WEEK 12: SALVATION IS NOT A CHEAP EXPERIENCE

Elder Zeng riding a bike for the 1st
time since he was 5 years old.

Elder Zeng getting his ears lowered.

So this week I had my first exchanges and I took over the area.  The person who I exchanged with was Elder Zeng from China.  That was quite the adventure.  He hasn't biked since he was 5, and he was on my companion’s  bike  (Elder Heelis), and Elder Heelis's bike is a tank and Elder Zeng is not haha.  So that was a fun filled day.

Our son... the barber?!

I also cut Elder Zeng and Elder Heelis’ hair, and I think I did a great job!   I went on exchanges with an ASL Elder named Elder Lenniger that knows Brooklyn!!!  That was fun. I think I picked up some sign language so that was cool! 

ASL Elder who knows
Nathan's cousin Brooklyn

So today for P-day we hiked to Pumpkin Rock or something. I think it should be called Halloween Town but yeah so that was fun.  We did this absolutely horrid game at the top where we had to spin something and it landed on a jelly bean, and we had to eat it except it was nasty flavors.  Oh my gosh it was so gross.  I ate one that was stinky socks, rotten eggs, dog food, and skunk - Ughhhhh that was so nasty.


Having some fun on "P-Day"

Pumpkin Rock

The nasty jelly bean game

Scenic look from Pumpkin Rock

Scenic view from Pumpkin Rock

Dani, who got baptized the week before, was also confirmed and it was awesome.  She was so happy. You can tell in her face.  She has such a sweet spirit.  The work is going slow.  We have people that we are teaching and they really enjoy meeting with us and they do recognize the spirit, they just aren't making it to church whether it is because of rides or because they are sick, but oh well I am not gonna let it get to me.  I am just going to do my very best because one thing that I have realized while I'm out here is that if Heavenly Father doesn't want something to happen, it isn't gonna happen.  I am not gonna be able to convert these people.  It is going to be the Spirit and Heavenly Father working through me.

I am almost done with my training, and my dad (trainer) has been in this area for 7 months now so he will probably be leaving and I will probably be getting a new companion, who will be referred to as my step father most likely.  The mission family is weird haha.

Things are still going good, and I'm alive – that is what matters.  I love being out here.  I love these people out here, and I love the work that is going on.  I am so glad that it is tough because if it was easy then that wouldn't make sense...
"Salvation is not a cheap experience" – Elder Holland.

I love you all and thank you for your love and your prayers.

Love,

Elder Pennington

Elder Pennington with some of his compadres on the mission

WEEK 11: FIRST BAPTISM

My fellow Americans...

I heard Obama gave his presidential "schpeel" so I thought that the subject would fit :)  So this week was pretty great.  Riding on bike everywhere is still awesome, we have the steepest hills in our area well it feels like it, but it is up hill both ways, so that is just so great :)

Elder Heelis and myself being the teenagers we are, are pretty forgetful, and we have forgotten that we left our bikes at the Stake Center because we usually have people pick us up from there because we are out and about, and so there have been three mornings this week we have had to make the 20 minute journey to our bikes so that has been fun haha.  But, I think one of those times was because God needed us to walk in that direction because if we would have had our bikes we would have gone the opposite direction.  So as we are walking, there is a recent convert who is woman of about the age of fifty who is super sweet and she locked herself out of the house.  So she asked us to break into her house so who on earth would say no to that?  Elder Heelis and Kathy worked on the back sliding door, while I walked around.  I popped off the screen of a window and saw that it was only closed because of this small metal object and a pole.  So I went and squeezed my arm through with a rake haha ...popped the metal off and moved the pole and hopped in the house just as I hear Elder Heelis and Kathy yell “We got it” and were walking through the back door and we all met in the living room.  It was definitely a funny experience.

Elder Pennington's first baptism!

I also had my first baptism which was sweet.  This girl Dani is a trooper.  She had two seizures the day before her baptism and didn’t get released until that night and then she still got baptized the next day.

I would like to first give a shout-out to my boy Justin and his wife!!!  I am sad that I missed the wedding, but I think I have an okay excuse!  I love you both and can’t wait to make some awesome memories at the reunions!  Also, shout-out to my awesome cousin Brooklyn for Returning With Honor and being an awesome example to all of us on her serving her mission in New York!  Love you so much Brooklyn, I'll see you in 22 months but who’s counting? (Momma Lisa is) Oh my gosh, shout-out again, to my cousin Hallie for getting engaged!  I'm so happy for you!!!

We all had our doubts but man Justin she is only three months away from you but I knew you would get married no matter what Brandon and Amber said! :)  And Jace you owe me 20 bucks.  I told you Hallie would find someone as special as her! Haha!!  Just kidding future cousin.  I can’t wait to meet you!

Well I would like to thank all the people above for waiting till I'm gone so I get to miss all of this and I apologize for what I did to make y’all hate me.....just kidding I wouldn't wanna be anywhere else.  I love you all and miss y’all a ton,  I can’t wait to be able to sit around as an RM with all my RM family and share stories.  Stay in touch and thank you all for the continuous support.

Elder Pennington

WEEK 10: NOAH NATE AND THE ARK BIKE

So this past week was awesome.  Being on bike has actually been a lot of fun.  It rained quite a bit this week, actually so much that I can describe myself as Noah and my bike as the ark HaHa! 

So we have four investigators, Dani, Robert, Gini, and Andrew.  Dani, is a miracle baptism that we are receiving.  She was approached by some other elders who have been teaching her, but she's on our side of the ward boundaries so we will be baptizing her this Sunday!  Unfortunately our two other investigators Robert and Gini (no relation between the two) have been really sick, and we haven't been able to meet with them and they haven't been able to come to church, but we are gonna meet with them this week. 

Then Andrew, who just got married to his wife Chayo who is a member, we are meeting with him Tuesday, and scheduling his baptism! 

My bike has lasted all this week without any more problems.  In Old Mira Loma the roads are bad and I have had to patch up the bike tube like three or four times, but everything has been great! 

Well at least Kevin Hart wants to hear our message :)

So usually when we go out contacting (walking and talking with people for 90 minutes) we just walk around neighborhoods and a bunch of people are all outside, but with the rain we have to go door to door and that has been a great experience (sarcasm).

I can now say I have experienced doors being slammed in my face and people just being plain rude.  One lady was so rude that I was just so upset.  We asked her if there was anyone she knew that needed a message of hope and/or help, and she said well I know some Catholics that need help blah blah and started making fun of religions.  I just walked off while my companion was still talking and then she stopped and apologized.  I think I may need to work on that, but it was just a really long day, cold and was pouring down rain, but I love it :) 

 Well that is all for this week, I hope everyone is doing great and I always love the emails, letters, and packages so thank y’all for having me in mind.

Love, 

Elder Pennington

This sweet lady made us beanie's so our heads would stay warm while riding our bikes!

Double selfie of our new beanie hats

WEEK 9: BIKE CHALLENGES

So I have the pleasure of being on bike the next six months!  I have also had the pleasure of fixing a flat and patching my bike four times!  So we went to get it fixed and got a ride from some other Elders, and we get back and it is flat!  So we get to go in tomorrow again and try and get it fixed up so we can get back to work. 

So we officially have three investigators that should all be baptized by the end of January which is awesome.  We just had our first Sunday in the Jurupa Ward, now that the other one was discontinued we get to learn names all over again. 

We have a super cool WML (Ward Mission Leader) who is super awesome.  The ward is really good at feeding us dinners and coming out and supporting us.  Now we just need to get them to give us referrals, those are the best investigators.  We also have two return missionaries who love driving us around to lessons and also two guys who are about to leave that we just met this past Sunday so hopefully we can get them to come out with us. 

One thing that is unfortunate though is that we live with a family who isn’t in our ward, we have to bike about 10-15 minutes into our area and then go out.  So planning has to be time efficient which is good for us.

I hope everyone has had a good few days of starting strong with their New Year’s Resolutions!  Keep up with it everyone!  I would like to thank everyone for all of the letters and packages!  It really makes me feel loved and supported, so thank you all so much for your cards, packages, but mainly your prayers.  I’ll take a prayer over a card and package any day of the week.  Well Elder Pennington loves and misses you all.  Have a great start to the New Year.  Hopefully I'll have some more interesting stories next week.

Love, 

Elder Pennington

A boy we have been teaching

Dynamic Duo

Squat & Skate

WEEK 8: GOODBYE CAR... HELLO BIKES

Packages and more packages

I would like to start off by saying thank y'all so much for the love, prayers, packages and letters that you sent me! Y'all don't know how much happiness it brought me. I'm so lucky to have wonderful friends and family who support me.

Christmas Conference

So we just had our first transfer. Elder Heelis and I lost our car to the Sister Missionaries. We will be on a bike for the next 6 weeks that we know of and lucky for us El Nino is coming and it has been raining with winds up to 70 mph lately so I guess you could say I'm pretty excited! Everyday is gonna be “leg day”, and sadly won't turn into arms unlike when me, Jack, and Drew would do when we went to go lift haha.

We officially put one of our investigators Gini on a baptism date for the third Saturday in January. She is awesome, and I am so excited for her. She really does have a love for Christ, and it is awesome to hear her testimony. We are officially in the Jurupa Ward now, and we will be splitting it with Sister Missionaries (who have our car, yes I know what a mistake) but yeah we are gonna fight to keep our same area that we had in our car and not let the sisters have more, so it'll be a good 5 mile bike ride to get to the area where most of our investigators are! I'll keep you posted!!

WEEK 7: THE WEEK WE GET TO SKYPE

Pennington & Heelis at the Redlands Temple

On P-Day this week, Elder Pennington didn't have time to write his long letter because of internet problems at the church.  AND... we are getting to Skype with him in just a few days at 11am on Christmas Day so we will give him a break this one time! :)  We are sooooooo looking forward to seeing our missionary!
We heard he got to attend the temple located just north of the mission in Redlands, California.  In their mission they get to go once every 3 months which is a great blessing.



Skyping with Elder Pennington

Skyping with Nathan was a real treat.  He told us a lot of stories and experiences he is having - some funny as in the story about their encounter with an inebriated man.  Elder Heelis began to tell him that they enjoy sharing a message of Christ at this time of year and the drunken man told him he didn't want to hear his message and to go away.  Nathan just smiled at the man with his typical joyful personality and the man asked him, "What are you smiling about Smalls?" to which Nathan replied with a quote from the movie "Elf", "Smiling's my favorite!"  He also told us about teaching a family who had a pet pig in their house and others with chickens inside.  He also just recently ate a Mexican soup called Menudo which had pig's feet in it.  And of course there are spiritual experiences like the day their zone did service at the local high school for some less fortunate kids and wore elf hats.  He picked a 14 year old girl named Sophia who has a disease which has caused her body to age like that of a 90 year old.  As he shared his experience, it brought tears to everyone's eyes.

This Christmas was our best Christmas ever because of the hour and a half that we got to see his face and hear his voice.  He is really having a good time and enjoying his mission.  We are grateful for his service and the blessings it has already brought to our family.

Keep it up Elder Pennington.  You are truly "laying the foundation of a great work." (Doctrine & Covenants 64:33)



Mom had this ornament made for our missionary

 

Mom makes Nathan's favorite Christmas treat - Puppy Chow!

2 containers full - 1 to share with Elder Heelis

Mom found this post on Missionary Momma's FB page - She totally stalks her missionary!

Found out on the Skype that this was a Christmas Party thrown by the Stake
President at his house for all the missionaries serving in the Jurupa Stake

A sneak peek at Nathan's Christmas box before being shipped.

WEEK 6: CHANGES & CHIC-FIL-A PIZZA

Elders Pennington & Heelis live in Bryce's home. He's 16

So this week has been good. One thing that was not so bueno is that all the boundaries in our stake got changed so that'll be interesting to see where my companion and I get put so I have no idea what area I will be in for January so it kind of stinks because regardless we will be losing investigators.

Yep, you heard him!  CHIC-FIL-A PIZZA

Anyways, I probably had the best pizza Saturday for dinner. We stayed home and had dinner with the home share kid Bryce who is 16.  We made a CHIC-FIL-A pizza, oh my goodness it was amazing. Get some pizza dough, chic-fil-a sauce all on the bottom then mozzarella cheese, and then cut up some fries and chicken nuggets and then put cheese on that. Oh my goodness, it completely changed the game.

But yeah I hope everything is good in Memphis.  Christmas is coming up fast and you can tell there is a change in the air. It must be the lights all the houses put up that release the Christmas spirit because everyone seems so much more happier. Nothing really special happened, oh I know. My basketball shoes ripped on the inside! Unbelievable! That is two shoes back to back that meant so much to me....haha

Anyways the work here is good and one cool thing our mission president has challenged us to do out here is read the first two chapters of Matthew, Luke, and all of John. He said when we read these, to highlight Jesus Christ's name in a color, his attributes in a color, the doctrine of Christ in a color, and when he speaks in a color. The New Testament is looking so beautiful with all the different colors haha, it really helps me dig into the reading and I am getting a ton out of highlighting. We are focusing on the story of Christ’s birth and really studying it because of him being the reason for the season and I am learning a ton. So much better than studying for school hahaha.

On P-Day writing an email to the family at the
church. We think his tongue sticking out means
he's happy - like a puppy

Well that's all for this week, I am probably forgetting something but oh well. Good luck for everyone taking midterms and all that gross school stuff!

Love, 

Elder Pennington