October 17, 2013 Email

Dear Mom and Dad,

          Mom, I have something to tell you about second Nephi, I understood nothing from that either. I did not highlight a single thing either, I just read it and got the first part done. Most of second Nephi is from the prophet Isaiah and was copied in there by Nephi. But later after he is done copying it he acknowledges the fact that it is hard to understands and then he explains it in a much simpler fashion. Another interesting thing about that book is that I believe that at the beginning it says that only those with the spirit of prophecy can understand what it all means. A return missionary told us about when he discovered that, because he had the same problem, he then prayed and asked The Lord for the spirit of prophecy and he said that the book had a whole new meaning for him, so I thought that I would share that story with you. But don't worry about not getting much from it, not very many people do from what I have seen to be perfectly honest. 

Things are going great here. I wrote ya'll a letter and in the letter I said I would mail it today, unfortunately I forgot to put it in an envelope so it will be in the mail tomorrow. So when the letter says it was sent on Monday it lies. 

I am so glad to hear that Ian is doing so well with the Honda, but it doesn't sound like that the clutch will have much left to it here soon. Interesting fact manuals are called straight drives here in NC. 

We got 2 new investigators this week, they are a couple. The husband is an interesting fellow, he says he has been working on cars his whole life. They have this Oldsmobile that needs a new water pump. He has the pump but he refuses to work on it because it is a transverse engine, I believe that is the proper term. But he evidently had no idea what it was technically called, because he kept calling it a side winder. 

The less active member we found a while back, the one that was less active for about 10 years, his name is Dennis. He has been going through some rough times so we have been seeing him again and we also gave him a blessing last night. But we always seem to go over there when he needs it the most, and he said his spirit is always lifted up when we go by. He is a guy you can have an intelligent conversation with on engines! He was telling us about an old 50's Pontiac he had back in the day, that had the old straight 8 flat heads. Also he had some relatives that lived in Mesa. I don't know whether you have heard of this, but one of his relatives died early on because he would repair leaks inside of full tanks like the big propane ones, and some fumes where still in there and the tank blew up and killed him. This was way back in the day so I don't know if you are Grandpa ever saw that in the newspaper. 

If ya'll stay home for Christmas, that could be a good thing, because Matt might be home during that time, and if every thing works out then he could be there when we skype. Well I hope every thing is going good in the ward, and I also hope that ya'll and the ward are actively helping in the quickening of the work. 

Dad if you ever get some time read the Preach my gospel book, there should be a bunch in my room, that is not just for missionary's. Read through some of that and see what ya'll could do and what the ward can to to help the missionary's in the ward. One thing I have learned, is that the most effective way for us to do our work, is if the ward finds the people and then has us teach them. That is in the book and I believe it was President Hinckley that said that. Just so you know, it is not coming from a lazy missionary. Can't wait to here from ya'll soon and I will do my best to write more often.

Love,

       Elder Matthew Pena