Planters of the Seed

Ryan had another busy week and was also able to go to the Temple on Saturday.  Because of that, his p-day was shortened and he didn't have much time to write.  I am always grateful for the words he is able to share with us.  Here are a few of his random thoughts:

The temple was really good, it is always nice to go and get out of the craziness that is the world for a while, and man it is such a small temple!  It's crazy.

We had soccer this week with the priesthood of the ward, and apparently all my years of soccer didn't go to waste. I did pretty well and scored some and the members were impressed.  Its funny, doing things like soccer with them or whatever is the best way to get their trust. That is when they give us the most of their referrals of people they know.  So hey, you gotta do what it takes to build that relation and be able to find more people to give the chance to hear the gospel.

It is so awesome to hear you have had a good time with Del and George (Ryan's Aunt and Uncle).  The more I have thought about it, the more grateful I am for the missionaries that met them and taught them.  We gave a referral to the English elders that in a way was similar to George and Del and I am grateful for the work those missionaries did, and that they were able to help them receive in the gospel and recognize the spirit and of this truth.  It still is kind of crazy to me that, that is the chance I have here, there will be people that look back and are thankful that some elder Pickering was an influence in theirs or their families lives. I am so happy to be able to have that chance every day and just do all that I can.  I am very grateful to be here and have the chance to serve, it is way hard, but the more I think about it, there isn't anywhere I would want to be right now, this is my home for the two years, and I am learning to love it in all of its craziness, and I am being well taken care of.  

(As his mother, I am so pleased that he has already come to know he is in the right place at the right time.  This will help him so much in the time to come.)

Group Email:

So this week was quite the week out here in Minnesota, but it was a lot of fun along with being productive. 

So first off, to start the week, my companion had a leadership meeting so I was in a trio with some English Elders for the day and that was quite the adventure.  It helped me really realize how much I am grateful for the call to be working  with the Hispanic people here.  Basically we did finding for most of the day, because that's what the elder in that area said they needed. So we did finding and tracting in the rain all day and didn't find a single person that was even remotely interested to listen to us. And we just had a lot of slammed doors on us as we were outside soaking, so that was an adventure.  

The next day we had the opportunity to give some service to a member of our ward who does so much for the missionaries here, so we wanted to give back.  Basically her dog was very very dirty and we gave it a haircut and a bath and I'll include the before and after pictures here. (The one where it looks like my companion is holding an Ewok is the before picture).  

We also got to help move out a hoarder this week and that was a very unique experience that made me really enjoy the simpleness and cleanliness of our little missionary apartment.  

And finally the last interesting crazy thing was we got to go to the Quincenera of a girl whose parents we are working with and very close to being able to be baptized.  That was a good time to work with them and help them and just show our support. 

Other than that the work for the most part here just keeps on going on.  It is hard work and we don't always see the success from our labors, but every little effort is not wasted.  The family we are working with got got taught by missionaries upwards of 4 years ago and the fruits of that labor are just barely about to come forth, so that is amazing.  And we just remember that each day.  That no matter how little it seems we were able to accomplish or little we were able to do for people, sometimes we are just the planters of the seed, and the real viewable fruits of the work will come later.  So remember that in every interaction daily. Maybe you are doing something that person needs right now and will see a better daily life from it, and maybe you are just planting a seed, either way the importance is so immense.  I am so grateful to be able to be out here and give what I have to serving the Lord, and I know there is no better thing that I could be dedicating my time to rather than furthering the work here in Minnesota.

-Elder Pickering