Hola! (Email) 11.10.2008

Hello everyone! ¿Comó están? Maybe I should take granted of being able to use accents and everything here with this keyboard. :D Well, quite the week it has been! Where to begin?

To answer questions. No, we don´t need to use mosquito nets. We pretty much escape from the mosquitos when we walk into our apartment. Everyone once in a while there will be something flying around, but that happens at home too. No big deal. :D

As far as scriptures we like to use when inviting people to church. I like Moroni 6 because it talks about why we go to church. I also like several in the New Testament (sorry I can´t remember the exact references right now) that Christ is inviting people to come to him. Christ is always inviting people to Him, to ¨Come and See¨and I think this alone is a great way to do it. People need to ¨Come and See¨what the church is like - to come unto Christ!

Also, Hermana Riquelme pointed out Luke 14 to me. It is when Jesus Christ gives the parable of the great supper when he invites all to the supper and only a few come. One doesn´t come because he has work, one doesn´t come because he has family things to do, and another doesn´t come because he needs to do something with his five oxen that he just bought (possessions). It´s interesting to think about. There are a lot of different reasons why we don´t go to church, or things that could prevent us from going, but we should still go!

Here´s an interesting story... we were eating lunch with one of the families of the ward on Saturday. She, the mom, is going to school right now. She told us that she wouldn´t be able to go to church on Sunday because she has two tests on Tuesday that she doesn´t feel prepared for. Her previous test last week didn´t go as well as she would have liked. It made me think. As I gave the thought after lunch, I shared the lessons I learned while I was in school before the mission. I always tried to put learning about the gospel before learning of the world. I read the scriptures first. I figured if I wanted Heavenly Father´s help with Speech Pathology, I should learn about His Gospel first. I also always prayed before tests for help, because the Holy Ghost can bring all things to our remembrance. However, we have to do all that is possible to prepare first. Í couldn´t just put in half my effort to study and then expect Him to bring things to my remembrance that I hadn´t studied.

It made me think also that when we partake of the sacrament, we become more worthy of the Spirit. Now especially she needs to have the Spirit for help in her schooling! It just made me think of the blessings of the Spirit. The Lord always promises to bless us with the things we stand in need of - temporal and spiritual - when we keep His commandments. It was a good reminder for me, and helped me realize ways I can improve as a missionary.

I got my Christmas package! Hermana Riquelme is pretty sure that I should open it up now, but I assured her that I would be in HUGE trouble if I opened it before Christmas. Gracias!

Also, here´s a question. I don´t know what to do for Christmas. I would like to send something from here for you all, but I would basically be buying you all Christmas with your own money. So, let me know what you think. Do you think I should send gifts back home?

Shari, I didn´t know that you had for sure started putting my letters on a blog! Gracias! I hope it´s not too much trouble.

Mom, I am writing in my journal. I have missed a day or two, but for the large majority I am writing. I finished my first one, and now I´m started on the other one. It´s good. Therapeutic I think. :D

Here´s a story. Last Monday night we were having FHE with the Beltran family. We were actually playing a game and then all of the sudden the lights went out. Someone walked outside, and to our dismay, there was a house on fire! We didn´t know who it was at first, but we soon realized that it was the house of one of our investigators, Cristina Alarcon. She´s 22 and has two little girls. It was one of the saddest things I have ever seen. Luckily they got out of the house quickly and are all fine. I believe her boyfriend was at work when it all happened. There is NOTHING left. Literally no evidence that there was ever a house there. It´s interesting because we are also teaching her Mom (Cristina) and Hector (step-dad?) and her siblings, that live in the neighboring neighborhood. We went to Cristina´s (the mom) house the next day and I was amazed by her. She is strong. She said Cristina is living in Neuquen now so unfortunately we won´t be able to teach her.

Yennifer had her baptismal interview yesterday and she´s going to be baptized Friday night! Yay! We´re very excited for her. It has been quite the adventure, but we think everything is going to work out just fine.

Did I tell you about Hector? I think so. That Hermana Riquelme met him on the bus? He has now gone to church two times and has a baptismal date for November 29th! He´s 76 years old. A very nice man. I have no idea, but he reminds me of Morie (Tuesdays with Morie). Funny huh?

Also, we are teaching Alicia Higuera. I don´t know if you remember her, but Hermana Celis and I taught her a couple of times before. She is doing great. She´s reading the Book of Mormon, and really understanding! I think she can explain the first part of first Nephi better than I can! She went to church yesterday. Yay! She has a baptismal date for November 29th as well.

Someone in the stake got us a spot in the Plottier Book Fair that took place Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. Hermana Riquelme and I were only able to go part of Saturday and all of Sunday, but it was very enjoyable. We couldn´t ¨preach¨but it was very enjoyable. We could answer questions. We just gave away pamphlets about the church - the restoration, plan of salvation, the gospel of Jesus Christ, Word of Wisdom, Book of Mormon, FHE book, etc... Just fun free things to give away! Elder Stephenson is quite the musician, and he actually brought his charango (mini guitar) and harmonica, and played and sang while we were there. Very fun. I hope people have a little better idea of what the church is all about now.

Thanks for the pictures! Nyah was dorothy! So cute! And for the pictures of soccer as well. Very very fun.

Shari, Hermana Riquelme loves oreos. I taught her that you can put the fork in the middle and it´s easier to eat them with milk. :D I informed her that you had taught me. And, the ¨Good night, don´t let the bed bugs bite...¨saying. She likes it.

Well, I hope all is well. I love you all very much. Los quiero! Talk to you again soon!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock