April 23, 2007
I received my package today. Thanks for the Cadbury candy. It's about
gone now (the creme and carmel eggs lasted two or three days, and I'm
saving the mini-eggs for later...). Especially thanks for the DVD,
and the Peace Corps training manual. About the only resource I have
left to get is Spoken Marshallese. I haven't gotten it yet. I suggest
you just send stuff to my Springdale address. If I need to go pick up
a package from UPS, it's pretty much just up the street. Expect a big
package in about a year.
I've decided I'm going back to the old cheap college food. I bought a
12-pack of beef Top Ramen, a bag of frozen vegetables, and some
Kikkoman Teryiaki baste and glaze. I still have some of my homemade
chili, but it's not that great. I do not suggest anyone making any
kind of chili out of pinto beans, tomato paste, and spices, unless
you have the beans donated, the spices already there, and need to
live cheaply.
In the way of investigators, Matthew Daniels came to church
yesterday. He's visually impaired, so we're not quite sure how to go
about getting him to read (or hear) the Book of Mormon, but we're
looking into it. No one else made it to church. I don't know why the
Samples weren't there (But Jeff is progressing very well. He even
called the Bishop to set up a meeting with him!). Sandra called and
said that she was having trouble with her blood sugar, so she wasn't
able to come. Matthew said that he thought that church was
"interesting." I dunno what it means. But he agreed with pretty much
everything that was taught. One of our investigators is now in jail.
It's quite interesting to see how the Spirit works. While we taught
him about the Restoration, I could tell that Elder Jaynes and I were
teaching well, but the Spirit wasn't there. It was odd. He wanted to
be baptized, but something didn't feel quite right. Not that anything
seemed to be wrong, but there wasn't a confirmation from the Spirit.
There was nothing to make one suspicious, but nothing to really feel
like we should move forward. Anyway....
Change of plans for transfers. It looks like Elder Jaynes will be
pairing up with Elder Keniko. I will be pairing up with Elder
Valutafunga, who is from Hawai'i, and we'll be doing Spanish work for
the next six weeks, while I learn how to speak Marshallese. Honestly,
I don't know what is going on here, or why President Seal decided to
have me do Spanish work. I know just enough Spanish to hand out a
Libro de Mormon pass-a-long card, and that's about it. But, ah well,
somehow I'll grow out of this. After six weeks, I will pair up with
Elder Albert from the Marshall Islands, and we will have another
Spanish elder come in and pair up with Elder Valutafunga. This
mission is craziness!
I won't be needing a DVD. We have sunday school and sacrament
services in Marshallese, so I'll be alright. I'm starting to get a
"feel" for how the language should sound. Sometimes it reminds me of
the ewoks on Return of the Jedi. I'm picking out words, but everyone
speaks too fast for me to be able to put together what's going on.
But at this point I'm doing better with Spanish than I am at
Marshallese.
It sounds like you sent out a package that I haven't gotten yet.
Here's a list of things that I could use (other than Spoken
Marshallese). If you already sent them, then don't worry about them.
Creamed Honey (ASAP!!!!)
3 or 4 short-sleeve shirts from Missionary Mall (size 17)
Socks from Missionary Mall (the $3/pair ones - they're amazing!)
Special Witnesses of Christ (DVD)
MoTab - Love is Spoken Here (CD)
Lex de Azevedo - Variations on a Sacred Theme II (CD)
Best of Jenny Oaks Baker (CD)
More Holiness Give Me (CD, it's a piano-cello duet, has green on the
cover, like a green field of grass or something)
Henry B. Eyring - He First Loved Us (CDs, I'm thinking about buying
this myself next week)
I'll probably hold off buying any of these things, except for Elder
Eyring's Book-on-CD and Love is Spoken Here. The More Holiness Give
Me CD is really good. I know my birthday is coming up, so this is
also, in a sense, my birthday list (excluding the cremed honey).
Also, something I would like is a few CDs (I'll leave the number up
to you) of talks by the general authorities, at General Conference or
CES Broadcasts. I think that'd be good for me. Don't just focus on
missionary work, but I'd say focus more on gospel principles.
Anyway. I can't think of anything else, so I'll be going for now. See
you all next week!
