Big Changes

Hello,

It was transfer week and the island had some big changes. I'm finally finished training which means no more 2 hour companionship studies! We were split into two zones and almost every companionship was changed around. I'm back out in the jungle in a newish area called Mesisou. We will be going back and forth between the Uh branch and my old home of Sapwalap. It was a bitter-sweet change leaving Kolonia Branch, but I happy to be back home for my last few months.  

My new companion is Sister Orrock and it's really fun to be with her. She is from Alpine, Utah, and is 19-years-old.  Everyone was really surprised that they put the two white sisters out in the jungle together. All the kids keep asking us if we are twins. 

One of the investigators from Kolonia, Yolanda, told us an interesting story this week. She said her brother-in-law wasn't breathing right so they were trying to get him to the hospital in the middle of the night. One of her friends said she was going to check the Dolonier Apartments to see if she could find the Elders (the Elders moved out of there 8 months ago). Anyway, her friend returned with some men in white shirts and ties and missionary name badges. The two men gave the man a blessing and took him to the hospital. No one thought to ask their names until the man was safely in the hospital room. When they went to find the two Elders,they had already disappeared. Later Yolanda asked her friend where she had found the Elders and she said they were just standing by the road at the Dolonier Apartments all dressed in missionary attire at 2:00 in the morning. None of our Elders know anything about it. 

Well, love you all.

Sister Beutler

Dear Family,

It was another good week. We finally had a real lesson with Sivil (from Azerbaijan) and found out she is a Muslim and doesn't believe in Jesus Christ. That was definitely a first. I've never taught a non-Christian before. I don't think she's too interested in ever accepting Christianity. She was, however, thrilled to receive a Book of Mormon and says she absolutely loves reading. I'll be praying that the spirit of it will touch her heart.

 

We also found a 17-year-old girl named Emalane. At the end of her third lesson she told us she's known from the first time we came that what we are teaching is the truth. She told us she is going to write her mother (who is on an outer island) a letter telling her how she feels and asking if she can join the church. It is fun to find people who are that prepared.

 

General conference was great. We even got a couple of our investigators to join.

 

One of the young member girls, Mimi-Jo was following us around on Friday asking us all about missionary work and telling us how fun it must be to be a missionary. We then approached a man sitting in front of his house, introduced ourselves, and asked if he'd ever met with missionaries from our church before. In very clear English he gruffly replied, "No and I don't plan to." Mimi-Jo was horrified :)

 

Here is a story just for you, Gideon. On Tuesday we were sitting outside a house teaching a teenage-girl when her brother came outside and began yelling in our direction. Looking around, I realized he was yelling at me. I asked if he was alright and if we could do anything to help. That just got him more angry and he started swearing, blaspheming God, and talking bad about Americans. The girl stood up and we all walked away together. She apologized and told us he had a mental illness from taking too many drugs.

 As a whole, the week actually went very well with plenty of other interesting stories but they will be saved for another place and time.

 

Love you all,

Sister Beutler

This was an event filled week. I broke out with oozing sores all over my arms and one side of my face. They continued to get bigger and nastier every day so I went to the doctor on Tuesday. She told me I had a bad case of impetigo. Anyway, she gave me an antibiotic and some sulfur soap. I am happy to report that all the sores are almost completely gone. :)

We found a girl named Mimi who is 17 and she is truly searching to know more about God. I enjoy teaching teenagers because they always have so many questions and it's fun to see their faces light up when something clicks for them.

While walking through a jungle area, a bug flew on my lip and bit it before I even had time to react. My lip swelled up a bit but all is well now.

We contacted a referral on Friday and as we got to know him he told us of some elders that used to teach him when he was young. I asked if they'd gone back to him many times. He said they had and that he'd even gotten baptized. The funny thing is, this isn't the first time something like that has happened. It seems like there are lost members all over Kolonia that we just happen to find. It strengthened my testimony that the Lord knows how to guide His servants to His lost sheep who are ready to come back.

We just started teaching the lady from Azerbaijan. On Saturday we showed up right as she was getting her house organized and we helped her move her bed and furniture around. She was leaving to go swimming with a friend but invited us for dinner. We went yesterday and she made some very delicious food. It was hard to get some gospel discussion in with all she had to say but I think it will be fun to start teaching her. Right now she mostly just needs a friend. She's going to come to our dance class on Wednesday and hopefully she'll be able to meet lots of branch members there.

We have a couple little boys in one area that like to follow us around and sit in our lessons whenever we go to that road. They always add a bit of humor to my life and it's funny to hear the random little tid-bits they have to share about the gospel during the lessons. The best part is that they actually know the gospel well and the investigators like having them there.

I hope you all have a miracle filled week,

With Love,

Sister Amy Beutler

Kasalehlie Family,

I can't believe it is already October. We had a nice week. Even though we used a whole day for our zone conference, Sister Komra and I we still able to teach lots of lessons and we also found a whole bunch of new investigators. It was amazing how things were just falling into place for us. Investigators were even inviting their friends to come listen to us without us even needing to ask them. 

What did everyone do for conference? I'm sure it was a wonderful conference weekend as it always is. I'm excited to here it myself in a couple weeks.

Love you all,

Sister Beutler

Still Here

Kasalehlie Maing Koaros,

We had our zone conference yesterday so our p-day was moved to today. So yes, I'm still alive and well. 

We just keep pluggin' along with the work. It's interesting how some of the people who seem so golden at first just happen to disappear but it's a regular occurrence in this part of Kolonia. The people move around so much that it's hard to keep track of them. Sometimes their family members don't even know what part of the island they disappeared to. Quite often people just take off and move to the US. Don't ask how or where they get the money to fly all over the world because I still haven't figured it out myself.

We have one less-active family (The Helgenbergers) that we have recently been working really hard with. They used to always say they didn't know anyone we could teach. Then on Friday we happened to come when a bunch of their friends were there. We taught their friends the restoration and the Helgenbergers got so excited about answering their questions and sharing their own testimonies that the next day they gave us a whole list of neighbors they wanted us to go see. That was definitely  a mercy sent from God after a hard week.

We also have two sisters we are teaching named Aloha and Lyn. They are both in their early twenties and in the beginning Aloha was the only one showing interest. Lyn would join the lessons when there was nothing else to do but would mostly just goof off. We recently had a really powerful lesson with them about the Book of Mormon and I could see that something touched Lyn. The spirit truly testified to her heart. She began reading the Book of Mormon herself and after only a couple weeks she was finished with 1st and 2nd Nephi. She doesn't goof off any more, and when we come now she acts like she can't wait to learn more. It so crazy to me how much she has changed in so short of a time. I know God is involved in this work in every way. 

Love you all,

Sister Beutler