Don't Take the Gospel for Granted!

Hello my wonderful parents! how are you guys doing?!?! It sounds like you are having a great time with football and stabbing yourselves with wooden spoons and such!! lol! Man things are getting hard right now!! We are teaching the most amazing people at the moment but my companion is a hoser! I still get along with him and all but he just doesn't understand charity... he is out here to force baptism on the world instead of loving them and helping them change... hrrrrp. So things have been way different for me. Ever since elder Clyde left things kind of took a 180. I think just to see if I could handle it... and I can no worries, but just pray for Elder Ashton's heart to soften and for him to have a little more charity. We are teaching a guy right now that came to church on Sunday and loved it. He asked us if he can bear his testimony next Sunday and if he can give a talk in church some time. :D He is so freaking golden! He was raised a Christian.. practicing Muslim.. and found out he was a Jew by birth.. LOL!!! He has practiced all those and more! But he told us that no one have ever been able to answer his questions in a way that makes sense except for us.. and he was telling us on Sunday how grateful he is to have found the true church after searching for 60 years!!! So DON'T TAKE THE GOSPEL FOR GRANTED!!! Eh you hosers!!! No but he has built up my testimony so much! His name is Richard Powell and he is just awesome!! We are teaching a very cool young couple as well.. so we might get 3 baptisms this month!!! woohoo!!! That would be way cool! But you know I thought teaching people the word of wisdom and the law of chastity would be hard but really when you teach them the restoration and you love them then the spirit teaches them those things on the side and by the time you get to them they pretty much have already accepted it.. and its so fun to see!! But those investigators are what keep me sane!! :D!! I love you guys so much! I didn't get the package yet but there was no mail on Monday and so that's why I am emailing today... so I will probably get it today.. so no worries!! But hey I hope you guys are having a really good time! I love you guys so much! Thanks for all that you do for me! I love ya! Take care!
Love, Elder Penman

Along Came Elder Ashton

Hey!! How are you!? Yep so elder Clyde is gone and I went and picked up Elder Ashton yesterday. So sorry this is a little late! I know how you get when my letters are late! :) But ya he is pretty interesting to say the least! He lives in Provo and there are 19 kids in his family!!!!Ya holy cow! There are no twins and his parents had 13 of them and adopted the other 6, which are all special needs. His parents must be pretty amazing! But he falls at number 13. He has been out 16 months but this is his first chance at being senior companion. Last night we went to basketball with the ward like we always do on Tuesday nights, and he was trying to argue with me cause he doesn't think we should be going to basketball but I just kept saying okay well call pres and talk to him about it...or talk to the ward mission leader about it...the reason we go is because there are always non-members there and our ward mission leader got really mad at some missionaries a while ago for not going. So he called pres and it was approved by the pres because its a non-threatening way for people to get to know us and to feel comfortable around us. But anyway if he gets that taken away from us then it will be lame. But oh well, I can play ball in a couple years lol. :) So I am pretty much not green anymore!! Woohoo!! So I'm sure you heard but on Sunday when we took Elder Clyde to the mission home I stopped by Dave and Jane's! I got to see Piper!!!:) She is so darn cute its not even funny! :) I gave them my number and they gave me theirs so when you guys come up your parents and I can hopefully go to dinner unless my new comp is a hoser. But Elder Ashton seems very dedicated to working and so that is a huge plus! We have so much work to do here and I am glad he isn't a lazy bugger! I am going to try and work him so hard he falls asleep while we are planning at the end of the day! That is my goal! LoL! Oh! So yesterday he was unpacking and he pulls out this plastic sword and starts swinging it around like he knows what he is doing with it...lol and then he was like pretending to stab me and even himself! I was laughing so hard. It was freaking hilarious! But ya he was even doing a little yoga this morning for exercise! I pretty much think he's a samurai. :) Well I hope you've started a tape! I really want to hear from you! I hope your studies are going well! Good luck with school and work! I love you!
Love, Elder Ryan John Penman
p.s. Sorry no pics again...:(

