Hey Everyone! Thanks for the Emails!

Hey everyone!

Thanks for the emails.  Always love hearing from all of you.  Mom, sounds like a pretty awesome week with St George!  Sorry Dad, you seem lonely, haha.  Well everything is going well here.  No real crazy things happened but it was still an interesting week.  We had President come to our pad to check on us and interview us.  I am so glad to have President Dalton as our mission president.  He is awesome and really cares about every single missionary here.  But he did tell us we have to clean all the mold off of our bathroom wall though, haha, not sure how we are going to do that.  We also had an AP come with us.  It was awesome.  His name is Elder Street.  Jamileh actually knows him.  He is way cool.  Then on Friday we had a mini missionary come with us.  His name was Malachi.  He was pretty funny.  We went tracting with him and he was so scared.  We knocked on like ten doors and everyone either poked their head out and said not interested and shut it or just didn't answer all together, haha but finally he got to talk to someone and just kind of paused for a while so we were all just staring at each other waiting for him to talk, haha, finally he asked them if they wanted to hear a message about Jesus Christ.  They said no, but hey, he did it!  Today we got up at 3 am and went to the top of Haleakala to see the sunrise.  I took some pretty sweet pics.  I will send them soon. 

As for the work, it is going pretty good.  Joe is all ready to be baptized next Sunday.  So I have to memorize a really long name again, haha, he has like 5 names!  He is still super solid and an awesome kid.  He comes to church and reads his Book of Mormon even though his dad isn't active. We have another investigator we are working with who we just taught the Plan of Salvation to.  We taught her four times now and it was so hard to help her to feel the spirit because she didn't really want to but she would still read so we kept teaching her.  Well we talked a lot about families because she is real big on raising a good family, so I think she finally felt it a little bit.  We invited her to church but she couldn't come because she was going to be somewhere else but she said she would try to come this next week.  We really hope she can!

 

My companion is doing awesome.  We get along really well still, so that's a good sign.  It was really great because when the mini missionary was with us, he was really helpful for him and learning how everything works.  He is so stoked about being out here and that is really nice.

 

Well that is about it for this week.  Thanks for all that you guys do for me!  Love you. 

Elder Justin Pincock

Gaining a Better understanding of what the Savior went through...

Hey what's up?  Sounds like a pretty good week.  Mom got to go a (scary? haha) mule ride, that’s pretty cool.  You have no idea how much I have wanted to ride lately... sooo weird, right?  Oh, by the way, I am still waiting for the uke... ugh... it's been like 4 weeks and yes it would be nice to have a tuner when I get it.  Can't wait to hear those cd's that you are sending.  I love listening to talks now and I haven't been able to for a really long time.

 

Oh and vacationing without me! haha just kidding.  It sounds like too many women in St G anyway.  I hope you guys have fun in that blistering hot sun while I'm in 75 degree Upcountry Maui... sorry I just had to throw that in there, haha!

The work here is going good.  It seems to be picking up.  We are having a lot more success tracting.  We recently started trying to pray for direction for the hour of tracting we do in every prayer we say throughout the day and it seems to help a lot.  We have found 5 new investigators in the last 2 weeks.  Still not quite sure how solid they are but we will see.  Joe is still as solid as ever and should be baptized on the 31st. Man, we love that guy.  We are like best buds.  We even have a secret hand shake.  Haha

I did have a few interesting experiences this week that you guys should enjoy so I will share one.  Don't worry it's not like the one last week, haha.  I will first start off by telling you that I now have a better understanding of what the Savior went through.  That is the positive that came out of it, haha. A couple of days ago I was on an exchange with Elder Allen and we decided to go see a guy that he and his comp had talked to the day before who said they should come back sometime.  So we get to his house and start walking up the stairs to his deck and he comes out and says "hey guys I just got out of the emergency room but I hear that you guys were here the other day and you scared my mom and she said she heard you swearing and do not try to deny it!"  Me and Elder Allen are extremely confused at this point and just stare at him, haha and he starts getting really mad and swearing at us and stuff and Elder Allen said, “we didn't swear or anything like that” and he starts yelling "are you calling my mom a liar?"  And Elder Allen being as confused as I was at this point says "yes..." and let’s just say that the guy didn't like that very much so he started screaming at us now and saying many, many swear words telling us to get out of here over and over, so we turn around to get out of there and the guy hits Elder Allen in the back of the head!  And starts swearing at him again so I stepped up to him and he ran back up the stairs like a little girl (sorry that might have been mean) so we just said it's not worth it so we started walking back to the car, and of course he follows us still swearing some more, so I finally turn back to try and calm him down and tell him we are leaving and he SPITS IN MY FACE!  It took everything I had not to knock this guy out!  But once again Elder Allen, who is taking this surprisingly calm, says it's not worth it, so we just got in the car and left.  Talk about ruin the spirit, haha but then I thought of the Savior and how he went through the same thing and I was quickly humbled. So that was the experience of the week. 

