Hermana Jana Pincock

One More Time... (Email) 12.14.2009

2009-12-14T13:46:00.002-07:00

Hola! How are you all doing? I hope that you are all doing very well. I´m doing well as well. I have actually been in the mission home all day, but before talking about today, I think I will explain the week.

We had a great last week! We did some more divisions this week to make sure Hna. Johnson met all the progressing investigators that we had found. She met about all of them I believe, and I know they are in great hands with Hna. Johnson. And.... guess who is coming here! Hna. Hedquist! I think she´s following me... jaja

Wednesday we had a good field trip in Allen. I worked with Hna. Legrow, who actually got to Allen when I left, and Hna. Schafer worked with the other sister. It went well. I was able to see the Peñalver family (Santiago Peñalver got baptized when I was there), Irene (oh how I still love her!) And a couple of other members as well. It went well. It was definitely dejavu (sp?) but enjoyable. A little weird. I´m worried about the Peñalver family. They´re really struggling. :o(

I don´t really know why we went there. Something new I guess. Maybe it was for me to help compensate for the fact that I didn´t have a last zone conference. jaja

We were able to teach Santa and Miguel again this last week. The last time we talked to Miguel he was kind of distant, but it was really different this last week. We didn´t share much, but we read a little from the Book of Mormon in 2 Ne. 5:27. They were happy because they lived the Gospel. Anyway, they both expressed how grateful they are that we are passing by to teach them, and they love it when missionaries from our church come by because they always feel such a peace in their house. Pretty amazing huh? I´m convinced that they´re going to get baptized.

Sunday morning we stopped by Gabriela´s house to go to church with her. She´s an investigator that Hna. Schafer taught when she was in the Limay ward before. Anyway, she initially said that she couldn´t go because her husband doesn´t want her to, but we convinced her into going for at least a little bit. This week was actually Stake Conference and it started at ten. But at nine they had a special meeting for investigators and recent converts. Anyway, she loved it. She stayed for like an hour, and I know she felt the Spirit.

Did I tell you all about Jorge and Conce? We found them last week as well. Jorge has some pretty serious health problems - depression. Anyway, he went to church on Sunday! It was a little miracle. He seems to have really enjoyed it, and ward members actually gave him a health blessing afterwards. Yay!

And now my favorite story for the week... yesterday Hna. Schafer and I had been knocking doors, and we weren´t having a lot of success. So after one door and told her that I just wanted to enter a house! So we suggested we pray, and ask for guidance. In this prayer she asked Heavenly Father to guide us to a family who needs the Gospel, and we promised to teach well, and to invite them to be baptized.

We decided afterwards to walk down a street, and we saw a man walking towards us. So we talked to him. His name is Daniel, and he explained that he was headed to work, but he believes strongly in God, and told us where he lives. Well, more or less. He told us the streets close by and described his house, since his house doesn´t have a number.He also told us his wife´s name, and we decided we would pass by later.

The minute he walked off, I looked at Hna. Schafer and told her, this is the family! So even though we had another appt. pretty soon, we decided to go and find this house. We found it immediately. We introduced ourselves to Cecilia, and that her husband had sent us to her house, and she immediately let us in.

We told her how we arrived to her house, and that Heavenly Father had sent us there. He knows that she needs this message. She listened, and then told us she wanted to tell us something. She just found out this last week that a loved one has cancer, and she has really been struggling. She hasn´t been able to sleep at night because she is so worried. She has really been praying for help. We assured her that this is exactly what she needs, taught her a little bit about the plan of Salvation, and Hna. Johnson and Hna. Hedquist are going to pass by this week.

So anyway, that was a huge miracle for me. I know that Heavenly Father has been preparing this family. And I´m so grateful that Hna. Schafer and I were working last night at /:00. That we endured to the end! I think it was a trial of our faith at the beginning of the day, but then a great blessing afterwards. The Spirit is amazing, and I know that Heavenly Father is involved in every detail in our lives.

So we got to the mission office this morning at 8:30. I had the first interview with Pres. Peterson. It was a great interview. I´m very grateful that he is my mission President. He is a very amazing person. I want to write down in my journal the advice that he gave me.

So today we have basically just been relaxing and hanging out. Pretty nice if I do say so myself. :D We´ll have dinner and some meetings tonight, and then I believe we´ll be getting up bright and early to fly out of Neuquen in the morning. We are going to be in Buenos Aires for like 12 hours tomorrow. Pretty crazy huh?

I love being a missionary! I know without doubt that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. I know that He lives. I know that He loves me, and that He has plans for me. I know that we can have eternal families. We are so blessed to have the Gospel in our lives. Thank you for your continued love and support. It has made a world of difference in the mission.

So, I will see you all on Wednesday at 6:00! Please, travel safe! I will too. :o)

I love you, and the church is true!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Pincock

Christmas is Coming! 12.05.2009 (Email)

2009-12-07T11:52:00.002-07:00

Hola! ¿Cómo están? So fun to read that you´re all getting Christmas ready at home. So fun. I love Christmas. To tell the truth, I´m actually very excited to have a good old, U.S. (LDS) Christmas. I´m definitely getting forward to the music as well. I love the music! :D

I actually don´t know if I´ll be able to write next week or not. I´m guessing that I´ll be able to, but I´m not sure. But, I´ll for sure be talking to you all on Wednesday next week. :o) I´ll be there with bells on my toes as well. :D

Aaron, I´m going to try to get my hands on some good Argentine recipes. The food is delicious!

Well, the work here is going well. We had another really good week. We´re working really hard and it feels great. I broke my personal record for the number of contacts during this last week. Yay!

We did some divisions this last week as well so Hna. Johnson can get to know some of the investigators. It went really well. It´s fun to work with different missionaries. Everyone has their own style. I remember when I first got to the mission, and my style always changed with my companion. When I was with Hna. Celis, I taught like Hna. Celis. And when I was with Hna. Riquelme, I taught like Hna. Riquelme. Now I finally feel like I have my own style. The way I teach changes, but I like it. I love teaching. It´s one thing I´m really going to miss... to go from teaching several lessons every day, to teaching... I don´t know when or where... but it´s okay. Can I teach FHE every once in a while? I´ll try to prepare good lessons. :D

We were able to find new investigators this week as well. It´s really a miracle to find all the people who are willing to listen. I have decided again recently, that there is a great need for sister missionaries in the world. I really think that sister missionaries can get in some houses that Elders can´t enter in so easily. Both sisters and Elders I think are very important.

I´m really impressed with Hna. Schafer, Hna. Johnson, and Hna. Passas. They are super hard workers, and really good things are passing here. It´s exciting to see.

Marianela continues to progress. We taught her the plan of salvation the other day and she really liked it.

We did have a mini FHE with Verónica and her family the other day. Making ¨waffles¨ ( that are really pancakes) took longer than we thought. However, we were able to share with the whole family. Verónica and her 3 kids, and her sister, Lorena. And then we also met her brother and sister-in-law. Successful I think. We need to set another appt. now.

Oh, we had another lesson with Santa, the investigator from the DR. We had set the appt. but got there with a member, to find that they were celebrating her daughter´s birthday! However, we were still able to share a little bit with them. So we met her husband and friend, and talked about the importance of families, and that the Gospel strengthens families. I was impressed that Santa was totally willing to let us ¨crash¨ the birthday party, and still talk to all of them. She´s great. I feel like she has a great need to go to church.

We also found a man named Juan this week. As we went to the first appt. he had a ton of questions for us. He wanted to know how our church got started. What a great question, since we almost always start out by explaining the Restoration! Anyway, it was a really neat lesson. He has a lot of knowledge about history, and so we understand a lot. Usually, we spend a good amount of time explaining prophets, what an apostasy is, the fact that Jesus Christ organized a church, with apostles and the Priesthood, and the fact that we actually need a church, and to belong to a church through baptism. Anyway, he already understood the basics, so it was really fun to teach. He went to church yesterday, so that´s great. I hope he progresses.

Oh, Hna. Schafer and I are going on a field trip to Allen this week! We´re just going to be there on Wednesday I believe, but it should be fun. We don´t know a lot of details. The assistants just called and let us know that we´re going. Road trip! jaja

I have started writing down things that I have learned on the mission. I have had a lot of learning to do. How grateful I am that we have this life to learn and progress. I have often thought that the mission is like a mini ¨life on earth¨. I´ll tell you about more of my conclusions later on, but it really makes me think.

I love the mission. I love that I get to teach people about Jesus Christ, our Heavenly Father, The Plan of Salvation, and the the Gospel of Jesus Christ every day. I have no doubt that I was supposed to come here on the mission. Even though I had a hard time deciding whether or not to come, I am so grateful I came. I definitely don´t regret coming (Shari, you were right!)

I really don´t know where to start or end as I think about the mission. I hope that I´m a better person than I was when I left, and that I have been able to help others come unto Christ. I love the missionary´s objective: ¨Invitar a las personas a venir a Cristo a fin de que reciban el evangelio restaurado, mediante la fe en Jesucristo y Su Expiación, el arrepentimiento, el bautismo, el don del Espíritu Santo, y el perserverar hasta el fin¨.

In English more or less: Invite others to come unto Christ through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end¨.

I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. I know that Jesus Christ lives, and that as we follow His example, we become more like Him. We become better instruments in Heavenly Father´s hands. I love temples. Mom, I´m excited for your talk this next week. I feel like the temple helped me so much. I became much closer to my Heavenly Father through baptisms for the dead. And Jesus Christ. We are doing something for others that they can´t do for themselves. It´s like Jesus Christ. He suffered for us, because we couldn´t do it on our own. I am convinced that when every young adult, or member, is determined to be temple worthy, every day, their lives change. Our priorities change. Temple worship makes all the difference.

I love you all so much. I´m excited to see you all. Take care of yourselves. If I can´t write next week, remember to travel safe to Idaho. See you there! I love you!

Con Amor,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hola! and Happy Thanksgiving! 11.30.2009 (Email)

2009-11-30T12:17:00.002-07:00

Hello everyone! How are you all doing? It was good to hear from home as always. :D But Aaron, I must say, it was SO GOOD to hear from you!

Well, the week went by really fast this week. We were very blessed this week in finding new investigators. I think it was a little miracle really. We are actually in a section of the area where the sisters haven´t worked in some time because it´s farther away from the apt. However, I think there are a lot of people prepared there. Yay!

First thing interesting, we have an investigator from the Dominican Republic! Her name is Santa. Who would have thought right? We found her house earlier in the week, and taught her the message of the Restoration yesterday. Very enjoyable. She has been here in Argentina for like 9 years, but I was very excited to tell her that my sister lived in her country! A great lady, and she´s even married. :D

We also found an investigator named Marianela. We actually found her the week before, but we were able to teach her brother and mom this week as well. Marianela has two kids, 12 and 14 years old. Anyway, it went super well. Marianela´s dad passed away a long time ago, and they all seem to have some questions about that. It actually makes me sad, because the mom really believes that she´ll never see her husband again. And if she does see him again, she doesn´t believe that it´s possible that he´ll be her husband, or her kids father. Sad huh? But we´re teaching her.

We also found a lady named Veronica. She has three kids. Like 5 years ago she was baptized, but none of her kids were. We have an FHE planned with them tomorrow. We´re going to make them pancakes/waffles and watch a church movie with them. We´re excited about that.

Lots of blessings this week. We´re really receiving lots of blessings for doing lots of contacts every week. Yay!

Lets see, some funny things... Hna. Johnson and Hna. Schafer are constantly paranoid that they have lice. They don´t, but they always want that they check them for lice. So far so good. :D

Hna. Johnson, Hna. Schafer and I generally by things with a little less fat: low fat milk, light cheese, etc... and Hna. Passas is completely amazed. She thinks we´re crazy. She wants everything with all the fat possible. haha.

I´m eating my fair share of ¨alfajores¨. They´re like ding dongs, but different. I figure I have to take advantage of them while they are available.

We north americans are realizing that we like things that we didn´t eat much of before. For example, jam on crackers. They´re basically salt crackers. Or this cheese, that is like sour cream, on crackers.

The houses here are really different. Maybe it´s because we´re more in the central part. I don´t know. But I think they´re nicer than in Bariloche. And they about ALL have fences, with locks. Well, lots in Bariloche as well. Okay, maybe in all of Argentina. I should take more pictures so you can see more of what Argentina is like. And I don´t want to forget.

Okay, back to the ward. The ward here is really great. There are lots of return missionaries, and it actually makes a big difference in the ward. Elders and sisters. The Bishop here is really young as well. He and his wife served the mission in Chile. They got back like 5 years ago. They have two young kids. She´s actually from Uruguay. Anyway, we had lunch with them the other day it was really fun. A really good, young couple... with a lot of responsibility.

Dad, I think it would be neat to have you release me. Sounds good. :D

Today we are going to go bowling again. We´re going to meet up with other sisters here in the area, and I believe I´ll actually see Hna. Schwab, so that should be fun. Kind of ironic that we are all here in Neuquen.

I am almost finishing ¨Jesus the Christ¨. I love that book so much. I learn SO much when I´m reading it.

Well, I think I´m going to head out now. Thanks for everything. I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. I´m so grateful for the simple truths that we take advantage of: we lived with Heavenly Father before we were born, Jesus Christ really is the Savior of the world, this life is a test, Jesus Christ is the Creator of the world, and the heavens are open. We have a prophet today, Thomas S. Monson, who continues receiving guidance, to guide the true church of Jesus Christ. How important it is to share our knowledge with our brothers and sisters in the world. I love you!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

I forgot! On Thursday we got together with Elder and Hna. Graves (the mission couple) as well as two elders, and two members, and had thanksgiving. Can I just say that it was SO DELICIOUS! Real North American, Thanksgiving food. I didn´t realize how much I missed it until I ate it again. Very fun. And I´m happy that Hna. Passas could experience a real ¨Thanksgiving¨. So so fun. Oh how I love our traditions! And very fun to reflect on what I´m grateful for.

I love you!

Con Mucho Amor,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

It's Warm in Neuquen! 11.23.2009 (Email)

2009-11-23T11:17:00.002-07:00

Hola mi familia! How are you all doing? Well, first things first... Dad, Happy Birthday! I have been thinking about you today, and I hope you have a fantastic day. Birthdays are good, aren´t they? Funny thing, there´s an hermano in Bariloche who was actually born the exact same day as you. The same year and everything. We jokingly said that maybe you´re twins. :D

Mom and Dad, thanks for the letter and pictures. So fun!

Well, transfer news! I spent Tuesday and Wednesday trying to get one last appt. in with investigators and members. It was good, but sad as well. Man how I loved my time in Bariloche. There are a lot of amazing people there. It was good to reflect on all the good things that happened there. Very enjoyable - stressful at times as well - but very good.

Wednesday night Hna. Makelani and I left together to Neuquen. She had to go to Neuquen as well to get her new companion. So I found out a while back that there are actually two sisters already serving in the Limay ward here in Neuquen, it´s just that there are four of us now! So when Hna. Makelani got here to Neuquen Thursday at 5:00 (yes, 5 :D) we went straight to the sister´s apt. A few hours later Hna. Schafer got here as well.

So, there are four of us living in our apt! Hna.Schafer and I, as well as Hna. Johnson from California, and Hna. Passas, who is from Santa fe, Argentina. They´re all really great. Hna. Johnson is actually a speech pathologist. She already got her degree and everything. Anyway, that´s just a side note. So it´s basically a party at night in the morning when we´re all together. ;o)

We weren´t really sure how to do it... split the area up or what. Because we have never shared an area before! But we decided to split it up, and then we´ll basically have divisions once a week or so, so they can get to know our investigators that we´re finding in our area. I think Hna. Johnson will be the only one that will stay here after this transfer, because Hna. Passas will be finishing six months here. Anyway, we´ll see how it goes. Hna. Schafer and I are basically working from scratch. There´s one investigator in our ¨area¨ but it´s going well.

Oh, Hna. Schafer was here before, so she remembers pretty well the streets. So it´s working out just fine.

It has been good to be with Hna. Schafer again. It´s fun to see the progress we have made since the MTC - especially with the language and teaching. I´m grateful for all the improvement we have both made. It´s true - progress is often sure but slow. But it happens.

Here´s a tender mercy... we ran into Hna. Makelani and her new companion on Thursday here in Neuquén. She was born in Mexico, but has been living in Las Vegas for like 14 years. But she speaks perfect spanish! So I feel good about the transfer - a little more at peace about leaving Bariloche.

Oh, and it´s warm here! I´m about in shock to tell you the truth. The first day I got here from Bariloche I thought, no, it can´t be! I´m walking around with a short sleeve shirt! It has been a while. It´s really beautiful here in Neuquén. No mountains, but very pretty. I had forgotten. :D

Happy Thanksgiving on Thursday! We are actually going to get together with the missionary couple and have a Thanksgiving lunch on Thursday since they´re here in the office in Neuquén. It should be fun.

So, I wrote last week asking about flight plans, because I really didn´t know how it all works. Then on Tuesday I was talking with an Elder who used to be serving in the office, and he said that they write to the families, telling you not to tell us about the flight plans. Oops! So I feel a little guilty now, but what can you do. I didn´t know!

So here´s a good story for you all... when I heard about transfers, and that I would be leaving Bariloche with just part of a transfer left, I wondered a little bit about how it would be. I had thought I would finish in Bariloche, so was a little sad. But thought it must be for the best. When I thought about this change, I realized that I might not have a final zone conference because of the mid-transfer change. So when I got here to Neuquén it came up with the other Hna´s, and sure enough, they already had their zone conference here. Neuquén is always like the first place, and then they move south.

So to tell the truth, I felt kind of bad that I wouldn´t have a final zone conference, but decided to not think about it. Then Saturday morning Pres. Peterson called, and he talked to Hna. Johnson and Hna. Passas, and then I talked to him. He asked me how I was doing, how I was doing with the transfer at this point, and to apologize, because he realized that I was the only missionary who wouldn´t have a final zone conference. He feels really bad about it. But I assured him that it´s just fine. I´m just fine. I had lots of other ones! But he assured me that this is where Heavenly Father wants me to be. So anyway, I really appreciated his phone call. I appreciate that he cared enough to call, and see how I was doing. I´m grateful for the Spirit who prompts people, to know how to help others. The church is true!

So last night we were able to go to a fireside that was by Elder Bednar and his wife, and Steven Snow and his wife. It was for all the members in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. It was very interesting. Really good. They did a question - answer session, for two hours! Elder Bednar got up first, explained what would happen, and they even put a phone number up on the screen so people from all over Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay could participate. It was pretty amazing. He talked a lot about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for the Atonment of Jesus Christ. He emphasized a lot the strengthening - uplifting power of the Atonement. I think I almost always think of the Atonement as a way to be cleansed from sin, but forget that there is a great strengthening power available through the Atonement as well.

He said that as members of the church we often say that it´s hard to live the Gospel. He said that it´s hard to live the Gospel if we try to do it alone. But we don´t have to do it alone! Jesus Christ is here to help us, and lift us through our trials.

Well, I had better be going. Thanks for everything. I love you all very much!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

P.S. I hope you´re all practicing your spanish! :D

Hola! 11.16.2009 (Email)

2009-11-16T12:07:00.002-07:00

My Family,

Hello! How are you all doing? I hope that you are all doing really well. Sorry I am sending the emails to different addresses, and not to Aaron. The computer is having small issues, and I am having to copy your addresses and paste them in from your last emails you sent me. So anyway... sorry about that.

Well, we have had a good week! We have worked hard, and it feels really good. My favorite part of the week is... we did a lot of contacts! I always struggle doing lots of contacts. But, we decided that we were going to do it. The mission goal is 154 per week, and we did 156! Yay! So that was exciting.

We also had some good lessons with members this week. There is a member named Melisa Ganga in our ward. She is 21. Anyway, she is serving in YW, and we asked her to help us out with a few girls we are teaching - investigators or less-active members. So we went and invited Karen Ñancufil and her family. Their less-active. We invited her and her friend, Daiana. They seemed excited, and they went to the YW activity on Saturday! And something else interesting... we had knocked Daianas door the other day, and we talked with her Dad. He really didnt have much interest in listening, but was nice enough. Anyway, he drove Daiana and Karen to the activity Saturday, and we were able to give him a little tour of the church. It went well, and I think he has a little better idea of the church now. :D Hopefully Daiana will be able to keep participating.

Yesterday Mariahelem, Eduardo, Angelica and her daughter Pamela, and Pablo went to church. Pretty good, but we should have a lot more there. Slowly but surely.

Pablo needs a wedding date!!! Im pretty ready for him to get baptized. Hes so ready! The mission definitely teaches patience. ;)

Mariahelem and Eduardo are thinking that maybe they want to get married, so thats good. A good step.

We went with Melisa Ganga to invite two of Angelicas daughters as well. Antonela is 15, and Yamila is 13. I think if we can get their daughters involved the family will progress faster. It should be good.

Were working on deciding who is progressing and who really has serious intentions, and spending time with them. Those who arent progressing... we have to let go. Its so hard for me to stop visiting people because I have so much hope that it will click for them. But my job is to find and teach those who are prepared. Maybe their time is in the future.

Oh, we had a great lesson with Carlos and Ashelen the other day. Carlos always says that he's looking for the true church of Jesus Christ. We talked to them again about the church of Jesus Christ - that He orgainzed in His earthly life. We talked about authority, etc... We got him thinking. He agreed that we need a prophet today, but he doesnt know who it is. We explained the importance of the Book of Mormon, and that its the only way that he can know if this is the true church of Jesus Christ, and to know if Joseph Smith was a true prophet. He admitted that in the past when he saw the Book of Mormon, he had already decided that its bad. But he promised us that he will read it with an open heart, really wanting to know if its true. :D Im so excited for him. Thats a huge step for him. We saw him later that night as he was walking to work and he had his Book of Mormon with him that he would read during the night at work. :o)

I'm excited about Ashelen as well. She is reading more in the Book of Mormon. We asked them at the beginning of the lesson if we need prophets, who can give us more of Gods word. Carlos said no. Ashelen said yes. She said that Nephi had written the plates, and that if he was a prophet, who wrote more, that the same thing can happen today. We testified that we have a living prophet today. Ashelen believes. I'm so excited for her.

Hna. Makelani received a letter today that she has a meeting the 19th in the mission home - the meeting with the trainers and new missionaries. So it seems to me that I'm headed to Neuquen. I'm sure we will hear for sure, and with more details, but I think my time in Bariloche is coming to an end. :o( But its okay! I have loved my time here, and I have seen lots of miracles. I know that things happen the way they do for a reason.

I have been thoroughly enjoying food with flour. Although I was eating flour before, not so much because Hna. Porter couldnt eat it. Yummy Argentine foods with flour. Oh, speaking of flour. Here they have a thing called facturas. They are like little rolls that have dulce de leche inside, or chocholate on top... like dessert rolls. Anyway, they are absolutely delicious, and everytime we walk by a bakery, you can smell facturas. Thats something I will miss. :D

Have you received a letter giving details about when Im flying home? Just wondering, because Hna. Makelani said that Hna. Schafers family got flight details. As for me, I have no idea. I know I leave the mission the 15th. Thats about it. I realized the other day that I won't be going to the Buenos Aires temple, because its closed. It's tradition that the missionaries go to the temple before flying home. But... the temple is closed for like a year and a half for repairs/changes. So anyway, thats a bummer. But its okay, there are temples in Idaho and Utah as well. I hope that a temple trip is in the plans for one of the first days that Im home. :D Oh how I miss going to the temple!

Well, I think thats it. I love being a missionary. I feel so blessed. I'm constantly learning and I always try to improve. I know that the church is true. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live and that Jesus Christ is guiding His church. I know that Thomas S. Monson is His prophet today. Be careful, take care of yourselves, and I will write again next week. I love you!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Pictures! 11.09.2009

2009-11-09T16:35:00.001-07:00

My Family-

1- Hna. Makelani and I the other day.

2 - Lucía, Me, Hna. Porter, and Melisa (two members here, but Lucía actually just moved to Zapala - where Hna. Porter went!)

3 - me dressed up in an Argentine Folklore dress. Good times. :D

4 - part of our zone when we went to the waterfalls.

Love you!

Hermana Pincock

Malolelei 11.09.2009 (Email)

2009-11-09T16:29:00.002-07:00

Mi Familia,

Hola! How are you all doing? Mom, I hope that your teeth are doing better. The people here basically just have their teeth pulled out when they have problems. Dad, I´m sure you did great speaking in the institute. But yes, lots of speaking! Orrin, you´ll be getting your gallbladder out? Good luck! Shari, that´s great that you´ll be teaching the 16 and 17 year olds. You´ll be great. And Jordan and Lisa, I hope that you enjoyed Denver. I´m sure you did, and I hope you´re back safe. And Jordan, you certainly made me giggle - Melky Cabrera. I had Hna. Porter read your email as well, and she got a good laugh out of it as well.

Well, things are going really well with Hna. Makelani. So I doin´t really remember what I wrote last week. She´s from Tonga, a Polynesian island. She actually speaks Tongan, english, and now spanish - though I honestly haven´t heard much english from her. ¨Malolelei¨is hello in Tongan. Pretty fun huh? She´s 22. She has been in the mission for a year and one month, and is excited but nervous to train. She was with Hna. Schafer before coming her with me. She is the oldest in her family. Her dad actually lives in Australia with his family, and her mom is actually working in the U.S. for now. Before the mission, Hna. Makelani was studying in New Zealand. Pretty interesting huh? But she´s learning the area really well, and quickly. And yes,we do keep an area book. We don´t have one single map that has all our area, and we need to go pick up another map for her. The one Hna. Porter and I found is pretty much destroyed from lots of use, rain and snow. But I´m sure she´ll be just fine.

We´re working on putting baptismal dates so she and her new companion will have baptisms this first transfer. I remember when I started in Plottier, and I felt a little guilty that I was harvesting the hard work of other missionaries. So I would love it if her new companion could get here and have a bunch of baptisms right off the bat. There´s not a better way to start the mission than to have baptisms.

Lets see, a couple miracles of the week...We were walking one day in a neighborhood, that we haven´t worked a lot in. A lady told us she´s catholic, didn´t have a lot of interest in listening, but told us her neighbor loves talking to people from our church, told us her name and a little about her, and sent us to her house. So we went, (knowing her name), and they let us in. We then taught her (Norma), and two of her daughters ¨The Restoration¨and it went really well. She informed us that she listens to all the churches, but usually doesn´t let them in her house. Just outside. But she let us in because we knew her name, and her neighbor sent us over. A little miracle. I think they have great potential.

There is a lady named Patricia, that went to our church for like a year a while back. She and her husband spent a lot of time with other sister missionaries like 3 years ago. Anyway,they stopped going because they raised the bus prices and they couldn´t afford it. But a member told us about them,and we went with the member to their house. The lesson went well. We talked about the family, their goals for their little family, and assured them that the Gospel is the best thing that could happen to their family. We´ll pass by again soon. Oh, another miracle of that day is that the dad was there. He´s never there, but hadn´t gone to work because he works in construcion and it was bad weather that day.

Also, there´s a member named Viviana that lives in our area. She´s the only member in her family. So yesterday we stopped by, and got to talking with her mom. I have no idea how many missionaries have passed by their house in the past. Viviana even did the ¨mini-mission¨two times. But yesterday we talked to her about the Book of Mormon, and admitted that she has never read it. We assured her that she needs to read it, and she said that she´ll read it with us if we pass by. She said she won´t promise to go to church, or be baptized, but she will read the Book of Mormon with us. I´m okay with that for now. If she´s willing to read the Book of Mormon, the Spirit will do the rest.

Oh, Pres. Peterson called Hna. Makelani and said that her new companion should get here between November 19th and December 1st. So we´ll just have to wait and see. The ward here is so great. I love the people here. I think in every area I love the people more and more. I´m grateful for prayer, and the guidance that we can receive through prayer. I love the scriptures, I love Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Today I read Deut. 31:6 and thoroughly enjoyed it. I forgot about that scripture. Choose the right, and I´ll write again next week. I love you!

Love Always,

Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

General Authorities and Transfers :D 11.02.2009 (Email)

2009-11-02T11:53:00.003-07:00

Mi Familia! How are you! I hope that you´re doing wonderful. Well, first off, I know you´re all eager to hear about transfers, so... I´m staying here for a while! Here´s the scoop... Hna. Porter is going to Zapala, and she´ll be companions with Hna. Schafer (my MTC companion). Hna. Schafer´s companion is coming here to Bariloche to be my companion, and her name is Hna. Malekani I do believe. She´s tongan! Here´s the tricky part. There are a couple of sister missionaries there in the US, who are waiting for their visas/passports to go through. They should get here in 3 weeks - halfway through the transfer. Hna. Porter is going to train one of them, and Hna. Malekani the other. So what happens with Hna. Schafer and I you ask? :D We are going together, to an area close to Neuquén. I believe it´s called Limai, but I have no idea if that´s how you spell it. So I really don´t know exactly how it´s going to work. We´ll get there together and be there together for like 3 weeks, and then we´ll end the mission together. So I don´t know what´ll happen to the area. But it should be good. I´m curious. So there you have it. It should be an exciting six weeks with lots of changes. New companions, new areas, home... it should be good.

Lisa, Jordan and Hallie are going to Denver this weekend? Well, have fun and be safe!

Well, I must say, that I absolutely LOVED stake conference yesterday. First off, Hna. Matsumori got up and spoke, and she did wonderful. She had a lady translating for her, but luckily I speak english, and understood every word that came out of her mouth. :D She actually even ended by saying her testimony in spanish. I thought that was neat.

Then afterwards Hna. Beck got up to speak, and she had a translator by her side. She said a few words in spanish, and kept speaking! I had no idea that she speaks spanish! I thought it was great, and the members were excited about it. It turns out that she lived in Brazil when she was little for like 3-5 years or so as well. So she speaks english, spanish, and portuguese. She did really well.

She talked about how Argentina needs to send out more missionaries. There aren´t many. I loved it, because it really made me think. People learn so much on the mission, and the church needs strong Priesthood leaders here in Argentina. Argentina needs good strong families. It talked about the responsibility of parents to teach their kids, and prepare them to leave on the mission. I absolutely loved it.

Brother and Sister Bowen, the area president and his wife, were here as well. They did really well. And Pres. and Hna. Peterson spoke Saturday night in the adult session.

Then after the conference we had a special training. The people involved in Relief Society listened to Hna. Beck, and with the primary, Hna. Matsumori. We listened to Hna. Beck, and she taught us five principles of leadership. So good. So so good. Then afterwards Hna. Porter and I went up to meet her and give her a hug. A really great and amazing lady. I learned a lot from her during the conference, as well as from Hna. Matsumori.

So Hna. Porter actually leaves here at 12:50, so I´ll be with one member, Melisa Onnainty for part of the day, and then my neighbor, Hna. Zulma, is going to work with me tonight, and have a sleep over with me. :D Hna. Malekani gets here tomorrow at 5:00 in the morning. Bright and early! Transfers are always exciting, and I´m excited for Hna. Porter. She´s going to be a great trainer.

Jordan, I laughed out loud about ¨melky¨. So bad! Thanks for your advice about ending the mission. It´s good. Hna. Porter has been telling people I´m ending the mission for like 4 months now. jaja

So, about here in Bariloche. Eduardo and Maríahelem moved back into our area! Yay! So they went to conference yesterday, as well as Pamela and Angélica. I think they all seemed to enjoy it. I have no idea why Pablo didn´t go. We have an appt. with him tonight so we´ll see what he says.

We´re trying to work more with members. I have decided again that it´s not only good for the investigators, but for the members as well. It´s good to get some teaching experience for them, and the opportunity to share their testimonies and explain why they live the way they do.

There are no Halloween traditions here, but everyone knows about the Halloween tradition at home. We were going to have an activity, but it didn´t work out with the stake conference and everything. However, I do believe that a member is going to send a picture to the fam, that he took of Hna. Porter and I one day at lunch (our halloween celebration). I gave him AK´s email address because you speak spanish. So if you get some random email, it should be from Hno. Gonzalez. I hope that´s okay!

We were able to contact a couple of our new investigators from last week, and we found 12 new investigators this week! Yay! It´ll be good to get working with them a little bit.

Jordan, your question about Obama. Everyone here dislikes Pres. Bush, and is ecstatic about Obama. They all think that he´s great. That´s about all I´ve heard. Interesting huh?

Well, I think this is all for today. Pray for me to be able to teach my companion everything about Bariloche in 3 weeks so she can train. I´m excited, and I know this is the true church of Jesus Christ. The family is SO important, and I am so grateful for my amazing family - you! Choose the right, be safe, and I´ll write again soon! I love you!

Love Always,

Hermana Jana Pincock

Jana dressed up for Halloween at a members home.

and one more...

:D 10.26.2009 (Email)

2009-10-26T13:19:00.000-06:00

Mi Familia,

Hola! ¿Cómo andan? Espero que todos estén bien. Estoy bien acá. :o) Thanks for your letters always. It´s good to hear about what´s happening there at home.

Well, where to start out with this week. Last Monday we went to see some waterfalls here in Bariloche. I brought my camara and everything to send pictures, but it turns out I can´t here. Maybe next week. Sorry!Anyway, it was very pretty and it was a very nice day.

Oh, this was a bummer... Hna. Porter realized last Monday that she didn´t know where her ¨wallet¨was with her credit cards (from home and from the mission). Nowhere to be found. She only had 150 pesos left in cash, that she had taken out before. She stuck her money in her pocket as we went to the waterfalls. When we got back from the waterfalls, her money that was once in her pocket was nowhere to be found either. :o( Poor girl. But I still have a little bit of money, so we should be able to get by for the week. :D

Yesterday as we walked into church, I was very surprised to walk in and see several blondes sitting there on the church benches! It turns out that this family lived here like 37 years ago. He came here for work, and ended up being branch president. One of the sons was born here, so he wanted to come and see what it´s like. So anyway, it was pretty fun to talk to them a little bit. They want to eat lunch with us today, so hopefully we´ll be able to contact eachother. They asked us for our phone number yesterday, and we kind of just laughed. We never give our number to people. We ask for theirs, and call them. Therefore, we didn´t know our number! We gave them what we think is our number, as well as our neighbors phone number, but we haven´t heard a thing from them. So we´ll see what happens.

But it was pretty fun. The parents live in Meridian, and their kids are all spread out. It was kind of funny, because I couldn´t decide how I should greet the ladies. The mom gave me her hand to shake, and that just seemed really weird. But we don´t give ¨besos¨to everyone there in the U.S., or hugs, so I didn´t know what to do with myself! A funny situation that made me giggle, and a little nervous about coming home. :D So if someone wants to write me, and remind me what´s normal to do at home, it would be great. jaja

Well, we were able to find 7 new investigators this week, so that´s nice. In our district meeting this last week, a brother from the stake, Hno. Tapia, who is actually one of the mission counselors, came. He talked to us about his mission, and during his short mission of 2 years, he baptized 562 people. 562!!! Can you really imagine. Anyway, we talked about a couple of things that we can do, to help people enter into the waters of baptism. He talked about the importance of finding and teaching married men. Very interesting. So this week we were able to find a couple of married men that we should be able to start teaching soon. :D

We had a great lesson with Ester this week. We took her to Hna. Guacolda´s house. I don´t know if you all remember her. She is like 80, and is so great. Her testimony is SO STRONG. She reminds me of Irene from Allen. :D Anyway, we took Ester to her house, and Hna. Guacolda shared with her her conversion story, and the importance of kneeling down to pray, to ask if the Book of Mormon is true. Only through receiving an answer, through the Holy Ghost, can we really know. I thoroughly enjoyed the lesson, and the Spirit was definitely there. It´s hard, because I really feel like Ester has a testimony. I feel like we need to give her a little space, and let her make her own decisions. I don´t want her to do anything because Hna. Porter and I want her to do it - whether it be go to church, read the Book of Mormon, or even be baptized - but because SHE FEELS the desire deep down in her heart. I don´t want to convince or obligate anyone into doing anything. It doesn´t work that way. So we´ll see what happens.

Angélica and her daughter Pamela went to church yesterday! Yay! It was a good step for them. We taught Angélica Saturday the parable of the sower, and the difference between the four seeds. She decided that she would like to be like the fourth seed, that grows up, has strong roots, and gives forth good fruit. She understood well, and started giving more ¨fruit¨yesterday when she went to church.

We have transfers in a week. :o( I can´t believe this transfer has passed by so quickly. We´ll see what happens. I´m guessing I´ll be able to write like normal, but if not, you´ll know why...

Oh, a normal zone conference. We have interviews with the president first thing in the morning. at 8:30 we start. For like 45 minutes we have a little activity, or time to practice, with the assistants to the president. Afterwards we all go into the chapel. First one of the assistants speaks, and then two missionaries have the opportunity to go up and speak for like 5 minutes, about an assigned talk. This is always a surprise. You find out when they say your name. Then Hna. Peterson talks for a little. She´s giving her talks in spanish, even though it´s super hard for her, and I really admire her for it. Then Pres. Peterson talks for a good while, until lunch. We all eat together. After lunch the zone leaders are in charge of teaching something, which we then practice. Then the assistants teach something else, which we then have to practice as well. Then we head back to the chapel. Oh, we usually have a musical number in the morning as well. Anyway, back in the chapel, we have a short testimony meeting. Then Pres. Peterson talks again for a litle bit, and we end with that. So it goes from like 8:30 in the morning, to 5 or 5:30. They´re always very good conferences.

Well, I think this will have to be it for today. Oh, Happy Halloween everybody! I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. I love the Book of Mormon, as well as the Bible. I also love the book ¨Jesus the Christ¨. I have been reading it a lot lately, and I feel like I can learn so much about Jesus, and how I can become more like Him, through reading and studying this book. I am enjoying my time as a missionary, and I´ll try to improve even more as a representative of Jesus Christ. I love you!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

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

2009-10-19T13:05:00.002-06:00

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

Hola! 10.12.2009 (Email)

2009-10-12T12:40:00.002-06:00

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

Hola! 10.05.2009 (Email)

2009-10-05T12:21:00.002-06:00

Mi Familia,

Hola! ¿cómo están? Espero que estén bien. Todo bien acá. First off, thanks as always for the letters. A couple of responses...

I thought Hna. Porter and I might be together for three transfers because sometimes they do that when you ¨white wash¨ an area. And sure enough! We did count the stairs when we first got here. We were trying to remember the other day, and I think it´s like 230 or so. It doesn´t sound like much, but it sometimes feels like a lot as we´re going up them! We´re actually getting pretty used to the stairs now days. That´s nice. :D

Also, our picture of our apartment. Everything you can see in the picture is our apt. The tricky thing is, is that the back half is actually another apt. Does that make sense? I hope so. It´s a good little apt., and actually bigger than both my other ones.

Hallie, thanks for your little note. Very sweet.

So, I absolutely LOVED general conference! I told Hna. Porter that I think I was more excited for conference than I generally am for Christmas. So that means I was pretty excited! :D I really feel like I am ¨feasting¨on the word of God as I listen to conference. I have always loved conference, and being in the conference center, but I think I have even enjoyed it more than ever here in the mission.

I think I could write for a very long time about what I liked from conference, but just a few thoughts. It seemed to me that lots of people talked about love. They talked about love for Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and love for one another. I loved Elder Bednar´s talk that talked about how we should tell one another we love each other, and then show it! It´s especially important in family relationships. I loved Elder Uchtdorf´s talk about our love for our Heavenly Father, and how that love can grow. How we can strengthen it. Love should be the reason that we do everything. Our mission them is, ¨The Spirit is the key, Christ is the reason, Faith is the power, Obedience is the price, and LOVE is the motive.¨I like it.

I have really tried to focus on love in the mission, and especially during my time with Hna. Porter. She always talks about charity - the pure love of Christ. And she has a lot of love. I´m looking forward to having, and showing more love towards those that are around me. :o)

Lets see, what´s happening here in Bariloche Centro? We had a pretty good turn out in conference so that was great. Nico, Jovita, Andrea and Brian went. Angélica and two of her daughters - Pamela and Yamila - went as well. María Teresa and Thomás went. And Rosa. :D

Rosa´s story is a miracle. We found Rosa this week. We contacted her in the street like 2 months ago, and set an appt. When we went, she wasn´t there. We saw her later, set another appt, and she wasn´t there. So we thought, hum.... odd. Then the other day we went to the house of another contact, and the contact wasn´t there. But as we started walking, we saw Rosa walking towards us. We were super close to her house. We stopped to talk to her, and asked her to go to her house right then. And she said yes!

So we started to talk to her. She has really been struggling lately. She and her husband/parter (I don´t know if they were married) of 30 years have just recently separated. So she and her kids are really struggling. We taught part of The Plan of Salvation to her, and mostly just let her talk. We put another appt.

A couple of days later we had another appt. with her. A member, Melisa, went with us. She´s 21, and is our neighbor. It was her first experience going out with the missionaries, so she was a little nervous, but was great. Anyway, we had another appt. with her Sunday morning before conference (because it started at 1:00 here). Anyway, we invited her to conference, and she said she could go to the afternoon session. So long story short, Melisa was able to walk with her to conference, and back again to her house after. Yay! The importance of members.

I was sad that Pablo, and all their family didn´t go. Nelida, and all their family didn´t go either. :o( We´re worried about them.

Mom, you said that sometimes you feel like you don´t know how to be a missionary. I like what you or Dad said... ¨missionary work is about opening your mouth¨. We have had a lot of help from the members here, and it has made all the difference. We got a reference yesterday from a man who works at a gas station. He saw that a lady had a picture from our church in her car, so he asked her about it. He mentioned that the picture comes from our church, and offered to get her more. He did so, and mentioned the movie ¨The Living Christ¨and said that some friends of his (us) could go over to her house to watch it with her. Pretty simple, and now she has an idea of what we´re doing.

Pablo´s contact with the church all started with his family. As he was super sick, his relative gave him a priesthood blessing. Simple, but amazing.

Another ward member was getting her hair cut, and mentioned that she´s a member of the church. The lady cutting her hair said that she is also a member, but has been in-active for a long time. Her son isn´t a member. We have an appt. with her tonight.

It´s just simple things. Being willing to live the Gospel, and share our simple, but true beliefs. As we pray for opportunities, with a willingness to act as we receive promptings, we are guided to people who are ¨honestly seeking the truth¨ as someome said in conference.

Alright, now for random interesting things... I usually don´t read as we´re riding in buses, but I decided to the other day. I actually didn´t start as we were in the neighborhoods because it´s super bumpy. As we got on the main streets I started. But in a short amount of time, I was definitely ¨bus¨sick! I´m hoping this new found problem is just a problem with Argentine buses, and not with riding in normal cars. :D Luckily my bus sickness left quickly, and this was when we were ending the day. jaja

We went to another neighborhood in our area for the first time the other day. That was kind of fun. And funny. We were going to lunch, and really had no idea how we would find the house. We asked a nice lady in the street and she pointed us in the right direction. Mission adventures. You´ve got to love it.

Well, I think this is all for today. I love you all very much. Take care of yourselves, and read the scriptures and pray always. These are the things that keep our ¨spirtual hearts¨good and strong. I love you!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hola! :D 09.28.2009 (Email)

2009-09-28T09:33:00.002-06:00

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

We're Staying Here! 09.21.2009 (Email)

2009-09-21T11:48:00.006-06:00

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!

Okay, the first picture is of Hna. Porter and I the night after our last zone conference. Just posing. :D

I don´t remember the order...

- Where we live! the view from the front. 519 Los Colihues.

- Hna. Porter and I with Perla, a member. We went with her to a chocolate factory before she moved away.

- A view of a little of our area. Where you can see the mountains and everything with the pretty lake. This is like one block away from our apt. And if you can imagine, there´s a large drop off right there... the famous stairs.

- last Monday a couple of us missionaries eating icecream.

- last Monday playing soccer. Good times!

Hola! 09.14.2009 (Email)

2009-09-14T11:43:00.000-06:00

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

Hola! 09.07.2009 (Email)

2009-09-07T11:39:00.001-06:00

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

Reese's Puffs! :D

2009-08-31T12:21:00.002-06:00

Hola! How are you all doing? First off, I´m glad you made it back from the hiking adventure. It sounds like it was a good time. And Shari and Orrin, it sounds like you´re all into your house great. How fun to have a new house! And, AK, Ryan, and Nyah, thanks for the fun package! I´m thoroughly enjoying the candy, and Reese´s Puffs (you know the way to my heart!) and I´ll try not to eat it all by myself so I can run Ragnar 2010. jaja.

Ryan, Happy Birthday! One year old and wiser! Pumpkin squares? Jami, if you read this, Happy Birthday this next week as well. :o)

First off, some business... I bought some souveenirs (sp?) last week. Like $50 worth I believe. The lady said that she ran my card as debit, so I hope. But today, I was talking to a store worker, and he said that if I´m a foreigner, everything will be run as credit. So you might want to check that out. It´s weird because the ATM´s here don´t want to accept my debit card. I don´t know why. But anyway, so if I use my card, it seems as though I may have to do it as credit. Let me know what you all think, and if my last week´s spending was really debit or credit.

Also, I just sent the recorder that Lisa and Jordan sent back home. I was going to send it to Lisa and Jordan, but then realized that I don´t know your new address! Therefore, I sent it home. I just sent the recorder and a couple of my favorite treats with it. :D

Things here are going well. We changed Ester´s baptismal date to September 26th. She´s doing really well with about everything ( the commitments) except for the sabbath day - going to church. So we told her yesterday that she has to go to church for the next three weeks or she won´t be able to get baptized the 26th. So hopefully she´ll be able to go to church.

Alright, so now Nelida, Belen, and Ester all have baptismal dates for September 26th. I so hope that they all make it to their baptismal dates. It´s going to require a lot of faith and some changes for them, but they can do it. Ester told us yesterday that she has been complying 100% with the Word of Wisdom since we taught her last week. :D Yay!

The Talent Show went well on Saturday. I felt like we spent a good amount of time trying to get everything prepared and ready to go, but I think it was worth the effort. Hna. Porter and I were first. I played the duet of ¨Amazing Grace, As Now We Take the Sacrament, and How Great Thou Art¨as she sang. She did very well, and I just had a few minor errors. :o)

Then we just had a couple other little things. A family here in our ward has a little band so they played. A girl and her friend sang a song. All in english so that was a little crazy. The Bishop´s little brother has a band so they played as well. Two little girls ( 2 and 3 yrs old) danced so that was cute. It went well.

And we had a good turn out! Members did very well inviting people who aren´t members. Several people came and I think everyone really enjoyed it. And it was the first ward activity in a LONG time. And we had investigators come as well: Pablo, Mónica and their family (Flia. Barientos), Ashelen, and Angélica and her daughters. Pretty good. :D

Mariana is still doing well. We weren´t able to teach her as much this week as we would have liked, and she didn´t go to church, so we don´t know for sure what is happening. But we´re going to do everything possible to help her be baptized on September 12th still. It´ll all work out like it´s supposed to.

The work continues to progress. I can´t believe we´re already half-way done with this transfer. The time is just flying by.

I´m reading in Acts and I´m thoroughly enjoying it. It has been quite a while since I read Acts and I´m loving it! The Apostles were absolutely amazing. They were such powerful teachers. I love hearing about what they did to preach the Gospel. Miracles. And they were so in tune with the Spirit. I want to be more like them.

I was readying about Paul this morning in Acts and it made me think a lot about Joseph Smith. He and his companion, Bernabé I think but I don´t remember how it is in english, (Barnabus?) were teaching and the people were pretty upset. So the magistrates ordered the people to beat them, so they beat them with stripes. Afterwards, they put them in prison. So I tried to put myself in this situation, and wondered how I would be feelings at this moment. So that night in prison, they started praying and singing praises, and the other prisoners heard them. Amazing... praying and singing praises in that situation! So then the prison walls started to shake and basically fell down. The prison guard was worried that his prisoners had escaped, so he was about to take his own life. But Paul stopped him, and said not to worry, they were still there. And so they preached to him, his whole household, and they were all baptized in the church of Jesus Christ.

I thought that was such an amazing story! It made me want to be more like them. They took advantage of every opportunity to preach, and did it without fear. I love it.

Well, I need to go. I love you all very much and appreciate your love and support. Choose the Right!

Love always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hola! :D 08.24.2009 (Email)

2009-08-25T14:13:00.002-06:00

Hola mi familia! ¿Cómo están? Espero que estén bien. Yo estoy bien acá. :D I don´t know when you´ll actually be able to read this, but here goes anyway. Shari and Orrin, good luck moving into your new house! And I hope everyone is enjoying the back packing adventure. Be careful, and enjoy.

Things here are going well. Where to start? Eduardo and Maríahelen are doing well. We have had some important lessons the last little while. The word of wisdom and the law of chastity. Some changes need to be made, but they´re starting to understand everything a little bit better.

Nelida and Mario (Nelida and Eduardo, from above, are brother and sister) are doing well. Nelida is really progressing well. She has such strong desires to keep learning. She wants to be baptized, but she also has some changes to make first. We want to put a baptismal date with her our next appointment. But she either needs to get separated from Mario, or married. We´ll see... big decisions to make.

Ester has basically disappeared into thin air. We´re a little worried about her. She moved into her other brother´s house. We were able to talk to her a little the other day on her cell phone, but we have no idea when, or if, she´ll be moving back. We´re going to pray for her. We would like to set another baptismal date with her because she´s not going to make it for September 12th.

Belen is doing better. She did go with us to a baptism on Saturday night. I´ll write more about that later. However, we also need to change her baptismal date. They have good desires, but need to act/change a couple of things. But it´s okay! It´s part of the repentance process. We all need to change things. They just need to do it before baptism.

Good news! We have another baptismal date! Mariana Medina, the 16- yr-old. She had told us our appt. last week that she would talk to her mom, and ask if she can be baptized. Neither parents are members of the church, but her dad´s side of the family has several family members who are members. Anyway, we had an appt. on Thursday and she had talked to her mom, and her mom said yes, she can be baptized! So she chose her own baptism date - September 12th. :D We talked to her yesterday a little bit about what she needs to learn and do before being baptized and she´s excited. It´s neat too, because she and the others are working towards going to the temple to do baptisms for the dead still. And now she´ll be able to do the baptisms!

Lets see... Pablo is still doing well. Pablo and Monica. Monica is a little more hesitant to make commitments, but little by little. We need to help them get to church. It´s a very necessary step.

Oh, here´s a good story. We were walking one night this last week and it was like 8:45 so we had a little more time to work. So we were trying to find people in the street. Hna. Porter started a contact with a lady, and she informed us that she had been baptized like 15 yrs ago. She told us she had two kids - one was baptized with her before, but the other was too young before, and has since gone to another church. So anyway, we set an appt for a couple days later.

We went to the appt. and she wasn´t there! We thought it was kind of strange, but what can you do. So Saturday night we decided to stop by and see if she was there to put another appt. We talked to her son, Thomas, who is 19, and said we´d pass by Sunday (yesterday). We went yesterday, and it went really well. She said that as she had been walking that first night, she was upset, and wondering why she had stopped going to church and everything, if she had been baptized in the LDS church before. And then, all of a sudden, we stopped her! She said yesterday that we were like her ¨little angels¨ that night. It made me so happy! I know we didn´t do anything. The Spirit just put us in her path. So Thomas totally listened yesterday as well, and had a lot of interest. We have another appt. this week and I´ll keep you updated with what happens with them.

Saturday the Elders in another area had a baptism, so we were inviting people all week. We thought we could walk there. But Saturday, it was VERY rainy and snowy. So we decided we´d atleast go part of the way in a bus. So we invited several, and a couple came: Andrea and Brian (a less-active member that we recently found and her son), and Jovita and Nico with their baby Nicole (Jovita is Andrea´s sister), and Maríahelen and Belen. It was quite the experience trying to round everyone up. Luckily, they all live very close to each other. The baptism started at six, and we ended up boarding the bus at 6. Yikes! But after trecking together through the snow and slush, we made it! Luckily, they started late, and we missed very little. :D I think it was a good experience for all of them, and it was another good experience trying to get them all back home afterwards. Good times.

So this next Saturday is the talent show. It should be good. We´re trying to get everything organized. I think it´ll turn out well. We have to just invite, invite and invite. And the members need to invite!

Last night the two sisters from El Bolson came and had a sleep over because we have a zone activity today. I don´t really know what we´re doing but it should be good. I´ll have to let you know next week what we did.

Shari and Orrin, you should send me pictures of your new house. And Lisa and Jordan, the pictures you sent before I couldn´t open up. And I want to see pictures of the hiking adventure!

I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. I´m so grateful for the Bible, the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price. Yesterday in a class we talked about all the truths we have, thanks to the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It´s so true. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live, and that they are very invovled in our individual lives. They love you, and I do too!

I love you!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow...:D

2009-08-17T19:11:00.002-06:00

Hola! ¿Cómo andan? Ando bien aquí. Things are going well here. Thanks for all the emails again this week. Very fun. Mom, I´m sure that you did wonderful on your talk like you always do. And I´m sure that the people appreciated all the preparation that you put into it.

This has been a very wet week. Lots of rain, and even snow. Pretty funny that it´s snowing in August if you ask me. Hna. Porter and I are basically in Christmas mode, and we sing Christmas songs on a regular basis. :D Good times. I think I´ll just have a very long Christmas season this year. jaja

Saturday as we were eating lunch with the Bishop and his family we said we would like to do a musical number in Sacrament meeting if he would let us. He said yes, the next day! So we did ¨Yo sé que vive mi Señor¨ (I know that my Redeemer lives) and it went very well. I of course played the piano while she sang and the people loved it. She has a beautiful voice - like Jami.

Eduardo, Maríahelen, Nelida and Mariana (the 16 yr old) went to church yesterday. Hna. Porter and I actually taught Gospel Principles as well, and it went just great. The lesson was on the Priesthood. I´m so grateful for the Priesthood.

So Ester and Belen didn´t go to church again yesterday. :0( We don´t know why Belen didn´t go, but Ester is at her brother´s house, who lives in another part of Bariloche. So hopefully we´ll have a good chance to talk with them this week.

Nelida told us this week that she wants to get baptized. :D Now we just need to put a baptismal date. She´s doing well and learning a lot. Eduardo and Maríahelen still need to decide to get married or get separated.

We were finally able to teach them the Word of Wisdom this last weekend. They have some good changes to make but I know that they can do it if they have true desires and want to follow the example of our older brother, Jesus Christ.

Mariana is doing very well. We were able to teach her yesterday right after church with Mariana, the YW president. It went well. We talked to her about her desires, goals, fears, etc... We talked about how to receive answers to prayers. She talked about how she´s nervous to talk to her mom and grandma about being baptized because they´re pretty firm in another faith. So we´re praying for her that she´ll have the courage to talk to her mom, and that her mom will understand and support her in her decision to be baptized. Her dad is willing to support her in whatever she decides.

So I wrote last week about Pablo right? Who had received a Priesthood blessing and started getting better? So we were able to teach him two times this week. The second lesson his ¨wife¨, Monica, wasn´t able to listen to all of it, but it´s going really well. Two of their kids are members, and two are 8 or older. I´m really impressed with them. Pablo already has a good start on the Book of Mormon and is really listening and thinking about what we´re teaching. He´s getting much better physically, so he should be able to go to church next Sunday. :D

Oh, remember the less-active Hna. that we had visited a while back? The one that was having doubts about the church? Her name is Hna. Ñancufil. Anyway, this week we went again to visit her and it went well. We also met one of her daughters, Lorena. Anyway, we had a good lesson, and Hna. Ñancufil went to church yesterday! Yay!

Something else fun. The other day we decided we wanted to visit an olderly lady in our ward because we hadn´t ever really talked to her. So we found her apt. and we could hear someone in there. But we knocked on the door, rang the door bell...several times... and nothing. So finally we knocked one more time, and she heard and came to the door! Her name is Guacolda, and it was SO good to talk to her. She reminds me of Irene in Allen. She has been a member for forty years, so she´s one of the pioneers here. Well, she was actually baptized in Roca, close to Allen. Anyway, she talked about how she said no to the Elders several times, and said she didn´t want to talk to them. She said she was so tired of hearing about all the different religions. So tired. But they kept passing by, and one day she finally let them in. Not too long afterwards she realized that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. Wow. She just cried as she shared with us her testimony and testified. Amazing. And that we cried together as we sang ¨I Know that my Redeemer lives¨. I am so glad we went there, and we informed her that we would like to carry her to every one of our lessons. :D

I got a letter from the mission office today informing me when I´ll be ending the mission. December 15, 2009. So now I need to send my information to them saying what airport I want to go to and everything. Pocatello right? So it´s pretty crazy to me. I´m not sure if it´s consequence of just being in 3 areas so far, but I feel like I´m just getting started and getting the hang of everything! But I still have lots of time left. You can do a lot in 4 months! Lots of testimonies to share, and faith to strengthen. So anyway, I thought you´d all like to know. But no getting trunky! :D

I finished reading the Book of Mormon this week. I love the Book of Mormon. I know it´s true.

Well, I think that´s it for today. I love you all very much. I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ.

I love you!

Love always,
Hermana Jana Pincock

Hola! 08.10.2009 (Email)

2009-08-10T11:50:00.002-06:00

My Family,

Hola! How are you all doing? I hope that you´re doing really well. First off, Shari, I hope everthing went great with your ten year reunion. I´m sure that it did. Ten years already. How crazy is that! When are you going to be moving into your new house?

It sends like things at home are going well. When does the big hike take place? And where are you going? I don´t remember if someone already told me, but I don´t remember if you did. How long is the hike going to be? It makes me think of the time that we snow-shoed into the yurt a while back. Good times, but a lot of work! I´m sure that you will all do great with it. It should definitely be an adventure though. :D

Well, things here are going well. Hna. Porter and I will be here for atleast another transfer! We have hopes that it´ll be two more transfers, but we really have no idea. Time will tell.

Yesterday at church, we had five investigators. Yay! Eduardo, Mariahelem, Nelida, Mario and Mariana. Ester and Belen didn´t go. :o( We actually don´t know what happened.

Yesterday in the morning we walked about everywhere to the people´s houses. Okay, not everywhere, but like five houses. We hoped that more would be able to go, but five is pretty good. Eduardo, Mariahelem, Nelida, Mario, Ester and Belen all live together. They are like two houses that are connected. Ester and Belen live on the other side. So Sunday morning we went, talked to Mariahelem and she said that they were all awake and everything, so Hna. Porter and I ran to catch the bus. But then they didn´t come. And they had all left somewhere when we went over after church. So we´ll have to see what happened.

However, they continue to be reading and praying so that´s great. I´m starting to recognize more how big of a change living the Gospel is for them. We really are a ¨peculiar¨people as members of the church. But they can do it.

Some funny things from this week... Hna. Porter was walking last week, and she had not put socks on underneath her boots. She soon discovered that it was very painful, so we stopped to see what we could do. The only conclusion that she could find, was to walk with her boot half way on, and half way off until we could get to our apt. Pretty funny.

Also, do you all remember Sebastian and Cecilia? We had started teaching them a while back. We ran into Cecilia in town the other day, and we said we had passed by, but they weren´t there or something. She explained that her doorbell was broken, so probably hadn´t heard us. So we set an appt. and told her to listen for us. (She lives like behind another house) so we were just clapping. So anyway, we got to her house and the dog doesn´t bark at us anymore because it recognizes us. We clapped, and clapped, and clapped, and nothing. Nobody came. What to do? Hna. Porter decided to try to get the dog to bark, so started barking at the dog! Pretty funny. It made me giggle. But to no avail. The dog didn´t do anything. So we just left a note... :D

Also, we normally stop people to do contacts. But we started talking to this lady, and she said she could talk if we could walk fast... she had to get to the bank before it closed. So it was interesting. We were walking very quickly, all the while explaining the restoration and that we have prophets again today. We walked several blocks, amid lots of people, and lots of cars, but we were actually pretty happy with the contact. It was good. Good times.

Lets see, what else... oh, we finally had ward council again this week. All July the meetings had been canceled as a result of the pig flu. But we´re back, and it was really good. The Bishop told us in ward council that he had received a phone call from a member in another ward, named Eduardo. His uncle had been really sick in the hospital. The uncle, had previously wanted nothing to do with the church. But when Eduardo offered to give him a health blessing, his uncle consented. He immediately started to get better, and so he called Eduardo and said that he believes that this is the true church of Jesus Christ, and that he wants to read and learn more. So it turns out, that he lives in our area! We called him, he´s now out of the hospital, and we´ll be visiting him this week. We´re being very blessed with miracles here.

Nelida said that she wants to continue to learn, but she´s not sure about baptism yet. We assured her that she needs to keep learning, and she´ll come to realize that she needs a baptism in the church of Jesus Christ. I really like teaching her, because she seems to FEEL. She may not understand every detail of what we´re teaching yet, but that´ll come with time. She´s great.

Oh, last Monday we went to a chocolate factore called ¨Mamushka¨and it´s pretty delicious. But pretty expensive as well. Also, I was talking to Hna. Porter, and I think we´re going to go ¨souvenir¨shopping this next week. But it sounds like you already put money in my account so I should be just fine. I guess it depends on if I should be buying souvenirs for everyone, or just a couple, or what you all think. Let me know.

Well, I think that about sums it up for me and what´s happening here. I know that the church is true. I love going to church, and learning more about my Heavenly Father, and Savior Jesus Christ. I know that They live. I know that They guide this church through their prophet, Thomas Monson. How blessed we are.

I love you!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Pincock

Hola! 08.03.2009 (Email)

2009-08-03T12:46:00.001-06:00

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

Fotos! 08.03.2009

2009-08-03T12:36:00.004-06:00

Alright, three of the pictures are of Cerro Campanario, and one is of zone conference. I hope you´ll be able to see the one of zone conference. It ended up pretty dark. But anyway, I hope you like them!

Love,
Hermana Jana Pincock

Hermanas Pincock and Porter

Hola! (Email)

2009-07-27T14:55:00.002-06:00

Hi Family! How are you all doing? I´m doing well. Well, I´m writing this later today beause I went to Villa La Angostura. It´s about an hour away from here. Last night the leaders there invitied us over to see all the pretty views so we decided to go. Very pretty. But you know... I´m always stressed out about the time and getting everything done! So sorry if this letter is a little shorter than normal. :o( I´ll just have to type fast. :D

First off, Hna. Porter cut my hair last Monday. That´s fun. It´s a little longer than shoulder length still, but I have bangs. Kind of fun.

Tuesday we had zone conference and we met President and Hna. Peterson! They´re very good people. He´s especially very loving. Had a short little interview with him and it was good to talk to him. I think they´ll be wonderful ¨mission parents¨.

During the conference Hna. Porter and an Elder sang a song, and I played the piano. They sang ¨I Know that My Redeemer Lives¨. They did very well. Pretty pretty voices. Anyway, after conference Hna. Varela, who I had been in El Bolson with, stayed with us for the night. Her companion was transfered to Puerto Madryn to be companions with Hna. Schwab, and Hna. Varela will be companions with a ¨mini-missionary¨. She was a little nervous about being senior companion since she has been in the mission for a transfer and a half, but I have no doubt that she´ll be just fine. She´s already a great missionary.

So anyway, Hna. Varela stayed with us the night and then we took her to the bus terminal early Wednesday morning. Good times.

Lets see, good things that happened this week... one night we were walking in a neighborhood and we heard, ¨Where are you from?¨ I must admit, I usually just ignore english when I hear it, but we decided to turn around and see who had said it. Marcos (or Mark as he introduced himself :D ) actually speaks very good english. We talked for a long time in the street (perhaps too long...) but it was really good. He is a scientist, and has some interesting ideas, but we can tell he has a really good heart. A good person. Anyway, we have his information and everything, so we´re going to teach him, and hopefully his two kids.

Also, there is a family here, named the Anfuso family. We were eating lunch with them on Thursday, and Hno. Anfuso was talking Argetina politics, etc... But anyway, the idea occurred to me that we should teach Marcos with Hno. Anfuso because they´re both very educated, and I think it´d be good for Marcos to hear a grown man´s testimony. We mentioned it to Hno. Anfuso and he´s up for it. So I´ll keep you updated. :D

We had a good lesson with Eduardo and Mariahelem. We taught ¨The Gospel of Jesus Christ¨ and talked to them about baptism. And what´s impeding them from being baptized. They know they need to get married. But they´re super hesitant. So their assignment is to make a list of pros and cons, after praying and reading the scriptures together, and then they need to make a decision. They have been putting it off for a long time from what I hear. So it should be good.

Sunday we had another lesson wtih Mariahelem. Eduardo was sleeping. But we also taught two of Eduardo´s sisters, Nelida and Ester. It went well. We taught The Restoration again because it was the first time that Ester had learned about it. It went well. They said they´ll read and pray. Mariahelem said she has never prayed to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet. I was surprised. I told Hna. Porter, ¨No wonder she doesn´t want to commit to be married. She still hasn´t obtained a testimony of the first part of our message¨. So that should be good.

So on Sunday we had Eduardo, Mariahelem, and a girl named Mariana in church. Mariana is the niece of the stake president. The stake president´s sister, Mariana´s other aunt, lives in our ward. So it turns out she started going to our ward a while back, but she actually lives in other ward boundaries. From what I understand, it´s okay with everyone if she keeps going to this ward, and if we teach her. She´s 15. We have our first appt. with her this week and we´re going to teach with the young women´s president. Lucia is the young women´s president. She´s only 21, but she´s great.

The youth in the ward are trying to earn money to go to the temple in October. Therefore, Hna. Porter and I have bought noodles, treats, etc... that they´re selling to save money.

Oh, have I mentioned that Hna. Porter really shouldn´t eat flour or sugar? She can, but really doesn´t feel well. So we talked with the members, and they´re trying to feed us food without flour. How? You might ask... but it turns out that there is a lot of food without flour. It´ll probably be good for me to eat a little less flour as well.

Well, I think that´s about everything. I hope that you are all doing well, and that you´re all happy. The church is true. I´m so grateful that I was born where I was. I am SO grateful for temples. Do you all have goals set about how many times you would like to go to the temple throughout the year? If not, I invite you to set goals. :D The temple, and worshiping there, protects us from danger. Bothiritual and physical. I have been surprised to realize how many talks in the last conference talked about temple worship. One talk talked about the temple in Logan. Good memories. :D

I love you all. Choose the right and do what Jesus would do.

Love always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

:0)

2009-07-20T22:19:00.000-06:00

Hola Mi Familia! ¿Cómo están? Espero que estén bien. Well, lots has happened this week! First off, last Monday, I believe I said we were going to go to a mountain. So we went to Cerro Campanario, and it was BEAUTIFUL. We rode up on a chair lift (like we were skiing), and it is beautiful up there. I actually have pictures, and I´ll send them very soon. But anyway, that was fun.

Then Monday night HermanasTejerina (from Salta Argentina) and Varela (from Cordoba Argentina) got to our apt. I hurried and packed, and Hna. Varela and I headed to El Bolson together bright and early in the morning. Hna. Tejerina is actually training Hna. Varela, so it was fun to work with Hna. Varela. They were having a little bit of a hard time, so they needed to see new places and have different experiences for a day or two. But they´re good to go now! We worked Tuesday and Wednesday just like normal, and we were blessed to find some new investigators, etc... It was a good time. And Hna. Celis and Hna. Schafer (MTC Companion) had served there so it was fun to hear a couple of things about them. 

