Week 9 - Guess Where...Burgers, all-nighter, and a Neon Moon

Chuuk Airport

So apparently transfers actually are a thing in Micronesia...

Sister Jones got feeling better about Tuesday and we had been working hard ever since. Saturday was awesome proselyting wise, Sister Jones and I got SO much done and had a ton of investigators set to come to church the next day. And we promised to walk with a lot of people. Sister Jones mentioned that transfer calls would come for Yap that day because of flights, but we didn't think much of it because, you know, I'm in the middle of training, was there for only 6 weeks, (technically more like 4 weeks because of the trips to Guam), and there are no other Sisters on Yap.

Well, we were teaching an investigator determining if he still wanted lessons or not. Anywho, we got a call and I had the cell phone. fun fun though, it was the assistants. I told Sister Jones and answered the phone full well knowing they'd only talk to her and she said to give her the phone. But I just said hello then handed it off. She took it and talked to them. And I tried to have a normal conversation with Tom (the investigator). I was panicking so it was far from normal. Sister Jones got off the phone and looked very solemn and panicked too. We said goodbye to Tom and as we walked away I said "What... What is happening?" She then said "Well.. I'm suppose to pack my stuff for 10 days... You're suppose to pack.. everything." And that was all we knew. Literally ALL. WE. KNEW. We had to call the airport to figure out which flight we were leaving on because we weren't told. There were only two flights that night though, usually there's only one. It was about 6pm then, and our brains could not function. We drove around for about 5 minutes trying to figure out if we were seeing investigators, going home to pack, telling the Elders what they needed to do for us at church tomorrow or what. We finally somehow got ourselves home and began panic packing.

Jones and I had Burgers at midnight the night we were going to fly out. and we played poker and ate oreos. Twas great. Then we flew out. Twas great too. Got to Guam at 4:30am and I did not sleep at all. Got to church with the Guam sisters, and Jones and I still don't know what's going on. All we know are that transfers are that day. Church was just wow. There was an actual chapel with pews and everything!! I hadn't seen that in a while. Kinglove is a kid I taught while on Guam last time and he remembered me and asked the sisters on Guam if I was coming back! He was at church that day and passed the sacrament for the first time! So exciting. I was with four other sisters on Sunday, and we taught five 8-10 year old little girls and it was so so cute and so fun! I told them a story about you Claire and how you're so kind and your kindness is so important in bringing the spirit into our home when everyone else is grumpy. Those little girls liked it and enjoyed the lesson :)

Anywho, we got to church and President Poston was there. President Poston was great to see. He walked in and walked up to me and asked how I'm doing I laughed and said I'm feeling all kinds of emotions. He laughed and said he expected as much. President then said, "come over here lets talk for a sec" and we talked. He told me I had a very important assignment and I would need to learn as much as I could because the island I was going to was about to lose all it's leadership and experienced missionaries. Then he stopped and said "wait, do you know where you're going?" I said no and he said "Oh I'll just tell you, you're going to Pohnpei. Your companion is an American and she is incredible. Speaks the language like a local and is a Baptizing machine--well, she's not a machine, she's a Sister, and a very incredible determined hard working sister, well you know what I mean. Anyways, you'll be whitewashing too in an Elders area." He then proceeded to tell me that I would finish training with her but I needed to learn as much as I can from her so I can be ready to train other missionaries and take on Leadership positions when I'm finished training. He didn't say it like "as soon as youre done training, your training others" but he wants me to be prepared for whatever comes. Crazy! But awesome :) and it all just felt so so right. Everything he said, the whole transfer, the leadership required of me, the island I'll be headed to, everything just felt so right and perfect and exactly just for me. President said he'd been really thinking about what to do with that island, and when he came to Yap and we went out to dinner (just the sisters and the grown ups) he said it was that night at dinner when I was sitting across from him that he got the spiritual impression that I was the one. I was the one who needed to be here on Pohnpei. Crazy but I love it :)

6:00am in Guam

That night, we got the transfer calls but I already knew so whatever. I decorated my transfer planner for the first time. It has horses and mountains on it :) Pretty sweet. I ate McDonalds for breakfast at 5am this morning on the way to the airport. twas great. I traveled here with a Sister from Chuuk and she was awesome. In the airport in Guam there was a song playing over the speakers. Very islander with those island metal drums and the vibratoey island singer. But the tune was SO familiar and I found my brain trying to sing along in a weird way. But it wasn't the words at all. It was in another language. Finally i realized it. the song was NEON MOON BY BROOKS AND DUNN. And it was island version!! Haha I died!!! 

Guam Airport with Sisters

Pre-flight with Sister Petrus

I just got to Pohnpei about an hour ago. And the plane stopped at Chuuk so I've been to Chuuk now too :) It is SO INSANELY GORGEOUS. Chuuk is just incredibly beautiful. oh my gosh the view from the plane was incredible and the water is just so BLUE BLUE BLUE!! It is SO bright!! 

Then to Pohnpei :) Pohnpei is beautiful too and has mountains. Those two islands both have mountains and open areas. They're so big compared to Yap and I love it. My heart just relaxed as we drove around pohnpei and it felt like I just came home. Like, seeing open space, and seeing the mountains (nothing like mountains back home, but still) I could literally feel my heart sink into relaxation. So Nice. I'm just so overwhelmed and stoked to rule the world!! Haha my companion is Sister Behling and she's from Payson :) She hasn't been to our home yet. We're whitewashing into an Elders area and we have no idea what the area, house, or anything will be like. She knows just about as much as I do :) Except she speaks Pohnpeian like a local and she's a stud. As for now, missionaries are playing poker in the room and it's great :) There's other missionaries in the world. It's pretty cool. Haha on Yap i didn't really see much of other missionaries. There's two zones here. That's all I know. Anywho, love you all! I'll update you next week!

Coming in to Pohnpei

Here's my new mailing address! Love you!! Love ya!
Sister Nicole Felt

P.O. Box 2203
Kolonia, Pohnpei
FM 96941

P.S. Also, President gave a talk in the sacrament meeting really encouraging members to be member missionaries. To help do so, he told the members to imagine us missionaries. then to imagine our mothers. and how much they love us. and then to imagine them praying and pleading for us back home. He said that the members need to be the answer to our mothers prayers. As you can imagine, all of us missionaries were in tears. Not nice president, not nice ;)