Week 56 - Kapwoupwoud

Nelson and Mercida got married this week!!! Wahooo!!!!! Nelson is one of our investigators from Kapingamarangi. He was raised on Guam so he really knows English best, so thats the language we teach him in. but Mercida is the daughter of Bro. and Sis. Duiai, a really strong member family in Pahnasang Ward. Bro. Duiai dosen't want his kids marrying anyone not a member of the church (even though none of his kids are active members of the church), so because Mercida and Nelson were living together, bro duiai slipped us a secret paper with nelsons name on it as a referral. Why the secret paper? I'll explain...

So in Kapingese culture, dating isn't really a thing. Boys and girls just kind of start hanging out in secret. why in secret? I don't know i think it's dumb.. but actually it's because this culture has developed that boys can NOT go up to the house of the girls parents they're dating and they absolutely cannot speak to the parent's unless spoken to. Same for girls to the boys family. But after some time of breaking the law of chastity or dating or whatever it is they do (i'm not a fan), the boy goes to his parents, tells them he wants to marry this girl. And then they go to the girls parents, and they talk about it. The boy and the girl are not involved. and they cant be together in public, cant sit next to each other in meetings, cant enter into rooms at the same time, ride in the same taxi, cant be seen in the same house. Nothing!! TBH i think its derived from a culture of arranged marriages. But after the boy and girl get married, the boy can go to the parents house with the girl vice versa.

Nukoro family we're teaching. They wanted pictures with white people
so we're like "sure!!" and got some too! :)

nelson and mercida have been living together. and when we finally arranged the marriage, no one communcated about it because of culture. and everyone just looked at me and caldwell when it came to organizing when and what time the marriage was going to be at and they'd just say "I dunno, it's up to you". They really just don't care. But we had it at the chapel and it helped get some investigators there too. I felt like the wedding was like the one on Up, the Movie. Everyone was like the groom's family, and I was pretty much the bride's family in the movie. It was really funny :)

Nelson missed his baptismal date (for the day they got married) but maybe he;ll be baptzied this week!! I hope so!! As well as Nui!

I held a banana spider at Nui's house. it was nuts. super huge too, like the size of a baseball.

The spider was moving too fast to get a still picture of it.

Love you all!