Ya Estamos En Verano

Hey everyone! 

It's been a good week this week, but overall nothing too crazy has happened. The biggest change so far is that this last week we got up into the 40s and 50s in weather and we were all in our short sleeves and everyone was out walking their dog. It has honestly felt like the beginning of summer even if it has only been up in the 50s, but man it will feel that much better when it is actually warm then.

I also had to go on an exchange this week, which is always an adventure, because switching from Spanish work to English work is a huge change.  And so I went from our day which was all planned out and had a dinner lined up and all sorts of stuff, to an English area where they had nothing planned and no dinner.  I kid you not when I say all they had in their fridge was condiments and 3 month old  eggs. So basically we just went tracting the whole exchange because they had nothing else planned.  And I think we probably knocked about 100 doors, and of those I think that 60 shut us down and the other 40 just weren't home.  Then later on we went and talked to someone they are going to be working with, and having met with him, it sure was an interesting experience.  He has met with missionaries for 6.5 years, and still has some issues.  He is letting minor things get in the way of him acting, despite admitting to have felt the spirit. It was sad to see that such small things were in the way of the marvelous things that could be. So let that just be a reminder to everyone this week of the small and simple things.  The small and simple things that we put in our lives can effect us in large ways.  So always be aware and surround yourselves with those good small things that will bless your lives!

Elder Pickering

The Rains Came Down and the Flood Came Up

Well another week has come and gone and sometimes Ryan's emails feel a little bit like the movie Groundhog Day.  And he agrees that that is what it actually feels like at times.  He gets up, studies, goes tracting, serves and then starts all over again the next day.  I am grateful that we have the opportunity to now message with him on p-days so I can attempt to extract more information from this guy.  He does so much more than he writes about and I know that he is making a difference even if he doesn't feel like it sometimes.

His messages usually start coming first thing in the morning so this week we included him in our scripture study.  We are currently reading in the New Testament about Christ's parables.  We asked him what his favorite parable is and this was his reply:

"I like the wheat and the tares, because I feel like that is very much what we are going through right now.  It is so important to do all of the little things that we are asked to do and especially the hard things.  The Come Follow Me can be challenging at times bit it will be one of the means of separating the wheat from the tares."

It was cool to be able to learn from him in our scripture study even though he is so far away.

Of course I peppered him with a lot of questions throughout the day.  He talked about doing service once a week at a food pantry and he enjoys that especially because he really gets to use his Spanish.  He shared about how he went to a follow up appointment with a man.  When they got there, a child answered the door.  They could hear the dad in the background yell "Tell them I am not home".  Now this a common occurrence for missionaries and something I struggled with during my mission.  I asked Ryan if it bothered him and he said no.  I think that is a blessing.  He just reiterated to me once again that the hardest thing for him as a missionary is not having anyone to teach.  I know that is so hard.  He feels the desire and weight of his calling to preach the Gospel.  I am sure it is discouraging when your are unable to do what you feel you were called to do.  So we talked a lot about patience and he said that is one thing he is really learning.  I asked what else he is learning and he said Spanish.  He has also come to understand about different types of relationships and what he wants in the future with different people.  So he is learning many important things.  I don't know what future experiences will come to him but I am sure they will be for his good.  I just hope he has a few more opportunities to actually teach someone.

Group Email:

Hello from Minnesota otro vez, made it through another week for all of you that I know have just been worried out of your mind.  

Well as the title of the email here says, this week we have had quite the rain.  We have been in a cycle of buckets of rain, and then it will all freeze in the night and like next morning or day, and then it will all thaw and then more rain will hit!  So we have had lots of fun practically having our car be a boat when we are driving around through the rivers that we once called streets.  So that has also been a lot of fun on tracting, and as you can see in one of the pictures, we all got just a little bit wet... all over our body.. but we made the most of it.  

Another pretty fun thing that happened was we got to help out at a quinceñera this week which is always a fiesta.  This is my second one on my mission, and they never cease to amaze me with how all out they go on it. It's like a full on wedding reception like status, if not even bigger sometimes, and so those are awesome.  We helped the family dish out lots of food, and then of course since we were the lunch ladies and this family is just the best, they let us take loads of leftovers to fulfill our Mexican food needs for the proximo days afterwards, and we still have tamales to spare!  I have really grown to enjoy the culture and see and take part of some of their traditions here on my mission.  Even though I may be all gringo up in here, especially since  my skin hasn't really even seen the sun in about 6 months, I get to jump right in and be in the center and be accepted and have fun with the people, and I am very grateful for that opportunity on my mission. 

Well hope you all have a great week, remember who you are and what you stand for!

Elder  Pickering

Training Round 3

Well another week passed for Ryan and it is still cold and snowy.  That hasn't changed.  However, his companion situation has changed as he mentions in his email.  He was excited to train another Elder as well as keep his current companion.  He did say the apartment is kind of cramped but they will make do.  He said that the 3 of them together can be somewhat intimidating to people, especially when knocking doors.  They are often mistook for immigration and that provides a certain level of adventure.

They are continuing with teaching English classes and that is something Ryan enjoys doing.

They are also trying to work closely with the Branch and are able to practice teaching them as they go for dinner appointments.

It has been a long winter which makes missionary work difficult at times.  But they are still getting out there and doing their best every day.  What more could we hope for?

Group Email:

Well I have been doing some big number math here, and 3/6 is one half.  So I have been training people for half of my mission so far here in Minnesota.  This last week was transfers and I received another trainee.  His name is Elder Hulse, and he is from Mapleton Utah.  He played football with my cousin Hayden who lives over that way all through high school, and so you gotta love the small world that we live in. There have been a bunch of small little connections, so that has been fun. So we took him out finding and whatnot the first day, and we met some super crazy people and he really got to experience the Minnesota vibe that we get a lot.  He was a bit discouraged after that first day of us going out and working hard and talking to everyone and not having an ounce of success at all, but I was able to share the Preach my Gospel definition of a successful missionary and keep his hopes up a bit.  

Then later on in the week we went to go to some lessons in this apartment building, and naturally they both fell through, but we did some finding afterwards and had some success there.  We actually got let into a house on a door approach, that is the 3rd time on my mission that that has happened, and we had a lesson with this family and they all listened and we just had a great lesson. Both of my comps were both willing to try and use their Spanish and share their thoughts and testimonies in the best way they could and I think it was a good experience for both of them, and me to be able to have that.  

I had to give a talk this last Sunday, and I had kind of assumed I would be giving one here coming up, so I had a talk somewhat prepared, but we get to sacrament and see the program and the branch president put Elder Hulse on it as well to give a talk with me, in like his 4th day in the field.  And then he said "Oh you didn't get my text?" And to give a little context, he wont give us his phone number, so needless to say, there was never a text giving him heads up.  So we went and winged it and shared what he knew to the best of his ability, and it sure helped me feel way more prepared seeing as he didn't even have anything thought up and just had to go for it just out of the ccm. Well that has been my week here. I am gonna be honest, no pictures with us here so far... sorry mom, try to get some soon. I hope you all have a great week and I will talk to you later

Elder Pickering

Happy Birthday to their good friend Mike

8 Months

Well this week here officially marked being on my mission for 8 months, so that was pretty crazy. Elder Nickels and I celebrated with a fancy little home cooked meal, you just gotta enjoy the fun little things like that.  Otherwise, this week was honestly nothing really too special.  It has continued to be really snowy and really cold.  

We have been working on the Facebook finding for Hispanics a lot this past week since we have been working on that program.  We have been able to talk to a ton of people that way and have lots of good conversations and find some people that are generally pretty interested and willing to hear what we have to say.  One guy even offered me partnership in his international shipping company once he found out that I wasn't working right now, so that just about sums up Hispanics. But yeah we have had a lot of fun doing that.  The only thing with that is it has given us lots of referrals and people to give to others. So far no one that actually lives in our area which is too bad, but who knows, hopefully we are at least helping those people and missionaries in the other places in Minnesota and around the world with our referrals.  

Well that has been my week here, nothing too exciting, but I hope you all have a good week and keep on keeping on in all that you do!

Elder Pickering