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