Week 23 - This Language! - Dec 15th, 2019

     What I wanted to share with you this week is that this Yapese language can be a challenge for several reasons. First, you can't HAVE something. It can be near you, or yours but for example you can't "Have a good day" or ask 'Have you ever been to ___"?  Has, Had, Have don't exist. You also can't REMEMBER. They have a word for forget, and you can say Dam Patelin, or don't forget but you can't remember. I learned it is because the culture here is very negative, so they never tell someone to do or have something. They tell them not to. So "Don't work hard" means work hard. Other useful words that don't exist : Virtue, plan, prepare, use, remember, have, has, had, do, burn, cousin. Some words mean the same thing. Beat/kill - lii' .... If you ask someone how they feel they won't understand. So instead, ask them what they think and they will tell you how they feel... CAUSE THAT MAKES SENSE😕  Honestly this place is awesome and so are the people, it is just fun to share why this language is so hard to learn. It is hard to describe gospel topics because they use older Yapese words that aren't easily recognized.
     Our miracle for this week. Danny boy is on date to be baptized, walked all the way to church with us and stayed with us for the whole block, not just sacrament. He wants to serve a mission after he graduates college. He truly wants to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. We love him he is so awesome. Have a great week everyone! Elder George

This is what learning a language with no manual on a remote island looks like.

The Yapese language is very guttural

Tricky to teach when so many words we use don't exist

Elder Christensen has reached his one year mark. 

Title of Liberty to celebrate 1 year of dedicated service.

It seems that I have the opportunity to speak almost
every week so this great idea came to me.... When asked
I said yes, but then gave Sister Messick the opportunity
instead. You might say she was surprised but did a great job.

The Armor of God - Fight the good fight!

Sister Lily's daughter, in a homemade cradle/swing.