Caballos, gatos, y viento. :D 10.19.2009 (Email)

Hola! How are you all doing? As Hna. Porter and I were talking about our week, and some of the things that have happened, we decided that a great title to our emails would be ¨horses, cats, and wind¨. To explain... I keep meaning to forget, that we randomly see horses walking around in neighborhoods about everyday. They normally have a rope tied around their necks, so I suppose it means they should be tied up somewhere. :D However, they just walk around and eat the grass. Funny if you ask me.

Another crazy thing... the other day as we were in our apt. we heard a sound that sounded like a baby crying to me. We quickly realized that it wasn´t a child, but a cat! There are these two cats that suddenly live right outside our apt. that make some interesting sounds. It´s pretty entertaining... but a little odd. Maybe they´re just hungry?

And, we have a LOT of wind here in Bariloche! The people told us to expect wind in the spring, and it´s here. It´s pretty nice though. Now days I just wear a blazer, and usually a scarf instead of wearing a coat. It´s pretty nice and I like not wearing a big bulky jacket.

Running a half marathon in March huh? It sounds kind of fun. :D Hna. Porter and I have gone running a couple of times. We have been slacking recently though for various reasons... lots of wind, Hna. Porter´s back bothering her, etc... but we should be running again in no time. And it´s getting light about 6:30 too, so that´s nice. We had a member yesterday ask us if we always run. How in the world did a member see us at 6:30 in the morning you ask? jaja Sounds fun to get in ¨running shape¨again.

So, missionary work continues to go well. Something interesting about this week... we talked to Nico and Jovita again, about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have spent a lot of time on this lesson, reminding them that there´s just one true, valid baptism in the eyes of our Heavenly Father. Anyway, we talked to Nico, who has been baptized in another religion, if he believes that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. He said that he thinks so. So he wants to prepare himself to be baptized. :D He is going to need to make a lot of changes, and we haven´t taught like any of the commandments, but we´re excited for him.

Yesterday we went to the house of Nelida, etc... and Nelida told us that they were going to move! So Friday night we called to talk to Eduardo, and he said they were moving the next day! So Saturday we stopped by, and they were packing up everything into a truck. So now Eduardo, Maríahelem, Nelida and Mario live in another area. They don´t really understand why we can´t go there to teach them, but such is life. It´s sad though. Maybe they need to be taught by other missionaries to help them progress.

Ester and Belen still live in our area though, so that´s nice. Saturday we decided that we wanted to do something to really help them feel the Spirit. So we picked four songs, and a couple of scriptures that we could read and explain in-between, and we sang. Three were from primary, and the other was ¨I stand all amazed¨. We told them to really try to feel the Spirit, and I think they did. Ester and Belen know it´s all true, but they´re really having a hard time acting. Hard.

Pablo continues to do well. This last week we had FHE with his whole family, and it went really well. We taught them the Plan of Salvation with little drawings we have and it was so good. When the kids had questions, Pablo was answering their questions. :D It made me very happy. He has progressed A LOT in his knowledge of the doctrine. Afterwards we taught them the ¨cup game¨and the kids thoroughly enjoyed it. Good times. Afterwards we ate pizza and empanadas with juice - a typical argetine meal. Delicious!

Pablo went to church yesterday. The lesson was on baptism, and Hna. Azocar, the teacher, asked him when he wants to be baptized. We had talked to him the other day about it as well. Anyway, he´s set on December - about the middle. We told him he needs to talk to Heavenly Father about it, and then pick a date. He´s doing great, and I have faith that Mónica will be able to be converted as well - in her time, and in Heavenly Father´s time.

Nope, we haven´t been able to teach Andrea, Catalina, and Mirta again. They weren´t there for the appt. Another day.

Oh, something interesting... a while back we were knocking doors, and found a lady. We were in the area the other day and decided to go and see if she was there. So we went, and another lady answered the door. We asked if Carmen was there, and she responded, ¨no es aquí¨ instead of ¨no ESTÁ aquí¨so we suddenly realized that this lady is not a native spanish speaker. It turns out that she´s from Ireland, and so we started talking to her in english. Number one, I realized once again that it´s very hard to switch from one language to another in a second, and that it´s hard to preach the Gospel in english! Third, it´s different to preach in my own language. She really had no interest in listening, and I remembered that rejection hurts more when I hear it in my own native language. So it was a good learning experience. Sad for her.

I read Chapter 21 in ¨Jesus the Christ¨today and thoroughly enjoyed it. I highly recommend it.

Dad, typical travel time from one area to another? A LONG TIME! We just went to one neighborhood, Dina Haupi, once, and it was like 30 minutes in bus I believe. But not including that, I would say like one and a half hours. atleast. Maybe 2 hours. Around there. The church is like 15-20 minutes from our apt. Also, Pres. Peterson usually talks in english in interviews I believe, but in meetings and everything, always in spanish. Depends.

Mom, I´ll write about a zone conference next week. Once every transfer. Usually begin at 8:30 or 9, and end at like 5:30. But I´ll write more details next week. They´re fun.

Well, the church is true. I love learning, and I love being a missionary. Oh, several ward members left to the temple in Buenos Aires yesterday. I love temples, and know that they are really houses of the Lord. We should do everything possible in order to enter the temple, and we should go often. I am SO excited to go here in a couple of months. I love the temples. Thanks for everything. I love you!

Love always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hna. Porter cut my hair last Monday. I love having short hair! Back to my hair like it was before. :D