I also went to dinner with a member and they fed me 1000 year old egg!  It's not really 1000 years old but that what they call it because they cook it and just let it sit forever and then do something to it that makes it turn black and dark green... gross...  I also ate a salted duck egg... it stunk way bad and was also way nasty.  I won’t need to do that again. Haha

 

Well that's my week, it was nice hearing from you.  Love you all. 

The church is true and if you don't believe it try it!

Elder Pincock

Interesting Week...

Hey everyone, once again it was nice hearing from all of you.  Super jealous of the Cali Oceanside trip, especially Dad renting a Camaro! ... ugh... but Cool!   Pretty neat about the Samoan culture thing, I don't know many Samoans here but there are a lot of Tongans. 

Thanks for sending that picture of the “UP” house in Herriman, it is crazy!  That pretty much made my day!  I can't wait to see it. 

Now for answers to a few questions…

·         I still haven't received my Ukelele yet, maybe it will come today though.

·         My companion is awesome and he is a super funny guy.  We work well together.  He is learning fast and will be great missionary.  I'm doing my best to teach him what I know but I, myself, am still learning.  We are doing pretty well though.

·         Our 4th of July was awesome!  We had a BBQ with a bunch of the Elders from the zone (all except 4) and a couple members from the Pukalani ward.  Then after The BBQ all the missionaries slept at our pad, haha.  There were like 10 people in that little building.  It was probably the most fun night of my mission.  We didn’t have any fireworks though, super lame.

·         We had a very interesting experience and it was such a testimony builder for me and helped me to be so much more thankful for the priesthood and the comfort that comes from these priesthood blessings. 

Well it’s a short email again but Makawao is doing great.  We have a lot of potential for investigators this week.  Hopefully we will have some success with these new people.  I love this Gospel and I love my mission.  Thanks everyone for your support. 

Elder Pincock   

Training Week 1 and Happy 4th of July!

Wow sounds like a good week at home!  Woohoo! It's so interesting because while I'm on my mission, and I pray for stuff, they just seem to happen! That's so awesome.  This email is a little short though because I had a few emails to reply to, haha!

I received the protein package but not the ukelele yet. We are having a BBQ today at our pad, Pulehu Chapel.  Those cd's would be awesome, I will look forward to that!

It has been a pretty good week, but probably the weirdest week of my mission... I am training a new missionary comp for one, which is going pretty good. He did have a tough time on the third day after tracting.  I had to build him back up and then I took him to some of the member's houses so he could see people who actually like us, haha.  He is awesome though.  His name is Elder Workman from Lancaster, California.  Oh and guess how tall he is...  6'8"!  I thought Elder Brown in Ka’u towered over me at 6’5 but now we are at a new high! haha  I am so short! We kick at basketball though!  Elder Workman is awesome and loves to work, and we are trying our hardest to be obedient along with Elder Allen, so that's real good. 

We did kinda have a slow week.  One of our investigator’s has now pushed back to being baptized til at the end of the month sometime and is pretty much our only investigator who is progressing at the moment.  We are trying to find new ones.  This week will be better.

Happy 4^th of July!

Love you so much.

Elder Pincock

I'm a Trainer!

So we got transfer notices last night and Elder Tiakia is leaving!  He was so bummed.  He didn't want to leave but he is going to Oahu which is his favorite island so he is excited about that.  I'm actually kind of bummed also.  Even though some things were tough with him we still got pretty close.  He really is a good guy.  Oh and Elder Austin our district leader is leaving too. So the two greenies are staying.  Me and Elder Allen. 

As for me, It's a boy!  I am training!  Holy crap! What is the Lord thinking, haha, I feel like I barely know how to do things myself let alone help someone else learn, haha.  Although, I guess if the Lord says I can do it then I can do it.  I absolutely knew it was going to happen though, I don't know why but these last couple weeks I have just had a feeling that Tiakia was leaving and I was going to be training.  So when we got the call and Elder Tiakia got the notice that he was leaving I knew it was coming.  So the next morning I got the call from President.  He just told me I have to be the best I can be and be strictly obedient.  I'm a little nervous.  When we got the call I just started shaking.  I'm not really sure why.  It's all good though.  Well that's the big news! 

As far as the work is going, still a little slow.  Our baptism had to cancel because his dad wanted to talk to him and make sure he knew the commitment he was getting into which is good but kind of frustrating a little bit.  He is still solid so I don't think there will be a problem and I think he will be baptized in 2 weeks.   We are also teaching a lady.  I don't think I told you about her.  She has been taught by the missionaries for over a year now, she has a great testimony.  She would be an awesome member if she could get baptized but I'm not sure that will happen anytime soon, but the Lord can do whatever he wants so who am I to question that…she is a super cool lady.

Well that's what's up with me for this week.  It sounds like you guys have had a good week.  Mom, I hope you have fun at girls camp.  They will love you because I’m pretty sure it's impossible to not love you, just like I told you, my friends love you after only talking to you for a few minutes, haha.  I haven't got a letter from Candice in Ka’u lately. Just that one at the beginning of the transfer.  Maybe I'll write her one and see how she is doing.

 
Tell Bro Parkinson that I'm great and said hi, and to tell Ian congrats on his Relief Society calling hahaha!
Is Bill Beifus still here? At least he got a good report from someone, haha I wonder which elder he talked to...

OH MY GOSH I almost forgot to tell you a super weird experience I had this week!  Do you guys remember Michelle Miller? She came to my pad the other day and talked to the Pukalani elders (elder allen, elder austin)  and she told them she was from Highland so Elder Allen asked if she knew me and she was like YES! haha so they called me and I talked to her for a while, haha, I think she called Sierra on the phone and I said hi to Sierra too!

 
Well that is my week.  Ofa atu and mahalo nui loa!  haha That's two different languages but that's ok. sounded cool right?

Elder Pincock

6 MONTHS FOR ME NOW!

Hey sounds like a pretty crazy week.  Happy Father's day!  This week has been kind of slow.  Our investigator pool is still dwindling. Joe is supposed to be baptized this week and he asked me to baptize him! Of course his name is like a paragraph so wish me luck with that.  He is solid though.  He will be an awesome member, we recently figured out that his dad isn't a member!  We thought he was this whole time.  Maybe he will want to be baptized too!  That would be awesome because then Joe would have some more support from home.  We have been working hard to try and find new people to teach but nothing is really happening.  No one in our ward has been giving us referrals so we are just doing a lot of tracting which hasn’t really given us work but that's ok.  I don't mind tracting but Elder Tiakia hates it.  That guy would have died in Ka'u haha.  He is struggling with a few things and likes to tell me how to do everything.  He even tries to tell me what to eat for lunch…haha…But it's all good.  We talk about being obedient all the time and I tell him that  I continue to be obedient because I have seen the blessings that come from it.

Now for your questions…

My comp has only been out a month and a half more than me and has been on Maui for like 3 months.

I don't live inside Pulehu Chapel but I live in the little building next to it.

The other elders that live there are Elder Jacob Austin, our district leader from Irvine CA, he has been out for over a year and a half now and Elder Kole Allen from Kaysville UT. He has been out for 2 transfers now so 3 months.

I do see my MTC Buds a lot.  Mostly on Pday and District Meeting so at least twice a week.  They are awesome.

Thanks for the packages.  I got the CDs but not the other one yet.  I dont' have any CDs I really want yet but I will let you know.  Those ones you gave me are way cool.

 

Well it was great hearing from you this week.  Love you all and I am so grateful for the support from all of you.  I love being here and I have noticed that I like it more and more every week.  It is flying by now.  I so grateful for this Gospel and for the opportunity I have to serve my Heavenly Father.

 

I love you guys.

Elder Justin Pincock