Tu wo mwet nuh kwah!

"I go back to the smell of an old gym floor, and the taste of salt on a Carolina shore, after graduation and drinking (Cheerwine) goodbye to friends. I go back to watching summer fade to fall growin up too fast and I do recall, wishin time would stop right in its tracks." (Kenny Chesney)

 

Tu wo mwet nuh kwah! (Good morning everyone!) Aaron, Sarah, Yvonne, Kristin, Sis. Miller, Sis. Jaquish, Elders Corn, and Valinotti, Adam, Jayson, Jose thanks for sending me a line. It great to hear from you all!  So Island life....well lets see I don't know what to say. I keep planning what it is I'm going to say but by the time I get here I think that I have already said it. Since I've been here we've had 3 baptisms. The islands yearly total right now is at around 31. The goal is 38. Piece of cake.

 

So Kosraean....is one major fail. I feel like I'm watching the travel channel or something, during the lessons and yeah.... I wish I could speak English. Some people do speak English here so its nice to be able to talk to them. geeeez uh lets see, well Since I've been here I have eaten some crazy stuff. Most of it is pretty bland. Taro root, yadda yadda. Eels not very bland though, but it's also not bad. Just a million bones and sticky as all get out. OK so last week or two weeks ago our car crapped out on us. Well the battery died. So.. we were left to use bikes to cover our massive area, and in a place where it is constantly 90 degrees and supeerrrr humid, that wasn't fun. I did some work on the care so it's workin for the time being, but that corolla is craapp. We have to take it places where you need more clearance and AWD to go. So NEVER buy a mission vechicle.

 

I eat a lot of chicken and rice here. a lot. nuff said.

 

So all this time I get to sit and think inside my own head has made me realize something. I've been feeling really stressed lately, and Ive figured out why. I really miss those times I would sit up late at night and watch worthless programing on tv and talk with mom instead of doing my homework, working in the yard with Adam while listening to country music, the lift at park city with Jayson and sitting on top of the mountain, those long times I spent with Yvonne and Kristin and whoever else down in the lobby of May or Taylor. I miss call of duty with Evans. I miss walking into Brighams room to ask him a question and ending up spending an hour in there talking about life and what not. I miss riding in the truck with dad: windows down with 80s music. I miss chips and salsa and Banjo-Kazooie with Nips till 1 or 2 am, and then AJ walking into my room which led to either Rancharitos, Del Taco, Vendies, or just sitting in his room till 4 err 3. Skyping with Gianluca over the summer. I miss all those times with Erick and Aaron where I didn't have to say anything because they already knew whats in my head. All of those times, I got the wonderful opportunity to sit and talk with people. To unwind let go of life and talk about anything and everything. How the day went, and what was on my mind. I don't get that opportunity here. The Missionary life is real busy and you don't get much down time. Plus English isn't really spoken here, and my companions an inert person. He admitted to being super shy for the majority of his life. I realized the other day that I love to talk, and love to talk to people. I feel like the only way to do that now is through letters. So I need more addresses. please.

 

Other than that, the island is pretty chill. I sometimes feel like the people have no drive here which bugs the snot out of me but I'll get over it I'm sure as I learn to love the people. Right now I'm just frustrated with the language and I'm sure it will get better. I would love, love, love to email  yall some pictures but the problem is, these computers have no virus protection and usually destroy anything you hook up to them. So I guess it's good ole Facebook once my mom gets them. I love hearing from you all and its super nice. I'm on a freakin island. Cha baba! Anyways until next week, Kampare! (endure or BE STRONG)

 

-Elder Lapeyrouse

Long time no hear....

We have not heard from Braydon this week because the internet service is down on the island.  I am just posting a couple of pictures from the MTC.

Lost....or at least thats how it feels....

All this place needs is a magical hot tub, a crazy french lady, a couple of ruins that you never find out about, a couple of polar bears, and a smoke monster. I am not completely, but close, LOST. So I don't even know where to begin, I'll kinda summerize real quick.

 

Trip to Guam:...Have I mentioned I hate long airplane trips? especially with loads of Japanese school children that scream as you hit turbulence and talk loudly in Japanese. ALL of them. So Guam, pretty ghetto outside of the base and Barrigada. the South part I've heard isn't too bad. We got to Guam around Midnight, Slept in one of the rooms then had orientation the next day (when she called you). Orientation lasted all day and we just basically enjoyed our last bit together before we knew we might split up. That evening we got our assignments basically like opening another mission call. All of the missionaries on Guam were there in the mission homes living room. (which is super nice by the way). and we got individual letters telling us of our first assignments. Elder Butler went first. He opened his "blah blah blah Chuuk". Everyone cheers. I'm next " You have been assigned to labor in the Utwe area of the beautiful island of Kosrae" And I'm thinking, wait, wasn't that the small one? Elder Criswell to Saipan which is breathtakenly georgous. Valinotti to Guam, Corn to Pohnpei, and Cutler to Yap. Then we put our things in the car and set out with a set of guam missionaries to go to some appointments and then leave in the morning. I wasn't even on the ground for a day before I was back on a plane!! So Guam, yeah muy ghetto. Like some of the Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 maps are similar to it. Glad I'm not staying there. And I'm sure you know about Kosrae already because the letter was CC'd to you, Bishop, and President Marsh.

 

 

Three plane rides later and a few days and I'm sitting at one of the 4 computers on this island. Kosrae is about 42 square miles. There is only one road that circles the outside of the island. So I can always see the beach right?? Tu wo! Thats good morning in Kosraean. This place....well let me just say I have no idea how power and cars got here. Its a jungle, I live in a freakin jungle of an island. We do have a house, and a car. which is better than the lawyers and doctors on the island have. Most people here live in shacks or straight concrete houses that are basically one room with a small wall dividing the floor space where you normally sit and where you sleep. No furniture. Some have TV's and surprisingly I heard Justin Bieber on the radio of a car passin by the other day. How this gets out here I am still at a loss. Our house, our whole house can fit in our living room back home. The only ac is in our bedroom and the rest of the house is soooooo hot. Its like 88 year round and 100% humidity. Guess I asked for it. The people here are so nice and just friendly, too bad I can barely understand them. A lot of people speak enough english to communicate and some speak a lot. They always smile and I try to speak Kosrean. My companion Elder Rufus is Marshallese and I can barely understand his english at times. Many people here are too poor to be able to feed us so we feed our selfs. Rice and Chicken and vegatables. Some families will feed us though as I've been told so I haven't avoided fish yet. Elder Rufus doesn't have a license so I get to drive our Toyota Corolla. There are really only too rules here. Don't hit anyone, and honk as you go around a car going slow or stopped in your lane, but you can't go real fast because the kids and dogs just play in the street. and people too. They aren't scared Elder Rufus was telling me. I was like I don't care how scared you may not be, cars can't smell fear. Feel free to send me stuff similar to what you sent in the MTC. I also need the USB cord to my camera.  I can't wear lavalavas. Apparently thats a Polynesian thing, it's actually a somewhat gay thing to do here, so pants and shirts for me. I'll get a picture with a machette. Or however you spell it.

 

When I get home, I imagine I will be very bitter toward the American lifestyle. These people live life for family and personal growth and well being. They do not worry about money and I feel like they will rub off on me before I leave. I really want to learn this language so that I may be able to share the Gospel with them. I felt the Spirit in the lessons so much in the MTC, and I am really sad that I cannot teach in English, but we teach the people in the language of their hearts. I also really miss all of you. My friends, my family, music, the Tundra, my MTC district, and just a sense of belonging. They welcomed me well here. A family we went to see my first day have made me some handcrafts. A necklace, a headband and a bracelet. Woven with some material and shells. Banana trees and coconut trees are everywhere.

 

Watching Conference again (the delay here is so long we just watched it).  It reminded me that last time I was with my District from the MTC and some of the talks on gratitude and family really hit home this time around.

 

I know I will grow to love it here and I can't wait till I can speak fluently.  Send packages and letters directly to this address for now:

 

Elder Braydon Craig Lapeyrouse

P.O. Box 186

Tofol, Kosrae, FSM 96944

 

By the way Kosrae is pronunced "Kos-rye" with the "o" like a "uh"

 

I was told I will end up on probably Guam before my misison is up, maybe sooner, and maybe a different island. Which means  I  will learn some Chuukese as well. Every missionary on Guam must now learn Chuukese.

 

Get on Facebook and write "I'm LOST...write me. @Caitlin Hoffman @Aaron Hiatt @Adam Hiatt @Kristin Fortenberry  @Yvonne Lai @ Taylor Nicholls and many others. The address is in my white profile box or in the comments."

 

 

I love you all and wish you well

-Elder Lapeyrouse

Off to the tropics

Hafa adai!! Thats hello in Chamorro. I still have no clue what any of the other languages sound like but I will soon find out. So, flight plans: leave the MTC at 6:00 am. Depart from Salt Lake City at 9:45am. Arrive in Seattle, WA at 11:02 am (this doesnt make sense to me either). Leave Seattle at 1:40pm on Oct 12. Arrive in Tokyo Narita, Japan at 4:40pm Oct 13th. Leave Tokyo at 6:55 pm Oct 13. Arrive in Guam at 11:40pm Oct 13. I don't know if this is all in MST or if they have factored in the time changes. I'm just going to keep my watch set to here until Guam so that I know what time it is back home. So this past week....haven't really done too much more. Just kinda finishing up on teaching any classes. Which by the way are so awesome to be over. Got my first two letters from a girl outside my family on Thursday and Friday this week. Think I would be a bit more popular than that right? Meanwhile, Elder Cherrington gets like 1028938920 a day. So I'm writting a few of his girls...just to see where it goes hah :) I've made some really nice friends here that I didn't know before and that aren't in my district. It kinda sucks saying goodbye. One of them being from New Zealand taught me the words of the Haka. I really wanted to have it written down because of it's meaning. I've also met Elder Ray from Roy, Utah and Elder Sohlai from La'ie Hawai'i. He was actually my first friend here because he was the guy I walked in with at 9:30 when Dad dropped me off. He's going to Japan and has taught me enough Japanese to give a pass along card in Japan. I got to see Brigham. A bunch. His hall actually wasn't too far from me so I went and visited him and he came to mine last night. Two nights ago Butler and I stood outside and tried to listen to the San Diego State and BYU game. We could tell it was homecoming cause the "Y" was lit. Apparently BYU ended up winning. Good. They need to make up for the rest of the season. I'm sending my xd card home. Its got a bunch of Pictures and video. one of the last videos is 32 minutes long. Some of my favorite people here are a giant Tongan named deler Kato, and a big Samoan that plays for UCLA named Elder Schwenke. They are so much fun and they taught me a good lesson. They use hymns when they teach. Elder Butler and I tried that the other day in combination of already teaching completely by the spirit. It took me 3 weeks to figure that one out. David A Bednar helped with that a bit. But that lesson was so powerful. I felt impressed to sing "I am a child of God" and the spirit was so strong that I couldn't even get the notes close to right. But it was so amazing. And it was our teacher (in investigator mode) that we were teaching and she was like "Elders, you've achieved your purpose." The Book of Mormon is an AMAZING book and it is much more than the keystone to our religion. Its the springboard to our testimonies and we must always read it. Like King Benjamin taught, The tree of faith unnourished will wither and die. I've had some amazing experiences here with teaching and singing and who knows what else but its all because of the Spirit you get when you read that book. My new favorite passages are about Ammon and 3 Nephi 11. Thats such a powerful chapter and we use it a lot to help investigators feel the Spirit. I'm sad to leave here because I just now saw how amazing it is. The pilot program is amazing and we got told that we did it right and that they are going to switch the whole MTC over to it by May. It really taught us how to teach on our own and with the Spirit. We were told the teachers job the first week was to make sure we don't drown, then watch us at 3 weeks, where we took a exponential curve straight up, where as the other program does super awesome the first week but then plateaus around the beginning of week 3. Anyways,  this place is truely remarkable and I'm glad I was able to come here. It's been crazy, I've been a test subject for three weeks and it worked out for the better.  My Samoan friend says hi. I love you all and I'll call you when I can. Take care. God speed. (God Speed the Right....awesome hymnn) oh and "homeward bound" by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir arr. by Mack Wilburg. We watched the MOTAB broadcast this past sunday and it was sung. Wayyy sweet!! Anyway, Byeeee.

-Elder Lapeyrouse

 

week 2 and only 1 week until the islands

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Week 2...or should I say month 6. I feel like I've been here for the longest time. But on a cooler note...I'm going to Tokyo!!! We got our flight plan the other day and we have a two hour layover in Japan. We leave Oct 12 and we are all real excited. Secondly, I have sooooo much junk food right now. I bought myself some to stock up for conference (Friday) then I got a package from Edye off of Dear elder (Friday), then I got a huge package with even more candy, Cheerwine, and my jersey (Saturday). I guess ya'll are tryin to fatten me up or something before all the fish. Thanks for it all though, I reall appreciate it. One of the Nutella bottles is already gone. So, important lesson #1 this week: never be out of tune with the spirit, It saved my districts lives. Haha scared yet, well I was, We nearly got hit by a freakin car. On our way to gym to play some v-ball we have to cross the road that seperates the MTC and the Provo Temple grounds. You push the button and wait till the light turns red and it gives you 20 seconds to cross. No chirps because they are redoing the intersection. We usually like to run across, or  jog or someting quick as soon as we can go. So here we are sitting there, button pushed and waiting to cross, 12 of us gathered on the corner. One of our guys gets the random impression to ask a random woman if she was a teacher here, and for some reason her answer caught the intrest of all 12 nineteen year old men. Her answer was no I believe, but she proceded to ask us where we were going and we kinda gathered round to tell her. At that moment we hear tires screech as a big ole Durango blows through the intersection way too fast and swerves and hits a BYU grounds truck that was turning into the MTC. We look back at the timer and it reads 8. So we figured about 9 or so seconds went by as we watched the aftermath. Which still leaves us what....2....3 seconds of red light before the Durango entered the intersection. Heres the DL, The durango, tried to catch the light so they sped up, looked at the light and noticed it was not yellow, but red and was already going too fast to stop before they went through the intersection. Had we not been captivated by the answer "no" or had one of the Elders not spoken to her, the BYU truck wouldn't have been the only thing hit. Important lesson #2, we teach people, not lessons. Our purpose is to invite others to come unto to Christ...(big long statement) but the main idea is that we DON'T teach what we know. WE teach what they NEED. We are supposed to be constantly thinking what does this person need to DO, in order to FEEL the spirit, and learn what they need to KNOW. So getting to know the investigator is the first thing you do. In one of our mock investigator situations, Elder Butler and I have not yet invited him to Baptism, he's not ready, but we are teaching out of PMG lesson 3. Some people you can invite to Baptism on the first time and some you can't. It depends on their needs. I know PMG says to but the MTC is trying to emphasise that memorizing lessons was Missionary Guide junk that we don't do anymore and that lessons should be spirit directed. D&C 84:85. We should study all of the lessons and memorize the points in each lesson and then teach according to their needs. Obvioulsy you're not going to teach the law of tithing in your first meeting, you might not even cover the restoration.  You might jump stright into the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. The big kicker is getting them to read the B.O.M. The introduction and Moroni 10:3-5 explain the BOM and what will happen if you read and pray. Usually that is our biggest do, be bold and teach from it. If they do it sincerely, they can't deny it. Its crazy how I've now got tons of scriptures for the first lesson memorized after only a few lessons. I am very excited to get out to the Islands and teach the people and hopefully learn a language or three. My new fav verse of a hymn is verse 7 of How Firm a Foundation. Take care and I love you all, My laundrys done and I want to go eat some plastic eggs. Godspeed and Kia Kaha

Pictures from week one in MTC

enough said!!

Elder Butler

district 24

6 going to the Marshall Islands Mission

5 going to the Mironesia Guam Mission