11/19/21012

Dear Family,

Hey I´m so so so sorry that I don´t have time to write a whole bunch. I am in the Capital right now because I had to come to pick up my new companion. Just so you know a little bit. Elder Paredes and I had a wonderful last week together. We had a lot of unity and we were able to truly learn to love one another. He´s being transfered back to the capital and I truly hope that he can find succes likle we´ve been able to have in Azua. My new companions name is Elder Perez and I hear he´s Dominican! So it sounds like it´ll be a lot of fun a learning expereince but a good one. I´ll do my best to write more next week. I want you all to know how much I truly love you all and for all of the birthday packages that I have gotten. I´ll also send pictures next week. Have a great week and again sorry its so short this week.

Love,

Elder Pemberton

11/12/2012

Como me enseñó mi papa de la misión "Hay la viuda"

¿Cómo están mi queridos amigos y familia? I´ve missed you all and I´m ever so grateful for every letter email and loving thought and prayer that has been sent my way. I know you all are busy and I know that the mail system sometimes is horrible but just know that you all will receive so many blessing for the efforts that you all make to take care of a servant of the Lord.

This past week has been a good one. As I have said my companion and I have been able to work things out. Things don´t fly smoothely but we´ve learned how to finally communicate and to try to talk things out. There have been times where i´ve just felt too tired to try to my things ok, or felt like I just couldnt wait for the next transfer but my loving Heavenly Father opened my minds understanding and helped me realized, "your not going to be able to say ´I cant wait for the next transfer´ if you have problems with your wife or your kids in the future." So I do my best to try to solve the problems and try to help him and love him instead of push him away so that I can have my own space. As I have realized how pride is the beggining of all sin I have also learned the beggining of all things good: Love. As I was reading this morning in Alma 20 this morning and thingink a little bit about the little differences that my comapnion and I have I read about when Ammon and Lamoni meet up with King Lamonis father, the king of the Lamanites. The king was mad seeing his son with a "lying nephite" and wanted to kill both Ammon and his own Son. But after Ammon wounded him and after he was lying on the ground pleading for his life he was able to see something that due to his hate he hadn´t seen before. The scriptures teach us the the king was astonished "when he saw the great love that Ammon had for his son Lamoni." Now I´m sure that because he was afraid for his life the king would have done practically anything to not die. BUT when he saw the love that Ammon had for his son not only was he willing to give up everything but he humbled himself (the opposite of prifde) and wanted to know WHY?! Why does the nephite love my son so much. Are we not arch enemies? He became interested and because the love the was found in Ammon. And my dear brothers and sisters where do you think such love came from? 

"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen." 

I testify of the love the we can receive from our Savior who is the Perfect Example of who we need to become. And the best part about it is that we truly can become like Him. But we must humble ourselves and change the things that are not in tune with His example. But its possible and He will give us the power to do it. 

As far as investigators go. We have a good group of progressing investigators with Eridania Natalia and Cesarina who are progressing well. I feel a little bit worried because it seems like they´ve lost a little bit of excitement and Eridania is not reading the Book of Mormon like she should be. But with the Lords help and your prayers combined with ours I know they will be ready for their date. 

Hno Abreu is also doing well. He came to church again this sunday and again he loved it. He still hasnt made a decision on which church to join as he still is receiving all sorts of visits from other religions. But this morning as I was reading a general conference talk I received the sweet feelings of revelation. I think he needs to understand better what the priesthood is seeing as how he understands quite well the principle of authority being an ex politician. I´ll have to run it by my companion but I hope we´ll be able to work that out.

We also have found two new young men. The first is Yeuris and is a good kid who´s 17. He´s a bit of a couch potatoe because he already finished high school and isnt doing anything. He came to church and is showing some good effort and understands everything well even though he´s a bit awkward in the lessons. We´ll see if we can get him to seminary this week and get him active!

Our other kid that we found is Rusbert! Holy smokes this kid is smart. What kind of investigator in the first lesson practically tells you word by word from memory the First Vision?!?!? And what kind of investigator comes to your house after church to put an appointment because us as somewhat airhead missionaries forgot to. I looked to my companion and said, "he´s getting baptized for sure." He´s an awesome young man who´s actually hatian but speaks really great spanish and is truly a blessing in our lives as misisonaries.

As far as other people we are working with please pray for Isamar and Hector and Emma (an inactive couple).

The work is moving forward and is going quickly just like the time. I´ve been so blessed to be here in the mission and hope all of you are feeling the blessings that Heavenly Father has promised you as well. Les quiero mucho y que les vaya bien esta nueva semana. Que tengan gozo y amor siempre en sus corazones.

Love,

Elder Pemberton

11/5/2012

Well I´m so so sorry but after writing some other quick emails the time has left me.  But we´ll go for just a quick update and I promise to write a good letter to all next week.

Investigators: Hno Abreu came to church this sunday!!!! It was awesome everyone knew him at church one because its a small small little town and two because he was a political representantive for Sabana Yegua. But he´s doing good he´s till taking studies from other churches but we´re doing our best to help him find the truth and help him understand where his Heavenly Father wants him to be. Pray for him that he will be able to find his answer soon and make a decision before he gets even more confused from all of the other religions.
Eridania Natalia and Cesarina are doing well. All loving church and always come. We have a goal to try to teach them together and tomorrow we´re going to put a baptismal date for the 1st of december. I´m really excited for them!
Isamar is a young woman of about 15 years old. She´s made a lot of changes in her life such as trying to overcome the normal teenager rebelious stage. Shes been taking lessons off and on from the missionaries for about 6 months and we feel like she´s finally ready we put a baptism date for the 1st of december as well. 
The only other one is Nicauris who needs to come to church so she can find her answer as well. Please pray for that miracle to be able to happen this coming week.
Also we need to find more peope so please keep that in your prayers as well. They are waiting for our beautiful message we just need the help finding them.
As far as our comapanionaship we´re dpoing... much better. I´m learning how to communicate how I feel and my comp is learning how to not get mad so fast. We´re doing our best to help one another and I know that all of your prayers are the power behind us. Sorry that its not much but I love you all so much have a great week!!! And good luck with elections!!!
Love,
Elder Pemberton

10/29/2012

My dear family,

Ask and yea shall receive know and it shall be open unto you. 

When I opened my email and saw all of the emails from friends and family my heart honestly soared as I saw all of the loving notes and words that you all took time to send me. To save time I´m going to print them out so that I have time to write you all. Which is very limited due to the pictures that I was tryig to send. 

Just for a quick update. I´m fine all of the missionaries are fine as far as we know. There was some major damage in our small town of Sabana Yegua there were two or three house that were taken away in a river that broke out of a man made trench. There was mud all over the roads and parts of the road were actually taken up. It was quite a sad sight to see peoples home destroyed. Their things ruined by the water. But I trust in our loving Heavenly Father who knows whats best for each one of His children. I hope that the people of Sabana Yegua will be able to come closer to God through this tragedy in stead of letting the hate and anger of the circumstances take over.

As far as investigators go. Luckily none of them were affected by the storm and we finally have baptism dates!!! They´re only goals meaning that theyre not for sure but. Eridania and her family want to get baptised and so were working with them to see if they can get baptised this coming month the 24th of Nov. They´re coming to church and starting to become part of the family of the church. Hno Abreu is also doing well. Do to the storm and the exchanges we had this week with the Zone leaders I havent been able to share with him but he also as the goal of getting baptised the 24th. His biggest problem is getting to church so please pray that we can have a miracle in getting him to church this week.

Elder Paredes and I are doing a lot better. But things did get worse before they could get better. Monday and tuesday I learned more than ever before in my life how to trust ONLY in my Heavenly Father because honestly we just couldnt find the solution to our difficulties. But like I said we´re doing better and I know its been because of all of your prayers.

Sorry I´m short but I´m way out of time. I cannot thank you all enough for the love and support that you all give me. I hope the Lord is pouring out His blessings upon each and every one of you for thinking and taking care of one of His servants. Please have a great week. You are all in my prayers. Y siempre recuerden sobre todo que confiemos en el Señor nuestro Redentor.

Love,

Elder Pemberton

10/22/2012

Well I need to be serious with you all. It´s been the hardest transfer of my short mission life. Mostly because of my companion. I know that the Lord see´s it fit to try His children and there are days when I feel a little bit brave and I ask for more trials in my life to be able to grow more. And well does the Lord hear the prayers of his children. 

Elder Paredes and I, short and sweet, are very different. He´s a great person just raised very differently than I was. He recognizes his faults and its been hard for me to recognize mine, because I´m so focused on just accepting him for who he is and trying to bare it all. We just dont feel any unity when we teach because he teaches very differently than I was taught. We had exchanges on friday and when he came back on saturday I just felt such a tension between us. Before we went out to work he said that he needed to talk to me. So I sat down at the desk and he told me he couldn't take it anymore. He said, "what do you what me do to? What do I need to change? " And I just looked at him. What am I supposed to say? I felt like he wanted me to pull out a magic button that at promblem solver written on top. All I could think of was trying to be the missionaries that Preach My Gospel tell us to be and be obedient. I feel like I´m always walking on thin ice with him and I feel like I never know what to do. So his solution was to start letting me make all of the decisions. Its been a really hard couple of days on top of the diffuclt transfer that passed and the one we´re in right now. And all of you who know me well enough know that I´m not so great at handling difficult situations. The best hope I have is that all of this will make me stronger and that I´m learning a lot. I guess? I understand that the Lord asks us to sacrifice everything for Him but I do ask myself, "is there at times unecessary sacrifice in our lives?" I know that this is where I need to be. 

But no worries, not all is lost. There is always hope. I´ve done the best I can to try to understand how can I find happiness in spite of it all. We got to go to the temple and unfortunately I wasn´t able to leave as happy as I wanted to. And only the Lord knows why. But I was able to learn something. I was able to learn that we can find the a fullness of joy when we complete with our purpose. And as I thought more about it, I thought, "well, what other time in my life am I going to have a more defined purpose?!?" For those of you missionaries, "inivite people to come unto Christ by helping them..."  you know the rest. I feel bad for those of you out in the lone and weary world where its less easy to understand your true purpose. Also looking for help I was reading in the May General Conference Liahona and I came across the President Uchtdorfs talk in priesthood session. I learned there that especially as missionaries we can find happiness as we look back on the day and realize which moments we were used as instruments in the Lords hands. There are answers in the scriptures of the ancient times and modern day. 

Now, on to investigators. Even though Elder Paredes and I are having some problemitas we have been able to find some investigators. We found a man named Gil Abreu and he's such a great man. He´s had a really humbling year. His family left him and went to the US. He lost his leg in a weird accident when he stepped on glass from a light bulb. The leg got infected and the doctors had to take the leg. He was also a Subdirector of Agriculture for the southern region of the DR. Which is a pretty big deal. Unfortunately his party lost in the presidential elections and because of his leg he wasn't going to be able to keep up with his projects that he had. Now he is looking to join a church. He feels a great need to join a church because he knows how much God has helped him in his life. He´s honestly such an example to us. Because he´s not depressed nor hateful for what has happened. He feels good and he shows it. We just hope that he can get his answer soon because he´s receiving a few other churches at his house. The battle of souls is real. Pray for him. 

I´m out of time but please pray for these people as well. Eridania, Natalia, Cesarina. They are a family a mom and her two girls. Isamar, who is a girl of 14 years and Nicaruaris. And please please please pray for my companion and I. We want to fix things, we just dont know how. I love you all, hope you have a great week.

Love,

Elder Pemberton

P.S. If you could send some emails or letters or anything I could really use the strength. I don´t mean to sound needy I know you all do so much for me. But If you have time that would be great.

Pictures 10/15/2012

10/8/2012

Mis queridos amigos y familiares,

I´m here starting on my 6th transfer in the mission field. This transfer has gone by so, so fast. We found out last night that Elder Paredes and I will being sticking it out for another one. So lets home that we can grow a lot more in this coming transfer and see what happens.

This week has been a week of a lot of traveling. On tuesday we went to an area about an hour away called Padre Las Casas for our district meeting. After which i was supposed to go on exchanges with the zone leaders but my stomach was just killing me. Note taken: just be obedient and dont eat in members houses cuz its very likely that you´ll end up with diarrhea. Yeah its been a rough week and a half BUT what ever it was has left my dehydrated body and now I´m back to eating the good stuff again. But due to me not feeling well I didnt go on the exchange and me and my comp went back to our area to work.

Wednesday we came into town to Azua to have interviews with the President. It was a good time to spend with the other missionaries as we waited and then I was also able to have a good interview with the President. With that and general conference I was able to receive a lot of good advice on how to keep my excitement up even in tough times.

Then on thursday we took the hour drive BACK to PLC so that my comp could give a baptism interview as he is the District Leader. 

On friday we went to Azua again which is a 15 minute ride on the highway in the back of a truck (hey you got to do what you got to do) so its not tooo bad. We had our end of the transfer party with the senior couple, The Browns. They really are great I love being able to spend time with them whenever we get the chance. But our zone went over to their apartment for lunch and guess what we ate!!!! Hawaiian Haystacks!!!!! AH I was so very happy to eat a meal from home. If you don´t know what they are ask my mom Ana she makes them quite well! But please don´t get me wrong I love rice and beans. It was nice to be able to hang out with our zone in a calm environment and share stories and such. 

Then came general conference. I learned from Elder Stott that he doesnt take notes during the conference. And he´s got a point because the talks come out in about a month and we can read them again there. What he taught me to do is to write down the things that the Spirit tells you. What a different conference. It went by so fast but I truly received plenty of inspiration from heaven that I hope I will be able to put into effect very soon in my mission. 

As for the revelatory news of the age change of the missionaries my heart soars to know that truly we are blessed to be part of the true church and that Christ, and not a man, directs it. As we heard about the sister missionaries my mind went directly to my good friend Jessica Van Alfen who I hope received an answer to her prayers with this news. She will make an excellent missionary. This will be such an excellent development in missionary work and I know that the time is close to the end for the Lord is calling more and more of His children to serve Him and to spread the "Good News" so that the world can be prepared for our Lords second coming.

I was definitely filled with the Spirit as I brought questions to conference and received direct answers to those questions by the messangers of our Heavenly Father. Just another way that He shows that He loves us His children. 

My companion and I are excited to be together again. We´re struggling a little bit in teaching with power and unity in our lesssons. I hope that we can humble oursleves and find an answer quick so that we can help more and more people. And at the same time enjoy more and more our mission.

Last night while we were waiting for the transfer call I opened up some letters. I have never felt so strong a spirit from a letter as when I read a dearelder I received from Kiffyn Smith. She´s currently in China right now teaching english. She tells me that she is not allowed to share her testimony at all and that being in a different country and culture has been hard for her, but at the same time she´s loving it. I am grateful for her example in missionary work by example, by service, and by love. Also quite a while ago just so you know kels I sent you a letter and well I said I didnt get yours. I recieved the letter the week after I wrote it. Just so ya know.

Well my dear family and friends I hope you all know how much I truly love you all. I know that I am here on my mission for a reason and that I am learning so much. I hope you all enjoyed general conference and were able to receive peace counsel and feel the love of your Father in Heaven like I was able to. I know this church is true. I know that Heavenly Father is always with us and always knows what we are going through and what we need. We need to remember that we need to humble oursleves by always praying to Him and realizing that we need Him much more than we let on to (Mosiah 4:11). I truly love being a missionary even though its been hard I know I´m being prepared for so much in this short two years. Please pray for the work over here. Pray for miracles in the lives of our investigators and that their hearts may be opened. We will be eternally grateful for those prayers. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Pemberton