Hi! 01.26.2009 (Email)

My Family,

Hi! How are you all doing? I hope you´re all doing wonderful as always. Well, it has been a good week! Lets see, where to start...

Did I mention that Hna. Celis started the mission here in Allen? It has been interesting to meet some of the people she taught / found. Funny how it all works out.

So, we have our area more figured out this week, so that´s good. In our district meeting this last week the zone leaders went, so I took advantage of the opportunity to ask LOTS of questions. It was good. We got some things cleared up, and we still need to clear some other questions up, but I´m feeling a lot more comfortable this week about how things should be working.

We met with our ward mission leader for the first time this week, and it was really good. I felt a little guilty because we had A LOT of things to talk about with him and the elders for the first week. But there are a lot of ways we can improve! One of the first things he is going to do is get us a ward list so we can know who is and isn´t in our area. That´ll be good.

There´s also a little bit of a possibility that we´re going to change our area boundaries. We need to talk to our leaders to see who can change / decide what the boundaries are. We just want what´s best for the people in the area.

So I´m playing the piano here as well! It´s good though. I thoroughly enjoy playing the piano, and I miss the ¨therapy¨that playing the piano used to give me on a daily basis back at home. Once a week is just going to have to be good enough. :o)

So back in Plottier, we had a teacher for Gospel Principles. When she couldn´t teach, we taught as a companionship. So here the missionaries are the teachers, and we take turns. One person teaches at a time here instead of teaching in companionships. I was a little surprised, but it works. So they informed me last week, that it was my turn yesterday. I must admit, I was a little nervous about teaching the lesson, in spanish, by myself for the first time. But it went really well! It was on Temple Work and Family History. It really made me miss going to the temple. It´s so peaceful and wonderful there. The Spirit is so strong. You all need to go a time for me! Anyway, Heavenly Father really helped me with the lesson so I could teach the things I needed to, and I think they all left the lesson understanding. :D I took the calendar that you sent me for Christmas so they could see more pictures of temples, and they thoroughly enjoyed it. One family (baptized 3 or 4 months ago I believe) is pretty sure that I need to give them the calendar. :D Temples are beautiful.

Did I mention that Hna. Ramirez has been a little sick? We have had to go to Roca (the biggest city close by) several times the last two weeks so she could have tests taken (an endoscopy). Anyway, we need to go one more time on Wednesday, and that should be it. Hopefully the doctor will know what she needs to do so she can have full health.

I´m not sure exactly when Hna. Ramirez was baptized, but she had been a member a little over a year when she left for the mission.

Lisa, what is gastritis and what causes it? If you could let me know I´d love it, because I always here about people here who have gastritis, and I don´t understand why I´ve never heard of it before if it´s so common. Grac!

So we are trying to work more with the members, as I mentioned last week. Something that we were taught was to go to the houses of the members, and have them tell us the name of every person that they can think of who is not a member of the LDS church. They tell us without address, phone number, or anything. We assure them that we won´t visit any of the people they tell us, unless they want us to. So the next time we go we give them this list, which they put in a very visible place, and they are supposed to be praying about who on the list is ready to hear, accept, and live the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We did this with one family last night. They´re actually very missionary work oriented, so we´re excited to work with them. I am recognizing more and more why missionary work with the help of members is so important. The members already have the trust and confidence of their friends and loved ones. It is so much harder for missionaries to go in, unannounced, to houses and to try and gain their trust and confidence. Members are SO important!

So my invitation to you all, is that for FHE tonight, you can make a list of all the people you know, who haven´t been blessed with the message of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Then put the list in a visible place, like on the fridge, and pray both individually and in your marriage, about who you can share the gospel with. Will you do it tonight for FHE? Great!!! I know that we all know people who would accept and live the gospel if they really understood the blessings and opportunities that we receive.

So I have been reading the conference talks still this week, and I´m thoroughly enjoying it. It´s amazing how even though I´m reading the talks in order, that I read the things that I need just in the moment that I need them.

Some quotes I love:

¨Our heartfelt testimoes are the most powerful answer we can give our accusers. And such testimonies can only be borne in love and meekness¨. Elder Hale

¨The will to win is nothing without the will to prepare¨. Juma Ikangaa (man who won the New York Marathon.)

¨I [pray] that every young woman might be encircled, strengthened, and protected by righteous priesthood power, not only at the time of birth and blessing but throughout life¨. Elaine S. Dalton

¨You must never under-estimate the power of your righteous influence¨. Elaine S. Dalton

Oh, we had a really neat lesson the other day. As we were doing contacts in the street, we met a family who are less-active, and have been for like five years or so. So we made an appt. to visit them. We weren´t sure if we could go because of the boundaries, but decided that we could. We went with Hna. Moreno, and great member of the ward. The lesson was wonderful. The family had been offended, and stopped going to church. We´re eager to keep working with them, and the Moreno family is going to keep helping us. :D

But how are you all doing? I hope you´re all doing so well. You all sound very busy, but it sounds like things are going well. I am so grateful for my family, and that we´re sealed together in the temple. I love you all with all my heart. Thanks for everything, and I´ll write again next week!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

:o) 01.19.2009 (Email)

Hola! How are you all doing? Things here in Allen are going well. What a week it has been! First off, a little bit about Allen...

The good bye at the bus terminal was a little sad. Paula Beltran had gone with us as well because she stayed with Hna. Riquelme until her new companion got there. But I survived. Luckily, a ward member was on the same bus as me so he could tell me when we arrived to Allen, because otherwise I really have no idea how I would have known. It is just a regular stop, and from what I could see, I didn´t see any signs saying we were in Allen. So that was a blessing that he was there. But Hna. Ramirez was at the bus stop waiting as well so no problem there.

I´m basically living in a palace compared to my other apartment. It´s not that my other was in bad condition, it´s that this apartment is really very nice. We basically live in the outskirts of the center of Allen. The walls are painted light green which makes me happy. There´s a big kitchen with a table, and our desks and everything. (marble- like counters). Then we have a bathroom, and a different room where we sleep. Wow, three rooms! And it has a big over-head fan in the kitchen like the one we have in our living room at home. Fun fun.

Like I said before, Hna. Ramirez is from Peru. She has been a member for a little over two years, and she´ll be ending the mission in April. It´s funny that Hna. Celis, Hna. Riquelme, and Hna. Ramirez are all from the same group. The only other sister missionary from their group is Hna. Wilches (sp??) and I don´t think I´ll get the chance to be her companion. But funny. Companions with 3 of the 4. I have eaten food from Peru for the first time this week. It was actually very good. A rice, meat concoction.... very good.

This week has been a week of finding investigators. They had a couple of investigators before, but they´re now working different schedules (it seems as though quite a few people work with fruit) and right now is definitely the fruit season. So lots of work. So those investigators aren´t really available. So... we´re starting from square one. It has been good though.

Lots and lots of contacts this week! Contacts in Plottier were never my strong point, and I came to Allen with the determination to do better. The mission goal is that we as a companionship do 140 contacts every week. We met the goal for the first time this week! Yay! 165!!! We just need to keep doing them now.

We have found some good investigators this week. We´re excited to get teaching them more so they can progress.Dad, you asked me if I have ideas about how to gain the confidence of the members. That´s something we are really going to start focusing on here, because as of now the members really aren´t very involved in missionary work. That has to change. We as full-time missionaries need the help of members.

Something a little tricky, is that we share our ward with two elders who are also here in Allen. I´m still trying to figure out how it all works. It´s okay though. We´re going to figure it out.

So things here in Allen are going well. We definitely have room for improvement but that´s good. We´re just going to keep on improving. I feel a great responsibility here, and hope I´ll be able to do what Heavenly Father expects of me. Oh, and good news, they just called a ward mission leader. I guess it´s the first time the ward has had a mission leader in quite a while, so we feel very blessed. He and his wife are wonderful, and we´re excited to work with them.

How are all of you doing? From what I hear from letters, it sounds like you´re all doing well. Have I mentioned that I love hearing from you?

