Hello Family,
I had to think for a bit of how to spell Family. So how are things? I'm assuming things are going slow moving with house still so I'm sending this letter to the Chinaps(grandparents) address. Tell them thank you for that box back at Christmas time. Living in a 24-7 soap operat tends to cause me to forget things.
Not too much has changed here in Uman. We just entered into a new transfer and I'm still in Uman with Elder Blaser. As for Chuuk, Elders Meldrum and Butler switched. Meldrum to Saipan and Butler back to Chuuk. We also got two new missionaries. Elder Sofele from Utah and Elder Parra from Arizona. We also opened up the Wichap area which brought our Zone up to 14 Missionaries. Yeah! Biggest Zone in the mission. But yeah nothing really different on Uman. Still a soap-opera, still on a shortage of investigators, and still no power in our house. Okay I can't be too dramatic on that. We can still power some lights, our chill box, and our pump with our solar batteries. In Tonas right now, they only have power for their pump. The rest of the batteries are shot. On the plus side, I am pretty used to a nice, humid, 85 degrees with no fan on or anything. It takes a bit of time, but it's not as bad as you might think. However, I freee my butt off wen we got in Mwan.
Oh, I guess I do have some news. I passed off my Chuukeese Language Mastery about a week or so ago. So that is 2 languages I have mastered on my mission. I also want to say Happy Birthday to Kylee. Sorry it's a bit late, but days have long past their distinction now that I have been stuck in summer since April 2010.
Sounds like a lot has happened recently. All of the marriages, missionaries coming home/going out, and the tornado among other things. So how was Christmas? I feel like thats where I left off if I was reading a book about your lives. What did you guys get? and...I am guessing that Dad was talking about Mission Impossible 4? (In his latest letter)
I would say that since I've been on my mission I've begun to spend more time in my head thinking about subjects, topics you name it. Nicholls might not like this, but I think I do it more now that I did it at school. I used to pull him into deep thought discussion all the time at BYU. He called me a nut! I'll probably talk for two weeks straight when I get back. Please don't hate me! hehe I just really like churning and digesting information in my mind. Whether it be from observation, analysis, or reading. I have yet to find the end to the depth of the Gospel, and the Scriptures. It's actually fun spending a couple of days on one Chapter in The Book of Mormon. Especially when after those 2 days you have probably ten tangents you want to study further, and those have tangents and so on that all tie together and support each other and build off of each other. 2 Nephi 9, 2 Nephi 31, Jacob 5, Mosiah 2, Alma 32-34, 3 Nephi 11, Moroni 7. (These should keep you guys going for awhile) Another book that is probably one of my more favorite is life is Jesus The Christ by James E. Talmage. Its deep, powerful, bold, and comprehensive. I look forward to everyday to reading it. I actually hunger for it and is often leaves me in deep thought and sometimes in Awe. I highly recommend that Josh reads if before his mission, but don't let it hinder the reading of the scriptures. When I get back I also want to read The Great Apostasy andArticles of Faith also by Talmage. Maybe look into some of Hollands writings and Packers, and most of all, I want to go to the Temple again. The only bad thing about this is that I like to discuss what I've learned. Elder Sturm was good for that, but these talks are never short. Hope you guys look forward to it.
Okay now that that tangent is gone, Josh, how are you liking the Community College? Kylee... High school? Hows work for you all? out here it is slow. outside of Sopowtiw, lessons are hard in coming. They have actually been pretty slow coming in general but there's a man above us with a real genuine desire to learn. He's humble, friendly(didn't use to be) and asks good questions. He's protestant, but not biased. We have some good discussion. The other day we spent a whole lesson on faith and repentance. At the end, he said probably the most honest prayer I've ever heard an investigator say. It was a genuine humble communication with his Father in Heaven. He was thankful, accountable, and hopeful. It's been a blessing to teach a man like this. Glad we found him.
Yesterday, marked the point where I have 8 months left. Time flies by, and a very, long 24 hours worth of airtime, in flights draws nearer. I really do not look forward to the much travel. We have a Zone conference coming up this next week. it should be a good one. other than that, there's really not too much more that going to be happening her for awhile. I'm gonna go ahead and wrap this thing up and say I love you guys, and you guys take it easy.
Elder Lapeyrouse
