Hola! 10.12.2009 (Email)

Mi Familia,

Hola! ¿Cómo andan? Espero que estén bien. Todo está bien acá.

Well, this week passed by really fast. I´m not sure why, but it just flew right by. Lets see, where to start...

We went bowling last Monday for preparation day. That was kind of fun. Bowling wasn´t available in Plottier or Allen, but that was actually the second time that I´ve been here in Bariloche. Good times.

Last Monday we had tried to go to a contacts house, but wasn´t there. As we passed by a house, that we had previously knocked at but not entered, we decided to clap and see if she was there. She came right out and invited us in. So we taught Andrea, her friend Marta, and her daughter Catalina. We had a good lesson. They were headed out of town, so we haven´t been able to teach them again yet, but it went well. I love teaching the Restoration.

Eduardo, Maríahelem, Nelida, and Mario are doing well. They hadn´t gone to church for THREE weeks, so Saturday we really chatted with them about their concerns, what was happening, etc... and it turned out not to be anything so serious. It was just that they are tired in the mornings, and it´s hard to get them all out of the door on time. So we then explained that they need to make a plan the night before - what time they´ll wake up, how they´ll get the little girls ready, etc... - and that they all need to help. So we made a plan together. Sunday morning when we got to church the Bishop informed us that they had already gotten there. :D Yay!

One dilemma I have had in the mission, is trying to decide whether or not investigators should take the sacrament before being baptized. It turns out that everyone has different opinions. So we´re working on it....

Pablo continues to do well. We are going to have FHE with the whole family tomorrow night. Oh, something interesting. There´s a member named Viviana here that has been very active in missionary work. It turns out that a while back she helped the sister missionaries when they were teaching Pablo´s kids. I told you two of his kids are members right? Anyway, we didn´t know that Viviana had helped with them. Anyway, we were visiting Viviana the other day and we mentioned Pablo and his amazing story. When she realized who it was, she was about in tears. When they had gone before, she said Pablo wanted nothing to do with the church. He really has had a change of heart. It´s true. Some missionaries plant the seed, and others harvest. I know that´s how it is, but sometimes it´s nice to harvest. :o)

Nico and Jovita are doing well. We´ve been teaching ¨The Gospel of Jesus Christ¨for a long time now. They always have lots of questions. For example, we spent an entire lesson the other day explaining that there is one true church, and that this one true church has God´s Priesthood Authority to act in His name and perform ordinances. The world does NOT teach that there is one true church of Jesus Christ. Good lesson though. A necessary lesson.

We had zone conference on Friday and it was so great. Hna. Hedquist and Hna. Kenney came to our apt. Thursday night and had a sleepover. It was very fun to see Hna. Hedquist again. She has progressed a lot in the last two and a half transfers. I´m proud of her.

Hna. Porter, Hna. Kenney and I sang ¨We´ll Bring the World His Truth¨while Hna. Hedquist played the piano in zone conference. It went well. I wasn´t so sure I wanted to sing in front of everyone, but Hna. Porter was pretty sure I should :D so I did it. It went just fine.

Funny things... I´m very much looking forward to a lavaropa (washer???) to wash my clothes after the mission. I was thinking about it in the morning. I usually just wash my garments by hand, but we have a semi-automatic washer in our apt. So they swish around, but then I have to take my clothes out, rinse them, and hang them up to dry. Then I drain the water out of the washer. Not so complicated really, but more complicated than the process back home!

The joke with Hna. Porter and I now days is that we don´t speak spanish or english really fluently. jaja I had my interview with Pres. Peterson the other day in english and I felt kind of funny. It´s great.

Oh, I keep meaning to say. The garbage man here. Our garbage cans are just little baskets out in the street. But they´re on top of a little pole so the dogs can´t get in the trash. So anyway, everyway the garbage man comes. But there is a garbage truck, and there are two men/boys that ride on back. They have to run to all the little baskets, grab the garbage sacks, and throw them in. At every house! So it´s quite the process, and I´m pretty sure I wouldn´t like to be a garbage man here. They are running the entire time they are at work!

Today in Argentina is ¨el día de la raza¨. I´m not so sure really what it means or what we´re celebrating, but a lot of people don´t have to work.

Well, I think that´s about it for today. I read in PMG this morning in Chapter 3 - lesson 1 ( The Restoration) specifically about the Restoration.Then I read a good part of Joseph Smith - History. I am so grateful for Joseph Smith, and what he did. He truly is one of my heroes. I know that he was a true prophet of God, called and chosen to bring back the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I love you all. I love Heavenly Father, and I love my older brother, Jesus Christ.

Con Amor,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock