(a letter received on above date- likely written several weeks earlier)
Dear Utu (family),
Mauri Riki from Nonouti! Sorry that it has been a little while since my last letter. Our past few days have not really had enough time to sit down and write a decent message. Today is the first time I've had some time to breathe. We spent one p-day lashing together a door to our house so that the dogs stop coming in and eating our food and peeing on my pillow (NOT a fun story). It's a cool door made from palm leaf vibes that we lashed together. I'm super proud of it. Our other p-days are spent working- washing our clothes, cleaning the house, applying for marriage licenses (for our investigators...relax Dad), and acting as a witness for their marriages. We also had to teach 2-3 lessons in the evening along with a FHE at a member's home. So yeah...we stay busy on p-days!
This past week has been great! It was pretty stressful, but things worked out great. Along with a lot of biking and teaching, we had six investigators get baptized this past week. We scheduled one baptismal service in the morning and the other in the afternoon. All week I have been praying that the baptisms would go well. When we woke up and got ready for the first service on Saturday morning, it was pouring rain. I said another prayer that the baptism would go well. Guess what? The rain stopped for an hour and a half, which gave us just enough time to do the three baptisms here in Matang, the village in which we live. It was two young men (part-member families), a father (the Mother is a member), and his 8 year old daughter. It was really cool to see those families completed! After the service, it began to dump buckets of rain-by far the most rain I have seen in a while here on Nonouti. We only have a few sets of baptismal clothes (they are slightly challenging to find here), so we put the wet clothes in a bucket and biked an hour and a half through the pouring rain to one of the villages in the north for the second baptismal service. The rain again stopped and the sun came our about 20 minutes before we arrived. The village only has a handful of active members (maybe 6?), and most of them went to a bootaki (village gathering). We went to a small lagoon on the oceanside and held the service. As we sang the opening hymn, it again began to sprinkle. The clouds were very dark in the direction the wind was blowing from and we could see the rain pouring over the ocean heading right or us. I again said a silent prayer that the baptism would go well and that the family (a father, mother, and their daughter) would be able to remember their baptismal day. I am not exaggerating at all when I say that the wind changed direction within two minutes of the end of my prayer and blew all the clouds to the north. The sky was clean, the sun was shining, and all three of them were baptized in the beautiful waters.
The next day, Sunday, was a big day as well. It was the first Sunday of the month, which is when we hire cars to pick up all the members on Nonouti and bring them to a combined fast and testimony meeting in the middle of the island. It was pretty stressful to organize -we had to hire the cars/drivers, announce it two weeks early, and rent the village meeting house from the council of senior men on the island. Last month was the first time we tried it, and it was kinda rough. Only 40 people came (compared to our usual 70-80). This month was much better. 63 people came! Along with 8 investigators!! and all of the investigators that had just been baptized Saturday!!! We filled up the meeting house! I was so happy that the family from the North that had just been baptized came. They are SUPER shy, so it took a lot of courage on their part. Prayers are answered! I conducted the meeting. The confirmations took about 20 minutes, then we passed the sacrament. Wh almost finished the trays! Then seven or eight people shared their beautiful testimonies. Many tears were shed and the spirit was incredible! After church we decided to try something new.. an idea we stole from the good ol' Nixa ward! We had a branch linger-longer to break our fasts. It was fun to see everyone laughing and having fun together.
There have been many times over the past few months here on Nonouti where I have been discouraged. Sometimes I feel like we bike like crazy, try to visit tons of people, strive to teach with the spirit, try to organize activities, and do tons of other things all for nothing. We haven't seen very many results from our hard work. But this weekend was a turning point. I think we got a glimpse of some of the fruits of our labors in the vineyard, and they are oh so sweet! There's no better feeling than knowing that peoples hearts are changing and coming closer to their Savior because of your efforts and sacrifice. I know that success doesn't come from us- it is given of God!
Also! This week was the best because...THE PACKAGES CAME! It was like Christmas (minus the snow/cold)! THANK YOU SO MUCH MOM! I LOVED the pictures (since when was Christian so tall?) and they were the first thing I took out of the package. The food is a lifesaver too! I have so much food I don't even know what to do with it! I have been sharing it with Elders Wilson and Pugle'anga and they are super grateful. They are not as grateful as Elder Gilmour though. He was so surprised and grateful to get the package you sent that he started crying when he opened it. He sends his thanks as well. Ha ha, his food is almost gone he was so excited! I love you Mom!
I love you all and can't wait to see you soon! I can't wait to hear all about 中国 also! (FYI- I had dinner with the Kiribati Ambassador to Taiwan this week and got to use my Chinese a bit). Stay safe and keep being THE BEST!
Love,
Kaleb
