June 18, 2012--Upcoming Baptisms in the Works

Elder Lescano, Elder Pinegar & another cute Elder at a member's home June 2012 Tumbes

Sup Fam!!!!

This week has been a good one. We are finally putting fechas with the personas, and we are starting to see the work of the Lord coming to pass. The family that we have been working with came to church again and nos dijeron that they like the church a lot. They have testimonies and are becoming firm. Unfortunately, the mother of the family can't be baptised because her husband was married to another person before, and he has to get divorced from her primero, but I always encourage her to keep on going to the church and what not. She has tree children 18-Ashley 13-Asbey and 8-Arleny.  They are all great and really happy when we come by. They love to talk, and I feel like I'm with my family when I'm with them. haha I can even joke like I always do. Anyways, they have a date for this Saturday, and I'm hoping that it goes through because cambios are this Monday 24. I think that everything will go good with them, and I hope that they just accept to be baptized. They have been our focus the past 2 weeks.

Also, we put dates for 2 more jovencitas (young ladies) to be baptized. They are from a member menus activo.They are great, and we're gonna let the new missionaries that come into the area baptise them. haha but it's not my work......it's the Lords...this is where the humility really comes into play! haha and I should be the last person to say that! haha but it's all good.

We´ve put in work here in Zarumilla, not a doubt about that. Yeah, and thanks for the packages that I'll be getting!!!!!! Oh, and as soon as you can, send me my memory card, but make sure that you put a bunch of pics on it!!!!! Just like you did last time!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Elder Pinegar

June 11, 2012 -- The President & Pizza

Sup Family!!!

I'm doing good here this week in good ol Zarumilla. We've been putting in work and working hard with the family Aponte. They have been working hard to come to all of the activites that we have been doing and are trying to make the right decision. We've put a date for them to be baptised this 24th......I hope....we'll see. They always have a lot of questions that are really off subject and got kind of angry with one of the people at an activity, and I had to help them understand that the church is perfect but the people aren't. After that, it really turned out good. I think that they will end up being baptised. ojalá! Also, we're working with a bunch of other individuals that are making progress, and one woman that I have been working with for 4 months. Now we're going to challenge her to be baptised again for this week...welll see how that goes ;)  It's all good. We're in the work of the Lord. Yeah, so that's what's been going on for this week.

The president swung by, and we had interviews with him....It was a whole day of trunky and what not cause he started to talk to us about what we have to do when we get home! haha Yeah, I got a long ways to go!......thanks pres haha but it was good. Me and my companion were getting along but I tell ya guys, we are not even close to the same people. He is way too quiet, and it kills me cause he's the only person that I have to talk to haha but yeah cambios are in 2 weeks so that will pass.....;)

President Chipman, Elder Pinegar, Elder Lescano & Sister Chipman - June 2012

Oh and one more thing, I did end up geting the pics that you sent me on the memory card mom.....they were in a folder and the camera couldnt ream em,  but I got it all fixed.....sorry bout that!!!! haah my bad!* Oh and the pic is of a pizza that we made today.....yeah it was bomb´. We did work on it, and I gotta say that it was finally something different for a change!!! haha They do not eat cheese here, so this was the first time in almost 10 months that I have eaten cheese!!!!! mmmmmmmmmm que rico!!!

Mighty tasty--after 8 1/2 months of chicken & rice

Anyways, love you guys and just know that I always pray and think about y'all!!!


Love,


Elder Pinegar


*We got Alex's memory card in the mail this week with a note telling us he wasn't very happy we had only sent back 20 pics on it and chastising us for not sending snail mail---I think we sent at least 100 plus a video of us singing Happy Birthday on his memory card. Good thing he found them! Can't wait till he opens his package and see's all the letters that were sent to him.

JUNE 4, 2012 - 2 Letters This Week!

May 23, 2012 -- Letter we received 
Para: La Familia y conocidos
De: Elder Alexander Pinegar

Elder Pinegar and other missionaries on P-day (Love the hats) June 4, 2012

!!BUENAS!! Hola de Peru, Tongo mis o mesitos y me siento jiejo. jaja Yeah, so my Spanish is getting better and my English is starting to go down hill. I was talking the other day with one of the gringos, Elder Williams, he has 1 year in the mission, I noted that the response time is much slower and that you actually have to think to answer a question Haha. Wow, I have been waiting for this day to arrive!! So the mission is starting to get easier, the Leciones I've go down on lock and I feel like I'm actually helping people. The "older" and "older" that you get in the mission you expected to do more and more I guess that's what you call responsibility haha. But that's all good. I was used to that before I left for the mission. We've been workin' hard here trying to get people to come unto Christ. I gotta tell ya that it is definitely tough. The mission is by far the hardest thing that I have done in my life--not just the aspect of being away from home, but the fact that everyone is watching you 24/7. It kinda forces you to be an example and it forces you to follow the rules, even if you don't want to. (That's not to say that I don't want to follow the rules, but there are some that I could live without.) I have learned a lot so far in the mish, and I'm certain that I will learn much more with the next year and 2 months that follow. I lave learned a lot about leadership, and even though I'm "young" in the mish, I feel like I have helped a lot of people make decisions that are good and worthy of God's presence. Also, I have learned the importance of the family and how crucial it is to have a good, functioning, and HAPPY family. It's cool that I have that to look forward to in the near (years) future :) haha

Oh, and it was awesome to talk to you guys on skype!! I loved seeing everyone and being able to feel like I was at home!! haha. Yeah, so overall this letter is just something to accompany the memory card. Make sure that you read it and have fun looking at all the pics!! Hope you kinda feel like your in the mission with me!! haha Yeah, so just know that I love you all and that I'm always thinking of you guys!!
Sincerely,
Alex Pinegar
** We were alarmed when we opened the letter and found no memory card. We had to write him and tell him it was lost and how sorry we were---read his response below....

June 4, 2012 - Email
Sup Fam,
So this week was good and I've been doing a lot. We've been
working hard and I'm getting along with my companion alright, but that's
not to say that I am not waiting for cambios -- only 3 more weeks. Things
are getting ready here for the new pres and everybody is talking about
it, but I think that it's going to change smoothly.

So a family that we have been teaching finally went to church. It was good. I
believe that they will progress and that things will go well with
them.

So about the fotos that I sent to you guys, they were taken
in the manglares trees with the branch that forms the root or
something like that. haha

Elder Pinegar at the National Mangrove Sanctuary of Tumbes June 4, 2012

Missionaries enjoying Tumbes Mangals National Sanctuary June 2012

And about the memory card, no worries. The leader of the zone took it
out, but I gave him a little guide, and I sent it again. This time
you'll get it-- so no worries. yeah so everything is going good here and
were puttin in work! I'm hoping that everything goes good the following
three weeks with my comp.  Love you guys tons and have fun in the
Washington DC.


PS:  I wrote the letter to you guys earlier but it all got erased cause
the computer had a problem......haah but that's life!!!

May 28, 2012 - No News--but WRITE LETTERS

Hi Everyone,
Elder Pinegar didn't send a full-fledged letter this week--Just a hello and a call out to

SEND LETTERS!!

I know Alex would love to hear from you! We are sending a package out, and I would love to include a few letters in it from his blog readers. You can email me at stephpin@comcast.net, and I'll print them out and put them in the package.

We're sending the package on MONDAY - JUNE 4---so write him ASAP (Sunday is a great day)!!

Thanks!

Elder Pinegar's Mom :)  Stephanie

May 21, 2012 -- 9 months this week--but who's counting

Sup Fam,

Elder Pinegar, Juan & Elder Lescano-- May 2012, Tumbes Peru

This week was good. We had success, and baptised another person (Juan). He's great. He's really worked hard to make this decision and in the long run, against what his family said, he was baptised and is very content with his decision. I baptised him.

This week we had changes, and I am staying here with my same comp. nothing new to say about that, but our room is beautiful!!! ha ha I guess that's of the least importance, but it's great to have a good spot to sleep at night! haha

Having way too much fun at the expense of his companion, Elder Lescano--Pday May 21, 2012

 Yeah, so this week we're working with a family that wants to be baptised but they have got to go to the church first and what not, and it looks like this week we are going to do  a lot of door knocking to find new people that actually want to listen to us!  but that's all good, cause I have basically dominated the door approach. haha

Anyways,  so that's about it. Elder Castillo (previous companion & trainer) is leaving the area and got transfered to another area, but that's great--we get along really good and what not. I gotta make this short cause the time is up, but just know that I love all of you guys without a doubt!!!

 The pic of the bird is pretty legit. It's 25 years old and can live for around 100 years. It speaks Spanish and basically told me off one time. haah Don't worry, I got a video and more pics of it!!!!!

Elder Pinegar chatting it up with a red-and-green macaw in Tumbes, Peru May 21, 2012

Much love and peace to all!

Elder Pinegar

May 13, 2012 - Mother's Day Skype

This week we were lucky enough to get to skype Elder Pinegar on Mother's Day. It was so much fun to see him and talk to him. We hooked up our laptop to our television so we could see him better.

Our Skype set up for Mother's Day May 13, 2012--audio was quiet--but picture was great!

Look at that smile! It's blurry because of the big screen--didn't think to take one of the computer screen!

He looks skinnier--since he says that the menu consists of chicken and rice and rice and chicken--not to mention he walks everywhere. He had a hard time speaking in English. Remember, all of his companions have been native Spanish speakers from Peru or Argentina, so he would talk to us for a few minutes then slip into Spanish--until someone yelled out "English, English." He has a great accent and conjugated his verbs as he would in Spanish as he spoke English. He kept telling us it was very hard to speak English...and yes, he dreams in Spanish now. He called us from a public internet cafe--so there were little kids jumping towards the camera in the background and a lot of music playing. He said Mother's Day is crazy in Peru and there is a lot of music everywhere.

A lot of the family came over to talk with him. We had a surprise visit from his newest cousin, Damian Jones (16 months) and Uncle Jeff. Uncle Shark took pics for us. We even put his good friend, Geoff Wilkinson on speaker phone so he could say hi since he had to work that day.

A captive audience. L-R: Grandpa Cato, Grandma Jacque, Stephanie, Jared, Bekah, Amanda Jex, Nick, Liza Doughty, Spencer in front. Chris Jones aka Uncle Shark took the pic.

He talked to Nick about not judging people and just loving them. He told us his favorite part of his mission is teaching about the eternal nature of the family and how important it is. It was nice to hear how much he had grown to appreciate his own family and how much he loves us. He also told us his hiking excursion where he got lost was a bigger deal than we knew--He thinks they might have hiked right into Equador. He's happy and doing his best. He held up a Spanish book with antonyms and synonyms in Spanish. That's Alex for you--always a student. He wants to master his Spanish. Of course his little sister cried seeing him. It was an amazing day and the best Mother's Day ever.

Posing with Elder Pinegar - Jared, Amanda Jex, Bekah, Nick & Spencer

He also told us he's getting a new mission president in July who lives in Santaquin, UT--about 40 minutes from us. So we looked him up and we're going to go to his farewell and meet him before he heads to the MTC and Peru to see our son. We're pretty excited.

President & Sister Rowley - Alex's new mission president starting in July 2012

Here's what the church news said about them. Chad Alvin Rowley, 52, and Lisa Rowley, six children, Peru Piura Mission; Santaquin 1st Ward, Santaquin Utah North Stake. Brother Rowley serves as a stake president and is a former high councilor, bishop, counselor in a bishopric, Young Men president and missionary in the Argentina Rosario Mission. General manager, Payson Fruit Growers. Born in Provo, Utah, to Claude Alvin and Karen Joyce Rowley.
Sister Rowley serves as a ward organist and a ward missionary. She is a former Relief Society president, Primary president and counselor, counselor in a Young Woman presidency and Young Women adviser. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Robert Alfred and Mercedes Celia Harding.

It was an exciting week and we look forward to every Monday when Elder Pinegar writes us.

Love,

Stephanie Pinegar -- Missionary Mom to Elder Pinegar

May 7, 2012 - Baptisms, Moving and Zone Lunch

Dear Familia,

This week I ended up getting the package and I loved it!!! I'm doing good here and trying to recuperate after a long day of movin, haha and last night I didn't sleep at all cause the neighbor left the light on and at like 4 someone was yelling and pounding on the door for 2 hours--how great is the mission! haha oh did I mention that we moved, I hated the other place that we were in, so I talked with the president and we moved.All went good with that and i finally separated myself from Elder Castillo haha after 8 months in the mission with him! haha we still get along great!

So about the work here this week, all went well and it turns out that the family that we were working with isn't going to baptise themselves. but it's all good. We're working with another girl named Zoila that is getting ready to be baptised this 13 after church and another boy named Juan is getting ready for this 20th. That's who we're working with this month, and we're hoping for more!!!

It's going good here, and this p-day was actually fun! haha We got together as a zone and had lunch in someone's house on the 4th floor and what not! It was awesome!! There are 30 in the zone from 12 different países (country). It's pretty interesting to see all that happens between us, all the different ways that we grew up and our different habits, but we all get along good!

Elder Pinegar May 7, 2012 P-day in Tumbes

A view of Tumbes, Peru from the window - May 7, 2012

Peru Piura Mission - Tumbes Zone Lunch 30 missionaries representing 12 countries - Tumbes Peru May 12, 2012

Yeah so that's all for this week! Don't forget that at 6pm Sunday the 13th I'll skype home great! peace!

Love,
Elder Pinegar