Pictures!

December 29th E-mail

Well good news! I'm PREGNANT!!! With a baby boy!! lol! Yep I'm going to be training! I am so excited! Its going to be sweet! It was very fun to talk to you! You all sounded good and it was good to hear your voices! We got taken care of this week! The members were so good to us! it was fun but I have like a pile of candy! Seriously its insane! Its way too much! So I hope my greenie likes candy :D Well not too much happened the rest of this week. We did get one new investigator... but to tell ya the truth I can't even remember what we did cause I am just too excited to get my greenie lol! Oh after I talked to you guys we went and had a snowball fight at some members house and then we went sledding in our suits lol! I'm glad that you guys has Shannon over for a little bit though! She is so awesome! Well mom are ya getting nervous?! Just remember that everything will be fine and pretty soon it wont hurt anymore! woohoo!! Anyways I have to go to Spokane tomorrow morning to pick him up and I have no idea who it is yet.. but it will be fun! So anyways I will let you know how it all goes! Take care! Keep up the good work! Keep reading your scrips! Love ya! Oh and dad... don't wuss out on the hair now :D! lol! Take care!
Elder Penman

December 12th Letter

Hey whats happening!? So you are very welcome! But ya whats the deal with your mailman? You should punch him in the dome for me! I was getting a little worried there! I thought you were testing me or paying me back for making you wait LOL. But hey its good to hear your excitement and that you liked your Christmas present! I was hoping that you would!

I'm glad you didn't have time to go help with chocolates! You are way too busy for that and I hope that you aren't too stressed out! If so just know that it will be okay and that I love ya! And even though you are way busy don't forget the lord in your life. Still take a few minutes and read your scrips and say your prayers! I promise that things will go smoother.

Okay so I did know a few of your seven facts, I knew about the corndog/pickles and that you are a "homebody" and I definitely knew about the pajama pants! Lol you wore those all the time! But I did not know the other ones! That was pretty fun, lets see if I can come up with seven myself...

1. I generally have to have the volume of things on either a 5 or 0. I can't stand it when its on something in between! ( I hope that makes sense)
2. I was supposed to be a twin. They suspected the other one to be a girl! So I will have another sibling in heaven? :) I hope so!
3. I like to have a towel over my shoulder when I'm cooking. :)
4. I absolutely love walking outside on a brisk morning! I like cold weather.
5. I am the only missionary out here that is "practically sealed." LOL
6. That one really long blonde hair that I had on my belly is now gone! I have no idea what happened!
7. I really really really like butter. :)

Lol well those are kinda hrrrp and you probably knew most of them but I dunno you just know me too well! Thank you for the pictures I will send some soon! So don't get too impatient. :) So Elder Burrell wrote Cami :) Tell her that she has to send him a picture and if Ashley writes him she has to send him a picture too!

Happy holidays! Remember I love you! I look forward to hearing from you again! I hope all of your finals went well! Keep reading your scriptures! Tell everyone hi for me! Tell your mom that I look forward to eating her pies for years to come!

Love,
Elder Ryan John Penman

December 8th E-mail

Jeez what took you so long with chocolates?!?! we were in and out in no time! see that tells you only one thing... you guys are getting OLD!!!! lol! ha ha! it will be so worth it! think mom only 1 more dipping session without me! lol! I'm glad you got through it and you are sending me some!I cant wait! I don't care if they are all mixed together by the time they get to me I will just eat the one big chocolate!! It was good to see a pic of (mom,grandma,Janet,Shannon) Shannon sent it to me and I looked at it and showed my comp and I said "I used to bug the crap out of all 4 of them!" lol!!! It made me want to tickle all of ya lol! OK so something happens every week at church! I swear it is so interesting! OK so last week, in priesthood, they were talking about a guy who showed up at the ward party the day after thanksgiving and he came in with 2 families and so both families thought that he was with the other one.. so anyways the kids are all playing in an area of the cultural hall and the adults are talking and what not with each other in another part.. well anyways this guy was in there with the kids... (and btw we have 4 cops in 2nd ward) well anyways one of the cops goes over and starts interrogating him you know asking him who are you with? Where are you from? etc. etc. and anyways he finds out that the guy is living in his car and has slept in the parking lot of the church a few times. Well this week that guy shows up for church and stays during the first whole block and then is waiting to meet with the bishop and it was right after we got out of PEC with 2nd ward and our bishop said if anyone sees this man I need to know right away ASAP.. and we walk out of that meeting and the guy is standing right there... (oh I forgot to mention that at the party the guy somehow had a list of all the bishops names and phone numbers) and anyways it was really wierd but this guy went in and met with 1st ward bishop because 2nd ward was about to start. Well right during the meeting one of the cops got up and was bearing his testimony and the 3 others just out of instinct I guess got up and walked out of the room and so I don't know what the heck was going on but I later found out that they escorted the guy off the property and told him if he goes on any church property he will be arrested and found out the he has a warrant in 2 states and is a sex offender. So that was interesting! Now another story on the side is that there was this guy that got baptized a little while ago and his name is Vance. I didn't find out about Vance until he showed up at church on Sunday.. Vance got baptized and called himself on a mission for 5 years.. and just up and left his family and kids. OK well come to find out he didn't make it 5 years cause well he was back at church Sunday he just got back from his trip... well he went to 18 different states and went to as much church history stuff as he could in the US. He also along the way lived in a ton of different homeless shelters but he did have his jeep... He gets back and says you know there are just too many conflicts going on at home and Sunday told us he is moving to salt lake and breaking up with his wife. (Well there is conflict because you abandoned your family and called yourself on a mission!) Now his idea of missionary work is picketing. He has signs and a saying that goes "1 2 3 one true church" LOL! So he is picketing FOR the church! lol!!! He went to do that all over the country! now he is preparing to go to Israel and wont even shake anyones hand at church because they don't shake hands in Israel LOL!!! So this guy is insane! And he doesn't understand why there are problems at home! Well what is going to happen with him is if he leaves his family again he is going to get ex-ed.... you just cant do that! Well anyways so there is his background and remember this was his first Sunday back... well right when all the cops got up and left the room Vance stood up to go up there to bear his testimony (and Vance was sitting in the very back row with us) The bishop popped right up and pointed at him and pointed out in the hall and went out of the room too to meet with Vance! So we are going what the heck is going on?!?! Everyone just up and left lol!! It was interesting... and so anyways Vance came and sat back down (obviously didn't get to bear his testimony) and the meeting just kept on going lol! The meeting didn't stop or anything but it was just funny. But ya so I'm looking forward to a normal week! lol! I hope you guys are doing well!! I love you all!! Take care! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! oh and btw I did get the under armor and it rocks!! Love ya! Take care! Dad that blows you have to shave your goat! I would be pissed! Take care!
Elder Penman

December 1st E-mail

Hey mom whats happening?!?! I hope you had a good Thanksgiving! Mine was ok ... it was kinda boring... lol Well the pie wasn't grandmas... lol! but no it was good they actually smoked the turkey and it was very very tasty! I'm sorry your knee sucks the big one! Aren't you getting it replaced in January or something? I think I remember you saying something.. but I dunno... Well this week was a little slow but I have a funny story to tell ya! So we have a nine year old kid that was on-date for baptism and we had gone to his house and he is very difficult to teach cause well he is nine... but anyways I made a contract with him and made him sign it of things that he had to do before he could get baptized. He did and what not.. and I kinda feel bad for the kid because he lives with his great grandmother who is almost 80 (she is also like 6 feet tall and it is a little scary...) but his mom doesn't want him and his dad doesn't want him and his grandmother doesn't want him and by the looks of it his great grandmother doesn't want him either and I can't really blame her for not wanting to take care of a nine year old at that age. Anyways! I still feel bad for the kid.. its rough. But anyways his great grandmother's name is Joe and that's easier to type and the nine year old's name is Isaiah so anyways Joe got offended by a bishop who beat the crap out of her 12 year old son and she took him to court and everything in 1969! So Joe has never come back to church since but she still knows that its true. So she doesn't bash the church or anything she just doesn't go. But what she did when it came to bringing Isaiah is she would bring him and she would sit in the parking lot until church was over and then take him home and whatever. Well it just wasn't working out if you know what I mean. A nine year old running wild in the church with no one in there to legally supervise him... you could imagine. Anyways after the first church at 9:00 before 1:00 church he is hiding from his grandma and doesn't want to get in the car and says I'm just going to stay for church again well I'm like no freaking way is that happening so I go out and tell her that he doesn't want to come to the car with the intentions that she will come get him. Well she says well fine then he can walk home and she backs out and leaves. So when Isaiah sees this he freaks out and runs and sits in the middle of the road... and so we are like walking towards him at first and he keeps going and so I said I'm not playing this game and we went back inside. Well sure enough he comes back and our ward mission leader gets involved (this is who we live with his name is brother Purcell and he is a police officer for Clarkston PD) and he is dealing with it so I'm like sweet. So he is asking him what he wants and he doesn't want a ride and he doesn't want to stay and he wants to walk so bro Purcell tells him fine leave walk home and Isaiah says no and starts throwing things at the building (pine cones and such) meanwhile bro. Purcell is on the phone with Joe and says please just bring him his coat and if he doesn't want to get in the car fine but he needs his coat. She says ok well when he gets off the phone Isaiah throws one more thing at the building and bro Purcell goes off on him and tells him that he will have him arrested if he does it again! So Isaiah freaks out and goes and sits in the road again... (its a 2 lane road that is double yellow line and fairly busy) he is sitting in the middle well people are coming in for church and he is drawing attention like crazy...(his goal) and so we go back inside. Well sure enough he comes back in and by this time church is about to start and they asked me and elder Burrell to pass the sacrament. So we all go in to the meeting and sit down and bro. Purcell comes in and goes hey one of you needs to take care of Isaiah and I'll pass for you and so I said I will and I said to elder Burrell give me the phone (and at this time I was not very happy at all to say the least...) so he hands me the phone and I start walking and Isaiah is following me going what are you going to do? Are you going to call my grandma? Where are we going? lol and I just kept walking.. and I walked outside at perfect timing Joe was pulling up and I waved her down and I walked up to the car and opened his door and I said get in the car! She rolls down the window and says he isn't ready to be baptized and I said I know he isn't! When he heard that he freaked out and was like you can't break the contract blah blah blah and I went off!!! I was like you know what I didn't break anything and I'm the one that makes the contracts and you are never going to have another one unless you start acting better than this! Holy cow I was hot! Then I looked at him and I was like look at me! He looked up and then I said GET UP AND GET IN THE CAR NOW! He kinda wormed his way into the car and I shut the door and then I stuck my head in the car and said look at me! and he did and I said go home and read a chapter and think about what you did and we will see you at 8! Then I shook Joe's hand and said thanks for coming to get him! And I walked off! lol!!! But I had like a whole crowd too. The look on all their faces was like dang.... lol! So anyways cool part was that after all that we went over and held our ground with him (and trust me he tried everything) and i was still kinda hot and so I told Joe I said you know I'm going to be completely honest with you and until Isaiah has someone to come to church with him this is never going to work and she thought about it and she said... your right... and I said I hope this stuff is far enough in the past that we can forget it and you can come back to church (and then I baited her lol) cause you are very smart and you could really help strengthen others that are there. So we committed her to come to church and so we are excited about that! I will let you know how it goes! I have carpal tunnel now and so I hope it heals by next week lol!! But anyways... kind of a funny story but cool at the same time. I truly laid the smack down! :D Well mom thanks for sending Tessa and Jacob that plaque they are going to love it!! Thats awesome! I'm excited for that! I hope chocolate day goes well!! Just remember as bad as anything sucks its your attitude that makes the difference! So ya know just go and have fun like we did last year and it will get done in half the time...! (like last year :D) Chocolate day doesn't HAVE to be hell! You can't say that I didn't prove that :D! Love ya mom! Keep reading your scrips! Take care! I get to talk to ya soon!!! Holy cow!!! Exciting!!! well I love you very much and I hope everything is going well for you! Pray for the areas of the world that don't have missionaries!!! I did get my Christmas present and holy cow I love them to death!! Everything fits perfect and I love those socks!! Oh and mom I have no idea who is still on their mission lol! I'm out of the loop lol! But if you find out please let me know... you can call all of their parents... I know Steve is still out... anyways I love ya! Happy holidays! Tell everyone hi and I love them! Give Shannon a big hug for me and then tell her to give you and big hug for me! lol!! Take care!
Elder Penman

November 24th E-mail

Hey whats going on?!?! Well at least I didn't have to be home to see BYU get mashed.... 6 TO's?!?! Sounds like Highland!!! Oh well!

Well! Clarkston is sweet! I love it here! My companion's name is Elder Burrell and he has been out one transfer less than me. He is cool! He is so funny though! He is pretty shy and so when we are tracting sometimes he will just be like hey..... and then sit there for a minute and then look over at me lol! One time he said we are sharing a message about families and how they can be together forever... (well everyone else believes that too they just don't know how it works...) so the lady is like yep I already know that... and he just sits there and stares at her and she goes I stumped ya on that one didn't I? and he sits there for a second and goes... yep.. LOL!!! So then I was like well there is a little more too it than that and it started explaining authority lol! It was
funny! He is way cool and you know the joy of the work is back! It is great! Clarkston is full of wonderful people and most of them are humble enough that they will at least talk to you! It is great! The area is beautiful too we cover 2 states! :D We cover parts of Lewiston too... and so it's pretty cool you cross the Snake river and you are in Idaho. :D It's pretty cool cause we are
working both areas all the time. It does stink a little bit in the mornings.. smells like pot latch.. from the paper mills... now that's a weird smell lol! Well mom it's good to hear that you are reading your scriptures AND learning! :D!!! Its pretty cool how much you can learn!