And, El Bolson is very pretty as well. A lot of very close up mountains. The city is basically just in a little hole between all the mountains. Fun.

Thursday Hna. Tejerina and Hna. Porter rode to El Bolson, and then Hna. Porter got on the next available bus to head back to Bariloche. So it was a good little trip. But talk about luxurious traveling! I´m not sure if we have these kinds of buses in the United States, but if so, I´m going to seriously consider forgetting driving, and I´m going to ride buses when I go long distances. They´re huge buses, and they´re two floors. The chairs are basically beds -- footstoles, pillows, blankets... very luxurious. 

So we got to work here in Bariloche on Thursday. Saturday we had a lesson with Eduardo, Mariahelem (Magdalena/Marilena... a little confusion with her name haha), Eduardo´s sister´s, Nelida and Ester, and Nelida´s boyfriend, Mario. We watched ¨Together Forever¨ and it was good. Eduardo´s mom passed away a while back, and it was good to watch it with them. So anyway, they assured us that they would all be in church the next day.

So Sunday, we had SIX investigators in church! It was so great! We had Eduardo, Marahelem, Nelida, Mario, Belen (another sister) and another girl, Mariana, who has family members that are church members. It was so great. They got there late, so we were getting worried that they wouldn´t make it for sacrament meeting, but they made it. :D And the Bishop came in for Gospel Principles so that was nice.

While I was gone, Hna. Porter and Hna. Tejerina, and a member, had a good lesson with Sebastian and Cecilia. They basically taught the Law of Chastity. It sounds like it went well. We haven´t had the chance to talk with them sense. So we´re hoping. :D

Lets see, what else? We had a good lesson with the Beltran family last night. We did ¨La Lista de los conocidos¨with them. It´s good that they´re thinking a little bit about sharing the Gospel.

Tomorrow we have zone conference, so I´ll get to meet my new mission president. That should be good.

Hna. Porter and I were talking the other day about how whenever we have a hard time, we always look forward to something good that´ll happen in the future. For example, we think, ¨things will be better in my next area¨. Or, ¨it´ll be easier with my next companion¨, etc... I was thinking about how I have done this my whole life, and ít´s not a good thing! I really want to learn to enjoy the moment, and just enjoy life. We should look forward to good things that´ll happen in the future, but be happy with what´s happening right now. 

Well, I think that´s about it for what´s happening here. Things are going well. I´m happy to be here and for everything that I´m learning. I know that Jesus Christ lives. He came, lived, died, and was resurrected, so we can live together forever as a happy family. Keep doing the little things!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hola! :D

2009-07-13T10:52:00.002-06:00

Hola mi familia! ¿Cómo están? Well, I read a little of the emails, and it sounds like the family reunion went well. I´m so glad that you´re all home safe. An answer to prayers. And, fun Mom and Dad that you went and listened to Hna. and Presidente Cook! They were amazing leaders of the mission and are amazing people. It made me giggle to read some of the things that they commented on. Raising pulpits, etc... It´s the truth! And fun that you met Hna. Bladh and Hna. Beus. I don´t know the other Hna. fun fun.

I´m impressed that you all wrote when it was so late. From cell phones even... :D Well, things here are going well. We were blessed to find more new investigators this week so that´s a huge blessing.

Eduardo and Marilena: They work a lot and it´s hard to find them. When they are home it´s pretty late and we are usually not in their area at night so it´s a little tricky. However, it was Argentina´s independence day on Thursday so we were able to have a lesson. But Eduardo had left. Aahh! However, we were able to teach Marilena, and two of Eduardo´s sisters - Anahi and Belen. A good lesson. And our neighbor went with us to the lesson. She served about the time Anna Karina did in Cordoba, here in Argentina. She´s great. Her name is Sulma.

Sulma is amazing. She´s always bringing us over food at night. Empanadas, hamburgers, etc... I want to be more like her. She just does it to be nice. The other night our calefactor (heater) turned off, and we didn´t know how to do it so she came over to help us out. And our landlord who´s also a member. So we have good help around.

Anyway, we also went over to Eduardo and Marilena´s house on Saturday to invite them to church again. Marilena wasn´t there and so we couldn´t teach a lesson ( just three males were there in the house) but we invited them to church. We thought we were all good to go but they didn´t make it to church yesterday. :o( Next week.

We also had a great lesson with Piera and Natalia, and Natalia´s boyfriend. Have I talked about them? They showed up to church the first week Hna. Porter and I went to church here. He´s a member, but in-active. They went to church hoping that the church, or north americans, might be able to help them get to the US because Piera´s son ( and Natalia´s brother) recently passed away and he lived there. Anyway, we taught the Plan of Salvation the week before. They live really far away (like 45 minutes walking) but we went and watched the movie ¨Together Forever¨ ( I think). It´s called ¨Juntos Para Siempre¨in Castellano. Anyway, it was perfect. They definitely felt the Spirit. The tears flowed for about everyone. It was actually the first time Hna. Porter had seen it as well. Afterwards Hna. Porter and I sang ¨I know that My Redeemer Lives¨ and the Spirit was so strong. We talked about Heavenly Father´s plan, and what THEY need to do. It was good. They weren´t able to make it to church either... but it´s okay! We´ll get them there next week.

So things continue to go well here. I´m still thoroughly enjoying being here with Hna. Porter. She´s amazing. I´m actually going on a little field-trip this week. There are sisters in El Bolson, another city not too far away. Our leaders called and said that I´ll be heading to Bolson for like 3 or 4 days to be with one of the sisters, and the other companion will be here with Hna. Porter. We´re not exactly sure about all of the details, but I hope we´ll be able to help out.

Today with our zone we´re headed to hike a hill/mountain so that should be fun. I don´t remember what it´s called, but it´s supposed to be one of the prettiest views in the world. So that should be nice. And the sun is shining and it´s not too cold. yay!

Lets see... what else? I have been reading the conference talks. Today I read the talk by President Eyring about adversity. It really makes me think. He talked about a man who served as a bishop and the influence that he had on the people. Particularly the youth. Pres. Eyring made a simple statement: ¨He loved them, and they knew it¨. I thought that was really profound. It´s something I would really like to work on. I need to develop and focus on my love for the people, and then show it. From my companion, to investigators, members, to contacts. Love and charity. So important.

Oh, yesterday I had to opportunity to speak in church. The bishop called and asked earlier in the week if I could speak. He said I could choose one of the attributes of Christ that´s in ¨Preach My Gospel¨. I chose faith. I think it went well. Dad, I read your story on faith. The one that the man is hanging onto a branch when he has fallen off the cliff. The people thoroughly enjoyed it.

Well, I hope everything is going well. I love you all very much. I know that the church is true. I know that we have trials to test our faith and make us stronger. But we can always overcome our trials as we hold onto the iron rod and have faith in Jesus Christ. I know that Jesus Christ is my older brother, and if I follow His example, I´ll be happy. And I´ll help other people be happy as well.

Be happy, and as grandma would say, ¨Be of good cheer. Make it a happy day¨. I love you!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hola! 07.06.2009 (Email)

2009-07-06T13:00:00.002-06:00

Hola! Cómo están? Espero que todo esté bien. Todo está bien acá. First off, I read Dad´s adventure. I´m so glad you´re okay! It sounds like it was quite the experience, but that you had lots of good help. An answer to prayers.

Yep, I bought boots last week. They were pretty expensive, and I didn´t look around much because we didn´t have time. So I was actually feeling pretty guilty about it. But today we have been looking because Hna. Porter needs boots as well, and I´m feeling much better about my purchase. They seem to be really good, just expensive... But they´re good. So gracias!

Well, starting off with last week´s preparation day. Hna. Porter and I were cleaning our apt. and I was wiping off the water heater. As I was scrubbing (but not hard!) the little knob, it broke off, and water starting SPRAYING EVERYWHERE!!! So, not knowing how to turn the water off, we got the help of our landlord, who also didn´t know to turn it off, so she was trying to call people. Have in mind that water is still spraying everywhere and I was trying to plug it with my hands basically. VERY WET! So she finally got a hold of someone, and we found the correct knob to turn to stop the water. Very exciting. So the blessing is that we don´t have carpet, just tile, and we just mopped all the water ( a good amount of water) out the door. So it all worked out just fine, and I don´t think I´ll forget soon.

Lets see, what else... oh, Happy 4th of July to everyone! I haven´t read much of the emails, but it sounds like you had a good time. It´s a good holiday. We ate a little to celebrate. :D

Oh, so we´ve been hearing a good deal about ¨la gripe ¨A¨ ¨. I don´t remember if it´s the flu or the fever in english. Flu I think. Anyway, it turns out that it has arrived here from the US and Mexico. The city seems to be concerned, and they don´t want big groups of people gathering together. However, there is absolutely no reason to worry. Hna. Porter and I have great health, all the members are telling us what we should do to avoid getting it, and we have actually been instructed by our leaders that we shouldn´t shake hands with ahyone, or ¨da besos¨(kiss anyone on the cheek) for the next little while. What a hard habit to break! So anyway, if you hear anything, don´t worry. We´re great.

We found some good investigators this week so we´re excited about that. We got a couple of ward references as well so we´re excited to get a hold of them.

There is a couple that had been going to church with the elders before we got here, that needs to get married. We had their phone number but not their address. When we called, he didn´t know the address, and we couldn´t find the house. But good news! They went to church yesterday, so now we have a much better idea of where they live and we have an appt. to teach them. I´m impressed with them and really feel like they´re going to progress. They´re named Eduardo and Marilena.

The youth here in the ward are selling food, trying to raise money to go to the temple in October. I think it´s neat.

Oh, I think I read some questions about the area, and why we´re here now. So it turns out that a while back, a year or two ago, there were elders and sisters. The area was split in two. They took the sisters out of the area, and so the elders area just became much bigger. They had their area, and the sisters area. Because of different circumstances, and we´re not a 100% sure, they took the elders out, and put us sisters back in. And Hna. Porter and I get to do it! We´re still having a good time.

Oh, this is funny. Hna. Porter and I were talking about the personality test, where you find out if you´re red, yellow, white, or blue. I couldn´t remember very well. I remembered that I had a little of all, but almost no yellow. I guess I´m not very exciting. jaja The funny thing is, is that she´s almost completely yellow. So I think we´re a good match. :D

I played the piano yesterday in church. Very enjoyable.

We have our new mission president here! I think we have zone conference July 21 so I´ll meet him then I believe. I think it sounds fun if you want to hear Pres. and Hermana Cook speak. If you can make it there it sounds great. If not,it´s just fine. I´m sure they´ll both do a wonderful job.

We have a lot of rain here. I like it. Snow in the mountains, but nothing down below yet.

We continue to try to meet the members and to work with them. We have started doing the ¨lista de los conocidos¨where you write everyone down you can think of that hasn´t heard about the gospel, and so far it seems to be going pretty well. We did it with the Bishop and his family the other day. It went well.

Well, I think I´m going to go now. I love you all a ton, and you´re always in my prayers. I know that this is the church of Jesus Christ. He is our Savior and Redeemer. If we live His teachings, we find peace and happiness in this life, and this happiness and joy will never end. Even in the eternities. Obedience as well is so important. It protects and guides us. I love you!

Love always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hola de las montanas! 06.29.2009 (Email)

2009-06-29T10:58:00.002-06:00

Mi Familia,

Hola! How are you all doing? I´m doing great here in Bariloche. Talk about big changes in the last week! So I said some ¨goodbye´s¨there in Allen on Wednesday. Sister Contreras, a missionary visiting from her area for a couple of days while she waited for her new companion to arrive to the mission, got to Allen at six. We went to an appt. and then I left Allen at 8:00. I was in the airport for like 3 hours in Neuquen, and it was good to talk to other missionaries. I talked to a couple passing through who had been in Bariloche, so they gave me a ¨heads up¨on a couple of things. Then I got to Bariloche at six in the morning.

We were in the bus terminal for a couple of hours, and then the zone leaders took me to my new apt. The owner/landlord is a member, so I was with her for a couple of hours while I waited for Hna. Porter to get here. Then we went to the bus terminal.

So we basically ate, cleaned a tiny bit, and then started planning. It was interesting. We just read the area book about investigators, etc... to try to think what we could do. It was a completely different experience.Where to start?

We headed out that night to buy food, and it was funny because we just had to ask people where the store was. Because we had no idea! But we eventually found our way there. jaja

The next morning consisted of finding a map. We have one really big map in our apt. that we can´t carry around, and another that doesn´t have all our area. And so after going to lots of places, and asking lots of questions, we finally got ahold of a fairly good map. Yay! We found our way to our lunch appt, surprisingly without problems, and the family we ate with is wonderful. We took out our map and they spent a good amount of time explaining where our area starts and ends - more or less.

So it turns out, that our area is HUGE. We´re actually pretty excited about it. We called our zone leaders to ask where the limits are, and they basically said not to worry... they were pretty sure we wouldn´t be leaving our area. jaja

And it´s true... Bariloche is BEAUTIFUL. Bariloche is known for the mountains, snow, lakes, and... chocolate. Not too bad eh? :D It´s also fairly cold. Not colder than an Idaho winter though. Well, so far anyway. I think I am going to buy boots, to try to keep warm.

Oh, something funny is that we have a large amount of stairs in one part of our area. It´s like right next to our apt, and to get to the other half of our area, it´s fastest to go up and down these stairs. But I have no idea how many there are. Hundreds. We´ll get our exercise.

So these last couple of days we have been trying to meet the members. We want to get to know them, and to gain their confidence, because we want to work a lot with members. I think it´ll be the best thing. We want them to find people, and to teach them in the houses of the members.

Hna. Porter and I have actually enjoyed getting here, not knowing anything. We have no predispositions about who people are, how they are, if they´re willing to help, etc.... It´s wonderful. So far all the members we have met have been wonderful, and we´re excited.

We met our Bishop yesterday in church.Yay! A Bishop! It was the soonest he could meet with us. He´s young, and is recently married with two little kids. He reminds me of Brother Remington. :D His daughter actually reminds me A LOT of Nyah. It´s pretty crazy. She´s 2 I believe as well. Anyway, I think he´s like 26 yrs old. We ate lunch with him and his family yesterday, and thoroughly enjoyed it. We asked him for the names of 5 less-active families, and he gave the names to us on the spot. He´s ready to help us and to help us teach people in their house. :D

Hna. Porter is great. She already talks spanish really well. Much better than I did when I had been in the mission for 3 months. She has 4 brothers/sisters, and her brother is serving in Mexico. She´s 23, and taught dance before the mission, and graduated from cosmotology school. Her family lives in Spanish Fork, Utah. She´s a ¨people person¨and I´m loving it. I´m excited to serve with her, and Hna. Schwab trained her well. :D

I really feel like we have been guided these last couple of days. We have found houses, directions, and people, that we couldn´t have been able to find if Heavenly Father´s hand wasn´t in it. I know He has really been helping and guiding us, and that He´ll continue to do so. This is His work.

Yesterday in church three people went to Sacrament meeting that we didn´t know. The man is a member, but his mother-in-law and girlfriend aren´t. The brother of his girlfriend was living in Miami, and passed away. They went to the church, hoping a north american could help them. Unfortunately we have no idea how we can help them get to Miami, but yes, we can teach them about the Plan of Salvation. A miracle that they went to church yesterday. We have an appt. with them tomorrow.

Oh, I ran into the sister that´s in Allen with Hna. Hedquist in Allen, in the bus terminal in Neuquen. I told her to take care of Allen. :o) She´s from Nebraska, and seems great. I´m sure that great things will happen in Allen.

I know that this is the church of Jesus Christ. I know that Jesus Christ lives, and that He is the Savior of the world. If we use His atoning sacrifice in our lives, we can become like Him, and Heavenly Father. I love you, and I know that we have the authority to seal families forever. We should always have our eyes fixed on the holy temple.

I love you!

Love always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Baptism and Transfers! 06.24.2009 (Email)

2009-06-24T10:08:00.003-06:00

Hola! How are you all doing? I hope great. I hope you got the pictures okay. I thought you´d like to see them. First off, transfers! I´m headed to Bariloche! I´m actually very surprised, because I have been told the whole mission that there isn´t an area for sisters in Bariloche, so that I would never go there. So from what I understand, I think my new companion and I may be opening an area. We´ll see. My new companion is going to be Hna. Porter, from Utah. She got here with Hna. Hedquist, and was trained by Hna. Schwab. :D Surprises! So I´m going to leave here at 7:30 tonight, and go to Neuquen. And then at 11:00 I´ll leave Neuquen to Bariloche, and I´ll get there about 5:00 in the morning. I´m headed to mountains and snow! I´m actually excited about that because I have missed the mountains and snow. We´ll see what adventures lay ahead. :0)

Hna. Legro is coming here. I´ve never met her, but she got here with Elder Jensen, and he assures me that she´s a great missionary. That should be good. I feel like Hna. Hedquist is ready to take over. She´s well prepared and knows the area well. I have no doubt that good things will continue to happen.

The baptism on Saturday was wonderful. Santiago was baptized by his dad, Hna. Angel Peñalver. Tamara Troncoso, an 18 year old was also baptized, as well as a man, Juan Carlos Flores - 45 ish years old I think. It was a wonderful baptism, and we had great ward support. I think there were atleast 50 people there so we were very pleased with the turn-out.

More good news! We had a lesson with Hna. Eloisa Panero and Hno. Mansilla, ¨the bishop¨. We talked about baptism, and temples, and what you have to do to prepare. He urged her not to put off her baptism for much time. It was so good for me to hear from someone else other than a missionary. Especially her leader! She said she wants to be baptized in July, and we put her date for July 11th! One of her granddaughters is actually living with her as well right now, who is 11, who would like to take the missionary lessons as well to prepare for baptism. Yay! So they should have some baptisms here this next transfer. :o) I would love to be here to see Hna. Panero, but being transfered is part of the mission. I´m just happy she´s going forward with it.

Lets see, what else? Ah, Sergio and Patricia. They were all dressed and ready to go to the baptism, and their car didn´t start. :o( Then they went to Plottier on Sunday so they didn´t go to church. But, we had some really good lessons with Patricia this week. Sergio wasn´t there, but on one side I think it was better. When Sergio is there, Patricia doesn´t say much about what she thinks about everything. But she really opened up to us last night and Hna. Hedquist knows how she can help her move forward. I just pray for them.

We actually didn´t find out until last night about transfers because everything is so crazy. So, I didn´t know if I should be saying ¨bye¨to people etc... However, as I was praying Monday night I really felt like I would be transfered, so I kind of said an unofficial goodbye to a couple of people. Do you all remember Irene? I must admit, that I wasn´t a real fan of saying bye to her. She has been the grandma that I don´t have here in Argentina. I just love her with all my heart. She has definitely made an impact on me.

Well, I have A LOT of packing to do in the next 3 hours, so I need to get busy. I hope you all know how much I love you. I know families can be eternal. I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. He is the guide. We have a living Prophet and Apostles. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the path to happiness. Read the scriptures and pray always!

Love Always,

Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Jana in Allen with the Pear Statue

Second, Santiago´s baptism! Santiago is the little guy next to his dad, Hno. Peñalver.

Hola! 06.15.2009 (Email)

2009-06-15T13:12:00.002-06:00

Hola! ¿Cómo están? Espero que todo esté bien. Todo está bien acá. First off, Lisa and Jordan, happy moving day! I hope all goes well as planned, and that no one seriously injures their back or anything while you´re moving things around. :D

Mom, Happy Birthday on Saturday! Have a wonderful birthday, and eat lots of yummy dessert.

Dad, Happy Father´s Day on Sunday! It´s actually Father´s Day here as well. I´m not exactly sure why Mother´s Day is different. Anyway, have a fantastic day!

Also, good luck everyone participating in the Ragnar Relay! Run hard, and be careful! Be careful traveling to the relay as well.

Next week on Wednesday is when we have preparation day I believe. It´s when we have transfers because the new mission president will be coming soon. Everything is a little different. So anyway, I don´t know if I´ll be writing on Monday, Wednesday, or when... we´ll see.

Alright, so good news... Sergio, Patricia and their daughters Yosie and Micaela went to church yesterday! Yay! It was stake conference in Roca, and it was the satellite broadcast that they do now. Elder Perry, President Eyring, the Sunday School General President, and a member of the seventy spoke. It was a very good lesson, and Sergio and Patricia seemed to have enjoyed it. :D We also had a very good lesson Saturday night. We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Faith, Repentance, Baptism, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End). Or, the path to eternal life. It went well. In Elder Eyring´s talk he talked about the importance of baptism, and invited all those within the reach of his voice, who hadn´t been baptized in the church yet, to come and be baptized in the church of Jesus Christ. :D

Lets see, Santiago is progressing well towards his baptism this Saturday. We´re hoping and praying that all goes as planned. He has had a hard time going to primary, so last night we taught him with the primary teacher, and talked about the importance of going ( instead of running outside or going to priesthood meetings with his dad). He needs to drink milk before eating meat. :D It went well, and he assured us that this next week he will be in and participate in Primary.

Well, things haven´t gone like we would like with Hna. Panero and Victor. Yes, Victor is a member. He´s 21, but didn´t serve a mission. He hasn´t been active for very long. A while before I got here. So anyway, the elders talked to Victor, and the ward mission leader, but it hasn´t clicked yet. Hna. Hedquist and I were talking to a ward member, and she suggested that we have a lesson with the ¨bishop¨, teach all the doctrine and make sure they understand, and then let them make a decision and set goals. So we´ll see what happens. But for now, she doesn´t have a baptismal date.

Last preparation day we went to Roca for a zone activity. We really got together to practice singing a song for President and Hna. Cook since it was their last zone conference with us. So no one told us to bring preparation day clothes, but they were playing soccer. So Hna. Hedquist and I played in our skirts and church shoes. :D Pretty funny. I couldn´t be quite as aggressive as normal. jaja No really, it was just a funny experience because about all their elders were in their suits and church shoes as well. Good times. Chaos.

So Friday we had zone conference, and it was SO good. I loved it. We have a really good zone here in Roca. Lots of good things are happening. I think 11 baptisms are scheduled for this next Saturday. So 11 in one stake!

I have really been trying to focus more on using the scriptures in my teachings. Introducing, reading, and applying them. The usage of scriptures makes a really big difference. Very important.

Well, I think that this is pretty much what has happened this last week. I love you. I know that the church is true. I know we have a living prophet, and the the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, as well as the words of the living prophets all come from a loving Heavenly Father. We need to Feast upon them!

I love you all very much, have fun, and be safe!

Love always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

P.S. I read about Nephi in Helaman 10 this morning, and I want to be a missionary like him. Verses 4 and 5 I believe were the verses I especially like. A good read. :D

:D 06.08.2009 (Email)

2009-06-08T12:05:00.002-06:00

Hola mi familia! How are you all doing? I hope that you´re all doing well. My hands are kind of cold so we´ll so how this typing thing goes. jaja First off, great news! Sergio, Patricia, and their two little girls went to church yesterday! YAY!!! So good. So now here´s the story.

The week before we hadn´t been able to meet with them. Then Wednesday, we were with a member, Lorena Villegas. As we were passing by Sergio and Patricia´s house I thought to myself, we should stop by. Then I talked myself out of if, reminding myself that we had an appt. in life 3 minutes about a block away. But then we got to the other appt. and they were´t there. So of course Sergio popped back into my mind. We went, and he was there with a friend. But since Lorena was with us, we could go in! Yay! The lesson went well, and he mentioned that he had seen us walk by, and was wishing to himself that we would stop by... but then we came back! The Spirit is amazing.

Anyway, Friday night I called Patricia to ask if we could stop by Saturday in the afternoon. She said great, no problem. So we went Saturday, and to our dismay, she had left. Leaving only Sergio there. So we couldn´t enter. We ended up talking for a good while outside, and we talked about the importance of acting, and how they need to go to church. So we said we were going to come in the morning and that we would go together to church. :D So we stopped by Sunday morning, and they were all getting ready! Yay! We didn´t do very well explaining before hand about church so I felt bad about that, but I think they enjoyed it. I´m sure they´ll have plenty of questions for us this week.

So Hna. Panero. An interesting week. We weren´t sure about whether or not we should wait to talk to her about baptism, with the fear of offending her or her family, by talking about baptism so soon. But I really thought about it, thought about the blessings of baptism ( peace of conscience, joy, basically all the feelings of the Holy Ghost) and we decided the sooner, the better. I tried to think the way that Jesus Christ thinks, and I don´t think that He would want her to wait to receive the blessings. So we talked about The Gospel of Jesus Christ Thursday night. Her son was there for part of the lesson, and I wasn´t so sure what he thought about it all. But she said she wanted to be baptized June 20th. So we left it at that.

So Friday night Elder Jensen called us, and told us that he had heart that Victor, the son, hadn´t taken it all very well. That it was too fast. I felt AWFUL. So then we were worried as well, that Hna. Panero felt pressured into it. I don´t know that I slept much that night. But after a lot of praying the next morning, reading the scriptures, talking to leaders, and I must admit a little crying, we headed to Hna. Panero´s house Saturday morning to talk to her.

We talked, and she assured us she doesn´t feel pressured. She wants to be baptized, and has been waiting a long time. The problem being, that Victor wants to be baptized for his dad in the temple, before his mom is baptized. I don´t really understand why, and that means she´ll have to wait a long time! So we´re going to see what we can do. I´m just praying that it all works out like Heavenly Father wants it to. But I´m confident that the ward members will help us as well.

Santiago Peñalver, the 10-year-old we have been teaching, has a baptismal date for June 20th! Yay! He´s really progressing, and he´s very excited to be baptized. He has a lot to learn and do in the next two weeks...

There were a lot of people in church on Sunday. So good. The elders had like 7 investigators, and we had five, and a couple of other less active members went as well. So good. And we had great meetings, especially sacrament meeting. So good.

Hna. Hedquist has been sick this last week. A pretty bad cold. I feel bad, and never know what to do. An adventure always.

We found some more new investigators this week. Yay!

Oh, remember Fernando and Fernanda? Yesterday we were with Sylvana, a member, and our appt. wasn´t there. :( We thought of Fernando and Fernanda. Why not give it another try? So we went, and to our surprise, Fernando was there, and he let us in! The lesson went really well, and we talked a little about the Plan of Salvation, and why we have trials in life. And how we can increase our faith. I love teaching with Sylvana. She went on a mission in Chile, and her Gospel knowledge is incredible. I can improve a lot.

I discovered something neat in the scriptures this morning. I am reading a little in the new testament. I read in Mark 8 about a blind man that Jesus heals. Jesus Christ lead him by the hand out of the city, placed His hands on him, and then asked the man what he could see. The man could see a little bit, but not very clearly. He then placed His hands on his eyes again, and then, the man could see every clearly and perfectly. I thought about the man, and how even though he couldn´t physicaly see, he trusted Christ to guide him by the hand, because he knew that Christ could see.

I compared this to me. I´m not physically blind, but I think I´m often spiritually blind. But, I need to let Christ take me by the hand, to guide me. He will then help me to see things more clearly, as I look with an ¨eye of faith¨. I may not see perfectly at first, just like the man, but He´ll help me see/understand, little by little. I can trust Christ, and let Him guide me, because I know that He has perfect vision, and perfect understanding, even though at this time, I don´t. It all made me really think. We need to have faith in Christ.

I know the church is true. I love you. I´m grateful that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have given us so much. Search the scriptures, and listen to the Spirit. If we do what They ask, we´ll be happy. I love you, and want to live with you forever.

Love Always,
Hermana Jamba Pincock :D

:D Feliz Junio! 06.01.2009 (Email)

2009-06-01T13:01:00.002-06:00

Mi Familia,Hola! ¿Cómo están? Espero que estén bien. Todo está bien acá. What a week! Well, where to start off...

Monday was interesting because there were a large amount of people in the street for the 25th of May. We originally thought it would be perfect for contacts, but there was also lots of loud music. Not so effective when the people need to hear a still small voice.

We ended up trying to visit a family, who to our surprise, were actually home. We met them a while back - Calletano and Ana María. They have three grown kids. Anyway, they basically said that they are Catholic, and have no intentions of changing. Yet, we felt like we should give it another shot the other day. So we went, and they were home. So we decided to try and get their attention a little bit, that we´d watch ¨The Restoration¨to see what they would think. It was funny, because they admitted that they had no idea how to work the DVD player because their daughter always does it. That made me giggle. It turns out it´s the same in Argentina and the US in that regard. :o)

However, it turns out that Hna. Hedquist and I don´t know how to hook it up either. So we were going to do something else, when they offered to call their daughter to come over and hook it up. So she came over, and we all watched ¨The Restoration¨together. :D Interesting, because Gabriela, who´s 29, has interest. I guess after the first time we went over, she looked up info. about the church on the internet, even though we didn´t even talk to her. Just to her parents. So long story short, we have an appt. with them tomorrow night. The elder´s quorum leader is going to go with us to the appt. :D

To our dismay, I think a couple of our investigators are avoiding us. :0( We´re not so sure if Adriano has interest anymore, so we´ll see if we can visit him with the Ormeño family. We can hope so.

We continue meeting with Monica Carrasco. I think slow but sure progress. She really needs a testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. Tough.

Did I mention last week that we´re starting to teach Santiage Peñalver? He´s 10, and his whole family are member of the church, but he still hasn´t been baptized. We´re starting all the lessons with him, and hopefully we´ll have a baptismal date for him soon. I´m thinking the end of June or beginning of July would be a good time for him to get baptized.

We still love visiting Irene Lucek Sigampa, the lady from the US. Her testimony is so strong. We went with the ¨branch president¨Hno. Mansilla the other day so he could give her a temple recommend interview. Yay! I´m glad the ward is really helping her. They are taking her the sacrament and everything. So great.

We went and visited Carla Barría the other day with a member. We taught her and her husband, and the lesson went really well. Nilda, the member, really shared her testimony about all the blessings of the Gospel. Sadly, Carla really doesn´t feel the need to learn more for now. She thinks she´s fine the way she is. It´s hard when this happens, because you can´t force anyone to learn. So I don´t think we´ll be passing by for now...

Tuesday morning we went to visit Hna. Eloisa Panero to see how her ¨husband¨was doing. She filled us in with all the details. At this moment the doctors had said that if he lived, he wouldn´t live a normal life. Then on Wednesday morning we were ¨knocking¨and we talked to a lady who said she couldn´t talk, because her father-in-law had just passed away. We were shocked when she said the name... Hna. Panero´s husband.

So it turns out the culture is a little different here. We had a member fill us in on how it works. Almost immediately after the person passes away, they carry them to a funeral home. Basically it´s a funeral home. And the family of the person stays there for 24 hours straight so people can go by and support them. And when the 24 hours is up they go straight to the cemetary. There´s no waiting, or funeral as we know them at home. I thought it was all very interesting. It made me grateful for the LDS way at home.

Hna. Panero, Victor, and María (grand-daughter that lives with them) seem to be doing very well, considering everything. We´ll see how it goes from here.

We found a couple yesterday. Well, we met Paula about a week and a half ago as we were looking for another house. But we stopped by yesterday, and taught her and her husband, Luciano. It went really well. They have lots of questions, but are eager to learn. :D Luciano has a friend who served the mission in Chile, so he knows a little bit. Very interesting.

Oh, and we weren´t able to teach Sergio and Patricia this week. Sad.

So things here are going well. Hna. Hedquist has a cold and isn´t feeling so good. It´s hard to be sick in the mission.

Oh, we were able to teach Andrea and her husband Carlos yesterday as well. Very good. We taught part of the Plan of Salvation.

I read in an article the other day a quote by Joseph Smith. He said that he´s like a big rough bolder, and the only way he can become smooth and refined is by hitting off all the rough edges. It said that you need to hit off the rough edges by hitting with a strong force. I really feel like it´s true. Some days in the mission I feel like I´m ¨hitting hard¨against edges in order to break off my rough edges. Only in this way can I become more refined. A better representative of Jesus Christ. I hope that made sense. We all need to be refined, and sometimes we´re ¨refined by fire¨.

I´m very grateful to be a missionary for the true church of Jesus Christ. He guides one church, and He does it through His prophets and apostles. I´m so grateful for temples, and the knowledge that I can live with my family forever. What more can I ask for? I´m grateful for my older brother, Jesus Christ, and I know that He died for me. And He died for you. So that we can repent, and thus become more like Him. We can be happy.

I love you!
Love always,Hermana Jana Pincock

Happy Independence Day in Argentina! 05.25.2009 (Email)

2009-05-25T23:13:00.004-06:00

Hola! ¿Cómo andan? Todo está bien acá. So, it turns out that May 25th is Independence Day in Argentina! And, it´s also ¨Independence Day¨for Allen. Allen is 99 years old today. I was actually a little nervous that we wouldn´t be able to find a computer today, but a little kiosko (really mini grocery store) is open that has computers. Yay!

I´m trying to remember to write who I get letters from so you know. I got letters from Mom, Dad, and Shari. Gracias!

Oh, the new Elder here is Elder Taylor from Rigby, Idaho! Good old Idaho. :o)

So things here are going well. We had a good week. Dad, I read a little bit of your letter about how many lessons missionaries should teach. It´s true. The help of members helps a ton. There have been weeks that we haven´t taught as many lessons as we would have liked, but this week was better. We were able to find more less active/recent converts and more lessons with investigators as well. The thing we really lacked was lessons with members... I need to work on that.

So we were able to meet Sergio and Patricia this week. We usually go only Saturday or Sunday to their house, but we talked to Sergio in the street and said he would be leaving town. So we made an exception and went Friday night. They have lot of questions, and I need to be better at guiding the lesson / conversation! But I´m glad they have questions as well. They mentioned that they were going to go to church the week before, but something came up and they weren´t able to go. And when Patricia was praying, she asked for help to be able to go to church. I thought... hum.... great! A good step.

So Sunday morning we headed out to find investigators. We went to Adriano, and he wasn´t there. Then we went to Graciela and Mariana, and we woke Graciela up. I felt a little bad, but not really. It´s funny the things you do as a missionary. :D Then we went to Sergio and Patricia. To no avail. And we tried to find the house of an investigator, also named Patricia. We have been teaching her in the house where she works, and she couldn´t remember her address. So she said the neighborhood, and the color of her house, but I think she´s a little confused about what neighborhood she lives in. The house was not to be found... Anyway, none of them ended up going to church, but we made the effort, and they atleast know we want them in church!

Last night we stopped by really quickly at Patricia and Sergio´s house, and said, ¨So, did you hear us this morning?¨ And she said, ¨That was you?¨ We assured her that it was, and that we´ll be sure to say her name next time through the door so she knows it´s us. :D We´re going to go to church together!

We had a good lesson with Daiana. She´s 25. We had taught part of The Restoration the week before, but we finished up this week. She said that this is a really good time for her to learn more and that maybe it´s ¨her time¨. That made me happy. We´re excited to teach her again this week.

One thing I wish is that people didn´t have such busy schedules! It complicates things when people have to work like they do. jaja

Oh, I believe I wrote about Andrea, and how her husband, Carlos, had wanted to watch the DVD ¨The Restoration¨. So we went over yesterday, and we taught all L1 to them, and it went well. Yay! So it turns out that Carlos is the brother of Ricardo. I don´t know if you all remember Ricardo and Marisa. Ancient investigators... Small small world.

Do you remember Hermana Eloisa Panero? The lady who has been going to church for like 7 years, and still hasn´t been able to be baptized because she´s not married? So we went over to her house yesterday to see why she hadn´t gone to church, because she´s always at church, and we talked with her son. Hna. Panero´s husband, had a brain... something... and he´s in the hospital in Roca. I think it´s pretty serious. In a coma I believe. Wow. I hope everything turns out okay.

Nope, no luck finding Fernando and Fernanda. :o( Sad.

We had a sad lesson the other day. We found a less-active member who now goes to another church. It made me very sad as we talked with her. We were also teaching her daughter. It pretty much breaks my heart when people refuse to read the Book of Mormon. They have no idea what they´re rejecting and missing. So sad.

Lets see, what else. Oh, this is exciting. Adriano is a man that lives alone. As you all know we need another lady to go with us to teach him. So we thought of Hna. Ormeño. It´s her family that we found a while back, that we eat with every other Sunday. So we thought it would be good for her, and that we´d ask Hno. Ormeño as well, because I think Adriano needs a man to relate with. So we went and talked to Flia. Ormeño about it, and they said they´d do it! Yay! So I think ít´ll be a good opportunity for them as well, because they´ll be able to share their testimonies. So we´ll pray that it all turns out like we´d like.

So how are all your missionary experiences going? Are you still praying about your lists of people of who you can share the Gospel with? Have you picked someone?

You´re all reading the scriptures every day right? I know that scripture reading is so important. I know that Heavenly Father lives and loves you. I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. He is your personal Savior. Jesus Christ has restored His church through a living prophet. The church is true!

Always remember that I love you!

Love always,
Hermana Jamba Pincock

Hola Mi Familia! 05.18.2009 (Email)

2009-05-18T12:22:00.002-06:00

Hola! ¿Cómo están? I hope that you´re all doing very well. Things here are going well. Transfers are today, but Hermana Hedquist and I are going to stick together here in Allen. Que bueno! Elder Argueta is headed to Comodoro in the south, and Elder Jensen is going to train again. So that should be good. So enough about that.

We had a good week this week. Where to start? First off, we found ten new investigators! Yay! After the week before we really wanted to find new investigators, so we were blessed in that way. The down side is that we weren´t able to meet with our other investigators much. It´s so hard to find them in their houses! What to do. Dad I read a little bit in your email that you want to focus on how many lessons the missionaries teach there. Help of the members will make a BIG difference. Have I mentioned that member missionary work is so important? :D

We weren´t able to meet with Sergio and Patricia this week because they had visitors. :o( Maybe we´ll be able to stop by during the week. I hope so.

We were finally able to talk to Fernando the other day. It turns out that Fernanda is still pretty sick, and is pretty much always in bed. The good news is... that the reason she´s sick is because she´s pregnant! ¿Que tal no? Anyway, I thought that was interesting. We´re hoping to be able to go to their house this coming week as well. I really feel like they´re ready for the Gospel. They just don´t recognize it yet. :D

Last night we had a good lesson with Sylvana, a member, and a new investigator. His name is Adriano. Since he lives alone we had planned on going to this lesson with a different member. We were going to meet in Sylvana´s house because she lives close to the investigator´s house. Unfortunately, the other member couldn´t go at a moments notice,so Sylvana was kind enough to go with us. It went well. He was very excited that we went to his house, and is eager to learn more. I´ll keep you updated with him.

We found various other new investigators that I feel really good about. We met a lady named Graciela a little while ago. We went to her house Wednesday morning I believe, and she wasn´t there at first, but her daughter, Mariana, was. She´s 21 or 22. I can´t remember. We ended up teaching to both of them and it went well. I really am finding that people are hesitant to listen here because there are so many missionaries from different religions. Poco a poco... I decided they just need to read the Book of Mormon with an open heart.

We also met Emeli. She´s 23. She is studying Radiology. We were only about to teach part of ¨The Restoration¨but it went well. I think she has a desire to learn as well. She mentioned that she doesn´t agree with a lot of the things that they teach in her church right now... so I think she´s open to learning new things. It´ll be good. :o)

We also met Marcela. She had been studying with missionaries from another religion for like a year, but decided to stop a while back. She said that that was the first time she had talked with ¨Mormones¨. I feel like it went well as well.

Oh, we also met with Monica Carrasco. It was a good lesson, but a little sad. We talked again about lesson one, because we didn´t feel like she was really understanding the importance and the doctrine of lesson one. For example, she likes reading the Book of Mormon, but I didn´t feel like she really gives it the importance it deserves. It´s much more that just a good book that teaches lessons.

It finally came out that she doesn´t believe that Joseph Smith saw our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. So we started again from the beginning, read Joseph Smith´s history, and talked about how she needs to study and pray in order to know if he really was a prophet called of God. We talked about how there are a lot of things that she needs to learn, and can learn, but if she doesn´t accept Joseph Smith as a prophet, she´s not going to be able to progress and accept the other things. This is the church of Jesus Christ, that is lead by prophets and apostles, just like before. So we´re hoping she´s reading and praying.

So I think this was a good week. We still need to find new investigators, and we can always improve with the way we teach. It turns out that you always have to keep learning as a missionary.

We had an interesting experience last night. About two weeks ago we were talking to a couple in the street. They invited us to their church. They said that we´re always inviting people to our church, but won´t go to their churches. I said we´d think about it, and try to go to their church. Then the next Sunday was Mother´s day, with lots of rain, so we didn´t go that night. We ran into them this last week in the street, and they brought it to our attention that we hadn´t gone to their church. So we said we´d go this week. So we went last night. I do believe that it was the first time that I ever attended another church. The couple was happy we went. We weren´t able to stay for much when the preacher was actually talking because we had to go back to the apt. to end the night. But I think I learned from the experience, and I think it surprised some people that we were there. For the better I hope. So anyway, I´ll write more on that in a letter I think.

Mom, I got your letter in the mail last week. Thanks! Had you put a $2 bill in that card? It didn´t make it if you did... I was trying to remember. But the stamps got here just fine. I got a letter from AK like 2 weeks ago as well, but I believe all the letters you had sent before getting the email news have gotten here already. We haven´t gotten the mail from this week yet.

I´m so grateful for my family, and I´m so grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. What a blessing it is. I know that we have the doctrine of Christ available at our finger tips. We need to read and feast upon what we have! I love you all very much. Thanks for your continued love and support. I love you!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hola! 05.11.2009 (Email)

2009-05-11T11:04:00.001-06:00

Hola! How are you all doing? Well, it was very fun to talk to all of you yesterday. Very fun to hear your voices. I felt bad about the mix up with Hna. Hedquist´s family and everything, and that the first things we had to say were about the time schedules, and who was calling when. Thanks for calling her family though. She was able to talk to them so it worked out just great.

It sounds like you are all doing well. I´m so happy to hear that things are going well. It was fun to think about the differences /culture of Argentina as well. Like I said, I´m forgetting what´s really different! Funny how that works.

So it rained A LOT yesterday. It never rains,and it really rained. It was great, and it made walking yesterday more exciting. In the center of town where there´s pavement it was pretty normal, but the dirt roads became mud roads. :D It was entertaining. I´m just happy that I managed to stay on my feet the whole day. jaja Isn´t ¨jaja¨funny? It´s how they write ¨haha¨ here. Or else they write ¨jeje¨. I like it.

Anyway, we had a GREAT lesson with Patricia and Sergio yesterday. We have been teaching them The Plan of Salvation for a good while now. It´s even longer because we can only meet with them once a week,and they have a lot of questions when we´re teaching. So we finally were able to teach the 2nd half. The spirit world, resurrection, judgement, and the 3 degrees of glory. We emphasized how THEY need to know for themselves if it´s true. They don´t need to know for Hna. Hedquist and I... we´re just here to help and guide them - to help them know for themselves. As we asked them if they are going to pray to know for themselves, Patricia was a little hesistant. So we asked again. She expressed her concerns that she can´t just change religions every time someone new passes by her house to teach. We agreed. And that´s why she needs to ask Heavenly Father if it´s true, with a determination to act on her answer. They need to be reading the Book of Mormon - investigating! Because their decision about this will have a consecuence for a long, long time. We think they understood. We´re eager to pass by again this next weekend to hear what has happened.

As for Carla Barría... she´s a wonderful person as well. It´s hard to help her realize that she needs something more in her life. She needs to be reading the Book of Mormon. We still haven´t even taught The Plan of Salvation to her. :o( We´re going to pass by atleast one more time to teach it, help her realize the significance of everything, and then let her decide what she wants to do.

Yes, we are trying to build the ward here. It´s tough work. But it´s good. Mostly it just makes me sad that people aren´t keeping their baptismal covenants. It´s a daily battle for everyone. Myself included.

Well, sorry this is short. It took a little bit to attach the pictures. I want you all to know that I love you A LOT and I hope that you´re happy. Remember the quote in ¨The Living Christ¨ : ¨His (Jesus Christ´s) way is the only path that guides to happiness in this life, and eternal life in the world to come.¨ I love you!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hola! so, I´m going to try to attach pictures really quick. We´ll see how it goes. The first one is of Hna. Hedquist and I - 30 minutes ago! So now you know exactly how we look in this instant.

The 2nd one is of Hna. Wilches and I at general conference. We´re with Hna. Valería Moreno. She helps us a lot. She´s the ward mission leader´s wife.

The 3rd one is of Hna. Wilches with her hair down because I think her hair is fun down, and it was always up in a pony tail. So I took a picture to celebrate.

Alright, that´s all for now!

Love,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

05.04.2009

2009-05-04T12:36:00.004-06:00

Hola! Cómo andan? Todo está bien acá. Alright, to start off... it turns out that the whole phone call thing may be a little complicated. It turns out that I forgot to talk to the man who is in charge of the ward yesterday, and he didn´t answer my phone call this morning, so I´m not completely sure if it´s okay if you call the church. But I´m thinking that it should be just fine. So the number to the church is (54)(0??)(2941)(451634). So I believe 54 means something with Argentina. I don´t remember how it worked last time with the other numbers beforehand. Hopefully you all remember!So anyway, we´re thinking we should call before you all go to church. So can you all call at 11:00 am? If I understand correctly, from what Hna. Hedquist´s family said, that means it will be 3:00 pm here with daylight savings time and everything. So I will be in the church at 3:00 pm, Argentina time, anxiously awaiting your phone call. Alright, so this is all supposing that it´s just fine with Hno. Mansilla that you call the church. If it´s not okay, I´m not going to be in the church, so I´m not going to answer your phone call. If I don´t answer, it means I´ll be in a phone call place, and I´ll call you at home! The same time and everything.

Wow, that took a long time to figure everything out with Hna. Hedquist, so I´m not sure this will be as good of an email as always. But we´ll be able to talk on Sunday so it´s okay!

Things here are going well. We actually weren´t able to talk with Fernanda and Fernando ALL week. I´m actually pretty worried about it myself. Everytime we pass by they´re not there - getting a shot, something or other. So we´re praying, and hoping that everything works out just fine.

We had a good lesson with Sergio and Patricia this last week. We talked about the Plan of Salvation, and they had a lot of questions. It´s really fun when they want to learn, and I think they´re really coming to understand better. They really need to read the Book of Mormon.

We had a good FHE on Saturday. Mostly recent converts go, but it´s good to teach and strengthen them. We would really like investigators to go... we´ll work on it.

We had a really good lesson with a lady named Eloisa yesterday. Hna. Moreno from the ward went with us, and it was actually the first time we taught her. We had jus talked to her on her doorstep before. But anyway, one of her daughters passed away a while back, and we talked to her about part of the plan of salvation. She had questions, about the plan of salvation and why there are so many churches - how you can know the truth. It was a good lesson. I´ll keep you updated with her.

Things are progressing with less-active members, and strengthening the ward. That´s nice. It makes me sad when people don´t want to go to church. We should all WANT and look forward to going to church. To partake of the sacrament most importantly than everything else. People need to understand the importance of the sacrament. I think I´m just starting to understand. We should be repenting all week, becoming better, and (asking) for forgiveness,and then we need to partake of the sacrament in order to (obtain) forgiveness from our Heavenly Father. Then we´re worthy of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost again. I am finding there are many reasons that people don´t want to go. However,whatever the reason, it isn´t good enough. Church attendance is SO important.

We watched ¨The Restoration¨with Carla Barria the other day and it went well. She said it answered a lot of her questions. We pointed out how it´s up to her to search for an answer, and to pray to know for herself. It depends on the individual person. We´re praying that she reads and prays. I want to meet with her again and actually read the Book of Mormon with her.

One of our investigators, Monica, went to English class the other day so that made me happy. It turns out that she has tricky questions! It´s good though. It made me think back to english grammar classes.

Alright, well, I´m afraid my time to write is all up. I want you all to know that I love you a lot, and that I´m looking forward to talking to you on Sunday! I love you!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hola! 04.27.2009 (Email)

2009-04-27T11:36:00.002-06:00

Hola! ¿Cómo están? Todo bien? Buenísimo! Things here are going well. It´s Hna. Hedquist´s b-day as you all know, and I think we´re going to eat brownies and ice cream to celebrate. She doesn´t want to do a whole lot more, so I think we´re just going to relax a little bit. :D

Aaron, Happy Birthday on the 30th! How exciting! I hope you do something very fun to celebrate. I wrote you a letter but I don´t think it will get there for another week or so. Sorry it´s late!

I do believe that it´s Mallory Sudweeks Weber´s b-day today as well. Feliz Cumple!

So, Lisa and Jordan, you´re buying a house! Yay! Wow, I can´t believe it´s the house of Bishop Remington and his family. That´s great. Dad mentioned in the last email that you had big news, but then no email from Lisa... I was pretty much feeling left up in the air! It was good to get the news this week.

Well, to answer a couple of questions: Mothers day? I was just talking with Hna. Hedquist, and we´re thinking that you should write several times that you could talk to us, when you´re not in church or anything, and we´ll write next week what time works for all of us. Does it work?

The good number of people here have TVs and DVD players. There are exceptions, but for the most part there isn´t a problem with that.

The ward FHE´s are going well. This last Saturday the elders had a baptism, so we had that instead of FHE. Well, I think it´s about the best FHE you can have. :D We would really like to have more investigators there, so we´re working on that.

English? We need to spread the word better about English classes. It´s a little tricky because we need an adult there, but there aren´t many adults available Saturday during the day. So we end up teaching outside a lot of days. We´ll see what happens.

How many new missionaries? 16 or 17 we think. Three new sisters (Hna. Schwab is training as well).

The best thing about Hna. Hedquist so far? Her testimony, knowledge of the scriptures, and desire to learn spanish. She is a lot like me. I think I already mentioned that. It´s interesting though. I see her struggles, and see myself. I try to be understanding, while pushing her at the same time. I know when I got here there were a lot of things I wasn´t really excited about doing in Spanish, but I learned from doing it. I know it´ll be the same with her. She´s great.

Alright, more with how the work is going here.
I would say the investigators that are progressing the most, are Fernando and Fernanda Sanhueza. Fernanda told us she thinks that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. We talked to her about baptism, and she´s praying about whether or not she needs to be baptized in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. :D

We talked to Fer, her husband, as well. He is really believing as well. The problem being, Fernanda´s health! Saturday we passed by for our appointment and to see how they were doing, and Fernanda had got to get a shot. Fernando mentioned that every time they want to do something good, like go to church, the enemy of all good things, sticks his tail into things. I agreed, and said that at least he recognizes what is happening! So they didn´t go to church. :o(We went to their house yesterday, and Fernando said that Fernanda probably has to have surgery tomorrow. It turns out she´s in a lot of pain. I feel bad, and I really don´t know how to help them. We´ll see.

We had a good lesson with Patricia yesterday. Sergio had to leave so he wasn´t there. But we talked about the Plan of Salvation, and we used the BoM the whole time. She was really interested in the Fall, and so we thoroughly enjoyed it. She has a desire to learn, and so that´s wonderful. I love it.

We stopped by Carla Barria´s house last night, and her husband was there. Yay!!! We finally met him! They really didn´t have time last night, so we just sang ¨Families Can Be Together Forever¨ shared our testimonies about families, prayed, and headed on our way. But I am so grateful that we finally met her husband, and he´s a very good person. He´s a policeman, and we talked about people, and how we can help. We talked about prayer a little bit. I think it´s a good step. Slowly but surely the people are progressing.

We had a really good lesson with Ruben and Vanesa. Ruben is understanding things better right now, but Vanesa is going to progress as well. They should be reading the B of M as well. :D

I´m worried about Cecilia and Antonela. I´m not sure how to help them, or to help them recognize the importance of this message. The investigators have a lot of personal responsibility. I was reading in Alma 5: 44-45 I believe, this morning, and Alma is talking about how he came to have a testimony. It says he fasted and prayed for many days to know. A testimony doesn´t come easy. It takes effort. It also made me think how the things that are harder to earn, we value more. I think Heavenly Father wants to see us putting forth effort so we value what He gives us. So they, and all of us, need to read and pray with real intent.

Hna. Panero assures us that she is progressing with her husband. Carla Ruiz didn´t go to church again yesterday because she slept in. :o(

So this is where we´re at! We really need to find some more new investigators. Oh, the Ormeño family is progressing as well. We got there Saturday, and they still hadn´t found their scriptures. We were just with Monica, the Mom. So we told her that we weren´t going to continue without her scriptures. We were going to find them - packed away! So we went upstairs, and found them. It was wonderful. Then we read together from the Book of Mormon, and we know that she felt the Spirit. We talked to her mom, Ester, yesterday as well. She wants to go back to church as well.

Thanks so much for everything. Thanks for your support, love, and prayers. I know I am definitely receiving strength from your prayers. I have a testimony that this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We know the way to return to our Heavenly Father. We just need to stay in the path, and go forward with strength. I love you!

Love always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Mom, I loved your story about your temple clothes. It really was a miracle.
AK, I´m glad things are going well with Matt at work.
Shari and Orrin, I hope you find a house soon!

2009-04-20T12:23:00.002-06:00

Hello everyone! How are you all doing? I actually can´t remember all your email addresses off the top of my head, so I´m hoping for this week mom and dad will just keep sending this off to everyone. Gracias!

So things here are going well. Oh, I started talking in to the digital recorder during part of my exercises this morning. Kind of fun. I think I should plan ahead better what I´m going to say so I have something fun or inspiring to say. :D

Well, I had a cold this last week, but I´m pretty well over it now. I just have a runny nose. Unfortunately, I was kind enough to give my cold to Hna. Hedquist. :o( She is doing well, but her health is giving her a hard time. Her stomach bothers her alot with all the new food. I don´t know how I got so lucky that the food never bothered me. Now she has a cold with a headache. I told her that she should sleep today, so hopefully she´ll sleep and let me clean the apartment, etc...

She´s 24, but she´s turning 25 next Monday. :D

She´s doing well with spanish. I never know how much she understands exactly but I think she understands the basic stuff. I think she understands much more than I did when I got here. She had taken a college class of spanish, but that´s it. It´s interesting because I think we´re pretty similar. I think we have pretty similar learning strategies / abilities, so I feel like I understand pretty well what she´s going through. It´s kind of tricky to speak spanish all the time when she knows I can understand english. :D But it´s much better in the long run.

Well, I glanced through my emails, and I must admit it was fun to see emails from siblings as well. Muchas gracias.

Well, the investigators... They´re doing well. We´re not getting them to go to church like we would like. We can improve a lot. We visited Sergio and Patricia yesterday with a member - Gabriela Acosta. It went well. Sergio had a lot of questions, and we talked about prayer and the scriptures. Patricia is pretty content in her religion and as for now doesn´t have intentions of changing anything, but she is reading the Book of Mormon. I have great faith in the power of the Book of Mormon, and that if she reads with real intent, that the Holy Ghost can touch her heart and help her understand. It´s going to be tricky to meet with them because of work schedules, so we´ll have to meet with them only Saturdays and Sundays I believe. And call in between. Yes, we can call investigators at night, but we only have limited minutes.

Fernanda is doing well. We had talked with Fernanda and Fernando (kind of funny that their names are so similar). They had said that they were going to go to FHE last Saturday, but didn´t come, and didn´t go on Sunday either. So we didn´t know what had happened. Then when we went there throughout the week no one was there. We didn´t know if no one really was there, or if they didn´t answer the door. So we were concerned. But Saturday we finally talked to Fernanda and we had a good lesson. We talked to her about the importance of reading the B of M and praying to know if it´s true. They didn´t go to church. :o( However, we have an appt. with all of them Tuesday. Fernando is finishing up with work Tuesday ( the fruit season is ending) so the whole family should be there. :D

Cecilia and Antonela are doing well. They had expressed their doubts about baptism, and how they need to feel more sure. We met with them Thursday I believe, we talked about the Fall of Adam and Eve, and the need for Jesus Christ. That without following Him, and receiving forgiveness through repentance, that they can´t return to live with Him and Heavenly Father.

Then, we met with them yesterday and watched ¨Finding Faith in Christ¨. We talked about the B of M and how it testifies of Jesus Christ. The purpose of prophets and the Book of Mormon, is to teach and testify of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ - the true doctrine of Jesus Christ that hasn´t been changed by men. Cecilia is reading the B of M so if they do their part, they´ll receive an answer.

I´m learning more and more everyday that the 2nd half of faith is action. We are quick to say that we believe in Jesus Christ, but it´s the 2nd part, doing what He asks us to do, that is hard. We need to act, and show our faith. We need to show that we trust Him.

Oh, I read an article in the ensign this last week called ¨The Functional Family¨from Feb. 2009 and thoroughly enjoyed it. I suggest it.

Oh, another story. Remember Carla, a former investigator, that reminds me of Becky Stubbs (Houston) ??? Well, we had passed by one day, and she told us that she had some family problems, and that she wasn´t ready to start going to a church. We could tell that something had happened recently if not that day, and that she was upset, but we couldn´t do much more. So we gave her her space. I must admit, that it pretty much broke my heart that day. So last night we were in her neighborhood, and we decided to pass by. She let us in, and it went well. We talked about trials, family, and how Jesus Christ can help. He´s really the only one that can help with everything. We asked if she would like us to come by again, and she said for us to pass by another day. :D A tender mercy. She and her family are prepared for the Gospel. We just need to help them realize it.

We need to find new investigators as well. It´ll be good. I believe we´re going to start trying in another neighborhood here pretty quick.

It´s definitely cooling down here. Fall is here! Yay!

So last Monday Hna. Hedquist and I played soccer with Elder Argueta and Elder Jensen. I thoroughly enoyed it. Good times. I saw that there was a hole in the grass so I put my sweater over it. Unfortunately, I wasn´t paying attention for a second, and stepped in the hole! My ankle bothered me for like a day and a half, but it´s as good as new now. :D So I pretty much have banned myself from playing much soccer for the rest of the mission. What can I say?

We had zone conference on Wednesday. Very good.

Well, the church is true. Thanks for everything. I love learning and studying the Gospel. It´s amazing how you can never finish learning. We as a mission have been studying revelation this past week, and I´m thoroughly enjoying it. Always fun.

Thanks for everything. I love you all. Choose the right. Be of good cheer. Make it a good day.

Love always and forever,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hna. Hedquist´s address:
1574 South 2650
West Syracuse, UT 84075

Phone:801 773 7585

Hola! Happy Easter! 04.13.2009 (Email)

2009-04-13T12:06:00.001-06:00

Hola! How are you all doing? I´m doing well here in Allen. And so is my companion. :D So I made it to Neuquen just fine Wednesday morning, and we had a meeting first with just all of the new trainers. The newly-arrived missionaries were out getting paper work done. It was a really good meeting. Pres. Cook talked about the responsibility that we have as trainers to teach them how the mission should be. He talked about all the prayers that have been offered by the parents of the new missionaries, that their child would have a good trainer. It really made me think about the responsibility, and I pray that I´ll be able to teach and help her in a way that would be pleasing to Heavenly Father and to Jesus Christ.

So then we had a meeting where they announced who was companions with who. My companion is Hna. Hedquist, from Syracuse Utah. She is the oldest of six kids. She graduated in elementary education, and taught 4th grade for two years. And now she´s here in Argentina with me!

I feel very lucky to be her companion. She has a strong testimony, a strong desire to learn spanish, and a strong desire to find people and teach them the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

As I see her, and listen to her, I seem to see and hear myself eight months ago. I had forgotten a little bit of the ¨shock¨that I had as I got here to Argentina. It really is a different way of life here. Think of the new missionary life, a new culture with different food, a new compaion, and especially a new language, and there are some good adjustments to be made in the first little while. But, she´s doing great, and I have no doubt that she´ll be all used to it in no time. I think she already understands more spanish than I did when I got here, so that definitely helps. And we have a great ward with supportive and loving ward members. So that helps.

So things here are going well. It was weird not to be in my area for a couple days this week. But we worked when we got here. We couldn´t meet with Cecilia and Antonela the whole week because they went to Neuquen for ¨La Semana Santa¨. They don´t work here Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday - remembering the last week of Christ´s life in mortality. So anyway, we couldn´t meet with them. We were able to talk to them on the phone last night, and they have some concerns. I think it makes them nervous to make commitments, so they don´t know what to think. So we´re going to pray for them, and then pray that our next lesson goes well. I hope they recognize that they need the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives.

Did I tell you about Fernanda? We had taught Fernanda and her four daughters. Well, Yennifer is her step-daughter. We went to her house on Friday, and since her husband wasn´t working, he was there too! We talked a little bit about prophets, and then watched ¨The Restoration¨. The Spirit was definitely there. We stopped by on Saturday and invited them to FHE that night and church again, but they weren´t able to make it to either of them. :o( We pray that they´ll pray, and read the Book of Mormon.

It really is hard for people to start going to church. It´s an adjustment. But it´s so important! I was reading about faith this morning in James 1-3 and faith and works really do go together. It´s not enough to just say that you believe and trust in Jesus Christ. You have to act. It goes for me as well. I recognize that there are a lot of things I can, and need to change -act- in order to be a better missionary.

Do you remember Patricia and Sergio from a while back? We met them when I was with Hna. Wilches. We taught The Restoration, and then stopped by another day with a member. The next time we stopped by they said they weren´t ready to make any changes, and that if they wanted anything, they´d go to church. So anyway, the other day we were in their neighborhood, and the thought came to my mind that we should pass by. But I thought to myself, ¨No, they don´t have any more interest¨. But the thought came again, so we went to their house. It was interesting, because Sergio´s mom had passed away a couple of days before, so we talked a little bit about the life after death. And they said we could pass by again. :D So we stopped by yesterday, and Patricia was the only one there. She said that she has been reading the Book of Mormon and the Bible - comparing them. She had some really good questions, and said that we can go back this week. :D It has been a miracle so far.

So Lisa and Jordan, I got the Digital Recorder that you sent! Gracias! It was fun to hear from all of you and to hear your voices. Now Hna. Hedquist knows you a little bit as well. I finished listening to it this morning. I´ll start talking on it sometime today I think.

So something interesting happened as I was in the meeting with all the new missionaries. President Cook said that we can write to our brothers and sisters through email, and that they can write us. Brothers and sisters, and parents. Nobody else. I was a little surprised. So if my brother and sisters prefer, they can email now, instead of write letters. :D I guess it was a little trial of our faith before. :o)

Can I have Uncle Richard and Aunt Becky´s home address? Thanks.

I could hardly believe how much Nyah and Hallie are talking now days when I heard the ¨tape¨. Smart little girls. I´m glad that you´re all doing so well.

Well, I have a testimony that this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I was so grateful yesterday to be able to reflect on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He really did suffer for each one of us - individually. He knows exactly how we feel. He suffered and died on the cross, and then He was resurrected the third day. I know that He lives, and that He guides us. He is always at our side, ready to help us. Every minute of every day. We just have to knock on the door and ask. How blessed we are!

I love you all. You´re always in my prayers. Thanks for your love and your prayers in my behalf. I always appreciate it. I love you!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hola! :D 04.06.2009 (Email)

2009-04-06T12:15:00.000-06:00

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

Hi! 03.30.2009 (Email)

2009-03-30T14:30:00.000-06:00

My Family,

Hi! How are you? I hope that you´re all doing wonderful. Things here are going well. I am actually in Roca. We came here for a zone activity before transfers next Monday. It should be good. We´re going to eat and everything, so we´re waiting for now.

Well... We have a baptismal date! Yay!!! We went and visited Cecilia and Antonela yesterday. Cecilia said she would like to prepare herself to be baptized May 2nd. Yay! She´s 28.

So we were able to talk to Antonela as well this last week. She is doing well, but it´s a little more complicated because she doesn´t know how to read. Cecilia is reading the Book of Mormon to her so that helps A LOT. We´re going to keep helping them progress. We haven´t really had the chance to meet with the rest of the family.

We have had a couple of appointments with Valeria, and her friend who lives with her, Laura. Laura is a member. She was baptized when she was like 12 or 13, and has been less-active since she was like 15. She´s 33 now, so it has been a while. As we taught them yesterday we talked more about the importance of praying and reading the scriptures. They both committed to read, so it made me happy. After so many years that Laura hasn´t been reading or praying, I´m happy that she´s starting up again. It´s funny how people have the same worries here as they do at home. People seem to think that they just don´t have time to read the scriptures! I assure them that although we as missionaries have a little different life right now, we were ¨normal¨before the mission and we had busy lives as well. We have to make time to read the scriptures. Even if it´s not for much time, it needs to be a daily thing. Then we can think about what we read all day. We just have to do it, no matter how much time we think we have. Anyway, It´s fun to take part in it all.

I have a favor to ask. Hno. Espinoza in my ward collects money from different countries, and I said that I could send a $2 bill from home. Is that at all possible? I do believe that there are several in my file at home. I´m thinking that you can just send it to the mission office normal in a letter like AK always sends letters. If it´s more complicated, don´t worry about it. :D

This last week in English was fun. Remember Clara and her daughters Cecilia, Marina, and Camila? It´s okay if not, it has been a while. Anyway, we have tried and tried to get them to church, and it hasn´t happened yet. So we were very excited when Marina and Cecilia came to english class! Even if they didn´t come for church yet, it was a good step that they entered the church. We gave them a tour afterwards, and they seemed to enjoy it.

It turns out that seminary is at the same time as english, so I think we´ll be changing the time of english here pretty soon. Both are good things, but seminary is definitely MUCH more important. We´ll see what happens. It is a little tricky teaching english, because I think there´s a pretty fair range of ability in the group. They´re all learning though, so I think it´s okay. Hna. Wilches helps me out too. She speaks english pretty well and understands the majority of what I say. :D

We found a lady this last week that had met with elders for quite a while, a while back. She actually read the entire Book of Mormon. Wow. We have another appointment with her this week so we´re praying that it goes well.

Have I talked much about Miriam and Lilen? It´s tricky because they´re 14 and 9, and their families really don´t have any interest. I don´t know for sure what to do a lot of times. I know that everyone needs to be baptized, but I want to be sure that they ¨endure to the end¨. They need to have a STRONG testimony if they´re young and are joining the church without their parents. We´ll see what happens.

Things are going well with Hna. Wilches. She´s a very good missionary. I told her that I think she has no fear. It´s great to be her companion. I love hearing her pray. Anyway, I think she´s getting a little nervous about going home in a week, but she´s trying not to think about it.

Did I mention that we´re having FHE as a ward every Saturday night now? We have only had two so far, but they have gone well. We as missionaries have been in charge so far, but we´re going to pass lessons and games onto members here before too long. We have had pretty good participation, so it´s great. Here´s a funny story. We played ¨Do you love your neighbor?¨the other day at FHE. They said that everyone with light colored eyes had to move seats.They assured me that I have ¨ojos claros¨. It made me giggle, because I have never considered my eyes to be light colored. Funny how perspective can change depending on where you live.

Mom, I liked what you write a while back about scripture study, and how we should be studying to get to know Jesus Christ better instead of studying just to put a check mark next to our ¨To Do¨list. Hna. Wilches and I were talking this last week about the importance of faith in Jesus Christ. We talk about commandments and blessings every day, that we receive from a loving Heavenly Father and His Son. We ask people if they would like to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ again. It all makes me think. It makes me think of the people that I trust in my life. I trust my family for example. I know I can trust you because I know you, I´ve been with you in many situations, how you handled the situations, and what you´ll do in the same situation in the future. I feel like I know you pretty well, and so I put my trust in you. Can we do the same with Jesus Christ? Do we know Him so well that we put our trust in Him without reservation? I have decided that this is part of the reason that the scriptures are so important. We need the scriptures to get to know Jesus Christ. We can learn about how He helped other people in the past, how He handled different situations, in order to trust in him 100%. It´s pretty incredible. We can all increase our faith in Jesus Christ, and do what He asks us to do. And we can help others do the same.

Thanks so much for your love and support. Thanks for your examples. I love you and pray for you. Read the scriptures and pray always. ¨Be of good cheer. Make it a happy day¨.

Love always and forever,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hola! 03.23.2009 (Email)

2009-03-23T12:03:00.001-06:00

Hi everyone! How are you all doing? I hope you´re all doing great. First off, before I forget, we got a letter saying that our families shouldn´t send anything FedEX or DHL (?? I don´t remember if that´s how it really is and I don´t have the paper with me). I don´t even know how you have sent things in the past, so I don´t know if it applies. Anyway, I guess it´s because it´s pretty pricy to receive them. We do have to pay to receive packages, and I believe the price depends on the size and weight. I don´t know for sure, but until now, I haven´t had any problems. So no problem. :D

Things here are going well. I tried out my first ¨Daily Dose¨ english class this last week, and I think it actually went really well. I really didn´t know how to do it, but I think it went well. It was actually perfect because more people had gone this week as well. We learned ¨Introducing Yourself¨. Good times. This way, the ¨students¨are actually talking the whole time instead of just writing and listening to me talk, so I think it´s much better this way. We tried to make it fun, and not scary to talk a different language in front of other people. It turns out it´s hard for everyone to talk in a different language! :D No really though, it made me very grateful for the progress that I have been able to make with spanish since I started the mission. I know that I haven´t done it on my own. I have definitely received A LOT of help from Heavenly Father.

Nyah, Happy Birthday!!! ¨Que los cumple feliz, que los cumple feliz, que los cumple feliz, que los cumple feliz!¨ (That was me singing) :D Two years old! I´m sure that you´re going to celebrate, or have already celebrated again since the trip to Colorado where you celebrated both she, and Shari´s birthday. Wow, I can hardly believe it has been two years already. How time flies by.

No, we still don´t have a bishop. However, Hna. Mansilla, is basically the bishop, and things are going well. Some less-active members have gradually starting coming to church recently, so we´re excited about that. We´re going to keep working on it.

We have been really blessed to be working more with members recently. I don´t remember if I have written about the Rocha family. We met Aide, the mom, in the street and she said we could pass by her house. We had gone two times. Her husband, Fabian, has really been more interested in everything. Anyway, we went yesterday with Sylvana Espinoza, a RM who´s like 27, to teach them again. We got there, and it was pretty sad. Fabian wasn´t there, and Aide told us she´s very content where she´s at, and she has no intentions of learning more or changing anything. It about breaks my heart everytime it happens, because I´m convinced that they really have no idea what they´re rejecting. Because if they really understood, I don´t think they would reject it. But we can´t learn and open their hearts for them. It´s their responsibility. We as missionaries have the responsibility to teach clearly and with the Spirit, and the rest is really up to them. So sad. I just wish they would understand!

So I think I mentioned in the last letter that we have started going to a neighborhood, that missionaries haven´t been in for like 3-5 years. I must say, that I´m thoroughly enjoying it! We feel like we´re opening an area in a way. :D We have found some really good people.

Yesterday for example, we were in this neighborhood (Barrio Colonizadora). We were knocking at one door, where nobody was there, and noticed a lady a little further down the street. So we started talking to her, Antonela, and her daughter, Cecilia. They had talked to elders a while back. Then we started teaching her son, Manuel, who even went to church before. As we were teaching the restoration, another son, Ruben, got there, and he listened into part of the lesson as well. It turns out that Ruben, is the boyfriend, of another investigator´s sister, and we already had an appointment to go to their house to teach this coming Tuesday. So anyway, very interesting. The neighborhoods here kind of remind me of Whitaker road. Everyone´s family! So anyway, we´re working and finding, and I know we´re going to find people that are willing to study, search, and keep commitments, so they can progress in the Gospel.

We´re still teaching Hna. Panero, who needs to get married before she can be baptized. She´s progressing. I don´t want to leave here until she´s baptized!

We´re still teaching Carla Ruiz, her daughter-in-law, as well. Lisa, Carla kind of reminds me of you. I´m not sure why, but she does. One of her little kids even reminds me a little bit of Hallie. It´s fun. :D Anyway, she´s trying to decide what to do as well. She wants to be baptized, and she´s trying to make big decisions in her life.

Do you remember the Ormeño family that Hna. Ramirez and I met a while back? The less-active family? Everytime that we go there, we ask again if they´re reading their scriptures and praying. This is so important! Well, if they can´t say anything else, at least they can say we´re persistent!

I finally ordered a new book bag for my scriptures, etc. the other day. My other one had really had it. I think I had sowed the strap back on like three times, and the zipper was broken. But now I have a brand new one. :D Fun fun.

I had the same question about the spirit world as well. In Preach My Gospel¨ it really doesn´t specify if it´s a ¨state of mind¨or actually two different places. After reading DyC 138 I came to realize that there are definitely two different places. Kind of tricky sometimes.

Hna. Wilches is doing well. She is a great companion. I can´t believe that a month has already gone by. I would love to be her companion for another transfer, but I´m afraid we don´t have much of a choice. haha. She´s a good egg. :D

So I hope you are all doing well. From what I hear, it sounds like you´re doing well. I´m grateful to be a missionary. I want to be better and improve everyday. It´s part of the adventure. Thanks for your examples and love always. I´m grateful for having a lot of wonderful teachers in my life. Remember I love you all ALOT and that I know that this church is directed by Jesus Christ. There isn´t any other way to live with our Heavenly Father again, but by Him. How blessed we are that we can change, and become better every day. Love you lots!

Love Always and Forever,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hola! 03.16.2009 (Email)

2009-03-16T10:52:00.002-06:00

Hola! How are you all doing? I hope you´re all doing well. Well, I´m in Roca because our district is going to have a little activity, so while we´re waiting for it to start we decided to start internet. I don´t know that I have that much time, so if I don´t write much right now, I´ll be sure to write more later.

Well, how did your talks go for stake conference? I´m sure that you both did wonderful. I actually ended up speaking yesterday as well... :D Saturday night about 10:00 I found out I was speaking the next morning at 9:00, so there wasn´t much preparation, but I think it went just fine.. I spoke on members and missionary work. Why ít´s important, and what the members can do.

I got letters from Shari, Lisa and Jordan, and AK as well. Very fun. I got the blog of all the fun things Nyah is doing. And Hallie - not a huge fan of the sand? And I´ve heard a little about the Denver trip. Good times.

Happy Easter! :D I got the package from Mom and Dad with all the yummy easter candy. Gracias! And of course, all the english stuff. I honestly haven´t had time yet to really check out the english materials, but I´ll do it as soon as I can. I´m excited to use all the stuff. Gracias!

AK, a bummer that things didn´t work out with Darci. Hopefully you´ve found someone else by now.

Well, we had a good week this week here in Allen. We decided to start working in a neighborhood that we really hadn´t worked in before, and things are going really well there. We have found some really great people so we´re excited.

I´m really enjoying getting to know the ward members better. There are some great people here in Allen. I am definitely learning about wards, how they function, and how I can help wards both now and after the mission.

I really have a testimony of the importance of visiting and home teaching. People need individual attention!

Yesterday we went on ¨splits¨and it actually went really well. I went with Hna. Moreno, our ward mission leader´s wife. As we headed off I told her we were going to do contacts in the street, and asked her what she thought about it. She kind of just looked at me like... What?? It made me giggle. But we did it and she helped a ton. She joined the church after already being married, but I´m pretty sure she would have left on the mission had she had a chance.

The splits actually went really well. I felt much better prepared this time than the first time I went without Hna. Celis. Things went well for Hna. Wilches as well and we found some new investigators. Yay!

We were eating lunch the other day with two sisters - Hna. Gabriela and Nilda Acosta. They were asking about my family again, and Nilda jokingly asked if I have any brothers. I assured her that I do, that he´s about her age, but if she wants to marry him she´ll have to learn english, or he´ll have to practice his spanish. Haha It made me laugh.

Lets see, Lisa reminded me that I never really wrote my new years goals. I think one of mine should be better posture as well. :D I did write some goals down, but I need to look at them more often. I want to improve my spanish - just a better vocabulary over all. I want to be more confident and bold in my teaching, but do so in a loving way at the same time. I want to be more patient and humble. I read a talk this week by President Ezra Taft Benson that talks about pride and it really opened my eyes. It was written in 1986 I believe, and it is a great talk. I believe it´s called ¨Beware of Pride¨ if anyone´s interested. I basically just want to be a better person over all. A better instrument in the hands of the Lord. It´s a constant battle isn´t it? I also want to be a better companion. I want to think about other´s needs before my own.
Needless to say, I have lots of work to do! It should be a good year.

I also read Pres. Monson´s talk from the last ensign about prayer and faith. Prayer really is important. You´re all praying and reading your scriptures every day right? :D

Dad, I love that you´re still playing soccer every once in a while with the Spanish branch. You´re playing much more soccer than I am! It´s interesting to be surrounded by a language that you don´t understand every once in a while. It´s a good reminder not to take our native language for granted. :D

I thought it was interesting because when Elder Scott was here he told us we should be doing our personal study in our native language, no matter how well we know spanish, because the Spirit can speak to us better that way. It´s the truth.

I love hearing from all of you. I love hearing what you think. The things that make you giggle, trials, thoughts... how the life is. The mission is great. I´m grateful for trials, because they help me appreciate the really good times as well. Hna. Wilches and I are really working here in Allen, and we´re starting to see miracles. Thanks for your good examples. Mom and Dad, thanks for raising us in the gospel, and for always being strong. And thanks to all the generations before hand, that made it possible for me to be born into the gospel! I love you all, and I´ll write again next week. :D

Love Always and Forever,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

P.S. Jordan, I¨m thinking of starting up the ¨peace¨and ¨I love you¨sign.

Hola! 03.09.2009 (Email)

2009-03-09T14:04:00.000-06:00

Hi! How are you all doing? Things here are going well. First off, Shari and Orrin, Happy Anniversary this week, and Shari, happy birthday! O... Feliz Cumpleaños! I hope both days are wonderful. And Happy Birthday to Grandma Stephenson as well. :D Lots of good days this week.

Lets see, to answer couple of questions. Meals are pretty much figured out. As of now we don´t have lunch on Wednesday or Thursday, but it´s okay. It´s better than it was! Have I mentioned that everyone works with fruit? They´re either actually picking the fruit, or sorting it and preparing it to be sent to the other countries. So this is the season that everyone is ALWAYS working. So maybe we´ll have more lunch opportunities towards the end of April when the fruit season isn´t in full swing. We´ll see.

I´ve never seen so many crazy pears in my whole life. Did you know there are red and green pears? Pears that look like apples? Pears that look a little like bananas? Pretty funny if you ask me. But they´re all delicious. :D I took a picture of different pears a while back. I don´t know if I sent that picture as well...

I´m so glad you got the CD of pictures okay! I guess that means I can delete the pictures off my camera now. I didn´t want to delete them off my camera until I was 100% sure that there are copies safe somewhere. I have another CD here as well that I assume works great as well.

My favorite argentine foods so far? There´s a type of meat, called Milanesa. There´s Chicken milanesa, or basically like beef. Anyway, it´s a thin slice of different kinds of meat, and then they put it in a type of bread crumb thing with different seasonings. Then they fry it, or put it in the oven. So anyway, my favorite is the chicken milanesa, and above it they put a tomatoe sauce and cheese. Delicious! And we ALWAYS have bread (basically french bread) when we eat lunch, and with milanesa we eat mashed potatoes alot. Of course, since I´m an Idaho girl, I love the mashed potatoes. Can´t go wrong there.

Alright, so about mission work. :o) We worked hard this week! We changed the way that we count lessons, so now they´re only a lesson if we actually enter the house, with prayers and everything. So now, we´re realizing how much we´re actually in the houses, and how much we´re out and about talking in the street. It´s good, because we need to be in the houses, where there aren´t distractions and they can feel the spirit. More motive to get in! So we´re working on that.

We found some new investigators this week, so that was good. We have an ¨area chica¨that we´re knocking on the doors, and things are going pretty well there. We have found more people recently who met with the missionaries before. Elders mostly. It´s good to see the fruit of other people´s hard work.

Oh here´s a story. We need to keep inviting more people to english. As of this last week, there was just Hna. Wilches and I, and three other 12-year-old girls. One a member, and the other two aren´t members, Paula and Rocio. The member, Maria, is actually friends of the other two. Anyway, we always start with a song and a prayer, but other than that, we don´t talk much about religion. Sunday, as I was playing prelude music before sacrament meeting started, Paula walked in to sacrament meeting! Wow, quite the surprise! Maria, the member, did everything on her own as far as inviting her and everything. I´m so proud of her! We´ll see if we can get into the house of Paula so we can teach her and her Mom. :D

Carla Ruiz is still progressing. We´re really talking to her, and Hna. Panero, alot about marriage, and what they want for their lives. Their goals. Carla went to church this week for the THIRD time in a row. Yay! She learns super fast, and is great. She´s reading a good amount in The Book of Mormon and the book ¨Gospel Principles¨. We´re excited for her.

I forgot to mention last week that Hna. Wilches and I went for a while last Saturday morning and cleaned the church. It was actually very enjoyable. We were cleaning the outside because it REALLY needed it. It looks much better now, and it was pretty funny in the process. Trying to reach high places without a ladder can be interesting. hahaha

This last week in english we learned about the seasons of the year, and what we do. Vocabulary like ¨leaves, snow, rain, etc... ¨pretty simple. I try to teach some kind of song to liven things up and help them to remember. So guess what song I thought of? I originally thought of ¨Once There Was a Snowman¨ but then decided not to, because it´s summer here. So guess what song we sang! ´Once There Was a Tulip¨!!! Lisa, I thought of you, and giggled as I taught it. I´m afraid they didn´t want to do the actions with me. haha

Everyone, thanks for the letters! Shari and Orrin, good luck house shopping! That´s so exciting! AK and Ryan, Nyah is doing so many fun things. I love that she´s walking backwards. It´s a pretty fun trick. Give Nyah and Hallie a hug and a kiss for me.

The temperature is cooling down here, and I´m LOVING it! I love the fall! The leaves are thinking about changing colors. It turns out that they don´t carve pumpkins here. Crazy. Funny how I don´t realize that culture is culture, until I´m in a different culture!

We had a great lesson with Clara and one of her daughters the other day a well. There are things that she would like to be different in her family. As she explained some of her concerns, it made me SO GRATEFUL for my family! We talked about how she can see changes in her family. We told her that if she wants to see changes, she has to make changes in her life. As missionaries, we´re always inviting people to make changes in their lives (repent) in order to find more happiness and purpose in their lives, and most importantly, in order to come unto Christ. We talked about how she can´t expect things to be different, if she´s not willing to make changes! It made me think. Often times when I´m teaching I realize that I should be directing my words to myself as well. Change has never been easy, but change is good. We need to change every day - for the better! What changes do we want in our lives? What are we going to do in order to achieve those changes?

Well, it´s time to go. I love you all a ton. Thanks for your continued love and support. Remember that I have a testimony that the church is true. It´s true, I miss you all, but I need to be here. Choose the right, and like grandma always wrote in her letters, ¨make it a good day¨.

Con Muchísimo Amor, Para Siempre,
Hermana Jamba Pincock

Hola! 03.03.2009 (Email)

2009-03-03T12:03:00.002-07:00

My Family,

Hi! How are you all doing? So sorry that you´re getting this email on Tuesday instead of Monday. I forgot to write last week that I had zone conference yesterday so our preparation day is today. Sorry, and I hope you weren´t worried wondering what in the world happened. But, all is well. :D

Well, about Scotty. Thanks for writing to tell me about him. I was a little surprised, but not too surprised. I´m sure it was in his best interest. He was old. I hope you gave him some loves for me too. Good little puppy. :D

Well, where to start? It has been quite the week. Gabriela Acosta that stayed the night with me is thirty. She´s wonderful. She really helped fill me in on the ward a little bit more, so I feel like I understand the dynamics a little bit better. That´s nice. She also had some really good advice that she learned from the mission. It was a good experience.

Then Hermana Wilches got here Tuesday morning! She´s so great! I can´t believe it has only been a week since she got here. It seems like so much has happened. She´s from Bogotá Colombia, and has been a member of the church all her life. All her family members are members as well. She has two older sisters and an older brother. She´s the baby too. :D I´m already learning A LOT from her. I´m enjoying it.

So Thursday we had the amazing opportunity to have a meeting with Elder Richard G. Scott and Elder Bowen, the area president for southern, South America I believe. It was so good. It was a meeting for just the missionaries here in the area, and I really enjoyed it. And I got to shake his hand. :o) I lead the music, and thoroughly enjoyed that. Singing ¨Called to Serve¨ with lots of missionaries and ¨Hark All Ye Nations¨is just flat out fun.

Elder Scott taught us several things. He talked to us about receiving personal revelation for ourselves, and for our areas. He talked about how the Spirit talks to our hearts and to our minds. He said that usually we receive a general impression - a feeling or a general thought. When we act on that impression, or obey, we have the right or ability to receive more guidance. He talked about writing down the inspiration that we receive, because as we write we record it, and show to Heavenly Father that we value what we´re receiving.

He talked about following the Spirit as we´re teaching, and how we can´t teach, or atleast make a difference as we´re teaching, without the Spirit. It´s true.

He also talked to us about how we study the scriptures. We shouldn´t just read to read, but read and study the scriptures. For example, he decided that we were going to read scriptures to learn how to be worthy of and have the Spirit. We then made a list of the things we need to do as we read and studied the different scriptures he had. It was good.

He talked to us about our decisions after the mission, and how we need to apply the mission and the things we learn to life afterwards. We shouldn´t just return to the person we were before. Heavenly Father teaches and stretches us for a reason on the mission. I hope I´m a better person after the mission than I was when I started.

The young men/ women and the adults here had another meeting with Elder Scott but we weren´t invited. :D I heard it was great though. Amazing.

Oh, and something fun about being there, was that I got to see Hermana Riquelme again, and I got to meet her companion, Hna. Morrill. Did I mention she´s from Logan? It was so good to see Hna. Riquelme again. I just love her. I saw her again yesterday, and I must admit I wasn´t that excited to say bye to her because the chances of seeing her again before she goes home are pretty slim. It´s okay though. We´ll write.

And then yesterday, we had a meeting with Elder Marcos Aidukaitis (sp???) who´s in the first quorum of the seventy. He gave a talk this last conference on the power of the Book of Mormon in missionary work. Wow. Where to begin. It was an amazing meeting.

He started off by asking us if he could be blunt with us, without worrying about offending anyone. We assured him it would be find. He started by talking to us about what our purpose is as missionaries. He summed it up in 3 words as Baptize, Confirm, and Retain. He then took it down to one word: baptize.

He talked to us about our goals. Every night we set goals for the next day. He asked us how many of us had set goals the day before, and had us all stand up. He then asked us who of everyone had met their goals. He then asked who had had a baptism in the last six weeks. Not many.

We in the mission as a whole, and myself included, need to make a lot of changes in the way we are doing missionary work. We read the scriptures that say the ¨Field is White already to harvest¨and what it really means. It´s ready, right now, in the Neuquen mission - in Allen.

He said in a meeting he was in with Elder Perry one time, Elder Perry said that one third of the entire world is prepared to accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ. One Third! We justify, and make excuses a lot of times for why things aren´t happening in our area. That other areas are easier, etc...

He talked to us about our faith. In the scriptures it talks about the faith of the missionaries, and the affect it had on their areas. THOUSANDS were baptized. It really made me take a look at myself. If one third of Allen is ready for the Gospel, and an apostle of the Lord said that it is, Hna. Wilches and I have a lot of work to do. Often times we´re too content with what´s happening, and we don´t have the vision that Heavenly Father has.

I think it´s fair to say that his talk yesterday has definitely left me thinking about who I am, and what type of missionary I am and should be.. There´s never a better time than now to change and become a better instrument in the hands of the Lord right?

I´m so grateful for a living prophet, and apostles who guide the Church of Jesus Christ today. I know that they are inspired by our Heavenly Father.

One quick story. Sunday night we were planning for how many new investigators we were going to find yesterday. We prayed, and we both thought three.. We thought to ourselves -- really? Three? We´re only going to be out working for a couple of hours... But we set the goal anyway. Last night we were knocking in our ¨area chica¨and we met a lady named Cristina. She let us in. We met her daughter Lucía and her sons Cristian and Juakin (sp???). We taught the restoration to them, and her husband came in for the last little bit. So with Cristina, and two of her kids that are over age 8, we have, yes, three new investigators. Miracles.

Mom and Dad, good luck with your Stake Conference talks. It´s this coming Sunday right? You´ll both do great.

Thanks so much for everything. I´m excited to work here in Allen with Hna. Wilches. She´s an amazing missionary and she´s helping me to become a better missionary as well. The Church is true, and Heavenly Father is a God of miracles. I´ll write again next week!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hola! 02.23.2009 (Email)

2009-02-23T12:31:00.002-07:00

Hola mi familia! How are you all doing? Things here are going well, and here we are with transfers again! Hermana Ramirez is leaving tonight to Caleta Olivia. From what I hear it´s pretty down south in the Santa Cruz province. So that should be fun for her. My new companion will be Hermana Wilches. She is from Columbia, and if you can believe it, she also came to the mission with Hna. Celis, Riquelme, and Ramirez. So of the four that came together to the mission, I will have been companions with every one of them! Interesting huh? So she´ll be ending the mission in April. Hermana Celis actually goes home tomorrow. She´s leaving a transfer early so she can start school. Pretty crazy if you ask me. Hna. Ramirez leaves tonight at 10:00, but Hna. Wilches doesn´t get her until tomorrow morning, so a sister from the ward, Gaby Acosta, is going to have a sleep over in the apartment with me. :D So anyway, next week I´ll write all about Hna. Wilches, but from what I hear she´s great.

Other interesting news, our new Mission President has been called. I actually don´t know exactly when President and Sister Cook finish the mission, but I think in like 3 months. Their names are Brother Darwin F. Peterson and his wife, Sister Nola K. Peterson. They´re from Bountiful, so maybe Aunt Julene knows them! Sister Peterson was born in Pocatello to Edward and Calpurnia Dabel Knutti. I don´t recognize the names at all, but maybe one of you do! So it should be fun. :o)

I got wedding pictures from Becky this week, so that was fun. Gorgeous! She seems really happy, and she´s back in Logan now, while Nate studies. She´s back to her cake decorating.

Thanks for the letters AK. I enjoyed Heather´s blog about everything that happened with Uncle Richard. Uncle Richard really is an amazing person. The whole situation really does make you think. Last night as we were teaching a lesson I talked a little about what happened, and the importance of families. It was good.

Yesterday I really wasn´t feeling very good at all. We went to church and everything, ate lunch, and were in the apt. studying afterward and wasn´t so sure how I felt about leaving again. But, we had finally put another appt. with Carla, the lady I talked about last week, and I didn´t want to miss it. So we prayed and headed on our way. And Heavenly Father took care of it, and I felt just fine while we were there. And we had a great lesson. Her husband was working again so he wasn´t there, but I really think she and her daughter felt the Spirit. Her husband had heard of Joseph Smith so she had some questions about him, but I think we resolved her doubts. It was great.

Did I write last week about Pilar Montesino? Alright, here´s the story. Hna. Panero, and her kids were taught by the missionaries like 6 or 7 years ago. Some of her kids were baptized, but she wasn´t, because her husband doesn´t want to get married. So we spend a good amount of time working with them, and re-activating some of the kids. Pilar is Hna. Panero´s mom. She is about 85. She pretty much can´t see, and you need to speak loud so she can understand, but she has the desire to be baptized. So the task now is, that she can understand that this isn´t just a baptism, but that she actually understands, and has a testimony that this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, of the B of M, and of Joseph Smith. I think we´re going to buy the B of M on tape so she can listen since she can´t read. I´ll keep you updated on her.

Hna. Panero has a son that was baptized like four years ago I believe, but has been in-active for a long time. His girl friend, Carla, also lives there. She went to church yesterday! They have two little kids. Back to the excitement of having kids and church! It makes me think of Nyah, Hallie, and Andrea and Andres in Plottier as well. Always exciting. Anyway, we´re hoping she continues to progress.

Did I write about Clara and her daughters Marina and Camila last week! We have had some good lessons with them. They were going to go to church yesterday, but Clara was in bed because her teeth were killing her, and I believe the other two had to work. I hope next week they´ll be able to go. Have I mentioned that Sunday mornings are much more complicated without a bus that takes you to all the houses of the members and investigators? I definitely took the bus for granted in Plottier. It was a huge blessing.

We had our first Ward Council meeting this last week and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We´re working on making a mission plan. We don´t have a Bishop in the ward right now, but there´s a brother who comes from Roca, a city nearby, every week to preside and basically be in charge of the ward. He had been gone on vacation, but he´s back now so that´s nice.

Yesterday in Gospel Principles the lesson was on the millenium, and I realized that there´s a lot I don´t know about the second coming and the millenium. I think I´m going to work on increasing my knowledge in that area here for a while.

Something interesting about Argentina. It turns out that it´s pretty normal here, that people refuse to keep working until they receive an increase in their wage. It happened with all the fruit, that people weren´t working for like one or two weeks. Now, school for all the kids supposedly starts today, but a bunch of the teachers refuse to work, so some have school, and some don´t. Pretty tricky huh? Oh something else that happens, is that the people who want a change go to ¨the ruta¨which is basically the road that everyone needs to get anywhere, and block it, so people have to go another way, which is much more complicated. And they stay there until they accomplish their purpose. I think it´s interesting. And everyone here knows more about the US government than I do. I´m not sure how to feel about it. :D

Alright, about you all. AK, I didn´t realize that you had hired someone. How´s she doing? Catching onto things? Starting new things is always a little tricky.

Work for everyone? I still love hearing about Hallie and Nyah. Hopefully you´re surviving at Gateway without Uncle Richard for a while. Church?

I love you all so much. I´m grateful that I´m a missionary. It´s a great opportunity to serve, and learn. I´m grateful for the opportunity I have had to be Hna. Ramirez´companion. I´ve learned a lot the past six weeks. Thank you so much for your continued love and support. You´re the best family in the world!

Love always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hola! 02.16.2009 (Email)

2009-02-16T10:52:00.010-07:00

Hello my family! How are you doing? I hope you´re all doing great. First off, Orrin! Two weeks late, happy birthday! I feel so guilty. I even wrote on February second, Orrin´s birthday! And then I read all about Uncle Richard and totally forgot. But I really was thinking of you on your b-day. I hope you did something fun to celebrate. 25 right?

Also, happy valentine´s day everyone! It´s funny, because it turns out that valentine´s day doesn´t really exist here. It´s a holiday, but I didn´t hear one thing about it. We actually reminded one of the couples in our ward here. Funny.

Good news! Hermana Riquelme sent me a picture of Marí and Miguel´s baptism! They were baptized the 31st I believe. Miguel cut his hair, and it appears as though he stopped smoking! Yay! Miracles. Also, Hna. Riquelme wrote on the picture that John and Judith, parents of Gabriela, had a wedding AND BAPTISMAL date for February 13th! This also means that John has quit drinking. Wow. Miracles. I´m so happy!

More good news. I FINALLY sent a CD with all the mission pictures I have taken just now. The CD should get there in 15 days or so they said. I hope it gets there safely. :D

So things here in Allen are going well. I think I mentioned about making the changes of where we are eating lunch. That now we will only be eating in our area. So it has been a fairly hard hit for some of the members, but they´re handling it well. We taught the doctrine, of why we´re doing it. We compared our area to the ward, and how we don´t have ¨the keys¨to work in other areas.

Therefore, when we were in the elders area, we couldn´t feel prompted to knock on someone´s door, etc... and thus weren´t using the Lord´s time wisely. Obedience. I think they all understand.

We laughed because a couple of the families aren´t attending church, and we said that now if they want to see us, than they´ll have to go to church! ¨Nos vemos en la capilla!¨

So yesterday we went to eat with one of the families for the last time. We got there before the food was ready, and met one of their family members - a cousin? - who isn´t a member of the church. They live a good ways out in the fields, so we couldn´t really leave to do contacts, etc... So we asked if we could watch ¨The Restoration¨while we were waiting. So we watched it. Then afterwards we talked to her for a good while about our beliefs, the need for a prophet, a little about the plan of salvation, etc. I have found here the common belief that we don´t need to go to a church, because churches are of men, and that God is with us - within our hearts. It´s true, that God is with us, but we need the ordinances that are found only in the church of Jesus Christ. It was a good talk. The mission is really very interesting. I really don´t see people as a mechanic, lawyer...I just see people as children of God who need the ordinances of the Gospel.
It was all very interesting because it turns out that she hasn´t been to their house in years, and she decided to go the last time we ate lunch with their family. We ended up giving her a Book of Mormon, and we´re praying that she´ll read it. I wish she lived in our area!

Here´s a story. Someone had mentioned that there´s an older lady in the ward who knows English. I really didn´t think anything of it. So we recently got a ward directory, and we´re trying to tract down all the members in the ward in our area that we don´t know. So we tracted Irene down. We started talking to her and introduced ourselves, and she started talking to me in English! It caught me a little off guard. It turns out that she´s from Pennsylvania, but moved to Argentina when she was 15! I´m impressed she still knows english so well because she´s 95! Anyway, it was very enjoyable. There´s just something different about talking in your own language.

Dad, I´m just winging it with english. I like the idea of really teaching it like it should be done. I think I need to do much better about really teaching - with a plan. I don´t know how it would be better. To send everything here or what. I really have no idea how to print things here so I would have to ask around. Whatever you think is best, but it sounds good.

We found a lady named Carla about a week or so ago. She´s a teacher, and her husband a policeman. We talked to her for a good while in a park, and then went to her house one day. She has two kids. We shared a little about how the gospel blesses families, and read ¨The Family: A Proclamation to the World¨ and I think it went well. We´re going to go to her house again to teach and we´re really looking forward to it. We still haven´t met her husband, but she, and he sounds great. They seem really similar to our family. They´re always doing things outdoors - hiking mountains, etc... very fun. And she reminds me A LOT of Becky Stubbs (Houston now :D). We´re praying that things will go well with them.

The other day we were trying to find the house of a couple, in a neighborhood we weren´t familiar with, and it turns out they had given us the wrong address. But, we asked Clara, a lady who was outside, for help. We ended up asking if we could talk with her and share a message with her. She said we could go in. She has eight kids, and she and her husband were baptized in another church, but she seems interested. We´re excited to go back to their house and finish teaching The Restoration.

A while back we were doing contacts, and met a less active couple in the ward - in our area! So we went to their house, and talked a little bit. Went a second time but the husband wasn´t there. And then we went the third time last night. It was interesting, because they were telling us how they used to always feed the missionaries, but then they were transferred or something a while back, and the missionaries never went again. Crazy. They asked us if we always have somewhere to eat. We explained that we´re making changes, and so no, we don´t have lunch several days now. So they invited us to eat with them Sunday! So we´re excited. I really don´t have a doubt that meeting them, talking with them, and now going to their house more regularly is an accident. It all just fits too well together. We´re eager to help them back to church.

I love when new ideas come to my mind when I´m teaching. Yesterday we were teaching the Plan of Salvation to a member, Victor who´s 20 I believe. He´s basically in training/tryouts for soccer right now, and we compared his training and preparation before tryouts to our life here. His preparation before will have an affect on if he´s on the ¨A¨ or ¨B¨ team. Equally, our life here and our preparation, will have an affect on where we live for the eternities. It was fun. I think he understood better.

I love you all. The church is true. Families can live together forever. We need to do our part to be worthy of such amazing blessings. The Book of Mormon was written by God through His prophets. We need to share what we know! I hope you´re praying about how you can share the Gospel. :D

Love always,
Hermana Jamba Pincock

P.S. Elder Scott is coming to Neuquen the 25th and 26th so we get to listen to him! Yay!

Hola! 02.09.2009 (Email)

2009-02-09T12:49:00.002-07:00

Hello! How are you all doing? Things here are going well. Well first off, I hope that Uncle Richard continues to improve. I´d love to hear about how he is doing. I hope all is well!

Well, I think I´ll just start off answering questions that I have gotten recently.

Size of the ward? I actually don´t know how many members there are in the ward, but around 45 usually attend. We´re working on increasing that number. :D

Food in general and when we eat with members? The food is great as always. Pretty much the same as in Plottier. Have I mentioned that they eat a large amount of tomatoes here in Argentina, and that I am now eating tomatoes without really even thinking twice about it? Pretty good huh? The eating with members thing is a little complicated, because we have been eating with members in the elders area. As I talked to President Cook this last week before zone conference, he said that we should be eating only in our area. So things will be changing here in the near future. I think we´re going to eat like normal this week, and tell them that we´re going to be making changes from here on out. So we may have a few less lunches now, but it´s okay. It´s worth it.

Mom and AK, I loved reading your goals. Thanks for sharing. You both set great goals. Good luck!

My mattress is great. No problems.

Correlation with stake presidency if they´re in our area? I guess not, because we didn´t have it in Plottier, and the stake president met in our building. But he does live in the elders area. So I don´t know!?!

