I believe I can fly

For your viewing pleasure. A few dunks.

December 14th E-mail

Whats happenin?!?! Well i am glad to hear that little Eva is doing a lot better. Shannon sent me some pics from Maddox and the one with little Eva is so freaking cute! Well dad I'm sorry that you have to lay on your face. If i was there i would massage you back for ya :D I remember when you got your shoulder done and how much we worked on that thing to get it back into shape.. Every day i would come home from school and massage the knots out of your shoulder and you would scream like a little girl :D But we worked on that for a long time.. And this kinda reminded me of that.. But i know that you are absolutely sick of dealing with this. And trust me i have had that feeling out here. But i have also learned something about trials and about adversity that i hope sticks with me and that i don't lose it. But a word of advice that i would give you is when you finally reach that point that you feel that you cant go on anymore (or even before that point but most of us are too hard headed) But when we get to that point we need to get down on our knees (or lay on our face :D ) and give a prayer of thanks.. And tell the Lord and remind ourselves of all the many things that He has given us.. If you remember when i was with Elder Allred the first down in Clarkston i was just about ready to kill him.. Well a Zone leader of mine challenged me to pray only prayers of thanks for like 4 days.. and i thought well it can hurt anything.. And so i did it.. And i can tell you that it really opened my eyes and it eased my burdens.. Just knowing that when trials come up they are opportunities to grow and to learn and to develop Christ like attributes so that we can become more like Him and that is something that we should be thankful for! opportunities to become more like our Savior! And well dad patience and long suffering our Christlike attributes... :D but i will be praying for you! I love ya! Get Shannon to come walk on your back.. lol.. She used to walk on my back :D and my head.. lol. So you will never guess what i did this week... We were helping these members roll these huge hay bails.. they are the round bails that weigh like 700 lbs.. But we rolled them into the pen with the sheep and then into the pen with the cows.. and last time we were there, doing the same thing, We were throwing snowballs at the cows.. but this time i got a bucket of grain and went up to the steer and was leading him on to come closer to me and he came over and stuck his head in the bucket to start eating the grain and as soon as he did that i jumped on him!!! lol!!! i landed on his back and he freaked out! he bucked twice and the second time i flew off and he went running away LOL!!!! it was so freaking funny! Its too bad i didn't have my camera with me! I would have got it on video :D But if you could imagine! It was so funny.. I was laughing pretty hard.. We had a ward Christmas party this week and we went over the the Bassett's house like 2 hours before the party and we were going to have a lesson but before the lesson i asked them if they were planning on coming to the party and they said they had too much to do... so we asked them what they had to do and they said they had to finish decorating so they could get all the stuff back up in the attic and finish folding all their laundry and then make dinner and what not.. so we said well lets get started.. so we helped them decorate their tree and their home and then we helped them fold all their laundry and i taught them a new way of folding shirts.. that i will have to teach you guys when i get home :D and then we peeled a bunch of potatoes and helped them make dinner then we ate with em and left and made it to the party like right on time :D It was a wonderful party and they had a very well done program on the birth of Christ and the true meaning of Christmas... I think it was really beneficial.. But they are doing well. We did put this girl, Daija Plaisted (9 yrs old) and her sister Jada Redwine (8 yrs old) , On-date for January 9th.. Their mother is a member so only the 9 year old is considered an investigator and will be a convert not that that matters but i don't know if you knew that.. anyways they are very excited and they are learning a lot. Its fun to teach them! We are just doing what we can to keep the work moving forward. So i got a package from the ward that was really cool! That was way nice of them! lol. The young women made pillowcases for us missionaries i guess and Keila Jorgensen signed her name on mine and wrote AKA future wife.. lol... does she even have a drivers licence yet? lol! anyways it was pretty funny.. I also got a letter from the Pecks and from the Hansens.. and anyways its been nice.. I didn't expect that on my second Christmas :D Well life is pretty good! I hope everything is going well for you guys! Thanks for being such a good support to me! I love you guys so much! I am excited for next years Christmas party :D Well take care of yourselves! But jsut remember that Christmas should be great no matter what is going on in our lives because without our Savior we couldn't ever make it back to our Father in Heaven... So little things don't mean much here when we know we can get back to heaven again :D so make the best of Christmas and remember how much our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ love us! (and the Holy Ghost!) thank goodness for Him too! :D But i love you guys! Thanks for everything! Happy holidays! Talk to ya soon :D

Elder Penman

December 7th E-mail

Well whats happenin?!?! What in the world is going on with everyone? I like dread emailing now cause i know that every time i get on it there is going to be some other problem with my family :D That is just absolutely crazy with little Eva! Poor thing. I am glad that she is doing ok! My goodness.. Well dad i hope that all goes well with your eye surgery on Thursday... I will be praying for ya! And for Eva as well. I still cant believe it. That is just nuts. Well i got a new companion. His name is Elder Prosence. HE is from north Salt Lake and He really does only have 1 leg. He has a prosthetic leg. (I'm not sure if that's how you spell that) but he gets around pretty good. He is a trooper. He has pretty much done everything. In fact he had colleges looking at him for golf and wrestling and he actually golfed at Weber for a year before he came on the mish.. He is pretty cool. He falls down quite a bit on the ice :D He is pretty small though. He only weighs about 120 lbs. He has a very strong upper body though.. We were at some investigators house and he just out of the blue says i bet you i can go down those stairs on a hand stand.. And i was like lets see it.. And so he did it.. And has now done it 3 other times since :D lol.. Its pretty fun to watch.. I have it on video. Well the weather has been rather cold this week. And yesterday it was pretty freaking windy as well. In fact the Bassetts didn't come to church because they have a bunch of temp. storage deals out on their farm and well they were blowing around all over the place.. But they went and bought their kids church clothes and so i think they are settling in! Which is sweet! Now we need to just get them baptized! So lol kinda of a funny story.. We were over at this less-active's house, the McLeods, and they have come to church 2 out of the last 3 weeks. And so we were just visiting to actually set up another appointment with them and there was a knock on the door and i could see that it was people that were caroling.. And so me and Elder Prosence sat on the ground behind the couch so they couldn't see us and Sis. McLeod joined us and Bro. McLeod ran into the back room and their 7 year old went and answered the door LOL! and they sang 2 songs to her and gave her a Christmas present.. and well turns out they were from the ward! and it was the youth! And one of the youth leaders, Sis. Collins, pokes her head in the house and yells "AMBER are you in here?!?" and then Sis. McLeod stand up from behind the couch!!!! LOL!!! and we were laughing so hard and then one of the young men leaders came in as well and started talking to Bro. McLeod and he told him oh sorry we though you were the Baptist Carollers!!! LOL!!!! like that makes it better! And then he tells him to come up the stairs so he can show him something and well he comes up and there we are behind the couch and he was like Elders? LOL!!! We were freaking hiding from our own ward! oh man it was so funny! It still makes me laugh so hard! LOL! well i thought you would get a kick out of that... Well I got the boots that you sent me! They are awesome. I love em. They are just right too. So no worries mom i love em. Thank you so much! A great Christmas present! I'm pretty much all set for winter now.. And boy is it here :D just not much snow yet.. but it will come :D I have no doubts.. Oh and i got the chocolates too! That's what I'm talking about! woot! They are amazing as ever! I absolutely love them! Thanks. Tell everyone thanks for all the hard work and long hours! I will help next year! :D If I'm around :D Well Thanks for everything! I love ya tons! I hope you guys are doing ok now.. Please take a break from the Chaos! ok! :D Love ya! Thanks for everything! Take care of yourselves! Elder Penman

November 30th E-mail

What is happening?!?! LOL! I'm glad that you got my pics! That's awesome. Lol "you shouldn't make a fat kid dance on a stripper pole!!!" :D He actually wasn't my companion. He was a kid in the ward. His name is Johnny Grow. He is freaking hilarious. I love that kid! But i forgot all about that video! LOL! So those are some pretty sweet dunks eh? I like em. I probably couldn't do them now... Tis the season (too much food)... So we had a pretty good week this week. Thanksgiving was awesome! We went to 2 families homes and really enjoyed ourselves! And well we really stuffed ourselves.. Well its good to know that my pics made it ok.. :D I would have been really sad if something happened to them.. Well we got our transfer calls last night and Elder Tueller is leaving me.. He is headed to Hayden and i am getting Elder Prosence.. I don't know much about him. He hasn't been out too long.. I think maybe only 2 transfers and the word on him that i have heard so far is that he only has 1 leg.. I know it sounds crazy but we will see.. But i am excited. This area is so freaking huge though that I'm going to miss Elder Tueller's GPS and i don't want to get one cause i think people become way too dependent on those things.. although they are nice if you took elder Tueller's away from him after him being here almost 5 months he couldn't find his way anywhere.. So i don't want to get one. But maybe my comp will have one who knows.. And if he is a rich kid ill just tell him he can get me one for Christmas :D lol. But i think i know my way around pretty good. But it will be interesting to see what happens these next 4 transfers.. Ive been trying to predict it but i dunno. My guess is that i will be with Elder Prosence for 2 transfers and then i will train again before my mortal frame is given up to its mother earth :D lol. We had 4 investigators at church this week! woot! Bruce and Laura Bassett came and this 16 year old girl named Tasyia came and then this 9 year old girl named Daija came and we are teaching her 8 year old sister named Jeda and on Wednesday we will be teaching another girl named Jeda.. so altogether we are teaching Tasyia, Daija, Jeda, and Jeda... crazy eh? So the whole district here is being changed. Every companionship is getting mixed up. So its going to be crazy. And well i don't know any of the elders coming in very well. But I'm sure it will be really cool. And at the first of the year we will be moving into an old guys house.. He is lonely.. and he has a huge house with no one in it.. :D So that will be nice. I should take pics of the place we are staying now.. You would laugh :D I cant believe chocolates took that long! I am going to have to speed up the process again.. Shannon will help next year.. no worries.. She might even be part of the family by then :D But i will help next year too. we will knock those chocolates out in no time :D And i can tell you all the crazy stories from my mission :D lol. So how is everyones BoM reading coming along?!?! are you going to finish it twice before may? :D So i look forward to getting the boots! That will be very nice. It was actually dry this week which was nice. But I'm sure it will hit us in no time.. So whats the weather been like in Utah? Anyways i will let you know when i get the boots. Well I'm glad that thanksgiving went well for you. Thanks for everything. I cant wait to get my chocolates! woot! I'm afraid I'm going to put on some weight this holiday season :D Oh and by the way thanks for the BYU update! That is awesome! I am so happy that they won! Utah fans are kinda retarded.. But i might marry one some day you never know :D But anyways i love ya! I look forward to talking to ya in a few weeks! Thanks for all that you do! I will definitely be praying for you! Thanks you for all of your prayers for me and my investigators! Don't forget that we are all called to spread the gospel.. not just the missionaries! woot! Its true! Love ya! Elder Penman

November 23rd E-mail

Well whats happening?!?! My poor crippled parents.. Mom I don't know if Jen thinks your too old to have blue streaks in your hair but if she doesn't... I do.. LOL! 64 is just a little much for blue streaks :D What is with all the crazy stuff that is happening around there? You guys are laying around all day broken and then Uncle Dave decided to join the party and have his heart stop or what? geez. I hope everything will settle down a little bit.. I pray for all of you! But I heard an old saying once that pain keeps you humble and close to the veil.. so i guess my family is just pretty darn spiritual! :D lol. But please keep me updated on how everyone is doing ok? Thanks. Well I cant believe its thanksgiving already! That means that in a month i get to call home :D hehe. That will be pretty cool. This thanksgiving is going to be miserable.. We have 2 dinners planned so far and i just know myself and food.. I'm not going to be able to walk.. Its going to suck :D But I'm sure i will survive.. Well all these close losses for the niners are a good thing.. that means maybe next year they will be good. and be able to pull it out on the close games.. who know? Wishful thinking? Well missionary work is going pretty well right now! The Bassett family came to church again for the 3rd time! I really think that they enjoy it and that they are starting to settle in.. Now if we could just get them to stop being to busy so that we could go have lessons with them then i think that they would join the church! Which would just be absolutely wonderful! This family is just awesome! We also had at church another investigator and a less-active family (of 5) that hasn't been forever and a single mother that hasn't been forever (like 4 years) came for the 3rd time in a row.. So we are doing some less-active work as well that is going nicely! I love seeing people come back into the church! Its fun! We met an interesting kid yesterday though.. He and his family joined the church 4 years ago.. A year later he went on a mission to Argentina and served an honorable full-time mission and then when he came home he started researching some of the crazy anti that one of his companions was telling him about.. (that he had hear throughout the course of his mission) and shortly after that he formally left the church (had his name removed) and now he is a messianic Jew... Yep Jews that accept Jesus Christ as their savior.. So that was an interesting conversation.. Because see in order to be a true Jew it has to come through your mother.. But he was saying it came through his father and that there were signs of it being in his mother line as well.. But hrrrrrrrp. They are pretty much mainstream Christians that believe in the trinity but claim they are all Jews.. so its kinda interesting but anyways.. We had a really good week this week. So its already dropped about 6 inches of snow here.. So i am definitely going to need some boots.. They just need to be black and polishable and waterproof and well even though it sounds weird (cause i wear a 15) not freaking huge.. If you know what i mean.. A conservative boot.. Not one that shows that i am wearing these huge boots.. now of course they are going to know that anyways.. so it doesn't really matter.. so whatever will really work.. but.. lol.. I dunno. But i don't have anywhere to buy them here unless i go to Spokane and well that isn't going to happen at least this week. So if you found some that would work that would be great just go ahead and ship em.. I will check my email next Monday before i go buy anything... to see if you sent some or if i get some in the mail this week then i will know i got some :D oh and i don't want them too high either.. i think like mid-high would be perfect.. i think its 6 inch... something like that.. but anyways i hope you will be able to find something.. But thank you for doing that! I love you guys! Happy thanksgiving! Take care of yourselves!

Elder Penman

Photos!

Brian Abbott's baptism!

My Posterity!

Yoga! Woot!

LOL!

There's grandma!

The Robison's!

The Last of Post Falls

Me and the deer getting a little friendly :)

Washington Spokane Mission! With Elder Bednar!

November 16th E-mail

Well hello there fam! Well dad i hope you have had your fix for eye surgeries for a while.. that would be nice! I wish there was something i could do for ya.. I will continue praying for ya! So mom i guess you just felt a little left out with dad having all these surgeries that you decided to go get stuff done to your back eh? Its like trying to keep up with the Jones' in our family now isn't it... :D Its a good thing I'm not home or else i would have to think up something to mess up real bad so that i could have the worst problems in the house.. you know how competitive i can get :D lol no but i really am praying for both of you! no more old people symptoms until your at least 50... ok?! oh and by the way mom i am fine from the car accident.. i promise. but yes it really is a miracle! pretty crazy pictures huh? So how has the weather been in Utah? we got some snow here.. and boy i tell you what this place is so beautiful! I absolutely love it! Like even at the library where i am at right now out the window is just woods.. its awesome! and there is deer all over the place.. I haven't seen any elk but the deer are everywhere.. We see them everyday. In fact the other night we were driving and one of them hit the side of our car! it was just like what happened to me when i was in Shelly's little red car down by snow college! but no worries i think the deer lived... :D So this week we went and raked leaves for our ward mission leader at his house.. well he lives up at deer lake and he owns this resort up there and it is just absolutely beautiful! I couldn't believe it. He has all the docks too that go out into the lake and i wanted to go fish off them so bad! lol.. but we had to rake leaves otherwise he probably would have let me.. He is like 80 years old and he is the nicest guy in the world! But it was pretty fun. maybe when the lake freezes over he will let us go ice fishing off of his dock.. that would be perfect. Plus they have lots of cool fish in the lake he said.. So this week overall was pretty good. It feels as if we have a lot of work that is just kinda sitting on the fence and so we have been trying our best to shake the fence and just hoping and praying that they will fall on the right side :D But we will see what happens. The Bassett family is still doing pretty good. They didn't make it to church this week. And Bruce (the dad) well he is a history guy and he just loves history but because of that he went on google and typed in "Joseph Smith" and "Brigham Young" and so on and so forth and just read everything that he could find.... so he is a little upset because of it.. But the cool thing is that it makes no difference whatsoever what happened in the lives of those men regarding the restoration of the gospel when it comes to knowing whether or not Christ's church is back on the earth.. Satan just tries to make it about the prophets or (the men) when really it is about our savior Jesus Christ and what he has done for us right here right now! along with what he did for us 2000 years ago.. but that is the comforting part.. and we kind of explained that to him.. but we will see.. so please remember the Bassett Family (Bruce, Laura, Nick, and Elizabeth) in your prayers if you will! They are such a wonderful family and they know darn near everyone in the ward and didn't even know that they went to the church.. So that is a good thing so we are just going to try to get the ward more involved with them and see if we can help them progress in gaining testimonies! But we are excited for what work the Lord has given us right now! In the district we had 2 baptisms this week.. and so that is cool.. We are just plugging along.. Oh and mom about boots we are going to try to make it down to Spokane sometime soon and see what we can do about buying some boots.. so i will let you know about that.. But if you find some polishable WARM black boots just send the pic or link to me and i will check them out and tell you what i think.. :D I know we kind of did that last year but then i didn't really need them so now that i need them well i will put a little more into it :D Well interviews are tomorrow... and so I am looking forward to that! I love President Palmer! He is a wonderful man! Such a spiritual leader... its awesome! But I'm looking forward to hopefully getting a heads up about what is going to happen this transfer even though we still have 2 weeks to go.. But my guess is for me that i will be here the rest of my mission... But we will see what happens.. I cannot believe that Saturday was my 18 month mark.. WOW! that went by fast.. But anyways I love you guys so much! Thanks for all that you do for me! Get better both of you! Take care of yourselves!

Elder Penman