First Cold/White Winter

Elder Pinyon didn't mentioned much for the update, but it was definitely great to see photos that he attached to the email. A friendly reminder the photos will be uploaded to "MTC & Mission Photos" on Facebook and Section "Mission Photos" for the Blog.

He said "Christmas was really amazing, the German people are really amazing and I love them so much. They are so loving and so giving at this time of year, not a single moment did I feel home sick, it was really nice to feel that love and know that there was someone watching out for me :D So I didnt have a snowy white christmas, but this morning as I woke up, there was 6 inches of snow outside, it was so beautiful and white and just so amazing. It was perfect too, being preparation day, I could enjoy my first cold/white winter :D"

Stay Tuned.

BAPTISM of This Last Week

Wonderful experiences during the week. Elder Pinyon sent me 2 emails. I will share with you what his 2nd email said.

He said "Teodolina Selenita Quishpe Bunay or better known as Selena was baptised on the 20th December 2014. About four years ago, Selena started meeting with missionaries in Spain with her best friend, she made the decision to be baptised and got married to her husband so she could be baptised with her friend, unfortunately the baptism didn't work out at the time and she stayed away from the church for along time until she felt the desire to have contact again with the missionaries. Before she moved to Germany two years ago, the same friend which got baptised gave her a bible from the church with her testimony in it.

About 4 weeks ago, Selena referred herself to the church, asking for a missionary visit. We set up an appointment and met with her the following Saturday. As we were in the first appointment, we came to the knowledge that she could not speak any German, could not speak any English either, the only way of communication was through the little Spanish that we knew at the time. We should her a picture of Jesus Christ being baptised by John the Baptist, as she saw that, she pointed to it and said "ich will".

As we taught her an came to know Selena, her testimony of repentance was already so amazing and only grew to become stronger. She would tell us, through a Joint Teach (Bruder Tafur) her feelings of the Gospel and the Book of Mormon. She knows that it is the only true Gospel and that she wants to be apart of it. In the short two weeks that we taught her, she learnt and grew and her testimony grew with her, she was then baptised on the 20th December 2014 by Bruder Tafur. She was then confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints by Bruder Tafur the follow day. She was so happy and smiled the whole day. She loves the Gospel.

What is Christmas about??  There have been many great and wonderful people, even religious teachers who have taught men how to live, but there has been but ONE Messiah, ONE Christ, the ONE Annointed, even Jesus Christ.

I testify of Him, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, the only begotten of the Father in the flesh. He is the Saviour, the Messiah. He made the Atonement for our sins and opened the resurrection.

Thank you for your prayers always. This week was really amazing, we had a baptism, and it was just perfect. Everything was fine and now I can say that I fulfilled my purpose. And now after seeing Selena's baptism, I just want another one, so on Sunday night I just invited an investigator to be baptised next month and he said yes :D I am so excited for all the work that is happening here. Also being district leader is great. My district is on fire, I have been focusing on baptism and all the topics that can around baptism for the last 2 weeks in district meeting and this week, my district set 5 baptismal dates. I dont know if that is really big for your mission or where you live, but for Germany it is unheard of.

We are preparing ourselves, spiritually and physically. The work is true and is great. I love this work. I havent got your letter yet tho. Also this morning we went finding and we found a family of chinese people and they are really awesome and want to learn more about the gospel. I pray that you have a really amazing Christmas this year, I am sorry that I can't be there, but it is ok, because I am helping people to understand Christmas just like we do :D

I would suggest that you read the Christmas story in the Second chapter of Luke atleast once this week. It will take a minute and a half to read it. It might take a minute more to ponder on it - but FIND YOURSELF IN THE STORY as Angels who proclaim, as Shepherds who take care, as Wise Men who seek after the true meaning of happiness, as Sheep who follow the Master, as ... FIND YOURSELF.

Merry Christmas"

Stay Tuned.

Come Closer to CHRIST

A reminder, the spelling errors isn't my fault. It is so hard when you have limited time of what to say.

Elder Pinyon said "Had a really great week, but I just want to focus on the covenant on baptism. I want everyone to know that they need to be the Key for someone. People that aren't members of the chruch are waiting at that gate which than starts the path to eternal life, it doesn't start before, but after. We as members hold that key to open it, please use it and do your missionary work. Anyone that isn't a missionary isn't a member. I challenge you all to do your missionary work and be the Key. In German we say "seien Sie den Schlüssel".

we have a baptism this weekend and I am so excited for her, I have had a broken foot I think all week, but I have done everything I can to help her come to baptism, tomorrow I will be going to doctors, so I havent gone crazy, I am still a little normal, but we really need to help people come closer to CHRIST.

Elder Pinyon"

 Stay Tuned.

New Companion, Elder Stringham

Just a reminder, that I don't copy and paste the whole email. I share what has needed to updated.

Elder Pinyon said "This week was a great week, I loved it. So as I said last week I think, I got a new companion this week, his name is Elder Stringham and also we have new Elders that opened a new program up here in my area, so we have 4 Elders in one apartment, it is a lot of fun and I am learning a lot of German and a lot of everything. All 3 of them are older than me so it is really nice :D So also from the lady from last week that we met with and said ICH WILL to baptism. We met with her on Saturday evening and we had a really great lesson and at the end of the lesson we asked her to be baptised and she said "I know that it is time the I need to be baptised. I know the gospel is true and I will never leave, I want to be baptised now" So we have set a baptismal date with her for the 20th December, so she will be baptised in 2 weeks, I am so excited for her. Her daughter said that she will pray about it to know whether she should be baptised. Her daughter is only 11, but so mature, it is amazing.

Also this week I had a little "accident" I have 2 carpet burns on my face now, but its all good, they dont hurt to much, just looks really ugly on my face haha. We have had a lot of success this last week and I know that we will have more as we move closer to christmas and also the new year :D The weather is a little warmer than I expected this last week, see the week before it was in the negatives, but this week we only had lows of 0, so no snow yet, but that is alright it will come in the right time.

That was pretty much my week :D but all is good."

 Stay Tuned.

Most Wonderful Experience!!

Prepare to cry throughout this week's experiences!! I cried so much!

He said "This week has been a really good one, I have seen so much progress from investigators. It truly is amazing to see the work of salvation just at your finger tips, the Lord truly does love us. So this week was FREEZING!!! I finally lived my first day of a high of -1 and a low of -3. It would be snowing right now if there was moisture in the air, but unfortunately it doesn't want to rain/snow. It is probably good because it would be a massive distraction for me, just hope that it does snow for christmas.

So we got a referral from the office from this lady. She is a self referral and her preferred language is Spanish. Now of course, I dont speak spanish, just english and german. So I was praying that she could speak a bit of german and spanish, but unfortunately not as I found out when I called her up. She answered as started speaking spanish to me, I didnt know what was going on, I just knew she was speaking something. Then I hear a little girl answer the phone and she spoke english, so we set up an appointment with her and her daughter. So we went by and her little daughter had to translate for us, which was good, but unfortunately her little daughter had only been learning german for 1 year, so she couldnt translate everything.

We asked, how did you meet the church?? She said to us "My friend is a member and invited me to find out more about the church". PLEASE SHARE THE GOSPEL WITH YOUR FRIENDS THEY REALLY DO NEED IT, I DONT KNOW WHEN THEY WILL ACCEPT IT, BUT I KNOW ONE DAY THEY WILL. Little did we know she was going to a spanish speaking ward in Berlin, no one knew that she was an investigator, her bible was a bible from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We looked on the front page of the bible and it said written in spanish. For my friend x from your friend y. (Sorry dont want to put names in). It was dated back from 2012, she had a German Book of Mormon somehow, so we brought along a spanish Book of Mormon and gave it to her and she almost cried.

As the lesson went on we spoke a little about the church and how much a blessing was. In the middle of a conversation, something told me, Elder Pinyon show her a picture. It was a bit weird, I didnt know which picture, but I showed her the first picture I opened up to and it was the one of John the baptist baptising Christ. She saw and and she was happy. She then with so much humility pointed to it and said ICH WILL. In English that means I WANT and I WILL DO IT. We were so happy, but we spoke a little about baptism and that she will need to come to church, to prepare to be baptised.

After discussing that and just before we left, we asked the daughter, Glaubst du an Gott?? (Do you believe in God?). She paused and the spirit was there and we were waiting for her answer. Meanwhile in the background, her mum had understood the question and her mum had the face of "please believe in God, that is all I want for you". After a long 1 minute silence the little 11 year old girl said "ja, glaube ich an Gott" (yes, I believe in God). Her mother almost cried when she said that, her mother was so proud and so pleased that her daughters desire was the same. They both want to be baptised before the end of the year. We left and told them we would meet them on Sunday and travel together to church.

So Sunday came along, it was -2 Degress Celcius and I was freezing, I was really praying that they were coming to church. We went to the house and pressed the button to klingel the family. They never answered, so I tried again, still no answer, I was thinking, oh no, they arent coming. I pulled out my phone about to call them and down came the mum and being so excited that she could come to church with us. We couldnt speak with her, but somehow, we could communicate with her, she said that her husband was coming too and he came with us to church. Now comes the good part....we are at church and we get someone to try to interpret for them, but they can only do it during one of the classes, so I sat next to them during sacrament meeting and tried to communicate through google translate (please only use google translate in emergencies like this).

After Sacrament meeting was over, I asked them what they thought of the Sacrament meeting and they said they understood a lot of it. I dont know if they really did, but I could tell that the spirit had made an impression upon their hearts, that will most likely change their lives forever. After Sacrament meeting I showed them the baptismal font and tried to tell them, this is where you will be baptised and they were so excited when they saw it, they really just want to be baptised. Next time we meet with them we will be inviting them to be baptised as a family and I am so excited for this family, it is amazing to see their commitment to the Gospel already.

Also my trainee is getting transfered and I am staying in freezing cold berlin :( oh well, it happens.

Elder Pinyon"

Stay Tuned.

Great Week

Elder Pinyon has sent me 2 emails for updates. Just a reminder, I don't share the emails that has been sent back and forth like talking to each other.

He said "Hey, this week was just great, well actually the last 2 days. So yesterday we get a call in the middle of our eating appointment from my Zone Leaders, saying be at Tiergarten Pfahlhaus at 6.15pm the Piano Guys are playing for us. Now if you dont know the Piano Guys, please get to know who they are, they are amazing classical music musicians and Mormons. So we had a surprise fireside with them. They gave us their testimonies, they played for us and also answered questions for us. It was truly wonderful to hear these wonderful men just share their testimonies about the gospel, men that work together, they are signed up with Sony and they let the Lord do all the lead in anything they do. Music is amazing.

I learnt quite a few things from them, they told us that "when you take off the nametag, that is when you really start missionary work" I want you to remember that, because that for me is powerful, we are set apart servants of the Lord, but we need to enduring and continue working and do the Lords work, whether we are set apart or not. I also learnt that when we partake of the sacrament, we just dont renew our covenants we made at sacrament, we renew all of our covenants we make with the Lord. It is true, read and pray about the sacrament pray!

Also we shouldn't look at life through a telescope, the world makes us look through a telescope and that is not how the Lords wants us to view life, but we should take the telescope off and see the world for what it really is, it is a sanctuary. There is so much that we could see if we really just opened our eyes. Also we as members of the Lords restored church, need to be more confidant that we are members. I am not saying we should be prideful about it, but we need to be confidant. Don't be scared because you are Mormon, the Lord is on our side, He really wants us to see our potential and we can only do that through being confidant in who we really are.

So today, we played Turkey Bowl, which is an American thing, but it was really cool. So we played American Football, mission president was there and it was really great, I really enjoyed myself, but before the game, I did the Haka for my mission president and he loved it :D

Elder Pinyon"

Also another email, he said

"Also something to add to the blog that I learnt last night:
It was about spinning plates at the circus, so you know how at the circus the clowns get the plates on the sticks spinning, but they dont focus all on three plates, only when they start wobbling or falling, than they will focus on them. Well it is just like life, we need to focus on just one thing, yes we have got our other plates. E.g. our church plate, our family plate and our work plate. We cant let them fall because they are so precious, but we need to make sure that we are not focusing on all three at once or our life will collapse apart. Sometimes we just cant ballance things in our lives, but we just need to keep the plates spinning, that is what is important. :D"

- Stay Tuned.

More Success

Elder Pinyon mentioned a lot through the email. A reminder, I don't copy and paste the whole email, just updates.

He said

"This week was a good week, I feel that by the end of the week we were starting to see more success rather than at the start of the week. I am not sure why it felt like that, but I am sure to keep looking back on that so that we can fix anything so we can help along with the work of salvation and bring our brothers and sisters back to where they need to be. This week was really good for me as a missionary and also as a District Leader. I had district leader school and I learnt a lot that I am greatful for, becuase now I know how to use the Mission Training Plan, I know how to set worthy goals that the Lord would be pleased about and goals that we can acheive. But all in all, I learnt how to be a better missionary.

Zone Training Meeting fell out this week so I decided that we needed a District Meeting so that we could come together and discuss about the goals we had set and also the goals that we would set. I had the wonderful opportunity to share with the Lords district what I learnt in District Leader School and help them become members of the Lords District. On Friday, I was able to have the opportunity to go on exchanges with the Zone Leaders and I went to Tiergarten with a zone leader. There on Thursday night we met with an investigator that is actually from our area and we had an amazing hour long lesson with this investigator and the spirit was thick, you could feel it and could not deny that it was there. I learnt so much about how important asking the right questions are and just relying on the Lord, because it was an unplanned lesson.

Later during the exchange on Friday we did quite a lot of finding, but I was able to receive some great tips on how to better my finding skills and also able to help towards the work in the Tiergarten area as we found a new investigator. On Sunday we had a random call at about 10am so just after priesthood and it was a contact that had received a card from us and wanted to meet with us, so we invited him to come to church, he came for about the last 5 minutes, but we took him to a eating appointment wit hus and he really enjoyed the atmosphere and understood that the members really do love him, this week we will start our teaching with him. Also an investigator is progressing really well, she has been coming to church and we are still waiting to meet with her parents until we can baptise her, but she brought money along yesterday to pay tithing, she really wants to be baptised and she is really progressing really well. I am excited, hopefully this week we can meet with her parents. Please pray for us that everything will work out.

I have a funny story for you as well you can add to the blog.... I acutally met a girl on the street the other day and she is from Bavaria and I was talking to her about Australia because she visited there for 3 months and about swimming in the great barrier reef and everything, so I tried to ask her if we could  meet sometime, but I said to her "Können wir uns tauchen?" and not "können with uns treffen?" So the difference is that the first one I said "CAN WE IMMERSE OURSELVES?" and then I said to myself, that is not correct, umm and she laughed and thought that it was cute, haha. but then I just explained that my german isnt perfect and she understood.

Elder Pinyon"

Stay Tuned.

Halloween Experience

Another Experience that Elder Pinyon shared. This one was on Halloween.

He said "I actually have another experience relating to halloween that you can post on my blog:

Halloween is actually a decently sized event here in Germany. We actually had an appointment that night and we heard some footsteps through the chapel in the middle of our appointment and we thought it was some hooligans and they knocked at the door, little to our surprise it was a member with his son going door to door and he noticed that the door of the chapel was open so he came in to find us. His son gave us some candy and then they went away, little to our surprise, 10 minutes later they came back and gave us some more candy and the father shared this experience in sacrament meeting yesterday. He said that his son said, "Pappa, möchte ich mehr candy zur Elders geben" "Dad, I want to give more candy to the Elders" and little his surprise he did it because the little 4 year old boy felt the love, the Christlike love as he served us. Later that night at their house, the little 4 year old boy said to his parents, "muma, Papa können wir ein gebet zusammen sprechen?" Mum, dad, can we say a prayer together. The father wept during the prayer and through his testimony because he knew that his son had been touched by the love of Christ that night and that it became an experience that he will never forget."

Stay Tuned

The Power of Testimony

As Elder Pinyon emailed me with a wonderful experience, I was thinking should I share that experience on the blog or not. So I asked him if I should through as a reply. He mentioned "Yes." I was happy about the response that he said. Here's the experience that Elder Punyon has shared with me.

