Merry Christmas!!

Hello Everyone,  I can't believe there is still no snow over there... that's a bummer.  Well, I would think it was if it were me living there, haha.  There is still no snow here either.  I'm still hoping Heavenly Father will humor me and give us a white Christmas but it's not looking good haha.  Oh and Ty I totally feel for ya, I hated working mules in the winter.  0 degrees though?! That's crazy! 

I haven't got the packages you sent yet.  I might get them today.  We haven't checked mail.  I'm glad you guys enjoyed my package and the coconut, haha.  I will be sending a Christmas package too today.  Hopefully it gets there in time.

That's crazy about Isaac being home.  I don't know how I would handle coming home...  I can't even imagine that right now.  That's cool that he talked at Jareds farewell.  I hope I talk that confident when I get back, and sounds like he will probably giving his homecoming talk about the same time as me now, haha.

This week has been alright.  It's been kind of crazy with transfers and such.  Elder Maybon is gone and Elder Tripp is now here, he is so happy all the time and probably has the most energy I have ever seen!  He's cool.  He started in Ka'u like me so we had a lot to talk about.  It seems like everything is going pretty good. 

Elder Davis is doing good as the District leader.  He was kind of nervous about taking on the job. He is awesome though so he will do great.  We have been trying to find some new investigators lately.  Our teaching pool seems to be slowing down.   Our investigator that was going to be baptized on Christmas Eve didnt come to church again.  Man, I don't know what is going on, he was feeling so good before when he was coming and being active.  We are just trying to help him understand that again. 

We had our ward Christmas party on Saturday.  It was awesome.  They had dinner (of course) and then a talent show.  There are a lot of talented people here.  Most of them were kids too.  They have this thing here called "school of rock" which is pretty much the same as the movie.  One of the members teaches a bunch of kids how to play the all the instruments and they played at the talent show.  It was pretty cool.

Yesterday we had a ward fireside.  We watch 17 miracles.  I have seen it twice now and both times I had to stop my eyes from draining and to swallow the lump in my throat a million times, haha.  That movie is hard to get through.  It's amazing what people went through because they knew that this was the only true church.  They would die for it.  I know people say that all the time but that movie just helped it click in my mind.  I'm so grateful for those people and there example of selfless service and diligence in the gospel.

Well I love you guys and look forward to talking to you on Sunday!  

WHOOOOOAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I will be calling about 3 or 4 utah time, I think.

Elder Justin Pincock 

Transfers! I am Staying on Molokai!!

Hey everyone!  I get at least one more transfer in Molokai!  I get to stay and I'm stoked!  Elder Maybon is the only one who is going, which is a bummer because he is the coolest and best district leader ever!  So now guess who is going to be the district leader… Elder Davis!  He doesn't know it yet but Elder Maybon told me, and he will be so good at it.

 

I'm going to be at one year officially this week!  That's still crazy to me.  I am half way already?  Although I found out something that I was kind of bummed about.  I won’t be able to be home for next Christmas because my last transfer won't end until December 27...  Lame right!  I will be out for 3 Christmas!  That's ok, I will have plenty more.  Hey sorry I haven't sent my memory card of pictures.  Every time I would go to send it something would distract me and I wouldn't be able to.  Now I let it go too long because now I am out of memory on both of them... whoops.  I will send them today (along with some b-day gifts for mom and Bronson) but please hurry and send one back ASAP.  I'm so bummed I missed out on the festivities for your birthdays, sounded pretty good though.  That Christmas party with the Mule friends sounded pretty wild! haha Man I miss Mel and Dona.  Tell them I said hello and thanks again for their huge contribution to my LIFE! That was a funny picture of Dona on the saddle!

That's good that you are still reading Jesus the Christ, mom.  Keep it up.  I did get that poem that Lisa sent.  It is really good, I hope I have a good dash.

 

As for our investigator with the Christmas Eve baptism date…he had a little bump in his life.  He didn't smoke or anything he is totally done with that.  But I guess he went and talked to the priest at another church to tell him he was going to get baptized (I don't know why people think that the priest is there dad or something)  but I guess the priest scared him a little bit and made him realize how big the decision was that he was making.  So he started questioning everything.  Well Sunday came and we hadn't seen him all week because we were at zone conference (a whole other story) but he didn't come to church which was weird because he hadn't missed a Sunday in months.  So both me and Elder Davis felt that we needed to go find him so we left church and went to his house.  He invited us in and told us this story and you could tell that he just didn't have the same spirit about him anymore.  He didn't have the glow, he wasn't smiling as much and it was because he was starting to second guess everything.  Well, me and Elder Davis started just talking.  We ended up teaching him about the Book of Mormon and helping him understand the importance of it and how it is the evidence of the truthfulness of this whole gospel.  He said he would read it and ponder and pray about it after we left.  We also reminded him of the cottage meeting we were having that night.  He said he would come.  He ended up being the only nonmember out of like the 10 that we invited to come.  It seemed that this meeting was for him only.  We started the meeting (by having dinner, of course) and then a lesson.  We went around and bore our testimonies and there were a few people who use to be his other religion so that helped a lot.  His baptism is sort of hanging on a limb right now, but we are still thinking he will be okay.

Now about zone conference…we were supposed to go on Wednesday but then our plane broke so we waited forever for them to fix it and then they couldn't even do it so they had to put us on a flight on Thursday night to Oahu to see a different zone conference there instead of Maui (our own zone)  It was kind of weird but it was fun to see other elders.

I'm out of time now, so… I love you guys.  Man it is always good to hear from you guys.  I love this Gospel and the way it can change people's lives and only for the better and all you have to do is try it out.

Elder Pincock

Wow! 10 More Days = 1 Year!

Hello family/friends who might read this...

Oh and Happy birthday Bronson! I am going to get you and Mom a present hopefully today so you have my permission to be excited!  Man, the Holidays here are super weird because it is not cold...  I don't really like that... haha, but people still have all there decorations up or are now putting them up and there is Christmas music playing.  It’s not very busy though with Christmas shopping because there's not much to shop for here on Molokai.  Most people take the ferry to Maui or shop online I think.  I loved those pictures of the tree festival.  I can't believe dad went, haha.  Good job dad!  I loved all of those packages.  I haven't watched all of the DVD’s yet but I watched a few of the Dad ones.  Those will probably kill me when I watch them all haha, so emotional.  The cd's are amazing.  Kenny G is my boy!  haha  I flipped out when I saw that.  The only thing though is that it reminds me of home a lot and then when I look outside and it's not blustery or snowy and I get kind of sad.  The other two cd’s are super awesome too.  I Got D-Archy's (David Archeletta) signature! haha I haven't watched that movie yet but I'm excited to. 

I was really stoked for this hike we were about to do because it is to the backside of Molokai to somebody’s house but there is no trail and there are cliffs and stuff and we went on google earth with our bishop so he could show us the way.  It felt like when we would find our trails for mule riding haha. We ended up not having enough time on pday to do it though but it would have been really cool.

Skye and Ty might move again?  That would be pretty cool if they had a place with some land of their own.  Good luck with that.  I might miss that little house though. 

Molokai is doing awesome.  One of our investigators is still super committed to being baptized.  We talked to him about it the other day and we asked him to get rid of anything that reminds him of smoking so he gathered up all his ash trays and things and he goes "You guys wanna go out and smash these with me?"  I instantly said yes, haha and we went out and he bashed them with some pliers.  Right now is crunch time for him because if he smokes from now until Christmas eve he has to start all over.  I think he can do it though.  He bore his testimony on Sunday!  He is awesome.  It was great, he was super nervous and when he went to thank me and Elder Davis he said our wrong names.  Man, I love that guy.  He also wasn't really sure how to end it so you could tell when he was done he was kind of wondering what to say because we never told him that you say in the name of Jesus Christ Amen and so he just goes... okay now.. bye bye... haha.  It's awesome that he even decide to go up!  Then I decided to bear my testimony after he did to make him feel a little better.  I hadn't done it in a really long time anyway and it was the last chance of the year.  It felt good. 

We also had the Christmas Devotional but there were some technical difficulties so we had to watch last years.  It was still really good and still made me really trunky, haha.  I miss the times when we would go to temple square on mom's birthday.  Are you guys gonna do that this year?  You definitely should.

Well that is all I can think of right now.  I love you guys and this gospel.  I love to see it change others lives as well as mine every day.  Every day on my mission I seem to get a little stronger and a little more knowledgeable about some part of the gospel and there are still endless things to learn.  Sometimes I just want to know everything.

That is all for this week.

Elder Pincock 

Thanksgiving Day on Molokai!

Hey everyone, it has been a good week.  We did have 4 Thanksgiving dinners throughout the week and 2 of them were on Thanksgiving.  We spent those 2 with the Nakayamas (who we live with) and the Apuna's fed us dinner later on.  It was pretty much the same as at home.  Just the normal traditional stuff, although nobody does deviled eggs here which makes me pretty bummed, but it's all good they are all so awesome.  They take really good care of us, probably too good because I have gained so much weight, haha.  It was a little bit slow as far as the work goes with the holiday and what not but still really good.  On Thanksgiving Day we didn't have to proselyte so we went and played "touch" football with the Hoolehua ward.  I got crushed haha, and there is a nice scratch on my forehead from being clawed by a 300 lb Polynesian.  It was a good time!  I'm getting so stoked for the Holidays!  I think that we might all get to stay again.  We will see in about 2 weeks when transfers come.

 

We decorated our pad with Christmas stuff.  It's awesome and that air freshener you gave me is the best!  We put it behind our little fake tree so it smells like a real one.  I got all of your packages!  Thanks so much.  I'm stoked to see those videos and to listen to the music.

 

That's awesome that you are reading Jesus the Christ.  I love that book so much although it's really hard for me to get the energy to read it.  It seems like when I have time it feels good to not do anything, haha but I need to get back into it.  I still have like 150 pages left. 

Today we made some sweet wooden hook necklaces out of Koa wood which is a pretty expensive wood here.  Some guy in the other ward boundaries (nonmember) let us use his stuff to make them.  If we went out and bought them they would probably cost like 50 bucks.  They are way cool. 

Have you heard from Tyler?  He's probably super stoked that the resorts are open.  Man it's weird to think I could snowboard next year... 

Well I don't know if you remember me telling you about one of our investigators but he is the one trying to quit smoking.  He is doing really good.  We gave him some vitamin c and some orange juice to clean out his system.  We also gave him some scope to swish with.  He is so funny.  He keeps telling us that he has the heeby jeebies and doesn't really know what to do with himself.  We keep telling him that's the spirit! haha  He is so stoked about being able to get baptized and to be sealed with his wife who died a few years ago.  He is doing awesome.  He is supposed to be baptized on Christmas Eve.  I'm so excited! 

Well that's all for this week.  I love you guys.  Can't wait to talk to you on the phone! 

Elder Pincock

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey everyone, it's been a good week.  One of our investigators has a baptismal date now and he is so excited for it.  It’s on Christmas Eve!  He is the best.  He is this old, Italian guy with a strong Brooklyn accent.  I feel like I am part of the mob when I go to his house, haha.  He is a smoker of 50 years and has been trying to kick the habit.  His commitment date is Dec 3^rd and I think he will make it.  He has really had a change of heart and is excited to be baptized.  He loves to talk to "Pop" as he says referring to Heavenly Father.  Even in his prayers he will say Pop haha.  We are excited for him!

Oh, we also had a surprise baptism!  Kaz got baptized this week and got ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood!  I love that kid.  He is super excited to pass the sacrament.  Man, he has come a long way.  He has had a super hard life but he seems to be doing alright.

 

How was dad's ride?  I really need to talk to the mule guy that is here.  Buzzy is his name, haha.  You guys should name a mule Buzzy. 

Thanks for sending the packages.  I haven't got them yet but looking forward to them!

I'm stoked for the Holidays, although we have 4 Thanksgiving dinners so far...  Holy cow.... I am going to be HUGE!   I think everybody still does the same traditional stuff here but I will let you guys know how it goes.  Someone in our ward gave us a little Christmas tree.  I'm absolutely excited about it too.  Me and Elder Maybon just sat and stared at it forever last night talking about Christmas memories.  It was the best.  Christmas just makes you happy and I dig it!

The good news is… The gospel is true (the funny part of that sentence is that "gospel" means good news... I think) ...  The good news is the good news is true... hmmm)  I can't believe I am going to talk to you guys soon... and then I only talk to you on the phone 1 more time before I talk to you face to face, haha, crazy stuff.

Have an ultra good day.  I am.

Elder Pincock

I Live in Molokai!!

Hey how's it going everyone?  Sounds like you guys have been really busy this week.  I'm glad to hear real estate is going good.  You asked about the Helicopter crash and yeah it crashed in my ward boundaries on the east end of Molokai.  There were 4 tourists in it, really sad.  It was pretty crazy though because Elder Maybon's sister was in Maui at the time and that's where it came from and he was pretty scared because he thought it might be her, but no worries it wasn't.

Molokai is still awesome like I say every week.  I love the Kaunakakai ward.  The members are all so nice and love this Gospel so much.  They are so helpful.  This week we taught the most lessons I have ever taught on my mission.  And this is in an area that is supposedly really slow.  We taught 28 total.  It ended up being a really good week.  I had a little bit of a rough start.  Tuesday or Wednesday was super hard for me (can't really remember which day).  For some reason it was just a day where I didn't feel like being a missionary.  I hate to say it but I was done talking to people.  It probably started in the morning because the alarm went off and I didn't want to work out.  I just wanted to sleep all day.  But I got up anyway and did it.  After that I didn't want to put the same clothes I wear every day on, but I did it anyway.  I didn't even want to study which is something I usually love to do now, but I did it anyway.  That whole morning was just thrown off by something.  But when I decided to study, I had one of the most spiritual studies of my mission.  I was reading a lot about Christ and the Atonement, not on purpose but it just happened like that.  I read chapter 26 of Matthew which helped me to really understand the Atonement a lot better.  I decided to read that poem that I told you about a while ago called "He has been there before" except this time it was a little different.  Usually I feel the spirit from that poem because I am going through a hard time and it helps me remember Christ and what he went through but this time it was almost the opposite.  All the things mentioned in that poem seemed to be going good for me.  I didn't have a bad companion.  I didn't have to ride a bike.  I didn't get made fun of or anything like that.  It was as if Christ was saying, "What are you whining about!" haha  I was almost on the brink of tears during this time.  Well this helped me for a little while but then I, for some reason, slipped back into the "I hate everything" attitude.  It was an alright day, but we were just having a few cancellations.  Then at the end of the day we were scheduled to teach one of our recent converts and her less active family member who is now coming back to church.  We decided earlier that we would teach her about the first vision of Joseph Smith history.  Well we taught that but it ended up being geared towards her family member who was going through some really hard times.  We explained to her that when you are trying to do what's right Satan really tries to bring to you down even harder than before because he knows only good can come from us following the commandments.  This not only eased her heart but mine as well.  Even though I was teaching the lesson I felt like the one learning it.  It taught me to not give up even when I have days like this because it might be the day that matters most either for me or for somebody else.  So it actually turned out to be one of the best days of my mission, weird how God’s plan seems to happen like that.  

I love you all.  Thanks for everything.  You guys are always in my prayers.   

Elder Pincock

Transfer Calls Last Night....

We are all staying another transfer!! haha Even Elder Maybon.  He will have been here 7 1/2 months after this.  He was ready to go but is still excited to stay a little longer.  Man it has been a crazy week.  We had another baptism and confirmation!  So we have 5 new members for this month, our goal of 7.  President is holding us to a high standard now too because this last month was so successful ...   I hope we can keep it up.  The ward keeps working hard with us, they are awesome. 

I gave a talk in Sacrament.  It went alright but ended up being a little short, I talked on the Atonement.  I used Alma 7:11-13.  That is one of my favorite scriptures about the atonement because it lets us know that it wasn't just for our sins that he suffered for us but for everything even a bad thought or a time that we have felt wronged.  I also wanted to use Mosiah 14:5 Which is another scripture that I love.  Elder Davis' was good too.  He talked on remembering Christ.  There was a former missionary visiting here this week too so with the extra time they just had her come up and bear her testimony.  It was good and made me think of when I come back as a normal person, haha.  I'm stoked for that. 

On Saturday we had a huge Halloween party wih the ward and pretty much the island of Molokai, haha.  There was a ton of people there.  It was a trunk or treat plus a pot luck and there was a desert contest and a chili contest.  It was awesome.  Oh and guess who won 2nd place in the dessert contest...  ELDER PINCOCK AND ELDER DAVIS!  Haha  with what you ask?  It was graham cracker brownies but with peanut butter fudge and chocolate fudge on top.  It was awesome!  It tasted like snickers.  They also had a little spook ally for the kids and of course I had to go in.  There was a huge line and it made me think of when we used to go to the haunted houses in Utah.  I really miss those.  Tyler said there is a new one?  Did any of you go to it?  Was it good? 

Our teaching this week was kind of down.  We didn't have a lot of lessons but we were busy with baptisms, ward members, and other ward activities so we didn't get much new this week but it's all good.  It was a good week for fellowship in the ward.

Hey I get to talk to you guys on the phone soon!  SWEET!  It's kind of weird that I am approaching my second Christmas as a missionary.  Man, I have really been craving some Christmas music lately.  You should send me some.  Oh and guess what... I lost the dvd player...  It might have been stolen.  I'm hoping I just left it at a members house.  I'm pretty bummed about that. 

Well, I love you guys.  I love this Gospel.  I love Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father.  I'm so glad to be sealed to my family.  I miss you guys so much.  

Elder Pincock

P.S.  Those Costume pictures were awesome!  Me and Elder Davis just switched tags this year. Haha 

Successful Week in Molokai!

Hey everyone!  Sounds like a pretty good week for you guys.  It sounds like a crazy fun show you saw with Vanessa, haha. Oh and I'm glad that all of you made it back from the Thriller show okay, trax can be kinda sketchy at night.  I kinda always liked it though, haha, because strange people are sometimes funny, it's that simple. 

This week was another awesome week!  I think I say that every time now but I'm cool with that.  We had another baptism and she did awesome and is really smart.  She is only 9 and it was cool because her mom was saying that she wanted to get back into church but just didn't know how and didn't know if she was allowed, and this helped her come back and be able to feel the spirit again.  Hopefully, her mom’s boyfriend, who is not a member felt the spirit too and decides to join us.  That would be the best.  They are an awesome family.  We taught a ton of lessons this week too.  I think like 23 or something.  I hope that doesn't sound like I am bragging but I'm just stoked about it! 

The zone leaders came to our pad this weekend to check up on us.  Elder Gardner, of course, came with us and Elder Toki went with the other elders.  We had a pretty good time.  We also figured out that Elder Toki is slightly crazy.  We were all messing around for exercise in the morning on rip sticks and whatnot.  We were just going down the driveway and stuff and then we look over and Elder Toki is bombing down the hill that we live on.  Which is like 1/4 mile long and is super steep has a highway at the bottom...  not the best idea he has ever had...  We were all freaking out.  I thought he was gonna a die.  A car started backing out and it missed in by like a foot.  But then, going like 20 miles an hour, he hit the lip at the end of the road, flew across and landed on the highway and then slid the rest of the way.  Luckily there were no cars or he would have been destroyed.  His leg was pretty messed up though.  Like half of his calf was a raspberry...  is was pretty nasty looking. 

Well, we are not doing anything too special today, although we might go fishing for a little while.  That's pretty cool.  This upcoming week is the last week of the transfer... Wow!  I will hit a year end of next transfer!  Crazy!  It’s gonna be a good week though, we are going to have another baptism.  Another 9 year old kid.  He is awesome little guy.

Well that's about it.  Love you guys.  Wish you guys could experience Molokai.  It's the best. 

Elder Pincock

Hiked to Kalapapa!!

Hey everyone!  I made it back in time to email! Today we hiked down to Kalapapa, the leper colony, and we didn't think we were going to make it back in time but I kicked my butt so I could! haha We made it back at like 3:30.  The other elders did it last week and didn't make it back until 5, so feeling pretty good about myself, haha.  We weren't able to ride the mules.  I was pretty sad about that.  Man I miss that so much.  Just seeing the huge mule train there brings back some pretty good memories.  The hike was crazy.  It goes pretty much straight up a cliff.  We got down to the little town and we took a bus tour of it.  It was pretty cool, and is awesome to say that I did it!  You can only go down there by invitation and luckily one of the members owns it, so we got hook ups, of course.  We took a tour of the churches and stuff... well except the LDS church wasn't part of the tour but the bus driver was nice and drove past it. 

Now to answer some of your questions… we stay with members in their basement and it is awesome! It's so nice.  Both companionships even have our own bathrooms and it was just remodeled so it's really nice.  I will send pics soon.  We have an awesome view of the ocean, its right outside the window above my desk!  We do have a washer but no dryer just lines.  I still haven't had to use the ironing board yet, haha but we will see.  We do have a car.  Our area is actually pretty big.  As for my ukulele skills, they are becoming keen.  haha Except I still don't know many songs I just have been messing around making up stuff.  Our teaching is going awesome! I think we taught over 20 lessons this week again.  We are still working really hard but despite of it all one of our investigators, who had a baptismal date, didn't come to church again, so we had to drop the date and won’t be baptized in October.  We may still reach our goal though.  We are working so hard to not let anyone fall through the cracks.  Elder Davis and I are doing really well as a companionship.  He is really humble and loves everyone.  We are so grateful for everyone's prayers and help.  President came and interviewed us and was very pleased with our work.  Pretty much all he told us was to keep it up and to not give up.  

Wow, I can't believe Jam is engaged! Why have I not received a wedding invitation, haha, that's so funny because she was sure that she wouldn't be, haha.  Congratulations to her!  Tell Tyler that is the same picture I have hanging up here (well not exactly but taken from the same day), haha.  I love those pics, let them all know that I miss them all!  I know I say this lately but I felt the trunkiest, with the seeing the mules and some pics, even of snow! Someone showed me a pic of snow in AF canyon! Snowboarding!  

I love you guys so much, but don't worry because I love Molokai and they take pretty good care of me here, haha.  And….I really wish you guys could taste the Molokai bread.  It's the best. 

I haven't finished Jesus the Christ yet because I stopped reading for a while but I am starting up again and I look forward to reading it every night.  Weird, right?  I highly recommend you join in reading it too.  It helps if you understand the bible stories though so I am reading them at the same time.

Elder Bigbear Pincock

Hello! I Still Love Molokai!

Hey everyone… It has been an awesome week this week.  Pretty cool you googled the mule riding place here…the other elders went there without us today because the member that owns it only could take 2 at a time.

I did get the package! Thanks! Oh and just thought I would tell you this little story…The Zot candy almost killed me because I bit it and that stuff exploded from the inside of it like lava in my mouth and I almost choked… haha!  I forgot to tell you that I loved that tribute cd that you gave me, it is awesome and didn't leave me and Elder Workman’s CD player for like 4 weeks before I left Maui. Thanks!

Well… We almost met all of our goals for this week.  We were one short on our lessons with a member.  ONE SHORT! But the ward temple trip was this week so we did pretty good considering not many people were on the island.  It always makes me feel bad when people talk about the temple trip here because they have to do like a year of planning and saving just to go there for a week...  I could have walked to our temple...  I definitely took that for granted.  Our 4 baptisms got pushed back because of a funeral that day but I'm not sure when yet, it will still be this month though.  We have 3 others with a date so I still think we are going to reach our goal.  We are just focusing on being as obedient as possible and working our butts off! I love it!  It is way better when we are busy then when we don't have anyone to teach.  Molokai is also nice because we pretty much have to be done at like 7:30pm because everyone goes to bed way early, haha.  So we get some good rest here.  One of our investigators did set a date for her wedding too, which is awesome!

You were talking about Bronson how he was listening to Doug Stone yesterday… well wanna know something weird?  That song “love grows best in little houses”  randomly came into my mind yesterday, haha and I was going to ask you who sang that song, I couldn’t remember, haha so thanks.  I have been missing country music a lot lately, one of the members in our ward (who is kind of a cowboy) was telling me about all of the county western artists he knows.  So now I also have had Glen Cambell's, "Gentle on my mind" stuck in my head too for this week, haha.  It sounds like Bronson is doing well and that we were probably thinking the same thing at the same time this week!  I miss and love you guys so much but I have been trying not to think about it because there is a ton of work for me to do here, which helps.  It sounds like Skye and Ty's business is going pretty well too!  That's awesome. Make sure to tell them hi for me next time you see them and that  I miss coming and kickin’ it at their house every now and again, haha.  I'm so grateful to have a sister that it so supportive and such a good example of what I should be, she was always there to keep me company or to invite me with her if I didn't have anyone to hang out with.  I'm also grateful for Ty too and for how much he cares for her.  Tell them all that I love them.  Well this is another short one but not much different  happened this week.  We are doing awesome and I love it here.  It feels so good to see hard work pay off.

Love you guys,

Elder Pincock

I Love General Conference!!

Hey, what's up family and friends reading this… How's it?  Molokai is awesome!  The people are the best! 

Our teaching is going pretty good.  We are teaching some good lessons.  We have like 4 maybe 5 baptisms pending, our goal is 7 for the month of October.  It's gonna be awesome when we get it.  My comp Elder Davis is an awesome missionary and I am happy to work with him.  He loves the work and genuinely wants to help these people. 

Our District is sweet!  Elder Maybon is an awesome district leader.  He's only been out like 7 months and Elder Davis has been out a year last week. 

I LOVE GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!!!  It's so weird to me that I love it so much.  It's like Christmas.  It is pretty much Heavenly Father speaking to us and telling us what we need to do to live better lives.  It always gives me the extra pick up that I need and gets me motivated again to do the work.  "We are being raised in enemy territory" but "LUCIFER WILL LOSE"! haha,  Love it.  You asked me about what times we watch it here in Hawaii and the first session starts at 6am and the second session is at 10am.  We had to get up pretty early, but it was worth it.  

So our house is set in stone (no pun intended).  That's awesome.  Is it weird that I am glad that I get to come back to that little old house?  I think it is.  Dad sold the gray mule?  Well guess what… there are a bunch of mules here on Molokai somewhere.  Some guy uses them to take people down to Kaulapapa, the leper colony (yeah you read that right).  I think we are going down there soon.  But we probably will just hike down.  I'm pretty sad about that, but maybe I will be able to meet that guy.   

So it's getting colder...  Man I miss snow, snowboarding mostly.  I can't believe it is already October.  So is Andrew coming home in 4 months?!  Wow!  That's crazy. 

Well sorry it's another short one this week.  Love you guys.  You are awesome!

I'm so grateful to be on a mission and grateful to be in Molokai.  I'm grateful to be able to serve Jesus Christ.  It is the very least I could do for him compared to what he did for me.  

Later,

Elder Pincock 

I Love Molokai!

Hey everyone.  How are you all doing this week?  My week has been awesome.  I love Molokai.  I guess I will just start from the beginning of the week.  Tuesday I just said bye to everyone in Maui and the last stop of that day was the Kaholoaa Family (Bro Kaholoaa is from Molokai so I will probably see him soon, haha).  They were awesome!  They are definitely one of my favorite families to visit.  Sister Kaholoaa's sister was the one we were teaching who was not ready to commit to baptism yet.  When we were there saying goodbye at their house, we were talking about baptism and she seemed really close to committing.  So then I left and came to Molokai.  I rode the ferry to Molokai and I got really wet but that's beside the point…  Turns out that the day after I arrived in Molokai, Elder Workman calls and tells me she committed to baptism! We taught her a bunch and she decides to commit the week after I leave?  It's ok though, as long as she is getting baptized, I'm stoked.  Elder Workman called me today and told me she passed her Baptism interview and will be baptized next week.  Awesome!  This whole past week I have been trying to figure out how I could get over there… I think I am going to have to swim...no…  but I think i can make it... maybe... her Uncle is coming from Molokai to confirm her.  I'll just come with him... that would work probably if there wasn't a large ocean in the way.  Oh well, it’s all good.  So that is the story that made my whole week!

Anyway Molokai is awesome!  And guess who my comp is…Elder Davis!  He was in my district on big island!  He is awesome and loves to work!  The people here are the best.  Everyone knows everyone and they are so nice and wave all the time.  It's a lot like Ka'u but is its own island.  We have set a goal for 7 baptisms for October and I think we will make it.  We have 4 for sure and there are a few other kids who are pretty much ready.  The rest of my District is awesome as well.  Our District Leader is Elder Maybon from Boise Idaho and his comp is Elder Mafi from Tonga.  There are both hilarious and I'm stoked to be able to serve here with them.  I'm taking a lot of pics so I will probably send those soon. 

Oh and I need to tell you about Molokai hot bread...  Ok imagine this…  You are careening down the slopes of a cream cheese icing mountain on a sleigh made of the best bread in the universe and you run into a cinnamon patch and it dusts your sleigh with the perfect amount of cinnamon…then you eat your sleigh and it is kind of like fireworks exploding in your mouth...  And that is how it feels to eat Molokai hot bread!  It’s so good, except it is a little strange when you buy it because you have to go down this dark ally, and it doesn't open until 8:30 PM, and you order through the window of this old building and they go and make it and then give it to you.  It's the best.  You guys really need to try it someday haha.

 

So that is my week.  It was a good one.  I look forward to hearing from you guys again!

Elder Pincock

NEXT STOP... MOLOKAI!!

I am being transferred!  It's funny that I have only been in two areas and now I am being transferred to MOLOKAI!  It's one of the smaller islands off of Maui.  It is still in the same zone, haha.  I'm pretty excited for that!  I've always wanted to see what it was like over there.  Now i will only have one more island to go to and that is Kauai.  Well and Oahu but everyone goes there, haha.  There are only 4 elders total on Molokai.  I hear my new companion is pretty cool too so I will let you guys know about everything next Monday.  I get to ride a ferry there and that means I don't have a wait limit to my bags which is nice.  I’m pretty stoked to go but obviously sad to leave.  Elder Workman has been awesome.  He has been one my favorite comps so far.  He is staying here along with Elder Savage.  Elder Allen is going to Oahu somewhere.  This has been a crazy 4 ½ here, haha. 

So JT is going to live in a bamboo hut? That would be awesome!  That would be weird to go tracting in a place like that!  There is so many Phillipino people here.  We can't understand what they say and they can't understand us.  They see us and just say "Catholic dats why"...  it's kind of funny. 

I wish i could be there for the demolition in the house, haha,  that was always the best part.  I kind of miss remodeling haha.  I haven't lived in a house where we haven't done that.

Well the work this week was pretty much the same.  We have been trying to see all the less active and part member families on the ward list (which is like 75 percent of them)  but we haven't found anyone solid yet but we will keep looking.  Wel,l I guess elder workman will...  We also taught one of our investigators again and it still amazes me that she's not a member.  We had a really good lesson.  She is moving forward but very slowly.  She keeps trying though. 

We went to chiefs house again for the last time.  I don't know if you remember me talking about him but he lives way out in the boonies next to a rock beach.  It was awesome.  I took some pictures so you guys will get to see it soon.  We also rode a school bus this week, haha.  There was an investigator in pukalani ward that we all know pretty well that drives the bus to school.  Elder Allen told her one day that he would show up one day and sneak on the bus.  She didn't really believe him so we just had to do it.  So we got up early and grabbed our back backs and drove like a block away from her house and then parked so she wouldn't see it and snuck up to her house and she had her bus running in the driveway.  We snuck up in and layed in the back and she came in and made a few stops.   Then in the middle of it we just sat up.  She had the funniest look on her face.  She just looked at us and started laughing.  So then we just talked to all the kids on the bus to school.  She had them all introduce themselves to us and they all prayed with us before they got off the bus, haha.  So, that is my interesting story for the week. 

I love you guys.  Thanks for all of you support.  I really am grateful for it. 

See ya in Moloka'i.  (probably not though.  That'd be weird)

Elder BigBear Pincock

Could Be My Last Week in Maui??

Hey family and all other who read this…

Sounds like it was a good week, once again I start all of my letters like that.  Mom, yes we might have warn the funny glasses in the package for a period of time, haha! Thanks a lot I was stoked for that package. 

That's funny about that guy here that emailed you a picture huh, haha.  He is quite wealthy...  He lives pretty much across the street from the beach and owns a zipline on big island so if I get to go back there again I might be able to do it for free! it's crazy cool!  He lives in Paia which is the north side of the big part of Maui.  That's pretty much where all the hippies/haolis live, haha.  He is a really nice guy though.  We didn't even know he lived there we were just tracting on his steet and he answered the door.  We were like I know you from somewhere, haha.  Tracting was kind of hard that day because two days before I sprained my ankle because we went down this hill to see a goat and I slipped on my way down...  I get hurt in the dumbest ways.  Elder Allen and Elder Workman pretty much just made fun of me.  But really I deserved it, lets be honest. 

Transfers are coming up again next week.  We find out on Sunday and leave Wednesday.  I think I am out of here.  I think I am going to Oahu this time...  Not sure what to think of that.  But I'll let you guys know next week how that goes. 

I got the package with the memory card in it.  There were no videos on it...  Or maybe they just wouldn't play for me but i wasn't able to see them...  Bummer!  I miss my Max a ton

You guys are starting the remodeling?! sweet!  Did I tell you we were tiling this guys house?  haha We did some demolition and now we are putting down the tile.  So glad I was able to see dad do all those things.  I really can't wait to remodel my own house.  That's really funny that we guys are fighting to stay in that little house.  But I really think I would be sad if I came back to a different one.  I don't quite understand.  I guess it will be a little different.  Maybe a little nicer, haha.

 

Our pad is pretty funny.  It is slowly being sucked down into the earth.  If you look at the inside everything is way tilted and our fridge kind of looks like it is going break through the walll and fall out.  It is tilting back and our microwave is on top of it pushed to the back so I feel like a small child when I have to use it.  Elder Workman makes fun of me because he is like 8 feet tall, haha. 

Again this was a slow week for missionary work...  A really slow week.  That was kind of our fault too though.  We had a lot of things going like zone conference and whatnot which bytheway was awesome.  I love zone conference.  I think I tell you that every time too.  It helps so much with the work and helps motivate me again when things aren't going as good as I would like them too.  The leadership in this mission is awesome.  One of our zone leaders, Elder Davies, is going home and we are all pretty bummed about it.  And I have told you guys a ton that I love our mission president and his wife.  They are awesome and are always looking out for us. 

We also had our movie night on Saturday.  We had 2 nonmembers come!  Hopefully we can get over there and teach them.  One of them seemed pretty open.  They came with their friend who is a member who just moved in to the ward.  Hopefully we can get teaching them soon. We are also teaching another girl who probably should have been baptized a long time ago but keeps telling the missionaries she is not ready.  We had a super spiritual lesson about baptism on Friday but she just won't commit.  She is afraid to make a mistake.   And we have told her many times that she WILL! haha and that's why she needs to be a member so she can be forgiven of those mistakes.

 

Well that is pretty much it for the week.  I hope you liked this email better than the last one.  Sorry about that.  Love you guys.  The church is true and there is no way that it couldn't be.  I love being a missionary and encourage you guys to help those in need of this Gospel. 

Elder Bigbear

Aloha Again!

Hey family and friends…How are you all?  Thanks for the packages mom they were awesome!  The jaw harp didn't really work though, so I was pretty bummed about that.  I'm glad you guys liked the pictures!  My favorite video is when Elder workman is telling the story about the hamster, haha, that story is true! 

Things are a little slow still.  We are working really hard but not much is happening.  I am worried that our ward mission leader thinks we just don't do anything, but he is wrong.  The bishop has even called me in to meet with him because he could tell I am a little stressed these passed couple weeks because not much was happening and I am trying to help Elder Workman be a good missionary but it's kind of hard when we can't really find many people to teach, frustrating.  The bishop was very nice though and wanted to make sure I knew if we needed anything, we could just call him.

 

A couple of things happened… the first one… we hit a deer! Crazy, huh? I'm pretty sure it was Bambi all grown up too.  We didn't hit it very hard and it just rolled over got up and ran away. I wondered if we could have found it if we could have taken it to Bro. Koholaa’s and he could have cooked it up for us, haha.  It didn't do much to our car, just kinda pushed the grill in a little bit but we just snapped it back out.  It was a buck too!  …. Then the second thing…. We did demolition work on somebody’s house, haha.  We broke down walls and such and then we started doing the tile.  It felt good to do that stuff again, you know… man stuff, hahaha! 

I would have to say that the Highlight of the Week was to see Joe pass the sacrament!  I'm pretty sure that is how I will feel to see my son pass the sacrament for the first time too!  It was a real good feeling.

I'm really not sure what else to write about anymore, so I will bear my testimony.  I'm so grateful for the trials I go through on my mission because I know that Heavenly Father is just shaping me into something I will be later in this life or in the eternities.  I love being a missionary as I have said many times.  I can't believe I am almost at 9 months.  It doesn't feel like that long.  I'm so grateful for my Savior and for the chance I have to stand in his place for two years to do the things he needs done.  I know that I might not understand all the time of why I am doing some things but I know that if he asks me to then it has to be right and for good.  I also know that the living Prophet, President Monson, is the spokesperson for God and is unable to lead us astray.  We can never go wrong with following the prophet.

 

I love you all, thanks for your support!

Elder Pincock

Aloha Kakahiaka!

Hey everyone!

It has been a crazy week.  I haven't done much missionary work because on Tuesday we went to the doctors and Elder Workman was told he had to go to the ER to get his appendix out! Crazy, right! We were at the Hospital from like 6pm to like 1:30am (it was weird being up that long on a mission). I was with the Zone Leaders, Elder Davis and Elder Gardner.  We just had to hang out until they came out and told us what was up.  When we finally got home I stayed with them for a couple days.  Then we went to pick up Elder Workman and take him to a members house where he would be staying.  It was the nicest house in Maui, I'm pretty sure.  All of us were wanting to now take out our appendixes, haha.  He was pretty much treated like a king there, haha, and meanwhile I was at our pad working with the Pukalani Elders (Elder Savage, Elder Allen) and just kickin’ it with them for a couple days.  Elder Workman was able to come back to our pad on Saturday.  He is still got some pain but he is probably one of the toughest guys I know.  He didn't even want to go to the doctor to see what was wrong even though he was in horrible pain! Haha.  Now he is still recovering, which is okay because we will take it easy for a couple days and I have a cold so it’s all good.  President Dalton even flew over just to see him and to make sure he was ok.  He is pretty much the dad of 200 kids.  He's so awesome!  

I'm doing ok for shirts and stuff for now but I think I will need some new ones soon.  I will let you know.  Hopefully it isn't because they are too small, haha. 

That mule ride you guys went on looks like a real pretty place.  I wish I could ride so bad sometimes.  I have only seen one mule here and I am tempted to go over there and tell them I will train it if they will listen to the missionary lessons, haha.

 

Roy is that really reeaaallly big guy at the gym right?  I remember him! I didn't even know he was a member.  That would be cool to hear his conversion story! 

I haven't heard from Tyler in a while.  Hopefully I will hear from him soon!

 

That was probably way weird for you mom not to go to register someone for school, haha.  I could just picture you asking to take someone elses kid and helping them to get registered! Haha, maybe you should just be a counselor there, you would be the best counselor ever at school!

 

The movie night was... well, honestly only mediocre at best, we didn't have any investigators and only a few members came.  Pukalani had a couple investigators though, so it was good for them.  We are planning another one on the 10^th, I think.  Hopefully it goes better than the last one.

I'm pretty stoked for the birthday package! Transfers are like 3 weeks from now so I might open it early.  We will see, haha!

 

Oh I almost forgot to tell you about this bounty hunter guy we ran into.  We were knocking doors in Pukalani's area and we found this guy who is a less active member and we later figured out he is a bounty hunter and knows like everyone.  I talked to Keith Barton, the lawyer from Utah, on the phone.  He told me to convert him, haha.  He was kind of a funny, he kept telling us how much money he made in a year and about his hummer and Harleys.  He offered to get us a helicopter ride but we aren't allowed to.

Well, this is all for now and I will talk to you next week. 

The church is true and it is proven to me every day.  I love this gospel and love being a missionary.  Everyone should do all you can to find missionary opportunities because it is the most rewarding work in the world. 

Love you.  See ya!

Elder Bigbear Pincock