Feliz Halloween :D 10.27.2008 (Email)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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