AK, thanks for the pictures of Christmas! So fun to see all of you. I caught a glimpse of the pictures on the wall in the living room, and how fun! I must admit, I was happy to see my smiling face up on the wall. Good to know you´re thinking of me. :D

There are four missionaries here in Allen. Us and two elders.

How to pronounce Allen? It´s just like you would think with the spanish vowels, but you have the ¨sh¨ thing for the ¨ll¨ instead of the ¨y¨ sound that is more common in spanish. I think I would say that the emphasis is on the first half of the word. I think. But much easier than Plottier. :o)

Companions with a sense of humor? Hna. Riquelme and I had some pretty good laughs from time to time. Funny story. We just mentioned to ward members, and a couple of contacts that I´m going to start teaching english. We´re still trying to get it going. But anyway this first week I just helped Hna. Valeria Moreno, who wanted help with english anyway because she needs to pass a test. Anyway, we were talking about how to pronounce different sounds in english, and it was pretty funny. I need to remember to try to keep it simple and to keep speech pathology out of the conversation! haha. It was very funny to listen to her and Hna. Ramirez say mountain. It turns out that it´s a pretty complicated word. :o)

Do I have ¨Jana time¨?? Hum... I try to write in my journal for 5-10 minutes when I find the time, and I must admit that sometimes I don´t get it done. Sometimes in the morning before personal study I have like 15 minutes to do whatever. I would say that it ends up being more ¨Hna. Pincock¨time than ¨Jana time¨ but ít´s great.

Lisa,I don´t remember what the person had suggested as far as vocabulary expanding when we talked to him at Jordan´s game. You should remind me so I can do it! I feel like my spanish is improving. I need to get back into the habit of writing down the words that I don´t know when I hear them. That´d help. It helps as well that Hna. Ramirez really does´t speak any english at all. Before if I really couldn´t say something, Hna. Celis and Hna. Riquelme could both understand english. Not now. I still read sometimes in english, but that´s about the extent of it. It´s actually kind of crazy to think about it.

AK, a stove that you can cook lots of cookies at once? Sounds good to me! Ryan, sounds like the fish tank is coming a long well. Good work!

How fun that Lisa, Aaron, Jordan and Hallie went to see Shari and Orrin. Very fun. I hope that you all enjoyed it.

About Hna. Ramirez... she´s from Peru as you all know. Eights brothers and sisters I believe. She´s somewhere in the middle, but I´m not sure where exactly. She and one of her brothers are the only members of the church. Her brother hasn´t been a member for very long. She has a good relationship with the members so that´s good. Lets see, what else? I´ll continue to write...

I love that Nyah says ¨happy¨to say that she´s happy. That´s the goal of this life right? To be happy? Heavenly Father did create ¨The Plan of Happiness¨we just have to follow and live His plan.

I read the talk by Elder Uchtdorf today from the last conference on hope. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It´s amazing how the spirit teaches you the things that you need in the moment that you need them.

The church is true. I´m grateful for the opportunity I have to be here in Allen. I´m trying to be the missionary that Heavenly Father would want me to be. We had a good talk with one of the ward members yesterday and it was good to hear a more detailed version of the history of the ward. We really want to focus on strengthening the ward. We just do our best right? Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us, and they´re always ready and willing to help. I love you!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Miracles (Email) 02.02.2009

2009-02-02T22:24:00.001-07:00

Hola mi familia!

How are you all doing? I hope you´re all doing well. Well, I read parts of the letters that Mom and Dad sent me. I don´t know what to say about Uncle Richard. Wow. Our family is so blessed. I am so grateful that he went to the doctor, that they prevented the heart attack, and that he is recovering from the surgery. I´m grateful that mom could be with aunt Becky up at the hospital, and that Lisa had the opportunity to be his nurse part of the time. A lot of tender mercies. Know that I will be praying for him, and for all of the family. I´m grateful for a loving Heavenly Father, who has a plan for each of us. He takes care of us, and gives us the experiences that we need in order to become more like Him, and His Son, Jesus Christ. It´s amazing how Heavenly Father helps us remember what is most important.

Well, this has been a good week. Dad, you had written me several questions last week, but I´m afraid I forgot to write them down so I´ll have to respond next week. Sorry about that! The one I do remember is how much I see my mission president - or talk to him. I have an interview with him once every transfer, so about every six weeks. Every once in a while he calls to encourage us, etc... as well so that´s nice. We called him last night with some questions about our area, and I really enoyed talking to him. He talked about finding people, exercising our faith, having patience, and being diligent. And he promised me that there are people in my area who are ready to accept and live the Gospel. We just need to find them. I was very grateful for the opportunity to talk to him, and the encouragement he gave me. I needed it.

I am so excited that you made a list of people that you can share the truths of the gospel with! I know that Heavenly Father will answer your prayers and let you know who is prepared to learn about the Gospel. He wants us, His children, to return to live with Him!

How exciting that Nathan got his mission call! Yay! California, spanish speaking. That´s great. Do you know if he ever got the card I sent to him? I hope I used the right address... I was trying to remember from memory and I don´t know if I got it right. Anyway, tell him I´m excited for him, and that he should start studying Preach My Gospel and Spanish! That´ll help a lot in the field. :D

So we´re still getting every figured out. An interesting experience. The other missionaries had been visiting less-active members in the ward, but it turns out that several of them are actually in the Elders area. So we´re working on contacting and finding the less-active members in our area. 

My concern is that the less-active members and the recent converts in the other area aren´t going to understand why we suddenly can´t visit them anymore, unless we´re eating lunch with them. Change can be hard. However, we have to follow the rules. They´re for the good of everyone. If they understand that we´re doing it out of obedience, I pray that they´ll understand.

One man in our ward told us he had talked to the son of a less-active member in the ward, who is one of his relatives, and he said he would like to start going to a church. So he suggested that we stop by. Hermana Ramirez had gone by the house before, and the woman had ZERO interest in talking to the missionaries. But we decided to find the house and pass by again, with the hopes that her son would be there.

So we found the house, and clapped :D. She came out, and we introduced ourselves as normal, and asked what she knows about the church, etc... She said she had a story about the church, and we said that we had time to listen. :D So she let us go in her house, and she then poured her heart out to us with all her problems. As we sang ¨Where Can I Turn For Peace¨ she just cried. I know she felt the Spirit, and that we were supposed to be in her house and that moment. We´re going to go to her house and have FHE Wednesday, and we´re going to teach her and atleast one of her kids. She needs the gospel in her life again.

We eat with the members almost every day of the week. It´s still all getting worked out. But we should have about every day (lunch) from here on out. We´re pretty blessed. And I know that the members will be blessed as well.

I´m going to start teaching English once a week. In the mean time I´m trying to help Hna. Ramirez with English. Who knew that English is so complicated? :o)

We found a couple of new investigators this week. We´re praying that they´ll progress, and that we´ll be able to teach in such a way that they understand the importance of the Gospel, and what a treasure it is. I´m really trying to think about how I can improve my teaching so people can understand.

I love you all so much. I´m so grateful for eternal families. Thank you for your examples. Thank you for teaching me the truths of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. We can live with God, Jesus Christ, and our families forever. I don´t have any doubt. Everything depends on us, our decisions, and our own willingness to repent - to change the things in our lives that aren´t in line with Heavenly Father´s will and teachings. 

I love you!
Hermana Jana Pincock

Hi! 01.26.2009 (Email)

2009-01-26T11:43:00.002-07:00

My Family,

Hi! How are you all doing? I hope you´re all doing wonderful as always. Well, it has been a good week! Lets see, where to start...

Did I mention that Hna. Celis started the mission here in Allen? It has been interesting to meet some of the people she taught / found. Funny how it all works out.

So, we have our area more figured out this week, so that´s good. In our district meeting this last week the zone leaders went, so I took advantage of the opportunity to ask LOTS of questions. It was good. We got some things cleared up, and we still need to clear some other questions up, but I´m feeling a lot more comfortable this week about how things should be working.

We met with our ward mission leader for the first time this week, and it was really good. I felt a little guilty because we had A LOT of things to talk about with him and the elders for the first week. But there are a lot of ways we can improve! One of the first things he is going to do is get us a ward list so we can know who is and isn´t in our area. That´ll be good.

There´s also a little bit of a possibility that we´re going to change our area boundaries. We need to talk to our leaders to see who can change / decide what the boundaries are. We just want what´s best for the people in the area.

So I´m playing the piano here as well! It´s good though. I thoroughly enjoy playing the piano, and I miss the ¨therapy¨that playing the piano used to give me on a daily basis back at home. Once a week is just going to have to be good enough. :o)

So back in Plottier, we had a teacher for Gospel Principles. When she couldn´t teach, we taught as a companionship. So here the missionaries are the teachers, and we take turns. One person teaches at a time here instead of teaching in companionships. I was a little surprised, but it works. So they informed me last week, that it was my turn yesterday. I must admit, I was a little nervous about teaching the lesson, in spanish, by myself for the first time. But it went really well! It was on Temple Work and Family History. It really made me miss going to the temple. It´s so peaceful and wonderful there. The Spirit is so strong. You all need to go a time for me! Anyway, Heavenly Father really helped me with the lesson so I could teach the things I needed to, and I think they all left the lesson understanding. :D I took the calendar that you sent me for Christmas so they could see more pictures of temples, and they thoroughly enjoyed it. One family (baptized 3 or 4 months ago I believe) is pretty sure that I need to give them the calendar. :D Temples are beautiful.

Did I mention that Hna. Ramirez has been a little sick? We have had to go to Roca (the biggest city close by) several times the last two weeks so she could have tests taken (an endoscopy). Anyway, we need to go one more time on Wednesday, and that should be it. Hopefully the doctor will know what she needs to do so she can have full health.

I´m not sure exactly when Hna. Ramirez was baptized, but she had been a member a little over a year when she left for the mission.

Lisa, what is gastritis and what causes it? If you could let me know I´d love it, because I always here about people here who have gastritis, and I don´t understand why I´ve never heard of it before if it´s so common. Grac!

So we are trying to work more with the members, as I mentioned last week. Something that we were taught was to go to the houses of the members, and have them tell us the name of every person that they can think of who is not a member of the LDS church. They tell us without address, phone number, or anything. We assure them that we won´t visit any of the people they tell us, unless they want us to. So the next time we go we give them this list, which they put in a very visible place, and they are supposed to be praying about who on the list is ready to hear, accept, and live the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We did this with one family last night. They´re actually very missionary work oriented, so we´re excited to work with them. I am recognizing more and more why missionary work with the help of members is so important. The members already have the trust and confidence of their friends and loved ones. It is so much harder for missionaries to go in, unannounced, to houses and to try and gain their trust and confidence. Members are SO important!

So my invitation to you all, is that for FHE tonight, you can make a list of all the people you know, who haven´t been blessed with the message of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Then put the list in a visible place, like on the fridge, and pray both individually and in your marriage, about who you can share the gospel with. Will you do it tonight for FHE? Great!!! I know that we all know people who would accept and live the gospel if they really understood the blessings and opportunities that we receive.

So I have been reading the conference talks still this week, and I´m thoroughly enjoying it. It´s amazing how even though I´m reading the talks in order, that I read the things that I need just in the moment that I need them.

Some quotes I love:

¨Our heartfelt testimoes are the most powerful answer we can give our accusers. And such testimonies can only be borne in love and meekness¨. Elder Hale

¨The will to win is nothing without the will to prepare¨. Juma Ikangaa (man who won the New York Marathon.)

¨I [pray] that every young woman might be encircled, strengthened, and protected by righteous priesthood power, not only at the time of birth and blessing but throughout life¨. Elaine S. Dalton

¨You must never under-estimate the power of your righteous influence¨. Elaine S. Dalton

Oh, we had a really neat lesson the other day. As we were doing contacts in the street, we met a family who are less-active, and have been for like five years or so. So we made an appt. to visit them. We weren´t sure if we could go because of the boundaries, but decided that we could. We went with Hna. Moreno, and great member of the ward. The lesson was wonderful. The family had been offended, and stopped going to church. We´re eager to keep working with them, and the Moreno family is going to keep helping us. :D

But how are you all doing? I hope you´re all doing so well. You all sound very busy, but it sounds like things are going well. I am so grateful for my family, and that we´re sealed together in the temple. I love you all with all my heart. Thanks for everything, and I´ll write again next week!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

:o) 01.19.2009 (Email)

2009-01-19T13:40:00.002-07:00

Hola! How are you all doing? Things here in Allen are going well. What a week it has been! First off, a little bit about Allen...

The good bye at the bus terminal was a little sad. Paula Beltran had gone with us as well because she stayed with Hna. Riquelme until her new companion got there. But I survived. Luckily, a ward member was on the same bus as me so he could tell me when we arrived to Allen, because otherwise I really have no idea how I would have known. It is just a regular stop, and from what I could see, I didn´t see any signs saying we were in Allen. So that was a blessing that he was there. But Hna. Ramirez was at the bus stop waiting as well so no problem there.

I´m basically living in a palace compared to my other apartment. It´s not that my other was in bad condition, it´s that this apartment is really very nice. We basically live in the outskirts of the center of Allen. The walls are painted light green which makes me happy. There´s a big kitchen with a table, and our desks and everything. (marble- like counters). Then we have a bathroom, and a different room where we sleep. Wow, three rooms! And it has a big over-head fan in the kitchen like the one we have in our living room at home. Fun fun.

Like I said before, Hna. Ramirez is from Peru. She has been a member for a little over two years, and she´ll be ending the mission in April. It´s funny that Hna. Celis, Hna. Riquelme, and Hna. Ramirez are all from the same group. The only other sister missionary from their group is Hna. Wilches (sp??) and I don´t think I´ll get the chance to be her companion. But funny. Companions with 3 of the 4. I have eaten food from Peru for the first time this week. It was actually very good. A rice, meat concoction.... very good.

This week has been a week of finding investigators. They had a couple of investigators before, but they´re now working different schedules (it seems as though quite a few people work with fruit) and right now is definitely the fruit season. So lots of work. So those investigators aren´t really available. So... we´re starting from square one. It has been good though.

Lots and lots of contacts this week! Contacts in Plottier were never my strong point, and I came to Allen with the determination to do better. The mission goal is that we as a companionship do 140 contacts every week. We met the goal for the first time this week! Yay! 165!!! We just need to keep doing them now.

We have found some good investigators this week. We´re excited to get teaching them more so they can progress.Dad, you asked me if I have ideas about how to gain the confidence of the members. That´s something we are really going to start focusing on here, because as of now the members really aren´t very involved in missionary work. That has to change. We as full-time missionaries need the help of members.

Something a little tricky, is that we share our ward with two elders who are also here in Allen. I´m still trying to figure out how it all works. It´s okay though. We´re going to figure it out.

So things here in Allen are going well. We definitely have room for improvement but that´s good. We´re just going to keep on improving. I feel a great responsibility here, and hope I´ll be able to do what Heavenly Father expects of me. Oh, and good news, they just called a ward mission leader. I guess it´s the first time the ward has had a mission leader in quite a while, so we feel very blessed. He and his wife are wonderful, and we´re excited to work with them.

How are all of you doing? From what I hear from letters, it sounds like you´re all doing well. Have I mentioned that I love hearing from you?

Lisa, no I didn´t bring a taperecorder. I don´t even know if you can buy one here. I´m assuming so... but yes, I agree, it would be a fun game. I´m up for it if you all are as well.

Oh, we want to start a Book of Mormon project with the ward. We´re going to challenge them to all read the B of M and give a B o M away by a certain date. We´re not positive about the details yet, but we´re excited about it.

Andres should have been baptized yesterday. It makes me so happy for him and for Andrea and their kids. It´s going to make such a difference.

We got the conference talks here just recently, so I have been reading quite a few conference talks. I LOVE conference! Some of the quotes I have read recently are:

¨True happiness comes only by making others happy - the practical application of the Savior´s doctrine of losing one´s life to gain it. In short, the christmas Spirit is the Christ Spirit, that makes our hearts glow in brotherly love and friendship and prompts us to kind deeds of service.¨ David O. McKay¨

In spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest seem to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger, wise, and happier as a result... We experience hard things so that we too may have increased compassion and understanding for others... The next time you´re tempted to groan, you might try and laugh instead. It will extend your life and make the lives of all those around you more enjoyable.¨ Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin

¨The principle goal of your lessons is the conversion of hearts. The quality of a lesson is not measured by the number of new pices of information that you give your students. It comes from your capacity to invite the presence of the spirit and to motivate your students to make commitments. It is by exercising their faith by putting into practice the lessons taught that they will increase their spiritual knowledge. ¨ Elder Gerald Causse.

Well, I hope you´re all doing wonderfully. I´m grateful for my testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank you for your testimonies. I love you all so much. Gracias!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hola! (Email) 01.12.2009

2009-01-18T16:46:00.002-07:00

Hola! How are you all doing? Things here are going well. Well, as for the moment, I´m in Plottier, but I´m headed to Allen in about 3 hours. So Allen is in the province, Rio Negro, and from what I understand it´s only like 1-2 hours away. It was actually Hermana Celis´first area. My new companion will be Hna. Ramirez and she´s from Peru. She came to the mission at the same time as Hna. Riquelme and Hna. Celis, so she´ll be ending the mission in two transfers if I understand correctly. Pretty crazy!

Hermana Riquelme is going to train. She´s a little nervous, but I ensured her that she´ll do wonderful.

So, back to Plottier. We had Clara´s baptism this Saturday! It went really well. Fernando Acuña baptized her. The young women sang a song during the baptism and they did well. Clara was a little nervous, but it went so well. She´s so happy that she´s baptized and that she received the Holy Ghost yesterday. She really is a different Clara than the Clara we met about two months ago. The gospel is so amazing. Now her family members just need to follow her example. :o)

Andres is super excited for his baptism this next Saturday. He went to Clara´s baptism because we told him we would like him to see another baptism before his own (he had seen Andrea´s baptism before). Anyway, we had asked him Saturday after his baptismal interview who he would like to baptize him. He decided Julio Beltran (16 yrs old) so he could practice, and Fernando Acuña to give him the Holy Ghost since Fernando just received the Melchezidek Priesthood. So he took it upon himself after Clara´s baptism to personally ask them. It was so good. I can hardly believe how different Andres is now. He is totally different. When I see He, Andrea, and their kids Omar and Clara in church, all in their church clothes, learning and participating, talking about going to the temple to be sealed for all time and eternity, it makes me so happy. The scripture in Doctrine and Covenants is true that says that sharing the gospel brings you joy.

Mari and Miguel went to church yesterday as well, and two of their 3 kids. We talked to them again this week about their baptismal goal, and they have decided to set the goal for January 31st. Two of their kids are ages 8 and 10. They told us they want them to make their own decisions about being baptized. So we need to talk to them as well. Yesterday in Gospel Principles we talked about being sealed together as a family, and how their kids can´t be sealed to them in their not members. So we talked about the responsibility of the parents in teaching their children. We think they understand better now.

They´re very excited, but Miguel is a little concerned because he needs to stop smoking. So this is the next big step for them. They´re reading the Book of Mormon consistently though, so it´ll give them a lot of strength. And The Valenzuela family is helping us a ton with them. Oh the difference of having the help of members...

Jon and Judith Meneses went to church yesterday as well! Yay! They were nervous but excited about going. Their little girl Graciela went as well. Graciela wanted to help me play the piano during the hymn so that was exciting for a minute. :D She learned in a minute that she could watch, but she couldn´t touch. haha Oh I love kids.

The Bishop asked me as I walked in the door if I could speak for five or ten minutes about missionary work and my time in Plottier. It was good. A little bit of a surprise, but good. I talked about the plan that Heavenly Father has for us, how we accepted His plan, and how we need to make this plan known to all the world. And thus the importance of missionary work. It´s so true!

So not all the investigators really understood that one of us would probably be changing cities, so they were a little surprised at church. It´s okay though. It makes me sad to leave Plottier. I love Plottier! I have been witness to a lot of Miracles here. The people are amazing, and I´m never going to forget them. I´m ending one part of the mission, and it´s so crazy. It makes me so sad to think that I might not see some of the people ever again. But there´s always email and letters! It okay. On to different people and different experiences.

So sorry I have been such a slacker with pictures. I think I´m going to put all my pictures on a CD and send the CD home. Cheaper then printing them, and faster then loading them onto emails. I hope that´s okay. :D

Oh, a sister in the other ward in Plottier received her mission call on Saturday night! She´ll be serving on temple square! Her name is Hermana Salinas, so if you ever see a Sister Salinas, it´s probably her! She leaves to Provo in March I believe. And, she already knows English, so you can all talk to her without a problem. She teaches english.

So, how are you all doing? What´s new at home? Mom and Dad, I love the picture of you two at temple square. You both look really good. You look happy.

Work? Church? I love that you have been playing Memory recently. Are you still playing Sudoku? Friends? The Minsons sent me a Christmas card so it was fun to hear from them. Oh, I got the Christmas card from the stake presidency a while back as well. Very fun.

I read the talk about Angels by President Holland in the last conference the other day and I really enjoyed it. I often forget that there are angels both seen and unseen who are always helping and protecting us - us missionaries out in the field, and all of you at home. Sometimes we recognize the angels as our friends and loved ones who help us continue forward and endure to the end. But sometimes we don´t recognize it. It makes me think of all the pioneers who crossed the plains, who had the help of angels. However, I have faith that it´s the same today. Angels are real and they help, guide, and protect us.

I love you all so much. I´m grateful to be a missionary. It´s an incredible experience, and I´m learning and trying to be better every day. Love and help the missionaries, and they´ll be so grateful. Take care of yourselves!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

I forgot.... I hear that Rio Negro has a ton of fruit, so that´s exciting! Yummy. I love fruit. Pears, peaches, apples... Yay! Alright, that´s all. Love you!

Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Happy New Years (Email) 01.05.2009

2009-01-18T16:42:00.002-07:00

Hi! How are you all doing? I hope you´re all doing great. Well, things here are going well. AK, I just got my birthday package from you, Ryan, and Nyah. Thank you! Shari and Orrin, thanks for the tennis shoes! I got some Nike´s. I hope they are good. As far as spanish vocabulary with tennis shoes goes... it was a little bit of an adventure. :D Good times. I also got two short sleeve shirts so I think I´m good to go unless something out of the ordinary comes up.

Lisa, I just got a letter from you as well. Grac! :D

Aaron, I loved hearing about your invitation to church as a ward missionary haha. :D Good work! You make me giggle.

Paula Beltran, the girl in my ward who has decided to go on the mission, got her mission call on Saturday! She´s going to the Santiago West, Chile mission and leaves on April 23rd. I´m very excited for her.

I have been in Neuquen for the morning because Hna. Riquelme needed to do some paperwork. I´m now in the middle of Neuquen, and it makes me grateful for good old quiet Plottier! Speaking of different cities... who knows where I could be this next week on Preparation day. Pretty crazy.

Well, about the people. Clara had her baptismal interview on Saturday, and it went well, so she´s all ready to be baptized this Saturday. Yay! I really admire her because she goes to church by herself every week. I was trying to put myself in her shoes yesterday. She´s in a different country, with a different culture, and she goes to church by herself where she´s just learning to get to know the people. Pretty amazing. Her whole family needs the gospel so much. When I hear about her struggles it about breaks my heart for her. I hope that others will follow her example.

So we are still teaching John and Judith. We had a lesson with a ward member this last week and it went really well. They recognize that they need to get married. Their little girl Graciela is the cutest thing. She´s 4 I believe. One of my favorite things is that when we stopped by one day really quickly, she RAN out to us in the street saying ¨Hermanas!¨and threw her little arms around us.

Then one day as we were teaching she noticed that I have rings, and wanted to keep my CTR ring. I told her that I had a different ring for her. So the next day I gave her one of the HLJ rings that Lisa, Jordan, Aaron, and Hallie sent me for Christmas and she was so excited. She knows exactly what it stands for. You all were inspired when you sent the CTR rings. Thank you!

She has a hard time remembering my name or how to say it. The other day she was ¨writing¨and I asked her what she had written. She said, ¨What´s your name again?¨When I told her she said, this says ¨Pincock te quiero¨. ( Pincock I love you). She pretty much has me wrapped around her little finger. :o)

John and Judith weren´t able to go to church yesterday. They slept in. But we went over afterwards and talked about the importance of church attendance, and we just let them ask us a bunch of questions. We feel like it was a good thing that we could build a relationship of trust with them.

So on Friday we had FHE with Marí and Miguel and their family with the Valenzuela family ( the members who introduced them to us) and Andrea and Andres with their two kids. Hno. Valenzuela taught the Plan of Salvation, and it was so good! It was fun to be taught for a change. We made tacos and that was fun. It turns out that the majority of people here don´t know what tacos are or have never had them. Who would´ve thought? It turns out that we really do have food from all over the world in the US.

Anyway, I think that everyone really enjoyed the FHE. I think it was especially good for Andres, Marí and Miguel. Members are so important in missionary work!

Miguel and Marí had full intentions of going to church yesterday. Miguel had been working all night and he hurried home to help them all get ready for church. When we passed with the bus they still weren´t ready so they said they´d take their car. They never showed up. When we called last night to see what happened they said their car wouldn´t start. So sad. They really wanted to go! Marí said that they didn´t have the day yesterday that they had hoped for. :o(

In FHE on Friday Miguel talked about how since they had gone to church on Sunday that their whole week had gone so much better. They wanted to find a church that focused on the family, and everything in church focused on how to help the family. It really is amazing. Sometimes I forget how different my life is because I have the Gospel, and how much other people really need it - not just theoretically, but really! It changes everything.

Andres is doing well. Andrea wasn´t able to go to church yesterday, and Andres went by himself. That was a BIG step for him. I´m excited for him. We have noticed a lot of changes in him recently. He mentioned in the FHE that before he never would have thought that he would be in an FHE like that with people talking about Heavenly Father. But there he was! Miracles.

So I hope you´re all doing well. It sounds like you all had a good New Year celebration, and I´m very grateful that you´re all home safe. My New Years was a normal day. Kind of funny though, because there really was NO ONE in the streets. It turns out that they stay up pretty late here and pretty much stay inside the day after. The day worked out just fine though.

Well, tell everyone hi for me. Did you all set goals for this upcoming year? I´d love to hear your goals. The church is true and I love you all tons.

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Email (12.29.2008)

2009-01-18T16:34:00.002-07:00

Hola everyone! How are you all doing? It was soooo good to talk to you all on Christmas day! Thanks so much everyone for making the effort to go home so I could talk to all of you. It was so good to hear your voices! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and that you have a good New Years Eve/Day as well. I don't know if you have all already traveled home and everything, but if you haven't yet, drive safe!

Well, Christmas day for me was enjoyable. Oh, as I said, Wednesday was with the zone. All of it was very fun. A little bit about Christmas tradition here. They all get together as families and in some cases friends, and have a big dinner (usually barbecues I believe). Then at twelve o'clock on the dot people start setting off fireworks and then they open the presents. The fireworks thing was interesting. The president had given us permission to stay up until 12:30. But as of Plottier, it's not a community kind of thing - like the 4th of July at home. Just all the people set them off, but they're pretty big. Not huge, but big ones that go off high in the air. And just any person can set them off. Not sure how safe it is. . .:D but it was fun to see a bunch of fireworks going off from all direction - all different neighborhoods. And I opened presents Christmas Eve because we had time, and I wasn't so sure we'd have time the next day. I felt a little guilty because Hna. Riquelme's package still hasn't gotten here, but I think it was just fine. We ate the candy together. :D Thaks again for all of the gifts. And we're headed to Neuquen today so I should be able to buy tennis shoes. Yay!

Oh Mom, it was so good to hear you say "Yaaayyy!!!" It had been too long.

Then we just spent the day with members talking about the true meaning of Christmas. It has surprised me because some people here really and truly don't know why we celebrateChristmas, and know very little about JesusChrist. It makes me sad, but I'm glad we're here to teach them a little bit. :o)

My birthday yesterday was good. I opened up the package in the morning before we went on the bus to get the people for church. Very fun. Thank you. Hallie, the confetti on the card was very nice. Thank you.:D Hna. Riquelme had written me a card in the morning and that was nice. I was surprised that so many ward members remembered my birthday. Very impressive. And so nice! It was actually the birthday of someone else in the ward too so they wished us a happy b-day in sacrament meeting. :o) They sang me happy b-day in Relief Society, and the Martinez Family sang me happy b-day at lunch, and Elders Arana and Diaz called me last night and sang me happy b-day - in English! So it was a good day.

The best birthday presents .. . We met a family a while back when we went to eat lunch with some members. They live close by. Their names are Mari and Miguel and they have three kids - one on the way. We went and visited with them a little bit the other day (while they were killing and plucking feathers off their chickens so that was interesting) haha - and talked a little bit. Not too much since they were doing other things. Then stopped by again the other day to invite them to church and we taught part of the restoration. Anyway, they went to church yuesterday!!! Mari knows more about the church because she has gone several times because her cousin is a member. Anyway, I hope they all enjoyed it and that they'll continue learning and progressing.

Then, last night we had walked clear across town because we had three different appointments. The first one we just stopped by for a minute because her kids were there, and she was doing things with her family. Then we went to another appt. and she wasn't there. Then we went to see Clara (who has a baptismal date for the 10th) aqnd she wasn't there either! Ah! So we weren't sure what to do, but decided to go talk to someone else nearby - a friend of Julia and Clara. And he and his wife weren't there either. But then we saw that their neighbors were outside, so we introduced ourselves to them. We then realized that we had met Judith before, a quick contact. I believe we had tried to go back, but couldn't find her house because the addresses in this neighborhood are a little crazy. Anyway, she said she had wondered why we hadn't come back. They had seen us walk by several times but they were too embarrassed to say anything. :( So we asked if we could teach them right then! So we taught the restoration to Jon and Judith, and it was SO GOOD. Jon is 22 and Judith 20, and they have two little kids. They are from Bolivia and have been here for 5 years. Wow. Anyway, they had such good questions, and were so receptive and believing. They already have prayer together every morning and night! That's so uncommon! So long story short, they said they're willing to start learning and investigating so they can work to prepare themselves for a baptism February 2! They have some changes to make, such as getting married, but I really think they have A LOT of potential and desires.

Hna. Riquelme and I both felt so good as we were there. Last night was so typical for a missionary. You have several people who don't want to listen, have appointments fall through... like Heavenly Father is testing your faith. Then He leads you to someone who wants to listen. Amazing.

I bought a little Book of Mormon book for kids with pictures and everything that teaches the stories really simply. It was in hopes that I can learn to teach some of the things more simply, and even just learn all the stories better in general. Anyway, I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Reading the stories in such simple terms gives me a different view point. The Gospel really is simple!

Scriptures for the day I love: 1 Ne. 17:50, Helaman 10:4-5, DyC 84:80-85, and DyC 112:10. Good ones.

Alright, time to go. I love you all very much. Thanks so much for everything. The talk, the gifts, the support... everything! Yesterday in Gospel Principles we taught that Families Can Be Forever. It's the truth!

Con Mucho Amor,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Feliz Navidad! Just in Case...

2008-12-22T11:16:00.002-07:00

Family,

Hola! How are you all doing? Okay, first for the phone call business. We´re going to the church and we´re going to use the phone there. The number to the church is 493 4833. The number for Plottier is (0)299. (Hna. Riquelme said she does´t know whether or not you need the 0 when calling). And if understood correctly, the number for argentina is 54. So, I believe the whole number is 54-0299-493-4833. Hna. Riquelme said that the internet has information if you have questions. Also, I´ll be at the church at 1:00 Argentina time, 9:00 am Idaho time, anxiously awaiting your phone call. I hope that it works okay for everyone! Oh also, when you found out the time difference, did you take into account that not all of Argentina changed time when we had the time change? For example, Buenos Aires and the other places more north changed the time, but Neuquén chose not to. Bueno, so I´ll be at the church at 1:00 pm according to Argentina (Neuquén) time.

Alright, now for everything else! I hope that you´re all doing wonderful! Merry Christmas! I can´t believe that it´s December 22nd. It really doesn´t seem like it to me. December has gone by so fast. Yesterday we were at Rita Riquelme´s house and she asked me what I wanted for Sunday. I thought... why? What´s Sunday? It took me a minute and then it occurred to me that it´s my birthday on Sunday! Funny.

The baptism went great. Enzo was baptized by Fernando Acuña, Kevin was baptized by Julio Beltran, and Bruno was baptized by Lautaro Acuña. And there was also a member baptized. Lautaro Rojas was baptized by his dad, Hno. Rojas, who is a member of the bishopric. It all went very well. Alicia Higuera gave the opening prayer. Andrea Beroiza gave the talk on baptism, and Gabriela Jara gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. They all did so well! We had someone else planned for the talk on the Holy Ghost, but then he couldn´t give it. So we asked Gabriela in the spur of the moment (15-30 minutes before) and she hurried and prepared. We handed her a pamphlet that talks about the Holy Ghost, the index in the Book of Mormon, some paper and a pen, and she just got right on it. Three very recent converts, and they all did wonderful! They were all very nervous, but did great. We knew they could do it. :D

While they were all changing in between we sang Christmas songs. Mom, I always think of you when we sing Christmas songs at church. I really don´t feel comfortable at all playing Christmas songs because I have played them very little, especially when people are singing, but I have done my best for the cause. :D It just doesn´t seem right to not sing Christmas songs.

It turns out that today really isn´t our preparation day because all day Wednesday we are going to have a missionary activity for Christmas. We are just doing internet and buying groceries today because everything will be closed on Wednesday. Thursday (Christmas) will be a normal day with the exception of talking to you all!

Clara´s baptism has been moved back to January 10th. We don´t feel like she´s quite ready yet. She´s super shy so we weren´t sure how much she was understanding, but she´s doing wonderful now. We were teaching the 10 commandments to her yesterday, as well as others who are there now and then, and she did great. She´s talking much more now!

Something else interesting... we stopped by to see Andrea Saturday to see how she was feeling about her talk, and Andres ended up coming over to talk to us. We had kind of ended with the thought that he´s not going to be baptized because he can´t be baptized in a river now. But he came over, and he said that he wants to be baptized in the church now - even though he doesn´t agree with it - but salvation is on the line. That was a surprise! So we talked about the baptism requirements and what he really needs to do, and he decided to set a baptismal date for January 17th. He went to church yesterday, so that was a good step. He really needs to read the Book of Mormon and pray every day.

We also set a baptismal date with a lady named Cecilia the other day. She said she has been looking for the church of Jesus Christ, and we invited her to pray and to set a baptismal date. We set a date, but it will need to be changed now because she didn´t go to church yesterday. We tried to go to her house yesterday to find out why she didn´t go, but she wasn´t there. We have an appointment tonight so we can figure out what to do.

Something funny... we didn´t have water for like two days in our apartment. Good times. I was very happy to wake up and have water this morning. It makes washing my hair much much easier. :D

The missionary work is going well. It´s interesting, because I can tell that I´m changing in a couple of ways. In the beginning I was hestitant to say things, not knowing if people would be offended... but I have come a long ways in this way I think. Yesterday we were teaching someone who has decided not to go to church anymore. As Jana, I wanted to be quiet, and say that it was her decision, and that church is hard, etc... but then I told her, that as a representative of Jesus Christ, we had the responsibility to teach her the responsibility that she has as a mother to teach her children the gospel of Jesus Christ. We had to teach her the consequences that her decision may have. I am coming to learn that me being timid is not going to help anyone. They need to know the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ - declared boldy and nobly- whether it´s hard to be heard or not. Ammon and Moroni declared the Gospel of Jesus Christ without hesitation. I want to do the same. I recognize that different people need to be taught in different manners. I´m working on having the courage to be bold when it is needed.

Well, I need to go. I love you all so much. Thanks so much for your examples and love. I imagine that several of you will be traveling this week. Be safe! Drive slow, especially if there´s snow. I´ll be praying for you all.Talk to you in two/three days!

Love Forever,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hola! 12.15.2008 (Email)

2008-12-16T10:35:00.009-07:00

Family,

Hola! How are you all doing? I hope that you´re all doing great. First off, yes Dad, I do have my old debit card. It´s just sitting in my apartment. From what it sounds like, I should get my new card next week, because we get our mail every Monday/Tuesday. I almost want to say that you should go ahead and activate it, but yet I don´t know if that would be very smart. Maybe next week I´ll just be able to tell you in the email. I don´t know. This whole long distance communication thing is a little complicated.

About the Christmas phone call. What time is it there compared to here? It´s a little tricky here because some parts of Argentina changed the time, but Neuquen (the province) didn´t, so our time stayed the same. But you changed in Idaho already right? So right now it´s 1:05 here. But anyway, we still don´t know when we are going to call. We need to talk to the Bishop to see if we can use the church phone, or what. We can´t use member´s phones. And if we need to find somewhere else, we need to find out when they´ll be open, etc... But Lisa, I´ll be sure to make sure it's before 6:30 before you go to work. If it´s 6:30 there is it 9:30 here? I just can´t remember. Let me know in the next email the time difference, and we´ll work to let you know what time we´ll call. In the next email! Sorry it´s getting so close to Christmas and I still don´t have many answers. But the mission president did just write to us telling us again that it can´t be longer than 40 minutes. :D

Alright, now for the regular things. How are you all doing? Things here are going well. It was a good and busy week this week. We´re still struggling a little bit trying to find time with the buses and everything to teach everyone that we need and want to. A little tricky. But ít´s okay. It´ll work out in some way or another.

Things are still going well with the Vasquez family. They´re going to have their interviews tomorrow I believe. I think they´re all good to go. I am thoroughly enjoying teaching them. Four boys. What a crack up. I´m used to a houseful of girls! Bueno, and boys too now that we´re older, but it´s a little different when my dad, brother and brothers-in-law are big boys. :D Very fun. Enzo is so excited to get the Priesthood and everything. He wants to go to the temple so bad. I believe that the ward (or stake???) are going here pretty soon, but they have to save money for quite some time to go I believe. I don´t know if he´ll be able to go. It makes me feel so guilty to think of how close temples are to all of us at home. It´s so much easier to go frequently. What a blessing! We just need to take advantage of it.

So we´re still teaching Clara, Julia, Velintin, and others of their family and friends. Clara is planning on being baptized the 27th, but I believe she´ll be the only one for now. I believe the Elders in Plottier have a baptism or two on the 27th so they can be baptized together. It should be really good.

We had another choir thing yesterday. There were different religions-choirs there this week, other than just the choirs from the stake. I think it went really well. We sang as a ward the same songs as last week. I didn´t realize I was playing the piano again until I got to the church. Surprise! It all worked out fine though. It´s amazing the extra help I get as a missionary. :o)

Also, at the very end, the six of us missionaries in our district sang Silent night. We sang the first two verses, then Elder Arana (not Araña :D) read verses about Christ´s birth while Elder Boudreaux kept playing the piano, and then everyone sang the third verse. It was pretty. I think it touched some people. Sometimes I forget that I´m really a missionary. I still see the Elders, or pictures of other missionaries, and I think ¨Oh! The missionaries! I love the missionaries!¨. Sometimes I wonder if the younger kids in the ward see Hna. Riquelme and I the way that I saw the missionaries when I was younger - and still do. Anyway, that´s what I was thinking yesterday as the six of us were up front singing in front of everyone. I hope I´m living up to the title.

I heard that Elder Wirthlin passed away. I wasn´t sure if it was a rumor or what, but our Stake President told us yesterday during lunch. He was so amazing. I loved reading his talks.
Something interesting. I was reading the talk the other day by Elder Dallin H. Oaks ¨Good, Better, Best¨. I had read it in the morning, and decided to carry it in my scriptures. Didn´t know why, but just decided to. So later that day we were teaching a lady, Lilian, who we had talked to several times. We had passed by her house, but we had never been able to go in and actually teach. So we hadn´t planned on visiting her, but as we were passing her house, we decided to drop by. We were surprised when she said ¨pasen!¨. So we were actually able to teach! It was interesting because several of the questions she had were addressed in Elder Oaks´talk about finding balance with the family and work and everything. Very interesting. We left the talk for her to read. I hope she read it and that it helped. I love when things like that happen. Just little miracles.

I was reading the other day, and I think it was in ¨Our Search for Happiness¨ by Elder M. Russell Ballard. I liked the quote, ¨Your life must be the expression of your faith¨. I thought that was so good.

So Andres isn´t progressing for now. It about breaks my heart. I don´t really know what else to do to help him gain a testimony. The Book of Mormon is so key.

Hermana Riquelme taught someone the other day that we need to do three key things to increase our faith. We need to say our prayers, read the scriptures every day, and go to church every Sunday. Three fairly simple things, but very important. I hope you´re all doing these things, because we all need faith in Jesus Christ in order to overcome the trials that we have, but we can´t have faith in Jesus Christ if we don´t know Him.

Hermana Riquelme is amazed by how much I love Christmas! I thought to myself that if she thinks I´m crazy about Christmas, it´s just because she hasn´t met Lisa! haha. I really do love the Christmas season though. It´s the best.

The church is true. I love you all so much. Thanks for your love and support here in the mission. Thank you thank you! Keep up the hard work, but don´t work too hard! Enjoy the Christmas season!

Love always,

Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hola! :0) 12.08.2008 (Email)

2008-12-08T17:13:00.004-07:00

My Amazing Family,

Hola! ¿Cómo están? ¿Todo bien? I hope that you´re all doing great. Things here are going well. Sorry I´m writing this a little later than usual. We did the other things of preparation day first this time. We just ate lunch with the elders in the district in the plaza. It was good. It´s funny because we were like the only ones in the plaza. People in Argentina (in the city anyway) really
do sleep the Siesta from what I can see. :o)

Well, it was a good week! Did some of you end up going to the Christmas devotional in Salt Lake? If so, how was it? Oh how I love Christmas music. Last night our stake had a choir concert of Christmas music. Our ward sang ¨La Primera Navidad¨I can´t remember the title in English. But it´s in the hymn book. And we sang an Argentine Folklore song. It was very fun. It was fun to listen to different Christmas music as well. However, a couple sang ¨I´m dreaming of a white Christmas¨and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It´s funny how you sometimes don´t recognize how much you love things until you go for a while without it. Christmas music in English for the month before Christmas definitely doesn´t exist here. haha Very enjoyable last night. I played the piano for ¨La Primera Navidad¨ and it went pretty well. I was nervous before hand but it worked out just fine.

Dad, in response to your question, it is interesting to think that Christmas is only a couple of weeks away when it´s so warm outside. My mind and body tells me we´re in July. Not December! It´s great though. I have been talking to Hna. Riquelme and the members about Christmas in South America and Argentina specifically, and it´s very different from what I can tell. For example, they open all the gifts on Christmas Eve - at midnight on the dot. Interesting huh? I´ll write more details later.

Mom, Hna. Riquelme did open the package and got out the Christmas tree. It´s just like the one at home! Thank you thank you! We´re enjoying adding an ornament every night. I think we´re one behind though... :D

I got the soccer pictures you sent! Thanks! I´ve showed them to a few different people and they think it´s great. They´re all surprised. And they´re all impressed with the fields.

How interesting to read the article about the LA Temple. Wow. It´s amazing how the work will go forward no matter what the world tries to do. Also, an Elder just told me that Elder Wirthlin passed away. What an amazing person.

This week in our lunch appointments, etc... we were trying to teach the people about the 5 things important for a testimony, and then inviting them to share their testimonies yesterday in testimony meeting.
1- That God is our Heavenly Father and loves us
2- Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world
3- Joseph Smith was called by God to be a Prophet and that he translated the Book of Mormon
4- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Church of Jesus Christ today. It is guided and directed by Him.
5- Thomas S. Monson is the living prophet today.

We had an amazing sacrament meeting. I really enjoyed it. The spirit was very strong. It´s amazing what happens when people really testify of these five things.

So yesterday when we were in the bus ¨cole¨getting the people before church it occurred to me that we had several countries on the bus! Hna Riquelme- Chile. Me - U.S. Several from Argentina, and several from Bolivia. I don´t remember how much I have said about Julia and Clara. That went to church that first Sunday without us even teaching them first? They always invite others they live by to go to church. And it seems like every time we go to teach there´s someone new - a neighbor, co-worker, or friend. Anyway, a couple of them went to church yesterday. Anyway, it´s amazing to me. Maybe we look different, speak different languages, have different accents and different cultures, but we´re all children of God, and we all need the exact same message. A message of hope and love. A message about Jesus Christ - that He is the Savior and Redeemer of the world.

So we´re still teaching Familia Vasquez. Franco (14) hasn´t gone to church yet, but Enzo (12), Kevin (9) and Bruno (8) are doing wonderful and have gone to church the last three weeks. Yay! They´re still scheduled for December 20th. We just need to get everything taught! We really want to teach her two older sons as well. There are actually seven in total but the oldest already lives in Chile. Anyway, that´s alot of Priesthood! The ward is going to have an activity tonight by the river and have a barbecue, play soccer etc... and we´re really hoping that their whole family goes. It would be great.

Dad, I think investigators need to go to church 4 times before being baptized. Preferably (sp???) in a row.

Lets see, what else is happening... we´re struggling a little bit with retention. There aren´t enough hours in the day! We want to visit everyone 1-3 times every week, but we´re finding that it´s pretty tricky. We´re trying to use our time wisely. It makes me so sad when peole are baptized but then don´t continue going to church.

So I´ve been reading about the birth of Jesus Christ this last week. And sometimes we listen to Christmas music in the morning too. Lisa, I think of you :D. Anyway, it has been really enjoyable. I love the story in the Bible and Book of Mormon, and I have been reading a little in ¨Jesus the Christ¨ as well. It´s so amazing to me. I read this morning that if in that time, the people really
had a king of the Jews (a descendant of King David) Joseph would be the crowned king. And then of course, the heir of the throne would be Jesus Christ. I don´t know if that made sense. It´s the end of the chapter that talks about the announcement of the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ by the angel Gabriel. Very interesting.

Dad, about FHE. We have only had one so far in a members home, and I think there were like 15 or so people. Most young men/ young women / young single adults. But a few adults as well.
Hopefully that will continue to go well.

We had 76 people at sacrament meeting yesterday. Yay!
Raimundo Beltan left on the mission to Buenos Aires this week so we no longer have a ward mission leader. :o( Hopefully someone else will be called before too long.

Jordan, I got your email from you and Lisa. Gracias! AK, I got the letter from you, Ryan, and Nyah as well. Thanks for the pictures of Nyah! Very cute. I hope that you find a good replacement for Jamee if you haven´t already.

I hope the rest of you are all doing wonderful. Time really goes by so quickly here. I hope you´re all enjoying the Christmas season. Listen to lots of music for me and sing lots of songs. And most importantly, remember the true meaning of Christmas! I love you all very much!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock :D

A scripture I love: John 8:12.

Seis semanas más en Plottier!‏ (Email) and foto 12.01.2008

2008-12-01T16:52:00.003-07:00

Family,

Hola! How are you? I hope you´re all doing great. I´m afraid this is going to be a little shorter than usual because it took quite a while for the one picture to load up. Hopefully you got it okay. :D

So, how was Thanksgiving? I hope it was wonderful.

Lisa, in answer to your question, I just got your letter through dear elder today that you sent on November 16. AK, I got yours today that you sent on November 12. So there you have it!

AK, congrats on your promotion! You definitely deserve it. Nope, I´ve never read the Hobbit. Maybe one day. It is a classic! Also, I got your package! I have a confession... I wasn´t sure if it was for Christmas, and opened it, but then the first thing I picked up said ¨Feliz Navidad¨so I hurried and closed it! It´s waiting for Christmas now. :D Sorry!

Also, there is no debit card to be found. So could you send another one? I did get the soccer pictures you sent though! Gracias!

So, transfers are today, and I´m staying in Plottier for six more weeks! I´m excited that I´ll get to spend Christmas here. It will be good. I can´t believe that I´ll be in my first area for 6 months! I´m great with it though.

So, actual Thanksgiving was good! It was actually really funny because we ALWAYS have lunch with members, but we didn´t end up having lunch on Thursday so we ate in the apartment. I wasn´t really hungry so I decided to eat a banana and yogurt for lunch. I decided it was really ironic that that was what I was eating for ¨Thanksgiving¨ so I decided to take a picture. hahaha. Good times.

However, Friday we had district meeting, and since 4 of the 6 of us are from the US, we celebrated Thanksgiving! It turns out that Turkey is really expensive here so we had Chicken instead. But we had mashed potatoes and GRAVY! it was so good. It had been way to long since I had eaten gravy, and the first time that Hermana Riquelme or Elder Arana had eaten it. Very good. :o)

So, the baptism was wonderful! Alicia and Hector were both baptized on Saturday. Dad, in response to your question, the bishop has actually asked that we always have priests from the ward baptize. Julio Beltran (17 yrs old) baptized Yennifer, and this week Fernando and Lautero (17 and 16 yrs old) Acuña baptized Hector and Alicia. It was the first time that Fernando and Lautero had baptized, and I think they both had a good experience.

Our building isn´t the stake building, but that´s where the baptisms are. Nice and close. The building the investigators are used to.

Hector was an ¨investigator¨missionary, and now is a member missionary! He really let his kids know that he wanted them at his baptism! His daughter, daughter-in-law, and 3 of his granddaughters were all there. It was great.

Alicia is doing really well. She is completely involved in the ward and the activities. Her daughter is a member of the other ward in our building so she is very excited that her mom was just baptized. It was neat to see.

How great that Marcia and Eldon are going on a mission to Oregon - and that they speak his language and eat his food! That´s great.

Lisa, I laughed at your story of Hallie and church. I´m going to try to give Andrea all the advice that you all sent. I just need to figure out how to say it all in Spanish!

One thing that´s funny is that every once in a while people ask me to talk to them in English. It´s great. I remember asking Michaela Stegeby to say things in Swedish, and now I have to try to think of something to say in English! It´s funny to be on the other end of it for a while.

Oh, I don´t know Becky´s email address for sure right now. I think I have it in my apartment... It could be beck-12@hotmail.com but I´m not sure.

Scriptures I really enjoyed this week were in Alma 37, Alma 39:10. And also Proverbs 16:20.

Also, we had light and water on and off this week. I don´t really understand why.... but that´s how it was. Anyway, one night we were planning for the next day and the lights went out! So we lighted some candles, planned, and then didn´t really know what to do with ourselves for the next little while before 10:30!! Anyway, this morning I read John 8:12 and it made me think.

I´m not sure when you´ll all get Christmas because of my debit card situation. Hum... sorry!

So, I love you all. Thanks so much for your love and suppport. I´ll write again next week! Oh also, good news! I got some stamps! Hopefully in 2-3 weeks you´ll get some mail again. :)

I Love you!
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Well, heres one picture. It should be of the baptism this last week. It took forever to load, so Im going to just send one. I think I'll print hard copies somewhere and send those. It stresses me out to wait for them to load here! Okay. Love you all!

Happy Thanksgiving (Email) 11.24.2008

2008-11-24T16:48:00.002-07:00

Hola mi familia! Como estan? I hope you´re all doing great. Well, what a week again! I just realized I forgot my agenda in the apartment in the bag that I usually use, so hopefully I´ll be able to remember most of what I was going to say.

First off, Dad and AK, I hope you had great birthdays. Fun times! Unfortunately I still don´t have stamps, so your birthday letters will be VERY late. Sorry!

About the debit card, I hadn´t received it as of last week, but I still don´t know for this week if it is here. Don´t cancel it quite yet. If it still isn´t here this week I think I´ll call the office and see if they have it there. Maybe next week I´ll have you cancel it if it still hasn´t gotten here. We´ll see. Hopefully I´ll be able to ask you next week to activate it. :D

Becky, if you read this, I hope your wedding is WONDERFUL this week! Sorry you haven´t gotten a letter or anything yet. It´ll get there eventually. :D Wow, I can´t believe it´s already! Incredible! Tell your family hello for me as well. Nate too!

So things here are going well! Hector Hernandez and Alicia Higuera both had their baptismal interviews on Saturday so they´re set for this Saturday. Yay! Very exciting for them.

So we were able to go and teach Monica´s four boys this week. It was great. Franco (14) Enzo (12) Kevin (9) and Bruno (7 almost 8). Wow, what a crack up to teach four boys. It actually went really well though and we´re excited to keep teaching them. Enzo, Kevin, Bruno, and Monica all went to church the last two weeks. Yay!

We taught Julia and Clara, as well as some of their friends/neighbors on Saturday. It turns out that one of their neighbors, Magali, just moved here from Bolivia two weeks ago, and she´s a member! Clara went to church, but Julia wasn´t feeling well so she didn´t go.

We had a FHE with the ward on Friday night. We´re having one every two weeks on Friday night. Originally we were going to have them in the church, but everyone is so spread out that we didn´t have much of a turn out. So now we´re having them in members homes in different areas, and we´re really encouraging the people that live close by to go. So we had one this last Friday night in Hermana Higuera´s house. It went really well and we had a pretty good turn out!

Here´s a funny story. Earlier in the day Friday I looked at the date, and was thinking that Thanksgiving had been the day before, and couldn´t believe that I had totally forgotten! So in memory of Thanksgiving we had an FHE about gratitude and I told them a little bit about the Thanksgiving tradition. It went really well! Then we realized later that night that it´s THIS week! Funny. Oops! It´s okay, gratitude is good all the time. :0)

Paula Beltran, the girl in the ward who decided to go on a mission, sent in her papers the other day! Yay! It turns out that it usually takes six weeks or so to get your call here. At the earliest! We´re pretty spoiled back home. I only waited like 2 weeks if I do recall.

Dad, it was fun to read about the stuff with the Spanish branch. The temple dedication, the activity, etc... It´s fun to learn about other cultures and experience it a little bit.

Something interesting, is that I am always very suprising to hear how much the people here know about the United States. The people here know more about the new President in the US than I do! They´re all very involved and interested. Wow.

The other day I read in Alma 30, and I realized that it talks about many of the lies that ¨the enemy of righteousness¨tries to tell us. It was pretty eye opening. I don´t like it!

I´m trying to simplify my teaching. It turns out that a lot of things just make sense in my head, and it´s hard to find a way to explain what I know. Why is honesty important? It just is! It´s really good though because it makes me think about why things are important, and the consecuences of different actions. It´s one thing to understand principles, and it´s another thing to try to teach the principles. As you all well know. :)

Dad, gracias! Hna. Riquelme helped me translate the faith story! Now I just need to memorize it.

Mom, I´m sure your talk went great. You sound just busy, but hope you´re doing well. Thanks for all your letters, love and support.

AK, Ryan, and Nyah, how are things going? I can´t believe how much Nyah is talking. From letters it sounds like you´re all doing really well. Don´t work too hard.

Aaron, I got the letter from Lisa about your last water skiing experience for the season. What a crack up! We have the weather here in Argentina for water skiing! In my mind the month is June - not November!

Shari and Orrin, how are you doing? Shari, that´s nice that you´re not doing the interviewing anymore. One less responsibility so you can get other things done. How´s Brandy? Her kids? Do you still do a lot of things with them?

Lisa and Jordan, hola! Thanks for the update with Hallie. I loved the ¨folgers¨ / fold your arms story. I love it! I can´t believe she´s running around your house. I really can´t imagine. Jordan, good luck with finals. They´re coming up right? And Lisa, I´m glad your enjoying work more these days. I have noticed that people seem to be a little healthier here. Well, I don´t know. Maybe just different health problems. Also, I think the people in general have different ideas of the cause of health problems. Interesting.

Well, what else? Lots to do and not enough time to do it! During our weekly planning we try to think about all our investigators, where they live, and how we can meet with all of them. It´s tricky to meet with them two or three times every week when they live in ¨todos lados¨. It´s a good challenge though. It works out. :)

I hope you all have a wonderful day. Be strong. Thank you all for your testimonies, and remember that I have a testimony that this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He has a perfect plan, we just have to follow it. I have recently come to realize more, that this life is all about changing! We´re not perfect, but we can, and really should be, changing every day for the better. It´s all possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. However, if we don´t change, and really repent, asking for forgiveness, it´s like Jesus Christ suffered in vain. Like He never suffered for us. But He did! What an opportunity to become better. :D

Remember I love you all!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Milagros! (Email) 11.17.2008

2008-11-17T15:30:00.002-07:00

Hola! First off, happy birthday Dad and AK this week! 32 and 56!! We´re all getting so old! I hope you both have wonderful birthdays.

Second, Yennifer was baptized on Friday! It was a great baptism, and she was confirmed/ baptized by fire :D on Sunday. It all went very well and we´re excited for her.

Where to begin? With answers to all your questions... :D I´m not sure which is faster out of DearElder or the regular mail. The regular mail seems to be more consistent, so it seems a little faster at times. For example, last week I got letters from AK from three different weeks. Funny. Really though, which ever is more convenient. I just love the letters. :) Shari, it was so good to get your letter last week! Gracias! And Lisa, I got one of your letters today where you mentioned that your letters don´t seem that organized. But I´ve never thought that! They always make me giggle. Letters from all.... gracias! I really am very grateful. Oh, and I do just get mail once a week.

Yes, the pizza here is very good. A lot of people make it all homemade - the crust. The cheese is different here too. I´m not sure how to explain it. More creamy maybe?

I´m yet to see a cucaracha, but Hermana Riquelme assures me that they´re here in Argentina. haha. However, we did see a frog the other day as we were leaving a house. I thought it was great, and Estela (Gabriela and Adrian´s mom) said there are a ton here in the summer. It turns out that Hna. Riquelme is not a fan of jumping things, and wasn´t that enthused by the frog. I think it´s funny. :D

Yes, I always need to wear nylons. It´s a little tricky with mosquito repelent, but I just spray it on on top of everything. It works great.

Mom, how did your talk go? I´m sure that you did a wonderful job. You always do.

No, there isn´t carpet in the houses. Or anywhere really. I don´t think I can remember the last time I saw carpet! Funny to think about. Hna. Riquelme said that there has been carpet in other places she has served though. I don´t know! Mostly tile I would say. Or cement.

How is it socioeconomically? It ranges quite a bit throughout my area. There are people who are pretty well off, who have a car, etc.. but I have come to realize much better how blessed we are at home. I hope I will always remember. Shari I liked your idea of giving my tennis shoes to someone else. I would like to do that. I don´t know why, but my debit card hasn´t gotten here so I still haven´t bought (???) new ones.

Dad, I laughed when you said that the Mexico City Temple dedication was in the ward and you were worried about the English translation. I can definitely relate! I hope it went well for you.

AK and Ryan, it brought tears to my eyes when you told me that Nyah shows empathy for other kids by bringing them their favorite toys. She has good teachers who have love and concern for other people. Thanks for teaching her!

And Lisa and Jordan, I just got your letter about ¨Folgers¨and Fold your arms. Wow, the Gospel really does bless our lives. I love that she knows how to fold her arms and pray.

I feel like Spanish is coming along. I still definitely need to concentrate to understand, but I´m understanding more and more all the time. In lessons, etc... I´m usually okay because I´m fairly familiar with the vocabulary. However, when people start talking about medical terms or something I´m pretty much at a loss. Study study! I´m still trying to figure out my language study - grammar, read the BOM in Spanish... which or what for how long... but it´s going well. Hna. Riquelme is working on English and I´m thoroughly enjoying it. It helps me appreciate english! She wants to learn how to pray in english, so every once in a while she asks me to pray in english. I just had to laugh the other day. I couldn´t pray without throwing in spanish words! Seriously very funny. I joked afterwards that I can´t speak english or spanish fluently! It´s good. I´m learning with the help of the Spirit.

We haven´t taught Monica Troncoso in quite a while. Her dad has been in the hospital, etc... We´re not really sure what to do. I´ll keep you all updated.

Andres - we still meet with him fairly regularly, and he had gone to church two times in a row! But he didn´t go this last week. He really needs to read the BoM but it turns out he´s not much of a reader. He´s doing well though.

There are few ¨gringo¨sisters I believe. I´m sure it has changed a little since I got here, but when I got here I think there were 5 of the 25 or so sisters from the United States. Not many!

We haven´t met with Gladys for a little while. She´s very nice, as well as her husband, but we´re not sure if they´re just curious, or if they really want to learn to change. We´ll see!

Flia. Ramos - we have taught them a time or two and invited them to church. It´s a little tricky with them because they work a lot too.

Most people here can read. I think there have been very few occasions where someone has told me that they don´t know how to read. The recent concern is that people can´t see very well. Hector needs new glasses so he can read. As well as Julia - someone I´ll talk more about in a minute!

I did see Hermana Schwab. She seems to be doing very well. :D

AK, Mice! Aahh!! Hopefully they´re all taken care of now!

Lisa, I definitely think you should try out the marathon with the person at work if you think you can make the time commitment. I definitely can´t deny that it´s a time commitment. But so great once you do it! You´ll have to let me know what you decide.

Becky, if you read this, you should definitely send my family a wedding invitation! And me too. hahaha :D

Hallie and writing tools. Sounds like good times!

Alright, now for some more miracles! We went to visit Marcela and Natalia Silveira (Natalia is 12). We met Natalia in the street one day, and her mom a day or so later, but when we went to see them they weren´t there. Anyway, we went to their neighborhood the other day, and they were there! We had a good lesson where we talked about the plan of salvation and why we have trials in our life. This was Saturday night. We invited them to church, and they went! We got there I think just at the right time on Saturday.

We talked to Monica Vasquez, a less active member that lives in 2 de abril - the name of the neighborhood. We have visited her several times. She has six sons, and she´s a convert, but she hasn´t gone to church for YEARS. So we went to visit her the other day ( she has a little store), and she said she was so glad that we were there because she had something to tell us! She wants that her kids learn about the bible and the church, and that her 4 youngest sons are baptized! Wow!!! So she and her 3 youngest sons went to church on sunday. The first time ever her sons had gone to church from what I understand. A miracle!

Saturday also we were walking in a neighborhood, and we said ¨hola¨to a lady and her daughter. They told us they have just been here in Argentina for one month. They´re from Bolivia. Julia, and her daughter Clara (12 years old). We invited them to church, and about where the bus would go in the morning.

Sunday morning they weren´t where we had said so didn´t think they were going to go. But we got to the church, and there seated were Julia, Clara, her son Selso, and her neighbor Valentin! (22 years old). Wow!! Talk about a miracle! They really didn´t know anything about the church, and yet there they were! They all said they enjoyed church. We tried to get their address, but they didn´t know their address. Just the neighborhood, which is fairly large.

We decided after church that we needed to see them yesterday because they work in the fields (with strawberries) all week. So we said a prayer and headed out to try to find them! Heavenly Father literally put them in our path. They had gone to the store so we found them in the street. Blessings! We just taught Julia and Clara because the other two weren´t there. But it was a great lesson. They´re very humble. And they accepted a baptismal date for December 20th! Amazing! The only tricky thing is that they´re always working so we can only teach on Saturday and Sunday. How blessed we are for the jobs we have!

Hector was at church as well. He and Alicia are progressing nicely and are still set for the 29th to be baptized. Yay!

As far as trials, I will try to talk about them more. I would say the hardest thing is probably trying to forget myself. Often times I feel out of MY comfort zone. If I would just forget myself, I know that I would be a better missionary. I´m working on it! Spanish is still tricky, but it´s okay. I had heard before that you have the highs of highs and the lows of lows on the mission. It´s true! I feel like that every day. But I´m learning here in Argentina, and that´s what´s important. If I´m a better person when I come home, and help other people to come to Christ in the process, I think that´s what´s important.

Well, I think I need to go. Thanks for everything. I love you all, and thanks for your love and support! Families are Forever!

Love Forever,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hola! (Email) 11.10.2008

2008-11-10T22:03:00.002-07:00

Hello everyone! ¿Comó están? Maybe I should take granted of being able to use accents and everything here with this keyboard. :D Well, quite the week it has been! Where to begin?

To answer questions. No, we don´t need to use mosquito nets. We pretty much escape from the mosquitos when we walk into our apartment. Everyone once in a while there will be something flying around, but that happens at home too. No big deal. :D

As far as scriptures we like to use when inviting people to church. I like Moroni 6 because it talks about why we go to church. I also like several in the New Testament (sorry I can´t remember the exact references right now) that Christ is inviting people to come to him. Christ is always inviting people to Him, to ¨Come and See¨and I think this alone is a great way to do it. People need to ¨Come and See¨what the church is like - to come unto Christ!

Also, Hermana Riquelme pointed out Luke 14 to me. It is when Jesus Christ gives the parable of the great supper when he invites all to the supper and only a few come. One doesn´t come because he has work, one doesn´t come because he has family things to do, and another doesn´t come because he needs to do something with his five oxen that he just bought (possessions). It´s interesting to think about. There are a lot of different reasons why we don´t go to church, or things that could prevent us from going, but we should still go!

Here´s an interesting story... we were eating lunch with one of the families of the ward on Saturday. She, the mom, is going to school right now. She told us that she wouldn´t be able to go to church on Sunday because she has two tests on Tuesday that she doesn´t feel prepared for. Her previous test last week didn´t go as well as she would have liked. It made me think. As I gave the thought after lunch, I shared the lessons I learned while I was in school before the mission. I always tried to put learning about the gospel before learning of the world. I read the scriptures first. I figured if I wanted Heavenly Father´s help with Speech Pathology, I should learn about His Gospel first. I also always prayed before tests for help, because the Holy Ghost can bring all things to our remembrance. However, we have to do all that is possible to prepare first. Í couldn´t just put in half my effort to study and then expect Him to bring things to my remembrance that I hadn´t studied.

It made me think also that when we partake of the sacrament, we become more worthy of the Spirit. Now especially she needs to have the Spirit for help in her schooling! It just made me think of the blessings of the Spirit. The Lord always promises to bless us with the things we stand in need of - temporal and spiritual - when we keep His commandments. It was a good reminder for me, and helped me realize ways I can improve as a missionary.

I got my Christmas package! Hermana Riquelme is pretty sure that I should open it up now, but I assured her that I would be in HUGE trouble if I opened it before Christmas. Gracias!

Also, here´s a question. I don´t know what to do for Christmas. I would like to send something from here for you all, but I would basically be buying you all Christmas with your own money. So, let me know what you think. Do you think I should send gifts back home?

Shari, I didn´t know that you had for sure started putting my letters on a blog! Gracias! I hope it´s not too much trouble.

Mom, I am writing in my journal. I have missed a day or two, but for the large majority I am writing. I finished my first one, and now I´m started on the other one. It´s good. Therapeutic I think. :D

Here´s a story. Last Monday night we were having FHE with the Beltran family. We were actually playing a game and then all of the sudden the lights went out. Someone walked outside, and to our dismay, there was a house on fire! We didn´t know who it was at first, but we soon realized that it was the house of one of our investigators, Cristina Alarcon. She´s 22 and has two little girls. It was one of the saddest things I have ever seen. Luckily they got out of the house quickly and are all fine. I believe her boyfriend was at work when it all happened. There is NOTHING left. Literally no evidence that there was ever a house there. It´s interesting because we are also teaching her Mom (Cristina) and Hector (step-dad?) and her siblings, that live in the neighboring neighborhood. We went to Cristina´s (the mom) house the next day and I was amazed by her. She is strong. She said Cristina is living in Neuquen now so unfortunately we won´t be able to teach her.

Yennifer had her baptismal interview yesterday and she´s going to be baptized Friday night! Yay! We´re very excited for her. It has been quite the adventure, but we think everything is going to work out just fine.

