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