08.18.2008-Hola! (E-MAIL)

Hola mi familia! Como estan? I hope that all is well for everybody. I was worried for a bit that I might not be able to email you today because it´s a holiday of sorts (I´m actually a little confused about it :D) but no worries, the internet is still open.

So first to reply to some of your questions...things here are going well. My first day when I said I went to the Buenos Aires Temple, I was literally only there for like 20 minutes. We weren´t able to do a session or anything, so I´m yet to experience a spanish session. Mom, you´re one up on me! I laughed when I read your email about how you ended up in a spanish session in the temple. It really is an experience to be learning in a different langauge. Hopefully I´ll get that opportunity sometime.

Mom, how did your talk go? I was thinking of you and I prayed for you yesterday - multiple times because I wasn´t sure when you would be speaking. :)

So Andrea and Andres having a wedding date! They´re getting married this Friday, and Andrea is getting baptized on Saturday. It really should happen this week!

I don´t think I´ve talked much about the food here... I am actually really enjoying it. I haven´t had anything yet that I haven´t liked. It´s pasta of some type about every meal. Good thing I love pasta! The other day a member, Hna Higuera, made us mashed potatoes, but it was mixed with pumpkin... I think?? Anyway, it was super good. I need to learn how to make some of these things.

The other day I had my first official asado (barbecue). Ryan, you would´ve loved it. I don´t think I have seen such a large amount of meat in the center of the table at once. :D They really do like steak and beef here. In spaghetti they´ll have chunks of steak instead of hamburger, etc...

Several of the members have mentioned how I´m going to fatten up here... because they feed us so much at lunch! Ah well, if it happens it happens right? We have our lunch appointment and then we skip dinner. I´ll usually have something small when we get back to our apartment at night.

Also about my apartment, it´s actually an apartment above a little store. Hopefully I´ll be able to send you pictures soon of some of these things. I´m sure you´d love to see, and I would love to have you see as well.

Oh, here´s something funny. Instead of saying Como esta? Most people say Como anda? Which is literally, how are you walking? It´s kindof fun.

Dad, how is the stake? Work? Umpiring? Sometimes I forget that you are all in summer, and doing everything that comes with it. The summer is so great!

Mom, that´s fun that you´re almost done reading the Doctrine and Covenants. Have you decided what you´re going to start next? Every time we teach about the importance of reading the scriptures and why it´s a blessing, the more grateful I am for the scriptures. Also, I love that you and Aunt Debora watched Cinderella. That´s so great.

AK, Ryan, and Nyah, how are you? Work I´m sure is still very busy for the both of you. I love hearing the new things that Nyah is saying. She is so cute!

Aaron, how´s it going? Have you had interviews? I hear from Lisa that you all have had some great water skiing. I´m sure you´re loving it.

Shari and Orrin, how are you? How´s work? Orrin, are you enjoying your bike? Shari your story about your neighbor and the police was crazy. I´m glad everything turned out okay. Have you decided on whether or not to continue working with Greg?

Lisa and Jordan, hola! Poor Hallie had a rough week! I wasn´t sure whether to laugh or cry when you said that she had fallen in the bathtub. It sounds like she handled it okay. Justice park sounded great with Mom and Dad too. I love justice park. It´s so pretty! And I´m glad that she loves the dirt - a true Pincock.

A lot of people really aren´t sure how to pronounce my name. It´s pretty funny. It´s okay though, I´m leaning how to pronounce theirs too.

I carry around our family picture of where we´re all in a group hug. The first little while quite a few people asked if I had a picture, so I decided I had better carry it. Everyone loves the picture. They always get confused between Lisa and I - they´re not sure which one is me at first. Lisa, It turns out that we still look alike. I think we all look pretty similar.

We do meet in just a regular church. It´s smaller, but other than that, just normal. We even have a real piano. It´s good. I´m glad that I can play the piano for them. It´s amazing that Heavenly Father even helps me to play the piano when I have no time to practice.

I´m teaching as much as I can. Hermana Celis has given me many opportunities to teach so I´m grateful. It´s hard, because I don´t know all the vocabulary, and I don´t sound like an Argentine, but I figure I need to open my mouth. I have decided that every time I say something, I´m one time closer to saying it more clearly. As hard as it is...

I have started reading the Book of Mormon outloud in Spanish. It is helping me to pronounce and be a little more comfortable speaking, and to just see how Spanish works in general. I´m not very far yet, but I would like to spend about fifteen minutes everyday doing this.

I´m very grateful for the opportunity that I have to be here in Argentina, sharing the happiness that we have through the Gospel. The more I talk to others who don´t have the Gospel, the more grateful I am. I´m so grateful that I have the knowledge of a living prophet, who guides us today. Revelation didn´t end with the Bible. God continues to speak with us through a prophet, the scriptures, and personal revelation. It breaks my heart when people won´t believe that God continues to speak to us today.

I´m grateful for my knowledge of Jesus Christ and for His atoning sacrifice. I have been studying the atonement, fall, and grace a little bit this week, and I am so grateful for Jesus Christ. He is our Savior and Redeemer - for all men - if they will just come unto Him.

There is much truth in the world, found in many churches, but I know that this is the church of Jesus Christ - it is His church. It was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith, and I am so grateful for Him and the sacrifices he made for us to have the Gospel.

The family of Rocio is still meeting with us. I hope they as a family will continue to progress. Yesterday we were able to visit them for a while along with the Bishop and another member in the stake, because they wanted a blessing for their home. It was a neat experience.

Rocio´s mom mentioned that she feels something different when the missionaries are in her house. It was neat. I want her to realize how that Spirit can be there always, as they accept and live the Gospel. I hope that things will go well with their family.Thanks so much for everything. I love you all so much. I´ll write again next week!

Con Mucho Amor,
Hermana Pincock