March 26, 2012

Familia! Cómo están a todos? Espero que todo bien.

Well I dont have that much to say this week. I didnt get a letter from Ana so I was kind of sad but thats ok. theres always next week. 

This week really has been great! We are finding lots of people to teach and we have a GREAT ward who works with us all the time. 

I guess the first thing i´ll talk about is my companion. Elder Stott really is everything i could have ever hoped for in a "dad" (they call your trainer your dad in mission language) He really knows the language SOOO well and has a great accent for being a gringo. He´s really obedient and is really taking every opportunity he can to teach me how to be a good missionary. I hope i´m being teachable. I really do love learning all that I can from him. He´s fropm Alpine UT and after he´s done training me he´s going home. Its a really experience to be just starting my mission but being with someone who is just finishing his. But he´s an amazing missionary and is a great example for me.

Our ward here like i said really is awesome. And now i´m going to give you all what they call a boche in spanish. Now just remember that I love you. But missioinary work is the greatest work that there is on the earth today. And it isnt just a job for missionaries. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints you ALLL have a responsibility in helping this work move forward. We called one of the Sisters that lives close to us to come to a cita, she left her kids at home and left her duties as a mother and came with us to teach the gospel. I know that everyday life is busy I understand but the lords work is so much more important than any work that will help you gain success in the world. Now i dont expect everyone of you to drop your lives and come serve a mission but the missionaies that are in your home wards really need your help. We can´t do this alone. We need member´s help if this work is going to spread to every nation kindred and people. Again I love you all so much but I know there´s always more that we can do if we just work together. The best way to help missioanries as members is to give them references. So begin praying RIGHT NOW for being to share the gospel with because this message will bless every single person i promise you. I know it´s scary but if you pray for the faith to talk to people it will come, I promise.

Sorry to lay down the law but I just reall felt pretty strong about that and I expect anyone who can to write me and tell me about what they did this week to help the work of the lord. And this truly is his work. I testify to you that He is in every single facet of it.

Other than that I´ve noticed that i really need to be working harder on my spanish. So I took out the study book they gave us in the mtc and I will be working through it intentley during our lunch time. The work is good though and I am truly a happy missionary the Lord has really been blessing elder Stott and I. 

Well familia y amigos I love you all so much. Thank you for your support thank you for you love and prayers. I know that becuase of them I am able to carry on when the more difficult days come. Stay strong and keep Christ in your focus. Through his atoment and love all things are posible.

Also my new address is: 

Elder Pemberton

Santo Domingo West Mission

C/ Hatuey #73

Urb. Los Cacicazgos

Santo Domingo, República Dominicana

Love,

Elder Pemberton

March 19, 2012

Pues mi amoroso famila.

Wow I dont even know where to begin. WEll Right now i´m in un centro de internet. A little place muy acerca de nuestro apartamiento. 

It´s been quite some time and i didnt even realize where the time went!! well last tuesday was transfers! which means we woke up at 5am to check out of our what now i realize was my very own hayatt hotel here in the DR. haha we´ll get to that part later. I said good bye to all my good friends that i had come to love there at the ccm, goodbye to my companion, goodbye to president, and i said hello to the MISSION FIELD!!!! I really wasnt sure what to expect but just like the first day i entered the MTC in provo I put on a big smile and said like fake it till i make! or in other words stay positive and it´ll all work out! We got taken to the chapell that they call the tranny chapell because thats where everyone goes for the transfers, o en español translados. We waited in a room for a little bit to interview with president. In my interview president told me that it is very hard to find as good of missionary as my trainer in probably the whole world. I have come to realize exactly what he meant. Next we met our trainers. My new companions name I found out was Elder Stott. I had secretly wanted a latin companion so that i could learn the language better but thats ok. Of course as soon as i was thinking that my companion got up and started translating for the senior missionary couple who work in the offuce in next to perfect spanish! I dunno why but the Lord has seen fit to really bless me right now in the part of my mission. We had some more training that day on mission rules and a spiritual thought from president rodriguez and thenElder Stott and I hit the road. We lucked out and got to use the AP´s car because we had to run some errands for them first but we got to drop our uggage off at our new place. Well.... speaking of how the CCM was my own little hyatt hotel... well... haha no jk our place really isnt that bad but it was just really dirty. so today good old p-day we clened it up real nice. I love livining in a clean home. Well we got settled studied for a little bit and then headed out. We were kind of whitewashed into ths area called Independencia. The area is really big so its split up into two parts. As an office elder Elder Stott was in the other side but now he´s here. I say kind of whitewashed because he already knows the geographical area and the ward really well. Whitewashed is when 2 new areas get put into an area all by themselves and neither of them had been there before. The first day was just contacting contacting and more contacting. We contacting 48 people our first day. thats actually really a lot. And we did a whole bunch of walking.. But i stuck with my attitude. Just smile and stay positive. I knew that the Lord would bless me if i bear my trials well. So the first day was tough but thats ok.

The rest of this week has honestly been AMAZING!!! I can testify to my grave to tell you how the Lord controls practically every single part of this work. and that it truly is the most important work that is occurring on the planet now. My favorite story is with a man named tony. We contacted tony on the first day. I could see how he was a little sad. But i also could tell he was a really nice guy. Well the next day when we went back to go teach him. He was having a family get together so we couldnt teach anything but he said yeah come backanother time. (people here are really bad with setting appointments) so we didnt make one. I was just really sad because I really wanted to tach him. Long story short three days later we went to go teach a lesson to a lady who i had thought was really not that interested but we made the cita anyways. Only to find that tony was there painting her house! We didnt even teach the lesson because she didnt even talk to us when we showed up and started talking to tony. But we talked to him and he said yeah i´ve just got to stay busy always have to be doing something because i´ve got a lot on my mind right now. So we made a una cita with him and i hope he´s receptive. Because i know our message can really help him find happiness. 

Well family i´m sorry the time is short but i need to go now. Please know how much I love you all and how much you mean to me. I´m fine here the work is great and i´m working hard so no one needs to worry about me ok! :) well again i love you all and will talk to you next week. 

Love
Elder Pemberton

March 8, 2012

Beloved Family and my dearest friends,

 

Well, It's finally here! I cant believe that i'm about to be a ful fledged missionary starting on tuesday! I am so very very excited! I can't wait to be out in the real world and just get to work!

 

A few cool things happened this week. As i said in my last letter, I went on intercambios on friday! What a great experience that was. Basically all the missionaries that were here in the MTC got split up amongst missionaries that are already out in the field. I got to go to my mission and it was awesome. No worries I couldnt understand hardly anything but you kniow what I'm just not worried. We tuaght two lessons. The first one was on the word of wisdom to a young woman named Ismereis (i think thats how you spell it). And I bore my testimony on how living that commandment has blessed my life. It was a fun experience. The next lesson was about the restoration of the gospel. We taught a woman named kenia who was very lively and super nice. We started talking about the restoration and i dont remember how it got brought up but she said "i actually really believe in reincarnation." Well thats what it sounded like at least. I looked over to my companion for the day Elder Foster to confrim. And he said yup reincarnation is what she's talking about. We actually had a member with us who had just finished his mission. Anyways Elder Foster said well we're going to talk more about that later but thats not exaclty what happens. Being super polite. And then the member just takes over the lesson and drills kenia about how she's wrong. I was really taken aback. But kenia took it really well. The field was a really great experience. The people in are very poor. Its a very different life style and it makes me all that much grateful for all that i do have back home. There's also A LOT of walking! so That 15-20 lbs i gained will prob be gone in the next two weeks!

 

I also got to meet my mission president on Sunday! He's really young only 39 (my dad's age) and already a mission president. Him and his wife have an amazing spirit about them and I felt really blessed to get to meet him. I also had the opportunity as a district leader to conduct this devotional. Let me just tell you. I was really nervous! But i got through it ok and i hope i made a good impression on him.

 

The other nervwrackinbg thing i did was sing a special musical number for our tuesday devotional. Four of us elders sand mas cerca dios de ti. It turned out pretty good so i was told. But i was actually really really nervous. I'm glad i did it though. It's helping me stay in tuned with my musical side and helping it be apart of my work here on my mission.

