March 11

Well Family Dear,
It was another nice sunny week in Pohnpei. I tried a guava this week. We were explaining faith to a couple young girls and I began to use the example of a seed. They said they didn't know what a seed was (I guess I shouldn't have been suprised. People don't plant seeds here, they just jam a stick in the ground and let it grow). Anyway, one asked if they were the little things inside the guava. They got all excited and assured me that they needed to go out and pick a guava for me so we put the lesson on hold for a minute while they climbed the guava tree. :)

We have a 38-year-old man (Skiller) we are teaching that, up until this week, his lessons were pretty hard. I think he was mostly being taught to make his parents happy and I think he was also just being polite. On Monday, however, he was out at sea with an old man and their boat motor wouldn't work. They tried everything they could think of and even tried paddling back to land but they just drifted farther out to sea. They were pretty scared but finally Skiller thought to say a prayer. He gave a prayer asking for help, then pulled the string for the motor and it started right up. Now he still doesn't talk a whole lot, but there is something about him that has changed. He has heard lesson #1 dozens of times but we decided to teach it again. This time he actually answered questions and really listened with his heart in it. 

I feel like every time we teach a less-active family we find a child or two that have never been baptized. It feels like we teach so many children but I can also see how much their parents testimonies are being strengthened as we involve them into the teaching process. I know God works in mysterious ways. Sometimes I get a little impatient with all the people that tell us they can't come to church because they are luwet (weak). But, we will continue flooding their homes with the word of God. Someday they will come back. They just need a few hefty thrusts in the right direction.

I finally got a nametag in Pohnpein after 6 months on the island. I guess this means they want to keep me. Yay!

Aneesa, I don't think you'll have to worry about saving a puppy for me. When you told me about your boys I thought of I funny story that happened a couple weeks ago. Some of the little girls in our ward ran up our steps with us. As they peeked into our house they had a lot to say about how "lel" (cool, sweet, tight) it was. They asked if we lived there and when we said yes they gave us a surprised look and said. "Are you two family?" They couldn't see why you would live with anyone who wasn't your family member.

Well Bye for anmother week.

Sister Beutler