Elder Pickering has been serving as a missionary for nearly a year now, which is so hard to believe. He really seems to have hit is stride recently and is loving the whole experience. I have enjoyed his emails so much the last few weeks as I can see the change and growth and love. This next year is going to be a great one!
Group Email:
Hey Everyone!
This was quite the week here in Minnesota. We had lots of fun little opportunities to get out and do service and just experience some of the fun things that you only really get to do as a missionary.
So we started off the last week with a bang to say the least. Last p-day we decided to go to this amusement park that is in our area. It is like in the middle of kinda nowhere, so we weren't expecting a whole ton, but it actually ended up being a ton of fun! I even got in a video chat with my family during one of the rides, so we made the most of it!
And then later that day we went out to work, so for those of you that don't know, p-day is just until the evening when you get back out and work. We had a lesson with this guy named Alberto. He welcomes us in to his garage and pulls up some chairs and offered us some cervezas, which in Spanish means beer. So we had to kindly deny the beers and then got to explain a little bit about the word of wisdom and how we don't drink. And he was just beyond shocked when we told him we weren't married or didn't have girlfriends or didn't do any of that kind of stuff while we were on the mission. He saw the ring I was wearing on my right hand, and I guess in Mexico where he is from, it means you had a past spouse or deceased spouse and he was just shocked that I didnt. I sure love the Hispanic people that I work with, they never cease to entertain us here. He also was telling us how he just wishes there was an app that he could get, so instead of reading the Book of Mormon, he could listen to it... Well this lesson was just full of surprises for him haha.
Another fun adventure is while we were biking home, trying to save some miles and just get out and enjoy the weather, Elder Hulse ended up hitting a curb weird on his bike, and it just destroyed his back tire. We were about 2 miles from the house, so we took turns hoisting the bike up on our shoulders and made the walk of shame to the house, but we got it all fixed up now and are back on the grind.
Another thing this week is we got the opportunity to help with a lot of different service, one of which we were able to go and put together bunk beds and build them. These will get delivered all around the area where we are serving. And it turns out, we were talking to the guy that was in charge, and he goes and drops off beds to Hispanic homes a lot, but needs people to translate and talk to the people while he is setting up the beds. So that is a super awesome in that it came from service, and a huge blessing! And then in another service that we were doing for a member, we were helping them pick up a china cabinet they bought, and they picked it up from this house in our area. We ended up talking a lot to this family, and they are moving, but they invited us missionaries over to have some steaks and stuff before they move, so we just got to see tons of blessings from service.
I also had an exchange with the zone leader this week, and that was super fun. Although I was not with my Hispanics doing Spanish work, I learned a lot. I was talking with him at the end of the day, and he asked what has been the hardest thing lately. I just expressed that lately I haven't really had any personal hard issues, I have been happy in the work. Yes the work is hard, but that is just how it is. Now go on over to Moroni Chapter 7 verse 4 with me. "Wherefore, I would speak unto you that are of the church, that are the peaceable followers of Christ, and that have obtained a sufficient hope by which ye can enter into the rest of the Lord, from this time henceforth until ye shall rest with him in heaven." Notice how it says that from THIS time forth we can enter into the rest. The scriptures are written for us, and we can take part of the promises that are in them, so we can take part in the rest of the Lord, starting today! Now as Joseph F. Smith said, it is not a physical rest, there is no such thing as physical rest for members of the Church, but we can have that mental, and spiritual break and rest from today onward as we obtain the sufficient hope and faith and love in Christ. So take part of this promise with me everyone!
Love you all and hope you have a great week!
Elder Pickering
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