Helloo. Today is the 12th of December. I got kind of lazy and I didn't do this on Sunday. I waited until the last second until this morning on Monday to finish it. But that's okay, because it really doesn't matter (haha). Last Monday was kind of fun. It was a good P-day. We played basketball at one point. Some of the members wanted to come, so we let them (haha). There was this one guy, his name is Mark. He is a returned missionary from Santiago, Chile. He's pretty cool. He was there at basketball, and so was the Young Men's president and his son. That was fun.
Later in the week, I went to the family
history center. They have these books with Samoan genealogy. You go
back far enough and they only kept oral records. So, basically a
leading genealogy expert went through and got all the interviews,
compiled all the information together, and wrote down all the lines
of basically all Samoan family history that is done or that people
know about. They have those three books there. I was able to arrange
to get a copy of the first book, so I have a complete copy of the
book. It is like 175 pages, but surprisingly it didn't cost that much
– it was like $5.00 (haha).
We were able to teach an investigator
who has an easier time speaking Samoan. We were able to show him “How
Rare a Possession,” that everyone sent me, in Samoan. That was
pretty cool – that is one of the few movies that is actually in
Samoan.
On Wednesday, I think, we had dinner
with our Ward Mission Leader, and I was able to get my testimony on
Samoan. I have it written down. I am still working on being able to
say everything. Oh, I also found out what Eric's name is, in Samoan.
It's Elika. Elika Fa'amaumauga. When our Ward Mission Leader was
doing my testimony, he also did the beginning part that is customary
in Samoan culture. They like to give little proverbs, or whatever, at
the beginning. He made sure it was a very respectful language, so
it's pretty cool. It will be good. So I will work on that.
For our district meeting, our district
lunch we went to IHOP, and it was really good (haha). I had French
toast! – like I always do (haha). Oh, and then I got Grandpa's
fudge in the mail. It was sooo good. I've shared it with a few people
(haha). Oh man! It's good. I've been eating a lot of it, but I'm
still staying healthy because actually on Monday I bought a bunch of
vegetables, so I'm eating vegetables and fruit. I take my vitamins
and exercise a lot. In fact, we will play basketball in the mornings.
We'll wake up a little early and play basketball. On the days I don't
play basketball, I will do strength training and work out. So I'm
staying in pretty good shape. The caramels are pretty good, too –
that Grandpa sent (haha).
A family in the ward, the Fiame's,
Brother Fiame is actually in the bishopric; we went to dinner with
them. We found out that they used to live in California, then they
moved to Oklahoma and were there for like six years. They met a bunch
of missionaries out there. They lived closer to Oklahoma City than
Tulsa. I think they had to go through Oklahoma City to get to Tulsa.
Anyway, they used to live there, I thought that was pretty cool, and
I thought of Lorielle (haha).
On Sunday it was awesome! Normally it's
been pretty disorganized. The Elders will just meet with the High
Priests and just kind of do whatever. Sunday School was also a bit
disorganized. But yesterday for Elder's quorum, they actually had an
Elder's quorum. A lot of the Elder's quorum presidency work, so they
are not able to be there, but one of the counselors was able to be
there. So he is now getting everything organized and set up. In
Elder's quorum we talked about how we want to build the brotherhood
or the unity of the quorum and basically establish Zion. You know,
build each other up, strengthen the feeble knees, lift up the hands
that hang down, like the scriptures say. They are really getting the
missionary spirit (haha), and they are going to be good examples for
the youth, and getting them excited about the Gospel and serving
missions. One of the high counselors was there too. It was pretty
awesome. Basically, what he went through was, what are some of the
things that keep us from working together in unity. Then we figured
out what are some of the things we can do to take care of that and
build the unity. One of the things I mentioned was service projects.
Back home, you know, the Elder's quorum are some of the first people
on the scene when someone is moving in. They help them move in, and
do stuff like that. They thought that was really cool. So anyway,
things are going to be looking pretty good. So we'll see how we can
help.
That same guy in the Elder's quorum
presidency has a niece that is nine, but she hasn't been baptized. So
we are going to be teaching her the missionary lessons so she can be
baptized. It is like a convert baptism because she is older than 8
(haha). So we will teach her real quick and then baptize her.
I have been reading the Book of Mormon
a lot – it's kind of hard to put down. I just got to Jacob this
morning. I have been thinking a lot about work and the Book of
Mormon. I know it's true. I know that missionary work is fun – it
can be hard, but it's fun. You learn and grow a lot from it. I know
the Church is true. I am thankful to be out here serving the people
in Alaska. I am excited to have a fun P-day. We'll see you all later
(haha).
Love, Elder Record
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