6 Weeks Left, 4 Dubuque Missionaries, 3 Baptisms, 2 New Apartments, 1 Sweet Temple Trip

Sorry, the number 5 has no relevance to me.

So, here's the deal: Dubuque is splitting up into two areas, and Elder Unsicker and I are splitting up as well. Elder Unsicker will take one area and train a new missionary while I and another missionary will cover another section of Dubuque. The way we split up Dubuque is by districts. There are Six Districts in Dubuque: Eagle Point, Grandview/University, Downtown, Port of Dubuque, Southend, and Westend. I will be taking University, Southend and Downtown, and Elder Unsicker will take Eagle Point, Westend, and everything outside of Dubuque. I've volunteered my new companion and myself to being bike missionaries, and, as Elder Unsicker's two areas are split up on both ends of town, he'll have the car. He has a pretty good apartment we've picked out, we just need to gather up furniture for it. I'll be getting a new apartment probably as well, as this week we had more leeks and mold and all sorts of junk. It's supposedly all fixed now, but we're no longer messing with it. So I'll be moving next week. We also got a call from the AP's asking if there would be room in either of the Dubuque Apartments for a trio of missionaries at some point in the future. So I'm figuring one of us may be getting two new companions.
This past week was also my going home temple trip. That was great. We went first to an old cemetery a little ways outside of Nauvoo. That was a really cool, spiritual place. I loved looking around at all of the old gravestones and the statue they have there. Many of those who were dead there were only teenagers or younger. Then we went to the temple and did an endowment session. That was just as spectacular as ever. And then we went up into the bell tower. It was quite the view from up in there. We even went up into the dome right below the Angel Moroni. We then went shopping and I got myself a lanyard, temple recommend holder with a picture of the Nauvoo Temple on the front, and a Sunstone ring that has kind of become a tradition in the mission to get. We then headed back. I love Nauvoo. On the way back from Nauvoo, through Iowa City, we stopped by the hospital and saw Mary's triplets. They are adorable. Arina, Terrina, and Marina are their names, I think. They're doing very well, and it was good being able to talk with the nurse there about everything. One apparently got a shunt in the last couple days in her head to deal with the fluids up there. Getting this kind of information through a Marshallese Middleman makes things harder to understand than straight from the NICU nurse. It was also nice to talk to someone like Cari about Pick Lines and all those things.
And, as you can tell from the subject, we had three baptisms this weekend. On Saturday, Dino Alfred and Branton Johnson were baptized, a couple Marshallese youth who are great. They were nearly late because of a scout campout earlier that caused Branton to nearly sleep through it and Dino forgetting to come early, but they made it and it was great. President Jergensen came to it along with Sister Jergensen. It was a pretty small turnout to that one, but it was much larger at Mary's baptism the next day. Ronnie baptized Dino and Mike baptized Branton, and Elder Unsicker confirmed Dino and I confirmed Branton. That was a great Sacrament Meeting. President and Sister Jergensen were still around for that one, and President was given an opportunity to bear his testimony. I also gave a brief talk, but I was assigned to it earlier. The entire Sacrament Meeting was on Joseph Smith and my talk was on the First Vision. I loved being able to share it with an audience of members and bear my testimony of it. There were a few nonmembers present as well so I'm glad they got to hear the powerful testimonies given that day. During Sunday School, Elder Unsicker and I taught a lesson to the Marshallese on the importance of the Word of Wisdom in our line of preparing them for a Marshallese Branch lessons. It's supposedly secret but everybody else is talking about it like crazy that Galena Branch is closing and joining up with us. That will push everything to the point where a Marshallese Branch will basically be necessary, as will the possibility of two Dubuque Wards. That night was Mary's baptism, which was probably one of the most spiritual ones I've had for some reason. She was able to come up from Iowa City for it. We had the little marriage ceremony first and then the baptism, performed by Ronnie, and her confirmation, performed by her father-in-law. Her little son was there, too, a cute little four-year-old by the name of Peterson. He sat by me and drew pictures of me as a monster and held my hand as I would lead him around. I've loved seeing these six baptisms in the past three months.
Badabububah, I'm lovin' it!
--


Ij Yokwe Yuk!
Elder Charlie Gates

Kwar Ke Kwojkwoj Ioon E Bok in Mormon Eo?

Did you feast on the Book of Mormon? That's my text I send to all of the Marshallese youth at night.
So this week we had 21 lessons taught to investigators with members present, and that's with only six days of working, as we had zone conference this past week. That also includes 4 people invited to baptism and 3 new dates set, but only one of those new ones went through as the other two didn't make it to church. This next weekend we will have three baptisms: Branton and Dino, two awesome Marshallese youth, and Mary, who had the triplets. The first two will be on Saturday and Mary will be on Sunday, as she will be visiting up from Iowa City. Zone Conference down in Iowa City was great. It really was a spiritual conference and helped me learn a lot about how I can improve myself. I especially enjoyed a video of a talk Elder Russell M. Nelson had given at the MTC about PMG and how it was devised primarily because of the number of missionaries who would go home and go less active. I really like its goal to convert us so that we can convert others. Besides that, this week has simply just been a whirlwind of teaching, and much like the people in the Book of Mormon, I've lost my strength due to the spirituality of it all. Two of our dates have wanted to move their dates back to give themselves more time, which is ok. Our days are lessons from 1-5, dinner from members and a lesson to them, then more lessons after that, followed by going home, planning, and then writing in the area book for all of the people we taught that day and then going to bed. Each of those daily appointments consist of more than one person usually. We also have started up a new things of teaching in the Marshallese sunday school. Some Marshallese members have a hard time with the Word of Wisdom and gambling, and so when we asked the Sunday School teacher to teach a lesson on those topics, he asked us to do it as they would respect it more coming from us. So this Sunday was the first of a three-part series. I felt impressed to stand before them and give a speech on how much we love and respect them and how possible having a Marshallese branch is, but only if they make a few necessary changes. We then shared with them the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end). Mike and Ronnie, the Marshallese Priests who go out with us to most of our lessons, helped translate. Well, I have got to get going in order to start teaching lessons on time. We don't have P-Day's anymore. Tomorrow I am going on my going home temple trip! I love Nauvoo!
Ij yokwe yuk!

Elder Gates

Na Ejanin Jar Bwe Kabun Eo An Jisos Kraist Im Armej Ro Rekwojarjar Ilo Raan Kein Aliktata

"I'm a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," for all those who can't read Marshallese. Elder Unsicker decided partway through the week that it was about time we got serious about learning some Marshallese, so we called President to see if we could get an hour of Marshallese study everyday. When we first called, he asked, "You didn't set another baptismal date, did you??" Sadly, not that day, nor this week, but I'm sure more will come soon. He quickly agreed with the hour of language study and even agreed to another little request of Elder Unsicker's: to get Marshallese Nametags. Ahh yyeah. We're so in with the Marshallese already, this will just improve it all. Yesterday we asked the Marshallese Sunday School teacher to teach a lesson on gambling and the word of wisdom as those are problems with the Marshallese. He responded by asking us to teach it and that he'll translate, as the Marshallese members respect us so much they'll respond better to it coming from us than him. And he's the most solid Marshallese priesthood holder we have! We're really hoping for another set of missionaries here as there is so much work to be done that we just can't get to. We are busy nearly daily from two o'clock on with daily appointments. So it's crazy. Mary, who was going to be baptized last week but gave birth to triplets the day before, has been in Iowa City with her babies who are in the NICU there. We were originally going to wait till July when the babies would be released to baptize her, but a member of the bishopric had a better idea: have the missionaries down there finish the lessons and then go down there and get them married and her baptized and confirmed. With that plan, it may very well happen this week. So I may have another baptism to write you about next Monday. The apartment is coming together. It's all working out and the moisture has reduced a lot as we put in air conditioners this week, not to really cool things down but to dry it out. Now it's just normal Iowa Moist. Well, that's about it! Congrats on the engagement, Tyler!

Ij yokwe yuk (I love you),
Elder Gates

22 Months & First Time Baptizing by Fire: No Flames Needed

This last week was all abuzz with us trying to get the baptisms all ready to go and the apartment ready to go as well I'll start with the baptisms so that way you have something worthwhile to read first and then if you don't feel like being depressed you can just stop there.
So, as I said, we spent the week getting Mary and Justina ready for their baptisms, and their baptisms ready for them. Justina didn't take much work to prepare her for it, as she is golden and had had all of the lessons taught to her already. She even has been reading the Book of Mormon in Marshallese and English side by side and can now read Marshallese and has improved her English tremendously. Really, if she could get any more phenomenal, she'd explode. Mary still had some lessons to be taught, so we were finishing getting her ready. Friday, the day before the baptism, however, we found out that Mary had gone into labor and given birth to three beautiful girls. They were fairly quickly taken off to Iowa City to be taken care of there, as they were fairly premature and had some trouble breathing. So Mary was not baptized on Saturday, as she was in the hospital. Fairly legitimate reason to not be baptized. She and her fiance are in Iowa City as well as of right now. She'll be baptized when the babies are out of the hospital and that's over with, so probably later in July. Justina was married and baptized on Saturday, however, and it was an incredible service. The marriage was just a small ceremony in the bishop's office that was very sweet, and then so many people showed up to the baptism that it had to be held in the chapel. The Spirit was so strong. It also ended up being a wonderful missionary opportunity. Earlier in the week, we set two more baptismal dates with two young men, Branton and Dino, two Marshallese youth. Branton came to the baptismal service, informing us that his parents were cool with him being baptized and that he was excited for it. Dino, however, did not come to the baptism, but his nonmember parents did. We asked them if they were ok with us baptizing their son, and his father offered some qualms with the situation as Dino had been baptized as a child in their church. After Elder Unsicker briefly explained authority, however, Dino's father responded to a second time of asking for permission by saying that it "would be a great opportunity for Dino." Both Dino and Branton are on track for baptism on July 2nd now. Also, we taught two more Marshallese people for the first time yesterday and set two more baptismal dates with them for July 2nd. Six baptismal dates altogether. Sunday also was the day Justina received the Gift of the Holy Ghost and I was privileged to be the one to give that to to her. It really was a great experience.
Alright. The apartment.
Well, we finally met up with the gas guy after another attempt at getting him there on Friday. So, after a week of sleeping at the Holts' house, we were finally home. The nice cave-like coolness also leads to not-so-nice cave-like dampness. I've never had my sheets get dryer as I slept in them. The next morning we also were blessed to be present as police showed up to visit our new neighbors upstairs. While this was a fairly pleasant neighborhood we'd moved into, the neighbors upstairs who moved in only a couple days before aren't too fond of it being pleasant. So, in order to mix things up a bit, they decided to steal the grill from across the street. The man across the street apparently enjoys pleasantness and wasn't too keen on his grill being stolen. So he went looking for his grill just to find it on the back porch of the people above us. Well, he got the police involved, who searched upstairs looking for the grill, and finally found it hidden in a closet in the vacant apartment on the third floor. This, along with the fact that they have no clue how to handle their children accept by screaming obscenities at them and their children retaliate by running in circles for hours on end has not made a great impression on us. Saturday also led to us discovering that the hot water wouldn't shut off in the shower so we had water constantly dribbling out of the faucet, which couldn't be fixed till this morning, so we either showered with cold water or under a little dribble of warm water, and it all didn't help with that moisture problem. All in all, if it wasn't for the Marshallese, I'd be begging to be transferred. I know missionaries will hate me forever for choosing this apartment. It used to be a good idea. Anybody have a dehumidifier?
Congrats to Tyler for being home taller, fatter and older!
--

Love,
Elder Gates
"Complete conversion comes after many trials and much testing." Bible Dictionary

Homeless with Three Homes

Have you ever had one of those weeks? One of those ones where you just think that you have got to be doing something right or Satan would not be trying you this hard. Welcome to the past seven days!
Tuesday we decided on an apartment. We prayed about it and it felt right. Or, at least, that it wasn't wrong. That day the utilities were called about. Keep that in mind as I continue.
Wednesday we got the keys and everything was settled and then we found out that we had another month on the old apartment. Apparently there was a misunderstanding. Whatever, that's just another month to clean our apartment. Hopefully they don't try sticking us personally with the apparent knife throwing contests and dartboard dart holes that were done by previous missionaries and conveniently covered. That night we moved all of the furniture. We had some good help from the ward and the missionaries from Savanna. There was still no utilities so we slept on the ground at the old apartment.
Thursday was district meeting and moving the rest of the stuff. I went with Elder Bailey to teach the lesson we had in the middle of the move. Still no utilities that night, so we slept on the ground at the old apartment again.
Friday we finally got electricity halfway through the day. The gas guy also showed up, but because there was no water on, he refused to turn on the gas. We also discovered that a spigot was missing from a pipe. We later found the spigot but the pipe was cracked so that needed to be fixed. That night the Holts had us over for dinner so when Brother Holt picked us up he took a look at the pipe and figured out what needed to be done. He and his wife asked what they could do to help out that night, and I said, halfway joking, "Let us live with you." A phone call or two later, and we had a place to stay until everything was fixed. We've enjoyed the nights and mornings since that call, with our queen sized beds, whirlpool tub, and wonderful breakfasts. I've also opened up the window and listened to the frogs as I've gone to sleep, as they live out in the country. It was also about this time that Elder Jahn, the senior office couple elder over the housing awarded Elder Unsicker and me with the fictitious Flexibility Award. I hope you're proud, Mom.
Saturday included Brother Holt fixing our pipes, which included sawing off a whole section and replacing it with PVC. As soon as that was dry, we turned on the water, which we had discovered was on but just needed to be turned on at the meter. We began looking around, making sure that the water was running well around the apartment, when we discovered that the toilet and the wall by the toilet were leaking water fairly heavily. We quickly shut the water back off and called Elder Jahn. He had been trying to get a hold of the landlord and maintenance guy and at this point called and left a message with the landlord saying that if he didn't call back we were moving out. Sadly, he called back, saying that the pipes had apparently not been winterized in time and so they would have to fix it Tuesday. And we've been over on miles. So the Holts have had to drive us into town every morning and pick us up every night. They drove us to church on Sunday and even took us out for a Memorial Day Lunch Picnic in Eagle Point Park, a really beautiful park overlooking the river from the top of a bluff.
To add to the drama, members have not been too keen on the location of our apartment. It's downtown, right up against a bluff. The downtown is considered by many to be an unsafe area, but we intentionally found a place that is south of most problems, across the street from the library, and going to have the exterior renovated soon as the city is fixing up this section of town. Not to mention that with all of the anxiety I've had lately, the only time I would feel peace was when I prayed about this apartment, so I, for a change, wasn't worried. Also, this location is so much closer to all of our work. We can walk or ride our bikes to all of our investigators, no problem. Goodbye hilly bike rides and wasted miles. Not to mention that air conditioning is pointless in it as it has a couple feet thick stone walls so it is basically a cave in there. A member believes it to be from the mid 1800s and so it was made to last, and it has.
We also have been so busy with all of this that we still haven't gotten the car in for a recall on the airbags and to get an estimate from a very minor accident we got in last week when we got rear ended.
In the way of the work, all is going great! The two baptisms that were going to happen this last saturday were moved to this coming one, and all is going well in that regard. They're great investigators and one especially, Justina, is so solid. She now sits there in lessons with both her English and Marshallese copies of the Book of Mormon and has a calling already as Marshallese Relief Society Chorister.
We also saw one of the main priesthood holders that will lead the rest back to church return on Sunday, which was awesome! I love all that is coming together here!
Seriously, though, we know that none of this good stuff and none of this bad stuff would happen without the other. There are truly opposites in all things and right now we are being tested and tried as we see legitimate miracles come to pass. There may be days where I'm tempted to hop on my bike and start heading west, but the knowledge that I am seeing miracles take place amongst the Marshallese keeps me from letting the bad stuff from getting to me. How many places do you have people that commit so easily to things, are serious about all of it, and already believe in tithing and either already do it with our church or did it with their old church? It's so crazy, I love it.
Anyway, that's been my week! Congrats to Stephanie for being endowed!
--

Love,
Elder Gates
"Complete conversion comes after many trials and much testing." Bible Dictionary