My Family,
Hola! How are you all doing? I´m doing well here in Bariloche. :D First off, Mariana got baptized yesterday!!! Yay! It was wonderful. Did I mention that we decided to do it on Sunday? We always baptize on Saturdays, but the Bishop mentioned that he would like to do it Sunday, and that more members normally participate, so we decided to try it out.
It actually went super well. We basically let Mariana plan her own baptismal service. A priest from the ward baptized her, a friend and relative said the prayers, a Priest spoke, Hna. Porter and the YW President sang together ¨Cuando me bautice¨while I played the piano. The Bishop also spoke. And, the Stake President is her uncle so he came and spoke for a couple of minutes as well. And the best part of it is that her Mom and little brother went. Yay! I think it was a pretty emotional day for her Mom, but it was a super spiritual baptismal service. Very very fun. I love baptisms!
I´m glad you all liked hearing a little bit of the details of my Argentine life. I´ll try to include something fun and interesting every week.
Thanks for all the great letters. I love it. Shari, I´m glad you´re recovering and that Mom could be with you for so much time. And Dad, I´m glad you survived being without Mom for so long! AK, that´s a bummer about Matt, but I´m sure you did what needed to be done. Lisa, I hope that things work out in the hospital. It´ll work out like it´s supposed to. And Jami, I got your letter! Really good to hear from you. Grac! jaja
Oh, something exciting... We have stake conference here November 1st, and I hear the General RS President is coming! Yay! That should be very exciting. And a couple of others, but I´m not exactly sure who. I´ll keep you updated.
No, I wasn´t able to see the RS Broadcast. It was broadcasted here at 9:00 - time to be in our apt. It´s okay though. I can always read it in the conference issue in November.
I´m SO excited for general conference this next week. I hadn´t realized until the other day that it´s so soon. A couple of members were asking Hna. Porter and I yesterday how it is to be in the actual conference center. We assured them that it´s very amazing, and they are very envious for the opportunities we have there at home.
Well, investigators! Pablo is doing great. He makes me very happy. He accepts everything. He really has ¨hunger¨to learn. We taught him and Monica about Tithing the other day. We always expect a good amount of questions about tithing. But we taught them, asked him if he´s willing to pay tithing once he´s baptized and he simply said ¨sí¨. No problem for him! He´s excited because he gets to go back to work again today after not working for so long. Like 2 1/2 months from being so sick. But he got the clearance from his doctor the other day. Yesterday he, and two of his kids - Matius and Ana Paula - went to church with him. Yay!
Then we have Nico. He also went to church yesterday. He´s progressing little by little. We explained very clearly to him and Jovita the other day that they should be reading the Book of Mormon EVERY day if they want to know if this is the true church of Jesus Christ. So they´re reading much better now.
Ashelen went to church yesterday as well. She´s doing well. In Sunday School we were learning about the grain of mustard seed of faith, etc... and how this seed can grow. She asked them about their experiences as they have been learning about the Gospel, and it was so great to hear what they´re thinking. They have all had different experiences, but they have all felt a definite change. Missionary work is amazing.
Nelida, Ester and Belen didn´t go to church yesterday. :o( Pushing the baptismal date back... we´ll try to figure out how to get them to church.
We had a good lesson with Nelida and Mario the other day. They´re not ¨a couple¨ because Nelida doesn´t want to be, but they´re living together. We explained to them very clearly the Law of Chastity, and that they have to avoid the situation. Marriage, or separated. They both want to be baptized, so they have some decisions to make. It´s a tough situation for them, so we´re definitely praying for them.
Hna. Porter and I taught the RS lesson yesterday in church. It went well. We talked on the talk by President Monson in last conference ¨Be Your Best Self¨. It went really well. I´m a very big fan of team-teaching now days. To end the lesson we sang ¨Escrudiñar, Meditar, y Orar¨ (Search, Ponder, and Pray). I like singing with her, but I´m not sure about in front of all RS! jaja She assured me that I could do it, and so we did it. And singing with her makes me sound better. :D What I don´t do in the mission!
We tried to get together to play soccer with investigators the other day, and youth from the ward. We had a good turn out of youth, but only Nico and his little brother as investigators. But I think it still turned out well. And some of the youth invited friends who aren´t members. :D It was fun, but Argentines are so good! I had to learn the word for ¨nutmeg¨because it happened to me several times! Good times though. And Hna. Porter is a super good sport because she´s really not a huge fan of soccer because she has never really played. I think we´ll have a lesson where I teach her all the rules. :D
Oh, there´s like a soccer stadium super close to my apt. Yesterday there was a game, so there were lots of people going to watch the game. It´s quite the event. I would love to go to a game if they weren´t all on Sundays! It would be great to go to one on a Monday. Not sure if I´ll have such luck.
Oh, Hna. Hedquist is in my zone now! She and another Hermana are opening an area. So that´s very fun. Hna. Porter and I are excited to see her in a couple of weeks.
Buses... are always interesting. It makes me feel like I´m in Plottier again. No they´re good. Here you actually need to have a card to pay. If you have a card it´s cheaper. Like 1.75 every trip. If not, it´s 3 pesos every time. Anyway, Hna. Porter and I are trying to work up our guts to make a ¨declaration¨on the bus and sing or something. It would be really good, but we´re so nervous when we even think about it! But we´re going to do it. :D
Yesterday Hna. Porter and I were ¨clapping doors¨and she asked if I think there is even one house in all of Argentina that doesn´t have a dog. jaja Or less than five dogs. jaja I assured her that there aren´t THAT many dogs here! Well, I think that´s about everything. How´s ¨The Living Christ¨project going? I know you´ll be really blessed for doing it. I know that this life is all about learning. Heavenly Father knows exactly what we need in order to learn and progress - in order to become more like Him. He gives us tests to help us progress. I like to think about the Apostles, and how their faith was tried little by little, and their faith eventually became unbreakable. We can choose to learn from our experiences, and become a better person because of it.
Choose the right and remember that I love you!
Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock
Monday, September 28, 2009
Hola! :D 09.28.2009 (Email)
Monday, September 21, 2009
We're Staying Here! 09.21.2009 (Email)
Hola! How are you all doing? I hope that you´re all doing really well. Well, exciting news! We´re both staying here in Bariloche! We knew it was a possibility that we could stay here but didn´t want to get our hopes up. But sure enough. We´ll be together for another transfer. Que bueno! :D
Mariana wasn´t able to get baptized on Sunday. She was supposed to have her baptismal interview last Tuesday but couldn´t go. But, she finally talked to her Mom, and her Mom said she can do it! Yay! So it really should be this Sunday now. And I love it because we told her she could choose who she wants to speak, etc... and she chose all youth. So it should be a great baptism.
As for Nelida, Belen and Ester... they´re scheduled for Saturday / Sunday, but they didn´t go to church yesterday. So Ester has only gone two times. Hna. Porter and I feel like it would be better to wait another week and make sure they´re ready. But they don´t know that yet, so we´ll see what happens, and do our best to follow the Spirit and do what´s best for them.
Remember María Teresa and her son, Thomas? They went to church yesterday, as well as Pablo. So that was fun. Hna. Porter and I gave the lesson in Gospel Principles because the teacher was in Chile for a day or two and it went well.
Lets see, what´s something interesting that´s happening? by Lisa´s request...
Hna. Porter and I end up eating random things in our apt. because she shouldn´t eat flour. So Hna. Porter eats a large amount of cheese. She´s like a little mouse. I have been trying to cut down on my oreo in-take because I used to eat way too many oreos. :D We also drink a large amount of milk. All my latin companions thought I was so weird when they started out with me, because I love milk! But they about all converted over to my milk drinking ways.
Hna. Porter drinks a large amount of water, and so we are consequently in the bathroom a lot! Now it´s just a joke. Anytime we enter a house or the church the first thing she does is ask if she can go to the bathroom.
The mission with dogs can be interesting. We haven´t had any dramatic experiences - they´re just everywhere! But it´s kindof sad because a lot don´t have any homes. I told Hna. Porter one day that I used to look at Scotty and had decided that I could live the life of a dog. It seems pretty nice. But being here in Argentina I have changed my mind. I would not like to be an Argentine dog!
We´re getting pretty strong going up and down the stair case - often times several times a day. We can go up pretty fast now days.
Argentina is famous for eating a lot of meat. We are always eating meat. In her talk the other day Hna. Porter said that we should be careful with our meat intake. The members now tell her that they´re going to cook a delicious barbecue, invite her, and not let her eat any of the meat. Funny members.
Everytime we go to, or leave from, Nelida´s house her little girls scream ¨las hermanas!¨They´re adorable.
Hna. Porter started this thing with Nelida´s girls that she whistles in a way that sounds like birds, and then says to them, ¨where are the birds at?¨ They start looking around, above at the ceiling, and say ¨There they are!¨ So every two minutes they want one of us to make the bird noise so they can look for the birds again.
And the girls, Yoselyn and Makarena, absolutely love singing. They argue over who gets to choose the song, and they both always want to pray. They don´t like sharing our hymn books. :o)
So there are a couple of things from my daily life. I love the mission, and I love being here in Bariloche. I feel very blessed to be able to be here for at least one more transfer, and with Hna. Porter. The church is true. Jesus Christ lives, and is very aware of every detail of our lives. Read the scriptures and pray always.
Our family is eternal!
Love always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock
Hola mi familia!
I don´t remember the order...
Monday, September 14, 2009
Hola! 09.14.2009 (Email)
Hello everyone! How are you all doing? I think I should say who I get emails from so you know if they´re getting here or not. So, thanks Dad, Mom, AK, Shari, and Lisa. Very fun to hear from all of you.
Shari, I´m glad to hear that you made it out of surgery okay. Very good to hear, and I know it was an answer to all of our prayers. I love hearing about the daily life at home. Lots to do with work and other daily responsibilities. I was reading today about the Sabbath Day in Jesus the Christ, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It talks about how the Sabbath Day isn´t a blessing that afflicts or harms us in anyway. On the contrary! Heavenly Father commands us to rest, and to learn more about Him. What better thing can we ask for than a commandment to rest? As I thought about it, maybe the Sabbath day is one of my favorite commandments. :D
Anyway, the work here is going well. A couple of you mentioned transfers. Transfers are actually in a week. Hna. Porter and I hope that we´ll be together for another transfer, so we´ll see. If not, it´s because one of us needs to be in another place. But we´re going to really enjoy this week together just in case one of us leaves next week. :o)
Yesterday was another good day at church. Saturday at lunch the Bishop asked us to prepare talks ¨just in case¨. So we prepared in about 30 or 40 minutes Sunday morning. Anyway, we both ended up speaking. I spoke on enduring to the end, and Hna. Porter on the Word of Wisdom. It was her first long talk in church in Spanish so she was a little nervous, but she did great.
We had several investigators in church again this week! Yay! Mariana, Eduardo, Maríahelen, Nelida, Mario, Ester, Belen, and Nico. Very fun. I love Gospel Principles when we have lots of people in the class! And it was perfect because the lesson was on the Ancient Church of Jesus Christ, and the things that identify the true church of Jesus Christ. I´m so excited for the investigators and the progress they are making.
Mariana continues to do well. She is scheduled to be baptized on Sunday, right after church. We have always had baptisms on Saturday, but the Bishop wants to do it this way. So we´re going to try it out and see what happens. A while back Mariana asked her mom if she could be baptized, but as of yesterday, she still hadn´t told her mom she is going to be baptized, and when. She´s so nervous to talk to her mom! But she´s determined to do it this Sunday, so we´re just praying that her mom understands. Everything is a little more complicated because she doesn´t live in our area, but we have faith that everything is going to work out like it´s supposed to. It´ll all work out.
Ester and Belen are still scheduled for September 27th. Ester is good to go, but Belen is getting a little nervous. They´re nervous about the ¨enduring to the end¨part of the baptismal covenant. And they really want to be sure that they learn and understand what they´re doing. This is great, but I have decided that this is one of the hard things about being a missionary. Trying to find a balance between having prepared investigators, and waiting too long. I want them to be prepared, but they can´t understand everything. We have a whole eternity to keep learning! If they have testimonies that this is the true church of Jesus Christ, they just need to have faith and be baptized. Then the Holy Ghost will help them be strong with temptations, and they´ll be able to endure to the end.
Pablo is still doing well. He didn´t go to church yesterday and we don´t know why. We tried to call him last night but his phone was turned off. But they assured us that they´ll pick a wedding date this week. :D His ¨wife¨is doing well, but she´s VERY hesitant to accept the Book of Mormon as the word of God. We´re working on that. As for Pablo, he has a testimony.
Pablo made a comment the other day that I really liked. We were teaching the Word of Wisdom, and they accepted it without problem. Especially after all the health problems he has recently had. Anyway, he commented that he wonders, if we as missionaries who have grown up in the church, really recognize all the changes that investigators need to make. I agreed that I probably really don´t understand. But I can promise the blessings for obeying the commandments, because I have lived them throughout my life. It was good to think about.
Have I talked much about Nico? He is evangelist ??? (Evangélico) but hasn´t gone for a good while. Anyway, we have taught him and his girlfriend for a while now. Oh, they are the ones that went to the baptism with us a while back. He went to church yesterday and I think he enjoyed it. He told us the other day that he was worried about going to church because he´s afraid that the doctrine will be different. We assured him that there is different doctrine, but that he doesn´t need to be worried. If he has a question, he can ask Heavenly Father if it´s true. But he needs to read, study it out, and then pray. If he´s willing to do his part, Heavenly Father will do His. We´ll keep helping him.
We went to another neighborhood the other day for the first time. We were hesistant to go because it´s a ways away. But as we prayed, several times, we really felt like we needed to go. There´s a much longer story, but too long to recount right now. Another day. Shortly put, we had a good experience, found some good people, and we´ll see what happens with this neighborhood ( Dina Huapi) in the future. Maybe we´ll never know why we needed to go the other day.
It´s very weird to me that I still don´t feel like I know my area super well. I had Allen memorized in six weeks. Now after being here for 3 months I still have never even BEEN to several neighborhoods. There´s plenty of work to do here.
Oh, Dad, you asked if there are Elders in our ward as well. Nope, we´re the only ones.
Alright, I think that´s it. I´m so loving being in Bariloche. I love the ward, and the people. We are seeing so many miracles and blessings here. I´m so grateful for Jesus Christ, and I know that He is guiding the church, and the missionary work in the whole world. He is our Older Brother. He lived the perfect life.
And now, an invitation! Something we are doing with the members... I want to invite each and every one of you, to read again ¨The Living Christ¨. After reading it, make a photocopy of it. Then, write on the back your testimony of Jesus Christ, and give it to someone you know, who isn´t a member.
I really feel like this is important. The world needs to know that our religion is centered in Jesus Christ. They need to understand who He is. And your personal testimony of Jesus Christ, can make a different in the life of someone else.
So will you do it? I know it´ll be a blessing for you, and the person who receives your testimony. And I´ll do it too. :D I love you all. Choose the right!
Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock
Monday, September 7, 2009
Hola! 09.07.2009 (Email)
Hello everyone! How are you all doing? I am doing well. This keyboard has a couple of problems so I had to do a round about way of sending the emails. So I didnt send to gatepoc or to Aaron. But its okay, you can send the email to everyone right? And it looks like I have really bad puncuation, but what can you do?
Well, Mom and Dad, travel safe to Boise, and Shari, I hope that your surgery goes well! Im sure that it will. Prayers and the Priesthood are very powerful.
Things here are going well. First off, good news! We had several people in church yesterday! Yay! Mariana, Ester, Belen, Eduardo, Mariahelen, Pablo and his son Matius, Ashelen, and a 16 yr old boy named Facundo, who we actually met yesterday. He is a friend of a member. Church was a miracle yesterday.
Okay, more details of whats happening. Mariana is the 16 yr old who had a baptismal date for September 12th. She has been sick, so we havent been able to teach her much lately. So we had to push her baptismal date back. And we talked to the Bishop, and he wants to do the baptisms right after church on Sunday, so she will be baptized on September 20th.
Ester, Belen, and Nelida still have their baptismal dates for September 27th. (Now the 27th because it will be Sunday instead of Saturday). Nelida needs to change a couple of things, but we want to help her reach her goal to be baptized.
Ester is doing really well. She even fasted this week! She actually reminds me a lot of Hna. Riquelme. Kind of funny I know. Last night when we were with them we had them teach us the Plan of Salvation, and they did really well! It makes me happy because I feel like they are really learning. Ester has a huge fascination with learning about our souls (or spirits) and what we should do to strengthen them. I think its great.
Do you remember Cecilia and Sebastian? We had taught them a little bit at the beginning of our time here in Bariloche. Anyway, I felt bad before because I didnt feel like we had been able to really teach a good lesson about the Restoration. Or atleast everything about the Restoration. We were finally able to teach her this last week. I dont know that shes really interested in acting, or really knowing if its true, but I atleast feel at peace now that she has had a good opportunity to accept it. She felt the Spirit. And now its up to her.
We had a great zone conference this week as well. Maybe I will try to send a picture of it here in a couple of minutes. Anyway, we talked about the doctrine of Christ, and if we really understand it. So what is the doctrine of Christ? It is all over in the Book of Mormon. Its the Gospel of Jesus Christ - faith, repentance, baptism by immersion, the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and enduring to the end. If we really understand this, and that these are real requirements, our eagerness to share the Gospel would be different. We talked about the people who really understand (get it) the doctrine of Christ. We talked about Nephi, John the Baptist, President Monson, and most importantly, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. And then the real question is... Do we understand? And if so, how can we show it? It really made me think.
The time here is passing so quickly. We are already starting the 5th week of this transfer. Crazy.
Well, I think this is pretty much what is happening here. I hope that you are all doing well. The Church is true. Jesus Christ lives, as does our loving Father in Heaven. They love us, and I love them. The Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price contain the word of God. We have to hang onto them, and their teachings, with all of our might. If we do so we will find that we are happy, and we will one day find ourselves in the Celestial Kingdom. I love you all, and look forward to hearing from you again soon!
Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock