Jan 26th 2015

Hey You Guys!!

This week has been good. Thanks for all of your wonderful emails. I will be having a quick little email answering thing. I am pushing time today. This morning we had a plumber come to fix our toilet. It has had a small leak that has been seeping into the walls. Causing some crazy damage. But by small and simple thing great things do happen. Because of the holidays and our busy schedule as missionaries. This leak has been causing more of a problem than it should. So I have learned a little lesson :) 

Everything else is going good. The work is great. I love the work! 

Dad, that is some crazy heavy week. Some hard times. Moments that would shake people. Makes even more reason to have a firm foundation. The Atonement is central to everything. I think of my Blessing. We have been first in His Life. Now we have the chance to make Him First in our Lives. Thanks for your testimony and your updates. Thanks for your example to me growing up. Never a dull moment. Now we just keep moving forward! I love you Dad!!!

Mom, Sounds like you had weekly planning on a visiting teaching scale. :) I am happy it went well. Transfers will happen next week. But I will not change until I am done training. I am safe. My district Leader times are getting a little easier. I am trying to handle the stress better. Headaches are okay. I am excited to hear about Bryant and his new companion. The second one is always interesting. You find that people work one way with your trainer and then you find that people are different with your second companion. I can't wait to talk to him. I loved my second companion Elder Cathemer. We had some fun times. But my trainer way pretty good as well. Bry and I will have to talk a lot. :) 

Thanks for helping me with my account. Elder Clark and I got a ticket when we were together (he ran a stop sign) and so now we are splitting the ticket. They have been with drawing from my MSF. So funds have been kinda tight, so it is nice to know that I have a backup. Thanks so much! And yes my camera (AKA Lenny) is all better. I have been doing a little bit of a video record of my final year of mission. Hopefully I can be faithful in this. I keep wanting to end it by saying "Good Luck Charlie" but I feel that I can't steal that catch phrase. Any ideas from the family??

I can't wait to play the game. Will be fun!! I love you Mom!

Meagan, the week went well. We walked a couple of miles to get someone to church. It was nice. :) Felt good. Thanks for telling me whats going on. Prayer is important. True to the Faith!! We have a lot of goofballs in the family now huh? Do you remember our password for Geocash?? Stinky feet. We are so strange, but we love it!! Love you lots too!!

Bryant, Thanks for telling me. These crazy postal systems, they are just annoying at times. Have you gotten my letter yet? Hopefully it gets there soon. :) I love you Bry. Enjoy every moment you have been blessed to do this great work! Love Ya!

Heidi, Keep working hard in school. Schools have opened here and I am thinking about all of the many first days of school I have had. New notebooks and plenty of papers. Pencils are sharp and ready. I love that feeling. I hope you are having fun with school. Love you lots Bud!

Again sorry for the short email. But I have not too much time. I hope you have a great week. I love you all so very much. I am grateful for the gospel and for my eternal family. I am grateful for your emails of support and love. I love you all. Enjoy your week. Enjoy the Tender Mercies of the Lord. and remember it is always better to Look UP!!

 

Love, Elder Pennington the Elder

Jan 19, 2015

Hey You Guys!

This week has been good. I have been working hard.  Meeting new people. It was not as packed with appointments as it could have been, but this week is crazy packed. President Merrill called to tell me that I am now a permanent part of this mission, i will not go to Botswana. "I'll go where You want me to go." It truly is a great attitude to be in. We shall see how things go here. I have loved  my time here, and look forward to many  more adventures.:)

Well that about sums up  my week. Not too bad :)

Dad, thank you for sending over your talk. I love it and am going to be printing it out. Powerful! The eyes to see. I also enjoy the Bondage and deliverance topic. We read 1 ne 1 so often with investigators to get them reading their Book of  Mormon. and that last part talks of power of deliverance. His grace is sufficient. Tender Mercies are in this work. Unto deliverance.

I can't wait to hear of the  many adventures of Elder Carpenter. Many Mighty Miracles. Spain, here he comes :) I am so  happy. He will  make a great Missionary.

Bry Day sounds great. Maybe one day I will be able to join. 

My companionship is doing great. working hard and tearing it up! Unity is important. There are  many missionaries that are just surviving rather than prospering. And it makes me sad to watch. They are great Elders, but they just struggle and have given up for complete unity. Love and Service are important.

But thanks for your thoughts. Have a great week! Love You!!

Mom, Everything is fine on this side. Thank you for the many packages. I hope it comes too. I look forward to an intense study of conference. And a calendar would be nice. But hey, what can we do? I loved your class. The Come, Follow  Me program is great. I wish I could spend some  more time in it. There is so much I am  excited to study when I get home. But for now I love Preach My Gospel and Studying for my investigators. They have been great. 

Tell everyone hi for me. I love training. and being district leader is alright. It can be fun, but kind of stressful. I went to a leadership training yesterday. Very good meeting. I learned a lot, but  when I first got there, everyone said it looks as if I have lost weight. I don't know about that, but I guess it  might have ran in the family, but it is going okay. 

The Temple is a great place and it was great to reflect on it with the members. I love that wonderful place. Soon!

Mom I love you. Have a wonderful week! Love You Bunches!!

Bryant, have a great week Brother. I hope the work is going great. I know you are smashing it out there. If I am correct you are getting almost through with your training. How does that feel. Keep those things in your heart. Keep up the work hard. Love You Elder!!

Meagan, I  miss you too  Meagan. You are growing up so fast. I can't believe it. a young woman. I am just happy I will be able to be there when You graduate. My week was great Megs. We had a baptismal service. 5 people were baptized. Only thing it was for the other Elders. Which is Okay. Motherwell is growing fast. We had 105 people there. It was a great Sunday. Enjoy your break. Bry Day! I love you too  Meagan! Keep it Up!

Heidi, That is a funny joke. I am doing great and am very happy you are doing great. Home teachers :) HAHAHaha! Good luck with your science fair project. It is a rather tasty one :) Enjoy!! :) ;) |) BD :P Love you Lots!!

have a great week Everyone. I love you very much. I love you emails! They make me smile :) Love you all very much!

Love, Elder Pennington the Elder!

PS. Mom, if I can I am going to use my card to buy some hand sanitizer and shoe polish. Thanks for everything! Love you!!  

Jan 12th 2015

Hey You Guys!!!

Good Morning my dear family! This has been a very interesting week. Not too bad. Rather tough, as far as the work goes. Member missionaries work is so important to our side of the work. Just to have a male with us is so important for us, especially here in Motherwell where so many of our investigators are female. And with the Branch in Joburg for the temple, we were left without both. Luckily we were able to take the Lundbergs, our new senior couple, with us to several of our appointments. They were a great help in everyone. Senior couple are very great. But all in all it was a great week. We still taught some good lessons. We still kept moving forward. And it was great to hear everyones testimony of the temple upon their return. It was wonderful. Mama Joy got to go. Her son Xolani got to be baptized for his dad. Said it was a wonderful experience. It was great to talk to everyone who got to go through the temple for their first time. They were glowing. The joy of the temple, the spirit of the temple has been a buzz here in Motherwell. The question now is, when can they go again? What a wonderful time to be alive and involved with this great work! 

Dad, That is cool that you will get a name tag. It is great to hear of all the change that is happening there at home. I am so excited for Mason. Look out Spain! Here he comes. Tell him I say Hi and that I am so happy for him. He will make a great missionary. Changing many lives. I can't wait to hear of the miracles he has. 

Well Elder Dad, I have been having some great studies. This last week I had a great district meeting reading alma 26 and 29. The Joy of missionary work. I personally enjoied reading 2 Nephi 4 this week. It touched my heart a little more. I had missed some things last time. And finally I am really excited to take some time to study the teaching of Ezra Taft Benson. I have been reading about his life and I am excited. I can't wait to get home and be able to have more indepth studies from the teachings books. They are pretty cool.

Thanks for the email and your words of encouragement. have a great wonderful day. Love you Dad!

Mom, I am doing great. Having fun and working hard. Thanks for helping me with my camera. I am happy and grateful to get that out of the way. 

Sounds like you have a  lot to do with this visiting teaching thing. More than I thought it would be. I always wondered about that calling. But i guess it makes sense. My side of the world is good. Sounds like Heidi and Meagan are having some fun developing their talents. They are such talented girls. Thank you for your prayers. You are all in my prayers as well. With this whole temple and family thing, you have been nearer and dearer in my heart. I love you very much Mom. Thanks for the funny. My funny is for some reason, my hair cut last week made me look even more like superman. Everyone loved it. I was tempted to try and get a Messi (a soccer player) haircut, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. But for my side I get mistaken :) for Superman and even Spiderman sometimes. :) 

Mom I do miss those times i did not have to go to a barber for a hair cut. Thanks for all those many times you have done my hair. No does my hair as good as you. They always mess up on something. Love you MOM!

Meagan, My highlight was probably singing hymn 307 in sacrament. it was pretty powerful. I have another favorite song to add to my list. I hope you enjoy it. Also I forgot to mention under Mom, but you all read it anyways. I got the package this last week. Still waiting for the conference and calander, but the twelve days was nice. Everyone liked the little goodies. Thank you all for that symbol of love. Very creative. That provided a big smile on my face. Another highlight was when My Companion Elder Mei invited Noskombuso, Dimekadso, Siyasanga, and Vusumsi to baptism. They are great. Progressing very well. Now we will just need to get them to come to church. But they are siblings and are really great and promising. This work is great. Just tell everyone Hi for me. Tell Ms. Clare that I am pretty sure I found her African twin :) This sister reminds me alot of Ms. Clare. (Mostly you can just tell them HI). Have a great week. Enjoy art! Love Out Loud!

Heidi, it is great to hear from you. Sounds like you had a great week. I can't wait to play this game with you all. It will be a bunch of fun bananas! I hope you continue to have fun apples. Keep working hard in school oranges. B D does look like you with sunglasses kiwi. I love your stories pumpkin. We are doing good on this side cucumber. How is your side of the world fruit salad? I love you lots Heidi!

Bryant, Have a great week! Keep up saving the world. Enjoy the joy of missionary work! Love you Bry!

Love you Too Jera :) 

Sorry it isn't too much today, I have been kind of stressed with some things, so my mind has been all over the place. But I do love you all very very much! Have a wonderful week. Thank you for your prayers and packages :) I love you!!

Love, Elder Pennington   

Jan 5th 2015

Hey You Guys!

Happy New Year!! I am doing just wonderful over here. Things are kind of slow right now, but I am doing a little bit. Now that holidays are wrapping up, the work will start to pick up more. Fun! Our Branch is currently on a bus heading to Joburg Temple. I am so happy for them. The last couple of days there has been a buzz about that. So exciting! They are going to love it. They are going to enjoy every moment they can spend there. But right now for our side, we don't have really anyone who can fellowship with us. But fear not... we will find a way. Less active or something? We will see :) But all is good here in South Africa. 

Dad, Everything is fine here in Africa. It is getting hotter! I think January is the hottest month. I guess we will just have to wait and see :) But that is so nice of Tatum, she is very thoughtful some times. (It is great to hear that she is still live and kicking :) And Snow in the Superstitions, that sounds out of the ordinary. Something must be happening.

What is San Tan 2nd going to do. Now they will have that annoying plastic sound :( But that is sad about Brother Goodman. He has served so well. Given his all to the young men. Mzolisa over here is a good young mens president, but not as good as Brother Goodman. He will be missed in the YM. 

And so JJ Leaves this week. Wow has time flown. We will have a lot of missionaries out. And I am happy to hear that Denton came to see the farewell. I too hope he felt the love. 

Thank you for that Story. I love it! Something that I needed for this new year. As district leader I have been dealing with things that I just feel too inadequate to handle. But I have been learning more to trust in the Savior. I am grateful for that story. 

Time management is coming slowly. I just need to keep working hard on it. 

Mama Joy is doing great. She went with them to the temple. He late husband will be baptized by Xolani. I am very excited to hear how it all goes. A very special time. :) Thanks for your email. Love You!!

Mom, This week has been good. New Years was pretty chill. We had to come home from the area early. So we did a little bit of service as we helped a man push his car. and then we just had some tasty meat and talked. But that was about it. We were in Bed at 10.30 just like any other night :)

It is crazy to think that it has almost been a year. time does fly. I can't believe the girls are going back to school. I kind of miss that stress, it is very much different from this stress. but I am getting by. 

Sounds like you have a companion who will help you teach. It can be nice at times. I love teaching with my companion. But there are times when it would be easier to teach on my own. But what can we do? 

I can't wait to hear how JJ does. And Mason goes out soon too, right? Exciting times! 

Christmas package is almost here. I can feel it. I will probably get it this week. But I do know you love me. Thank you very much. I will be checking up on the camera today. But also I will be taking some of the money and get a haircut. I have been needing that. Beside that I am okay. I got a watch for R169. Not too bad. It is nice when things are on sale :)

But all is going well. Love you very much Mom!

Meagan, I can't wait for Bryday. I do miss Psych! But I am sorry the dance wasn't the best. but I do hope you had some fun. I miss dancing as well. And the temple. Thank you for completing all of those for me. Keep it up. Keep working hard as well. School will be okay. It will all be over in a couple of years. So enjoy the fun times and the memories. :) Say hi to everyone that I might know. Love you Megs!

Heidi, What is this boys name? Can you believe that Meagan will start dating soon. Crazy huh? I hope you enjoy Sister Wilson. She is pretty good. have fun at Activity days. Enjoy time with your new friend that is a boy. :) Love you a lot Heidi! You are growing up so fast :) Keep it up! I want a picture of you and the boy, okay :)

Bryant, I will let you know when the Letter gets here. Postage is a funny thing. I sent one off last week, so let me know if you get that one. Love you Bryant. Keep Working hard! Enjoy every minute you have the privilege to spend in the service of the Lord :)  Love You!

Jera, Sorry I got the place wrong last time. I just hope you enjoy your trip, wherever it may be :) Love you! have a great week!

Well Everyone that is my life right now. I am loving it! Enjoy your new year. 2015 will be simply wonderful!

Love, Elder Pennington the Elder :)

Dec 29th 2014

Hey You Guys!!

 

Good Morning Everyone! It was so great to speak to you all on Christmas. I love those moments. It was a very special day. I love this season. I hope you all had a great day as well. Plenty of fun and also plenty of remembering Christ and His Sacrifice. That is our message and it makes this season mean even more to me (that and the fact that i got to see everyone :) I love you all! 

My week was nice. We had a baptism for Mama Joy. It was very good. She is wonderful. really prepared to grow in this gospel. It made the week even better. But also this week we said our good-byes to the silcocks. They are moving to a new area and now we have the Lundburgs. It will be nice to meet with them. But Motherwell will miss the Silcocks. 

Anywho...

Dad, I love that thought that you have shared. The Truth or ability to Know Him. that is our goal. To know God and His Son. That is Life Eternal. I love that. Something that everyday we are working toward. Or at least we should be working toward. Recently we watched with Mama Joy the "only a Stonecutter" video telling the story of John Rowe Moyle. Wonderful video. I felt to talk also about the Master's Hand and His role in our lives. It was a tender moment. She is going to be an active part of this Branch. She will do some wonderful this and will provide some strength. Tonight we will meet with Brother Lundi. Hopefully we can get him progressing. He is a good man who wants to do right. Just needs to face the Savior and that little bum pat and he will be well on his way. I love this work. 

I am happy all is well on your side. I am happy to work along side you. Thank you for everything. Your Example and Everything Else! I love you Dad! 

Mom, I felt a little Christmas. It is not the same with out being right there with you. But Skype made it okay. i am very happy to have been able to see and talk to you. Sounds like things are moving forward on that side. I can't wait to have my fellow brothers in the field. They will do some wonderful things. I love it! I am sorry to hear of the Headache. I think I have found a way to help me drink more water. But then I have the constant need for the bathroom. :( It is not easy always moving around. But we keep working. I am happy to talk with you and I love you a lot mom. Hopefully this week I will get that package. Elder Wright is now in the office and has been telling me that they were going to send it after the post office opened up after the holidays. I am excited :) Thank you! I love you Mom!!

Meagan, Heidi, Bryant. My wonderful siblings. You are the Best. I love you all very much. I hope you are all doing well. I love your emails. Heidi, sounds like you are enjoying the games. I love games too. I have been teaching the gospel now though. :) I love that too. We have been telling people about Jesus Christ and His Love for us all. The Story of Christ! :) Meagan, Enjoy the temple and the dance. Recently the Youth went to a FSY event. Alot like EFY. They loved it. Xolani his favorite part was the dance and getting all of the girls numbers. Funny guy! Don't get too many guys numbers. Be good and have fun on the count down. :) 

Bry, Keep up the good work. One of these next couple of day I should get a letter off to you. SO I hope it get there in Good Time. I love you Elder Brother :) And I love you Heidi, and I love you Meagan!!

 Jera, It was good to see you as well. Thank you for hooking us up with Oregon. That was pretty cool. I hope you have a happy New year. I love you Jera. Enjoy the Weather in Oregon. I have been having some rainy days here in PE. I feel a little like Oregon. Thing is not too long after a nice little rain it is very hot. Kinda the best of both Oregon and Arizona. Funny PE Weather :) Love you Jera :)

I love you all very much! Have a great week. Happy new year! Just think 2014 is over, we are now going to 2015 :) Time does fly :) Love you!!

 

Love Elder Pennington the Elder :) 

I am too far behind to update Porters Blog, so I will just post some pictures and his most recent emails.