He said,
"I was sitting in sacrament meeting yesterday and of course it is all in German and I want to testify to you that God loves us, it is His priesthood that we use and we must go to the temple to receive more blessings and make more covenants with God. As I was sitting and listening to the German members, a proud father came up and bore his testimony because his son passed the sacrament for the first time (he just turned 12) and I felt this wave of love just come over me and I just started crying. Than a few testimonies later I seemed to compose myself and another proud father said the same thing, but shared some personal things that I wont really tell, but again I felt the love of our Saviour again and it came in like a wave and smashed me and I cried so bad. Than I finally composed myself again, this sister in our ward went up and bore her testimony of the truthfullness and blessings of temples and once again I just felt this overwehlming love and cried again.

I dont know why or how I felt that much love, I still think I dont deserve that, but it doesnt matter what language you are listening to, no matter who is baring their testimony, as long as it is born with pure love and intent to do good, the Lord will share His love to others and will testify to us and I just want to say that this was the most amount of love and spirituallity I have felt in my life, if I wasnt called to Germany Berlin Mission, I wouldnt of felt this love the Saviour has for us. I testify that He lives and that He really does love us. I know that without a doubt. I am greatful for everything I have."

Stay Tuned.

Staying in Marzahn Area, District Leader Again

Elder Pinyon emailed me and it was great for the update. Reminder, it isn't my fault. This week, he mentioned "So the good old weekly update right haha.

So this week we went back in time an hour and had an extra hour of sleep, oh and I enjoyed it haha. The week was really good, we were busy and doing the things that the Lord has asked us to do, which is ofcourse a blessing in itself. This week it was super dooper cold. Its not even winter yet and we are getting temperatures of 10 degress Celcius for a high and 4 degrees for a low. The sun comes up at 7am and goes down at 6pm (pitch black outside). The weather is an unknown thing to me, but it is only going to get colder (yay :/ ) and only going to get darker earlier and from what I have heard from missionaries that have served here before, the sun comes up at about 9am and goes down at 4.30pm, so not to much sun baking for me in winter haha.

Well I pray and hope that you all have a blessed week and take care

Love Elder Pinyon

PS we had transfer calls and I am staying here in Marzahn and also I will be the district leader."

Stay Tuned.

Reached Goal Finally

So .. Elder Pinyon missed emailing me last week. I didn't even noticed until he mentioned it to me at the start of the email. Just a reminder the spelling mistakes isn't my fault and I understand it will be hard to explain everything and hard to go through the whole email again before sending. Once it's sent, it's sent.

"This week was a hard one but a good one at the end. This week we reached our goal finally, first time on my mission of finding new investigators. We found 5, 3 of them were found on Tuesday just through miracles, truly greatful for miracles and the last one was found last night at 8pm. The other one was found on thursday night when we thought all chance was lost about to go home and eat dinner and do some language study, we said, we dont need to eat, lets go the extra mile and she was there. It was amazing to see that when we really do the extra mile we can succeed in all things according to what the Lord wants.

We have 2 investigators on baptismal date at the moment and I am starting to see the change in their lives as we teach them and help them become as Christ. One of the investigators is starting to be happy and laugh and I have never seen him do that, he is getting really excited for his baptism and his testimony has grown so much. The other is changing so much, she has got a job at the museum now, she is willing to change, she is inviting her family along to her baptism because she knows how important baptism is and she wants her family to be a part of it. It truly is amazing the work that we have the opportunity to perform here in Germany for 2 years.

Everyone says that Germany is a hard mission, maybe it is, but they only send the elect here who can tackle it and do the Lords work the way He wants it done. It sure isnt easy, but definitely worth it :D

German translation:
Diese Woche war ein hartes aber ein gutes Ende. Diese Woche haben wir unser Ziel erreicht endlich, zum ersten Mal auf meiner Mission der Suche nach neuen Ermittler. Wir fanden 5, 3 von ihnen wurden am Dienstag nur durch Wunder gefunden, wirklich dankbar für Wunder und der letzte wurde bei 20.00 gestern Abend gefunden. Der andere wurde am Donnerstagabend gefunden, als wir dachten, alle Chance wurde etwa nach Hause zu gehen und zu Abend essen und einige Sprach verloren, sagten wir, wir brauchen nicht zu essen, lässt gehen die extra Meile, und sie da war. Es war erstaunlich zu sehen, dass, wenn wir wirklich die extra Meile, tun können wir nach dem, was der Herr will, erfolgreich zu sein in allen Dingen.

Wir haben 2 Ermittler auf Taufdatum im Moment, und ich fange an, die Veränderung in ihrem Leben sehen, wie wir sie zu lehren und ihnen helfen, wie Christus zu werden. Einer der Ermittler beginnt, glücklich zu sein und zu lachen, und ich habe noch nie gesehen, wie er das tun, er bekommt wirklich begeistert für seine Taufe und sein Zeugnis ist so viel gewachsen. Die andere ist im Wandel, so viel hat sie einen Job im Museum jetzt habe, ist sie bereit, zu ändern, sie lädt ihre Familie zusammen zu ihrer Taufe becuase sie weiß, wie wichtig die Taufe ist, und sie will ihre Familie, ein Teil davon zu sein . Es ist wirklich erstaunlich, die Arbeit, die wir haben die Möglichkeit, hier in Deutschland für 2 Jahre durchzuführen.

Jeder sagt, dass Deutschland ein harter Mission, vielleicht es ist, aber sie senden nur die wählen, die es anzugehen hier tun können und tun die Herren so funktionieren, wie er es will. Es ist sicher nicht ist einfach, aber auf jeden Fall gelohnt: D

Have a great week :D

Elder Pinyon"

Stay Tuned.

Fibre Optic Cables and Working through the Spirit

Elder Pinyon mentioned a lot through the email that I have received. He even asked me nicely to put what this email says on the blog. Here's it goes.

"Preach My Gospel missionaries/members obviously must learn to teach by the power of the Spirit. Of equal importance, however, is the responsibility to help investigators learn by faith and by the power of the Holy Ghost. In this regard, you and I are much like the long, thin strands of glass used to create fiber optic cables through which light signals are transmitted over very long distances. Just as the glass in these cables must be pure to conduct the light efficiently and effectively, so we should become and remain worthy conduits through whom the Spirit of the Lord can operate. But elders and sisters, we must be careful to remember in our service that we are conduits and channels; we are not the light. “For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you” - Elder Bednar

Do you know what Fibre optic cables are??

Well if you dont, look it up on google, I just know that they are cables that we use for internet and everything. They have little bits of glass that are pure and when they arent pure they cant function properly. I would like to annalyse three different fibre optic cables today.

So the first fibre optic cable we will look at will be the ones that become dark and the colour changes. So what happens to the light when the colour isn´t pure??

It is obsorbed and it wont work because it isnt pure. What can observe this pureness in our lives to stop the spirit from working through it??

Sins!!!

What types of sins are there in life??

There are 2 types of sins. (Things we do and things we dont do)

Things we do - breaking commandments, not doing as leaders tell us to do.

Things we dont do - not talking to someone on the street, or to apply it to normal members, not doing family home evening, not saying personal and family prayers and also not sharing the gospel with friends and family.

So we can see the less pure we are the less the spirit can work through us.

So the second fibre optic cable we will look at will be ones that we put more than one or connect more cables to the big one. So an example of how this works is when you have a straw and you blow through it there is lots of pressure right?? But if we have say 10 or 20 or 30 straws and all blow through them the pressure drops!!

Just like the pressure drops, the amount of purity drops out of the fibre optic cables and if we are once again these fibre optic cables than we must be pure. What can these branching cables be that stops our purity??

being distracted, having a bad day, not being happy. and the list can get bigger. As members they can be, being angry at members of our family, Priestcraft!!! "This work is never about me and it is never about you. We need to do all in our power to fulfill our missionary responsibility and simultaneously “get out of the way” so the Holy Ghost can perform His sacred function and work. In fact, anything you or I do as representatives of the Savior that knowingly and intentionally draws attention to self—in the messages we present, in the methods we use, or in our personal demeanor and appearance—is a form of priestcraft that inhibits the teaching effectiveness of the Holy Ghost." - Elder Bednar

Now the third fibre optic cable is the pure and perfect light. What happens when we are pure and clean and have none of these branches or distractions in life??

We will be perfect tools so the perfect teacher, the Holy Ghost, can teach the people that we are bringing the gospel too. As Elder Bednar said in his talk "GET OUT OF THE WAY" when we get out of the way the Lord and the spirit can work through us.

My Prayer and Testimony is that all members will be missionaries and be these perfect fibre optic cables so that the spirit can work through them. We NEED to CHANGE NOW. CHANGE is NEEDED!!! I love you all and hope all is well.

Love Elder Pinyon

Megan can you put this on my blog please. :D thank you

The talk that I used was "Becoming a Preach My Gospel Missionary - Elder Bednar"

I can tell that Elder Pinyon has been learning heaps during his Mission so far. I always love receiving long emails and getting to read the emails is one of the greatest opportunities to feel the Holy Ghost strongly.

Stay Tuned.

Wonderful Opportunity

Elder Pinyon mentioned a lot through email, I thought to share with you some of what he mentioned.

"This week I had the wonderful opportunity to think about my past (as missionaries we have no time extra to ourselves haha). As I have gone throughout the last 10 weeks, I have really seen a big change in the hearts of many people here. They have blessed me as I have blessed them. It has been truly amazing. This week I had the opportunity to give 2 blessings to people in our ward, it was truly a wonderful feeling to feel the Lords power flowing through me as I blessed them. It is truly a blessing that the members trust a missionary such as me and others to bless them and we dont even speak the language fluently or know them personally. I know that as we use the Priesthood righteously and for good dominion, the Lord will bless us with many blessings to come.

This week was also amazing because of the amount of miracles and blessings that we were able to see. I know that these miracles only came about because of the exact obedience that we commit to and follow through. I love my mission with all my heart, it is truly amazing to be able to serve the Lord and there will be always other ways to serve the Lord, as long as we always remember Him and are always worthy for His spirit. "

The photos are posted under "Mission Photos": Section on the blog and "MTC & Mission Photos" on Facebook.

Stay Tuned.

Really Amazing Week!

Elder Pinyon hasn't been emailing me much updates lately, so that is why I haven't been updating the blog much. Just a friendly reminder that the spelling errors isn't my fault. Here's the email of what he mentioned to me.

"This week was really amazing. I went through 3 companions this week. I sent off my old companion to Forst on Tuesday, it was a sad farewell, but all good things have to come to an end. But on the same day I got to serve with Elder Hogan for about 2 days as I waited for my little GOLDEN missionary. It was a fun 2 days in between serving with Elder Hogan, it was great coz we are both 2 experienced missionaries doing the Lords work (but you dont always need 2 experienced missionaries doing the Lords work, I can testify of that).

Than on Thursday I received my Brand New missionary. His name is Elder Hunt. He is great, he comes from Arizona and is a bit quiet, but I will get him noisy haha. We had a great week and even found his first new investigator on the street. The Lord is blessing us because of your prayers that you give for us here in Germany. I am truly grateful for all of your prayers :D That was pretty much my week except for Saturday.

Saturday we had Elder Bednar come and teach us. It was amazing the way he taught us, it was a way where we were all involved and we would answer questions that he would ask. Than we would ask him questions that would help us be better missionaries because the questions we asked him was the questions that can better improve our teaching as missionaries.

I love the mission and know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ."

Stay Tuned.

Full of Ups

Elder Pinyon wrote the update through as a reply to my email that I sent from last week. I will mentioned most of the things that he have said. It's not my fault for the spelling errors. 

"This week was full of ups and downs, but I would like to focus on the ups this week. So to start off, I had an awesome P-day, I went to the Berliner Mauer (Berlin Wall), Brandenberger Tor  (you will have to google it if you can) and also the Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral). I can add photos in another email. It was so much fun. 

So now to the good stuff, the missionsarbeit (missionary work). This week was encompused with a lot of finding, but that is ok, unfortunately we didnt find anyone, but the highlight of the week was Saturday for me. We a FamilienFest 2014 (Family fest) it was so much fun. We were on a stand of pinates, there were other stands like hitting nails into wood, family history, prophets and so many other things that all related to the gospel. That was all fun and games. 

Shortly after we were invited by the sisters to go and help teach an investigator that will be getting baptised very soon. They taught him about the priesthood and he was desiring a priesthood blessing (remember he is German). We than said well we have 2 elders and a member that hold the priesthood that can bless you, who would you like to give the blessing. And I still dont know why, but he asked me to give the blessing. It was the most scariest moments in my life, I dont think I have prayed so hard so I could speak German. I dont remember what I said, but I remember the feeling and all I could feel between I put my hands on this mans head and when I said amen, was the love of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Later we found out, that was all that this investigator could  feel as well. I know that God loves us and that He wants to bless us. We just need to be prepared and opened to let His blessings flow through us. 

Elder Pinyon"

A reminder that both under "Mission Photos" section of this blog and Facebook is where the photos are posted.

Stay Tuned.

Marzahn, Berlin Area's Address

Elder Pinyon got transferred as you already know from the last blog post, and it's about 4 hours drive from his previous area. His current area is close to the city which is 25 minutes to 30 minutes drive away from Berlin.

{the address that I received from Elder Pinyon}

Kirche Jesu Christi HLT
Elder Jacob Pinyon
Irenenstr. 1
10317 Berlin
Germany

{the address that I saw Elder Pinyon's Dad got}

Irenenstr.1,10317 Berlin Germany

Stay Tuned.

Second Area is Marzahn, Berlin

Elder Pinyon is no longer in Göttigen Area. He got transferred to his second area which is Marzahn, Berlin. This week's email was brief and short. I will share most of what he said through this week's email.

"Hey Megan, this week was really good, we had our transfer calls on Saturday and I am being transfered to Marzahn, Berlin. This week also we set a baptismal date for an investigator for the 23 August, so I am really excited for him, unfortunately I wont be able to see it, but it is alright because it is the Lords work not mine :D Other than that, that is my week. Really sad to leave Göttingen it reminds me of home, being so small and yeah, but all is good. Will send my new address when I find it out.

Tschüss

Elder Pinyon"

I have 2 reminders. The first reminder is I wouldn't be sharing the whole email of what he says, because sometimes I consider it's confidential between Elder Pinyon and I. I will be sharing what is relevant to you all readers to read about to keep updated from Elder Pinyon. I hope that you will accept and understand that.

Stay Tuned.

Just a Weekly Update

As for myself; I have been busy by being with the Missionaries for a lesson, the Missionaries arrived at my place which was one of the Missionaries was able to help me for my Sacrament talk, preparing a Sacrament Talk for upcoming this Sunday, updated 4 other blogs and drafting emails to friends who has gone on their missions for updates from this week. I finally found a little spare time to update this blog. 

I received 2 emails from Elder Pinyon and both of the emails was exactly the same. Thanks to Michael Pinyon {Elder Pinyon's Dad} to share a photo from the Mission's Blog. It was very nice of him to do that. Just a reminder that the spelling errors isn't my fault. 

This week's email;

"just a weekly update. We found an elderly lady while walking uphill and she was struggling so we tried to help her, but she wouldnt let us, so we just talked to her until she reached the top, but we found out the she had alzhema´s coz we asked her what year it was and she said 19....? so we figured that one out pretty fast, so we rang a number that we found on her walker and her daughter came and picked her up. Was really good to see her smile again when she saw her daughter. 

That was the most exciting thing this week, so it was good to help her, but have a great week and take care 

Elder Pinyon" 

Stay Tuned.

Some Amazing Miracles

Today, I received 2 emails from Elder Pinyon. This is the first email that I received from him. A friendly reminder that the spelling errors isn't my fault as posting this blog post. The other email is a photo of a snail.

"This week was super awesome, had some amazing miracles. On Tuesday we met a lady in the forest on this new route that we made to go to Innenstadt (into town) and it was amazing to see how prepared this lady was, she was totally against protestants and Catholics, but luckily we are not them, so she listened to us and wants to meet again. Than on Thursday this Egytian lady that we found about 6 weeks ago. We didn't know this, but when we had initial contact she actually was thinking about what happens after this life and what happens with the family. She is so prepared, it is exciting work. Than we found a lady that was concussed and we helped her, I believe that she fell down the stairs or something, it was a bit scary, but all is good now.

The biggest miracle of the week tho was yesterday, when we went to an investigators house and we taught him, was really great lesson, but after we finished we went and got our bikes and Elder Randalls wheel was flat, so we didnt complain about it, funnily enough. I than suggested we go to bahnhof and drop it off and than go home. While walking to Bahnhof we saw a man that was wearing a Pheonix Suns cap and Elder Randall asked him about it and he is from Arizona, so he sorta figured we were Mormons. Than as we were talking we missed the light to cross the road, but after a small conversation we went our ways. As we crossed the road so did he the same way, but on the other side of the road. He than came over to us and said, "you walking this way?" We said "yeah". We started talking and he spoke about his family and said something about Prophets and Jesus Christ and we starting talking about the Restoration and going through step by step and he said "the apostasy and authority thing makes a lot of sense". Than after we spoke about the Restoration we asked him about what he thought tht purpose of life was. He answered, "I have been looking for that answer my whole life," so we replied and gave testimony about the Plan of Salvation and now we have a return appointment with him. Amazing to see how the Lord puts people in your way and when we ask inspired questions people are just ready.

The Lord is amazing if we put him first and follow what he says with obedience. Dont be discorouged because sometimes the Lord is preparing you for something better when a trial comes into your life, even if it is something as small as a flat tyre, the Lord has so much in store for you, you just dont know it yet. I love you all my friends and family, take care and have a great week :D Elder Pinyon"

Stay Tuned.

It's Today!!

"Happy Birthday to Elder Pinyon!!!"

A friendly reminder and short notice that Elder Pinyon/Jacob's Birthday today. I know that he will appreciate a lot if you email him for his Birthday Wishes and if he has time, he will able to email you back!! His email is jacob.pinyon@myldsmail.net

Don't forget to introduce yourself if you are new for emailing him and I can't guarantee that he will reply to you. To warn you, he emails on Monday nights.

If you haven't sent him a package as yet for his Birthday, you can still send it and I am sure he will still appreciates it if he gets it late or not.

For those who already wished and going to say Happy Birthday to Jacob/Elder Pinyon do so and Jacob/Elder Pinyon's Dad will forward your wishes on. 

Stay Tuned. 

Circus + 2 New Investigators

I thought to share with you almost the whole email and he said so much. The photos are on "Mission Photos" on the blog, and the same photos are uploaded on "MTC & Mission Photos" on Facebook.

"Starting on Monday when we went to the Circus and it was so funny and fun. The clowns were hillarious and we went in P-day clothes, so just regular clothes, but it was a lot of fun and it was all in the German language which is getting better everyday, I can speak conversations now. While at the circus the clowns wanted to pick 2 people out of the crowd, so there was about maybe 50-100 people and guess which 2 people they picked out of the crowd, yes thats right the 2 missionaries. We were on stage infront of all these people skipping a rope and my companion got blind folded and got tricked by the clown which was great fun to see. A man that was sitting next to us took photos of us while we were on stage on my camera which was very nice. Some good memories to have.

Also this week I got to see so many miracles and it is all come through obedience and doing what the Lord has asked me to do. On Tuesday we found 2 new investigators in 30 minutes. The way we found these 2 new investigators was a miracle, the first guy was actually meant to be someone else that was a contact that we found and he actually knows a member and had a Book of Mormon already. He is so ready, and we spoke about his religion (Islam) and I wasnt really feeling the spirit, so I said "Lets have a look in the Book of Mormon" and as soon as I touched the Book of Mormon I felt the spirit like I have never felt it before. I know the Book of Mormon is a book the God has given to us so we can apply more Gospel Principles in our lives and so we can also know that this church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church on the Earth.

The second man we found was another miracle because we went and klingled on his door and as we were walking into the building he saw us and closed the door, we were thinking oh no :( than 2 minutes later after standing there and praying that he would open it, he opened the door and let us in. We taught about the Book of Mormon and the Restoration of the Gospel. After he said the closing prayer, he asked "Can I learn about the creation?" and we replied "We would love to teach you that next time" This man is so prepared and I know that with God nothing is impossible.

The third miracle about 10 minutes after we met these 2 men, an investigator called us that we never thought we would see again because he didnt have much interest. He rang and said we are meeting tomorrow at 3pm, see you than, that was a miracle within itself, but when we taught him, we taught him about faith and through faith we can do anything. His heart changed so much when the spirit touched it. I know that this Gospel is true, I know that this work, this sacred work is the most important of any work that God has given to us in the Kingdom of God. We must help people return to God so they can have the joy that we can have."

A friendly reminder that Elder Pinyon's Birthday is upcoming Sunday, 29th of this month. If you haven't already, send him a letter or a Birthday Card to wish him a Happy Birthday. You can send him an email if you want to; his email is jacob.pinyon@myldsmail.net

I know he will appreciate that.

Stay Tuned.

Follow The Promptings

Here's what Elder Pinyon emailed me and reminder that I wouldn't be mentioning the whole email. Again, spelling mistakes isn't my fault. Also, I'm not mentioning the whole email.

Elder Pinyon emailed me with 2 emails this week.

Email 1:

"Hey the week has been good, except for Tuesday night, we actually had a serious storm the other night it was like a category 2-3 cyclone, it was so dangerous that the bomb sirens that only go off in movies went off, thought we were going to get bombed or something haha, than I found out 6 people were killed in the storm as well, so it was really dangerous, but all is good :D I know that the Lord looks over his servants and will protect them from danger. Not much else, except had transfer and I am staying in Göttingen for my 3rd transfer and with the same companion Elder Randall.

Elder Pinyon"

Email 2:

"I actually felt prompted to talk to these 2 guys as we were riding our bikes in a park and I pulled over and introduced myself and told them I was from the church and asked ``Werr ist Gott für Sie?´´ and they said ``Wir sprechen kein Deutsch´´ so I taught them about the book of mormon in English and gave them a copy. Use the pictures in the book of mormon to explain to people what it is and it really does work. Also follow the promptings of the spirit, that is really important."

Stay Tuned.

A Drummer Investigator

This may be the one of the shortest blog post.
Elder Pinyon mentioned a cool announcement through emails. Well to me, the email seems to be very exciting and I am happy to share it with you. I will reword it to have an understanding about the email says.
Anyway, Elder Pinyon got to play the drums recently with a guy who is the second best drummer in all of Germany and not only that; he is one of Elder Pinyon's investigators. How awesome is that?

I was so happy to read that, I am so proud of time that has been used wisely which is a good thing. As you may not notice, the blog is automatically on time zone of where Elder Pinyon is serving. Please be mindful about that.

Stay Tuned.

2 Investigators in 2 Days

It has been awhile to wait to get updates from Elder Pinyon, I was getting impatient and I was feeling a little frustrated that Elder Pinyon hasn't been emailing me. I understand when people serve their missions known as Missionaries, they do get busy and focus a lot of their time on their Missions. Sometimes, they do email other people and ran out of time.

Here's what Elder Pinyon emailed me and reminder that I wouldn't be mentioning the whole email. Again, spelling mistakes isn't my fault.

"Hey. This week has been amazing, in the last 2 days we have found 2 new investigators. We went to a few small dorfs this last week for some appointments, one is called Northeim, Friedland and also Rosdorf, the people are so friendly and lovely, I love the mission work here in Germany, it is amazing to see the German hearts really change because God is real there.

This week we also had Elder Dyches come and address us for our half mission conference. He really emphasised how important member missionary work is. One thing that I want to say to all my friends is work with the missionaries. Don't be scared to invite your friends to the Gospel, its only going to be the biggest blessing in their life and you will be giving them Eternal life. Salvation is not easy. You don't need to invite a friend to church, it could be as simple as inviting them over for dinner and having the missionaries there and just let your friends ask all the questions they want. Let them be in an environment that is comfortable for them. I can promise that when members work with the missionaries that our world membership will double in no time at all.

It has been really hot tho lately, about 40 degrees Celsius everyday, such beautiful weather :( But all is good just sweating it up and enjoying life. If we dont enjoy life than why live? I wouldnt trade anything for my life right now. Also one thing I learnt this week is to never be affraid, when you are affraid Satan controls you and takes over your body. I love you all so much and you are all in my prayers every night and day. Take care my dear friends and may God always be with you.

