Hola! 08.03.2009 (Email)

Hola mi familia! How are you all doing? I hope that you´re all doing wonderful. First off, Shari and Orrin, congrats on buying a house! I forgot to write that last week, but I´m very excited for you. You´ll have to send pictures. :D And Lisa, congrats on getting a job in the NICU! Small world that Elder Shelman´s mom is the one who hired you. Fun.

Well, good news! We have two baptismal dates! Yay! Ester and Belen. They are Eduardo´s sisters. We actually met Belen first and she has gone to church one time. We just started teaching Ester like a week and a half ago, but she´s progressing really well. She is already in like 1 Nephi 19, and she´s totally understanding everything that she reads. It makes me very happy.

Also, last Sunday, we had a lesson with Ester and Mariahelem. We talked about the importance of praying to know if the things we are true. Specifically to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet and if this is the true church of Jesus Christ. So the next lesson, we asked what happened. They both said that they felt at peace, and that they should continue learning. :D Those are the best moments of the mission.

Last night we talked about Belen too, to ask if she had prayed. She also said she felt good about it, and Ester shared more about her experience. She said that after praying that night, she woke up more excited to work and do what she needed to do. She just felt really good! I´m so happy for them and that they´re praying to know for themselves if everything is true. We set baptismal dates for September 12th, and we´re going to talk tonight about what they need to know and do to prepare themselves, and to be 100% sure that they´re ready to make the commitment. Yay!

I talked a little bit about Mariana last week I believe. She turned 16 yesterday. Anyway, she lived with her aunt, Hna. Medina, about six or seven months ago, and started going to church. She is very invovled with the youth, in all of their activities. Even though she doesn´t live with her aunt anymore, she continues going to church. Oh, her uncle who lives in another ward, is the stake president here. Anyway, we had our first lesson with her this last week. We had it with the young women´s president in the church, Mariana, and Mariana´s little brother, Thomas. It went super well. We talked about the Restoration, and she basically already new all the answers. Oh, have I mentioned she doesn´t live in our area? So this is the tricky part. But anyway, yesterday in church, during fast and testimony meeting, she got up and bore her testimony that she knows that this is the true church, and that she knews that Joseph Smith was a true prophet. Amazing. Then her aunt got up and bore her testimony after her, and said that she hopes the next time Mariana shares her testimony, that it´s after her baptism. Yay! So now it´s talking to her, making sure she´s positive, and setting a baptismal date.

We had already gotten permission from the Bishop, but last night we called Presidente Peterson to make sure it´s okay that we teach Mariana. He said it´s okay, so now we just need to make sure it´s okay with her parents, her aunt, etc... But anyway, yesterday was a good day in church. She brought her little brother to church as well. :D

So here´s an interesting story... a while back we did a contact with a lady, and she informed us that she´s a member of the church. But she has been in-active for a long time. Hna. Porter and I hadn´t gone, but the other night as we were planning, she came to the mind. So we decided to go visit her the next morning.

We got to her house, and she immediately invited us in, and informed us that Heavenly Father had sent us to her house, because she had been very upset that morning. They were having family problems. It was amazing, because that morning Hna. Porter and I had studied about marriage and family relationships because we were planning for Eduardo and Mariahelem, so we could share just what she needed to hear.

Only two of her kids are still at home, but they haven´t really learned about the church. We´re eager to go back and teach some more. That experience has strengthened my testimony of the importance of planning with the Spirit. I think the Spirit helped us in planning before the family problems had even begun. But Heavenly Father knew that she would need help the next morning. Amazing.

Another good story. The other day we were walking, and our appt. failed I believe. And a less-active memer came to mind. I couldn´t even remember her name, or exactly where she lives, but we decided to find the house. So we found the house basically without problems, and she immediately invited us in. She expressed to us how she was having doubts, about the church, Joseph Smith, etc... And we got there when she needed some help.

This experience as well just made me realize how Heavenly Father is really watching over us as His children, and He knows our needs. He often uses other people to help us. I so want to live worthy to be ¨an instrument in the hands of the Lord.

So I told you all about Marcos last week. We went to teach him this last week, with another ward member, because he lives alone. It was quite the experience. We tried to talk, but we didn´t do much talking! He has A LOT to say. He is very smart, and has a lot of good things to say, but he has a hard time believing in things that he can´t scientifically prove. We asked him if he believes in God. We asked if God knows everything. We asked if he, as a person knows everything. No! It made me think of the scripture, that to be learned is good, if we hearken unto the counsels of God. We need to be really careful not to trust in man´s wisdom or knowledge. We need to trust in God´s wisdom and knowledge.

We feel like Marcos has a lot of potential, but he needs to learn to FEEL. That´s where the conversion comes from. We need to teach him to feel, and he´ll be able to progress. We´ll see. :D

We had another interesting appointment with a man named Pepe. We also went with a lady from the ward, because he lives alone. He is also full of information, and reads a lot, but doesn´t really read the Bible as the word of God. More just like a book of information. I came about to the same conclusion as I did with Marcos. They need to read the scriptures, and trust in God´s wisdom and knowledge. Not man´s knowledge.

Well, I think I need to be going. I´m so grateful to be a missionary. Hna. Porter and I had a wonderful week. We had a week of miracles, and we have faith that we´ll continue seeing miracles. The church is true. Jesus is the Christ. Heavenly Father loves you. I love you!

Love always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock