This morning, after our seminary lesson, we had the biggest storm I've ever seen on Tupile. There was so much rain and the wind was so strong that even while standing in the middle of the chapel we got soaked because the wind blew the rain right through our "walls". All we could do was find a dry spot and take shelter for about half an hour. It kept raining, but the wind finally eased up. Upon emerging, we found a bit of a mess caused by the wind, but nothing a bit of tidying up can't fix. When we walked out of the chapel we found a bit more damage. The island held up pretty well, but a few house walls had come down. We helped clean up and make a few reparations, and the island was as new. Rome may not have been built in a day, but Carti Tupile was :) It's humbling to see what a bit a wind and water can do.
Despite the blustery days, the work continues to move forward in the branch of Carti Tupile. Many wonderful things have happened this week. To start the list off . . . BAPTISM! Three incredible youth from a beautiful family were finally baptized after about 3 months of work. We planned the serve countless times, but we were never able to get enough Melchizedek Priesthood holders to the service. IT's a good thing I have a testimony of the restored authority on the earth, or I probably would have baptized the kids myself. However, in the wise words of William Shakespeare, "All's well that ends well." With the help of some visiting elders, the three were finally able to take the essential step and fulfill their desires of being baptized.
To add to the happy news, the youth organization is making incredible progress! A recent convert was recently called to be the Young Men's President. He's been so proactive in his calling, and we've seen the fruits of his labors in both his personal testimony, as well as that of the many young men on the island. He's been organizing activities for them, such as soccer tournaments and scripture chases. They've responded marvelously! This Sunday we had 18 young men attend! We usually have a decent number of young women with two or three young men, if we're lucky. They didn't even fit in the room and had to split. We're so grateful for the work he's doing, and we're really excited about a strong rising Priesthood generation.
As far as comical highlights of the week go . . . This morning, as we were taking advantage of the pouring rain to do our laundry, one of my t-shirts fell into the ocean. Don't ask how, these things just always happen to me. To put it simply, I ended up staring over the banister at my t-shirt 10 feel below me, with no easy way to reach it. Refusing to accept defeat, I climbed over the banister with a quickly-invented contraption to reach down to the ocean. A few desperate attempts later, I triumphantly climbed back over the banister with my shirt in hand. Mission accomplished.
Everybody here is so kind to us. We're frequently given fish or some sort of food item (generally a strange sea creature). The other day a less active member saw us walking and called us over. He asked us if we had ever tried something. We hadn't ever even heard of whatever he was saying, so we said no. He told us to follow him. Curious, and slightly worried about what we were getting ourselves into, we followed him to his door. He told us to wait for a minute. Upon returning, he handed me a giant red sea crab. The sea crabs are very different than the blue river crabs and much more fierce looking. Unfortunately, he forgot to inform me that it was already dead, so I had a minor heart-attack and almost threw it on the ground. As usual, they all just laughed. After calming down, we thanked him and took it to Lily, who helps us with all of our sea creature gifts. It turned out pretty tasty.
All in all, another wonderful week in the service of the Lord. I love and miss you all! Make it a marvelous week!
Go Foward With Faith,
Hermana Falslev
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