Weekly Update - May 31st, 2006

May 31st, 2006
Hi there everybody! Today is the last P-Day of this transfer (transfer = 6 weeks, remember?) and my companion, elder Lokey, has completely fallen apart! He’s finally let it sink in that he’s going home and he’s a mess. (LOL!) He’s excited to see his family again. I’ve learned a lot from him and am thankful to have served with him his last transfer as a missionary.

I’m not sure if I already told everyone but there’s been a new rule made for our whole mission. No more movies. Before, as some of you already knew, we were allowed to watch certain, approved movies. I was able to see movies like “Chicken Little”, “Dreamer” and “Narnia” (!!!). All good movies, all of them I enjoyed. But they were all a bit distracting. Instead of focusing on learning and teaching the Gospel and keeping the spirit with us, we were thinking about what movie we just saw or were going to see. And so, for good reason, we now no longer watch movies. And I’m 100% fine with that. Because, I didn’t think I was going to be able to watch movies on my mission in the first place. So, yeah. That rule was instituted at the beginning of this transfer (so about six weeks ago), but I thought I’d let you all in on that anyways. (Better late than never, right?)

So I realized the other day, that I’m almost a third through my mission already! I’ll have been out for 8 of the 24 months I’ll serve in less than two weeks! I can hardly believe it! I need to make sure I don’t miss a moment because this’ll all be over before I know what happened.

Hey family. You’ve got incoming mail. So keep your eyes peeled. *Smile*

Oh yeah! As far as transfers are concerned. Here’s the scoop. I’m staying here in Derby, Kansas which is what I expected AND wanted. And my new companion’s name is Elder Shinkle (sp?). I here he’s a good guy so that should be exciting.

The weather out here is nothing short of violent. I haven’t seen any tornadoes yet, but I have seen the weather change on a dime. It’s very, very, VERY humid out here. No joke! It feels like you step into a sauna or even straight into a pool every time you step foot out of a building. And it apparently gets worse. Which means, if you don’t here from me for a full transfer, it means I’ve probably died of heat stroke! *wink*

We found a family and we’re teaching them! They are the Bell family. I’m really excited for them. I pray that they will accept the gospel. They are a young couple with two children. One of which is just a 4 month old baby. So cute! I’ll be sure to keep you posted on all that. Oh, and as far as Barbara Fagan is concerned. I think that she’s trying to keep herself busy. I don’t think she really wants to give herself time to think about the things we share with her. So, we’re still her friend and we still go visit her. We’re just not actively pursuing her right now. You know, giving her some time. So that’s what’s up with that.

Well, that’s about all that I’ve got to share this time around. I love all of you. Feel free to slide me in your prayers this week. Satan is working hard on me and I can use all the help I can get! But I refuse to get discouraged or fail in my calling. So I will press on! I love being a missionary! I’m growing so much!

Your Son, Brother and Friend:
~Elder Penrod