Palau
For the past two weeks I had the priveledge of going to the
beautiful island of Palau for the Circuit Assembly and then the C. O. visit the
following week. After coming back to
Guam from my 5 week island hopping journey, I was unsure if I would be able to go to this island. But fortunately accomedations
were made for me, and I’m so super grateful for that.
First let me tell you a little bit about the island. The
first thing I saw at the airport was a huge poster that said; “Palau, the
World’s First Shark Sanctuary!”, which basically means; “There’s a lot of Sharks!” haha. Fortunately
I didn’t run into any during my stay. Palau is known for it’s amazing diving sights, and is
considered the best diving location in the world. I haven’t been around the world, but I can confirm that
the diving spots I went to were absolutely gorgeous- the best I've ever been to for sure.
Palau consists of many small islands, in which the main
islands are connected by bridge. The total island mass is about 458 square miles and the total population is about 20,000
people. It is a melting pot of so many nationalities and languages including
Palauan (ofcourse), Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, and even Bangledesh, just to
name a few. In fact a brother told me that while doing one territroy, the group placed magazines in 10 different languages in one morning! With so many different
languages there, it makes the preaching very interesting, and quite difficult.
The Palauan congregation is about 80 publishers large, and
about 25 of them are part of the English group. They are such a friendly and
loving congregation! They made me feel at home and always made sure I was well
taken care of.
There was a lot of support in the ministry every day, even on
days where there was pouring rain. I had fun in field with the friends. People
in Palau are really nice and like to talk about the bible. Most of them speak English too, so that made
it a little easier for me to be more productive in the ministry.
As I mentioned in the outset, during the first week of my
stay we had the Circuit Assembly. That was great! So many good talks and
demonstrations. Even though I had seen the program 6 times before, I felt like
I still got a lot out of the Assembly.
The day after the Assembly-Monday- A group of the friends
and I went to the Rock Islands and Jellyfish Lake. That was a day I will never
forget!!! The scenery as we rode the boat through the Rock Islands was
beautiful. The water was crystal clear, and the corals and fish were brilliant
in color. This was the first time I swam in the ocean with literally HUNDREDS
of fish surrounding me, and eating food right out of my hand! It was EPIC.
After that we went over to Jellyfish Lake for more Epicness. When I jumped in the
lake to swim towards the middle, I saw a jellyfish and I thought that was
pretty awesome. Then as I swam a little more I saw a group of about 10
jellyfish. I got really excited and began taking pictures in amazement. Little
did I know that once I got to the middle, I would be surrounded by more
jellyfish then I could count! You know that part in “Finding Nemo” when Dory
and Marlin are in that jellyfish school and see jellyfish all around them?
Hehe. Well this is exactly what that was like, except these jellyfish don’t
sting. It seriously was the most amazing
thing I’ve ever experienced in the water. It was SICK!!
When visiting the other islannds, I had only stayed one week
each for Circuit Assemblies. In Palau though I got to stay another week since
Troy did the circuit visit. It was cool to see Troy doing his visit, since
before this I had only joined Mark on his visits. Now I got to see how another
brother would develop the outlines, conduct the meeting for service, and
basically what approach he would take in visiting a congregation. It was
interesting to see the similarities and differences. They both are great and
help and encourage the congregations so much. In Palau I could tell that the
friends really appreciated Troy’s visit.
As an end to my island hopping journey approaches, I couldn’t have thought
of a better place to finish. The lushous island was amazingly beautiful, but
the beauty of the congregation far exceeded that. Once again, it was hard for
me to leave and say goodbye to all the friends I made in Palau. So instead of
saying goodbye, I’ll say see you later-or “Mau riul"
What made this time most special to me was having my family with me. The three months apart from them was the longest I've ever been away. I missed them a lot, and I know they did me as well. I was SO happy to be able to spend time with them. Being apart from them reminded me of how much I love them and how I should never ever take them for granted. Guam really accepted them well. The brothers and sisters here were super hospitable to them, and treated them like Ohana ['Family' if you didn't know :)]. My family fell in love with Guam, and vice versa. 
