Whats cooler than writing letters and eating dinner under candle light? Nothing! Well there is plenty cooler but I still think this is pretty cool. Its been pretty rainy lately, so we don't have any power (solar). I don't mind though. I dig candle light and fires to cook stuff on. We have one can of propane left and if we run out, we'll build fires for cooking. We tried making the corn bread stuff today without eggs or milk. We used our rice pot, a empty tuna can, a measuring cup, and a ceramic plate to create a steam oven. It worked..the cornbread was good, but we burned through propane doing so. Everything is going good out here though. Elder Valinotti is probably the most similar to me of all my companions yet. However come to think of it, I haven't had a companion yet that I didn't get along with very well.
I have grown rather apathetic since I've been here. The kids here grow up getting what they want when they ask for it. The also feel that they have a right to whatever they see. I've grown immune to hearing my name and any question that involves Kose Mochen Upwe Angei...(you don't want?...I will have...) They want Ramen, soy sauce, spam, 50cents, water, salt, plastic bags, tobasco, black pepper, garlic, ramen, water, matches, kool-aid, ramen, water, ramen garlic, ramen, soy sauce, ramen, gum, cardboard, ramen, tuna, ramen, chicken, ramen, and wait.....ramen. The brochure for this place should read something like: "Come enjoy the experience of being asked for something twenty times a day or your money back guaranteed." On the plus side I've gotten used to cold showers, sleeping on the ground, sitting on the ground, and living out here without air conditioning. The Zone Leaders have air conditioning in their apt and we all freeze whenever we go in. The one good part about that is that it makes the tile nice and cool for sleeping. There are times when I worry a bit about coming home, going from this humidity and heat to the damp bite of fall air back home and then in January, the Utah winter. I often recall a memory I have from BYU when I saw a guy in sweats and a hoodie bundled up against a wall in one of my classes. The TA asked him if he was alright, and he answered that he had recently returned from a mission in the caribbean and that he couldn't seem to get warm. I now realize that I had laughed at my impending future.
This past week, the A.P's came out. I got to see Elder Madsen again, and Elder Malit, who has seved on Chuuk, so he was a big help. Earlier in the transfer another area on the island Weno on Chuuk called us and told us one of their investigators who was doing real well was moving to Tonoas. A young girl about 10 or so. She lives about a 30 minute walk away and we were able to sit down with her parents the day the A.P.'s came. We had a really good lesson on the restoration. The spirit was definitely there and after we all shared our testimonies, the man said that he had something he wanted to say. We were in the heart of Protestant territory so we were like shoot, this stubborn Chuukeese man is going to dominate our faces (earlier when he had seen that we were there he wasn't too happy and asked another woman what our purpose for being there was.) He started talking rather fast in Chuukese and I could only understand that he was talking about the protestant church. I felt impressed that he needed a Book of Mormon so I turned to Elder Valinotti, who was struggling to listen and told him about it. He got one out of his bag. Elder Malit saw and looked pleased, When the man finished Elder Malit bore his testimony and then asked Elder Valinotti to explain the Book of Mormon. After the lesson, I had a real good feeling and I talked to Elder Malit about it. He told us that the man had basically said that the Protestant church was not true in his eyes. It was whatever the Pastor had wanted and he(pastor) has never said that it was Jesus Christ's Church. He has been praying and waiting for someone to tell and show him which church is right. His wife was like "we give them money every week, but we don't know where it goes, and none of us in the congregation seem to receive any benefit from it. They are Studdin!
We got to come in to go shopping, and for Zone P-day. Our really studdin' investigators are doing even better then they already were. The man Jon asked us how he could become a member of Jesus Christ's church and says that he thinks about baptism when he wakes up, and when he goes to sleep. We have high hopes for them.
Rains and winds are picking up here. We have had some crazy storms lately, which make boat rides choppy and wet. Those last couple of boxes were really helpful. My only request is for cookies and baby powder. I'll hit you up again in 4 weeks. :)
Wait....I am in dire need of socks. I think that the trolls or dwarfs stole mine. I haven't matched socks in awhile. Maybe like 12 pairs. Please and thank you!!
Elder Lapeyrouse