Short and Sweet

Hey hows it going?!? Well lol dad don't worry the spiders are just fine... and I mean we catch a few a week anyways and so whether or not I was putting them into a tank it wouldn't matter as far as me getting bit... :D So don't worry lol! Well that sucks that you guys ended up losing but... that's what happens when you don't hold onto the ball... So ya practice ought to be really fun this week! Oh well its good for em.. I'm glad you guys got to spend some time with Shel and Tyler! I wish I could have been there too but oh well I have plenty of work to do! I do know who my new comp is his name is Elder Ashton... and all I know about him is that he is tall and a little odd.. but pres told me that its his first time being senior comp.. and he has been out 17 months and so I dunno quite what that means but I have been told that he is a hard worker and so that's all that matters to me! :D I took a trip down to the valley and dropped off elder Clyde at the mission home and he flew out this morning so he is home now.. I told him that he should meet you guys and so he might be calling in a little bit... who knows.. he is coming back up here September 18th and so we are going to go on splits :D but ya I don't pick up my new comp until tomorrow(Tuesday) and so I am just way excited to get back to work! This last p-week sucked! It was driving me nuts!!! But its ok cause I mean its not really elder Clyde's fault cause the last week you basically pack and say goodbye to people... and round all your crap up... so anyways I'm
ready to get the ball rolling again! Cause right now we don't have any on-dates and so we are going to fix that this week hopefully! Ya my area is so beautiful! You guys would love it! But
anyways I love you guys! Have a wonderful week! Good luck this week in football! Mom I hope
you are feeling ok! I love you guys! take care of yourselves!
Love Elder Penman

A Tour of Elder Penman's New Place of Residence

Elder Penman and Elder Clyde's Last Week Together

Well hello there! Whats happenin? Oh man I wish I could have been there with ya for that Red Hat fashion show! LOL you know they should get one of the old guys and give him a red suit and a red hat and a white fur cape and a cane and call him "king!" :) That was a very cute picture that you sent me though! I loved it. Sorry that I haven't been myself lately. Elder Clyde has just been winding down towards the end and its really been tough! But don't worry I talked to the mish pres. and he understands and so its not a big deal I will just stay as focused as I can and when I get a new comp I will freaking work him to death, and then they will get me a new one and the same thing. Dead! :) So our power went out last night and so my alarm never went off! I slept until like 9:15! oops! LOL It was kind of nice but then again I need to study study study! Oh well I'm not complaining :) I am pretty nervous to find out who my next comp is going to be... I will know on Saturday and then Elder Clyde will go into the mission home (in the valley) half way through church and then he will fly home Monday morning and I will take one of the priests with me and work them to death Sunday night and Monday night and then I will get my new companion on Tuesday. It sounds like you had tons of fun at that Emerson Drive concert! lol wow those girls are pretty much shot out of their minds...:) well I wish I could have been there to hang out with your grandparents but if I was there your grandpa would have told me to get my butt on my mission so I can get back and marry you before you marry someone else... LOL. So its a good thing I wasn't there :) Don't worry about you coming to dinner with me, I completely understand! But I hope your parents still want to go! I just want to hear your dad say "have a good mission!" :) Elder Clyde cant decide if he wants a ride or not...he said just leave it up in the air...hrrrrrrp. I told him just to come up but...who knows. So as you can see our duplex is awesome! Take those pics and times them by 2 cause its the same on both sides... and both sides are ours! Pretty sweet huh! No other elders are living with us because its too far out of their areas. So its just the two of us :) But we get taken care of for dinners and no the Broughs didn't feed us that much, maybe some breakfast every now and then... the ward wouldn't let them sign up on the dinner calendar. Oh and by the way you can never go over board on packages :) We are teaching about a dozen people at the moment. We have a list of I think 77 potential investigators... So yeah we stay pretty busy. Elder Clyde wrote Chelsea Hightower but she never wrote back :( Out of the 5 investigator families we had a few weeks ago, we are still in contact with about 3 of them. Yes disc golf is "folf" (Frisbee golf). So sweet, I didn't know that you had ever played that before! That's way cool! I will start driving the car after I get a new comp. They only let one of you be on the insurance at a time. PLEASE send me another tape :) I cant wait to hear your voice again! I love you! Thanks for pushing me to go on a mission! I could never repay you for helping me and supporting me in this decision. :) I can't wait to hear from you!
Love, Elder Ryan John

hey hows it going??!?!! well the spiders are just coming and going... we catch some every week but then they just eat each other... so now there is Die Hard and Suzy and Stuck the second.... lol! well how was your guys time with Shel and Tyler?!?! man oh man i wish i could have played with Eva and Logan together!!! (ya i don't care much about shel and tyler :D ) well sounds like it was a ton of fun! and I'm glad Shannon came to the party and stayed for so long!! she is so darn cute! i hope you all gave her big hugs from me! i gotta tell ya these past weeks with elder clyde have been pretty hard.. this is his last week and i tell ya killin off a companion is something else.. cause everyone! i mean EVERYONE asks him about when he gets home and what he is going to do when he gets home and everything... and we haven't been doing as uch work because he has to get his stuff ready to go and all rounded up from his last areas and what not.. and its not that he is giving up at all its just that that's what happens at the end... but like no one in my district has killed off a comp and so theres no one that i can talk to about it... but then in interviews (which were this week) pres was like ya well that's how i started out my mission too was killin off my first comp... and so he totally understands and he is very happy with me and he asked me if I'm ready to take over the area and everything so i am pretty excited! i think i will be in this area for a while... well hopefully! i love it he re! but who knows?!?! well we hung drywall in our next door neighbors house this week and then today some other guy in our ward needed drywall hung in his bathroom and so we went over and did that today... and so we have been staying pretty busy with service... which is good! and on top of all this elder Clyde was sick with the craps on Saturday and Sunday.. and so we only went to sacrament on Sunday.. but he is feeling better now.. so no worries, but this is how its going to work this week.. he is leaving to go to the valley about half way through church and so from then until Tuesday morning i will have one of the priests in my ward as my comp.. which will be pretty cool for them to get a missionary experience.. but ya so after Tuesday i will have a new comp and i hope that he isn't a freaking hoser... but if he is well then i will just beat him in the face...lol well i wish i could have been there to go golfing with you guys! i hope your irons are treating you well.. well there is a lot going on and i cant even focus.,.. so sorry but ya everything is still going great,, and i love you guys so much! have a wonderful week! and next week i will maybe be able to think a little... :D i love you guys! take it easy!
Love Elder Penman

No Pictures Yet!

Well I am LOVIN the new place! :) Its huge! I have to say that I am VERY sorry that I don't have pictures of it yet though! I should by now but I have been slacking! Please forgive me I will get them to ya soon enough. I will however send you a bracelet that one of the Brennan girls made for me. You can wear it on your ankle :) Its not that they like us, its just that the missionaries have changed their lives so much that they don't know how to repay them and so they just do random nice things for us every once in a while. They have given me a few ties already! But anyway, I like the bracelet. So I've picked up on something new...Elder Clyde taught me how to crochet! Its way sweet and its also very relaxing! It helps you to wind down at night, and he crochets like scarves and beanies. So you never know someday you might get a scarf or something...if so what 3 colors would you want to go together in it? So elder Clyde got all of his stuff and so I have 2 tape recorders and some blank tapes and so feel free to send me a tape! ASAP BABY! So tell me how the Olympics are going... I hear that it was by far the best opening ceremonies ever done by anyone...what are your thoughts? SO you didn't say anything about me and your parents going to dinner...let me know because I will ask but if you can't be there I would still love to go to dinner with your parents! So you didn't like the letter that Carissa got from Elder Clyde? LOL what was wrong with it? I thought it was pretty funny myself! Did she get upset or what? Well I don't think you should be stressing about math class...I know you will be just fine! Oh and just so you know it wasn't the girls that you mentioned about going to the concert with that I didn't approve of...it was the guys that you didn't mention!! :) LOL I'm j/k! But yes if I was home and you went with them I might hrrrrp! But while I am out here I want you to get out like that! So I hope that it was fun! Tell granny Gen happy birthday from me! Those two are so dang cool its not even funny! In fact, that's close to first on the list when I get home (not being trunky at all) is going down to St. George and spending some time with them! So wait, Meri is a waitress at Applebees?! Why wasn't she working there while I was there!? I would have much rather her get my tips than anyone else! LOL well I was just looking over this letter and I realized how sloppy my handwriting has been! So I am sorry if you can't even read it :) if not have your mom help you...she deals with doctors :) Well take care and I love you! Good luck on your new job tomorrow! Goodnight now!

Love, Elder Ryan John

P.S. Tell your mom thanks for the letter and your dad for his cent and a half :)

P.S.S Make me a tape!!!