Did I tell you about Hector? I think so. That Hermana Riquelme met him on the bus? He has now gone to church two times and has a baptismal date for November 29th! He´s 76 years old. A very nice man. I have no idea, but he reminds me of Morie (Tuesdays with Morie). Funny huh?

Also, we are teaching Alicia Higuera. I don´t know if you remember her, but Hermana Celis and I taught her a couple of times before. She is doing great. She´s reading the Book of Mormon, and really understanding! I think she can explain the first part of first Nephi better than I can! She went to church yesterday. Yay! She has a baptismal date for November 29th as well.

Someone in the stake got us a spot in the Plottier Book Fair that took place Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. Hermana Riquelme and I were only able to go part of Saturday and all of Sunday, but it was very enjoyable. We couldn´t ¨preach¨but it was very enjoyable. We could answer questions. We just gave away pamphlets about the church - the restoration, plan of salvation, the gospel of Jesus Christ, Word of Wisdom, Book of Mormon, FHE book, etc... Just fun free things to give away! Elder Stephenson is quite the musician, and he actually brought his charango (mini guitar) and harmonica, and played and sang while we were there. Very fun. I hope people have a little better idea of what the church is all about now.

Thanks for the pictures! Nyah was dorothy! So cute! And for the pictures of soccer as well. Very very fun.

Shari, Hermana Riquelme loves oreos. I taught her that you can put the fork in the middle and it´s easier to eat them with milk. :D I informed her that you had taught me. And, the ¨Good night, don´t let the bed bugs bite...¨saying. She likes it.

Well, I hope all is well. I love you all very much. Los quiero! Talk to you again soon!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hola! 11.03.2008 (Email and Fotos)

2008-11-03T17:26:00.003-07:00

Hola everyone! How are you doing? I love the picture of Hallie on Halloween. She´s so cute, and she´s so big! Wow! Very fun. I´m afraid they don´t celebrate Halloween here much... too bad. :D The kids are missing out on all the chocolate!

Oh, I have a request. Next time someone sends a letter, it´s not a big deal at all, will you send a picture or two of me playing soccer? I need evidence that I played. :D

So how are you all doing? I hope you got the pictures all right. This letter might be a little shorter than usual because it took some time to get the pictures sent. Also, I ran out of stamps a few weeks back, so when you don´t get mail from me, that´s why. Stamps are on the way though, so hopefully you´ll get the letters before too long. I´ll plan more in advance next time... :(

Shari and Orrin, I never said thanks for the money for new tennis shoes! Thank you thank you! I´ll let you know all about them when I get them.

Things here are going well! We had zone conference this last Monday and it went well. I have a new district leader - Elder Arana from Peru. He´s very nice. :D It´s fun to see a different way of doing things as well.

Mom, since you mentioned flossing, I have done much better this week! I´ll work on improving more, because I do want to keep my teeth.

The mosquitos are here! AK, I thought of you on your mission because if I recall, your apartment didn´t have windows. I´m grateful that I can walk into my apartment and escape from the mosquitos. It´s a luxury that you didn´t have! Good times. It makes me feel like a real missionary to have mosquitos around. haha.

Well, we changed Yenni´s baptismal date to the 14th, because we definitely feel like it´s more important that she has a testimony and understands everything, than that it´s done quickly. Hopefully we´ll be able to teach everything this week so that she can have her baptismal interview on Sunday and then be good to go for Friday the 14th. Usually baptisms are on Saturday, but there´s an enrichment activity in Neuquen that day.

Hermana Riquelme was talking to Yennifer about the importance of having a testimony of the Gospel before being baptized. She asked, ¨If someone walks up to you, says a thing or two about the church - for example Joseph Smith wasn´t a prophet or similar things - are you really going to be able to testify to them that the church is true? Do you have that conviction in your heart?¨ It really made me think. I hope that every convert to the church can have this conviction so that when trials come, they can withstand them.

Another story: We´re really trying to talk to people when we´re on the bus. It´s kind of hard, but we´re working on it. So the other day we were on the bus, and Hermana Riquelme started talking to an older man (70´s??) ,named Hector, whom she was sitting next to. He said he wants to be baptized in a church, and she hurried and gave him a pamphlet before he got off the bus. Later the same day we saw him again, and he said he really liked what he read, and that he wanted to know what he needed to do to be baptized! So we invited him to church. Sunday morning we got there, and he was waiting for us outside! Wow. He said he really enjoyed the meeting, and he wants us to come over and teach him so he can be baptized. Wow, quite the miracle huh? We´re excited to go and teach him and see what happens.

Remember Alicia Astente - the lady that I taught one day with Paula Beltran? We were passing be her house yesterday, and we talked to her Mom, Ursula. We haven´t been able to talk to Alicia since. But Ursula is very sincere, and she had a lot of questions about baptism. It was a neat lesson, and she said if she receives the answer from Heavenly Father that the church is true, she´ll prepare for her baptism the 29th of November.

Andres and Andrea are doing well. The biggest struggle I think for them is to go to church with Omar and Carla because they aren´t as reverent as they would like. It´s a struggle in all the church, but unfortunately they don´t see that because there aren´t a lot of kids their age in the ward. We´re working on helping them. How hard! Mom, Ak, Lisa... anyone... have any advice?

Dad, the story you always tell about faith. The man on the edge of the mountain that is holding onto a branch. Can you write that down and send it to me? I don´t remember the details and I would love to learn it in spanish to teach people. Gracias!

AK, thanks for the reasons of why you go to church. It helps.

Mom and Dad, thanks for your answers about how missionaries gain your trust. I do try to be punctual and responsible. I hope the members know we´re trying our best. The mission has helped me to realize that no one is perfect. That´s why we can´t judge.

Mom, thanks for your thought about the dinner appoinment and the missionaries talking. I´m afraid I have been very guilty of being the quiet missionary, mainly out of insecurity. However, I know a lot more spanish now, and I really don´t have an excuse. I have tried very hard to talk more during lunch this week. It hit me pretty hard what you said, and I know if I follow your advice that I will be a better missionary and instrument in the Lord´s hands. If ever you doubt whether or not you are inspired, remember that I needed what you wrote. Thank you!

Well, I need to go. I love you all very very much. The church is true, and Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world. How blessed we are!

Love Forever,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Okay, the first one is when our zone (most of the zone) went to the river. And the second one is Hermana Riquelme and I at the river. I might try to send more, but it takes a while for them to load. We´ll see...

Feliz Halloween :D 10.27.2008 (Email)

2008-10-27T11:31:00.002-06:00

Mi Familia-

Hola! Como estan? Espero que todo este bien con todos. Well, what a week! To begin, after Hermana Celis left I spent the day with Hna. Valderrama and Hna. Diaz. Also spent some time with Hna. Laura Bignon (who was the companion of Hna. Celis just before me as a member/mini missioary) and another member, Isy. In the night the three of us taught and visited and did contacts just as normal. It was interesting to see the way that another companionship did things. Then we had a sleep over that night. :D

The next morning Hermana Riquelme got here at about 9:00. I´ll admit I was a little nervous about it all (getting back to the apartment without Hermana Celis for one thing haha) but I must say, that Hna. Riquelme is SO GREAT!! Before I met her everyone told me that she has a Chilean accent still, and it´s the truth! It makes me giggle. Often when we are talking to someone they ask, so... from what part of Chile are you from?

So she is from Santiago Chile. What a coincidence huh? Both she and Hermana Celis. They were in the MTC together. There are five kids in her family, and all are members. She has been a member for three years now. She said that they were all pretty much baptized at different times. She is the oldest, and the only girl. Her brother is serving in California, San Bernadino sp??? - english speaking!

First off, good news! Yennifer, the sister of Rocio and Oriana, and daughter of Rita, went to church for the 3rd time yesterday! She had told Hna. Celis that she wanted to be baptized, and she has recently been going to many church activities, but when we went to her house earlier in the week, she left when we started teaching. So we were a little unsure what she was thinking. However, we talked to her yesterday about what she wants, and what she would need to learn, do... in order to be baptized, and she has a baptismal date for November 8th! Yay! I´m so excited for her. Tamara, her sister, also went to church for the second time yesterday. Tamara is 17 and has a 1 1/2 year old daughter, Brisa, who is adorable. I hope she also continues to progress.

And, Andres went to church yesterday! Yay!!! He was only in Sacrament Meeting, and then the rest of the time he was pretty much in the hall trying to take care of their kids - Omar and Carla. Hum.... it turns out it´s a struggle with kids no matter where you live. :D

We are really emphasizing The Book of Mormon with the investigators and the members of the ward. It´s such a key. If people really read the Book of Mormon, and pray about it, I really am convinced that they´ll know that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and they´ll have the strength to overcome whatever problems arise. I know that the Book of Mormon has been a huge strength to me since I have been here in the mission. I told Hna. Celis the other day, and others since, that I really don´t think that I could do the mission if we didn´t have personal and companion study every day. It´s just that simple.

We´re inviting everyone to read it cover to cover. I am loving it. The Book of Mormon is so powerful!

We´re trying to invite everyone to the church as well. Rather than nonchalantly invite them, make it a lesson, and give the blessings, commandments... with the scriptures and everything. What to expect, why we have the different meetings, etc... We would really like to increase the number of people that go to church on Sundays. The investigators can´t progress without it.

So we are starting to see more mosquitos. Not a big deal for me. Hermana Riquelme on the other hand, is allergic to mosquitos! Her legs/feet were bitten, and her feet are swollen like crazy! She said her feet feel like they´re going to pop or explode when she walks. I don´t think that´s a good thing... Hopefully they´ll get better soon. She´s a trooper though.

Here´s a funny story. On Thursday night we were trying to call Paula Beltran (who was just called as a ward missionary :D ) to see if she could go with us to some lessons to invite people to church. Apparently my tres and seis sound similar, and Hna. Riquelme called the wrong number. Once she figured out she wasn´t talking to Paula, she started a contact with the lady! By the end of the phone call she had the lady´s address and an appointment. It was so great. It turns out she lives in Neuquen, so hopefully those missionaries were able to go.

Another funny story. The other day were were walking past the Plaza in Barrio Esperanza, and a man (22 years old or so) came up to us and asked if one of us is from the United States. I of course said yes... He said, ¨oh great! I was hoping I would find one of the people from the church here. I need help with me English homework!¨ It was so funny. We helped him, talked to him a little bit, and then he was on his way.

Also, the other day we were talking to a lady named Gladys. Hna. Celis and I had taught her lesson one, and when we went the other day she had visitors. When I started talking one of the visitors asked where I was from. She thought I was Italian! Funny funny.

Mom and Dad, thanks always for your emails. I love reading them always. They´re great.

AK and Lisa, thanks for your letters always. AK, it was fun to see the pictures from Elitch Gardens. It made me sad to read about the man who has terminal cancer. It always makes me wonder how I would handle the situation if I were in his situation. I hope I could handle it as well as he is.

Lisa, I loved hearing about Hallie´s birthday party and cake and everything! Hopefully you took a picture of the cake so I can see it sometime. It sounds pretty impressive. Tell Rebekah hi for me when you see her next time.

Shari, Aaron, how are you? Ryan, Jordan, Orrin? I hope you are all doing really well with everything.

Hola Nyah and Hallie! Tell Scotty hi for me as well, and to be on his best behavior! :D

I read about Alma and Amulek this week in Alma 14 I believe. Wow, quite the story. First off, that Alma returned to Ammonihah after he had been rejected by the people. How hard that would be. But it said that he returned IMMEDIATELY when he was commanded. Amulek takes Alma into his house and feeds him. Then it talks about everything that they went through after preaching. The people were so mad. I was amazed by the strength of Alma and Amulen during this time of trial. Good food for thought.

Also, I read the talk by Elder Wirthlin from Oct 2007 conference on Charity. I love it! It says in one part that at the end of life, when we go to final judgment, Heavenly Father isn´t going to ask about what callings we held, or what worldly possessions we had. He´s going to ask if we fed the hungry, supported those who in need - served our fellow men! The talk mentioned that the when it comes down to it, the success of our life will come down to whether or not we have come to develop charity - a pure love for God and our fellow men. Our neighbor. It made me really think. If I learn nothing else during the mission, I would really like to learn to develop real Christ like love for other people. Not only my family, but for all people, and really see them as children of God.

I love you all very much. The church is true and Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. Choose the Right!

Con Mucho Amor,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hola Otra Vez!! 10.20.2008 (Email)

2008-10-20T13:08:00.002-06:00

Hola mi familia! Alright, so now I´m in the bus terminal. Hermana Celis just left. How sad! I´m excited for her though and I know that she´ll do great. I´m also excited for Hermana Schafer because I know that Hermana Celis will be able to help her. They´ll be wonderful.

Alright, so more about what is happening here. Yesterday was Mother´s Day here in Argentina. So Mom, Happy Mother´s Day! They gave me flowers in church to give to you. :D I´ll have to take a picture of them and send that. :D They´re pretty!

Yesterday was our ward conference as well. We had a good turn out. We laughed when we were having choir practice because we didn´t know if there would be anyone to actually listen to the choir because everyone would be singing. Haha. But really, there was a good turn out and I really enjoyed it. We sang ¨Families Can Be Together Forever¨and I played the piano for that one. Then we sang a mix of ¨My Heavenly Father Loves Me and I Feel My Savior´s Love¨. Raimundo the ward mission leader played for that one. Then I played, what´s it called? El Cristo Rey Jesus I think. I´m not sure what it´s called in English or the page number. But anyway, it was my first time playing for a choir so luckily it wasn´t too complicated. :o)

We found a neat family this week. Familia Ramos. They are from Bolivia and have three kids. They are catholic. We had the opportunity to teach lesson one on Saturday night and it was a really good lesson. Grover has some concerns I think because he doesn´t really understand why he needs something different. He is content with reading the Bible and thinks his family is fine. We tried to explain about the Priesthood, and that only through the restored priesthood can his family be together forever. I think they´re really sincere and I´m excited to teach them more.

We also started teaching a lady named Gladys. We went and taught her Lesson One as well. She is great. I think she´s like 55 or 60. Usually at the end of the lesson after explaining the BoM and everything we then ask them if they´re willing to read and pray about the things we taught. But Gladys, after we had explained the BoM, she was the one that said, ¨alright then, I´m going to read it!¨It was so great. I´m excited for her as well.

We haven´t been able to meet with Analia and her family. She works a ton, and we think that her boyfriend??? has just moved in with her. We were talking to the Beltran family, her neighbors (Raimundo and Paula and their family) and we´re going to pray for her and her family that they can continue to progress.

I really admire the Beltran family. They didn´t all join the church at the same time, and I have really enjoyed hearing more about their conversion stories. They´re so strong. Very amazing. I often wonder if I would have joined the church if missionaries showed up at my doorstep if I hadn´t been born in the church.

I´m reading more about Alma in the beginning of Alma in his missionary efforts. I love reading about the missionaries in the BoM.

Oh, Hermana Schwab is going to be in my zone now. Fun fun!

So how are you all doing? Mom, it made me laugh when you were thinking about the teeth of the people who lived for so many years. I´m fairly confident that they just didn´t have teeth. I´m grateful for modern day dentistry as well. How are your teeth doing by now?

It was fun to read about the parade and everything. Tell all the family hello for me! Happy Birthday to Uncle Wayne and Uncle Allen, congratulations to Camille on her baby. Where is Camille living?

Shari and Orrin, thanks for the money for my tennis shoes! Hopefully I´ll be able to buy them soon.

Dad, I didn´t get the attachment with the picture of Hallie on the treadmill. I´m not sure what happened!

I love hearing about all your lives. I´m so grateful for my family. I´m so grateful I was raised in such a happy home with the knowledge of the Gospel. I continue to recognize the blessings. The life we have, so many others don´t! I admire all of your service - in the church, and just among yourselves in the family.

There´s a taxi driver that drives us around quite a bit. His name is Simon. He told us a little while ago that his wife had a heart attack. Last night he gave us a ride back to the apartment and he said his wife passed away. It just broke my heart. It makes me so sad for the people that don´t have the knowledge that families really can be forever. We´re so blessed! We just need to keep the commandments and endure to the end now.

Well, I need to go. Thanks for all and I love you all!

Con Mucho Amor,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hola Mi Familia! 10.20.2008 (Email)

2008-10-20T13:01:00.002-06:00

Hola! Well, I´m writing a little earlier today because today´s going to be a little different. I´m not sure how much I´ll be able to write right now, but I should be able to write more later.

So here´s the scoop: Hermana Celis is headed to El Bolson! It´s about eight hours south east, towards the mountains. And, she´s going to be companions with Hermana Schafer - my companion from the MTC! Pretty fun!

My new companion is going to be Hermana Riquelme. She arrived in the mission with Hermana Celis - they were in the MTC together. She is also from Santiago Chile. Funny huh? I guess I´m meant to be with a Chilena! Hermana Celis said that she´s a convert of about two years. Pretty neat. That´s about all I know about her right now.

Hermana Celis is leaving from the Bus Terminal at 11:00, and then I´m going to spend the day and night with the Hermanas from Progreso (Neuquen). Then Hermana Riquelme gets here Tuesday morning, and we´ll head back to Plottier!

Alright, my address that Dad asked for:
38 Buratovich
Plottier Argentina
And the zip code is 8316

I´m not sure how the address thing works. I don´t know if I can get mail in my apartment. But there it is!

Mom, I do have a pocket size spanish hymn book. It´s one of the things they gave us in the MTC.

So here´s a story... I went to get money off of my personal credit card, and surprise! My credit card is expired! I´m not sure why I didn´t think of that sooner, but what can you do. I´m not sure if you can just send me a new one, or what... Can you let me know? Thank you!

Yes, I do see kids out playing soccer. I think there are more now that it is warmer, but there have been people playing soccer in the streets and parks since I got here! Cold or not right? I love it because about all the parks here have a soccer field. Good times.

It turns out that soccer isn´t really a female sport here. When people hear that I played soccer before (was on teams that were in tournaments, etc...) they are always surprised! Bueno, one because I may not look like a soccer player :D, and second, there just aren´t girls teams here!

One of the recent converts in the ward, Liliana, has actually just recently started getting together with about 10 other girls to play on Monday afternoon. I would love to play one day with them.

Last Monday we did end up going to the river in Senillosa. So fun! It was weird to be in normal clothes, but very fun. We played soccer, volleyball, ate a barbecue, threw a frisbee - about all the missionaries from our zone. Playing soccer while wearing a missionary plaque. Does life get much better? ;D It was funny because I juggled the soccer ball a little bit, and some of the Elders were surprised. Especially the Elders who aren´t north american. It makes me laugh. Haha

We had a ward talent show that I feel like was very successful! I played the piano - the song that you sent me. I was nervous, but I think it went pretty well. You can just do your best right? President Cook gave Hermana Celis permission to dance a Chilena Folklore dance and she did very well. We had pretty good participation, and we had a good show! Quite a few from the ward, and we had some stake support as well. We had it so people could invite investigators, and so the ward in general could be more united. They hadn´t had an activity in quite some time from what I hear. Anyway, the great thing about the activity, is that there were 6 investigators there! Yay! Estela, Noelia and Tatiana Montiel (Family of Gabriela and Adrian). Yennifer (daughter of Rita), Elva, and Andres. Que Bueno!

Alright, well I need to go for now. I love you all. I´m going to try to write later. Thanks for everything!

Con Mucho Amor,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

10.13.2008 (Email)

2008-10-15T14:35:00.002-06:00

Hello everyone! How are you all doing? Well, what a great week of mail! I got pictures from AK and Ryan in the mail of when Mom and Dad were in Denver, a letter from AK and Lisa, and a letter from Becky and Lori Larson (Greene because she´s now married). And if you all would like to know, Becky´s engaged! Yay!!! She´s getting married November 28 in Manti. I´m very excited for her.

AK, I just got a letter from you as well - through the pouch. Gracias!

Lisa, Happy Birthday again! 25!!! I hope you had a great day celebrating. Know I was thinking about you.

Well, I had a good week. Rita and Oriana Martinez (mother and sister of Rocio) were baptized! Quite the experience! I think I told you that Rita wanted to be baptized in the river. We weren´t sure how it was going to work out, because naturally the river would be a little complicated. There are very few members that have cars, and there isn´t a bus that goes to the river, so we didn´t know how members would get to the baptism. Not ideal for support.

We ended up talking to the Bishop, and he wanted the baptism to be in the church. We talked to President Cook, and he also told us it would be much much better to have the baptism in the church, for many reasons. So we didn´t know what to do. Rita had her heart STUCK on the river. Everytime we talked to her she told us how much she wanted to be baptized like Christ was - in the river. She did not want to be baptized in the font.

So we headed to their house on Wednesday to try to talk to her. We talked and talked and talked about how it was better for her to baptized in the chapel. We talked about the different reasons. She didn´t want to change. I mentioned that many times I want to do things becase it´s my desire, not necessarily because it´s the desire of Heavenly Father. I´m trying to distinguish the difference in my life, and do the will of Heavenly Father. We finally asked if it was her desire to be baptized in the river or if it was Heavenly Father´s desire. We would all pray about it, and then make a decision the next time we talked. Us, the ward members, other missionaries, and President Cook were all praying for her.

We called her on Thursday night because we couldn´t go to her house, and she said that she had decided to be baptized in the church!!! It really was a miracle. The truth came out that a member of the ward, Hermana Valenzuela, who is also her neighbor and friend, also went over and talked to her after we did. She helped Rita recognize that it doesn´t matter if we´re baptized in the river - it matters that we´re baptized.

It just made me think of Elder Holland´s talk about angels. There are angels both seen and seen here on the earth. Hermana Valenzuela helped answer our prayers - she was an instrument in the hands of the Lord. It made me want to be that angel for other people. I want to help people like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ would if they were here in Plottier with the people - in person.

The baptism was wonderful. We had it Saturday morning instead of Saturday night because another of Rita´s daughters turned 15 on Saturday so they were having a big celebration that night. We usually have cake after the baptism, but upon Rita´s request, we had pizza instead. Mmmm... Mmmm... Good. :D

Sunday they received the Holy Ghost. What a wonderful blessing the Holy Ghost is.

Funny things... since a lot of my area is ¨country¨there are cows, pig farms, etc... But the other day we were walking and I glanced over at a yard, and then had to take a second look - like ¨what was that?¨ I looked over again and there was a huge pig (hog?) just grazing in someone´s front yard eating the grass. No fence or anything, just hanging out. I thought it was funny.

We´re heading to Senillosa today to go the river and have a zone preparation day. It is one elder´s b-day and another is headed home next week, so we´re doing something a little different. It should be fun. :D

Analia and family are doing well. We´re having a hard time meeting with them because Analia works so much. About the only time she is home is when we´re at lunch. We´re working at it.

We´re also working with Magali. She has been in the hospital so we haven´t been able to talk to her. We´re planning on going tonight.

Andres is doing well. He hasn´t been able to go to church, so that´s going to be our focus. We went to teach him on Friday but he wasn´t home. Have I told you he´s a boxer? He was out of town for a fight. Andrea tells us that he won.

Monica Troncoso. She had a baptismal date, but we´re having a hard time getting a hold of her as well. First her little boy was sick, and now her dad I believe is in the hospital. We´re hoping this next week we´ll be able to meet with her.

Gabriela and Adrian are doing great. Knowing Gabriela like she is now, I would think she has been a member her whole life. She is 100 percent involved in being a member. Institute, a calling, taking notes at conference... everything. She´s amazing.

Well, thanks for all. Dad, thank you for the pictures you sent through the email! I had seen a couple from Denver that AK sent, but others different as well. I love seeing the pictures, so thank you so much!

Thank you all for you love and support. Your always in my prayers. Thank you so much for praying for me. I gain a lot of comfort from the knowledge that I am in your prayers as well. The church is true. I love you all very much!

Con Mucho Amor,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

P.S. I don´t think I¨ll be buying shoes today, but hopefully next week? If you
just want to put money in my account that would be great. Gracias!

10.06.2008 (Email)

2008-10-15T14:29:00.002-06:00

Hello! How are you all doing? Things here are going really well. Dad, I got the email with the song. Thank you so much! I read in the bottom of Mom´s email that you were going to write... I don´t know if you had the chance to write but I didn´t get it if you sent it. It´s okay if you didn´t get the chance! :D

First off, to answer your questions I have gotten. The members are good with retention. The Bishop has just called couples in the ward as ward mission leaders that he wants to teach the retention lessons. We are planning on teaching the members the lessons so they can then teach, and have a relationship with the new converts. We hope this takes place shortly.

Also, Andrea and Gabriela just got callings! Andrea is a counselor in the RS, and Gabriela is the secretary in the RS. Yay!

As for washing clothes, there is a member in the ward, Hermana Lagos, who usually washes our clothes, with the exception of underclothes, which we wash in the apartment. If we don´t have time to take our clothes to her, we just wash what we need as we go. It works. :)

Yes, we have a cell phone. The sisters are allowed to carry it around with us during the day in case of emergency, but we´re not supposed to use it during the day otherwise. We can use it at night and in the morning if we need to call investigators or members, as well as our district or zone leaders. I think it works out to like 8 minutes a day to those who aren´t actually in the mission (missionaries).

We eat lunch with the members every day with the exception of Mondays, and every other Friday depends. Sometimes we do, sometimes we don´t. It´s the same schedule every week though (same members). The food is great... perhaps a little too great. Oh well, what can you do?? :D

Mom, you asked if I had accompanied Hermana Celis or done a solo on the piano. I had accompanied her in the talent show. No solos quite yet.

Lisa, Happy Birthday this Sunday! 25??? We´re getting so old! I hope you have a wonderful birthday, and know that I´ll be thinking of you. Here, you can pretend that I´m actually singing this: Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Lisa, Happy Birthday to you! ¡Feliz Cumpleanos!

Shari, how are you doing? I have really been thinking about you recently, and I hope you are doing well. You´re always in my prayers.

Rita and Oriana, mother and sister of Rocio, are scheduled to be baptized this Saturday. Yay!

Now for conference. Can I just say that I absolutely LOVED it! I really don´t even know where to begin. We had to go to Neuquen where there´s a satelite. We found out that they were broadcasting the RS broadcast Saturday morning before the saturday morning session, which actually started here at 1:00. President Cook not only allowed, but encouraged us to go. So that was great.

I watched/listened to the RS Broadcast in Spanish. Well, the songs of course were in English, but the rest in Spanish. I really enjoyed it. I was happy to realize how much I understood. Granted there were many words I didn´t catch, but I still got the message and feeling. Very good talks.

Then, for the rest of conference, they set up a room for all of us english speaking missionaries where we could watch it in our native language! It was SO wonderful! I honestly can´t express the joy of hearing conference, and just being able to enjoy the message and be spiritually uplifted. I don´t know if I have ever enjoyed conference so much.

After the saturday morning session Hna. Celis and I did divisions with the sisters in that area - Hna. Valderrama of Chile, and Hna. Diaz of Buenos Aires. I went with Hna. Valderrama, who is the senior companion. It was very enjoyable. We went and invited recent converts to conference. It was fun to see another side of Neuquen, the houses rather than just the city. It turns out that my area is very flat! It was fun to walk the hills in her area. Very fun.

Then we watched the Afternoon session from 5-7 at night. And that was the day! After conference on Saturday I just wanted to tell the world that we have a living prophet and apostles! What an amazing blessing to receive guidance for our day.

Sunday we went and picked up the members in the bus. I was excited because Rita, Rocio, Oriana, and Jennifer (another daughter) all came! Yay! Also, Liliana, a recent convert, brought her neighbor Maria (an ex-investigator) and her sister Maria. Yay for missionary work!

We ate lunch with all the ward. I´m always very amazed by their generosity. What is one person´s is everyones.

After both sessions we headed back in the Cole (bus), and we got back in time to do work for 30-45 minutes. It was such a wonderful conference! I am so so grateful that I had the opportunity to listen and learn. I feel like I have a new energy and desire to continue working. I hope that you all also received answers to your prayers.

Tonight we are going to have FHE with Gabriela and her family. Gabriela actually invited her friend and her mom as well. I´m grateful for her example, that she is already taking part in helping others learn about the Gospel.

Oh, I have a question. I brought my old tennis shoes, and I have recently started to notice that my knees are starting to feel it - like I´m training for a race or something! Do you think it would be smart for me to buy new shoes? Or would it be better for you to send me mine that are at home? Hna. Celis thinks they would cost me like 200 pesos here, so like 70 dollars? I don´t know. Let me know what you think. :o)

Well, I need to go. The church is true.Thanks for everything. I love you all tons!

Con Mucho Amor,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Feliz Cumpleanos! and Fotos! (Email) 09.29.2008

2008-09-29T15:31:00.004-06:00

Hola! How are you all doing? First of all, Happy Birthday yesterday Hallie! I was thinking of her and I hope that her party and everything went really well. I hope that the picture works that I sent... very fun.

And how is everyone else doing? I got letters from Lisa and AK last week. Gracias! Lisa, it made me giggle that you were praying for them not to catch a fish. I wasn´t surprised.

Mom, I read part of your email that you wrote while I was waiting for the pictures to download. You mentioned that you need Heavenly Father every minute. Me too. I have no doubt that you can pray to Heavenly Father about every little thing, including and especially Scotty, and He will help you to know what to do.

Well, what a week! It has been great. First off, before I forget, I have a favor to ask everyone. Will you tell me next time you write, the reasons that you go to church on Sunday? What are the blessings that you feel that you receive from doing so? Why do you go every week? I have been thinking about it recently as I have thought about teaching the importance of going to church and keeping the sabbath day holy.

Well, Hermana Celis hurt her knee this last week. We´re not sure what happened... if it was something with the exercises, or what. But, Tuesday it really started to bother her. We were eating lunch with Flia. Beltran (yes Mom we eat lunch with members every day, and I´ll write more about it later). We had stayed there for a little longer because her knee was bothering her. But then we left to an appointment, Monica Troncoso, who lives just close by. Monica wasn´t there.

Hermana Celis decided that her knee was bothering her too much, so she said she wanted to ask Paula (daugher of Flia. Beltran) if she could go on divisions with me the rest of the day. She basically told me that she was going to ask Paula, there really was no asking me if I was okay with it. :)

So we go, and Paula agrees to come with me, and Hermana Celis stays with Hermana Beltran (who reminds me a lot of Ann Lewis :D ). I at this point am feeling very nervous and inadequate to go out and teach as the senior companion without Hermana Celis. I feel okay about lesson 1 and 2 these days, but lesson 3... I´m still working on it. And we had several lesson threes planned. But, I carried my ¨Preach My Gospel¨along with me, we all said a prayer together, and we headed out.

Paula is also 21. She has been a member for one year and five months. She is great, and very nice. As we got to talking, she mentioned that her brother Raimundo, who is our ward mission leader that just got his call, wants her to go on a mission. She said that she didn´t want to, because she gets so nervous. She is very shy. She would be worried about learning the language, and she doesn´t feel like she knows the doctrine really well because she didn´t have seminary or anything.

She told me the story of her conversion, and it was really neat to hear.

Our first couple of appointments weren´t there. I just kept praying and praying that Heavenly Father would help me, especially in speaking and understanding the Spanish, and that He would help her to have a good experience because I wanted her to have a good impression of the mission field.

We talked to a couple people, and finally talked to one lady in her front yard and gave the first part of the Restoration lesson, and then we headed off. She asked what we were going to do next, and I had no idea. We didn´t have another appointment for like 1 1/2 to 2 hours, because the others hadn´t been home. So we started walking.

We walked past one house, and the door was open. We said ¨hola¨and kept walking. We got like 5 or 10 steps, I stopped, and asked if we could go back and talk to that lady. I felt like we needed to talk to her.We went back, and she told us how she doesn´t live there, but she´s watching her mom´s house for a couple of weeks. Her mom had met with missionaries in the past. She let us teach her lesson one. It was such a good lesson. She expressed some of her concerns, about Joseph Smith, but I could really testify to her that it was no accident that we were on her patio, that very minute, teaching her about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I knew that Heavenly Father led us there. It was so amazing. And I gave my first baptismal invitation! Yay!

Paula was amazing. She had told me she was nervous, but I just told her to share her testimony. That it was the most important part. She taught, shared a little bit about how she came to know, and she helped me understand the spanish if I didn´t understand.

We had one other appointment, and then it was the night. We headed to choir. It was such a good experience. It just reminded me that this is not the work of men - it´s the work of our Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ. Even in our weakness we can serve.

We stopped by Flia Beltran´s house Saturday to check on Hermana Beltran because she had been sick. Paula drilled us with a million questions about the life of a missionary. It was very fun.
Last night we had choir practice again. We were getting ready to leave, and Paula told us that she is now preparing to serve a mission! Wow! Isn´t that amazing? She told us how she just felt something really special when she was out teaching on Tuesday. I told Hermana Celis last night, that it´s pretty amazing how Heavenly Father works. He gave Hermana Celis a hurt knee so Paula could decided to serve a mission. It reminded me how very often we don´t see the big picture, and that we don´t understand why things happen the way they do, but that Heavenly Father does. He knows all things, we just need to trust Him.

Scriptures for the week I love: King Benjamins address in the beginning of Mosiah. Especially Mosiah 2:34.

So I hope you´re all doing well. That was a really long story, but I wanted to share it. I need to go, but know I am always praying for all of you. I love you all so much, and am so grateful that you continue to share your lives with me through email. I´m always very interested in every detail. Thanks for all, and I love you tons!

Con Mucho Amor,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Okay... The First we stuck a candle in a little dessert that Estela Montiel (Gabriela and Adrian´s mom) gave to us for a happy birthday to Hallie yesterday! The second is the baptism of Gabriela and Adrian

The third is the baptism of Andrea with Andres and kids Omar and Carla and the Bishop in white.