Called To Serve

Well done Elder LeCheminant

2010-11-08T20:16:00.001-08:00

October 28th found us all waiting patiently

at the Salt Lake Airport for Peter's arrival

Here he comes . . .

As parents of missionaries this is one

of the best days of your life!!

A hug from a brother he hasn't seen for 3 1/2 years

Meeting his 2 neices Avrey and Olivia for the first time

So glad Grandma & Grandpa Chem and

Gram & Grandpa could be there.

First stop before heading home-----Cafe Rio!!

Welcome Home Elder!!

Thanks to all of our family members who have loved and

supported Peter the last 2 years. Will we miss the weekly

emails, the adventures and the joy that having a missionary

brings? Yup, but it sure is nice to have him home too.

A Celebration

2010-10-24T16:26:00.003-07:00

Digital invite made with Smilebox

2 Weeks and Counting

2010-10-15T19:43:00.001-07:00

We are getting so excited for Peter's return home in

just 2 weeks!! Really the time has flown by these last

few months. We've got the rice cooker all geared up

and ready to go and his warm clothes are waiting. . .

Peter is pictured below with his companion, Brother and

Sister Tobias and then Elder Wong Yong Ko of the Area

Presidency and his wife who visited the mission recently.

On The Count Down

2010-08-23T20:33:00.000-07:00

At church on Sunday one of my friends asked me

how many days until Peter gets home----yikes!!!

I guess we are down to counting days now . . .

. . . so 67 to be exact.

This is Peter looking happy and pain free.

Not at all like I'm sure he looked last week

when he passed a kidney stone!!

I hope he has a swinging good time these

last few weeks but I also hope he can

stay focused to the end

(Is that even possible?!)

A Long Overdue Update

2010-06-25T20:51:00.000-07:00

Wow--the time is going by so fast and I am really overdue

in updating Peter's blog so here we go-----

Peter celebrated his 21st Birthday with quite the feast

including Hostess cupcakes from home!!!

The work continues to go well with these 2 recent baptisms.

Also the opening of the Cebu temple will be a great blessing

for the people in Peter's mission as it is just a short boat ride

away for them instead of a lengthy trip north to Manila.

Peter loves the people of the Philippines, when we talked

on Mother's Day it was clear that he will have a hard time

leaving in just a few short months.

The biggest news of all is that Peter will remain in the

Bacolod Mission on Negroes and will not be assigned

to the new mission on Panay. I think he was happy about

that as he loves President Tobias. In his email this week

he said that he has been assigned as a Zone leader so we

will be anxious to see where he was transferred to, most

likely this will be his last area. I hope he remembers. . .

"Trunkiness Never Was Happiness"!!!!!!

Transfer back to Negros

2010-04-18T19:32:00.000-07:00

After almost a year of serving on the island of Panay, Peter

was recently transferred back to the island of Negros to

a place called Cadiz. It is near Victorias which was his first

area and so he has had fun reconnecting with people there.

Being 50 pounds thinner some didn't recognize him at first!!

The Iloilo Zone at the transfer meeting

A little sad on the boat ride back to Negros but happy to

serve where ever President Tobias sends him!

Fishers of Men

2010-04-04T16:54:00.001-07:00

On a recent P-day these "Fishers of Men" took some

time off for an excursion to SEAFTEC also known as the

Southeast Asia Fish Technology Center where they do

research to help the fishing industry in the Philippines

Our "Star" Missionary. . .

A Happy Place To Be

2010-02-12T20:20:00.000-08:00

Nothing makes missionary parents happier than to have

their son write home and say. . ."there is no other place

in the world I'd rather be right now!!"

Peter's District had the honor of being the top baptizing

district in the mission last week. Their hard work and

dedication is blessing many lives!! He said this in a recent

email, "While teaching an investigator I totally sat there

in the lesson and just kept smiling because it was such a

happy place to be." I'm reminded of a quote by Brother

Barrett in our ward who once served as a mission president,

he stated "Anyone can go on a mission but not everyone is a

missionary." I think Peter has caught the true spirit of

missionary work---keep it up Elder!!!

My Brothers Didn't Do This

2010-02-06T20:49:00.000-08:00

Peter is having alot of fun making sure his brothers

know that HE is doing things on his mission

that they didn't do while on their missions. . .

. . .Yep they didn't ride a tryke (above) or a bull (below)

Nope----they didn't have to take pills to prevent "intestinal problems"

Not one of them ever climbed a coconut tree or sliced

the coconut open with a really wicked looking knife

Not one of them lost 50 pounds or. . .

. . .tried preaching the Gospel to a monkey----- regardless

they ALL had their own adventures that they wouldn't

trade for anything!!

Transfer

2009-12-08T20:12:00.001-08:00

Soon after the baptism of these 2 little cousins, Peter was transferred from

Pototan to an area in Iloilo City called Molo. There they have 2 wards and

Peter said they love to feed the Elders (more dried fish maybe?!)

His new companion, Elder Lavides from Manila.
Just monkeying around but I'm sure he'll get to work soon!!

The Dried Fish Diet

2009-12-08T20:05:00.000-08:00

Maybe if I ate like this my pants would be baggy too!!

We'll be taking this boy to the new In-N-Out in Orem

when he gets home--no dried fish there!!

HAPPY HUMP DAY

2009-10-25T13:25:00.000-07:00

Wow---hard to believe that Peter just celebrated his Hump Day on October 22nd!!!! The year seemed to go by fast and the 2nd year goes by even faster! He is still in Pototan and was just made a District Leader so is excited about that opportunity. We look forward to another great year and more adventures.

Going Coconuts!!!

2009-10-06T20:33:00.000-07:00

I have to say I never expected to see a picture of Peter at the top of a coconut tree but here you have it!!!

Adventures in Eating

2009-09-14T20:08:00.000-07:00

Part of serving a foreign mission of course is partaking of all the "foreign" foods and Peter has certainly done that!! I don't need to see any more pictures of him eating balut though!
Avocodo milkshakes??!! Peter said they are really pretty good.

Crispy crabs and rice
Ice-cream with 4 flavors all in one!!
At a restaurant with what else---all you can eat rice!!
So you can see why Peter was so excited to down this nice big American hamburger!!

Transfer

2009-08-03T20:13:00.001-07:00

Last week Peter was transfered to a town called Pototan, still on the island of Panay but north of Iloilo. The mission president closed their area in Oton because of a lack of missionaries which made the members really sad. This was at a farewell party they had for Peter and his companion.

Pototan is inland and so Peter said he is missing the ocean but the scenery there is beautiful as you can see.

2 guests. . .1 welcome the other not so welcome

2009-07-18T21:13:00.001-07:00

This month Peter met his new mission president, President Tobias, when he came and visited he and his companion at their apartment. (Can you believe how skinny Peter is!?)
This little tukol though, not so welcome as a guest in the apartment and thank goodness Elder Araojo was able to catch it and send it on it's way OUTSIDE because Peter said they will bite you!!

Prayers ARE answered!!

2009-06-08T19:06:00.000-07:00

Well last week we got a surprise e-mail from Peter saying that it was OK for them to e-mail again so we were pretty happy about that. They recently had a Zone Conference on the beach near Oton and so Peter took these fun pictures.
He said this is his new lifeguard stand. Below he is using it to look for "Lost Souls" !!

Bye-bye e-mail :(

2009-05-31T12:18:00.000-07:00

Thanks to some very disobedient Elder's (Peter was NOT among them) the mission president has now banned e-mail for the Bacolod Mission!!! So not only will we miss weekly updates, because "snail-mail" takes 2-3 weeks, we will miss the pictures that Peter would attach. So we all need to pray that when the new mission president arrives in July he will reconsider and let them e-mail again. In the meantime enjoy some of the last pictures he sent.

If any of you want to try writing to him using the POUCH, the address is:
Philippines Bacolod Mission
PO Box 30150
Salt Lake City, UT 85130-0150

First Transfer

2009-05-07T13:34:00.000-07:00

Well having spent Christmas on an airplane, it seemed appropriate that Peter would spend his 20th Birthday on a boat being transferred to Oton on the island of Panay!!

OK, so it wasn't on the above boat but instead on what he called an "Ocean Jet" as shown below. He said the ride took just a little over an hour and he is very excited to be in a new area.

Above is where Peter lived in Victorias, he says it was called the Mission Mansion. (I can see why) The only thing he told me about his new home is that it's livable---perhaps something like the below picture. . . I don't know!!!

Don't Try This At Home Folks

2009-04-03T19:41:00.000-07:00

So before Peter even left for the Philippines he told us that given the chance, he was going to try balut, (for those who don't know this is a fertilized duck egg which is boiled and eaten in the shell, duck and all) why you would even want to, well I don't know and after looking at these pictures I'm pretty sure that I would NEVER want to.

So if your grossed out by looking at Peter eating his filipino "delicacy" then enjoy this picture that he took of a beautiful Philippine sunset!!

Missionary Life

2009-03-09T21:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some random pictures of Peter and his life as a missionary in the Philippines. The good news is that they have been teaching the De la cruz family and hope that they will be baptized soon, Peter is just hoping he won't be tranferred before that happens.

This is a picture of Peter's favorite thing to eat----rice and lumpia. So far he has lost 40 pounds!! Thanks to this diet, alot of walking and alot of sweating!!

Transportation is still an adventure. He is shown here in a Jeepney with Tommy, a member missionary and Elder Wade. And then again inside a Tryke.

This is one of Peter's favorite families to visit because you have to cross this log bridge to get there.

2009-02-12T20:13:00.000-08:00

Last week Peter got a new companion, Elder Santos who is a native from somewhere near Manila. He was happy to be staying in Victorias as he really likes it there. They have several investigators but it is hard to get them out to church and some have word of wisdom problems but he stays optimistic. He has already experienced eating dog, yes D-O-G!! He said it wasn't too bad and it was served with some of the best pineapple he's ever tasted. His Ilonggo is coming along and his mother LOVES the fact that he is the ward pianist for the 2 wards there in Victorias!! Here is the address for the mission home if anyone wants to write a real letter:
Philippines Bacolod Mission
Lacson and Galo Streets
PO Box 660 Bacolod City
6100 Negros Occidental
Philippines

Leapin Lizzards

2009-01-11T20:55:00.000-08:00

We finally received some pictures of Peter from the Philippines. The first one shows him riding in a tryke with some of the ward missionaries. A tryke is like a motorcycle with a side car. He says he doesn't really fit in them and the Filipinos laugh when he gets in and out.

These lizards are called tikis and are in their house all the time, yikes!!

Hello Philippines

2008-12-30T18:55:00.000-08:00

After 34 hours of travel time Peter finally arrived in Bacolod the afternoon of Christmas Day!! (Still the 24th for us) We were able to talk to him from Manila and he sounded great and was excited to be there. He said there are 8 different dialects in his mission alone. His first area is a city north of Bacolod called Victorias and his companion is Elder Hanson from California. There are 2 wards there and he says he will be learning Ilonggo which is similar to Tagalog. Their "Mission Mansion" as he called it, is pretty big and is equipped with a special shower----a spout a bucket and a ladel !! He's amazed at how the people there live, his best description is that their homes look like the coolest tree houses, only they're 2 feet off the ground. I think his P-Day is Monday (which is really our Sunday), so if you get a chance to e-mail him you have to send it on Saturday. He's still plechem@myldsmail.net

Tagalog Tongue Twisters

2008-12-15T18:27:00.000-08:00

It is amazing for us to see how quickly Peter has been able to learn Tagalog. Missionaries really are blessed with the gift of tongues. Of course he has a long way to go to be fluent, for example to read is babasa and to bless is basbas. One day Peter asked someone if they could bless the Book of Mormon instead of read it. All fun and part of the learning process he says. Today we received his flight plans for the trip to the Philippines. Lets just say it will be a real adventure !! He flies from Salt Lake to LA, LA to Taiwan, Taiwan to Manila and then Manila to Bacolod arriving on Christmas Day!! Total travel time is about 30 hours (Can you say jetlag?) He is very excited to be on his way however and out of the MTC. But what a Christmas to remember !! This was his phrase of the week: Inimpluwensiyahan tayo ng Diyos na gumama ng mabuti which translated means "God influences us to do good".

2008-11-10T20:47:00.000-08:00

Our family LOVES Mondays----it's e-mail day!! We receive e-mails from Peter and from his brother Nic who is serving in Kentucky. Today Peter says he is at the point where things are getting a little harder. I think he means the mission as well as the language, but the good news is that he sees that he needs to rise up and become stronger. He says that the magamdang wika sa tagolog (beautiful language of tagolog) is very difficult with pronouns, and ang's ng's mga's and more. He can't even imagine using words like pinakamakapangyrihan, and yes that is all one word!!
He's loved hearing from alot of you, thanks so much, I'm sure that helps make life in the MTC much more fun.

2008-10-27T20:33:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we received our first letter from Elder LeChem #2. Apparently his assigned companion was a "No Show" to the MTC and so he is with 2 other Elders, Elder Headman from Sandy, UT and Elder Ocai from Canada. Then today we were surprised to get an e-mail. He is still adjusting to MTC life but sounds great. He said he loved the fireside on Sunday night in which the managing director of the church missionary department spoke. Better than the speaker though was singing with 2000+ missionaries. Peter said the spirit was so strong it gave him chills. His e-mail address is plechem@myldsmail.net In closing he says, the Church is true and it would be excellent to hear from someone soon!!

MTC

2008-10-22T14:39:00.001-07:00

It's official----Peter is a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints as he entered the MTC today. I think the hardest part for him other than saying good-bye for 2 years was leaving his cell phone on the counter before we left home.

His MTC address is
ELDER PETER J LECHEMINANT
MTC Mailbox #198
PHI-BAC 1223
2005 N 900 E
Provo, Utah 84604-1793
I'm sure he would love to hear from all of you. His departure date really is December 23rd

The Farewell

2008-10-21T08:30:00.000-07:00

Peter spoke on Sunday in the Grandview 10th Ward. It was great having his grandparents, some of his aunts, uncles, cousins and many friends from 7 Peaks and Sports Authority there to support him. It was an awesome day !!

2008-09-21T14:20:00.000-07:00

Peter received his mission call on July 17th. He had gone to Lagoon with his friends Steve and Becca and so we had to wait until they got home for the "Grand Opening".
It was 11:00 p.m.by the time Jason and Ari came over and we got Jeff and Julie on the Webcam, but tired or not we were all so excited when Peter read that he would be serving in the Philippines Bacolod Mission !!
Peter is so excited because he wanted to go somewhere foreign AND to a tropical climate, so there you have it !!