January 4th 2016

Hey you guys!!!!

Happy New Year! Boy has time flown. Like nothing else. Meagan and i were just comparing ages and sizes and things. Another year over and now we are in 2016. Do you realize that Meagan is going be part of the graduating class of 2017. Crazy!!! And for me on this side we have finished week 6. But we finished well. Had the baptism of Siyabonga. It was great. One of those paydays for us. He has been so great to teach. So humble and excepting of everything. Just takes it in. Awesome guy. Going to make a great strength to George. Made for a great week!! 

Anyways... With time lets push forward.

Dad, hope is so much better than peanut butter cups.  Thanks for sharing that on hope. Over here i have finally connected faith, hope and charity. I have always known that they are together, but here i have made the connection in my mind. And hope is a big part of it. Faith is that belief. That belief nurtures a hope or firm conviction in Truth and Light. And then that charity moves you to help others gain such faith and hope. That is when the others are strengthened even more and we become more Christlike. 

Christ is always there. 

"Satan trembles when he sees even the weakest on his knees."

I also like what you said about putting on the yoke of Christ. We are never with out a yoke. The question is whose yoke do we have? 

James seems pretty powerful. 

Loving each moment. I am grateful to know relationships are eternal. I am going to miss this good people, alot, but i have that hope that i will see them again. One day. 

Love you dad!!!

Mom, good-bys are never easy. 

The baptism was great. Everything went smoothly. Great way to finish. 

Yup that looks like a busy week. For my side. Monday, drive to PE. Tuesday, final exchanges with zone leaders. Hard core day. Wednesday. Fly to Cape Town. Yummy food. Thursday chill with President Merrill. And Friday, i can't remember what was going to happen, but it did have something to do with 30 hours and a pair of wings.

Go with the flow. I will let you know somehow if i need more. 100 should be good. I am underweight now. I am kind of worried about getting food in London. I might be hungry, but then again i might just fast. No matter what 100 should be good. 

You have been a great and faithful teacher. Thanks for it all, you will be missed by the youth.can't wait for the weekend. Especially for the temple. It has been a while. 

Love you Mom!!!

Bry. Deep cleaning is fun. And when did you learn french? You got the subject heading right on. I just found the song on lds.org. Liked it. I hope everything is good over there. Looks like President Johnson trusts you alot. Hey, do you have any cool war memorials in your mission? 

Happy New Year, Elder Bro. Love you!!!!

Meagan, time has flown quick quick. 2 years down. Yoh, Meagan, 17. No way. When i left you and Heifi, you were knee high to a grass hopper. I left just after duke was born. But now he is kora's size, at the the kora i know. Have a great week. Enjoy school. Love you!!!

Heidi, hey bud. Aren't you quite the athlete. Are you going to join any sports in jr. High? Track and field or cross country. You'd have fun. Or there is dance. Or softball. Or you could go for football. Many opportunities. Looks like you are having fun. Enjoy the week. Love you Heidi!!!

Jera, see you in two minutes. Or after a 30 flight including layovers. Either way. Friday will be a long day for me. Time will be at a stand still. Yay. 

Looks like you had a fun trip. We'll talk about scriptures later. For now, they are pretty important for spiritual life.

Love you Jera!!!!

Well, my dear family. The time has come to sign off and say see you soon. I love you all so very much. Can't wait. But this will be a great week for us all, so lets make every moment count. 

Love, Elder Pennington

December 28th 2015

Hey You Guys!!!!

It was so wonderful to see you all on Christmas. I love technology these days. The world is getting smaller and smaller. I don't feel that far from you all whom i love so much. The highlight of my week was seeing all of your pretty Mahlungu faces. :) you truly would love driving down the street and every kid that sees you (as well as some grown adults) say umlungu. Makes me smile everytime. 

But besides that wonderful time spent with you, had a great chance to have some wonderful lessons this week. 

One sister we met ordered a dvd. We delivered it, got a return appointment. Came back had a very wonderful lesson with her. She asked some great questions. Her first one, being asked before we really talked about anything, was "do you really think that all Christain churchs teach the same thing?" I answered but only after asking what she thought. It was a great lesson. But also along the lesson we found out that her family has already joined the church. Back in 2005 she had visited the church a couple times but never really joined. Her family is very less active right now. Not really interested with us coming over. But this good sister with a desire to know for herself might be a great way to put a foot in their door. The Lord is in control. He knows what needs to happen. Just another one of those small miracles that we found this sister. 

Made for a great week. Also did a lot of cleaning. As a mission we are doing a deep clean. It has been fun as we cleaned our flat as well as Knysna's flat. It feels good to clean like that. 

So yeah. 

Dad, experiences experienced by others. That is a cool part of mission, the level of learning that goes on. Simply wonderful. So true. I am soaking it up. Right now the answers seem so simple. Faith in Jesus Christ being the foundation of the solutions. Sometimes i look at some of the problems that these people have. Some of their excuses that they give in not moving forward or coming to church or whatever. I think of all the times the Savior said, O ye of little faith. I feel like the father who said I believe, yea Lord, help thou my unbelief. Funny how answers seem so clean from a far. 

My talk went okay. I feel like i had to keep everyone awake. The previous speakers had great talks. I know this because i was right next to them. But unfortuanately they didn't get heard by the mike or the congregation. They had moved the mike just out of the way and people missed almost everything. But it was a great program.

Plans for the week. Teach some great lessons. Say some good-byes. Trying not to cry. The cool thing is most people think'i am joking when it comes to my going home. I like that. I tried hard to have that effect. 

Cool pictures. Did you go to an old age home. Looks like and sounds like a fun experience. 

Love the talk though. Didn't fall asleep. I love the topic of rescue. That was a nice story to depict rescue. Thanks for sharing it. 

I love you Dad!!

Mom, we talked about the Second Coming as well. I feel that it was a great way to end the year. To end with a strong desire to be better. More prepared for when He comes again. 

I love it when the family is all together as well. It was great to see everyone. 

I can't wait to see the pictures. there is a man here in George that makes shoes. Use to do it for work years ago, but now it is a hobby. Bry would love him. He has a pair of purple suede shoes and also snake skin shoes. Pretty cool. 

Yup, we are excited for the baptism. Everything is on track for it to happen on Sunday. But we will move forward according to the spirit. A baptism will be a great way to end. Strong. I am excited.

Mom i love you very much!!!

Bryant, Elder Bro. Sad i missed you on Christmas. That's okay. See you on mothers day. :) so where are you now? How is it? You and your comp getting along well? I hope so. Are you still district leader? I hope you are doing well. For me life is good. Working hard. Sorry i havn't been the best at sharing things with you. With the new year, i will try and be better. Love you brother!!!

Meagan, yes, Christmas takes too long to come but is gone so fast. Too much. But it was great to see you all. And to see your presents before you :) that is a first. You are growing up. Make each day before Christmas count. Make everyday Mandela day :) love you Meagan.!.!

Heidi, i can't wait to see the pictures. Especially of the shoes. I love hot Cocoa too. I have had some on mission. But not a lot, most people give us tea. So i will come and have some with you soon. 

On p-days we email, clean, do laundry, sleep, shop, and maybe play a game or hike or something. But most days are simple things. For me i like to cool chicken-in-a-bag. Yum. And will eat just about anything. I like food. 

After talking to you, we went and ate more food. A lot of yummy Christmas food. Love you Heidi!!

Jera, sounds like you will have some fun now now. Enjoy snowboarding. I like this weeks pics though. Looks like Gavyn's doing well. In his pic though i like the funny little man in the back. Long hair and gotee thing. Round glasses. Funny. And then the corned beef. Simple meals rock!!

Duke has discovered his alter ego with a spiderman costume? Cute kid. 

Well cool beans. All these pictures show good ol' Pennington fun. :) love you!!!

Well i love you all so much. Hope you have a great and wonderful week. Enjoy. And Happy New Year!!

Love, Elder Pennington

December 21st 2015

Hey you guys!!!!!

Here we come to talk again. This was a wonderful week. Had a great zone conference in PE. Talked about the Book of Mormon. It was awesome. As part of it we watched a cool documentary  on the first bit of the Book of Mormon. It was cool. It follow Nephi's family. So much more realistic than the Book of Mormon movie we saw long ago. Very nice video. Also watched a movie called Freetown. Great movie. True story. I want to find it and watch it with you soon. But the training was very nice to. We broke down and connected the bible and Book of Mormon more that we might be able to show how they testify of each other and especially of Christ. 

The rest of the week was nice. Some good appointments and chances to talk of the true Spirit of Christmas. 

Had a great Christmas party. Lots of fun. Lots of food. 

And church was more full than it has been. There were about 30 from George, which is less than normal. But then we had like 20 others who were visiting. Half of them were senior couples from the area office. It was cool. 

Lets begin. 

Dad, i am happy to hear that Tatum is still kicking. It was a great week teaching and learning.

Missionary minded is a good state of mind. I guess that might be the state of mind we want to be in when it comes to the spirit world. In paradise. And we must have to cultivate it in this life. To be missionary minded is good. 

Thanks for setting up all your kids. We'll trust you on this one. 

I have a talk next week too. Topic is President Monson's "be an example and a light" i am excited. 

I like Isaiah 61:1 that defines very nicely Christ's role for us. He was born for those reasons. To preach good tidings. To bind the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty, and to open prison's doors. We couldn't do this life with out Him. 

Yep PE was nice. No interview though. In a couple weeks. I love Mission Presidents. President Merrill is the best. A very special calling. 

Thanks for the funnies. I love you Dad!!

Mom, i love this season too. 

There are no problems with the same email. Dad has been doing it for some time, and we love him still. :) i am just so happy to hear from you. Some missionaries lose contact with people about this time. Thanks for your diligent love. I am happy and grateful to hear from you.

And with Heidi, Jr. High has come too fast. I was thinking back. It seems like yesterday i was in Mr. Davis's class. That was when i lost your palm pilot. That doesn't feel too long ago does it? 

Good trip to PE. I only drove back home. The other Elder in Knysna drove down. Felt good to sit in the back. 

70 is good. That provides so much. Right now the exchange is 15 to 1. For now i think i might just hang tight until after Christmas, when the prices won't be so sky high. Thanks.

But hey, Mom i love you so very much!!!! Can't wait to speak to you too.

Bryant, love you too!!! Happy Christmas!

Meagan, way to go with finals. That is cool the Sub4Santa. We only did food drives and stuff. The normal things. 

Christmas parties are fun. Our this last week was great. We even got some of the left overs. I love being a missionary. :)

I love you Meagan!!!

Heidi, moving isn't fun. Especially at classrooms. Sorry bud. 

Hey i can't wait to see you either. Christmas is now now. Love you little sis!!!

Jera, thanks for the pictures. Ice skating is fun. Those ones are too cute. And nice bread as well. Tasty Christmas treats. Yumm!! We got fruit cake and liver pâté thing last week. Christmas is great. Can't wait. Love you Jera!!! 

Well everyone. I love you all so much that i want to eat some lunch. :) hope you all have a Happy Christmas. I can't wait to see your little faces. It brings me such great joy.

See you soon!!!

Love, Elder Pennington the Elder

December 14th 2015

Hey you guys!!!!

Can't believe it is already monday. Time is going too fast. I can barely find time to record in my journal. But i am trying. :) things are good on this side. People are leaving for holiday. I said my first good-byes this week. It is hard to say good bye. I am not really looking forward to the next couple of weeks. I remember just two years ago. I looked back at the 

Phoenix airport and i could see mom and dad through the window. Now it will be another group of loved ones. But hey there is hope in the plan of salvation. 

Every moment has been good this week. It felt good. We met some great people. Had some powerful lessons. Did some deep cleaning of our flat. It was good. Church was good too. Nothing too crazy cool that i won't mention later. So lets see if i can remember to mention those special moments. 

But this next week should be great. We will be in PE for a couple of days. Zone Conference is here. We will get some great training and some yummy food. Looking forward to it. Not looking forward to the drive, but we will get through it. 

Let's get started now,

Dad, i feel that alot too Dad. I feel sometimes that i am preparing people for others to baptize. It has been many a moment that i have been asked "Elder Pennington, you remember so and so. Yeah, they are so great. Yeah, they are baptized." "Oh Elder Pennington, everyone talks about you." These moments make me smile nonetheless. I am happy to be an instrument in the Lord's hands. However He wants to do it, i will follow. It is not my mission, it is His. So as long as th work gets done. I will do my part and make the most of every moment. 

I have heard of "the Plan." Helping return missionaries get back into things. From what i understand when i looked into it before. It will begin before people leave. They set goals and make plans. Then review every now and then on mission with help from president. And then at the end they can hit the ground running. Sounds like a great plan. No one has talked to me about it though. I will wait and see. 

And yes, families are hard around here too. It is every missionaries dream and goal for a family. As much as families are a part of the culture and traditions around here, most families are broken or incomplete. You have many mother led families where the father has never been a part of the picture. Or you have many unmarried individuals. It is so interesting. But in fact on my side too, we had a great lesson with a family yesterday. Father led and everything. It was wonderful. Powerful. They seem interested. We just got to keep with them. I am excited. 

I love that thought on continuous revelation. 

And have fun with your classes and studies. Looks like we will all be studying at the same time. That will be good. 

I love the excitement that come with missionary moments. This last week we went to the shop for something and got talking to a young man named Jaco. We got talking and it led to testifying of the help that we can gain through Jesus Christ. He asked why we would choose to go on mission and things like that. The interest was there. It was a sweet conversation. Got a return appoint and everything. He wasn't home when we went to meet him, but we followed up with him and something came up. Things happen. It was just exciting in praying for him and for the chance to talk and give him the life changing message of the restored gospel. I love this gospel. It still gives me those excited goosebumps. Thanks for making it a part of our lives. It has been great to see people change. So cool.

Dad, i love you!!!!

Mom, i am sorry for all of the stress that come through finals and final projects. I remember those and are grateful for your help with those late nights and weekends. 

Things are moving and changing around. Things are changing rearranging. People coming and going. Thats a part of life. Now we get to look back at these memories with joy. These precious times are wonderful moments. "Moments are the molecules that make up eternity." 

Thanks for the help with the money. Still got a couple of things that i might get. But i will probably save a bit for the time in Cape Town and for the travels. I haven't heard any things about it either, but i will have save some for it. 

As for time and place. Still need to confirm on the place. They weren't at church so we are going to confirm this week. But as for time i think about 4 or 5 as normal would work out. Even if there is one machine my companion and i will work things out because of the time zones are different, we will work out something. 

And hey i carry around your pictures and i sometimes brag about my family. Not too often, but i like to do it whenever i can. :) 

I love you Mom!!!

Bry, love you too Elder Bro!!!

Meagan, i remember our Christmas movie night dance thing. I was running around everywhere. But at least made an ornament out of it. :) good luck with all of the finals and such. Finish strong. You are down to 1 1/2 years of school. That is crazy!! Enjoy every moment. Make them count. Keep working hard and keep on swimming. Love you Meagan!!

Heidi, i always love hearing from you. Hope that your project went well. You are looking good. Keep working hard and when you graduate next year, you will be ready to take one the big world. Oh wait, you still have a couple years before graduation. Make the time count. Enjoy every moment. Love you Heidi!!!

Jera, i am happy to hear you are feeling better. As happy to hear you had some time to spend with Gavyn. Looks like you got him to come down hey. 

Between these two great talks. Tough one. For the people that i know and according to what they need. I would probably use Elder Andersons talk. So many think faith comes or stays passively. But there is choice and action that is needed to help faith grow. And faith is meant to grow. 

As for the Christmas season here. Not too crazy. In fact stores are shutting down. Which for some of these big businesses it is a weird business move. But hey, at least everyone is getting some time with family. 

Thanks for the pictures. Heidi is looking great. And Kora is zoned in on that phone. :) great pictures. 

I love you!!!

Well. I hope that you all doing great. Have a wonderful week. May the Spirit continue to guide you all. I love you and miss you. I look forward to seeing you next week. We will get ready for it. 

Love you!!!!

Love, Elder Pennington

December 7th 2015

Hey you guys,

Well it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Our tree is up and it is about 30C outside, that is on the days it is not raining. That has been a little crazy of a week. Nothing too bad, the holidays are for sure upon us. It is not often that we have a wednesday with 6 lessons planned. In the end we had only two. Everyone is just dodging us or busy with something else. People are even saying good-byes for holidays. Which makes it hard for me because they won't be back by the time transfers come. So i have to do them now. But besides those funny people i have been able to focused pretty well. And despite the dropped appointments, we did have some pretty cool lesson. The highlight was probably with the Pangel family. They are solid members. And we have been working on the family mission plan with them and they have been sharing their missionary moments with us. This last week they were walking in town(which they do all the time because of no car, they even walk a couple kilometers to church, great family) and they saw a family. The youngest pointed and said, mom we have to convert them. And so they went and talked with the family and built a friendship. And now the ball is rolling for them. So cool. It was simply amazing to see the joy that the pangels had as they told us this story, they were all glowing. It was awesome. It is really cool this small things that we get to experience here in the Lord's service. Anywho, lets keep moving forward...

Dad, thanks for the pictures. I especially like the one of Heidi and Mom feeding ducks, Heidi is getting tall. 

But wow it looks like Penningtons are pretty big over there. Over here i have found a Porter st. Probably done in honor of my serving here :) but besides that there is a town named Pennington in KZN (KwaZulu Natal) which is one of the Providences here. Unfortunately out of my mission boundaries. But maybe one day. Because there is probably a connection somewhere. With Pennington being an English name. The town was probably settled by a Pennington from England. He might have been a war figure as well. But that is just my guess. 

But thats cool about Dustin, drones are getting popular. I hear they are trying to work something with drones and Amazon. Drone delivery. Technology these days. When i left for mission i would think of star wars when we talked about drones. Where is this world going? But cool happy to hear everything is good on that side. 

I love you dad!!!

Mum, i am happy i never had to get a tan for ballroom. Benefits of being the guinea pigs. But thats for all of the exciting Christmas updates. We have a good idea about what we will skype with but we will just have to confirm. But wow is it sneaking up on us. 

I am slowly getting my Christmas presents. Thanks for taking care of the card. 

And yes the correct flight plans came in. Cape town to london to dallas to home. That is quite the flight. Should be good. For the most part i think i will be with the other missionaries for most of the way. At least until london if not dallas. Because coming here the others took salt lake to dallas to london. So they will probably take that again. And in changing the flight plans for me, they probably just changed the final leg. So it will be nice to have someone else on the flight.

For sure mixed emotions. But this has become a second home. Luckily we do have to eternities to catch up with those on this side of the world.
Well the upcoming weeks are looking good and festive, so hope you have a great week. Love you Mom!!!!

Bry, love you Brother!!!!

Meagan, aren't you just a busy little bee. Thanks for the pictures. Just so you know that young Pangel girl, she is fourteen right now and reminds me of you. At least the you that was fourteen when i left. Crazy to think that that time has passed huh? Well i am happy dance is going well. Keep working hard it pays off. Well have fun, know i will be home soon. Maybe we can go on a double or something :) 

Love you Meagan!!!!

Heidi, wow you are a tall little one aren't you? Growing up too fast. Hope the essay went well. For me i like the penny and i think we should keep it. But sounds like a good music program. I love Carol of the Bells. Hope to hear it soon. Have a great week buddy. Enjoy. Love you!!!!!

Jera, thanks for the Pictures. Funny little Kora. Fast sunday. :) for my fast sunday run, it will be a good sprint. You are right, this is what i was trained for. What i have prepared for. It is show time. 

Hope you have a great week. Love you Jera!!!

Well even with the heat Christmas is in the Air. Lights are coming on and everything. It is the time to be happy and remember Christ. I love you all so much. Hope you enjoy your week. See you soon. 

Love Elder Pennington

November 30th 2015

Hey you guys,

This has been a pretty simple, hot, a bit rainy, thanks giving filled, awesome week. Nothing special went on. Thanksgiving was nice, celebrated it alone, but i tried throughout the day to give prayer of thanksgiving. It felt good to take a look at all of the many wonderful blessing i have been given. So many blessings. We even sang count you blessings for church. Everyone was mindful of it being thanksgiving, but unfortunately it did not bring turkey and pies. But that is okay. 

I am sorry, you all ask for stories, and i lack in them most of the time. This is not much different. But Heidi made it more specific and asked for my favorite story. So i will share my favorite experience of the week. 

Lately we have been teaching a young man named Siyabonga. He has a baptismal date for the 3rd of January and he is pretty cool. He is not working too much but is looking for a job, so we can see him often. Already in the commandments with him. But this week we talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a simple lesson because his english is not the best. But it was still pretty powerful. In talking about baptism, it was great to hear his excitement concerning it. Everything is just moving along nicely. It is just really cool.

Then there was last Sunday, gave some blessings to a family, with exams and stuff going on, they just needed a little more help. It has been great to give many blessings to the people of my mission. Makes me grateful for Dad, who was willing to give one to us. His example has been great. Makes me as excited for the day when i can give a fathers blessing to my own family. 

Too many thoughts have been going through my head lately. But i must stay focused.

Dad, i did get the family newsletter. It looks great. Sorry i have not been able to write anything. Not much time, but soon. 

It is great how mission is a micro-life. We learn so much in these two years, shows our true character and potential even. A time of great learning. 

That is a funny story. If i were to end up in Salt-lake, i probably would have gone home with one of my SACTM brothers i will have gone home with. Then i would have made it through the trip with someone else. But most likely i will be alone after the stop in Europe. Or wherever. Whatever happens, happens. 

It is great to hear that Brandon is doing well. He is a good kid. 

Blessings of a living a covenant life. I love those quotes and will tuck them away somewhere. They will provide for a great study. 

Nice groupie though. You are more in touch with the lingo than i am. Scary thought. I didn't even know there was such thing as a groupie. :) 

I love you dad!!!

Mom, that looks like a very busy week. But you did get a small break on thursday. For my side i got pizza for my comp and i. It was good. Nice place called Romans. They are like little ceasars. I have heard rumor that they are owned by little ceasars. Just like game is our walmart. I did get a tree though. Small hut nice. Makes me want to watch a Charlie Brown Christmas. Just on the look out of Souvenirs. 

Zach's back, Matthew's almost back. Where has the time gone. 

I love the story of Abinidi, i also love the bit of humor in it. He comes in disguise and teaches again. They capture him. Bring him before the king. The priests ask an Isaiah question. He starts talking about the 10 commandments. They are angry want to kill him. He starts to grow and says that he has not finished what he was sent to say, and on top of that, he has not yet answered their question. So don't touch him. He was a strong and faithful man, until the very end. Bold as a lion. A great example of courage.

Yup, for me everything is the same. No changes.

Thanks mom, i love you!!!

Bry, members are too kind to us. If we happen to be there at the time they are either having or preparing dinner, there is magically some for you. Even if you were just there for a moment, they take care of you and you can't decline. All of this kindness has made me want to be a great member to the missionaries. 

Keep up the good work. Love you Brother!!!

Meagan, that is a busy week. Did you buy anything for black friday. They had some black friday stuff going on over here. But mostly on food items. It doesn't get very crazy over here, but happy to here that you survived. 

Keep busy these holidays. Good luck with the program coming up. Too much shopping. Love you Meagan!!!

Heidi, Wow. 25.54. That is cool. You must have been saving for a while. If you were here you would have just over R250. Cool huh. Bet the shoes look great. 

I just remembered some more things. We had the primary program yesterday. It was cool and funny. I thought of you. And all of the little ones making faces and funnies. It was nice. Also we were at the store and i heard a kid not too far away telling his dad "look it's superman, look it's superman." And then his dad yelled out, "hey clark." Not quite sure who they were talking about, but it made me smile. People are funny around here. 

I love you Heidi!!!

Jera, those are some great pictures. Cute little ones. Growing up so fast. I think i remember Kora being as small as duke. Time flies. I too am bad in the picture department. But hopefully i will be able to get some pics of families soon. 

Those are funny little ones. Duke and his hat, funny story.

Love you Jera!!!!

Well, hope that is good with stories and such. Too much funnies. I love you all very much and hope you have a great week.

Love, Elder Pennington

November 23rd 2015

Hey you guys!!!!!

This has been quite the week. Full of appointments. Both with investigators and the chevy dealership. Too much going on in my life. But with transfers i have survived. Still here in George. Still with Elder Katwala. Still district leader. My district is the same. Hard to believe that time is far spent. Elder Mei turns a year this week. I have been a district leader for more than a year now. And i am still trying to get it right. But i have been able to get a glimpse at the growth. We took our car to get serviced. And then friday i got to deal with Knysna's car as well. Small thing that i have had to take charge of and run with them. Boy has my mission been gnawing at my comfort zone. :) which is a good thing i guess. 

It has been a great week. We have a baptism planned now. Siyabonga has been progressing very well. He is working hard to understand and is doing great. We also helped a member move this past week. He introduced us to the new tenants. And we talked for about an hour and a half with them. Answering questions and explaining simple truths. The older man is pretty set but willing to read the Book of Mormon. The younger man has been thinking about giving up on Christianity with all of the confusion around. All these many churches. Also he has a small family. With a young girl who is beginning to ask questions. He wants to be able to answer then for her...the right way. No fake answers. It was a great conversation. But small moments like that have brought good out of the week. With no trip to PE this week we are able to start this transfer right and hit the ground running. Should be good.

Dad, Yes i miss on another thanksgiving. That is okay. I can still be thankful over here. Hard to believe that it is November already. And yeah, i feel a little relieved, it sounds like our American holidays are making us fat :) but then again, here people have braai day that can also lead to a little extra meat on the bones. :) Things are nice over here though. It is nice watching the different cultures at work. Christmas is big with family, food, and beer. Santa does visit over here, just maybe not as big as back home. Last year i was in a township and Christmas trees were rare. Now i have some town in my area and so things might be a bit different. We will just have to wait and see. 

And yes, the Lord does look out for all of us. He is helping out. In the very details. 

Youth conference sounds great, and sounds like a great talk from President Riggs. A perfect illustration, never to be forgotten. 

Not trunky here. Still working hard. Siya, the young man i talked about earlier is scheduled for baptism on the 3 of January. Which if it is like we think that will be my last Sunday. And we will see who else we can find. Just gotta keep swimming. 

Yup it is hot here. Until it rains then it is pretty cold and it doesn't feel too much different than an Az winter. 

Now i have just got to make each day count. Love you dad!!

Mom, the best thing about this week was probably the conversation we had with the two men at the move. That was cool. The young man brought up the question why do bad things happen to good people. It then led to a perfect moment to give them the Book of Mormon. I just know he will be able to find answers through that wonderful book and through the spirit. It was nice. 

It was just a busy and hectic but great week. These are precious moments. I loved the phrase "the sisters turn everything into a miracle." So true. Missionaries have an ability to find the small precious tender mercies. Manna from Heaven. Missions are full of miracles. 

Preparing for thanksgiving. Nice. Thanks for the money. No problems with no package i would probably never get it anyways. I will probably withdraw a bit here and there and get some things from street vendors. It is hard though being a white guy all dressed up, they try to get more out of you. So i will have to do some negotiations :) wish me luck. 

I think i am also going to get a Christmas tree this week. 

I love the snow funny. So true. 

Mom, i love you!!!

Bry, just a note to tell you i love you and enjoy the turkey.

Megan, sounds like quite the week. Fun youth conference. We never got anything like that. We did have one where we went tracting with the missionaries. That was interesting. But hey, good luck with dance, you will do well when you give your best effort. Love you!!!

Heidi, you are growing up too fast, i think i will only get home in time to interview your first boy friend. Sounds like you are an active part in school. Cool beans bud. Hope your break is great. Love you!!!

Jera, thanks for thinking about sending pictures. It is the thought that counts. 

Yeah, it will all seems like one crazy dream. Hard to believe i am down to my lasts. Even the last bit of energy. If anything, that plane ride home will be pretty exhausting. Between travel and the conflicting emotions inside, it will leave me with out much energy. :) But thanks. Enjoy the week. Love you!!!!

Well my familia. I love you all and hope you have a great thanksgiving. Enjoy some pie for me. Love you much.

Love, Elder Pennington