Elder Pinyon"

2 friendly reminders that Elder Pinyon's Birthday is on 29th of this month, and it would be great if you write a letter to him to wish him a "Happy Birthday" or through email to wish him a "Happy Birthday." I am sure he will appreciate it.

Another reminder that myself Megan Green, is updating the blog while Elder Pinyon is serving his mission. Both on Facebook and Blog is the Mission Photos.

Stay Tuned.

3 Emails This Week

Elder Pinyon emailed me with 3 different emails. Just a reminder that I wouldn't be posting the whole email, because some of the portion of the email is confidential and I share what is relevant for you as a reader to know. There are photos this week!

Email 1; Elder Pinyon attached a few photos and he mentioned:

"Hey Megan, the skype call home yesterday was great. The baptism actually fell through, but I know that the Elders will recommit him to baptism and I was able to commit an investigator to baptism last night for the 7th June, so hopefully we can get him baptised and let him have the everlasting joy which we all know that he can have.

Love the work here.

Tschüss

Elder Pinyon"

A reminder Tschüss means "bye" in German.

Email 2; I will telling you the whole email for Email 2 because there was no confidential conversation. Elder Pinyon sent the email 6 minutes after the previous email. He mentioned:

"so tomorrow is my 3 month mark btw :D yay 21 to go"

Email 3; Elder Pinyon attached a few photos and he mentioned:

"Also saw Arthur this week and also put one of our investigators on baptismal date for 7th June, so really exciting stuff is happening :D"

Stay Tuned.

A Baptism Set on Mother's Day

I thought this week's email was really interesting and great! A baptism is set on Mother's Day. Just a reminder, that I don't post the whole email because sometimes, a little portion of the email is confidential and I share what is relevant for you as a reader to know. I received 2 emails this week and I will sharing 1 of the emails because it's relevant for you to know.

He mentioned through email, "I actually forgot to tell you a little miracle that happened I think. When I was on splits with the Zone Leaders, I went to Hannover for 24 hours and we had a lesson to teach this african man. We decided to teach him about the restoration and the priesthood and as I was saying something a thought came to mind and said "get him on date!" I was thinking "Im in the middle of something", but I just stop and said "Moses will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptised by someone holding the correct authority of God?" Moses paused and than said "....Yes" I than replied "Moses, Elder Atkinson and I love you so much and we have prayfully thought of a date for you and the date we would love to see you be baptised is 11 May, will you prepare yourself to be baptised on 11 May?" He said "I need to ring up the orthodox church and tell them that I am leaving so I don't have to pay to go to church"

So from that he is getting baptised on Mothers day this week :D So excited for him :D

Have a great week and take care

Elder Pinyon"

I am really grateful that he told me a little miracle that happened he thinks.

Stay Tuned.

Great Easter

This week, I received 2 Emails from Elder Pinyon. One of the emails is a update and the other was photos with explanation of the photos.

First Email, he mentioned "I had a great Easter, we had an awesome service yesterday, even though we only have 20 members, its all in German too so I have to really listen in. Yesterday we had a miracle, we decided to go and find some less actives and wish them a Happy Easter and we found this lady that hasn't been to church for years and she was BBQing so she invited us in and we started talking about the gospel. Then she just opened up her heart and bore her testimony of the gospel, it was truly amazing.

Tschüss

Elder Pinyon"

I have 2 reminders. The first reminder is I wouldn't be sharing the whole email of what he says, because sometimes I consider it's confidential between Elder Pinyon and I. I will be sharing what is relevant to you all readers to read about to keep updated from Elder Pinyon. I hope that you will accept and understand that.

The second reminder is Tschüss means "bye" in German.

Photos are uploaded on "Mission Photos" Section on the Blog, and Photos also are uploaded on Facebook under a album "MTC & Mission Photos"

Stay Tuned.

2 Months Down} 22 Months To Go

2 Months down and 22 Months to go! It was 2 months since Elder Pinyon left to go on his Mission. It must be exciting for him to reach 2 Months today! Some people may ask "Say what?" as a reaction to the image below.

Well time has been going fast. It feels like just yesterday since I was on the last phone call conversation with Elder Pinyon before he left when it was actually 2 Months and 1 Day ago.

Highlight of the month: 

He is no longer a Zone Leader.

Stay Tuned.

No Longer A Zone Leader

There wasn't much to say for this week. Here's bits and pieces for this week's email and no photos this week. Elder Pinyon mentioned to me through email not too long ago, "in Germany now so I am no longer Zone Leader." I knew that he wouldn't be no longer a Zone Leader when he arrives at the Mission Field, I still asked him if he was a Zone Leader. I am sure that he was happy for being a Zone Leader while he was at the Missionary Training Center.

He shared some amazing news with me, he also mentioned through the email that his Best Friend "Jordan Wehi" is going on a Mission and where he got called to serve which I thought that was awesome. If you "Jordan Wehi" reading this post, Congratulations on your Mission Call.

Lastly, Elder Pinyon mentioned through the email, "just teaching and finding, take care and Tschüss

Elder Pinyon"

Tschüss means "bye" in German.

Just a reminder, I wouldn't be sharing the whole email of what he says, because sometimes I consider it's confidential between Elder Pinyon and I. I will be sharing what is relevant to you all readers to read about to keep updated from Elder Pinyon. I hope that you will accept and understand that.

So, Elder Pinyon will appreciate any mail that you send out to him. The best address for sending him letters and any mail should be addressed to the Mission's Home Address which is;

Elder Jacob Michael Pinyon

Germany Berlin Mission

Zerbster Straße 42

12209 Berlin
Germany

Stay Tuned.

First Area is Göttigen

Elder Pinyon's First Area is Göttigen. As I researched a little bit about Göttigen, I realised there isn't much to say about the area. Here is a little information that I have researched about the area.

Göttigen (Lower German Chöttingen) is a university town in southern Lower Saxony. With a share of around 20 percent of college students in the population of the urban life of two other universities is heavily dependent on education and research of the Georg-August-University, the oldest and largest university in Lower Saxony, and embossed.

If you are interested of reading more, click on the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6ttingen

The Map of Elder Pinyon's First Area.

Copyright to Google Images

Elder Pinyon's Address while he is in Göttigen. It is:

Am Kirschberge 38
37085 Göttigen
Germany

You can only send Elder Pinyon letters and dear elders, but packages have to go to the Mission office which is:

Germany Berlin Mission

Zerbster Straße 42

12209 Berlin
Germany

Stay Tuned.

Germany is Great

Elder Pinyon arrived to Germany safe and sound on last Wednesday. I received the first email from Elder Pinyon, and it's his first Preparation Day on the Mission Field.

Elder Pinyon mentioned "Germany is great thank you, I love it here and it is so beautiful. I am currently serving in an area called Göttigen and we have roughly a teaching pool of about 12-15 investigators, we are inviting them all to baptism next week."

Stay Tuned.

Arrived in Berlin, Germany

Readers, while I was tracking Elder Pinyon's plane direct flight from Amsterdam to Berlin Germany, I have noticed that the time of Elder Pinyon arriving time kept changing. I was getting confused at first but I got used to it after 2 times that it happened. Well I am sure that you will be lucky to read this, I have print screened during Elder Pinyon heading to Berlin, Germany. Each Print Screen tells a summary. Please take around 10 minutes out of your time. The departing time and arriving time is the time of the airport times. Elder Pinyon is 8 hours behind us.

I was feeling super crazy and all mixed emotion. I was so happy. I was looking forward for this moment to track the last step to he reach to Berlin, Germany. (1)

(1)

Elder Pinyon just left Amsterdam, woot whoo! I was so excited. Another 1 Hour and 24 Minutes to go. That is how long the plane flight suppose to go for. (2)

(2)

Now, it has started changing of the arriving time. Do you see what I mean now? It was really confusing to me. I didn't understand of what was happening. This was the first time ever happened to me while tracking a plane flight. It was totally unexpected that it would happened. However, 43 Minutes to go until Elder Pinyon arrives Berlin, Germany. (3)

(3)

Everything goes back to normal for a bit. Time was surely going fast or should I mention too quickly? (4)

(4)

Not again, it has happened again, Elder Pinyon's plane flight has changed again for the arriving time. It was so confusing. Elder Pinyon arrives in Berlin, Germany in 1 Minute. It was so soon. (5)

(5)

Everyone, Elder Pinyon has arrived safe and sound in Berlin, Germany at 9:52am. It was great to see that his plane has arrived safely. Make sure that you definitely start writing to the Mission Address that is in Germany. He will be so happy. He will be meeting his new Companion. As far as I know, he is still the Zone Leader. I was have to ask him sometime about that. He will be meeting his Mission President and his Mission President's Wife for the very first time.

How exciting would that be? I am sure that I would be so excited if it was me. Another beginning has just started for Elder Pinyon, but this time it starts from his first Mission Area which I don't know where as yet.

Each time that I post, it will say the time when I post the blog post in the same time zone as Elder Pinyon so it would be easier. Also, I hoped that you can read this blog post well.

Stay Tuned.

Last 20 Minutes at Amsterdam

I really wonder what Elder Pinyon would be doing while waiting for his plane flight to Berlin, Germany. I was going to get one of my other friends to see if he gets on the plane safely or not. But sadly, she is working at the moment and wouldn't able to do that for me. Otherwise, if she wasn't working, I am sure that my friend would have done that. Oh well. Maybe she can go that when Elder Pinyon coming home.

Aaaah, it's super soon! It's a crazy feeling to know that Elder Pinyon completed his stay at the Missionary Training Center. I am so looking forward to track his plane flight and it's not even funny. I am serious.

I am sure that he will be great Missionary. I really hope you keep up to date with all the blog posts that I do. Otherwise, it would be really hard to catch up or I am sure that you would complain like there is so much reading to do. Well stay tuned.

Stay Tuned.

Leaves Amsterdam Around 2 Hours

Less than 2 hours remaining for Elder Pinyon to leave Amsterdam. I am happy to remind you that I will be definitely tracking his plane flight direct to Berlin Germany from Amsterdam. Elder Pinyon has looked at the Page a few times and says it's good. I was happy about that.

The photos that is shown isn't my photos and neither it's Elder Pinyon's. I was looking at Google Images of the Airport that he currently at. I thought it would be nice to see a few photos of the Airport.

I wonder what is Elder Pinyon feeling right now. All I know that he has super excited because he told me that through emails. So I really don't know how he is feeling right now.

Just a reminder, relatives and friends of Elder Pinyon's, starting writing letters to Elder Pinyon to his German Address since Elder Pinyon has left Provo Missionary Training Center.

He would love and appreciate any mail that you send to him. Well who wouldn't? Anyway, I am sure that it would be great to read letters from home especially family and friends. Remember to look at the Section that says, 'Contact Details' for his Address. 

Stay Tuned.

Announcement} Not Long Now

Announcement: 

Around 3 Hours and 10 Minutes to go, Elder Pinyon will be going on his last plane flight to Berlin, Germany. So around 4:54PM in our time, it would be leaving Amsterdam. I will be tracking his last plane flight, so that I will let you all informed of how far to go and when the plane has arrived safely. His last plane flight is leaving 5 minutes early which I really thought that was very interesting. 

I am getting super excited and nervous for Elder Pinyon at the moment. It doesn't seem that long now. His last plane flight is a short plane flight (less than 3 hours). 

Stay Tuned.

Re: Germany This Week

I sent Elder Pinyon a short email because I was running out of time and I didn't know what to say. I mainly mentioned to him, "All the best.I am proud of you. Stay safe, take care."

Elder Pinyon replied back to that short email and said

"Thanks Megan, tomorrow I leave for Germany and I'm so excited :D I leave Salt Lake on 1 April at 9:30am than get to Minneapolis at 1:30pm, than leave Minneapolis at 3:45pm and get to Amsterdam on 2 April at 9am than to Berlin on 2 April at 10:30am. Just so you know if you wanna add that to my page, ive looked at it a few times and its good :D thanks heaps

I'll send some pics soon. 

Elder Pinyon" 

Time surely has grown really quickly that his time is almost up at the Missionary Training Center and then he will be going to the Mission Field. One sleep until he leaves. Ahh, I am still happy for him and proud of him no matter what. Elder Pinyon will be a great Missionary. I am sure that he has learnt heaps at the Missionary Training Center. I am sure that he will miss The Missionary Training Center. It is almost time to move on from that and look forward to the next big step into the Process as a Missionary. 

Just remember "Re" stands for reply in emails.

Stay Tuned.

Mail to Germany

Elder Pinyon has emailed me to tell me "just tell everyone to start sending mail to Germany, I'll be there next week :D" It sounds like he is excited which he told me eventually that he is super excited. I am still happy for him. I am glad that he gave me to update his blog. I love receiving so many emails from Elder Pinyon so far.

The photo of Elder Pinyon and I during SMYC before he went on his Mission, has made me glad that I was able to get a photo with him before he left. It was so exciting moment for me for sure. I get to see Elder Pinyon in 23 months, I am looking forward to see him again (after his Mission of course). 

His Mission Home Address is;

Elder Jacob Michael Pinyon

Germany Berlin Mission

Zerbster Straße 42

12209 Berlin
Germany

Stay Tuned

Super Excited

Elder Pinyon and I got to talk to each other. We were emailing back and forth to each other. It was so awesome. I really enjoyed talking to Elder Pinyon. Most of the conversation was confidential, so I wouldn't be sharing all of what he said. However, the last email that he has sent me today was,

"I am super excited, I can't wait to start teaching and meet my new mission president and meet my new companion. It's going to be awesome. How's everything back home? The language is going alright, it's not much of a massive struggle"

I am still very happy for him and I am sure you are still very happy for him as well.

Stay Tuned.

1 Month Down} 23 Months To Go

Amongst the 7 emails that I received, Elder Pinyon emailed me early this morning to tell me an exciting news and that was "one month down 23 to go woohoo" Soon enough, I was about to cry because he seemed filled with full of happiness and joy to just to tell me that!

He has sent me emails with photos. It was really exciting for me to see those photos. Note: I already have uploaded the photos on Elder Pinyon's Facebook Account, and it is under 'MTC & Mission Photos' Album. This is one of the photos that I liked that I received from Elder Pinyon. It's really creativity that is what I think. What do you think?

Highlight of The Month:

Elder Pinyon becoming a Zone Leader after short time in The Missionary Training Center

Stay Tuned.

All Is Well

I received so many emails, and amongst of the emails that I received was from Elder Pinyon. I am so happy for Elder Pinyon, 2 weeks until he will be in Germany!!

"I'll be emailing the photos soon. All is well, got an investigator to commit to baptism in German lol his name is Alex, he's from Russia I think lol

Elder Pinyon"

Stay Tuned.

Recalled as Zone Leader

Hey Readers, I love receiving and reading emails from friends who is currently serving the Missions and while they are staying at the Missionary Training Center. It is just a wonderful feeling to have. Each time that I send Elder Pinyon an email, it's confidential. However I will be making sure that I will keep everyone posted and up to date of what Elder Pinyon tells me.

The latest email that I received from Elder Pinyon at 2:20am which was 10:20am (on Monday). Reminder MTC stands for Missionary Training Center. Here's the update:

"That is great to hear. It's amazing here at the MTC, my body buzzes everyday from the spirit being so strong, especially while teaching and also at devotionals. Hearing the words of inspired men and women that speak to us is just amazing. I got recalled as Zone Leader, so I'm pretty happy about that and my Deutsch is going really great. Only 3 weeks left in the MTC and almost a month into my mission. crazy aye.

Well have a good week.

Elder Pinyon"

Stay Tuned.

Re: Hey Elder Pinyon, How are you?

Hey Readers, I love receiving and reading emails from friends who is currently serving the Missions and while they are staying at the Missionary Training Center. It is just a wonderful feeling to have. Each time that I send Elder Pinyon an email, it's confidential. However I will be making sure that I will keep everyone posted and up to date. I suggest that some friends of Elder Pinyon's to send him some mail.

I will be sending my first letter to him sometime soon. I am 100% sure that he will appreciate each mail that he receives during his Mission. I received the latest email from Elder Pinyon around 3am. I was awake enough to able to read it at the time. It would have been around 10am (Monday) when he sent me the email.

Here's the update:

"Hey Megan, it is good to hear from you again, it has been amazing here. The spirit is so strong and this morning I was able to do some sealings in the temple, it was really amazing. The language is coming along really well and I am loving it here. I haven't got any mail from home yet :(  but hopefully people are sending it, maybe you can get people to send me mail, that'd be nice. I can speak the language really well compared to when I started. The spirit helps so much and I love the feeling here it is really amazing.

Thank you once again for emailing me and doing the blog, make sure you keep everyone posted. Well you have a good one :D

Take care and God bless

ELDER PINYON"

Re stands for 'Reply' in email.

Stay Tuned.

Germany in 5 Weeks

I emailed Elder Pinyon on last Saturday and I didn't get a reply to that email until 3:47 this morning (it would have been 12:47pm yesterday). I woke up around 6am and I realised that Elder Pinyon has emailed me back. I thought that was amazing.

I wouldn't go into details of every word I said through the email that I sent to Elder Pinyon. I mainly asked him "How is the Missionary Training Center so far?" Just reminder that "MTC" stands for Missionary Training Center which is where the Missionaries go there before they go on the Mission Fields. It helps them to 'learn the language - so they will able to understand and the teach gospel in the language,' 'also mainly to have effectively skills of teaching ways' and some other reasons.

Elder Pinyon said: 

"Hey Megan, thanks for that, it is truly an honour to be a zone leader here at the MTC. It's cold here but I am surviving it. The language is getting easier everyday which is making my life a little bit better, but the spirit is so amazing here. I love it here and it's great to be serving here at the MTC. I'll be going to Germany in about 5 weeks on APRIL 1 2014.

Take care and God bless

Elder Pinyon "


As I read the email outloud, it made me feel that I am still happy for him. I am grateful that everything seems going well for Elder Pinyon so far. Just 5 weeks until he will be going to Germany and I am sure that he is really excited. I don't know if Elder Pinyon replies to anyone else's emails. I only know that he replies to my emails.

Stay tuned.

Elder Pinyon Is Now A Zone Leader

The Announcement;

Elder Pinyon has called home earlier today to announce that he got set apart as a Zone Leader. That has been the best news that I have heard for this week. I am so happy for him.

A Zone Leader is a Missionary called to supervise the activities of group of missionaries within a Zone. Zone leaders have District Leaders answer to them and they answer to an Assistant to the President.

For any non-Mormon readers out there, typically a prospective convert is interviewed by a District Leader (a missionary in charge of 4-10 missionaries), and then a Zone Leader (a missionary in charge of 4-8 districts.)  If the potential convert passes both interviews, he/she is baptized by a male of their choice; it is often the male missionaries or an LDS member of the local ward or congregation of the convert’s choice.

Zone Leaders Responisbilities is as listed below:

Zone Leaders are entitled to Train the Missionaries within their Zone, See after their welfare, Conduct interviews, Proselyte together and Share successes.

Stay Tuned.

Long & Exhausting Flight

Elder Pinyon isn't at the Provo Missionary Training Center yet, however he has emailed me that he is staying with 'an awesome family for the night.' Just '1' night until he reports to 'Provo Missionary Training Center.' I am grateful that he arrived safely. 'Time Zones' can be confusing sometimes but I understand about the 'Time Zones.' This blog will be posting as 'Pacific Standard Time' in other words, 'PST' and that doesn't include the 'Daylight Savings.'

It will come in handy when 'Elder Pinyon' is staying at 'Provo Missionary Training Centre.' As your right hand side when you are 'laptop' or 'computer', you will see a 'Time & Date Section,' well that is the 'Time & Date' of Elder Pinyon's Mission (so it is Berlin, Germany).

Just about 5 minutes ago, 'Elder Pinyon' has emailed me 'a email' as a reply back to my email that I have sent him before he arrived to 'Los Angeles Airport.' I thought it would be nice what he said to me through the email.

He said:

"The flight was long and exhausting, but I am finally here and staying with an awesome family for the night. The finally byes were not to hard but they weren't easy either as usaual and mission life is amazing, went to Salt Lake Temple and Temple square today, it was really amazing

Elder Pinyon"

Stay Tuned.

Elder Pinyon Arrived Safely

'I have 1 of the most exciting news so far!'

Elder Pinyon has just arrived to 'Los Angeles Airport' safely, I have been tracking Elder Pinyon's plane flight since it was 8 hours remaining left. I am so happy for him and I am 100% sure that you are so happy for him too! I reckon 'The Journey' has began since he left 'Brisbane Airport.'

Before Elder Pinyon arrived at the 'Los Angeles Airport' safely, I sent Elder Pinyon an email. I will be telling you the key points out of the email that I have sent to Elder Pinyon. "Hey. How was the flight? How wad it of saying the last goodbyes? Are you enjoying your Mission life so far? I hope to hear from you soon."

I really hope that 'Elder Pinyon' will email me and hopefully I will be awake enough to read the email.

Stay Tuned.

Less Than 1 Hour Remaining

'It's getting closer until Elder Pinyon arrives'

Do you still remember the time that you get to say your 'last goodbye' to Elder Pinyon before he leaves?

I am happy to announce that Elder Pinyon has 'less than' 1 hour remaining left of his plane flight to the Missionary Training Centre. I feel like asking him some related questions right now but I know he wouldn't respond straight away.  "How was the plane flight Elder Pinyon?" "Did you manage to get any sleep during your flight?"

I am hoping to stay awake until Elder Pinyon arrives at 'Los Angeles Airport' and say the announcement. I have the blog to have it on 'Scheduled' for the 'next post' already which is the 'Announcement!' I am grateful that I have been tracking his 'plane flight' for the most of the way. Without technology, I wouldn't have able to track his 'plane flight.'

Just always remember this Blog is all about 'Elder Pinyon's Mission Journey' and 'receiving updates from Elder Pinyon.' I can't believe 'Elder Pinyon' is almost there!

Stay Tuned.

Less Than 4 Hours & 30 Minutes Remaining

'I had to work out my own way of how to track a plane flight.' 

I done almost total of 45 minutes for 'researching' and 'learning' of 'how to track a plane flight?' Time went quickly and I enjoyed my time about 'researching' and 'learning' of how to track a plane flight. After I took my time about 'researching' and 'learning,' I put myself to the 'test.' I did really well of putting myself to the 'test.'

Well I am saying that because I am currently tracking 'Elder Pinyon's Plane' while he goes to 'LAX' Airport which is 'Los Angeles Airport' from 'BNE' Airport which is 'Brisbane Airport.' This is my first time tracking a plane flight and I am really happy about it. As for me to get to track Elder Pinyon's Plane, I get to see where he is at the moment, if the plane is on time or early or late, what time the plane arrives and how much time left on the plane flight.

The title says 'Less Than 4 Hours & 30 Minutes Remaining' and there is a reason for that. There is less than 4 hours and 30 minutes remaining left of Elder Pinyon's Plane flight to 'Los Angeles Airport.' Most likely, the next blog post will be about 'Less Than 2 Hours Remaining' or 'Less Than 1 Hour Remaining,' who knows really that is why I say, 'Stay Tuned' at the end of the 'Previous blog post' and make sure that you as a reader do 'Stay Tuned.' Otherwise, you will have a lot to catch up if you ever fall behind of not reading the blog for awhile.

Stay Tuned.

Goodbye Elder

Hey Readers! 

My name is 'Megan Green' and I will be keeping up to date with Elder Pinyon's Blog each week starting from today! I feel privilleged that I have been given a wonderful 'Opportunity' to do this. I am looking forward to keep it updated each week! He looked at the 'Blog' one last time a few days before he left and he was really 'happy' that I can do it for him. I can still remember 'thanking' him for allowing me to do this.

Just remember this, 'this isn't goodbye, it's a new beginning,' which I mean that it may seem 'the last goodbye' but it may feel soon enough he might ask "why did that time go?"

I know that some readers may ask "What is a Missionary?" "What is a Missionary Training Center?"

A Missionary is who teaches 'The Gospel' mainly about 'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints' which is known as 'Mormons.' Missionaries take their time from 18 months (as Sister Missionaries) to 24 months (as Elder Missionaries) to teach 'The Gospel.'

A Missionary Training Center is where the Missionaries go there before they go on the Mission Fields. It helps them to 'learn the language - so they will able to understand and the teach gospel in the language,' 'also mainly to have effectively skills of teaching ways' and some other reasons.

Stay Tuned.