Life Just Keeps Getting Better

What a wonderful week I had. We had 6 investigators at church yesterday!!! We walked with 5 girls who are all mutual-age. They were nervous at first but they ended up really enjoying church and are excited to go to mutual in Tuesday. They are all sort of related to each other so they have their own little support system as they prepare to be baptized together. They aren't shy at all about inviting friends to also sit in the lessons. I feel like amazing things are going to be happening in their area of the island very very soon.  

I went on exchanges to Sapwalap and learned some interesting Pohnpein superstitions. Sister Varea had a big zit right between her eyes and the locals insisted that she let a boy pop it. They say that if a boy pops a zit it will never come back, but if a girl does it will multiply. One of her investigators ended up doing it for her. We were also driving past a place where a accidental bush fire had just happened, revealing large piles of boulders. I asked one of the members who joined us why the boulders were piled like that. She said that during World War II Pohnpei was used as fighting grounds. The legend goes that black magic was used and many of the soldiers turned into rocks. I thought she was just joking so I laughed and asked what really happened. She didn't think it was very funny though and assured me I could ask any local and they would tell me the same thing. 

We started teaching a man named Gregorio about two weeks ago. He has already read over half of the Book of Mormon and he always has lots of really good soul searching questions. He lives in the same house as his sister and her husband. They didn't seem very interested in the past but they seem to have caught on to Gregorio's excitement and they also get into the lessons now.

I don't know if I ever told you all about Brother Cantero, but he's a man that has heard from dozens of missionaries. He probably knows more about Joseph Smith than I do. His wife was baptized long ago but is in-active now. A couple days ago he finally told us he wanted to be baptized. We found out that one thing that was stopping him was that he doesn't like big crowds and didn't want a lot of people there making a fuss over him. We assured him that he could have a nice small one. He hasn't agreed on a date yet, but now he's a lot more at ease with things. 

Mary, I was very surprised to hear that you hugged Joelyn for me. Either you are going soft in your ripe years, or you must really love me :)

Love you all, 

Sister Amy Beutler

Life is Full of Miracles

Hello Again,

I had another wonderful week. We were able to watch conference this weekend and it was so uplifting. Sister Kjar (one of the senior missionaries) and I were discussing how shocking it was every time we saw the tabernacle choir and congregation with all their different colors of hair, haircuts, make-up choices, and outfits. Sometimes I forget about what people back home look like. I loved how straight forward all the speakers were and always are.

I have decided the Pingalapese boys are some of the cheekiest little things I've met. I can't help but laugh at all the funny things they do and say though. Down on Sokehs there is a neighborhood drunk who everybody knows. The other day we were walking on the road and there was a boy spraying water on what looked like the bushes outside a store, but there was a group of girls all standing and watching. As we walked past the bushes we saw the soaking wet drunk man just sitting on the porch with a big smile on his face.  

Another day I "shot" a little 3-year-old boy using my hand as a gun. He then ran up to me and smacked my hand down. In disbelief his friend yelled "Ke doakedi mehn (you touched the white one?!?!)" over and over again. I could tell he was quite impressed with his little friend's bravery.

One more story; we were teaching a lesson and another 3-year-old boy was sitting in front of me telling me funny little things. During the lesson he looked up at my face and told me he liked my eyes. I said "oh yeah" and he then replied, "Eh, I men kihsang oh kangala (Yes, I want to pluck them out and eat them)." 

We found a wonderful extended family, the Kohpers, that all live together. Some won't even talk to us but a nice big bunch of them love sitting in the lessons. We took a member with us to one of the lessons. She is in her 40's and she bore a strong testimony in the middle and end. As she talked we saw more and more family members join in and many of their eyes filled with tears. Many hearts were softened that night. 

I have a feeling we are going to see a lot of miracles out of that family. We asked if they knew anyone we could teach and they gave us many of their family members names. We immediately contacted and taught one of the family's and after the lesson they excitedly asked when we could come back and the teenage girls gave us big tight hugs when we left.

After one of the Kohpers lessons we went down the hill and waited for the Vincents, a senior couple, who were joining us that evening. We were standing under the over-hang of what looked like a little abandoned roadside shop. After a couple minutes we heard a ruckus inside. I was afraid there must've been some drunks inside and was a little scared when we heard the door open. The smiling face of an old man poked out and he had a chair in his hand for us to sit on while we waited. We started talking to him and Sister Varea asked if we could share a message before we left. He happily accepted and several of his grandchildren appeared out of the darkness from their various houses. He is a good man and we found out he is the grandfather of the Kohpers. For an old man his mind is very clear and he is willing to change. He had some questions about Joseph Smith and said the missionaries had taught him before but he has never received a Book of Mormon. He said he want to read "our book" and he believes what we teach. 

I am in awe at all the miracles I've been seeing lately. I am happy. I know God is with me in this work. I feel His presence with me always

Love you all very much,

Sister Beutler

 

April 15, 2013

Rahnalem!!!

It is exciting to hear all the news going on at home this week. I was surprised to hear about all the new mission calls in Dayton Ward. I can't believe those boys are all grown up and going out to serve missions already. I didn't realize that Joelyn wouldn't have a mamma and papa to be welcoming her home. Give her all my love. I can't wait to exchange mission stories with her one day.   

Work in Sokehs has been good. There are so many in-active members and it almost breaks my heart when we sit down and talk to some of them. I can tell some of them know the truth but they have chosen to turn away from it and go back to a church that is just "easier" for them. We will continue to go a-fishing though and will never give up on them. We saw some fruit of our efforts yesterday when church attendance was higher then it has been for a long long time. 

Lately I have been hearing more and more about an Elder Dylan Beutler that served here in Pohnpei a few years back. I have no idea who he is but I can tell the people really loved him. They said he was very kind and always gave a big hug to everyone. I want to figure out who he is so I am giving you dear brothers and sisters a mission to search for him and report back promptly next week. 

In Pohnpein, the word for dog is kidi (sounds like kitty). Anyway, every once in awhile I mix up my words and call a cat a kidi. This happened the other day when a little boy was holding a kitten. I asked him the name of his kidi and he gave me a look like I had completely lost it. He then informed me that he was NOT holding a kidi, but a cat.  

We met a lady named Kiki at a small shop in Sokehs this week. We had just stopped under the overhang to wait out the rain for a couple minutes. We made a bit of small talk and then ended up teaching a lesson right there. She didn't seem too interested but when we went back she said she had been reading the Book of Mormon. She also prayed about what we taught her and she says she know it is all true. It was a lovely surprise and I'm excited about her. 

Dad, I'm so happy for you that you get to use your Chinese to teach again. It must take you back to your young missionary years. 

With Love,

Sister Beutler

April 8

MALIA GODO,

I must finally be acclimatising to the weather out here because it sure felt like a cold week. I doubt it even got below 80F but it rained and rained all week long. I believe that by small and simple things, great things are brought to pass and, just maybe, God sent us the rain to help us find people that need this gospel. As Sister Varea and I walked on the road, whenever the rain started, people would call us into their homes so we wouldn't get wet. We were able to use those opportunities to teach them and their families until the rain stopped and we could continue on our way. We found so many people this week including many many less-active members who were more than happy to talk to us. I feel like most of them just didn't have family and member support and so they eventually just fell away but they still know without a doubt that the church is true. 

I finally walked around the entire island of Sokehs on Friday. Sister Varea and I decided that if we walked around the island with no stops it would probably take about 11/2 hours. 

The Andons are a family we were teaching in Kolonia. Before we left the area Brother Andon promised he would be at church on Sunday and I was happy to see that he finally came yesterday. He also came and told us that his whole family will be at church next week he will be baptised before the end of this month. I know he's been working hard to give up smoking and I think he's almost there. 

We met a man this week who is 71 years old. I asked the 40 year old woman in his house if she was his daughter. She just smiled and told us she was his wife and then introduced us to their 6 young children. The oldest is 15 and the youngest is 4. We had a little lesson with them and the man had plenty to say about his views on religion, what the bible says, etc. I didn't think he was all that interested but extended a baptismal invitation after a nudge from Sister Varea. Well, lo and behold he replied by saying "Thank you for the invitation, I want to join your church".

There is a member family from Guam who just moved here about 6 months ago and the father is the only one who knows Pohnpein. One of their young girls in elementary is failing her classes because she doesn't understand her teacher so Sister Varea and I are going to start meeting with her once a week to teach her the language. We taught her on Friday and she is very bright and reads well for a second-grader. I think she'll pick up the language fast. The mom sat in the lesson and I think she is interested in learning too. 

Love y'all,

Sister Beutler

Happy April Fools!!!

Dear Family,

It was happy to see the Easter hike pictures. What cute nieces and nephews I have! I can't believe it is already April. It seems like winter never even came :) 

So, we finally received our transfer calls after the long 8-week transfer. 4 new Elders came to the Island. My area has been split in half so Sister R. Varea and I will no longer be working in Kolonia. Now we only work on Sokehs Island. We hardly ever went down there before so it will almost be like opening a new area. As we have been looking over the old records for Sokehs Island, the most recent is from 2010 and most are from 2006-2007. It is going to be quite the job trying to find all those people again. There are several records of people that sounded like they were really progressing and then the missionaries must've never went back. We don't know if the missionaries were transferred or what happened. It will definitely be  an interesting week for sure. Sokehs is a volcanic island so it's just a giant mountain in the sea and the people mostly live all along the base of it. Many live up higher in the mountain too though. 

This week we worked in Kolonia and then when the new Elders came we spent three days showing them around and helping them meet all our members and investigators. One of the Elders has only been out for 3 months and the other one is brand new. They are really nervous about working in a new area and both being so new in the language. They will be fine though. All the girls we have already fallen in love with them.

While the Elders were taking care of some stuff with the zone leaders on Saturday, Sister Varea and I went out to contact the last of our refferals. We ended up teaching the most horrible family ever. There was a fat lady that made up names for everyone in the family and they were just a bunch of bad words. Then she told us all about how well versed she is in the bible and started quoteing lots of random scriptures. She just wanted to bible bash so we ended that lesson pretty fast. As we were leaving they all made a bunch of dumb jokes. They made a return appointment for us but I don't think we'll be sending the Elders back there. 

The week has been a enjoyable week over all though. Our branch is really emphasizing reactivation in Sacrament meeting talks and in sunday school. I think the visiting teaching may be organized now. We definitely need it. There are over 600 members in our branch and the attendance rarely gets over 100. It will help a lot to have another set of missionaries in our branch too. One man we have been working with for the past couple months finally came to church yesterday with his wife after years of being less-active. We also have another less-active woman we've been teaching that for the last couple weeks has come and even brought all the neighborhood girls.

I feel like I'm babbling so I will end now. Stay strong and always remember God in all you do. 

With all my love,

Sister Amy Beutler

Happy Easter Week

Dear Family,

I'm getting excited for the Easter week here in Pohnpei. I hear it is very well celebrated and everything is closed down to commemorate the birth of our Savior. 

We haven't heard the official transfer calls yet but we know 4 new elders will be coming and who will be training them. Apparently there are no new sisters coming yet because none of us will be flying out to Guam tomorrow. 

Today we had a zone activity at Nico Beach to say goodbye to Elder Davis.Two elders ended up going to the hospital. One cut open his hand while cutting firewood. He only had to get one stitch but his cut was really deep. The other, which just happened to be Elder Davis, cut his head open on a rock and had to get a few stitches. It was a fun activity though and they were both back in time to eat. 

This week we met one of Sister Varea's old investigators on the street and she asked us to come back and teach her. Apparently she has gained a lot of weight in the last six months. Sister Varea asked how she got so fat and she said she was sick. When asked what kind of sickness she said "Soumwahw en Sadan" (Sickness of Satan). A little taken aback I asked her to repeat herself and again indeed she did have soumwahw en sadan. She said Satan had been staying inside of her but she is all better now because she took some local medicine and he came out of her. 

The same day we had Gloria and Cynthia tell us all about how ghosts eat little girls. Those two got baptized this Saturday. Our baptism was combined with the Nett and Sekere areas so we were able to see 11 people baptized. All the Elders there got to baptize along with one of Nett's very recent converts. It was a wonderful sight to see all those people in white. 

One of the blessings I've seen in my life this week is that I got chicken pox as a youngster. The chicken pox are going around the island and it's nice to not have to worry about catching it. 

Our 14-year-old boy, Rayden, is finally progressing again. He was too ornery to sit in any lessons so we stopped trying to teach him for a few months. We just picked him up again and he is more than happy to sit and participate in the lessons. He has even started going to stay with a member-family on the weekends. That is good because now he has a ride to church.

I guess that's all folks. Keep loving the Lord with all your might and he will continue to take care of your families. I hope you all enjoy the Easter season. 

Love,

Sister Beutler 

Happy St. Pattys Day

Dear Family,

Yesterday we had district conference and Elder Ringwood came to speak to us. On Friday, he and President Mecham had a zone conference with all the missionaries. It was really neat to meet and hear from one of the General Area 70. He spoke a lot to us about the prophesies of the latter-days being fulfilled and the pace of the work progressing. Our job as missionaries is to live what we preach and to endure to the end even after our mission. We must always be working towards perfection. I'm excited for the day that Pohnpei will have it's own stake. I know there are many miracles to be seen ahead.

This week we have happened to pick up some old investigators again just by chance and I feel like this time they have been prepared to hear the message of the gospel. They have changed so much from just a couple months ago when we stopped teaching them.

The couple (Tessie and Elis) that I thought were going to be so good have now split up. Tessie went back to Chuuck and Elis moved out of Kolonia. We don't know where he is. I guess life can throw a few curve balls. Maybe they will find the gospel again at another time, in another place, with a different set of missionaries.

We have two 10-year-old girls (Gloria and Cynthia) that we are preparing to be baptized this next Saturday. It's always fun to see how much a child's knowledge of the gospel can increase with-in only a few weeks. When we started teaching them they didn't even know how to pray or read the words in the Book of Mormon and now they have learned so much. I know God loves His little ones.

Sister Varea found a paper in the church with a list of English words the 3rd graders were supposed to memorize for school. She was just glancing at it and she noticed an asterisk at the bottom that said "shall" is a word no longer used in the English language. We got a good laugh out of that. 

I heard Ryan Reeder served in Pohnpei. Do any of you brothers or sisters know him well and if so, do you want to find out the areas where he served and who he taught etc.?

Love you all,

Sister Beutler

I was never able to send the picture of Rachel and Lorsy so I am sending it now. They are the two Kirinese girls that just got baptized a couple weeks ago.