Hola! 04.27.2009 (Email)

Hola! ¿Cómo están? Todo bien? Buenísimo! Things here are going well. It´s Hna. Hedquist´s b-day as you all know, and I think we´re going to eat brownies and ice cream to celebrate. She doesn´t want to do a whole lot more, so I think we´re just going to relax a little bit. :D

Aaron, Happy Birthday on the 30th! How exciting! I hope you do something very fun to celebrate. I wrote you a letter but I don´t think it will get there for another week or so. Sorry it´s late!

I do believe that it´s Mallory Sudweeks Weber´s b-day today as well. Feliz Cumple!

So, Lisa and Jordan, you´re buying a house! Yay! Wow, I can´t believe it´s the house of Bishop Remington and his family. That´s great. Dad mentioned in the last email that you had big news, but then no email from Lisa... I was pretty much feeling left up in the air! It was good to get the news this week.

Well, to answer a couple of questions: Mothers day? I was just talking with Hna. Hedquist, and we´re thinking that you should write several times that you could talk to us, when you´re not in church or anything, and we´ll write next week what time works for all of us. Does it work?

The good number of people here have TVs and DVD players. There are exceptions, but for the most part there isn´t a problem with that.

The ward FHE´s are going well. This last Saturday the elders had a baptism, so we had that instead of FHE. Well, I think it´s about the best FHE you can have. :D We would really like to have more investigators there, so we´re working on that.

English? We need to spread the word better about English classes. It´s a little tricky because we need an adult there, but there aren´t many adults available Saturday during the day. So we end up teaching outside a lot of days. We´ll see what happens.

How many new missionaries? 16 or 17 we think. Three new sisters (Hna. Schwab is training as well).

The best thing about Hna. Hedquist so far? Her testimony, knowledge of the scriptures, and desire to learn spanish. She is a lot like me. I think I already mentioned that. It´s interesting though. I see her struggles, and see myself. I try to be understanding, while pushing her at the same time. I know when I got here there were a lot of things I wasn´t really excited about doing in Spanish, but I learned from doing it. I know it´ll be the same with her. She´s great.

Alright, more with how the work is going here.
I would say the investigators that are progressing the most, are Fernando and Fernanda Sanhueza. Fernanda told us she thinks that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. We talked to her about baptism, and she´s praying about whether or not she needs to be baptized in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. :D

We talked to Fer, her husband, as well. He is really believing as well. The problem being, Fernanda´s health! Saturday we passed by for our appointment and to see how they were doing, and Fernanda had got to get a shot. Fernando mentioned that every time they want to do something good, like go to church, the enemy of all good things, sticks his tail into things. I agreed, and said that at least he recognizes what is happening! So they didn´t go to church. :o(We went to their house yesterday, and Fernando said that Fernanda probably has to have surgery tomorrow. It turns out she´s in a lot of pain. I feel bad, and I really don´t know how to help them. We´ll see.

We had a good lesson with Patricia yesterday. Sergio had to leave so he wasn´t there. But we talked about the Plan of Salvation, and we used the BoM the whole time. She was really interested in the Fall, and so we thoroughly enjoyed it. She has a desire to learn, and so that´s wonderful. I love it.

We stopped by Carla Barria´s house last night, and her husband was there. Yay!!! We finally met him! They really didn´t have time last night, so we just sang ¨Families Can Be Together Forever¨ shared our testimonies about families, prayed, and headed on our way. But I am so grateful that we finally met her husband, and he´s a very good person. He´s a policeman, and we talked about people, and how we can help. We talked about prayer a little bit. I think it´s a good step. Slowly but surely the people are progressing.

We had a really good lesson with Ruben and Vanesa. Ruben is understanding things better right now, but Vanesa is going to progress as well. They should be reading the B of M as well. :D

I´m worried about Cecilia and Antonela. I´m not sure how to help them, or to help them recognize the importance of this message. The investigators have a lot of personal responsibility. I was reading in Alma 5: 44-45 I believe, this morning, and Alma is talking about how he came to have a testimony. It says he fasted and prayed for many days to know. A testimony doesn´t come easy. It takes effort. It also made me think how the things that are harder to earn, we value more. I think Heavenly Father wants to see us putting forth effort so we value what He gives us. So they, and all of us, need to read and pray with real intent.

Hna. Panero assures us that she is progressing with her husband. Carla Ruiz didn´t go to church again yesterday because she slept in. :o(

So this is where we´re at! We really need to find some more new investigators. Oh, the Ormeño family is progressing as well. We got there Saturday, and they still hadn´t found their scriptures. We were just with Monica, the Mom. So we told her that we weren´t going to continue without her scriptures. We were going to find them - packed away! So we went upstairs, and found them. It was wonderful. Then we read together from the Book of Mormon, and we know that she felt the Spirit. We talked to her mom, Ester, yesterday as well. She wants to go back to church as well.

Thanks so much for everything. Thanks for your support, love, and prayers. I know I am definitely receiving strength from your prayers. I have a testimony that this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We know the way to return to our Heavenly Father. We just need to stay in the path, and go forward with strength. I love you!

Love always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Mom, I loved your story about your temple clothes. It really was a miracle.
AK, I´m glad things are going well with Matt at work.
Shari and Orrin, I hope you find a house soon!

Hello everyone! How are you all doing? I actually can´t remember all your email addresses off the top of my head, so I´m hoping for this week mom and dad will just keep sending this off to everyone. Gracias!

So things here are going well. Oh, I started talking in to the digital recorder during part of my exercises this morning. Kind of fun. I think I should plan ahead better what I´m going to say so I have something fun or inspiring to say. :D

Well, I had a cold this last week, but I´m pretty well over it now. I just have a runny nose. Unfortunately, I was kind enough to give my cold to Hna. Hedquist. :o( She is doing well, but her health is giving her a hard time. Her stomach bothers her alot with all the new food. I don´t know how I got so lucky that the food never bothered me. Now she has a cold with a headache. I told her that she should sleep today, so hopefully she´ll sleep and let me clean the apartment, etc...

She´s 24, but she´s turning 25 next Monday. :D

She´s doing well with spanish. I never know how much she understands exactly but I think she understands the basic stuff. I think she understands much more than I did when I got here. She had taken a college class of spanish, but that´s it. It´s interesting because I think we´re pretty similar. I think we have pretty similar learning strategies / abilities, so I feel like I understand pretty well what she´s going through. It´s kind of tricky to speak spanish all the time when she knows I can understand english. :D But it´s much better in the long run.

Well, I glanced through my emails, and I must admit it was fun to see emails from siblings as well. Muchas gracias.

Well, the investigators... They´re doing well. We´re not getting them to go to church like we would like. We can improve a lot. We visited Sergio and Patricia yesterday with a member - Gabriela Acosta. It went well. Sergio had a lot of questions, and we talked about prayer and the scriptures. Patricia is pretty content in her religion and as for now doesn´t have intentions of changing anything, but she is reading the Book of Mormon. I have great faith in the power of the Book of Mormon, and that if she reads with real intent, that the Holy Ghost can touch her heart and help her understand. It´s going to be tricky to meet with them because of work schedules, so we´ll have to meet with them only Saturdays and Sundays I believe. And call in between. Yes, we can call investigators at night, but we only have limited minutes.

Fernanda is doing well. We had talked with Fernanda and Fernando (kind of funny that their names are so similar). They had said that they were going to go to FHE last Saturday, but didn´t come, and didn´t go on Sunday either. So we didn´t know what had happened. Then when we went there throughout the week no one was there. We didn´t know if no one really was there, or if they didn´t answer the door. So we were concerned. But Saturday we finally talked to Fernanda and we had a good lesson. We talked to her about the importance of reading the B of M and praying to know if it´s true. They didn´t go to church. :o( However, we have an appt. with all of them Tuesday. Fernando is finishing up with work Tuesday ( the fruit season is ending) so the whole family should be there. :D

Cecilia and Antonela are doing well. They had expressed their doubts about baptism, and how they need to feel more sure. We met with them Thursday I believe, we talked about the Fall of Adam and Eve, and the need for Jesus Christ. That without following Him, and receiving forgiveness through repentance, that they can´t return to live with Him and Heavenly Father.

Then, we met with them yesterday and watched ¨Finding Faith in Christ¨. We talked about the B of M and how it testifies of Jesus Christ. The purpose of prophets and the Book of Mormon, is to teach and testify of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ - the true doctrine of Jesus Christ that hasn´t been changed by men. Cecilia is reading the B of M so if they do their part, they´ll receive an answer.

I´m learning more and more everyday that the 2nd half of faith is action. We are quick to say that we believe in Jesus Christ, but it´s the 2nd part, doing what He asks us to do, that is hard. We need to act, and show our faith. We need to show that we trust Him.

Oh, I read an article in the ensign this last week called ¨The Functional Family¨from Feb. 2009 and thoroughly enjoyed it. I suggest it.

Oh, another story. Remember Carla, a former investigator, that reminds me of Becky Stubbs (Houston) ??? Well, we had passed by one day, and she told us that she had some family problems, and that she wasn´t ready to start going to a church. We could tell that something had happened recently if not that day, and that she was upset, but we couldn´t do much more. So we gave her her space. I must admit, that it pretty much broke my heart that day. So last night we were in her neighborhood, and we decided to pass by. She let us in, and it went well. We talked about trials, family, and how Jesus Christ can help. He´s really the only one that can help with everything. We asked if she would like us to come by again, and she said for us to pass by another day. :D A tender mercy. She and her family are prepared for the Gospel. We just need to help them realize it.

We need to find new investigators as well. It´ll be good. I believe we´re going to start trying in another neighborhood here pretty quick.

It´s definitely cooling down here. Fall is here! Yay!

So last Monday Hna. Hedquist and I played soccer with Elder Argueta and Elder Jensen. I thoroughly enoyed it. Good times. I saw that there was a hole in the grass so I put my sweater over it. Unfortunately, I wasn´t paying attention for a second, and stepped in the hole! My ankle bothered me for like a day and a half, but it´s as good as new now. :D So I pretty much have banned myself from playing much soccer for the rest of the mission. What can I say?

We had zone conference on Wednesday. Very good.

Well, the church is true. Thanks for everything. I love learning and studying the Gospel. It´s amazing how you can never finish learning. We as a mission have been studying revelation this past week, and I´m thoroughly enjoying it. Always fun.

Thanks for everything. I love you all. Choose the right. Be of good cheer. Make it a good day.

Love always and forever,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hna. Hedquist´s address:
1574 South 2650
West Syracuse, UT 84075

Phone:801 773 7585

Hola! Happy Easter! 04.13.2009 (Email)

Hola! How are you all doing? I´m doing well here in Allen. And so is my companion. :D So I made it to Neuquen just fine Wednesday morning, and we had a meeting first with just all of the new trainers. The newly-arrived missionaries were out getting paper work done. It was a really good meeting. Pres. Cook talked about the responsibility that we have as trainers to teach them how the mission should be. He talked about all the prayers that have been offered by the parents of the new missionaries, that their child would have a good trainer. It really made me think about the responsibility, and I pray that I´ll be able to teach and help her in a way that would be pleasing to Heavenly Father and to Jesus Christ.

So then we had a meeting where they announced who was companions with who. My companion is Hna. Hedquist, from Syracuse Utah. She is the oldest of six kids. She graduated in elementary education, and taught 4th grade for two years. And now she´s here in Argentina with me!

I feel very lucky to be her companion. She has a strong testimony, a strong desire to learn spanish, and a strong desire to find people and teach them the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

As I see her, and listen to her, I seem to see and hear myself eight months ago. I had forgotten a little bit of the ¨shock¨that I had as I got here to Argentina. It really is a different way of life here. Think of the new missionary life, a new culture with different food, a new compaion, and especially a new language, and there are some good adjustments to be made in the first little while. But, she´s doing great, and I have no doubt that she´ll be all used to it in no time. I think she already understands more spanish than I did when I got here, so that definitely helps. And we have a great ward with supportive and loving ward members. So that helps.

So things here are going well. It was weird not to be in my area for a couple days this week. But we worked when we got here. We couldn´t meet with Cecilia and Antonela the whole week because they went to Neuquen for ¨La Semana Santa¨. They don´t work here Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday - remembering the last week of Christ´s life in mortality. So anyway, we couldn´t meet with them. We were able to talk to them on the phone last night, and they have some concerns. I think it makes them nervous to make commitments, so they don´t know what to think. So we´re going to pray for them, and then pray that our next lesson goes well. I hope they recognize that they need the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives.

Did I tell you about Fernanda? We had taught Fernanda and her four daughters. Well, Yennifer is her step-daughter. We went to her house on Friday, and since her husband wasn´t working, he was there too! We talked a little bit about prophets, and then watched ¨The Restoration¨. The Spirit was definitely there. We stopped by on Saturday and invited them to FHE that night and church again, but they weren´t able to make it to either of them. :o( We pray that they´ll pray, and read the Book of Mormon.

It really is hard for people to start going to church. It´s an adjustment. But it´s so important! I was reading about faith this morning in James 1-3 and faith and works really do go together. It´s not enough to just say that you believe and trust in Jesus Christ. You have to act. It goes for me as well. I recognize that there are a lot of things I can, and need to change -act- in order to be a better missionary.

Do you remember Patricia and Sergio from a while back? We met them when I was with Hna. Wilches. We taught The Restoration, and then stopped by another day with a member. The next time we stopped by they said they weren´t ready to make any changes, and that if they wanted anything, they´d go to church. So anyway, the other day we were in their neighborhood, and the thought came to my mind that we should pass by. But I thought to myself, ¨No, they don´t have any more interest¨. But the thought came again, so we went to their house. It was interesting, because Sergio´s mom had passed away a couple of days before, so we talked a little bit about the life after death. And they said we could pass by again. :D So we stopped by yesterday, and Patricia was the only one there. She said that she has been reading the Book of Mormon and the Bible - comparing them. She had some really good questions, and said that we can go back this week. :D It has been a miracle so far.

So Lisa and Jordan, I got the Digital Recorder that you sent! Gracias! It was fun to hear from all of you and to hear your voices. Now Hna. Hedquist knows you a little bit as well. I finished listening to it this morning. I´ll start talking on it sometime today I think.

So something interesting happened as I was in the meeting with all the new missionaries. President Cook said that we can write to our brothers and sisters through email, and that they can write us. Brothers and sisters, and parents. Nobody else. I was a little surprised. So if my brother and sisters prefer, they can email now, instead of write letters. :D I guess it was a little trial of our faith before. :o)

Can I have Uncle Richard and Aunt Becky´s home address? Thanks.

I could hardly believe how much Nyah and Hallie are talking now days when I heard the ¨tape¨. Smart little girls. I´m glad that you´re all doing so well.

Well, I have a testimony that this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I was so grateful yesterday to be able to reflect on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He really did suffer for each one of us - individually. He knows exactly how we feel. He suffered and died on the cross, and then He was resurrected the third day. I know that He lives, and that He guides us. He is always at our side, ready to help us. Every minute of every day. We just have to knock on the door and ask. How blessed we are!

I love you all. You´re always in my prayers. Thanks for your love and your prayers in my behalf. I always appreciate it. I love you!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hola! :D 04.06.2009 (Email)

My Family,

Hi! How are you doing? I´m doing well here. First off, Mom and Dad, Happy Anniversary! Sorry for not writing the week before. I totally spaced it. But I was definitely thinking of you on Saturday. Thirty Five Years! Pretty amazing. It´s a pretty good goal for all of us kids to have - to reach 35 years. :D

I´m actually in another city, Villa Regina, with Hna. Diaz, while we wait for our companions to arrive. I got a little bit of a surprise this week when they told me who my new companion will be. I am going to the mission home Wednesday morning to meet my new companion, when she gets here, because I´m going to train. So I actually won´t know who she is until Wednesday, so I´ll be sure to write and tell you all about it next Monday.

I must admit, I´m feeling a little inadequate and nervous to train. I feel like I just got here! However, I know that callings come from the Lord, and that if He wants me to train, I´ll do it. I believe it´s Alma 26:12 that says that in the strength of the Lord, we can do all things. I´ll do the best that I can. I have been thinking a lot about my experience when I arrived to the mission, and I´m going to do all that´s possible to make it a good experience for her. More than anything, I want us to be equals. She has a calling to be a missionary just as I do. I don´t want her to feel like she can´t do, or say, or teach something because I have been in the mission a little longer. She has been being prepared for the mission her whole life. :D So anyway, I´ll keep you all updated. Keep me, and her, in your prayers, and everything will work out just fine.

How wonderful was general conference! I love conference! I was so grateful for the messages that were shared. Before conference started I made a list of the questions I have - about the mission and ways I can personally improve - and it´s amazing how many of my questions were answered.

I really enjoyed the talk by Elder Kevin W. Pearson of the seventy. It was all about faith. I especially thought it was interesting to learn about the ¨6 destructive D´s¨: Doubt, Discouragement, Distraction, lack of Diligence, Disobedience, and Disbelief. It´s the truth! I definitely recognize ways that I can increase my faith.

Something fun about Argentina is going to conference with all the ward members on Sunday. We all climbed into a bus and headed on our way. Then after the morning session ( from 1 - 3 pm here) we all go outside, and eat. Everyone brings something, and we all just eat everyone´s food. It´s fun. Me gusta. :D

After conference Hna. Wilches, and Hna. Jacob, stopped by Allen and then they went straight to the mission home because they had interviews early in the morning. I headed here to Villa Regina with Hna. Diaz after the conference. Hna. Diaz is the same one that is in a couple of the pictures that I sent home.

There was a little bit of confusion with the keys to my apartment and everything... how I´m going to get them back, but Hna. Wilches took them to the mission home and she´s going to leave them there, and I´ll get them Wednesday morning. So I´ll be here until about 5:30 Wednesday morning when I catch the bus to Neuquen because I have no way to get into my apartment! Probably a lack of good planning on my part. Live and learn I guess. I´m just worried about not seeing the investigators for so long.

Hna. Panero and Carla Ruiz are still progressing. They need to get married! Carla hadn´t been to church in a while, but she finally made it back yesterday as she went to conference. I think she enjoyed the experience. They need to put their faith into action. They know what they need to do. They just need to do it! One step at a time.

Cecilia´s baptismal date fell through because she didn´t go to church yesterday. She had to work. She needs to go to church four times in a row, and she now has less than four Sundays to attend. But we´re going to keep working with her. We´ll set another baptismal date.

This last week we were tracting and we found a lady with her four kids. We just talked a little bit, and set another appointment. We went back to our appointment, and she and her four daughters were anxiously awaiting! It was so good to see. Fernanda is 32 I believe, she has a step-daughter, Yennifer, and three other daughters: Ximena, Veronica, and Vanesa. They´re adorable. Fernanda´s husband had talked with Elders a while back. He was working when we taught, but we´re praying that we´ll be able to teach him as well.

We also met another family, that we taught on Monday night. We had met the wife in her house, but when we went to teach, her husband and kids were all there as well. It went well. It felt a little bit like a dream. The husband and wife, and four kids all there, listening intently. :D It doesn´t happen near enough! It went pretty well. They have some doubts about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, but they just need to pray with sincere hearts and they can know for themselves that it´s true. We went to their house Sunday morning to invite them to conference, but they didn´t make it. :o(

I´m grateful for the time I had with Hna. Wilches. She is a great missionary. She definitely worked hard until the end. I pray that all goes well for her as she returns home to Colombia. She gets to go to the temple in Buenos Aires! And afterwards in Colombia as well. The temple is definitely one thing that I miss. I hope you´re all going extra times for me. :o)

It sounds like you´re all doing well at home. I hope you all enjoyed conference as well. It really is the guide and help that we need. How blessed we are to have a living prophet. If people would just listen with open hearts, they would know.

If anyone wants to write tips about being a trainer, I´d be happy to hear them. And you don´t have to have been a missionary or a trainer to give me advice! I´m new at this thing.

I hope things really are going well. Know that you´re in my prayers. Life isn´t always easy, but we definitely are always learning. Have faith and hope, and remember that I love you!

Love always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock