#3 on the 22nd

(I just have to put in here that he has a total of 30 min on the computer and he learned to only use a few minutes to write something, I'd respond, he'd check back, write something, check back - thus the 3 in one day thing)

Hey Mom! Yeah its way fun being the oldest missionaries here. And time has gone by pretty fast. But it also seems like i have been here for a very long time. I am so ready to go to the phil. I can't wait. What do you mean what am i saying when i sign off. (he obviously doesn't realize he's not speaking english on his last line) I am doin awesome. I will always make sure to do the right thing.
Aunt Olivia has been sendin me many letters. its cool. i wrote her a letter today too. today in the temple we did sealings. there was only 6 kid ones so me and my comp were witnesses for the rest of the time. that was the first time i did sealings it was cool. And yeah i am sharing all of my food with my district. i still have a lot left though. i wonder how much i will have to leave behind. And mom of course i am ready to go out into the world. its gonna be sweeeet!!! the philippines are gonna be awesome. im gonna be across the world, across the pacific ocean. my time is running out. thanks for everything. i love you so much. your the best. Elder Pennock ps i cant wait to tell you all about the phililipines as well. Do you go on lds.org or mormon.org very much? you should its awesome. and do i really not have any emails from gmail? Love you. Two more weeks. :) =)

#2 on the 22nd

Hey Thanks for getting me all those addresses. And yeah i got all that missionary mall stuff. thank you. and thanks for the watch.
i will make sure to tell you if i need anything. i get my flight plans this friday! its so sweet! I am still doin great! i had to give a talk yesterday in tagalog. it was good. i was nervous like always though but it was pretty good. everyone said it was good. but yeah everythin is awesome. i cant wait to go to the philippines!!!! :) I love you om. thanks again. Mahal kita. Alamat. ingat

Host the new guys

hey mom. i am on the computer right now. what's up? I have two weeks left!!! Last week me and my district got to host the new missionaries it was cool. We get to do it again this week. Awesome! And we get our flight plans this week!!! i think on friday! Sweet! hows everyone doin? I didn't get any emails gain this week? except for your one question. What goin on with bryce? Do i have any emails on gmail you can forward? love you. Elder Pennock

to Dad

Dad,
So you did spend 2 months in the MTC like me. Cool. Hey it occurs to me that I don't remember much about your mission. Just the cool stuff you told me about the pictures that you have. About the awesome waterfalls and the pig head that you had. That's sweet! What sweet, awesome stories do you have?
Oh yeah you're lifting and going to the gym now. I forgot. Mom says you are doing that a lot even twice a day. She misses you. When I come back I want to see how the exercising has been treating you.
I just watched the church movie "Mountain of the Lord". About the building of the Salt Lake temple and Wilford Woodruff's story. It was awesome. I want to go in that temple now. Temples are so cool. I feel the spirit there. I also feel the spirit when we watch church movies like "Testament" and "Finding Faith in Christ" and we watch music and the spoken word on Sunday mornings and thats way cool too. And one time when we were teaching in Tagalog when my companion was reciting the 1st vision in Tagalog, I felt the spirit then too. It is awesome. I'm havin a great time. We are now the oldest district. And my companion is district leader. I hope everyone is doing awesome.
You got a shorter letter cause you write less and I don't write a lot anyways. Besides I don't have a lot of time to write letters also.
But thanks Dad. Thank you for being a great Dad. I miss you. I'm looking forward to hearing cool stories from your mission and about the world cup. :)
Mahal Kita. Ingat Po. Elder Pennock
P.s. Oh yeah my toenail finally fell off. It was disgusting. The toenail smelled so bad, horrible. And the new one is so short like half the size. Just wanted to let you know. :)

Dear Elder care package

Dear Mom, Thanks again for all the food. Yeah that expensive DearElder care package was awesome! It had tortilla chips with a can of nacho cheese. It was way good. A lot of the other elders were jealous and they ate a lot of it. But I have way too much food. I don't have time to eat it. Im goin to have to leave some behind or something. We will see how much I can pack in my suitcases. Yeah there is a scale like in the janitor closet right by my room that everyone uses to weigh there stuff. Another district in our zone left today. Now Im the oldest district! crazy! Its been goin by pretty fast. Only 3 more weeks till the Philippines!! On wednesday my district is going to host the new missionaries comin in that goin to be cool.
Yeah your calling is crazy. But pretty awesome.
Haha. He's playin Mafia wars! Haha. That is crazy. I wasn't even that big into it before I came here. I didn't even play it much at all in college. BYU-Idaho is awesome. I can't wait to go back. Im think if I want a nicer apt. Can I get a better apt since I am on a scholarship? :)
You don't know about the district and zone stuff? Well a district is pretty much a class. Its like 8-11 in a classroom and that is the district. There is 11 in my district 8 elders and 3 sisters. And then there is like 4-6 districts in a zone. Its awesome. The zone is also called a branch because we all go to sacrament meeting together. My zone is awesome! And I have already told you my district is sweet! and we are now the oldest district in the zone. So too of the elders in my district are now the zone leaders. Elder Farnsworth and Elder Lau. Totally awesome guys. Seriously the coolest people ever. Lau is Chinese from Vancouver Canada and Farnsworth is from Utah. Oh and two elders in my district just found out that I'm writing to my mom, Elder Bellnap from Wyoming and Elder Villareal from Florida, and they both say "hi".
Yeah dad loaned your car. Remember we saw it in the church parking lot with a dent in the front corner. Does dad know whats going on with your car?
Yeah I'm using Q and Lu's thank you cards. Thanks for sending all those pictures. They're great. Quincy looks so different. It's crazy. He's awesome though. I miss Q ballito.
Yeah I think Laker t-shirts would be better than hats. Thanks for all the basketball stuff by the way. I hope my companions like basketball. :) (we were told that it's nice to bring native companions something from home and since basketball is big there, we thought Laker's stuff would be good)
Yeah I have to prepare a talk every week in Tagalog. Its not too bad though. Only 3-5 min and I can use a scripture in English. I haven't given one yet so I still need to prepare a talk every sunday. Tagalog is comin along pretty good. Except its so hard t teach, especially because you're supposed to teach to the needs of the investigator and apply it to them. And I don't know how to do that in Tagalog.
Now I don't have any electronics except for my camera. I have been takin a few pictures, not a lot because i am a boy, but i have some.
I love you mom. Don't worry about me. :) I miss you. I'll be back home in no time. And I will tell you about everything during my mission. Oh my companion says hi also and he would like some original and teryaki flavored beef jerkey.
I love you too mom. Miss you. Thanks for everything. You are the best mom. Pinakamabuti ka. Mahal kita. Elder Pennock

to Lacey

Dear Lacey,
I miss you so much too. Happy Valentines Day! I love you. Are you doing good? I hope so. Are you doing good in school? Are you being good at home? I hope so. I love you and miss you. Are you still calling yourself fatty? Please don't do that. Thats not your name and your not fat.
Remember to Choose the Right. Your awesome. I love you and miss you. Mahal kita. Ingat. Elder Pennock

To Quincy

Dear Quincy O,
Whats up! Hows it goin. I saw your haircut. Do you like it? I miss you dud. I hope you are doing awesome and choosing the right. Are you still reading? I hope so. Reading makes you smart. Are you playin sports? Good luck with everything Q! I miss you. I love you. You are awesome Q-ball. Pinakamabuti ka. Mahal kita. Elder Pennock

Sending letters

Hey mom! Can you tell everyone i am sending them letters? like our family. Thanks. I hope everyone is doin awesome and i hope you got my last email. I am doin awesome. sorry its takin me so long to reply. its cuz its mail and i have no time to write letters. but i love you all. I am doin fantastic. oh and yah i think laker tshirts will be better than hats. thanks for sendin me my priesthood line of authority. can you get me a watch? like a cheap but good one. and not ugly :) and can you find me those friends addresses and if i have any messages on my gmail. thank you mom so much. you all will get a letter from me in the same envelope pretty soon so look forward to that. I only have three weeks left!! then the Philippines!!! oh man. im still havin a great time. im teaching in tagalog now. its crazy im not good at it at all yet but its comin along. good luck with your calling :) and in the new ward and with everything. happy late valentines day to everyone. ok i am runnin out of time. tell everyone hi and that their letters are comin and happy valentines day. and thanks for their letters. Mahal Ko kayo. Ingat. Elder Pennock

e-mail

Hi Mom!!! Can you send me my priesthood line of authority, i need it so i can give it to the philipinos i confirm the priesthood too!!!=) I also need a watch. can i get just a nice simple plain black watch. not too crappy but good. :) Yeah!! of course i miss you!!!! I love you so much. and i miss your great cooking too. the food here is not good. and it is getting worse the longer im here. I miss everyone, miss playin with my bro and sisters. I got a letter, a real long one from chels and one from dad. That was coo. My Comp's name is Elder Nicholes. He is now the district leader cuz we change half way through. im only half way hone! or already half way done. it could be both , depending on how i look at it. and i am now the senior companion of elder nicholes. he still talks a lot though :). And Yeah i have been too busy to email and write. so sorry. there is so little time, its crazy! I am doing absolutely fantastically great though. Please dont worry about me. Get some sleep. I hope you will sleep better. I am prayin for you and the family. Yeah. its insane, Zach M is already leaving! I took some pictures with him in front of the map though. And thanks for sending me what Olivia said. I am so glad i can be an example. I hope everyone, all my cousins and siblings will do what is right and be even better than me. I love you all so much. I am runnin out of time! Thanks for everything. I get the most packages of the district its funny and awesome. :) Im out of time. i will write you later. Mahal Kita. Ingat. Elder Pennock

Too much food???

Hi Mom. You are sending me so much food. Oh but Dad sent those packages too soon haw? Is it all for the Philippines? I don't think I'll be able to fit and bring all this food to the Philippines. Yeah, my companion is all healed now. And yeah I helped him with everything, and I helped him without him asking. Wow the Primary President! What do you have to do with that? That will be fun don't you think? Beau Travis is coming back already. Dang.
Yeah my ties are winning. And yeah I have good taste. There is no prize, just bragging rights which is good enough.
Darn. I wish the Rios family was in our new ward. I bought some nail clippers. And I got my mission president's letter. I will follow his advise and do what he says. He wants me to mark a lot of stuff in the scriptures, so I will do that.
I still haven't seen Quincy's hair. You sent me a picture via email but I couldn't pull it up. I think it was because everythings blocked. You can only go to lds.org. Which is good. The only time I use the computer is email anyways and maybe look up stuff to prepare a talk.
I haven't took many pictures yet, but when I do I'll send you some. So can you send me some pictures, especially of Q's hair. Oh!! I need some family pictures to share with the Filipinos and for our class we have to do a presentation about our family in Tagalog. So can you send good looking family pictures?
My website! That is so weird that I have a website. Only put good, interesting stuff that is relevant to the whole world. Not stuff that I write particularly to you. (I wonder if I should include that line? :) I will send you pictures when I can. I will try to send them with email. If I can't do that I will just send the chip thing.
I will take care of my eyes. Thanks for the contacts though. Thanks for everything.
I am doing just great. Tagalog is crazy. I need to prepare a talk every Sunday in Tagalog and they randomly choose two people to talk in sacrament. This friday our classes are going to now be in Tagalog. And Thursday next week is when we start teaching in Tagalog. I don't even know much Tagalog yet right now but I'm learning.
Me and my companion are getting better with teaching. Our investigator committed to baptism. And we teach with more unity. He talks a lot less. And I talk more.
It's great here. I am havin a lot of fun. It is real cold outside though. I miss southern California. And I want to go to the Philippines already but not until March 8. Love you. Elder Pennock.
P.S. Sorry it has been so long until you got an email or letter from me. I am so busy. And p-day there is not a lot of time at all. I got to write letters or email while I do laundry. Don't make a big deal about the website, my website, I don't even really want one. But just put good/relevant/interesting stuff on it. That is good for anyone to hear about. And of course no personal stuff. It's Crazy!! om, you have like total control of my home/worldly life now. I miss you. And all of you. Love you.

Letter to Dad Feb 2, 2010

Hey Dad, The MTC is great. How long did you have to be in the MTC? I am supposed to be out on March 8. My zone and district are totally awesome. My teachers are way cool and good too. Its a lot of work though. Tagalog is harder than I thought, but it's kinda coming along. I know how to bear my testimony, pray and say simple greetings in Tagalog. What happened with the Chargers-Jets game? I hear the chargers lost, what happened? So what is going on with the playoffs? You need to tell me all about the US and the Worldcup when it comes. :)
I'm tellin mom a lot of details and Chelsy too, so you can talk to them too. But its pretty cool here. The firesides and devotionals are great, and I feel the spirit. My companion is cool, he talks a lot and sings a lot, but he is cool and he wants to learn and wants to be a great missionary. What is going on with the ward? Are you still in the stake council? 2 districts in my zone left monday. And they made up more than half of the zone. So last Wednesday we got 2 more districts and 26 elders. Now there's a lot of new elders. I miss the other guys.
I am having a great time though. What did you do in the MTC? Do you remember? Were you a good missionary or did you mess around a little? The Sunday movies hit me so hard, they are so powerful and spiritual. The Joseph Smith movie and "The Tesstaments" both made me cry. I miss you guys. I miss soccer a little too. Love you. Elder Pennock

Feb 1 e-mail

Hi Mom!!! I wrote you a long letter today. I was surprised to go on my email today and not see anything. but oh well. i get letters and dearelders during the week so that makes sense.
Just wanted to send you an email cause i can. Hope everything is awesome back home. I am still doin great! the letter i wrote is 3 pages long. :) Mahal Kita. Ingat. Elder Pennock