Lisa, no I didn´t bring a taperecorder. I don´t even know if you can buy one here. I´m assuming so... but yes, I agree, it would be a fun game. I´m up for it if you all are as well.

Oh, we want to start a Book of Mormon project with the ward. We´re going to challenge them to all read the B of M and give a B o M away by a certain date. We´re not positive about the details yet, but we´re excited about it.

Andres should have been baptized yesterday. It makes me so happy for him and for Andrea and their kids. It´s going to make such a difference.

We got the conference talks here just recently, so I have been reading quite a few conference talks. I LOVE conference! Some of the quotes I have read recently are:

¨True happiness comes only by making others happy - the practical application of the Savior´s doctrine of losing one´s life to gain it. In short, the christmas Spirit is the Christ Spirit, that makes our hearts glow in brotherly love and friendship and prompts us to kind deeds of service.¨ David O. McKay¨

In spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest seem to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger, wise, and happier as a result... We experience hard things so that we too may have increased compassion and understanding for others... The next time you´re tempted to groan, you might try and laugh instead. It will extend your life and make the lives of all those around you more enjoyable.¨ Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin

¨The principle goal of your lessons is the conversion of hearts. The quality of a lesson is not measured by the number of new pices of information that you give your students. It comes from your capacity to invite the presence of the spirit and to motivate your students to make commitments. It is by exercising their faith by putting into practice the lessons taught that they will increase their spiritual knowledge. ¨ Elder Gerald Causse.

Well, I hope you´re all doing wonderfully. I´m grateful for my testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank you for your testimonies. I love you all so much. Gracias!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hola! (Email) 01.12.2009

Hola! How are you all doing? Things here are going well. Well, as for the moment, I´m in Plottier, but I´m headed to Allen in about 3 hours. So Allen is in the province, Rio Negro, and from what I understand it´s only like 1-2 hours away. It was actually Hermana Celis´first area. My new companion will be Hna. Ramirez and she´s from Peru. She came to the mission at the same time as Hna. Riquelme and Hna. Celis, so she´ll be ending the mission in two transfers if I understand correctly. Pretty crazy!

Hermana Riquelme is going to train. She´s a little nervous, but I ensured her that she´ll do wonderful.

So, back to Plottier. We had Clara´s baptism this Saturday! It went really well. Fernando Acuña baptized her. The young women sang a song during the baptism and they did well. Clara was a little nervous, but it went so well. She´s so happy that she´s baptized and that she received the Holy Ghost yesterday. She really is a different Clara than the Clara we met about two months ago. The gospel is so amazing. Now her family members just need to follow her example. :o)

Andres is super excited for his baptism this next Saturday. He went to Clara´s baptism because we told him we would like him to see another baptism before his own (he had seen Andrea´s baptism before). Anyway, we had asked him Saturday after his baptismal interview who he would like to baptize him. He decided Julio Beltran (16 yrs old) so he could practice, and Fernando Acuña to give him the Holy Ghost since Fernando just received the Melchezidek Priesthood. So he took it upon himself after Clara´s baptism to personally ask them. It was so good. I can hardly believe how different Andres is now. He is totally different. When I see He, Andrea, and their kids Omar and Clara in church, all in their church clothes, learning and participating, talking about going to the temple to be sealed for all time and eternity, it makes me so happy. The scripture in Doctrine and Covenants is true that says that sharing the gospel brings you joy.

Mari and Miguel went to church yesterday as well, and two of their 3 kids. We talked to them again this week about their baptismal goal, and they have decided to set the goal for January 31st. Two of their kids are ages 8 and 10. They told us they want them to make their own decisions about being baptized. So we need to talk to them as well. Yesterday in Gospel Principles we talked about being sealed together as a family, and how their kids can´t be sealed to them in their not members. So we talked about the responsibility of the parents in teaching their children. We think they understand better now.

They´re very excited, but Miguel is a little concerned because he needs to stop smoking. So this is the next big step for them. They´re reading the Book of Mormon consistently though, so it´ll give them a lot of strength. And The Valenzuela family is helping us a ton with them. Oh the difference of having the help of members...

Jon and Judith Meneses went to church yesterday as well! Yay! They were nervous but excited about going. Their little girl Graciela went as well. Graciela wanted to help me play the piano during the hymn so that was exciting for a minute. :D She learned in a minute that she could watch, but she couldn´t touch. haha Oh I love kids.

The Bishop asked me as I walked in the door if I could speak for five or ten minutes about missionary work and my time in Plottier. It was good. A little bit of a surprise, but good. I talked about the plan that Heavenly Father has for us, how we accepted His plan, and how we need to make this plan known to all the world. And thus the importance of missionary work. It´s so true!

So not all the investigators really understood that one of us would probably be changing cities, so they were a little surprised at church. It´s okay though. It makes me sad to leave Plottier. I love Plottier! I have been witness to a lot of Miracles here. The people are amazing, and I´m never going to forget them. I´m ending one part of the mission, and it´s so crazy. It makes me so sad to think that I might not see some of the people ever again. But there´s always email and letters! It okay. On to different people and different experiences.

So sorry I have been such a slacker with pictures. I think I´m going to put all my pictures on a CD and send the CD home. Cheaper then printing them, and faster then loading them onto emails. I hope that´s okay. :D

Oh, a sister in the other ward in Plottier received her mission call on Saturday night! She´ll be serving on temple square! Her name is Hermana Salinas, so if you ever see a Sister Salinas, it´s probably her! She leaves to Provo in March I believe. And, she already knows English, so you can all talk to her without a problem. She teaches english.

So, how are you all doing? What´s new at home? Mom and Dad, I love the picture of you two at temple square. You both look really good. You look happy.

Work? Church? I love that you have been playing Memory recently. Are you still playing Sudoku? Friends? The Minsons sent me a Christmas card so it was fun to hear from them. Oh, I got the Christmas card from the stake presidency a while back as well. Very fun.

I read the talk about Angels by President Holland in the last conference the other day and I really enjoyed it. I often forget that there are angels both seen and unseen who are always helping and protecting us - us missionaries out in the field, and all of you at home. Sometimes we recognize the angels as our friends and loved ones who help us continue forward and endure to the end. But sometimes we don´t recognize it. It makes me think of all the pioneers who crossed the plains, who had the help of angels. However, I have faith that it´s the same today. Angels are real and they help, guide, and protect us.

I love you all so much. I´m grateful to be a missionary. It´s an incredible experience, and I´m learning and trying to be better every day. Love and help the missionaries, and they´ll be so grateful. Take care of yourselves!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

I forgot.... I hear that Rio Negro has a ton of fruit, so that´s exciting! Yummy. I love fruit. Pears, peaches, apples... Yay! Alright, that´s all. Love you!

Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Happy New Years (Email) 01.05.2009

Hi! How are you all doing? I hope you´re all doing great. Well, things here are going well. AK, I just got my birthday package from you, Ryan, and Nyah. Thank you! Shari and Orrin, thanks for the tennis shoes! I got some Nike´s. I hope they are good. As far as spanish vocabulary with tennis shoes goes... it was a little bit of an adventure. :D Good times. I also got two short sleeve shirts so I think I´m good to go unless something out of the ordinary comes up.

Lisa, I just got a letter from you as well. Grac! :D

Aaron, I loved hearing about your invitation to church as a ward missionary haha. :D Good work! You make me giggle.

Paula Beltran, the girl in my ward who has decided to go on the mission, got her mission call on Saturday! She´s going to the Santiago West, Chile mission and leaves on April 23rd. I´m very excited for her.

I have been in Neuquen for the morning because Hna. Riquelme needed to do some paperwork. I´m now in the middle of Neuquen, and it makes me grateful for good old quiet Plottier! Speaking of different cities... who knows where I could be this next week on Preparation day. Pretty crazy.

Well, about the people. Clara had her baptismal interview on Saturday, and it went well, so she´s all ready to be baptized this Saturday. Yay! I really admire her because she goes to church by herself every week. I was trying to put myself in her shoes yesterday. She´s in a different country, with a different culture, and she goes to church by herself where she´s just learning to get to know the people. Pretty amazing. Her whole family needs the gospel so much. When I hear about her struggles it about breaks my heart for her. I hope that others will follow her example.

