Kamusta kayong lahat?! Well it was the last week of January. On Monday we kind of wasted our p-day. We were supposed to have an activity with the Bolinao elders in Balinao, go go-kart racing or to the beach, but it didn't work out. Then when we were going to return to our area in Bani we got on a bus that only went to Tiep, which is pretty much the half way mark. We waited there from 5:30 to like 7:20pm. Then we finally got a ride with a tricycle driver going to Bani. Both me and my comp were pretty annoyed but were still smilin and laughin about the situation and the great "luck" we had. We really were looking forward to an activity, ah well.
Also you know how they always say dogs hate missionaries, well it's true. It's really terrible here cuz almost everywhere there's dogs, they are like the security system here. Both me and my comp nearly got bitten. The one time I almost got bitten, I thought the dog was chained up, cuz usually the real crazy ones are chained up for the safety of passerbyers. But this one wasn't. If it wasn't for my comp swinging his umbrella at it I would probably now have rabies. So thank you to my beloved companion.
The work here is still doin pretty good. This week we started to teach 3 kids who have passed 8 years of age and are part of less-active families. Its interesting teaching kids but really cool and fun as well. Especially since they are coming to church and this one kid and his brother are asking a lot of questions. So these 3 kids, 1 boy and 2 girls, are the only ones really close to being baptized here in Bani but hopefully it will get their families more active again.
Right now I thought I would like to tell you about the location of our house, the house of the mormon missionaries in Bani. It's in the main town, a street away from the main highway, but that's not the funny part. It's that 2 houses down from us there is a Seventh Day Adventist church, and across from us is the house of the catholic madres (nuns). So we have gotten to know them pretty well. They are really nice, one of the nuns is from Taiwan, and she speaks better English than tagalog. And this last week we just found out that the house that is being built next to ours is going to be their new house. So when they move in there, on our street, it will be the mormon missionaries, then the catholic nuns and then on house down the Seventh Day Adventist church. =)
On Friday the Mission President came up for interviews, we had a workshop about asking questions in lessons for understanding then we had cooking demo. Also I finally got mail, all the Christmas packages and cards. Thank you so much to all of you for that. It felt like my Christmas finally came, even though it was late. :)
Well, siguro hanggang dito lang yung sulat ko ngayon. Love you all. Elder Pennock
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Jan 17-23, 2011
Anong sa taas!? There wasn't too much excitement this week, another week in Bani (which makes it 10 months now). But we had some good things happen. We have a lot of new investigators, that we are now teaching and building friendships with. One investigator told us that he killed a few guys while he was staying in the mountains, which no one else knows about. So that's really crazy but also lets us know that he trusts us. It was a long time ago when he was still young, but it is still in his mind so he wanted to tell us about it.
We have 12 new investigators for this week and hopefully they will progress. It is real difficult here, everyone is busy in the rice or watermelon fields or vegetable gardens, or at the market, or with their kids at home. Every day of the week.
On Sunday we only had one investigator got to church, and only 50 members at church. Although there is about 400 members in Bani, they are now all inactive. We met one inactive family that sell barbeque every evening, so everyday they are busy preparing for the barbeque that they will sell that night.
On Tuesday after district meeting we got a chance to look at the new mormon.org which is really cool, all the stories and videos of members. At church there were two good speakers, one stated that when Joseph Smith was asked what is so different about the mormon church than any other church, he said "we have the gift of the holy ghost", which was cool to think and realize the importance and blessing of the holy ghost. Also the other speaker talked about the importance of reading the scriptures, he said many of us members when it comes to scripture reading are just cabinet members. We place our scriptures in the cabinet and leave them there and never take them out to read or bring them to church.
Well that's pretty much it for this week. Everything is doing pretty good. Love you all Elder Pennock
We have 12 new investigators for this week and hopefully they will progress. It is real difficult here, everyone is busy in the rice or watermelon fields or vegetable gardens, or at the market, or with their kids at home. Every day of the week.
On Sunday we only had one investigator got to church, and only 50 members at church. Although there is about 400 members in Bani, they are now all inactive. We met one inactive family that sell barbeque every evening, so everyday they are busy preparing for the barbeque that they will sell that night.
On Tuesday after district meeting we got a chance to look at the new mormon.org which is really cool, all the stories and videos of members. At church there were two good speakers, one stated that when Joseph Smith was asked what is so different about the mormon church than any other church, he said "we have the gift of the holy ghost", which was cool to think and realize the importance and blessing of the holy ghost. Also the other speaker talked about the importance of reading the scriptures, he said many of us members when it comes to scripture reading are just cabinet members. We place our scriptures in the cabinet and leave them there and never take them out to read or bring them to church.
Well that's pretty much it for this week. Everything is doing pretty good. Love you all Elder Pennock
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Jan 10-16, 2011
It was another week of missionary work in Bani. We walked a ton this week, to the homes of our investigators, through bakid (fields of rice and watermelon), and late at night. But we met a lot of new people this week and told them we would come back next week. Hopefully everything will turn out great with them.
Right now we have two progressing investigators, Benjie and Josephine. They both are in their twenties and have just started a family. They both are involved and understanding the lessons and have a baptism goal date on Feb. 27, but they both are not yet married. Josephine's boyfriend is a member and they have been going to church the past 3 weeks. Josephine is reading a little from the Book of Mormon, and she is really happy when we come by to teach.
Benjie is also reading a little bit and understanding the lessons. When we teach him he asks questions and tells us when he understands. I'm really excited and hope these two will continue to progress.
On Thursday, now that I'm approaching a year in the Philippines, Elder Alms and I (the americans) got our fingerprints taken by the people from Manila. It was pretty cool, hopefully they can still recognize my fingerprints from that surgery i had on my hands. =)
Saturday morning for our service project we cleaned the church, just me and my comp. The youth were supposed to come, but it was raining so they didn't show.
On Sunday it was cool we had 3 dinners. =) The first was at a member's house where they invited us to the 1 year anniversary of their relative's death. Then after that at one of our appointments with a part member family, it was their 1 year anniversary of their wedding. Then the last appointment that night was are regular scheduled dinner appointment. haha. So that was awesome, hopefully i will gain some weight.
Well that was this week. Everything is good. My comp is great. oh sorry no pictures, some youth (young girls) were looking at my camera and they dropped it, so its broken at the moment. But its got a 1 yr warranty. :) Love you all. Elder Pennock
Right now we have two progressing investigators, Benjie and Josephine. They both are in their twenties and have just started a family. They both are involved and understanding the lessons and have a baptism goal date on Feb. 27, but they both are not yet married. Josephine's boyfriend is a member and they have been going to church the past 3 weeks. Josephine is reading a little from the Book of Mormon, and she is really happy when we come by to teach.
Benjie is also reading a little bit and understanding the lessons. When we teach him he asks questions and tells us when he understands. I'm really excited and hope these two will continue to progress.
On Thursday, now that I'm approaching a year in the Philippines, Elder Alms and I (the americans) got our fingerprints taken by the people from Manila. It was pretty cool, hopefully they can still recognize my fingerprints from that surgery i had on my hands. =)
Saturday morning for our service project we cleaned the church, just me and my comp. The youth were supposed to come, but it was raining so they didn't show.
On Sunday it was cool we had 3 dinners. =) The first was at a member's house where they invited us to the 1 year anniversary of their relative's death. Then after that at one of our appointments with a part member family, it was their 1 year anniversary of their wedding. Then the last appointment that night was are regular scheduled dinner appointment. haha. So that was awesome, hopefully i will gain some weight.
Well that was this week. Everything is good. My comp is great. oh sorry no pictures, some youth (young girls) were looking at my camera and they dropped it, so its broken at the moment. But its got a 1 yr warranty. :) Love you all. Elder Pennock
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Jan 3-9, 2011
One Year!!! Bilang celebration ng pagaabot ko ng isang taon, idinecide ko na isulat yung linggong update sa wikang tagalog. =) Sana matutuwa kayo. Sa linggong ito siyaempre marami kaming tinituruan, ngunit medyo mahiripan kami dahil malalayo yung mga babay ng tinituruan namin at ang layo ng linakad namin lagi. Pero ganyan talaga yung pagowork dito, at nagtitiis kami. May tatlong tinituruan na may baptismal date, at excited kami
para sa kanilang paguunlad. Ipapaliwanag ko na yung mga pictures na ipinadala ko. Yung una ay yung bagong District namin, ako, si Elder DelaCruz (sa left, Elder Alms, at si Elder Gavin (sa right). Tapos yung mga bata, member at part member sila, naglaro sila sa isang palika. Yung huling dalawa sa Service Project namin sa isang member, ilinagay namin ang bagong tarp para sa bubong nila. Sa Friday yung Service Project namin, kaunti lang kami, yung 1st couseler, yung kapit bahay, isang priest, at kaming dalawang missionaries. Masaya yung service kahit sobrang init. Tapos sa Sabado nagsplits kami. Yung dalawang americano, ako at si Alms, sa Bani, at yung dalawang filipino, Gavin at DelaCruz sa Bolinao. Napkasaya yung splits, lalong lalo dahil nakipagsplits ako sa kabatch ko sa MTC. Ngunit sususunod sana makakapunta ako sa Bolinao. Tapos sa Sunday may District Conference kami sa Alaminos. Maganda talaga siya. Isang young men taga-Bani ay nagtalk, at ayos talaga yung talk niya. Siguro hanggang dito lang yung isusulat ko. Ayos ang lahat, natutuwa talago ako ng gawain na ito. Mahal at namimiss ko kayong lahat. Elder Pennock
para sa kanilang paguunlad. Ipapaliwanag ko na yung mga pictures na ipinadala ko. Yung una ay yung bagong District namin, ako, si Elder DelaCruz (sa left, Elder Alms, at si Elder Gavin (sa right). Tapos yung mga bata, member at part member sila, naglaro sila sa isang palika. Yung huling dalawa sa Service Project namin sa isang member, ilinagay namin ang bagong tarp para sa bubong nila. Sa Friday yung Service Project namin, kaunti lang kami, yung 1st couseler, yung kapit bahay, isang priest, at kaming dalawang missionaries. Masaya yung service kahit sobrang init. Tapos sa Sabado nagsplits kami. Yung dalawang americano, ako at si Alms, sa Bani, at yung dalawang filipino, Gavin at DelaCruz sa Bolinao. Napkasaya yung splits, lalong lalo dahil nakipagsplits ako sa kabatch ko sa MTC. Ngunit sususunod sana makakapunta ako sa Bolinao. Tapos sa Sunday may District Conference kami sa Alaminos. Maganda talaga siya. Isang young men taga-Bani ay nagtalk, at ayos talaga yung talk niya. Siguro hanggang dito lang yung isusulat ko. Ayos ang lahat, natutuwa talago ako ng gawain na ito. Mahal at namimiss ko kayong lahat. Elder Pennock
haha =) google translate. ;) I just said we have investigators with baptismal dates and that we are excited for them. Also that the work is hard cuz we walk a ton to our investigators houses. And those 4 elders are my new district. We had a service project on friday, placing a new tarp on a members house, we had splits on saturday, and I was companion with my batch mate in the mtc, and it was district conference on sunday. :)
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Dec 27, 2010 - Jan 3, 2011
The end and the beginning of a year, and the end and beginning of a transfer. My last companion, Elder Niar finished his mission and went home last week. We were together for 3 months, and we learned alot from each other. Now I have a new companion, Elder DelaCruz, who is really cool but very quiet as well. He has been in the field for 5 months more than me, so he goes home in July.
I am still in Bani, my second area. I have now been here 9 months. this January will be the 10th. But this first week of the transfer was really good. We have alot of new as well as progressing investigators. 3 of our investigators came to church and that was way cool to see. So I am excited for this transfer, my comp is a good missionary.
On Tuesday we waited for him all day at the terminal in Alaminos. I was there with all the other missionaries in Alaminos zone waiting for our companions. At 7 we were at the terminal, and when the other missionaries' companions arrived they left to work. But my comp came from the farthest point in the mission, Bataan, so he arrived 7 at night. So I was there with the Zone leaders 12 hours. Just watching and observing people and talking with the missionaries.
One thing I noticed was how many people here smoke. There was at least one or two people smoking all the time, and at one time I saw 6 people smoking. Absolutely nuts. I think it is more well known in the states that smoking is deadly to your health. But yeah 12 hours waiting, of course we had lunch and dinner, we left some missionaries at the terminal and the others ate. :) So that was an insane long day, also seeing the sun moving until sunset.
This week we also visited a lot of members, one of which, their house burned down because of fireworks. That's what they do here for New Years, have a ton of fireworks. Even little kids can buy fireworks. So on New Years Eve we had a hard time sleeping because of the fireworks, and two members came by and gave us food. :) The last member family came at 2:00am and woke us up, haha. It was cool.
So that is basically all that went on this week. Pretty exciting. And next week I will be a year out, half way done with my mission! Its goin by so fast. Love you all. Happy New Year! Elder Pennock
I am still in Bani, my second area. I have now been here 9 months. this January will be the 10th. But this first week of the transfer was really good. We have alot of new as well as progressing investigators. 3 of our investigators came to church and that was way cool to see. So I am excited for this transfer, my comp is a good missionary.
On Tuesday we waited for him all day at the terminal in Alaminos. I was there with all the other missionaries in Alaminos zone waiting for our companions. At 7 we were at the terminal, and when the other missionaries' companions arrived they left to work. But my comp came from the farthest point in the mission, Bataan, so he arrived 7 at night. So I was there with the Zone leaders 12 hours. Just watching and observing people and talking with the missionaries.
One thing I noticed was how many people here smoke. There was at least one or two people smoking all the time, and at one time I saw 6 people smoking. Absolutely nuts. I think it is more well known in the states that smoking is deadly to your health. But yeah 12 hours waiting, of course we had lunch and dinner, we left some missionaries at the terminal and the others ate. :) So that was an insane long day, also seeing the sun moving until sunset.
This week we also visited a lot of members, one of which, their house burned down because of fireworks. That's what they do here for New Years, have a ton of fireworks. Even little kids can buy fireworks. So on New Years Eve we had a hard time sleeping because of the fireworks, and two members came by and gave us food. :) The last member family came at 2:00am and woke us up, haha. It was cool.
So that is basically all that went on this week. Pretty exciting. And next week I will be a year out, half way done with my mission! Its goin by so fast. Love you all. Happy New Year! Elder Pennock
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