the other day and it made my world! I love them so much!
Ok this is a really long one. Wow! Ua fakkun tongeikemi seni anonnonen puei! "I love you all from the deepness of my belly button!"
Keept it real my pwipwi's
Tong Ennet fiti Jaiwak!
Elder Wells "Ito"
Fakkun Ran Allim chapur ngenikemi!!
Man, that was a good week of e-mails!! Thanks everyone! I'm still kicking around out here in the middle of the Pacific all systems are go! Sometimes I forget I'm on an island... Guam is sooooo big! But on a map it looks super teeny tiny, but after being in Chuuk for so long I can hardly classify Guam as an island. ha
Alright I'll give you the low down on my comp before I forget. His name is Elder Sandvik, he's actually a convert of about 2 1/2 years now. He is from Portland, Oregon and is the only member in his family, which is pretty neat. He served in Guam for 4 months then in Pohnpei for about a year and he's been back in Guam for about 4 months. He's a good guy, really dedicated.
Me being from Chuuk everything is very laid back and you have to adapt to that or you will definitely go crazy (especially on an island of 600... Romalum), and I had no problem with that seeing as I started out in Romalum.ha But it seems everywhere else in the mission is go go go all eight cylinders all the time! ha Which is good but I'm from a different world and getting adjusted to that is crazy. ha
This week I had another funny experience with my Chuukese. We ran into some Chuukese that knew really really good English, which is very odd. Anyway, I spoke to them in English and they looked at me and asked me if I was from Romalum. I told them that I served in Romalum while I was in Chuuk for about four months and then they just gave me this dumbfounded look. They said my English sounded like I was from Romalum! I didn't know that was possible but I won't lie I was stoked about that! Then a missionary serving in Palau that is from Chuuk said the same thing when I gave our Zone Leader Council training that I sounded like I was from Romalum the whole time I was training and so I started listening to myself and you know what? I did! ha It's crazy but it makes me happy! ha
Our Zone Leader council went well except for the fact that only half the ZL's showed up. ha The flight that picks up Pohnpei, Kosrae and Chuuk just decided not to come. So they stayed on their islands and they'll be flying in next week so that we can do another ZL Council for them! Gangsta! I'm so pumped to see Elder Kuss! I love his guts and I miss him a ton. We trained on Chapters 8&9 in Preach My Gospel and so we kind of took the needs of the mission and trained on how Chapters 8&9 can help fix those. It went really well with a lot of input from the Zone Leaders which always makes it better. The best part is thinking of sweet ideas and activities that we can do so that the Zone Leaders don't fall asleep on us. I came up with some good ones! ha The idea behind the activities is like what you talked about dad; about remembering the spirit and what we felt from the Zone Conference or the Zone Leader Council. The activities are easy to remember and it will bring back the feeling and emotions that were tied to that activity and to that conference, so the more memorable the better!
It looks like we'll be flying out to Chuuk, Pohnpei, and Kosrae in two weeks. We'll spend a week and a half visiting the islands and the missionaries on them and I'm pumped out of my mind to be going back to Chuuk! Speaking of Chuuk, the Zone Leaders got kicked out of their house by a mob of men Friday night! ha The new church is almost done and the Chuukese men are getting antsy and they really want the old church and the missionary house for their own. So late Friday night they came to the missionary house and told them they had to leave. Poor Kuss and Cherrington. Kuss was able to talk them into sleeping the night and then the next morning they took off to go live in Wichap with all their stuff. I'm sad I missed out on that! Now I'm not saying that they couldn't handle themselves but Kuss is a very humble very submissive Chuukese man. So a group of men coming to their house would equal Kuss agreeing to whatever they wanted. If I was there it would have been a different story... there is no way I would've been kicked out of that house! They would have had to physically remove me from the house if they were serious and I'm not just kidding! As soon as I heard that they got kicked out I had about ten different approaches I would've taken to the men and I'm positive we would've stayed in that house. Now I'm not boasting, don't get me wrong, but I've already dealt with people trying to get me off our land and I worked them over, all except for in Paata (But to be fair Paata people are a lot crazier than those from Weno). Yeah so anyway I was pretty disappointed about not being there for all the excitement it would have been a blast!!
The box came!! Thank you so much for that blanket!!!! I can survive at night now! Thanks for those cookies too! They were soft, and all the missionaries loved them! Oh man! Nerisa, the girl we baptized from Paata along with her Grandma and Grandpa came to Guam and the missionaries found them!!!! She is living with her real mom and dad and with all her brothers and sisters and I just talked to the missionaries and they said they're all golden and will definitely get baptized!! I'm so pumped about that!!! I'm going to have to work out an exchange with those missionaries so that I can go see her and her family and get them baptized!! She is so cute and her family is going to get baptized because they're all the blood of Abraham! Man! I love Chuukese!!
Ok, I gotta brag about the Chuukese real quick. The Chuukese in Guam are the people that missionaries have the most success with. Why? Because they are the most humble of islanders and they always want to learn about God! They're studs! There are Chuukese young men here in Guam that are preparing to serve missions, one actually just sent his papers in, and they all are just the most amazing investigators!! Every missionary here in Guam will tell you that Chuukese are the most humble and most accepting of the gospel! They just don't know english and most of the missionaries here don't know Chuukese so they progress slowly! There's just not enough Chuukese speakers! So yeah Chuukese are the bomb and my new Chuukese family here in Guam fed me some mai "breadfruit" the other day and it made my world! I love them so much!
Ok this is a really long one. Wow! Ua fakkun tongeikemi seni anonnonen puei! "I love you all from the deepness of my belly button!"
Keept it real my pwipwi's
Tong Ennet fiti Jaiwak!
Elder Wells "Ito"
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
I'm Half Chuukese
2/15/10
Ran Allim ami!
I'm alive! But I guess that's not any real surprise now that I'm in Guam.ha Last week when I got on e-mail I had tons of e-mails and that was exciting! This week There was two! From mom and dad, but they were the only ones who sent me letters anyway... So to all you siblings who said that because you could e-mail it would be easier to write, you kinda lied. ha I'm kidding it's all good, but definitely not as fun to get e-mails. Letters in the Post Office Box are the undoubtedly best!
I haven't seen the box as of yet, but I'm sure it'll get here. I mean I'm on Guam, what could possibly go wrong? Those recruits to BYU sound good, keep me updated. Sometimes I get butterflies in my stomach when I think about going back and swimming, how much it's going to hurt and how it's going to drive me crazy that those young guys will be beating me because of two years out of the water!ha
President Dowdle tends to feel that it's better to go home and then come back, that way the missionary could do things that he couldn't do on his mission, especially in these islands. But I'm cool with whatever you guys are cool with. I kind of think it would be cool to come home and that be it, and then come back at a later time (if at all possible). Because then it would have been a longer time since I'd seen all the people and I think it would be a sweeter reunion. And I'm not gonna lie I definitely want to swim in the water!
Ok, Sampo is the name of the Chuukese kid that will get baptized in March and he's being studly as of now! He came to church last week and enjoyed the Chuukese class. In our branch there is a Sunday School class that's just in Chuukese! Chuukese are the most populous people in Micronesia and they are everywhere. At least that's what it seems like when you talk to anybody who's lived in Guam for a while. So he went to that, and I usually go as well because I get so darn happy when I get to hang with all Chuukese for and hour. He's a stud!
I am able to use Chuukese every day. Usually one lesson a day is average. But there have been some days where I've taught 4-5 lessons in Chuukese and those are bomb days! The Chuukese are in certain areas and the Assistants before Elder Sandvik and I never really went to those areas because the Chuukese in Guam have limited English. But ever since I got here we've been spending more time in those areas because I speak Chuukese. That's actually the reason my companion is learning Chuukese because we actually spend enough time in Chuukese areas where there are sometimes hours on end when all spoken is Chuukese and he doesn't like being out of the conversation and not knowing what's going on, so he's learning it so he can know what's going down!
