Weekly Update 3 - Derby 2 - Apr 26 2006

April 26th, 2006

Okay. So, elder Lokey (not “Loki” ) is awesome! He’s so funny! I enjoy serving with him. I’m actually “killing” him. Which is missionary lingo for: “this is his last transfer (reminder: transfer = 6 weeks) as a missionary. Then he goes home.” Get it? I thought it was pretty funny when. Anyways, I’m not too worried that he’ll lose focus (even though he’s got less than 5 weeks to go). He’s a good worker and I know that I can learn a LOT from him. I just need to pay attention.

Guess what everybody?! Matt’s accepted to be baptized THIS Saturday!!! I’m so excited for him!!! I’m also excited for the ward too. This will be the first convert baptism in a year and a half! That’s crazy! So, hopefully this will get them all excited about missionary work again. I think it will.

Also, last Thursday was the first day I rode on a bike! So, I guess I’m steadily doing all the things that will make me a “real missionary.” So yeah. That was neat.

Hmm… I’m sorry. I’m drawing a whole lot of nothing right now. OH!!! We got like, 8 referrals from members!!! We were able to go see all but one of them! That’s really good! We don’t ever get that many referrals all at once and the fact that we were able to contact them all so soon is awesome!

Well, thank you all for your prayers. I need all of them. I’m learning and growing so much and I know that I’m becoming a better person because I am serving a mission. If there’s a question in your mind, I have the answer for you… SERVE A MISSION! You’ll never regret serving an HONORABLE mission. Never!

I love you all!
~Elder Penrod

Nothing this week... for now anyway.

Sorry everyone.

No weekly update this week. I hardly have any time to write it this week.

So, Nothing this week... for now anyway.

I'm still alive, I'm not dead.

You SHOULD get the updates (for this week and the next) next week.

Until then, I love you all.
~Elder Penrod

Weekly Update April 5th, 2006

Apr 5^th, 2006

I loved General Conference! I can’t believe how much better the spirit feels after listening to the Prophet speak! And all the other speakers… WOW!!! I loved it. For the first time, I was really, REALLY sad it was over so fast. (Hey, mom and dad, I was even awake for ALL of it! That’s two or three conferences in a row now. Pretty cool, huh?!)

Well, Robert made it to Conference, but Barbara didn’t. I was really hoping she would. But no such luck. She’s feeling better, though. So, we’re going to go see her tonight. It should be good. We’re planning on teaching her about the “Plan of Salvation.” For anyone who may not know. In a nutshell, the “Plan of Salvation” is the plan that our Heavenly Father has for all of us. No matter if we’re black or white, male or female, adult or child. Heavenly Father is a God of order and He’s had this plan for us since before we came to Earth. And when we teach the “Plan of Salvation”, it answers questions like: “Where did I come from?” “What is the purpose of life?” and “What happens when we die?” Knowing the answers to these questions brings us comfort and peace because we’re no longer left wondering. Our Heavenly Father loves us all and He’ll never leave us in darkness. So, through His Prophets and the Scriptures, we know the answers to these questions. For more info, use these links. They’ll take you to a church website:

The Plan of Salvation

What's the Purpose of life?

Yesterday, was a really good day. We went on “Team-Ups” (we traded companions for the day) with our Zone Leaders, elder Haas and Elder Healey. I went to South Wichita with elder Healey and Elder Bascom stayed here in Derby with Elder Haas. Elder Healey and I found 8 new people for them to follow-up on and teach a little more to and Elder Bascom found 2 new people while knocking doors with elder Haas. It was a good day. I’m very looking forward to meeting with these people when we return. I hope they listen and open their hearts to hear what we have to say and really think about it. Way to many people won’t give themselves the time to thoughtfully think about the things that we say. Most of them get caught up in all the activities and distractions that the World is full of. And it’s not that all of them are bad. In fact, many of them are very good activities and “distractions.” But it’s like I said last week: Satan will trick us into using our time and energy up on something good, to keep us from something better (or more important).

Well, I love each of you. I hope that you’re all enjoying these updates. I’m sorry that sometimes I don’t get them off to you in time. But I hope that you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.

I think of you and pray for you. Thank all of you, my dear friends and family for all that you’ve done for me and all that you do for me.

~Elder Penrod

Stormy Weather

Hello everyone, I know that some of you haven't heard from me in a while (Belton, MO) but I'm still here. I haven't dropped off the face of the planet yet. I'm writing my weekly update RIGHT NOW so you should be getting it soon. And then, if you really want to know, you'll have an idea of what's going on with me.

Thought you might enjoy this!

Here's a sample of some of the weather that "the heart of America" endures.

This is a picture of the tornado that hit Sedalia, MO on Sunday March 12th '06, this was taken by an electrical utility worker. The lightning looks like it is inside a second tornado.