 

Well thats about it. Ana I still havent recieved the package luckily my mission isnt too far so i'll be able to have it delivered to me when it does get here. Also i hope dad is Ok i'm a little worried because i didnt get an email from him this week. And he is generally the best one at writing me emails. Also if grandma sug reads this will you let me know if sister bowen was able to get you my stuff that i left at the provo MTC? I'm really excirted to get into the field.thank you so much for sending emails letters and the prayers they're are all very much so needed as a missionary. Cant wait to hear from everryone in a week and a half wish me luck in the field!

 

Love,

Elder Pemberton

March 1, 2012

Mi amaroso familia y amigos,

 

Estoy muy animado. Quien sabe porque? Por que solamente tengo doce mas dias hasta voy al campo misional!!!!

I leave for the mission field on the 13th of March. And i tell you what i am soooo excited. We get to do intercambios with the missionaries from the East and West missions tomoroww and thats going to be SOOO SOOO awesome. I cant wait.

 

This letter I would like to help you all if possible understand the change that is happening to me. And no I'm not talking about the 10-15 lbs i've gained already on my mission as some of you might be able to tell in the pictures. ( I just cant help it. I'm just in love with the food here!) But all joking aside. I really am going through a transition in my life. This transition has to do with my relationship with my savior. Now I know for most people it's really hard to have a relationship with someone they've never met/ have never even talked to. But I would like to testify that you have all met him. that we knew him and our Heavenly Father in the life we had before this. But I can directly relate to those of you who feel like that. Because I was the same way. Now I've always been grateful for Jesus Christ and his teachings. I know that He's the Son of God and that he suffered, died, and was resurrected for each of us individually. I've known all that for some time now. But somehow now its different.... I feel like I know Him. I feel like He knows me. I feel like He cares about me, thinks about me. My love for Him has grown immensley over this past week and this love has created a desire in me to do whatever I have to do to become like Him so that I will have the opportunity to be in his pressence. If you are searching for a relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and have the opportunity to do so serve a mission. I am almost certain that I would not have found this relationship with savior if I wasnt here on my mission.

The other thing that has really grown. Is my love for the scriptures. Wow.... That and my understanding of the scriptures. I never thought it was possible to read 40 chapters of the New Testiment in 2 days. But i'll tell you what, it sure is. I'm in Acts right now following Pual on his many missions. What an inspiration he is.

 

The second thing I'd like to talk about is a man named Jospeh Smith. It has been said in scriptures both ancient and modern that "by your fruits ye shall know them" and the fruits of Joseph Smith are the Book of Mormon. If you have an issue with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for whatever reason and you havent read the book of Mormon at all to see if its true then i'm sorry you just dont really have much of an arguement. Everything that our church believes hinges upon the single fact that Jospeh Smith truly did see the Father and the Son. I can tell you with every fiber of my being that Joseph Smith in all reality had that vision and he was called of God to restore the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ once again upon the earth. Elder Robert D. Hales, who is an Apostle of Jesus Christ, said "what was really restored in (what we call) the Restorationis the ability to come back to the presence of our Heavenly Father"

 

On a less intensely spiritual note. We now have Latino elders!!!! there's about 20 of them here with us. It's truly an awesome experience! Did i mention we get to play soccer every gym time now? Any if any of you really know me you'll know that I've been in heaven the past week and a half since we started playing! We also got to play in the rain!!! For any of you who know soccer it was soooo much fun.

  

Also we have some very important birthday's this week!!!! Happy Birthday Madelyn and Kai Pemberton. I want you two to know how happy I am and how blessed I fell that you two are my siblings. You are excellent children and I miss you so much. I hope you have a great week. Like my best friend Kelsey always says. We really should have a birthday week not just a day;) Also my dear sister i'm going to try to upload a song called drop by drop about the parable of the 10 virgins that i think you'd like if not the check it out on the LDSyouth website. its a great song.

 

Well I think that's about it. I want you all to know how much I love you and how grateful I am for all of your support!

 

Love Elder Pemberton

 

Dad: Estoy muy orgulloso de ti por su fidelidad in su llamamiento! No puedo esperar hasta podemos hablarnos. Quien es de Santa Cruz? Te quiero mucho hasta luego