I have a thick Romalum accent and everywhere I go in Guam all the Chuukese look at me way funny because once I speak they hear my accent and they look all confused because I'm white.ha It's so funny! Then I always tell them that I'm from Utah but I'm half Chuukese and that my dad was from Romalum, and they believe it! Just sometimes really confused about how I turned so white. It earns a lot of respect that I have an accent, because it means I don't sound like a white person with a crazy accent trying to speak Chuukese, rather I am a white person that speaks Chuukese. Most people fall into the white person, crazy accent, trying to speak Chuukese category but Elder Sorenson and I broke it. I'm not boasting, this is what Chuukese themselves have said, Elder Kuss (and others) in specific.
Yesterday I had my first Guam Zone Conference. We trained along with the Zone Leaders. We didn't have to train nearly as long as I did in Chuuk as Zone Leader and it was interesting and enjoyable to be sitting and listening to the majority of the training. Our training was supposed to kind of spice things up so everyone doesn't get bored of listening to the Zone Leaders for hours on end, so I got up and rocked their socks off Chuuk style! ha They didn't know what hit them.
Tonight all the Zone Leaders are flying in from the other islands for Zone Leader Council tomorrow. We will be training the Zone Leaders all of tomorrow and then go bowling (my idea). Guess how long we get to train for. From 9am to 5pm! With an hour lunch and a President Dowdle presentation. But the great majority is us!! I don't know if I have seven hours of things to talk about!! ha It'll be great! We have lot's of activities that will keep everyone moving so no one will fall asleep on us, which is actually my biggest worry.ha
It'll be super! I love your faces off!
Don't die!
Tong Ennet fiti Jaiwak!
Elder Wells "Ito"
Ran Allim ami!
I'm alive! But I guess that's not any real surprise now that I'm in Guam.ha Last week when I got on e-mail I had tons of e-mails and that was exciting! This week There was two! From mom and dad, but they were the only ones who sent me letters anyway... So to all you siblings who said that because you could e-mail it would be easier to write, you kinda lied. ha I'm kidding it's all good, but definitely not as fun to get e-mails. Letters in the Post Office Box are the undoubtedly best!
I haven't seen the box as of yet, but I'm sure it'll get here. I mean I'm on Guam, what could possibly go wrong? Those recruits to BYU sound good, keep me updated. Sometimes I get butterflies in my stomach when I think about going back and swimming, how much it's going to hurt and how it's going to drive me crazy that those young guys will be beating me because of two years out of the water!ha
President Dowdle tends to feel that it's better to go home and then come back, that way the missionary could do things that he couldn't do on his mission, especially in these islands. But I'm cool with whatever you guys are cool with. I kind of think it would be cool to come home and that be it, and then come back at a later time (if at all possible). Because then it would have been a longer time since I'd seen all the people and I think it would be a sweeter reunion. And I'm not gonna lie I definitely want to swim in the water!
Ok, Sampo is the name of the Chuukese kid that will get baptized in March and he's being studly as of now! He came to church last week and enjoyed the Chuukese class. In our branch there is a Sunday School class that's just in Chuukese! Chuukese are the most populous people in Micronesia and they are everywhere. At least that's what it seems like when you talk to anybody who's lived in Guam for a while. So he went to that, and I usually go as well because I get so darn happy when I get to hang with all Chuukese for and hour. He's a stud!
I am able to use Chuukese every day. Usually one lesson a day is average. But there have been some days where I've taught 4-5 lessons in Chuukese and those are bomb days! The Chuukese are in certain areas and the Assistants before Elder Sandvik and I never really went to those areas because the Chuukese in Guam have limited English. But ever since I got here we've been spending more time in those areas because I speak Chuukese. That's actually the reason my companion is learning Chuukese because we actually spend enough time in Chuukese areas where there are sometimes hours on end when all spoken is Chuukese and he doesn't like being out of the conversation and not knowing what's going on, so he's learning it so he can know what's going down!
I have a thick Romalum accent and everywhere I go in Guam all the Chuukese look at me way funny because once I speak they hear my accent and they look all confused because I'm white.ha It's so funny! Then I always tell them that I'm from Utah but I'm half Chuukese and that my dad was from Romalum, and they believe it! Just sometimes really confused about how I turned so white. It earns a lot of respect that I have an accent, because it means I don't sound like a white person with a crazy accent trying to speak Chuukese, rather I am a white person that speaks Chuukese. Most people fall into the white person, crazy accent, trying to speak Chuukese category but Elder Sorenson and I broke it. I'm not boasting, this is what Chuukese themselves have said, Elder Kuss (and others) in specific.
Yesterday I had my first Guam Zone Conference. We trained along with the Zone Leaders. We didn't have to train nearly as long as I did in Chuuk as Zone Leader and it was interesting and enjoyable to be sitting and listening to the majority of the training. Our training was supposed to kind of spice things up so everyone doesn't get bored of listening to the Zone Leaders for hours on end, so I got up and rocked their socks off Chuuk style! ha They didn't know what hit them.
Tonight all the Zone Leaders are flying in from the other islands for Zone Leader Council tomorrow. We will be training the Zone Leaders all of tomorrow and then go bowling (my idea). Guess how long we get to train for. From 9am to 5pm! With an hour lunch and a President Dowdle presentation. But the great majority is us!! I don't know if I have seven hours of things to talk about!! ha It'll be great! We have lot's of activities that will keep everyone moving so no one will fall asleep on us, which is actually my biggest worry.ha
It'll be super! I love your faces off!
Don't die!
Tong Ennet fiti Jaiwak!
Elder Wells "Ito"
Monday, February 8, 2010
"English, Elder Wells, English"
Wonei! I checked my e-mail and there were so many! I was blown out of the water! It was insane! Thanks a million and a half it was great to here from you all again. I think the last time I heard from everybody was way back when I started this whole thing! ha
McKenzie that article about you was way cool!! You look very pretty in your picture as well. I really like the part about me in there... ha You're amazing, those times sound fantastic! Speaking of times, I had my best times posted above my bed for my whole mission as goals to achieve when I returned but when I left Chuuk I forgot the paper. Could you get a list or something of my best times so that I can make a new goal sheet here? That would be awesome.
Kelsey!!!!!!!! You're alive! Thanks for your letter, and you're going to buy a car... that's nuts! You can just continue to tell everybody that I serve in Chuuk because that's definitely where my heart is, so just tell people that. There are actually lot's of Chuukese on Guam and my love for Chuukese people has exponentially grown over these two weeks!! I love their faces off!! Every time I see them it makes my day and I go into Chuukese mode and just sit and talk with them for a good amount of time, while my companion sits and looks bored. ha... So now he's learning Chuukese! I'm teaching him Chuukese and we only speak Chuukese when we're in the car, so pretty much I'm just talking my head off to him so that I can remember Chuukese and he just sits in a half smile stupor. ha ha It's great, and we actually teach quite a few Chuukese people and so I teach them in Chuukese which is so much more comfortable. Actually when we're sitting in English lessons it has happened multiple times where I'll be teaching and I'll be getting all excited while I'm speaking and than Elder S will tap me on the knee and say: "English, Elder Wells, english" Than I realize that I've been speaking Chuukese to the people for 15-20 sec. depending on when Elder S decides to stop me. One time he didn't stop me and I guess I kept going for minutes... ha It's hard to think in English again, and if I can put some cohesive English together it's usually a Chuukese sentence that I translated into English which sounds funny! ha ha It's good though and I'm still doing wonderful missionary work.
Changing from Chuuk to Guam was shocking for my body. I'm freezing every night. (my bed is a mattress that feels so cold and I'd rather not sleep on it so I tried the ground but that's just tile and even colder than the mattress so I just end up freezing either way) I keep getting bloody noses because... I don't know why. I think it's the aircon but Guam is definitely not as humid as Chuuk. It's not nearly as hot either, even when I'm outside I don't sweat, but man in Chuuk, you step out the door for a minute and you're sweating away. I don't see the ocean every day, and that's very disconcerting. I've seen the ocean everyday of mission until I came to Guam, it's weird and I don't really like that. I like the water! But there is this 50m racing pool that's close to our apartment and I stare at it the whole time we drive past it. It's so beautiful I never thought a pool could look so beautiful, but it does!
So my new job I get to plan sweet trainings for the Zone Leaders and other missionaries and have meetings with President Dowdle where we discuss transfers and a bunch of other confidential information, we go on exchanges with missionaries and once a transfer we go on tour to half of the mission and the next transfer we go to the other half. So yes, I will see all the islands in Micronesia and yes I will return to Chuuk twice which I'm pumped out of my mind about!! I'm surprised that mom knows all about that! How do you find all that out?!
We have a Chuukese boy who will be getting baptized the beginning of March and he's a stud! I've been asking everyone and their dog for breadfruit "Mai" here in Guam but I haven't had any yet. I'm going through withdrawals going without breadfruit, taro, tapioca, and fresh reef fish. Going insane is a better word for it, I don't know what to eat here! ha I have so many options and all I want is simply delicious "kon" pounded breadfruit with a "sashimi" style reef fish. Wonei!!! That's good!
I love missionary work and I do like Guam, but Chuuk is the bomb I'm not going to lie. Oh yeah, there was a family that Elder Kuss and I found and taught in Chuuk that was baptized last Saturday!! I would've been there but I was uprooted from Chuuk and placed here. ha But they got baptized, that's what really matters and they're straight up studs!
Well I love you all so much! Thanks for your letters and support! The mailing address is correct mom so you can send boxes here. I miss getting letters!! Letters are much more exciting!! But boxes are always exciting no matter where I am... at least I'm pretty sure(you should probably send one and try)ha
Tong Ennet fiti Jaiwak!
Elder Wells "Ito"
McKenzie that article about you was way cool!! You look very pretty in your picture as well. I really like the part about me in there... ha You're amazing, those times sound fantastic! Speaking of times, I had my best times posted above my bed for my whole mission as goals to achieve when I returned but when I left Chuuk I forgot the paper. Could you get a list or something of my best times so that I can make a new goal sheet here? That would be awesome.
Kelsey!!!!!!!! You're alive! Thanks for your letter, and you're going to buy a car... that's nuts! You can just continue to tell everybody that I serve in Chuuk because that's definitely where my heart is, so just tell people that. There are actually lot's of Chuukese on Guam and my love for Chuukese people has exponentially grown over these two weeks!! I love their faces off!! Every time I see them it makes my day and I go into Chuukese mode and just sit and talk with them for a good amount of time, while my companion sits and looks bored. ha... So now he's learning Chuukese! I'm teaching him Chuukese and we only speak Chuukese when we're in the car, so pretty much I'm just talking my head off to him so that I can remember Chuukese and he just sits in a half smile stupor. ha ha It's great, and we actually teach quite a few Chuukese people and so I teach them in Chuukese which is so much more comfortable. Actually when we're sitting in English lessons it has happened multiple times where I'll be teaching and I'll be getting all excited while I'm speaking and than Elder S will tap me on the knee and say: "English, Elder Wells, english" Than I realize that I've been speaking Chuukese to the people for 15-20 sec. depending on when Elder S decides to stop me. One time he didn't stop me and I guess I kept going for minutes... ha It's hard to think in English again, and if I can put some cohesive English together it's usually a Chuukese sentence that I translated into English which sounds funny! ha ha It's good though and I'm still doing wonderful missionary work.
Changing from Chuuk to Guam was shocking for my body. I'm freezing every night. (my bed is a mattress that feels so cold and I'd rather not sleep on it so I tried the ground but that's just tile and even colder than the mattress so I just end up freezing either way) I keep getting bloody noses because... I don't know why. I think it's the aircon but Guam is definitely not as humid as Chuuk. It's not nearly as hot either, even when I'm outside I don't sweat, but man in Chuuk, you step out the door for a minute and you're sweating away. I don't see the ocean every day, and that's very disconcerting. I've seen the ocean everyday of mission until I came to Guam, it's weird and I don't really like that. I like the water! But there is this 50m racing pool that's close to our apartment and I stare at it the whole time we drive past it. It's so beautiful I never thought a pool could look so beautiful, but it does!
So my new job I get to plan sweet trainings for the Zone Leaders and other missionaries and have meetings with President Dowdle where we discuss transfers and a bunch of other confidential information, we go on exchanges with missionaries and once a transfer we go on tour to half of the mission and the next transfer we go to the other half. So yes, I will see all the islands in Micronesia and yes I will return to Chuuk twice which I'm pumped out of my mind about!! I'm surprised that mom knows all about that! How do you find all that out?!
We have a Chuukese boy who will be getting baptized the beginning of March and he's a stud! I've been asking everyone and their dog for breadfruit "Mai" here in Guam but I haven't had any yet. I'm going through withdrawals going without breadfruit, taro, tapioca, and fresh reef fish. Going insane is a better word for it, I don't know what to eat here! ha I have so many options and all I want is simply delicious "kon" pounded breadfruit with a "sashimi" style reef fish. Wonei!!! That's good!
I love missionary work and I do like Guam, but Chuuk is the bomb I'm not going to lie. Oh yeah, there was a family that Elder Kuss and I found and taught in Chuuk that was baptized last Saturday!! I would've been there but I was uprooted from Chuuk and placed here. ha But they got baptized, that's what really matters and they're straight up studs!
Well I love you all so much! Thanks for your letters and support! The mailing address is correct mom so you can send boxes here. I miss getting letters!! Letters are much more exciting!! But boxes are always exciting no matter where I am... at least I'm pretty sure(you should probably send one and try)ha
Tong Ennet fiti Jaiwak!
Elder Wells "Ito"
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
A Fish Out of Water
I will definitely be doing e-mail here seeing as that I get free e-mail here in the office because I'm in here part of the time. Wonei!
I don't know what in the world I'm doing here in Guam, I feel like I'm a fish out of water and it blows my mind! I could tell you all so much but it would take pages and pages because everything I do is a new experience! Like knocking on doors! I knocked on my first door of my mission the other day, and that was nuts, I also gave my first door approach and that was a memorable one! I'm still getting grief about it. You'll have to remember to ask me about it when I return.
Right now I'm with Elder Sandvik and Elder Brown, I will be replacing Elder Brown and let me tell you all, they are experienced Guam missionaries. I'm an experienced Chuuk missionary but that accounts for jack squat here on Guam and I feel as if I'm centuries behind them. I'm just on a steep learning curve.
I live in an apartment with the office elders. The Ap's and the office elders stay together because they work together a lot. The apartment is huge by the way! I think if you took every house that I stayed in in Chuuk and put them together that this apartment would be quite bigger! It blows my mind!. There's so much room everywhere! It's fun though to have four elders all the time. there is a real weight bench in the apartment and that's gangster so I can still lift so I'm pumped about that!
I'm now cruising around in this sweet minivan and I'm freezing all the time because the aircon's are insanely powerful!! I keep expecting power to go off at any minute but it never does and I sometimes catch myself wondering why the power company does such a good job here. Guam definitely isn't as hot as Chuuk, it's definitely not as green as Chuuk either, but their are quite a few Chuukese here in Guam and it makes my day whenever I meet one because then i can just speak all the Chuukese I want and I feel like I know a little bit of where I am. Then when I'm done talking to the Chuukese person my head is in a whirlwind again and I don't know what I'm doing. They do missionary work at night which is weird and I need to get used to. They wake up later because they don't need light to do missionary work here like in Chuuk. My shirts never seem to get dirty. They don't have sweat stains or anything like that at the end of the day and so I feel that I can wear my shirts for 3 or 4 days... so I do! Oh man and pants never get dirty here I could go for weeks with the same pants. I was actually thinking that I could go 3-4 weeks without doing laundry here, but I guess I'll follow the crowd and do it every week. I'm convinced that my clothes would get dirtier in week in Chuuk than 5 weeks in Guam and I'd be fully willing to go that long without doing laundry. Don't think I'm weird or uncivil but that's really my honest belief after having served in Chuuk.
Thank you so much for those pictures of the Josephs they absolutely loved them!!! It was so fun to see them look at those pictures!! It blew them away they were so pumped!! Thank you so so so so so much for doing that! They will remember you all forever. They said to give an extra thanks to you from them, they wanted to do something for you all but I said that if they just remembered that they had family that lived in Orem Utah that would be enough. They agreed! Which means that you all have a family in Chuuk!! That's something special let me tell you. That poster was so cool!!
Ok, i could go on forever and ever but I gotta stop because I need to go play some sweet volleyball!!
Tong Jaiwak!!,
Elder Wells "Ito"
oh man no one is going to call me that anymore.
I don't know what in the world I'm doing here in Guam, I feel like I'm a fish out of water and it blows my mind! I could tell you all so much but it would take pages and pages because everything I do is a new experience! Like knocking on doors! I knocked on my first door of my mission the other day, and that was nuts, I also gave my first door approach and that was a memorable one! I'm still getting grief about it. You'll have to remember to ask me about it when I return.
Right now I'm with Elder Sandvik and Elder Brown, I will be replacing Elder Brown and let me tell you all, they are experienced Guam missionaries. I'm an experienced Chuuk missionary but that accounts for jack squat here on Guam and I feel as if I'm centuries behind them. I'm just on a steep learning curve.
I live in an apartment with the office elders. The Ap's and the office elders stay together because they work together a lot. The apartment is huge by the way! I think if you took every house that I stayed in in Chuuk and put them together that this apartment would be quite bigger! It blows my mind!. There's so much room everywhere! It's fun though to have four elders all the time. there is a real weight bench in the apartment and that's gangster so I can still lift so I'm pumped about that!
I'm now cruising around in this sweet minivan and I'm freezing all the time because the aircon's are insanely powerful!! I keep expecting power to go off at any minute but it never does and I sometimes catch myself wondering why the power company does such a good job here. Guam definitely isn't as hot as Chuuk, it's definitely not as green as Chuuk either, but their are quite a few Chuukese here in Guam and it makes my day whenever I meet one because then i can just speak all the Chuukese I want and I feel like I know a little bit of where I am. Then when I'm done talking to the Chuukese person my head is in a whirlwind again and I don't know what I'm doing. They do missionary work at night which is weird and I need to get used to. They wake up later because they don't need light to do missionary work here like in Chuuk. My shirts never seem to get dirty. They don't have sweat stains or anything like that at the end of the day and so I feel that I can wear my shirts for 3 or 4 days... so I do! Oh man and pants never get dirty here I could go for weeks with the same pants. I was actually thinking that I could go 3-4 weeks without doing laundry here, but I guess I'll follow the crowd and do it every week. I'm convinced that my clothes would get dirtier in week in Chuuk than 5 weeks in Guam and I'd be fully willing to go that long without doing laundry. Don't think I'm weird or uncivil but that's really my honest belief after having served in Chuuk.
Thank you so much for those pictures of the Josephs they absolutely loved them!!! It was so fun to see them look at those pictures!! It blew them away they were so pumped!! Thank you so so so so so much for doing that! They will remember you all forever. They said to give an extra thanks to you from them, they wanted to do something for you all but I said that if they just remembered that they had family that lived in Orem Utah that would be enough. They agreed! Which means that you all have a family in Chuuk!! That's something special let me tell you. That poster was so cool!!
Ok, i could go on forever and ever but I gotta stop because I need to go play some sweet volleyball!!
Tong Jaiwak!!,
Elder Wells "Ito"
oh man no one is going to call me that anymore.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Practically Rips My Heart Out
19 January 2010
Ran Allim ai famini!
Sorry about missing a week, Elder Kuss went to Guam to get checked up on for his sickness and I spent the next week and a half out of my area in Sapuk and that threw just about everything off, then when Elder Kuss got back we had to cram for Zone Conference that same week, but all is well and I’m alive and loving life!
Zone Conference went really well, I think after 9 months I really got the hang of it! ha It was spiritual and many good things were discussed and in my interview with President Dowdle he said in his own words: “I just LOVED Zone Conference today!” So that was great.
Speaking of my interview with President Dowdle I guess it’s a good time to inform you all that this will be my last letter from Chuuk. . . . . .
The time has come, my number has been called, the future is set, I’m going to Guam. That was the outcome of my interview with President Dowdle. Funny thing is I knew it was coming. Since the start of this transfer I had a feeling my time was short. As the end of the transfer got closer I became more worried about this feeling. ha I started praying for long periods of time trying to appeal to the Lord that I should stay in Chuuk longer; I even fasted for it but the feelings and promptings I received from the Spirit confirmed my nervousness, it was solidified when I heard it come from President’s mouth, but I already knew. It’s everything I never wanted but . . . . . . I am supposed to be in Guam. And that confirmation received from the Spirit is the only consolation I have . . . . I am supposed to be there.
I’m crying as I write this because the thought of leaving Chuuk practically rips my heart out. It’s already the hardest thing I’ve done and I still have a week left. No offense, when I left home I knew I’d see you all again in two years but leaving these Chuukese I don’t know when I’ll see them again and it hurts to think about that. I love them so darn much!
Anyways, I’m done writing about that, that took too long and I cried too much. I have a week left and I ‘m going to make the most of it! :)
Yep so that crazy interview with President threw me for one! It threw me even a little further as we talked about what I’ll be doing in Guam. I guess it turns out that I’ll be an assistant to the President, so that will definitely bring some new experiences.
Today is Elder Lange’s birthday, whom I dearly love, and Elder Tuaitanu’s birthday was on Sunday so today we are getting together and having a Chuukese feast!! Pounded breadfruit, fire roasted chicken/meat, fish cooked in coconut milk, rice and coconuts!! Woneii!! It’s going to be good and I’m going to get so fat and I don’t even care!! ha :)
Ok, love your guts take care and don’t die. Ai tong esap much ngenikemi!
Tong Ennet fiti Jaiwak,
Elder Wells “Ito”
Ran Allim ai famini!
Sorry about missing a week, Elder Kuss went to Guam to get checked up on for his sickness and I spent the next week and a half out of my area in Sapuk and that threw just about everything off, then when Elder Kuss got back we had to cram for Zone Conference that same week, but all is well and I’m alive and loving life!
Zone Conference went really well, I think after 9 months I really got the hang of it! ha It was spiritual and many good things were discussed and in my interview with President Dowdle he said in his own words: “I just LOVED Zone Conference today!” So that was great.
Speaking of my interview with President Dowdle I guess it’s a good time to inform you all that this will be my last letter from Chuuk. . . . . .
The time has come, my number has been called, the future is set, I’m going to Guam. That was the outcome of my interview with President Dowdle. Funny thing is I knew it was coming. Since the start of this transfer I had a feeling my time was short. As the end of the transfer got closer I became more worried about this feeling. ha I started praying for long periods of time trying to appeal to the Lord that I should stay in Chuuk longer; I even fasted for it but the feelings and promptings I received from the Spirit confirmed my nervousness, it was solidified when I heard it come from President’s mouth, but I already knew. It’s everything I never wanted but . . . . . . I am supposed to be in Guam. And that confirmation received from the Spirit is the only consolation I have . . . . I am supposed to be there.
I’m crying as I write this because the thought of leaving Chuuk practically rips my heart out. It’s already the hardest thing I’ve done and I still have a week left. No offense, when I left home I knew I’d see you all again in two years but leaving these Chuukese I don’t know when I’ll see them again and it hurts to think about that. I love them so darn much!
Anyways, I’m done writing about that, that took too long and I cried too much. I have a week left and I ‘m going to make the most of it! :)
Yep so that crazy interview with President threw me for one! It threw me even a little further as we talked about what I’ll be doing in Guam. I guess it turns out that I’ll be an assistant to the President, so that will definitely bring some new experiences.
Today is Elder Lange’s birthday, whom I dearly love, and Elder Tuaitanu’s birthday was on Sunday so today we are getting together and having a Chuukese feast!! Pounded breadfruit, fire roasted chicken/meat, fish cooked in coconut milk, rice and coconuts!! Woneii!! It’s going to be good and I’m going to get so fat and I don’t even care!! ha :)
Ok, love your guts take care and don’t die. Ai tong esap much ngenikemi!
Tong Ennet fiti Jaiwak,
Elder Wells “Ito”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
