Anywho, I'm glad to here you all are all doing great, and I am wayy thankful for your prayers!
What to say about this week? Well let's just start out with waking up Tuesday morning with my left eye swollen shut from an infection about an inch above my eyebrow...just think of that, it almost looked like there was no eye there at all. Elder Klatt after yelling 'That's awesome! Let's take pictures!' told me that if he only saw my left side I kinda looked like Two Face. Like the villain from Batman? So that was fun hahaha. It was sweet because I had made a goal to have at least one conversation with a Kiribati person a day, like a legit conversation. So what does Heavenly Father give me to help with that? He turned me into a cyclops...haha I got some special Kiribati medicine stuff to help (oil rubbed three times around, three different times and then a burnt leaf stuck to the spot) and, after a couple days and a lot of pus, I could see again!
Gosh I am really starting to love Kiribati. Funny story from yesterday: We just opened a new unit last week and so this past Sunday they all were wayy excited for church I guess. So as we rode by the house they have church in, we saw them all sitting there waiting for us 5 hours early. We yelled and told them that church wasn't till 4 for them but they were just like 'ti na tanginaiko!' (we will wait for you!) and they did. They are so awesome here.
Quick miracle about church attendance: 3 weeks ago there used to only about high 60s overall attending church. Yesterday we had 93 people at church. It was just so awesome to see that when you just forget about whatever Satan throws at you and work real hard and with the Spirit, Heavenly Father is going to bless the people you serve and I have seen it.
Other miracle: It rained for the first time the other day but not enough for us to collect any real amount of rain water and since I hadn't been able to shower for 4 days at this point because of my infections, I was just sitting outside praying for more rain. It didn't come, but I had a prompting to go and put a small can under our gutter to collect some water and turns out I got enough to wash my face with, which felt so good! I would have been happy with that, but that night I got prompted to put a bucket underneath the gutter and in the morning I woke up with enough water in it to take a shower with clean water.
I don't know what I've done to deserve such tender mercies and to be in a place like this where every night I ride home to the most beautiful sunset you'll ever see, or if it's later, a sky full of more stars than I thought existed because you can literally see all of them so clearly.
Last thing, I got to go to my first baptism for four of our investigators (two brothers, and a brother and a sister) and I baptized two of them named Atuatu(13) and Angimaua(14). It was soo cool and I just felt so humbled and I hope so bad that they will all choose to stay in the church.
I hope y'aall doing dandy and maybe I've been able to calm some of your fears because as brutal as this place can be, it can be as equally rewarding, if not more! I love hearing from you all. kam tiku kareve! stay sweet!)
Love,
Psych, just got dad's email!
Quick answers to his questions
What do you on pday now that you're settled? Pdays we wake up kinda take our time with things, I'll do morning study and breakfast and stuff. After we go to the house where this one sweet member does our laundry and we're there for a bit then email...and after today we're going to hear these three people we're friends with sing us some of their songs and play some Kiribati card games which aren't nearly as fun as American ones btw so I'm teaching them some. Next week hopefully we'll go explore the island.
What do you usually do for breakfast and lunch? Do you always have a dinner appointment or do you sometimes have to make your own dinner?
breakfast: peanut butter and noodles and crackers
lunch: nothing unless we get fed at a lesson which normally happens
dinner: if there's a gathering we'll eat there and it'll be wayy good, otherwise we'll figure something out at our house.
How is the language coming for you? I am understanding more for sure. Our goal is for me to be self sufficient by the time Klatt leaves. I am doing wayy better than I should be. This language is really something for sure hahaha.
Has your foot ever healed or is it still partially numb? still partially numb my foot
Are you able to see the pictures I send or is the Internet too slow? I can see the pictures you send just can't open them which is fine
How is the teaching? We have like 13 progressing investigators and a bunch of new investigators that we will be teaching soon. We also have a bunch of baptisms planned in a couple weeks, and we just had 4.
Love,
Elder Pettingill (the younger)
P.S. Elder Klatt said you could totally send me cinnamon rolls when you make them for conference. Just put a piece of bread in with them in a couple ziplok bags and they'll stay good. Also frosting in a separate container!
P.P.S. Our mission pres is coming out to our island this Sunday so we'll get everything that's been waiting for us then!
Note from Daniel's Mom: I got an email tonight from Elder Klatt's mother. Apparently, after Daniel got off email, his trainer got word that he is being transferred to a different island. Daniel and Elder Klatt are super disappointed because they are working so well together and having such success. The Mission President says Elder Klatt is needed someplace else because he is such a hard worker. Daniel was really blessed to have such a great trainer, even for such a short time!
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