Set a Goal

July 23, 2012

So Isaac is coming home!  That's pretty cool.  Tell him I said congratulations.  Well I am doing great.  I love this area and my companion is awesome.  He has only taught me a few words in tongan.  Him and Elder Mafi (remember him? he was in Molokai with me) just talk in Tongan all the time and I feel so confused and out of the loop haha.  It's alright though.  We have a baptism this weekend for one of our investigators.  She is a 9 year old that they found while teaching her friend who also got baptized.  i'm pretty stoked.  I need to figure out if Trina from Mililani got baptized.  I didn't hear anything yet.  I hope she did. There is a lot of potential here.  I have set a personal goal that i will have 2 baptisms every month.  The challenge may be getting the Makaha elder's excited about the work.  They haven’t seemed as motivated to do the work.  Hopefully I will be able to help them to catch the vision if you will haha.  There is a lot of potential in both wards though.  The other day we were trying to find someone and we stopped at this house and knocked on the door and a lady came out.  We talked to her for a little bit and she ended up being the wrong person haha but we asked her if we could come back and she seemed pretty interested and actually is really good friends with the bishop's wife.  So later we talked to Sis Velosco (bishops wife) and they said that they have been someone they have been thinking about.  I guess they have been having some hard times and so she is going to invite them to dinner or something.  So we will see how that goes but she seemed pretty solid. 
 
That’s pretty cool about Teltom’s EFY song.  I want to hear it.  Tell Ian i said what’s up and that I’m hanging on to these last 5 months like my life depends on it.  Which it does a little bit haha. 

I feel like your closings are a lot like my baptisms haha maybe if I get 2 a month you guys will be successful as well haha.  I'm not sure what I want for my birthday but I will think about it. 

Well that is all I can think of for now.  I love you guys.  Talk to you later.

Elder Pincock

Elder Mavae from Tonga, My New Companion

July 17, 2012

Hey everyone.  Sorry i didn't email yesterday.  We had a long day.  We had to take Elder Mavae (my new comp) to the dentist for a root canal (i guess you were doing the same thing haha) and we ended up having to go to 3 dentists office.  The first was the wrong one so then we went next door and that was the right place but then they ended up not being able to help us so then they sent us to Kaneohe which is on the other side of the island so we were gone all day.

Well Waianae is way cool.  There are a lot of awesome people as well as a lot of crazy ones.  Like this one lady we ran into on the street.  Her name was Lota and she was from germany.  She was super old and we started talking to her and she saw our name tags.  For some reason seeing "Jesus Christ" on our tags reminded her of this song that she decided to sing to us...  "In heaven there is no beer.  That's why we have to drink it here.  Because if we don't drink it here, Then everyone else will drink our beer!" haha  That made my day, haha. 
I'm pretty excited to work here though.  There seems to be alot of potential.
Elder Mavae is my new comp and he is from Tonga.  He's awesome.  Elder Davis actually trained him and i just took his spot here so that was kind of cool.  Our pad is super junky and hot haha.  There is no A/C and it is burning in Waianae.  Our bathroom sink has been ripped out of the wall somehow.  i will send pics soon.  And I got out of the shower the other day and put my towel up to my face and i got swarmed with all these red ants.  They were like biting my face and then i realized that they weren't just on my face... So that wasn't my favorite day haha but the good thing is i am still in a car so i have AC in there.  This also means that i will have been in a car area my whole mission.  Except when i go on exchanges with my district.  That's going to be super hot.  i might die. This is a more sketchy part of town but it's not really that bad.  the beach is right on the main road and it is killing me.  but it's alright.  i can hold off for a few more months.
     
So skye finds out the gender next month!  This is going way too fast haha.  Well i love you guys.  Thanks , Elder Pincock

I am being transferred to Waianae

July 9, 2012

Hey family. I can't believe i'm emailing already haha. That was one of the fastest weeks ever. Well i found out that i'm being transferred. Elder Earl is the new district leader. His new companion is someone that came out with me. Elder earl is freaking out a little bit. I'm going to Waianae i think which is kind of more country side so i'm pretty stoked. I am still the District Leader over there too.

Tell Lindsey and Mitch and Jace and Jade i said congratulations on the little guys. haha That's exciting.

This week I was able to go to a sweet training from Elder Allen who is a 70 over missionary work or something. He talked a lot about The Doctrine of Christ. Mostly about how to help our members understand it because if they understand it then that will help them see the importance of missionary work. The Doctrine of Christ is faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, receiving the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. It was cool because he told us whenever we are prompted to write something down that we are going to change or revelations that we receive we had to raise our hands. It was cool to see everyone's hands flying up throughout the meeting. It was also helpful because if I missed something people would raise their hands and it would help me to pick it up. He was really good. And super funny too. All the Assistants, Zone Leaders, and District leaders were there. It was like zone conference for just the leaders. I had 4 pages of notes from this training.

We also had a mini missionary this week. We didn't know we were going to get one until like Wednesday and we got him on Thursday. He ended up being pretty cool and he said he learned a lot. His name was Elder Kamimoto. He was with us until Sunday. It was cool because Elder Earl and him knocked on his cousin's door while i was at the training on Friday and she is a Less active and her husband isn't a member. They taught her and I think they are going to go back again next week. That was pretty cool.

Well that was my week. It has been an awesome time, although hard, serving in Mililani. Our zone was awesome. I'm excited to go to Waianae. It is pretty sketchy over there I hear though. I think I will actually be taking Elder Davis' place.

I love you guys. Talk to you later.

Elder Pincock

Our Investigator helped us teach

July 2, 2012

How's it going? The house is starting to look good. I'm stoked to see it. man it seems like a couple weeks ago dad was sad because he couldn't do much work because it was too cold outside. Now it is forest fire season. That's kind of a bummer. So skye's not doing so good this week. I hope she feels better soon. She's always in my prayers. Lynette is getting married. That's awesome. Well sort of... i thought i might be able to be there for it haha guess not. That's ok. Tell her i said congratulations.

This week was good. it was just a normal week though. We did teach a new investigator and had a weird experience. We ended up teaching her at a park and we were just sitting on the wall teaching about the plan of salvation and then all of the sudden this Jehovah's witness comes up. He was like 70 and just wanted to jump in and teach us his way of thinking. I admired him for his boldness haha We let him do his thing and then he left and what he said actually kind of helped us teach our investigator the right things. So we start teaching again and then his wife comes back and interrupts again and gives elder earl an invitation to one of their big meetings or something. She leaves and we start teaching again. The guy comes back again... and starts talking to us about adam and eve and how it is their fault that we are here and if it weren't for them Jesus wouldn't have had to die for us. We did our best to fend him off pretty much but he was very persistent. What was really funny was our investigator actually started helping us a little bit haha. She was asking him questions that was making him think. She is so solid! He finally said enough and left. That was a first for me. I had never had them come interrupt my lesson before haha.

Transfers are next week. I am pretty sure i am leaving. And i also heard they are giving waipiolani ward their own set of missionaries. That should be good.

Well it was good to hear from you. I will talk to you later. I love you guys.

Elder Pincock

7 new investigators in 1 week!

June 18, 2012

Hey everyone. Dad’s a high priest now! WHOOOAAA! He looks really fit in that picture with g-pa in it. Tell Dad and grandpa i said happy fathers day!  It sounds like a good week at girls camp mom.  thank you for the package and i don't think i need vitamins because we found a 24 hour in our area that has them so no worries there.  now that you mention it though i do need some sunglasses haha  And if you are wondering why i have been using by debit card so much it is because my jp morgan card isn't working for some reason so i just need to figure that out.  Please hide those shirts that i send home haha i want to have them when i get home.  Transfers are in 2 weeks already!  Whoa!  4 transfers left...  I've noticed that when you get to about 18 months people ask you more often how much longer you have left haha i don't know why. 

So you are going to meet Elder Gardner that's pretty cool.  I can't believe he is going home so soon.  He's probably loving Kaua'i though.

Well this week has been crazy!  We found 7 new investigators!  That's the most that i have ever found in one week.  And we also have one of them a baptism date.  She is 10 and her dad isn't a member either so hopefully he will listen to the lessons as well.  I was so stoked!  This week has been super good.  Mililani Ward counsel is catching on to the 15 names list thing.  Hopefully they will get that moving in these upcoming weeks.  Waipiolani ward still isn't really moving forward so we still be working on that.  To top off the week we went to the temple today.  That's always refreshing.  I love The Lai'e Temple.  I can't wait for you guys to come with me.  Well  It's short again but that about sums up my week haha.  I love you guys.  I love this work.  I will talk to you guys later
 
Elder Pincock

I am working on Faith

June 11, 2012

Howzit! Glad you enjoyed the package and the camera card haha. Man i have some more funny ones that you will have to wait for on the next card. the other 2 elders in those videos were Elder Copier (manning the slingshot) and Elder Brough. My shoes are size 8. They have seen better days haha. THey have lasted pretty long for only 10 dollar shoes. I'm not sure if i will stay on Oahu for a while or not. I'm hoping I'll go off island one more time. Kauai is the last island and then i have gone to pretty much all of them. That cabin is pretty sweet. And Max looks like an old man now. He's not a puppy anymore. and yes that was pearl harbor.

Well this week was kind of slow. We are trying to get the members to get excited about missionary work because we haven't really had any referrals. We have had some success from tracting but those people don't usually go anywhere. We are thinking of ways that we can get all of the families do a little bit a missionary work every week. We are giving them this paper that has 131 ways to do missionary work and we are asking them to make a day of the week "missionary day" where they do something from the list and then report on it in family home evening. Hopefully it works. We are also trying to get the 15 names list going still. We are trying to follow up more often about it with the members of the ward council. Mililani 1st ward is getting excited but Waipiolani is a different story so we are going to have to work with them.

That is pretty much our week. haha I been trying to figure out why my whole mission i haven't been one of those missionaries who baptizes a ton. I do get baptisms when i have a good companion or just a good area but i don't feel like i have been that missionary that everyone looks at and says he's a baptizing missionary. So i have been trying to figure out why and it is because i have not involved the members enough. I read a talk today by M. Russel Ballard. He was talking about how there are no bad areas just bad missionaries pretty much. sometime people will say i'm having a slow time because it is a hard area and that sometimes you just have slow times. This is wrong for the most part. Usually it is because i'm not doing something that I could be doing. I haven't had a baptism since i have been in mililani yet which bugs me. And even though everyone says it's a "slow area" there is a lot a potential. I just think there is a lack of faith which i am working on and now we just have to get the members to realize that.

Well everything is going well here. Love you guys.

Elder Pincock

I am a child of God who is here to do great things

June 2, 2012

Sorry, I accidentally sent that last email too early. Wow thanks for that message mom. That was really helpful. That goes along with what I have been thinking about for this passed week. I have been thinking of how I have changed on my mission and hoping i am where i am supposed to be as far as improvements haha and I was thinking of the limits i used to put on myself before. I would forget my potential and just say "oh i can't do that" or "i have never done it that way." or "I don't like you because you do things different." I would forget the fact that i am a child of God who is here to do great things. People say all the time that they don't want to join the church or be active in the church because of the limitations that come with it. That is totally wrong. God doesn't limit anyone. We only put up imaginary walls that Satan makes us think are unbreakable. But we forget that through the power of God we can not only break walls but flatten mountains. It doesn't matter what lies ahead of you because God already made the plan for you to get through it. It's not usually easy but if it was then there would be no point in doing it. It's just about finding the strength that our Heavenly Father has already given you regardless if you know it or not. So that's my little spiritual thought for the day.

Thank you for the package. I loved it. especially that bookmark haha. coolest thing ever. I also recently figured out that my companion is deathly afraid of dinosaurs and so i periodically charge him screeching like a raptor and he freaks out and runs. That's when i start laughing really hard, haha. He is so funny. I do need some apex vitamins though. I found the protein (out of our zone so i can't go back) but they didn't have the vitamins. those would be nice.  dont' worry i sent one. Hey I'm sending your mothers day package today. sorry it took so long. oh and also i sent that last package you received when i left molokai haha that took a really long time

It's still not real to me that skye is going to have a baby right after i get home. Weird. Is she growing yet? let me know when that happens haha. Man i can't wait to see they're new place too. sounds like a pretty cool place.

Well the work here is going good. Nothing really new this week. This transfer is going to be awesome though. We have a really good zone. I'm not really sure if i want to go to school right off the bat or not. right now i'm thinking no but we will see. Man sounds like everyone is doing good. Thats always good to hear. Well once again a short email. Love you guys.

Elder pincock

P.S. 6 months... kind of scary

Oahu is Way Different

May 28, 2012

Man Ian Parkinson is back already?... Wow!  It sounds like you had a good lesson with your young women, mom.

Well this week has been pretty good.  So the lady that we found last
week when we were trying to find a member (it was the wrong address
for the member in our area book but we talked to the lady that lived
there and she agreed to take lessons) now has a baptism date for July
14.  She is a little skeptical but she is will be alright I think.

She is really nice and would be an awesome member.  She just doesn't
like that she can't drink coffee if she becomes a member.  We just
need to help her realize the blessings that come from keeping the word
of wisdom.
We also found another kid who is 18 last week and we taught him and he
got a baptism date and everything but we had to hand him over to the
zone leaders because they cover the singles ward.  It's alright though as long as he gets baptized.

Transfers were yesterday.  Nothing really happened.  Our zone is going
to be almost the same except for the missionaries who are going home.
(Elder Lodder, Elder Lapena)  Elder Gardner goes home in 12 weeks (2
transfers).

We are getting to know the members a little better.  I have the worst
memory so it takes me a while but I am a lot better now.  Oahu is way
different.  I'm still not quite use to it.  It's alright though.  The
wards are good.

I'm not sure yet if there is any celebration or not for Memorial day.
There has got to be something.  Things are going good here though.  The work is starting to move.  We are way busier than when I got here so that is way nice.  Thank you for everything.  Always good to hear from you.
 
Elder Pincock
 
PS.  There are no guitars at Costco here until Christmas time, so I probably won’t get one.

Ok so today I will just write a quick one. This week we had mission tour.  That's where a General Authority comes and speaks to us. We got to go to Laie again and see the temple. It's so pretty. Elder Wilson came and talked to us. He talked in General Conference this year about Priesthood and correcting his wife's driving. It was awesome, of course. He talked to us about our attitude. Keeping it happy and looking on the bright side of things. He also talked a lot about not leaving the commitments we leave with people to chance. We need to follow up and be there for them every step of the way.  One of our investigators won't be baptized this week. I'm pretty bummed about that. She hasn't talked to her husband about it so she never got the ok to move forward.  Hopefully, we can set another date with her. She is super solid though. She even offered to have a calling in church and she prays all the time and reads all the time. Why are men stubborn… it gets tiring when the father or husband comes between a wife or kids baptism.  It;s all good though, The Lord knows what’s going on so we are going to put it in his hands by fasting next Sunday as a ward council.

Tell dad I am doing really good at writing in my journal. I have only missed like 2 days because I wasn't at my own home. I'm really trying to figure out what I am lacking lately. I just feel like I haven't been living up to my full potential so I am praying and seeking what I need to improve on. I'm open to suggestions, haha.

Well that is about it. Love you.
Elder Pincock

AALOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHAAAAA!

I just wanted to start by saying thank you to my wonderful parents. Those were both very inspirational emails. They helped a lot. Mom you have always been great example of just being happy and excepting people the way they are. I needed that. And Dad I needed that extra motivation to write in my journal because at the end of the day it isn't exactly on the top of my list, haha, but I plan to write every day this week!

This week has been really good. We now have 2 investigators with a baptism date. Our new one is and 11 year old girl. Her family is less active and her mom isn't a member. Hopefully she can get everyone on track. We taught her the commandments with all the hand signs. They said that we could set the 26th as a goal but they weren't sure about it so we just have to build their confidence and faith a little bit. Well maybe alot.

I don't know if you remember this story but we taught a girl about 3 weeks ago and haven't seen her since. We called her on Saturday and left a message and asked if she was coming to church. She didn't call back so I didn't think she was coming. We were sitting in Waipiolani's sacrament when Bro. Meyer, from Mililani 1st, came and told us there was a lady that came to church that said we had invited her. SHE CAME! It was awesome. We had fast and testimony meeting and there was like 6 kids that got up. She started tearing up. When she came to Sunday School (yes she even stayed for Sunday School) the lesson was on the spirit and she said that when she feels the spirit her eyes get teary. She even recognized that it was the spirit! She is awesome and is really interested.   We will probably see her on the weekend.

We weren't able to see our other investigator that has a baptism date. I think her family member has cancer or something so she is taking care of that. I feel so bad for her. She wants to follow Christ but there are so many things blocking her way.

The zone is looking up. There is a lot of success here lately. We all kind of had to change our mindset that this was a slow zone and just go to work. We are seeing a lot of good come out of that.

Well that is all for this week. I love you. I love being a missionary. It's going way too fast. Even though sometimes it seems slow, haha, then I realize that another month is gone! It's hard to keep up haha. Talk to you on Sunday about 6 or 7 your time!

Elder Justin Pincock

Aloha From Mililani Zone!

Hey, how's it going?  I'm doing pretty good.  Elder Earl is awesome. He is kind of a somber guy and is a really good missionary. We didn't go to the same elementary,  I guess.  haha


We were able to find a couple new people to teach. One actually has a baptism date for May 26.  She pretty much knows the church is true. She even reads the Book of Mormon all the time. She has a family member holding her back. He is kind of against organized religion so we just need to work with him. One problem seems to be that he isn't the biggest fan of us. We'll figure it out though.


I'm trying to learn the area still haha and I still don't know many people but I think Elder Earl and I are finally getting to know some of them. Our Apartment is really nice but it's small. It is in a complex (which was weird at first) and it is just a studio apt. But it's ok because we don't spend much time there anyway. We didn't have to move but they just switched up whose in what district. My district is now kind of spread out, haha.


Well things are going well here. I think the work is looking up for Mililani zone. This is usually the zone that is tough because it's so slow but now we are all kind of sick of that. We are all working super hard to find 2 new investigators a week, get at least 10 oyms a day (easy) and get one new investigator with a baptism date every week. This is something that President has promised us will help "move the needle".  We have seen a lot of success so far. I'm pretty excited!


Jam sent me picture of her wedding today, haha. That was way weird. Tiarra is moving to Logan, I think. She hasn't really contacted me in almost a year so.... I don't know what's up with her too much.


I forgot about the mother's day talk thing, haha, that was really funny.

I remember hiking up that hill, haha, you still do that?

Well, that is pretty much it I think for this week.
Love you guys. I'll be talking to you in about two weeks!


Elder Pincock

ALOOOOOHAAAAAA!!!

So apparently I was supposed to see the Savage family here in Hawaii after all haha. We were just walking around in Walmart and they came around the corner and saw me. I didn't recognize them for a second. What are the odds that I would find them in the same place in Walmart at the same time in Mililani Hawaii. But don't worry it didn't trunk me out too much. They're awesome. It was really good to see them.  

So this week has been pretty good although I sprained my ankle so I have been dealing with that. It was weird we were playing soccer and I was trying to take it from Elder Brough and I ended up rolling it... I was really mad because instantly I knew it wasn't okay, but went ahead and jumped up and told myself to walk it off and maybe it would miraculously heal itself. I took a lap around the church and when got back it looked like somebody put a golf ball in my ankle. It was weird looking. Then I just iced it and it was fine the rest of the day. I still had the brace from the last time so I am using that. It was fine until yesterday when it started turning black and blue. It's funny because it doesn't hurt really to walk on it but it looks nasty.  

Elder Kibaimoa got off safely. He is in Kauai! That's the last island on my list,and Elder Gardner is there too. My new companion is Alex Earl from West Jordan. He is awesome. We get along really good. He is kind of quiet but he's a cool guy. We haven't really explored the island that much. We are like in the middle so there is not much exploring. We did go to the Temple a little while ago. That was cool. Laie is really nice. We get to go once a quarter, which better than twice a year like it used to be. I haven't been to the Polynesian Culture Center yet. I'll probably just wait until the end of my mission. (which is less than 8 months... whoa...) Thanks for reminding me that everyone is coming home! haha just kidding. That's funny about Jeremy. Tell him to email me about his home life now haha.

I'm trying my best lately to eat healthy, haha it's kind of tough but I have lost like 3 lbs! Score one for this guy.

 Not much new things to talk about. We are just still trying to get this place moving. I'm still trying to get to know everyone and Elder Earl has only been here for like 4 days so we are both kind of in the same boat. The wards here are awesome they just need to get excited about missionary work.

 Well I love you guys. Thanks for everything. I can't tell you how grateful I am for the support from home and for all your prayers.

Elder Pincock

Aloha from Oahu!

April 16, 2012

Hey everyone! I did get my packages! Thank you very much. Elder Kibaimoa and I enjoyed them thoroughly. He especially loved the chicken egg thing, haha. Thanks for the cds as well.  Elder Kibaimoa is getting transferred, Bummer, another single transfer companion. He is going off island though so I’m stoked for him. He will love it. I don’t know who my new comp is yet. More than half our zone is leaving and my district is changing too.  Elder Packer who is in my district now got called to be district leader here. We are still not quite sure what new areas exactly will be our districts but we do know they mixed them up somehow. Elder Packer is Elder Boyd K. Packer's grandson,  haha,  just thought I would let you know.  


Can you please let our friends and family know that I would freak out if I see them here in Hawaii while on my mission and it would be too hard to refocus. Hope that is that ok?


Oh by the way, my comp, Elder Kibaimoa knows Katutu (Jacob).  He said he gave him a send off party when he left. Small world…


Thanks for that story of Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail. That's always a good reminder. I liked what the stake pres. Asked… “what can we do to better our lives and better other’s lives because I think the answer to those questions would be a similar answer. I have noticed that when I forget myself and just try to serve others without seeking recognition for  myself it not only makes me feel better but betters somebody else life as well. Elder Gardner gave a little mini training about that when he came out with Elder Maughan and I. He gave us a list of times when we think about ourselves. For example, when popularity becomes a priority, or when spiritual things like reading scriptures or going to church become a hassle…, it didn’t take long before I realized I think many of those things almost daily... That really helped me to know how to better serve the Lord and others around me. It is still hard to not think those things and but I'm able to see them now and work on them.


Well, we found some pretty solid investigators this week. One of which we meet while service tracting last week and she was amazed that we would just walk around to give service to anyone which peaked her interest. We taught her the restoration and she was very interested.  I'm really excited for her.  It seems like things are picking up a little bit here. I hope we can keep it up.


I love you guys. Thank you for your prayers and support.
Elder Pincock

April 9, 2012

Hey everyone!  It has been a great day today because I got to go to the temple for the first time in a year!  That is why we didn't email yesterday because today became our pday so we could go to the temple.  It was very pretty.  Laie is beautiful.  I LOVE THE TEMPLE!  I feel so peaceful today.  Last night we stayed at the Waialua Elder's pad.  We were up until like 2am so I am super tired today.  It was an interesting night.  We just listened to Kiribati stories and hoped that the rats rustling around in there food wouldn't come eat our feet at night.  We had a Zone exchange too.  That's where we go with another missionary in our zone.  I was with Elder Harris.  We had a competition going of who could get the most oyms, w/dates, new investigators, high fives, and the most shoes at one doorstep.  We found 180 shoes at one door step!  We still didn't win over all.  Elder Kibaimoa actually did.

We also had "one day training" this week in Laie.  President and Sister Dalton and the AP’s (Elder Gardner is still one of those) trained us on the 8 fundamental principles, which is pretty much the Gospel of Jesus Christ, (Faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end).

Well Easter was good.  We went to Bishop Kanahele's house for Easter and ate with their family.  It was pretty fun.  They have a funny family.  We had an investigator come to church too so that was awesome.  She loved it and said they would come back but they are leaving for the rest of this month to the mainland somewhere.  Hopefully we can catch them when they come back.

I did not receive those packages yet.  I haven't checked today though.  I'll have to keep my eyes open for that Jacob Katutu from Kiribati.  That is interesting that you found someone from there, haha.  My comps first name is Matitan.  He's from a super small skinny island, Kiribati.


Mom I wanted to tell you that I greatly appreciate your prayers and I ask the same things for you guys every night.  Oh by the way tell Riley I said congrats on his Eagle.  That’s awesome!
Transfers are this next Sunday.  I think I may be getting a new companion.  We will see.  I don't know how I will be able to handle these two areas, haha.  I'm still trying to get to know who is in what ward, and you guys know how good my memory is.  Plus both wards meet at the same time so I only get to see everyone one every other week.  Maybe I will still have Elder Kibaimoa to help me out.  


Well I love you guys.  Have a great day.  Thanks for your prayers and support.
Elder Pincock


April 2, 2012


Hey everyone.  Thanks for the emails and such.  I am in a bit of a hurry today so it may be a little short.
This week was awesome although a little slow for missionary work.  We had President interviews.  I also had my first baptism interview with two investigators of Mililani 2nd ward.  They both got baptized this weekend.  Also, Elder Kibaimoa received his blessing, I was there for it and  it was awesome.  The spirit was very strong.
The bad part of this week was that I got a speeding ticket... I was soooo mad!  $147,  I guess they just slowly take it from my card every month.  Bummer! Maybe I need to go back to Molokai??? Haha, Just kidding, I will just slow down!
We have also been teaching these people, I don't know if I talked about them before but they pretty much want us to convert to their religion.  Last time I went with Elder Schmerse who is our Zone Leader and we were there for 4 hours!  They don't want us stop coming either.  Next time we are going to have to be firm.
Well sorry but I have to go.  Everyone is waiting on me and that is pretty much all of it though.
Love you guys.  Thanks for your support.  The house is looking good!
Elder Pincock

March 26, 2012

Aloooooha!!

What's up. So Ty and Skye are finally in their new house. I need to see it. I better get some pictures ASAP! Sounds like you guys are all doing well. Andrew is home and slim? Man, haha,  I'm a little jealous.  Please only send healthy treats in my Easter package!!
As for me I'm doing great. The whole new calling thing is going good, I think haha. I like it though because it forces me to learn more. Mom asked what I do. I'm the district leader so I watch over our district which is 4 elders... well 6 but I don't really have to worry about the Zone leaders. I train them every Tuesday in District meeting and just kind of make sure they are doing good.

The work is picking up here. We are finding people to teach. Teaching mostly less active and part members which is good. We found 3 new investigators. They were taught already by the missionaries before and we went back and shared a message with them and they said we could come back on Wednesday. They live in Waipiolani. We are also going back to one of our new investigators in Mililani tomorrow. Our last visit with them was really kind of funny because they go new hope church or something and the invited us over. When we came he was asking us all of these question like about all the Mormon myths and whatnot and wouldn't really let us teach the lesson. They ended up trying to tell us that they really wanted us to read what the bible "really says" about being saved by grace and not by works... They were severely concerned for our salvation, haha. Which was nice of them but they pretty much told us that we would be going to hell if we kept believing in the Book of Mormon. So they offered to make us dinner tomorrow and "ask us a few more questions", haha I really hope they are willing to listen this time. They are very nice people though.

Elder Kibaimoa is doing awesome. Still working on the english. The other day he was eating some pie, and he liked it a lot so he goes, "This pie is freak my life."... haha,  not really the correct use of that phrase, haha, he is way cool though.

Well I love you guys. I will see you later... and talk to you on the phone soon (Mothers Day)!   Elder Pincock

Aloha from Oahu (Mililani), District Leader

March 19, 2012 (Oahu… Mililani, District Leader)

Hello family. Don't you even fret mother… I did find Costco and I did get protein drinks!  There is even a GNC!  I just bought some resistance bands too. It's time to get down to business, haha.

Oh man everybody is coming home from missions now, have to say it's making me slightly trunky. But that's ok.

Elder Kibaimoa and I are starting to get things moving. We have a few appts set up for next week. No one with a baptismal date yet but I think we might soon. We got 110 OYMs last week. That's the most I have ever done. The city is way different. It's actually just like suburbs but it feels like a city to me. I still really miss Molokai alot though. I just heard that one of the investigators there is getting married and baptized this Saturday! Sweet! But I'm sad I won't be there for it.  One of the investigators from the Big Island emailed me and said she is going to get baptized too! I'm so excited for her.

Well, it sounds like mom has been pretty busy with her new calling. I kind of feel the same way. She talked a little about reading scriptures and how it helps with the calling. My personal study is like my favorite time of the day because you get the insight needed for what is going to happen in that specific day. It's pretty cool. I had my first District Leader training meeting (DLTM) It was really good. Our training was on leading like Christ leads. I will have to send you the talk that I received, it was awesome.

So Skye and Ty finally are making some progress on their new home. That's good! Dad seems pretty busy with our house too. I'm stoked to see it. I'm excited to talk to you guys again in like a month (Mother’s Day). That's always a good time!

That's a funny story about that Palomino mule falling in love with a dog.
Well, thanks everyone for your support. Love you.
Elder Pincock 

March 12, 2012 (Oahu… Mililani, New Comp- Elder Kibaimoa)

Hello everyone. So it's been a crazy week here. Don't worry the tornado was on the other side of the island. The weather isn't so bad over here, it just sprinkles a little bit. I don't think I need a coat. Oahu is crazy though! I went to my first transfer meeting! Well besides the one when I got to Hawaii. It was crazy. I saw tons of my old companions and friends from the mission. I was freaking out though when I got to the city! There isn't even a traffic light in Molokai, haha. I was so sad to leave... It was almost like leaving home again. That was the saddest I have ever been leaving an area… but… it's all good though.  I am still driving a car. I still don't need a bike yet. My new Companion is Elder Kibaimoa. He is from Kiribati. He's only been out like 3 months and he barely speaks English but he's the coolest! haha He is one of the humblest people I have ever met. We have been trying to get things rolling here. We are over 2 wards… Mililani 1st and Waipiolani.  Neither of the wards have any investigators. Well, we have one in Waipiolani but he has had to reschedule a few times, so needless to say we have a lot of work to do. 

I am the district leader here. Elder White and Elder Packer are the others in my district. They are pretty solid elders so I'm not too worried. I was a little bit stressed at first but not too bad. I gave my first training last Friday. It was a little rough and out of order but I think they got the message, haha.

These wards are funny though, it's not at all like Molokai. They are mostly white and I am not used to that.  It feels so different and the members don't even want to shake my hand when they come in the door! That's like their favorite thing in Molokai is to shake the missionary hands when you enter the chapel, haha. Not much aloha but it's ok they are still nice just different.  I really miss Molokai still. The Angcos sent me something to Utah and they didn't tell me what it is... so if you get a package for me. I kind of want to know what it is.
I was thinking a lot about mom and her new calling these past few days.  I have to say that it has been pretty cool because I have been praying for the gifts necessary to fulfill my calling as district leader and they seem to come quite quickly, or at least that's what it feels like.  It's interesting because, really, anyone could do this calling… I really want to do it right and learn what I can from it.

Anyway that's about it for this week. I love you guys. Tell Andrew and Ryan I said “what’s up”.

Elder Pincock 

March 5, 2012 (President called… Transferring to Oahu and now a District Leader)

Wow, thanks for the pictures, your new room looks awesome!  I can't believe that.  I really need to learn how to do that, haha.  So… dad went on the Comb Wash trip?  Once again, I am jealous, haha.  He sent me some pictures of one of the trips a while ago.  I miss my mules, who would have thought, haha. 

Well I'm out of here (Molokai).  I am getting transferred to Mililani (Oahu).  The reason I know where I am going already is because President called me and asked me to be the new District Leader there.  I am excited because I am sure I will learn a lot more and because Oahu is so different from anywhere else I have been.  I might freak out for the first couple weeks.  I do have to say that I am super bummed at the same time because I don't want to leave Molokai of course.  I have absolutely loved my time here.  Elder Maughan and I get along so well that I am not ready to split that yet either.  He is one my favorite companion.  He is going to do awesome though.  I really hope this place just keeps moving up.  I feel like it will really take off in a couple of weeks.  We have been having a lot of success lately.  We are just trying to get the ball rolling on a few things. 

The APs came today and guess who they were??  Elder Woodfield and Elder Gardner.  Elder Gardner has pretty much been training me my whole mission, haha.  He is a pretty amazing missionary.  I can't believe the change in him.  Not that he was at all bad.  He was always a super good missionary but now he just skyrocketed.  I bet that he will be giving a talk in conference someday, haha.  Both Assistants came out with us for a day.  They helped us out a lot with a few things.  Planning was a big one.  They helped us get a lot more organized.  They also helped me to try to think outside of the box.  This is something that is really hard for me because when I get into my way of doing things I just settle in and don't move but he helped me realize that not every situation can be solved the same way.  And you can accomplish a lot by not being just a normal missionary.

It was really funny because when Elder Gardner was my companion we had Elder Biggs, the AP at the time, come out with us and he pretty much changed our mission.  When Elder Gardner came out with us this time I was joking about it because it was funny that he was now in that place changing us for the better instead of Elder Biggs. 

Well one of our investigator didn't come to church again.  He said that he would come to basketball again too but never showed up.  We haven't taught one of our other investigators in a while either because she goes to Oahu a lot.  We are going to have to get them back on track... and by we… I mean Elder Maughan and his new comp.  We have 2 other investigators that are doing really good.    They are deciding on a marriage date for the middle of this month and then they will be baptized on April 7th.  I'm so bummed I will miss it.  I hope it really goes through this time.  They seem really solid to me.

  
I love you guys.  Thank you for all your support, it is much appreciated!
 
Elder Justin Pincock 

February 27, 2012 (Molokai, When I apply the Gospel and It Makes Me Happy)

Hello everyone, it sounds like things are good at home. Cruiser…the sequel looks like a cool little dog.  You guys should send some more pictures of the room, I want to see it. Well this week was pretty good, although, 2 of our investigators didn’t come to church on Sunday... I hope they can figure it out soon. Our other 2 investigators are still doing well. They are supposed to be married in the middle of March. Their baptism day was moved to the first week in April because of conference.  Wow, I can't believe it's almost that time again. 

Transfer calls are next week. I really hope to stay but I have been here for a while so I don't know if I will. I don't want to leave Molokai.  I will probably be sent to the city after this, haha, although, that's exactly what I said the last couple of times, so you never know.

I'm not really sure what to write about this week... it's mostly the same. hmmm...Well how about a story. So we were tracting yesterday and we came across this guy who I'm not sure if he is an atheist or just hates God but as soon as we got there he was like "If you guys have read the bible like I have then you know that it is stupid and why would God order thousands to die?" We then corrected him that we were holding the Book of Mormon not the Bible and when we started to tell him about it he interrupted us again told us the Book of Mormon was the silliest thing he had ever read in his life and that we should read it "really read it!" he said. Obviously I had already read it a few times but he didn't believe that for some reason two young boys were capable of knowing truth. We were too inexperienced to know anything to this guy so we just offered any service and he said no of course and we left. But this experience got me thinking about something that I have wondered about many times. That it didn't take years and years of experience for me to know that this Gospel is true. It is taking a lot of time to understand it but I already know that what I read out of the scriptures is true because I have applied the principles in my life and they have in turn made me happy. It is that simple. When I apply the Gospel of Jesus Christ it makes me happy. I'm so glad that I was able to have the foundation in place by Mom and Dad so that I could have something to fall back on. I just remember looking into that man's face and seeing emptiness and lack of clarity. He is looking for the Gospel he just doesn't know it. I think the biggest thing I have found on my mission is really just something simple and I have said it a few times in my emails and that is that God is real. He's not some untouchable entity that is out in space somewhere. Before, I believed in God but I didn't quite comprehend him. Now I'm sure I don't fully know how great He is but I know that He is my Father in Heaven, I know he cares, and that knowledge has helped me in many different ways. I say these things in the name of Heavenly Fathers only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
I love you guys and hope you have a good week. Sorry for the short email.

Elder Pincock

Aloha Everyone! Loved Zone Conference!

Aloha everyone!

It's been an awesome week.  To answer some of your questions, Valentines was good... I guess, haha, kind of just another day but thanks for that package.  I am a little more plump around the edges now but that's ok.  Those gym shoes are awesome! Sorry I forgot to say thanks last week.  I really like them.  Thank you so much.  It’s like they are already broken in.  That's cool that you talked to Sister Apuna.  She's the coolest.  You guys should probably be friends.  She reminds me of mom so much especially because she has a son on a mission so when she talks about him it makes me think of mom.  So the bedroom is coming around.  That's good news.  I still can't believe Andrew is coming home already! 

We had 5 investigators and sacrament on Sunday!  A few of them we thought were thinking had dropped off just randomly showed up!  It was crazy cool.  Except the sad part was only 2 of our 4 with a baptismal dates showed up.  That was a bummer.  Two of them were the ones we have been teaching for as long as I have been here and even longer than that and all of the sudden they decided to come to church and read the Book of Mormon.  It's awesome.  They are both excited to get baptized. 

So this last Tuesday was zone conference and it seems that there is always a story about zone conference in Molokai.  We had to wake up at 3:30am to catch the ferry on Tuesday morning.  We were dragging a little but we had a good zone conference.  Elder Gardner is an Assistant to the President now (or assistant president however you wanna look at it.) So he was at another one of my zone conferences, haha, he has been at most of my whole mission.  He gave an awesome training about commitments.  All of them were really good.  Well after zone conference was over (it went overtime of course) We had to book it down to the other side of Maui to Lahaina where the ferry was leaving.  We ended up missing it by minutes so we had to call the zone leaders to come get us because we took the Sister's car and they came and got it already so we were stranded.  It took The ZL's forever to get there so Elder Mafi spotted this tongan guy and went over there to talk to him and then he came back and the guy had given him 60 bucks!  Sweet, thank for our dinner! Then when the ZLs got there they only had room for 2 of us... So Elder Maughan and I had to stay.  We pretty much just cruised front street, the most touristy spot on the island, for like 2 hours.  It was fun though.  There were a lot of members there.  One of which bought us ice cream, haha.  It's a hard life.  Well long story short we didn't get picked up until like 9:45pm and didn't get to sleep until like 11:30... it was a long day.  Needless to say the next day we were dragging really bad. 

My companion is awesome.  We get along really well and work hard together.  I really want to stay another transfer because things are starting to pick up.  Plus the Elders here are awesome and I don't want to leave.  I think I may stay another because Elder Maughan has only been here for one transfer so President might keep me here one more.  I don't know though, but I hope. 

We started up basketball on Saturday nights.  This Saturday was awesome.  There was a bunch of people here.  Hawaii is cool because they bring their whole family to just come hang out and watch and cheer and such.  They call me the magic man. haha It makes me really wish I was tall though.  We tried to get one of our investigators to come but he didn't... hopefully next time.

Well that was my week.  It was good to hear from you.  I love you guys.  God is real.  Jesus paid the penalty for our sins. Joseph smith restored the power of God on the earth and established Christ's church once again.  I love this this knowledge.  I can’t wait to hear from you again. 

Elder Pincock