So we had a couple come to church for the first time. They aren't married... but I'm pretty good with that now lol! Although these people aren't as humble as Tessa and Jacob. Oh my goodness I forgot their address again! Well mom if I remember to I will write it in Shannon's letter and you can just get it from her. :D Well my brain just isn't working much today lol! We got up at 4:30 to go play basketball with the guys in our ward. They play at 5... but I will get that address to you! Dad it sounds like you gave a pretty sweet talk! Its about time :D!!! Aren't you both glad that I spoke up in my talk lol! You wont ever be able to get me back because I love to talk in sacrament! :D Well I am excited to get my Christmas presents!!! Woohoo!!! I almost get to call home!!!! Woohoo!!! Mom!!! Yay!!! lol It will be so much fun!! I am so pumped for Thanksgiving though!! We get another p-day and all we do is go eat and then leave and go eat somewhere else and then leave and go eat again!!! Oh my goodness!!! I am excited!!!! :D So I'm hoping to some
p-day go fishing up here for steel heads... I hear good things about the fish! They are pretty good size I guess. Oh my goodness am I excited to get chocolates!!! Just remember my favs are mint, caramel, and cherry!!! lol :D I am just looking forward to gaining some pounds this holiday season!!! I am in the warmest part of the mission! So we won't be getting much snow if any so
we can go walk around and burn it off if Arizona boy doesn't freeze lol! Well I love you guys! If there was anything that you wanted to know that I didn't answer just ask :D Things are going well and I hope the same for you! Take care!

Elder Penman

Lots of Pictures!

November 21st Letter!

Hey!
So Carrie Underwood is coming to Utah eh? Well you better believe we would be going! And hey, come on I don't drool that much! Lol! I feel bad for Syd but she is just getting pretty bad it sounds like. I'm sorry. :(
But hey as far as music goes we can listen to quite a bit of music. There isn't a specific list of anything so ya I would love the EFY Cd's and ya burned Cd's aren't a problem. Just as long as it is music that won't take you off the subject of your work it's okay. It's pretty cool. Well you better not still be sick! Holy cow! I'm sorry you got sick again! What do you keep going and doing that for? Don't you know that its no fun?!
I made it to Clarkston! Woohoo! It is pretty sweet, our area is over two states! We cover Clarkston WA and Lewiston ID and they are just across the snake river from each other! I will get some awesome pics from this place! Speaking of pics I finally sent some! Woohoo! Sorry it took me for ever! Sorry this letter is short also, I will make up for it next week I pRomise! I love you and I'll tell you about the baptism next week too! Sorry I just don't have too much time! I have good stuff to tell you though! Cliffhanger! :) Love ya!

Love, Elder Ryan John Penman

November 17th E-mail

I just typed you a pretty long email and then I hit something and it was gone lol! So here it goes again lol! Normally I would give up but I've learned a little more patience on the mish :D So anyways I was saying lol I am getting transferred!!!! woohoo!!! I'm going to CLARKSTON,
Washington!!! My address (please pass this on to Shannon so I can get mail soon! :D) is 1444 9th St. Clarkston WA 99403 and I am going down to be senior comp to an elder that has been out 1 less transfer than me :D He sounds pretty cool! His name is elder Bural (thats how you say it but I don't know how he spells it yet) and he played high school football and wrestled so we ought to get along :D It has kinda been hard to say goodbyes to people but I am SOOO excited to get started somewhere else and I will probably be there for about 6 months... so I'm just excited to go down there and keep things rolling! It was way cool though at church we both spoke and I spoke on covenants and honesty :D I pounded the pulpit before I left lol! But I had a lot of people come up to me and tell me thanks for what I have done in that ward and I don't feel like a did all that much but... it was pretty cool!

The baptism was soo cool! WOW! It was just awesome!! To see Tessa just glow the way she did was amazing! And to see Jacob get to baptize his wife was awesome holy cow!! I got to confirm her in church and that was just awesome! It has been so cool!!! seriously! I told them they
are welcome to come to Utah and visit any time they want and they can stay with you guys!! lol :D But mom I know there address (cause I write it down every week on our progress records) but I don't know their mailing address. But today after this I am going over there to give them my home info and to get theirs so I will get that to you next week :D sorry! Mike has been trying to get my ring size for this whole 6 months I have just been slacking like crazy! But I will go
see what it is today! Hopefully I get time! I will try! The elders want to hang out all day cause our district got pretty dang close and I got to meet some of the coolest guys that I'm for sure hanging out with when I get home :D that's another fun part of the mish too!! This area has served me well!! It was funny though everyone thought that I was like going home and then when I told them I had only been out 6 months they were like seriously?!?! lol I thought it was pretty funny :D I am ready to move on and I am way excited!

Mom for Christmas!!! I decided what I want! I want under armour cold gear upper and lower! The legs and the upper body! I want the legs black and the upper body white! I know I have some white in my closet but it's too small :D No I haven't gained weight it was just too small before I came out... so that would be way cool and I know they are kinda pricey and I don't want knock offs I want under armour so have the hosers go in on them with you :D I LOVE YOU!! Thanks lol! I sound very demanding lol :D Oh well what else would you expect :D I always tell
my comp hey do what I tell you lol!! So remember black bottoms and white tops :D woohoo! I am excited! My shoes should do just fine though cause it doesn't get as much snow and stuff in Clarkston they said its always 10-15 degrees warmer than anywhere else in the winter :D

Hey mom you can go ahead and invite Shannon to help with chocolates but don't kill her :D If she has a bad back when I come home I'm not going to be happy! Don't try to get em done as fast as last year :D But I will warn her! You can't just not prepare for a day of hell :D You need somewhat of a warning! She is my best friend though! Seriously! Help keep her around! It will pay off :D! Dad I'm glad you are talking! It's about time they started to listen to me :D The coolest scripture for tithing is in Malachi I cant remember what chapter or verse (I wish I had my scrips on me) but you will be able to find it It talks about him pouring out a blessing from heaven that we wont have room enough to receive it. You would be a lot better at speaking on tithing than I would... I don't really have experience with it :D So I will just give you this advice... pray before and after you sit down to prepare your talk... and then when you invite the spirit no matter what you speak on your talk will be great!! Hey mom! Good health habits huh?... well you know they say the teacher learns the most :D That's pretty much my advice for that one :D lol! I'm sure you will touch on the Word of Wisdom.. just tell them that God has a perfect body and he know how to take care of a perfect body therefore he has counseled us on how we can do that.. but hey tell them as far as good health habits... cook dinner.. clean the house... take care of the kids.. get your husband a beverage.. :D lol! Those seem like good healthy habits for girls!
lol!!! You can get Shannon working on those too if ya want lol!!! Don't tell her it came from me though... tell her it came from some really smart person who has never been married but knows alot about "life"! Kinda like the counselors for parents who have never had kids :D LOL!!! Well I hope you guys are excited!! I sure am! I cant wait!! I leave tomorrow morning from the valley at 7:30 :D woohoo!!!!! But anyways geez I cant think of anything else... I'm too excited! But take care of yourselves!! Keep reading your Scriptures!! It will make you happy!!! A COVENANT OF PEACE!!!! woohoo!!! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CHURCH!! lol! take care I love you both so much! Thanks for everything! 6 months already holy cow!! It is going to speed up too!! Oh no! :D :D :D:D:D:D:D!!! Love ya!

Elder Penman

November 10th E-mail

Whats going on?!?! Hows are you guys doing?!?! I'm glad to hear that you are reading mother!! I might have made a mistake in chapters that I wanted you to study... it might have been Ezekiel 36... you will be able to find it though it might have been 37... I cant remember now. But it talks about the stick of Judah and the stick of Joseph.. and we can make a covenant of peace if we just do something. Anyways read that one both of ya and I'll give ya some insight next week cause I don't have much time this week. Dad sorry football is over... I mean losing is bad enough but beating yourself just sucks. So hows the weather back home?!?! It's been raining all week here :D It's sweet I love my coat. :D Jacob got the priesthood on Sunday and so he is going to be able to baptize tessa on Saturday! WOOHOO! Elder Ashton ordained him and I'm going to Confirm Tessa! So I'm excited for that!! I will let you know how it all goes! Just a quick addition to all the cool stories that have come from this wonderful family is that Jacob for months had been fighting his work to give him a raise (because he does a lot more than whats in his job description) and they didn't do anything and so he decided to just drop it. So he hadn't said anything to anyone for a while and after they got married a few days later he went into work and his job title had been changed and he got a raise! :D He figured it up and the raise was for them to be able to pay tithing cause with the raise after tithing they will have the same amount of money as they did before the raise and without tithing... I hope that makes sense but I know that the lord prepares the way! All we have to do is whats right! Mom i will get you their address next week. I will let you know about the boots cause it depends on where I am so I will wait to see until after transfers... but they are coming up and holy cow I am excited :D !!! I love you guys! Pray for me to go somewhere cool lol!! Take care!
Elder Penman

November 8th Letter

Well first thing first I'm sorry this letter is so stinkin late...But I haven't forgotten about you! I'm glad my tape made you so happy! In my dad's e-mail he said that he is glad that I am still retarded Lol. So we took our P-day on Wednesday this week because we went to the temple. We played this game that was so funny! What you do is you take a broom or a cup and you hold it above your head and stare at it and spin around as fast as you can for 20 spins. Then you set it down and jump over it! Lol. The other elders got a video of me doing both and I am going to try to get it and send it home! I'll just say its a fun game but...it hurts! :) I suck at it too.

Well my companionship with elder Ashton hasn't been too bad... I am more than ready to move on here in a week and a half or so, but he is cool and we do get along. We had our first wrestling match last night! I just decided to wrestle him so I grabbed him and threw him down! Lol! He got worked! It was way funny. Me and one of the ZL's always wrestle and one time we were wrestling and he some how smacked this light bulb and shattered it and then he kept going and ripped his suit pants wide open! Right down the middle from front to back. It was pretty funny! Don't worry one of the member fixed them in like 10 minutes. One of the coolest parts of the mission is making way cool friends. You get to know the elders that you serve around pretty well and its just fun. A lot of them I would for sure hang out with off the mish.

Well Tessa and Jacob are doing great! They got married on Sunday, Jacob is getting the priesthood this Sunday, and then next Saturday the 15th ( same day as transfer calls) Tessa is getting baptized! Woohoo! This Transfer has been fun but I'm thinking it's time for me to leave. I think the only reason I would stay would be to train and if that was the case it would be so fun! I am excited for transfers though!

Well I love you! Hurray for the holiday season! If I start to put on a winter coat don't worry I will lose it come summer time :) Take care!

Love, Elder Ryan John Penman

November 3rd E-mail

Whats going on?!? Oh man not a whole lot except that we just had a WEDDING yesterday!!! WOOHOO!!!!! Tessa and Jacob Sateren!!! They tied the knot yesterday it was way cool! The wedding went so smooth and it was just simple and beautiful and the bishop did a wonderful job and there were quite a few people there I would say somewhere around 40-50 and the ward did refreshments and what not for them and it was just wonderful! They were so excited and so were we! Yesterday I was on top of the world :D It was just so fun! AND I was one of their witnesses and everything! I let Jacob wear my black suit and my farewell tie... that purple one.. and then I gave him the tie afterwards... lol I told him well you know the rule on the tie is after you get married in it, it's yours... lol! WOOHOO!!! Tessa bore her testimony in relief society and everything! The gospel has changed their lives!!! They are feeling the spirit so strongly in their lives and as Tessa worded it they can feel their testimonies growing. It's a beautiful thing! I am so grateful that I am here! Holy cow! I have never had a stronger testimony of this gospel in my life! It is true! It works! It is the ONLY way we can truly experience joy! Wow! It's just beautiful! So next weekend Jacob will receive the priesthood and then on the 15th he will baptize Tessa and then she will be confirmed on the 16th!!! So this month is going to be soooo cool for them!!!! They are just amazing! I am so grateful to be able to experience something like this so early in my mission and I just pray and I invite you guys to pray also that the ward will embrace them and that they will continue to look towards the temple!!!! Mom! Dad! This is why I am on a mission! I just want to thank you both for all the support that you have shown me! And for the help that you both gave me in getting me out here! I love you both very very very much! I hope you are both doing great! Mom I'm sorry your knee sucks! Keep reading your scrips! In fact study out Ezekiel chapter 37! Holy moly oly! Awesome stuff in there! Next week I want you to tell me what you learned from it! OK! Dad well I'm glad I still sound retarded.. lol! I don't know if that will ever change lol! :D I hope that highland keeps it up! If you get the chance to play timpview beat the living crap out of them for me so I can give my comp some crap lol! By the way I got your package! Thanks for the beanie! It is a little bit tight... but it will do! If only I didn't have such a big dome... :D But anywho! I love you! I will see about the boots I like them if they come in all black I would love them! So anyways take care! Love ya! I will talk to you next week! woohoo!!!
Elder Penman

October 27th E-mail

Whats going on?!?!
How have you guys been?!?! It's good to hear from you guys! I'm glad you are searching me out a beanie... I did end up buying one but its not exactly argyle and so if you find one then you find one... and the whole boots search has pretty much been unsuccessful. I did talk to a guy who works in the army and he said that I could probably get a pair of their boots... so anyways I will keep my eyes open. lol Mom that's great that you used my quote :D I'm glad it worked out for ya! I'm way excited for Halloween on Friday! WOOT! At like 5 we get to go have a "district meeting" for the rest of the night but really its just going to be a party :D We are going to carve pumpkins and play games! Its going to be sweet! I am excited! Okay so this week we went to "the Potter's house" (another church) cause we did a church swap with this guy and on the way there I'm driving along and we are getting close to the place so I wanted to check the address real quick and so I looked down at the flyer that the guy gave us and said hey elder wanna check that real quick and when I looked up I clipped the island and it popped a nice hole in the side of the tire and bent the rim. But we just pulled over and changed it real quick and then we went to the church. So I hope I don't get "black dotted" which means you cant drive anymore... but oh well I don't think I will. It was just very dumb and could have been avoided.. but what do ya do..

Anyways that church was one big HRRRRRRRP! So when the pastor was wrapping things up he is saying if anyone hasn't accepted Christ as their savior and wants to now just raise your hand and there is only like 20 people there if that and you could tell that we were the only new ones... so the guys that invited us come up to me and go Elder Penman, are you sure you are all squared away with Jesus? I was like absolutely! He goes oh oh ya I thought so- I was just asking. Lol! But hrrrp! I cant believe that those people don't leave wanting more!! That's insane! But oh well! So we got a text today from Tessa and Jacob and they are engaged and so that means that this Saturday we will be having a wedding! And Sunday Jacob will get the priesthood! And then next Saturday Jacob will baptize Tessa! Its going to be so freaking cool! I will let you know all about it! I am very very very excited!

Well this month pretty much went by really fast! Transfers are mid November -calls on the 15 and moves on the 18... So I am glad to see some success with elder Ashton! Pres Clark is very happy with me and that I am having success with Elder Ashton.. he told me before I ever got Elder Ashton to make sure that he sees success in River Ridge... so its exciting! So dad we went golfing today and their was 9 of us cause some of the elders brought someone with them and so they split us up in groups of 3. Anyways, they didn't have enough bags to go around so I golfed left handed lol! I didn't do as bad as I thought I would have but it was way hard and I sucked big time! lol I'm definitely a right hander. :D

Well I hope highland tears it up! I am so glad to hear from you guys and to see how you are being blessed while I am here and to see how happy you are! We had stake conference this weekend and got a new stake pres and 2 of the 70 were there and they were awesome! One of them said for every minute you are angry you lose 60 seconds of happiness. Who can afford that? I was like wow that is so true! All things no matter what it is we have a choice and if we always choose happiness then we will be a lot better off! I hope you guys had a wonderful week! I love hearing from you and thanks for everything! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!! Take good care of yourselves! and I will talk to you later! Give Shannon a BIG hug from me! I love you guys! Tell everyone hello and I love them! Thank them for all that they do for me! take care!

Love ya!
Elder Penman

Good News For Me- Sad News For You

No letter this week because...

(drum roll please)

Shannon got a tape!!!

Woohoo!!

An Awesome E-mail!

Hey whats going on?!?! Its great to hear from you guys! Mom I'm glad that you are reading everyday and that you are noticing a difference from it! I have no doubt that by small and simple things will great things come to pass! We had a really awesome experience this week! So we had been teaching Tessa and Jacob and their only hold up was the fact that they weren't married. So we had been trying to talk to them about marriage for a while but we didn't want to push and pry so we had really been praying about what to do with them. Well I don't think either of us were receiving any revelation concerning them... and so last week we had our meeting with our ward mission leader (Bro. Steele) like we always do and he said you know I understand that they really want a marriage that will be nice and what not but.. I think that you guys need to teach them about eternal marriage and the importance of it and help them to get their focus on the celebration that should take place there. So we gave that a lot of thought and it truly felt right. We needed to teach them that. Well we still had been praying like crazy and we prepared a really solid lesson for them that we both felt that they needed to know what the lord had in store for them. Well the day before we met with them we were both feeling really nervous to go and teach them this. I don't really know why but you know marriage can be a touchy subject and after talking about it all the time we knew that this lesson would be kind of a turning point and either turn them away or more towards the church. But with faith we went on to the lesson and we had such a wonderful fellow shipper there also (sis. Blankenagel) and before we got started with the lesson, before we even told them what we would be talking about, Tessa came right out and said I have been dreaming a lot about marriage lately... and we were like REALLY?!?! lol But we were able to sit down and teach them all about eternal marriage and how that is what God wants for them and that the real celebration should take place there and that it was a year away. Well they both said you know what you are right we really should only have one wedding and so why not make the celebration where it needs to be. So in 2 weeks they are going to go down to the courthouse and getting legally married and Tessa is on-date to be baptized November 8th!!!!! AND!! We found out the Jacob is already a member and so hopefully! (I'm not getting my hopes up) but hopefully we can get them married, get Jacob the priesthood, and have Jacob baptize Tessa!!! It would be amazing! The bishop is meeting with him today to see if it is possible.... so I am excited! The biggest testimony builder to me is that when we are asking what to do and the lord gives us guidance and direction sometimes we are scared to do what he tells us but as we faithfully follow through we find that not only has he given us guidance but he has prepared the way for us also! I know without a doubt that this gospel is the true and living gospel of Jesus Christ here on the earth today! And that our prophets and apostles receive revelation and counsel for all of us and that if we heed to that counsel and let them guide our lives that we will be blessed in so many ways! I love this gospel and I love what I am doing! I would in no way rather be doing anything else! I love you guys! I did try to look for some boots but I haven't found anything yet... no one carries big foot sizes up here. I cant believe that BYU lost... hrrrrp! How lame is that.. but I will look for some boots but keep looking online and if you find some that you think I might like just send me a links to the web pages and I will let you know. Mom please tell Janet and Dave and Grandma that they are all so awesome and thank you so much for helping me out while I'm out here! I love them all very much!! Well anyways... thanks for everything! Look for an awesome beanie for me that has an argyle pattern that is dark and conservative! That would be sweet! I love you guys so much! Keep up the good work! Mom I know that, "honesty allows you to have the spirit and allows you to learn and grow when dishonesty breeds guilt and well guilt sucks..." lol That's my quote for the day. Use that quote in your lesson lol! In fact type that up and hand them out.. and at the bottom put "-Elder Penman" cause that's all me :D LOL!! I hope it all goes well! I'm sure that you will do great! Check preach my gospel it might give you some ideas! Always check there first cause in every lesson if you can get those girls missionary minded well then the world will be a better place. Go ahead and use that quote too :D LOL!! I love ya! Take care of yourselves!

Elder Penman

October 17th Letter & Pictures

Baby Jacob
Yummy
Pumpkins need love too!
Elder Yauncey, Elder Ashton and Me


Wow that was so cool to be able to see your parents! Like two minutes before I saw them I was thinking Shannon told me they would be driving a white Altima... so I might as well keep an eye out. Then sure enough I start going up this hill and there they are! :) Your parents are so cool! Oh by they way, I loved my packages! They were both way cool! That pumpkin chocolate chip bread is what I have been dreaming of ever since you got that job!

Yes I enjoyed conference very much! That stinks that you didn't get to watch any on Saturday... There were some way good talks. You should go to LDS.org and watch them! I did talk to Clyde and he said that you guys are all cool, and in fact I talked to him on the phone that Friday night and I was the one that told him if he went into your work you would hook him up with some bread. He is a player though, he is dating like five different girls. Lol.

Hey by the way did I ever leave the toilet seat up before I came out here? I'm pretty sure I didn't and I still don't! Lol You are silly. So usually we have our interviews for the transfer towards the end of the transfer but for some weird reason that I don't know of we are having them tomorrow... yeah it's kinda weird but oh well. It's fine with me I don't have anything to hide! Sorry this letter is late, at least this one has some pictures to make up for it being late!

Well, I hope Izzy's baptism went great! I'm sure it did and I wish I could have been there! But what do ya do. :) I hope your ride home went a lot better than your ride here! That Altima is pretty sweet! This week was a good one! We got a new Catholic family we are teaching! It is awesome to see them want to read the BoM. Their names are Dennis and Michelle. They are way cool! I hope school is going okay for you- Especially math! I would help if I could, but hey when I get back you will be helping me with math! Take care! I love you!

Love, Elder Ryan John Penman

October 13th E-mail

Whats up?!?! It is great to hear from you guys! You are both so amazing! I can tell that you have both grown a ton spiritually right there along with me! Mom isn't it great to have the spirit with you every day because you are reading your scriptures?!?! And dad! Holy cow that was such a neat experience! I know that the prophet Joseph smith was such an amazing man! I look up to his example so much! Talk about being tried for everything that you believe in and sticking to what you know is true! My testimony grew so much as I watched conference too! Mom I am glad that you had the opportunity to speak in sacrament! I hope (since it was on me) that it went well! lol Well then again that's pretty much fail proof :D! It's so great to hear that you are both doing so well! I can just feel both of your testimonies in your letters and your excitement towards the gospel! You will make such great missionaries! I love you guys!

I did get to see Shannon's parents! lol I was riding up a pretty dang good hill in my area and I was like hmm.. Shannon told me that they were going to be in a white Altima... granted I didn't think I would see them but I was like well I might as well look for it anyways. Well I get half way up the hill and sure enough there they are! Honking and waving! lol I told em to pull over and it was awesome to see them! I might have gotten a little taller lol you never know! I'm still not growing much facial hair... I shave like every other day but really I only need to shave like every third day :D So I probably am still going to grow while I'm out here... (well i hope so) But thank you so much for the package! That was awesome! I love having my slippers! :D They are nice! And holy cow grandma knows me too well! lol Such good treats! I am going to gain 10 pounds this October! lol! Well prolly not since we are on bikes most of the time. Luckily the weather hasn't been too bad. Granted its below freezing in the mornings. But it hasn't snowed or anything so I just wear this super sexy vest under my suit jacket and I'm fine!

Mom sister brough told me that you said you love me and your proud of me lol! It was cute. I saw her at church and she comes right up to me and says your mother said for me to tell you.... lol She is such a wonderful lady! Holy cow she will do just about anything for us! She is one of the best cooks too! Oh my! So we started teaching a Catholic family of 6!!! The parents are awesome! They are sincere about reading the BoM and we have a return appointment with them to teach them the plan of salvation. The dad has been praying to have a open heart and mind to the whole thing and he asked us what chapters in the BoM could he read to prep him for next time! They are just amazing I am way excited about them! The mom asked for both of our addresses so she can send us Christmas cards lol!So she will probably send one and if she does just forward it to me. :D They are just way nice! Their little 6 year old girl Christina came up to me the second time I ever talked to them and gave me a hug lol! We are being blessed in this area! So thank you for all of your prayers! Please continue to pray for my gators! Here is the basic list.. Tessa & Jacob(young unmarried couple)... Dennis & Michelle(Catholic family of 6).. Jeremiah & Becky(another unmarried couple that we just started teaching).. Richard Powell(guy at the hospital that was on-date) who is now walking!!! Last time we were there he got up out of his chair and just started walking around!!! lol It was nuts.. and Kent Schneider. These are the main ones and there are many others. Great things are about to happen with all of them! I am very excited! I love you guys so much!

One other thing that I might want for Christmas and I don't care who gets it for me is a beanie with an argyle pattern on it :D I think that would look sweet! So see what you can do :D Thanks so much for everything! Just remember the there is only ONE way for happiness and fulfillment in life and that way is through Jesus Christ! As we do all that he has asked of us we will be happy! I know this to be true! So when times get rough just evaluate yourself and ask if you are doing all that you can.. I promise you that as we do the little things.. it will lead to great rewards! I love you guys so much! Thanks for everything and I hope this week goes well for you! Take care!
Elder Penman

October 6th E-mail

Well that sucks that highland lost but I think you guys can win the next 3 games for sure! Just tell those hosers to suck it up! lol That's so funny that someone put on my blog that I shouldn't be blogging.. lol hrrrrp what hosers... Tell them that if they really want me to get the comment they are going to have to write me a letter cause I don't check the blog lol! I just do it with my mind... hrrrp :D

So we had an interesting day on Tuesday... we went on exchanges with the elders in mead. I was with elder Hullinger and he is just one of the most unique kids you will ever meet. I cant even really explain it but for instance he doesn't use tooth paste to brush his teeth he uses tooth powder... and its made from like tree barks and different herbs and things lol! His mom is a hippy and his dad is a red neck... so you can just imagine! :D But ya so we are teaching a lesson and we had just got out of district meeting where we were trained on how to begin lessons. In fact we drove from district meeting to the lesson and the first thing you do is remove distractions. Well we go into the lesson and the TV is on and what not and we small talk for a minute and then he starts asking her about her reading and goes right into the scriptures. I was like wait can we turn that off and have a prayer? He was like oh thanks for remembering... then we go to another lesson and we teach the plan of salvation and we would go back and forth in our teaching but he would just lay the doctrine out there and then hand it over to me. I would back track a little and ask questions to make sure she was getting it and so after the lesson he tells me hey thanks for remembering to ask questions. So then we go to the gas station to get some finger nail clippers for him... and he goes in there and picks them out and puts them in his pocket and we both walk out... and we get to the car and I go so did you pay for those? He goes oh crap! and runs in and it was so freaking funny. The guy was telling a missionary hey thanks for being honest I really appreciate it. I was laughing so hard! Then he was like thanks for remembering that.. lol he was just having a rough day. It was hilarious!

So then we get home for lunch and this members son comes running out of the bathroom and is like call 911!!! Then he goes and lays at the top of the stairs. So we call 911 and what not and we are both standing at the bottom of the stairs and he yells oh crap and grabs his stomach and starts coming down the stairs and we both take off running cause we don't want to get puked on.. and so the ambulance shows up and he thought it was cause he was diabetic but they checked his blood sugar and it was fine. They were asked him are you on any drugs or anything and he says no i just smoked a little weed this morning for my foot to get rid of the pain. I guess he has a gun shot wound to his leg or something that happened a while ago. But it was funny cause they are like did you smoke more than normal? Nope... Did you smoke weed that you aren't familiar with? Nope.. So its yours? yep... lol And this is all took place in a members house that the missionaries live at! LOL!!! What a hoser. But ya so that was a very interesting day!

I hope you guys watched conference! If not you missed out and you need to repent! It was awesome! We got investigators there and everything! So there is good and bad news to this call that we got for transfers... the good news is we are both staying... the bad news is that they are taking our car away!!! Right as the weather is getting cold! We are going to have to share a car with Indian trail elders. We live like 6 miles apart... lol so it will be interesting. But I am staying and hopefully we are going to baptize a couple!! We started teaching a brand new couple this week (unmarried again) but they seemed really interested. So things are going very well in this area. Today is my last day with my bu! (Malibu that is) but I call her my bu! :( I don't know how the car sharing thing is going to work out but we are going to plan it out today so I will let you know how it all works out.

I hope you guys are doing well! Keep up the good work and the scripture study! I love you guys a ton! Take care of yourselves!

Elder Penman

The latest from Ryan John

So I hear that James told Clyde that if he got close to you he would break his face! LOL that is awesome. I think James being in one of your college classes is an even better idea now!

Well, I have bad news... we had interviews with our pres this week and I asked him if your parents could take me out to dinner and he said no. The reason is because it can be hard on your companion and it could make him want to see his friends or family. But I look at it like this....in a couple years I will be eating dinner with your parents all the time! :) The only difference will be I won't be dressed up!

So I had kind of a cool experience last night. We got this referral for this lady who lives way out in the boonies ( which our area does have we just hardly ever make it out there). I called her to see if we could set up a time to go out there are she asked me a few questions and it lead into the restoration over the phone. She said she had to go and that we could come out sometime...and so I tried to get an exact time to come back, but she was like October is really busy for me and my husband is gone and so lets shoot for the second week in November! Lol. I hope I'm still here! But we got talking after that and she asked me if I knew this Christian speaker guy and I said no, but anyways he does this talk about marriage that she really likes. I said well I'll have to listen to that before I get married, and she said you're not married? I said no I'm only 20, and she said oh wow you don't sound 20! I said yeah I'm just getting over a cold, I don't usually sound this manly! :) She thought that was pretty funny.

Sorry no pics again I have some good ones to send, I just haven't had time! Oh, and yes we still go see Willis all the time. He is the funniest guy ever!

P.S. I will let you know in my parents e-mail on Monday if I am moving or not!

A Chapter a Day Keeps Temptation Away!

Hey mom and dad whats happenin?!?! I hope everything is going well! This week was pretty good! We were a little down in numbers but those weeks happen and so we are trying our best still and hopefully we can bump our numbers back up! So you met elder Clyde eh?! That's cool that he got you guys flowers! I gave him some money before he left and told him to buy some flowers from me :D So I'm glad he did! he is a cool kid.. lol He kinda flaked out on me while he was here but hrrrp oh well I don't care lol.

Well lets see we had our interviews with pres and everything went well. I was the last one to go and he was going to be late for a dentist appt so he was like, "Elder Penman how are you doing?" I said good and he goes did you have anything you wanted to talk to me about and I had two questions for him so I asked them. He answered them and then said well keep up the good work... and that was it. lol! Like 3 minutes and he hasn't even checked my planner the last two times. I think he must trust me or something cause he checks everyone's planner. But ya this week wasn't too exciting... I kinda have mixed feelings about this coming week. I am way super excited about conference but I want to know if I am staying or leaving... I think I am staying so ima work my butt off still this week. But.. I dunno. I guess I just want to know if I'm going or not! :D

But anyways I'm glad you guys always have a good time with Shannon! Keep her around would ya! She is way too freaking hot to let go! :D LOL!! No but she is my best friend! I just love her! So keep hanging out with her cause I'm pretty sure she will be around for a while.

Wow I am really sorry to hear about mike... That's too bad really! It makes my heart go out to his family for having such a strong testimony in the gospel! Tell them that I love them! And give them all a hug from me! Seriously that sucks to hear! Let me know how they are doing. I don't know how people can get so much thrown onto their plate and deal with it so well... That family is just amazing! Holy cow. Isn't it amazing to see how powerful the gospel is and how true it really is!?

Well I'm pretty sure I already told you guys when transfers were but I will tell you again. The 7th is the actual transfer and the 4th we get our calls... so the 6th I will be telling you if I'm staying or leaving. Oh and mom I do want boots for Christmas but I haven't found any here so maybe go check that place out. See if they got any good ones that will polish up nicely that pretty much look like church shoes but they are boots. Meh I know you will do just fine. :D You always do! Well geez I hope you guys are ok! Tell everyone that I love them and that the church is true! There is just no other way. Simply no other way. Keep reading your scrips!!! A chapter a day keeps temptation away!!! :D Well I love you guys so much! Have a good week! Go BYU! go 49ers! LOVE YA!!

Elder Penman

Transfers Are Coming Up Already!

What is happening?! How are you? Thank you for your letters! I love them. I show you off to everyone! Even that wallet picture I have of you that is from 2004! LOL You might need to send me a new pic for my wallet :) People always say "she looks young in that picture." and I say that's cause she is young...shes only 16! So send me one if you want but keep in mind I show it to everyone! I hope you aren't still sick! That sucks you get sick so much. Remember if you are sick ( and even if you aren't) you don't want to get any boys sick by kissing them... :)

Last night we went over to the Whittles ( it was Wendy's birthday) and they had the Monday night game on and it about killed me! I just went into the kitchen and ate some cake! LOL. Transfers are the 7th of October but transfer calls will be the 4th. So on Monday I will let you know through my e-mail but I don't think I'll be leaving...at least I hope not. Okay I will tell you one thing I want for Christmas and that is slippers to keep my feet warm when I get out of bed in the morning! :)

Well the mission isn't all bananas and dancing with tooth brushes...LOL. Grrr it just seemed like last week every day someone wanted to argue with us or tell us we were wrong. But tonight we are going to go teach a family of like 6 or more so I'm excited! The dad is a football coach and the whole family loves sports! I am going to get along great with this family! The only name I know right now though is Larry, so pray for Larry and his family! :) The baptism is going to have to be cancelled again with Richard. He is puffing those cancer sticks like there is no tomorrow. He will get baptized eventually, he has a testimony. It will just take some time. Tessa and Jacob are really awesome! We finally got them to talk about marriage and they are thinking about January 25th. We have plenty of others we are working with too, they just aren't progressing as quickly. But hopefully we will get a baptism soon.

I am so excited for general conference! You have no idea! I can't wait. Its going to be so sweet. We are watching each session with different people- 3 gators and the Whittles.

I hope things are going great! Take care and keep sending pictures! I love you!

Love,
Elder Ryan John Penman

Pictures!

Ryan and Andy the dog

Willis Runquist

Baptized July 18th

Confirmed July 20th

Aaronic Priesthood August 24th

Elder Ashton's crash wounds

hey whats going on?!?!
well its nice to hear about highland and byu and my niners!!! I'm glad they all had a good week! lol i knew something good had to come from this week lol! well this week was alright.. we had a lot of people wanting to bash with us.. and telling us we were deceived and flipping us off and well the whole nine yards... which is expected but.. it was like almost every day lol! its so funny to listen to people and then say something that makes them think... like for instance one guy was telling me that the BoM is an addition to the bible and what not and it says in revelations not to add to the book and so forth (talking about the book of revelations...) but anyways and so i said well what about all of these different translations of the bible? and he goes well translating it into more modern terms isn't adding or taking away.. and i explained that it is from the real meaning and then i said oh so when its convenient then its not adding or taking away lol! and he was like well uhh well... blah blah blah... nothing to say.. :D but i know i shouldn't even bash at all and that's what i told him.. is we don't want to argue that if he wants to know if what we teach is true he needs to read and pray.. and then another day this lady tried to start belittling me and it kind of pissed me off... (oops) lol but then when she told me that i was deceived and that how do i know it wasn't Satan putting those thoughts and feelings into my mind when i prayed about the BoM... i told her well I'm sorry that you cant tell the difference between God and Satan... but i can.. people are so funny! but after a while you are just like hrrrrrrp... but on Tuesday we have an appointment to start teaching a new family! there is like 6 of them or more i dunno but they would make the coolest members in the world!! and the dad (Larry) coaches pop Warner football and what not! me and him get along really well! its going to be fun for me to relate the whole gospel to football!!! :D i am really excited to teach them! well i don't know if we will be having a baptism this Saturday or not.. Richard called us Saturday morning and said he got in a fight with his roommate and was up smoking all night... that was after he was like 4 days clean.. soo anyways we are seeing him tonight so we will see.. I'm not too worried cause even if he doesn't get baptized Saturday or even when I'm here i know he will get baptized... cause he has a testimony! he just cant stop the smoking... but what do ya do right... oh just to give you a heads up... its crazy to think but transfers are coming right up... we will get our transfer calls on the 4th of October and then we will actually transfer the following Tuesday.. the 7th... so the 6th i will be able to let you know what i am doing... but ya its crazy to think that the time has gone by so quickly... but ya interviews are this Thursday... holy cow.. its gone by fast! but elder Clyde has been up here the last couple days... its been fun to see him and church and what not and today we are going golfing... so that should be a lot of fun! hopefully you guys get to meet him tho and if so then (dad... cause i know mom wont) you have to ask him why he dresses so preppy... and if he brings the girl he is dating (her name is randy and she is 4' 10" ) you have to tell him that you thought i was bad with dating short girls but at least I'm not dating a midget lol!!! don't make her feel bad but give him some crap!!! lol and if you have to punch him in the kidneys!! not that i ever used to do that... lol well our other good gators right now are doing well (Jacob & Tessa).. we finally got them to talk about getting married and they told us ya we were looking at like JANUARY 25th!!! i was like what the heck lol!! but oh well... they want to really see what the church is all about cause they don't want to feel like they are using us just to get married which is good.. but the funny thing was that Jacob told us last time we talked that he was thinking about it and he thinks he remembers getting baptized into the LDS church as a kid... like around 14 or 15 and we laughed and then we got his info and the clerk requested his record and it takes like a week to get it or to see if he is a member... lol!! if it turns out that way then we will prolly get them married and have Jacob baptize Tessa.... and he gets the priesthood and what not.. but that is just funny... we have met with them a dozen times and h e just all of a sudden brings that up lol... but things are going great! me and elder Ashton are getting along great.. he gave a talk in sacrament yesterday and it was good.. i sat by elder Clyde... so it was kinda funny.. sitting next to my old comp and listening to my current comp... or in missionary terms sitting next to my "dad" and listening to my "mom" lol but anyways! i love you guys!! i hope that dad that smacked the coach gets thrown in jail for a long time!! that's terrible! its crazy to think that people would do that kind of crap!! but anyways.. tell my hoser siblings that they are both very lame and they need to write me and that i show off their kids to everyone lol! mom i am glad you are reading but not glad about the not every day part!! don't read cause its something you have to do... read because that amazing book tells us how to be happy! what an amazing thing! happiness :D its not easy but its worth it! just remember that! love ya mom! love ya dad! thanks for everything! hey both of you read Mosiah 2:41 and then think about us being commanded to read everyday! its pretty much telling us that if we do we will be happy! what better blessing could you get than that? well i love you guys! tell everyone i love them and sorry that i am too lazy to write all of them! lol! anyways take care! i still don't know what i want for Christmas! maybe boots... hmmm elder Clyde got his at like an army outlet type deal they were the black boots that the army guys wear and he just polished them up.. but anyways if you see any that might work just email me the pick of them and i will let ya know.. :D but that's my thought so far... but hey take care of yourselves! and i hope everything is going alright! i hope you are both feeling better! if not then well... go to the byu game or something :D or maybe eat a pound of sausage i dunno... after that I'm out of ideas... lol! love you guys!
Elder Penman