Hola! 03.03.2009 (Email)

My Family,

Hi! How are you all doing? So sorry that you´re getting this email on Tuesday instead of Monday. I forgot to write last week that I had zone conference yesterday so our preparation day is today. Sorry, and I hope you weren´t worried wondering what in the world happened. But, all is well. :D

Well, about Scotty. Thanks for writing to tell me about him. I was a little surprised, but not too surprised. I´m sure it was in his best interest. He was old. I hope you gave him some loves for me too. Good little puppy. :D

Well, where to start? It has been quite the week. Gabriela Acosta that stayed the night with me is thirty. She´s wonderful. She really helped fill me in on the ward a little bit more, so I feel like I understand the dynamics a little bit better. That´s nice. She also had some really good advice that she learned from the mission. It was a good experience.

Then Hermana Wilches got here Tuesday morning! She´s so great! I can´t believe it has only been a week since she got here. It seems like so much has happened. She´s from Bogotá Colombia, and has been a member of the church all her life. All her family members are members as well. She has two older sisters and an older brother. She´s the baby too. :D I´m already learning A LOT from her. I´m enjoying it.

So Thursday we had the amazing opportunity to have a meeting with Elder Richard G. Scott and Elder Bowen, the area president for southern, South America I believe. It was so good. It was a meeting for just the missionaries here in the area, and I really enjoyed it. And I got to shake his hand. :o) I lead the music, and thoroughly enjoyed that. Singing ¨Called to Serve¨ with lots of missionaries and ¨Hark All Ye Nations¨is just flat out fun.

Elder Scott taught us several things. He talked to us about receiving personal revelation for ourselves, and for our areas. He talked about how the Spirit talks to our hearts and to our minds. He said that usually we receive a general impression - a feeling or a general thought. When we act on that impression, or obey, we have the right or ability to receive more guidance. He talked about writing down the inspiration that we receive, because as we write we record it, and show to Heavenly Father that we value what we´re receiving.

He talked about following the Spirit as we´re teaching, and how we can´t teach, or atleast make a difference as we´re teaching, without the Spirit. It´s true.

He also talked to us about how we study the scriptures. We shouldn´t just read to read, but read and study the scriptures. For example, he decided that we were going to read scriptures to learn how to be worthy of and have the Spirit. We then made a list of the things we need to do as we read and studied the different scriptures he had. It was good.

He talked to us about our decisions after the mission, and how we need to apply the mission and the things we learn to life afterwards. We shouldn´t just return to the person we were before. Heavenly Father teaches and stretches us for a reason on the mission. I hope I´m a better person after the mission than I was when I started.

The young men/ women and the adults here had another meeting with Elder Scott but we weren´t invited. :D I heard it was great though. Amazing.

Oh, and something fun about being there, was that I got to see Hermana Riquelme again, and I got to meet her companion, Hna. Morrill. Did I mention she´s from Logan? It was so good to see Hna. Riquelme again. I just love her. I saw her again yesterday, and I must admit I wasn´t that excited to say bye to her because the chances of seeing her again before she goes home are pretty slim. It´s okay though. We´ll write.

And then yesterday, we had a meeting with Elder Marcos Aidukaitis (sp???) who´s in the first quorum of the seventy. He gave a talk this last conference on the power of the Book of Mormon in missionary work. Wow. Where to begin. It was an amazing meeting.

He started off by asking us if he could be blunt with us, without worrying about offending anyone. We assured him it would be find. He started by talking to us about what our purpose is as missionaries. He summed it up in 3 words as Baptize, Confirm, and Retain. He then took it down to one word: baptize.

He talked to us about our goals. Every night we set goals for the next day. He asked us how many of us had set goals the day before, and had us all stand up. He then asked us who of everyone had met their goals. He then asked who had had a baptism in the last six weeks. Not many.

We in the mission as a whole, and myself included, need to make a lot of changes in the way we are doing missionary work. We read the scriptures that say the ¨Field is White already to harvest¨and what it really means. It´s ready, right now, in the Neuquen mission - in Allen.

He said in a meeting he was in with Elder Perry one time, Elder Perry said that one third of the entire world is prepared to accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ. One Third! We justify, and make excuses a lot of times for why things aren´t happening in our area. That other areas are easier, etc...

He talked to us about our faith. In the scriptures it talks about the faith of the missionaries, and the affect it had on their areas. THOUSANDS were baptized. It really made me take a look at myself. If one third of Allen is ready for the Gospel, and an apostle of the Lord said that it is, Hna. Wilches and I have a lot of work to do. Often times we´re too content with what´s happening, and we don´t have the vision that Heavenly Father has.

I think it´s fair to say that his talk yesterday has definitely left me thinking about who I am, and what type of missionary I am and should be.. There´s never a better time than now to change and become a better instrument in the hands of the Lord right?

I´m so grateful for a living prophet, and apostles who guide the Church of Jesus Christ today. I know that they are inspired by our Heavenly Father.

One quick story. Sunday night we were planning for how many new investigators we were going to find yesterday. We prayed, and we both thought three.. We thought to ourselves -- really? Three? We´re only going to be out working for a couple of hours... But we set the goal anyway. Last night we were knocking in our ¨area chica¨and we met a lady named Cristina. She let us in. We met her daughter Lucía and her sons Cristian and Juakin (sp???). We taught the restoration to them, and her husband came in for the last little bit. So with Cristina, and two of her kids that are over age 8, we have, yes, three new investigators. Miracles.

Mom and Dad, good luck with your Stake Conference talks. It´s this coming Sunday right? You´ll both do great.

Thanks so much for everything. I´m excited to work here in Allen with Hna. Wilches. She´s an amazing missionary and she´s helping me to become a better missionary as well. The Church is true, and Heavenly Father is a God of miracles. I´ll write again next week!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock