A February Full of Miracles

Happy Groundhogs Day to all of you. It came and went here and I completely forgot Feb. 2 was a holiday. 

It is good to hear from all of you. Sounds like Stake Conference was really good. It should be a lot of fun to be in a smaller stake.

This past week has been awesome. As a three-some we have been working hard to teach thought by thought so that no one person takes over the lesson and we all have a chance to say whatever the spirit prompts. It has been working well and the Lord has really been leading us to prepared people. There have been a few times this week where we have talked to people on our way to a lesson and although we didn't have a member with us, we felt prompted to teach them right then and there. I've felt the spirit witness to them that what we have taught is true and we have several people who are working towards getting baptized by the end of this month. 

Our baptism this past Saturday for Erleen didn't happen. She is a 12-year-old and her whole family is baptised. She told our district leader that she hasn't repented yet because she still hates some classmates at school. I guess at least she's honest with herself. :) She's looking to be baptized this next week. 

One of the boys we taught this week (Sydney) said he had been sitting in many lessons in the past and he knew that our church was true for a long time. When we invited him to be baptized he pretty much told us that he thought we would never ask and he happily accepted a date for the 22nd of this month. 

I had a request to expound more on the story of the lady with 13 babies inside of her so here it goes. She said she got really sick until she couldn't walk any more and her belly got really really big. She finally went to the hospital. They did an ultra-sound and the doctor said she would die if they didn't take out her uterus. So, they took it out and inside were 13 babies. She said some looked like baby lizards (those were supposedly girls), some looked like the mangrove fish (the boys) and the others looked like turtles without their shells (those ones were the supposed demons inside). There you have it Deborah. See if you can figure that one out.

Love you all very very much,

Sister Beutler

We had a great week. Our tri-panionship is going well, we are getting used to working together and this is going to be a fun last transfer. We had a wedding yesterday for some investigators. It was real nice and simple. We met a woman who had thirteen babies inside of her. She said it was Satan's doings.

Love you all,

Sister Beutler

Hey,

Sister Fatongia left on Thursday and now I am in a three-some for my last transfer. It has been a bit of a challenge trying to combine the Sapwalap and Mesihsou areas and plan splits with only one car. There are so many people to teach in both areas. We are hoping that a sister gets sent to us soon. We heard there are a couple in the Phillipines waiting for their visa. Things are going well though. it is pretty tight squeezing three sisters into our little house. we have to stack our mattresses every morning to we have room to walk and study. I'm still just loving my mission. I have a lot of work to do before the end. We had a baptism on Saturday for Silo. His wife was so excited. He was the one that was supposed to be our Christmas baptism. he made it this time.

Love y'all,

Sister Beutler

Sister Beutler did not have time to write this week, but sent a note to her mother that she is fine.

Parakapw Mwahu

What a week filled with blessings. Since the new year everyone has settled down a bit with the parties and all and they are starting to get a lot more serious about living a better life this year than last. What better way to do that than to be baptized! There are two teenage boys (Kavika and Denero) from separate families that have been coming to church all on their own due to wonderful friends who invited them. Both of them wanted to be baptized but didn't have permission from their parents. We were able to meet with all the parents this week and they gave their approval. Yay! They will both be such strong additions to the branch and they have both shared their desires to serve missions. Denero's older sister (Lisa) is also preparing for baptism. She just needs to get married. Her husband is being a bit of a pill about that but he is a member from a good member family so I believe it will happen soon.

I received my two Christmas packages last Monday! They were so wonderful. Thank you all for thinking of me. The other sisters would all like to give their thanks as they made sure to partake of all the goodies. Jared, Sister Fatongia was thrilled to receive her honey. The best part of all was when Sister Komra opened her presents. She loves her scriptures so much she kisses them every time she picks them up. I sent a picture of her big smile while she read Deborah's letter. I was able to go on an exchange with her last week and it is amazing how much she has grown in just two transfers. One of the funnest parts of missionary work is seeing how much your fellow missionaries grow and progress. 

Love you all very much,

Sister Beutler   

Happy New Year

Hello Hello,

I had such a nice Christmas this past week. Your second Christmas on the mission is so much more fun than your first. I was already over the weirdness of not being with family, the heat outside and such from last year so I was just able to enjoy my unique Christmas on Pohnpei this year. 

Monday we had proselyting all day and then Tuesday (Christmas Eve) we had our P-day/Missionary Christmas Dinner/Pohn Rakied Christmas Party. At the Pohn-Rakied party, all the Kirinese members had made handicrafts for all the missionaries and we drew a number to see which one we would receive. I received a lovely hand-carved shark and a turtle made of shells. What kind and giving people I am blessed to serve among.

That evening all the Sisters slept together in Kolonia and we had a nice Christmas breakfast, devotional, and gift exchange together Christmas morning. We went back to our areas for the afternoon and spent all Christmas day going to family get-togethers we had been invited to, and eating until our stomachs almost burst.  

The best part of all was the day after Christmas when I got to skype all of you. it was so good to see all of your happy healthy faces and to hear that all is well back home. 

As for the missionary work, our Christmas baptism and wedding did not go through due to sakau in both instances. January is looking to be a good month though.

Oh how I love you all.

Sister Beutler

Merry Merry Christmas

Our three-some out in Sapwalap continued on all this past week, but we received the good news that Sis Ma'a's hip is healing well and she just flew back in yesterday so now Sis. Fatongia has a companion again and things can settle down a bit.

Things are going well in our area. Everyone wants to procrastinate until after the new year to repent so it's a little hard progressing them right now. It is looking like January will be a good baptizing month though. 

The Rohde family we found last week is so golden. When we went back to them on Tuesday they said they prayed about our teachings and they know it is all true. The grandmother kept piping up with her negative comments all through the lesson but they didn't seem to care and they even helped us explain some things to her. What a prepared family.  

I'm so excited to skype all of you in a couple days. We will talk later... :)

Love you all, 

Sister Beutler