So we are still teaching John and Judith. We had a lesson with a ward member this last week and it went really well. They recognize that they need to get married. Their little girl Graciela is the cutest thing. She´s 4 I believe. One of my favorite things is that when we stopped by one day really quickly, she RAN out to us in the street saying ¨Hermanas!¨and threw her little arms around us.

Then one day as we were teaching she noticed that I have rings, and wanted to keep my CTR ring. I told her that I had a different ring for her. So the next day I gave her one of the HLJ rings that Lisa, Jordan, Aaron, and Hallie sent me for Christmas and she was so excited. She knows exactly what it stands for. You all were inspired when you sent the CTR rings. Thank you!

She has a hard time remembering my name or how to say it. The other day she was ¨writing¨and I asked her what she had written. She said, ¨What´s your name again?¨When I told her she said, this says ¨Pincock te quiero¨. ( Pincock I love you). She pretty much has me wrapped around her little finger. :o)

John and Judith weren´t able to go to church yesterday. They slept in. But we went over afterwards and talked about the importance of church attendance, and we just let them ask us a bunch of questions. We feel like it was a good thing that we could build a relationship of trust with them.

So on Friday we had FHE with Marí and Miguel and their family with the Valenzuela family ( the members who introduced them to us) and Andrea and Andres with their two kids. Hno. Valenzuela taught the Plan of Salvation, and it was so good! It was fun to be taught for a change. We made tacos and that was fun. It turns out that the majority of people here don´t know what tacos are or have never had them. Who would´ve thought? It turns out that we really do have food from all over the world in the US.

Anyway, I think that everyone really enjoyed the FHE. I think it was especially good for Andres, Marí and Miguel. Members are so important in missionary work!

Miguel and Marí had full intentions of going to church yesterday. Miguel had been working all night and he hurried home to help them all get ready for church. When we passed with the bus they still weren´t ready so they said they´d take their car. They never showed up. When we called last night to see what happened they said their car wouldn´t start. So sad. They really wanted to go! Marí said that they didn´t have the day yesterday that they had hoped for. :o(

In FHE on Friday Miguel talked about how since they had gone to church on Sunday that their whole week had gone so much better. They wanted to find a church that focused on the family, and everything in church focused on how to help the family. It really is amazing. Sometimes I forget how different my life is because I have the Gospel, and how much other people really need it - not just theoretically, but really! It changes everything.

Andres is doing well. Andrea wasn´t able to go to church yesterday, and Andres went by himself. That was a BIG step for him. I´m excited for him. We have noticed a lot of changes in him recently. He mentioned in the FHE that before he never would have thought that he would be in an FHE like that with people talking about Heavenly Father. But there he was! Miracles.

So I hope you´re all doing well. It sounds like you all had a good New Year celebration, and I´m very grateful that you´re all home safe. My New Years was a normal day. Kind of funny though, because there really was NO ONE in the streets. It turns out that they stay up pretty late here and pretty much stay inside the day after. The day worked out just fine though.

Well, tell everyone hi for me. Did you all set goals for this upcoming year? I´d love to hear your goals. The church is true and I love you all tons.

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Email (12.29.2008)

Hola everyone! How are you all doing? It was soooo good to talk to you all on Christmas day! Thanks so much everyone for making the effort to go home so I could talk to all of you. It was so good to hear your voices! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and that you have a good New Years Eve/Day as well. I don't know if you have all already traveled home and everything, but if you haven't yet, drive safe!

Well, Christmas day for me was enjoyable. Oh, as I said, Wednesday was with the zone. All of it was very fun. A little bit about Christmas tradition here. They all get together as families and in some cases friends, and have a big dinner (usually barbecues I believe). Then at twelve o'clock on the dot people start setting off fireworks and then they open the presents. The fireworks thing was interesting. The president had given us permission to stay up until 12:30. But as of Plottier, it's not a community kind of thing - like the 4th of July at home. Just all the people set them off, but they're pretty big. Not huge, but big ones that go off high in the air. And just any person can set them off. Not sure how safe it is. . .:D but it was fun to see a bunch of fireworks going off from all direction - all different neighborhoods. And I opened presents Christmas Eve because we had time, and I wasn't so sure we'd have time the next day. I felt a little guilty because Hna. Riquelme's package still hasn't gotten here, but I think it was just fine. We ate the candy together. :D Thaks again for all of the gifts. And we're headed to Neuquen today so I should be able to buy tennis shoes. Yay!

Oh Mom, it was so good to hear you say "Yaaayyy!!!" It had been too long.

Then we just spent the day with members talking about the true meaning of Christmas. It has surprised me because some people here really and truly don't know why we celebrateChristmas, and know very little about JesusChrist. It makes me sad, but I'm glad we're here to teach them a little bit. :o)

My birthday yesterday was good. I opened up the package in the morning before we went on the bus to get the people for church. Very fun. Thank you. Hallie, the confetti on the card was very nice. Thank you.:D Hna. Riquelme had written me a card in the morning and that was nice. I was surprised that so many ward members remembered my birthday. Very impressive. And so nice! It was actually the birthday of someone else in the ward too so they wished us a happy b-day in sacrament meeting. :o) They sang me happy b-day in Relief Society, and the Martinez Family sang me happy b-day at lunch, and Elders Arana and Diaz called me last night and sang me happy b-day - in English! So it was a good day.

The best birthday presents .. . We met a family a while back when we went to eat lunch with some members. They live close by. Their names are Mari and Miguel and they have three kids - one on the way. We went and visited with them a little bit the other day (while they were killing and plucking feathers off their chickens so that was interesting) haha - and talked a little bit. Not too much since they were doing other things. Then stopped by again the other day to invite them to church and we taught part of the restoration. Anyway, they went to church yuesterday!!! Mari knows more about the church because she has gone several times because her cousin is a member. Anyway, I hope they all enjoyed it and that they'll continue learning and progressing.

Then, last night we had walked clear across town because we had three different appointments. The first one we just stopped by for a minute because her kids were there, and she was doing things with her family. Then we went to another appt. and she wasn't there. Then we went to see Clara (who has a baptismal date for the 10th) aqnd she wasn't there either! Ah! So we weren't sure what to do, but decided to go talk to someone else nearby - a friend of Julia and Clara. And he and his wife weren't there either. But then we saw that their neighbors were outside, so we introduced ourselves to them. We then realized that we had met Judith before, a quick contact. I believe we had tried to go back, but couldn't find her house because the addresses in this neighborhood are a little crazy. Anyway, she said she had wondered why we hadn't come back. They had seen us walk by several times but they were too embarrassed to say anything. :( So we asked if we could teach them right then! So we taught the restoration to Jon and Judith, and it was SO GOOD. Jon is 22 and Judith 20, and they have two little kids. They are from Bolivia and have been here for 5 years. Wow. Anyway, they had such good questions, and were so receptive and believing. They already have prayer together every morning and night! That's so uncommon! So long story short, they said they're willing to start learning and investigating so they can work to prepare themselves for a baptism February 2! They have some changes to make, such as getting married, but I really think they have A LOT of potential and desires.

Hna. Riquelme and I both felt so good as we were there. Last night was so typical for a missionary. You have several people who don't want to listen, have appointments fall through... like Heavenly Father is testing your faith. Then He leads you to someone who wants to listen. Amazing.

I bought a little Book of Mormon book for kids with pictures and everything that teaches the stories really simply. It was in hopes that I can learn to teach some of the things more simply, and even just learn all the stories better in general. Anyway, I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Reading the stories in such simple terms gives me a different view point. The Gospel really is simple!

Scriptures for the day I love: 1 Ne. 17:50, Helaman 10:4-5, DyC 84:80-85, and DyC 112:10. Good ones.

Alright, time to go. I love you all very much. Thanks so much for everything. The talk, the gifts, the support... everything! Yesterday in Gospel Principles we taught that Families Can Be Forever. It's the truth!

Con Mucho Amor,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock