"They Left Me?..."

Hey everybody! 

You know there is always lots of pressure to put out a good email that isn't boring and also gives you a good idea of what we did in a week. And this last week I hit 15 months of being on the mission, and I still don't know how to format the email or start it off besides hey everybody, so I guess some things never change.

So we had a good week this last week and later on in the week saw lots of good success, but we will get there in a minute, first for all the adventures of the week.

So to start off, on Tuesday we had dinner with our Branch President and his wife, and its starting to get darker here, so by the time dinner was over it was dark outside.  So I was just talking with them a while at the table, and Johnson, right after he finished dinner he went on over to the couch to just chill and he ended up falling right asleep.  So after we shared a message and whatnot, I came up with a plan.  We would hide our shoes and hide around the corner, and then have the Ocampos, the family we were with, wake him up and say that we left.  Hermana Ocampo was not wanting to do it, but our Branch President followed through.  So they woke him up and he was all confused for a minute and then Hermana Ocampo came in clutch and said that we had already left and since President was here it was okay, but they would give him a ride home.  Then we eventually came out, but he was just shocked that we "left him"

So another fun little adventure we got was at the Salvation Army where we do service.  So they were wanting to repaint a part on the front of their store, so we became the painting crew.  So overall not too crazy of an event, but we got to pick out any clothes from the store to wear to be our painting clothes, and we made the most of it. We got a picture with out painting squad clothes, so hope you enjoy the picture!

Now for all the good experiences with the work. So we were able to have a couple of super solid lessons with all people that we have found while being here in Morris. Now that  might not seem to crazy for some people, but for us it was a real blessing.  Its super awesome to see the people you have been with from the doorstep to let you come back and then actually be there for the return appointment and then help them along the way in learning and growing.  

And then one of the lessons with our friend named Dangel. We read the first 2 chapters of the Book of Mormon and then watched the videos, and it was super awesome and entertaining for him and a great way to see what you just read in a visual representation.  And apparently it went well because he told us about his one job that used to keep him from coming to church he no longer has! So on Sunday we got to walk with him and he came with us to church!

And speaking of church we had a killer week! We had a record amount of people there with 25 people! The room we were in we had to pull in more chairs and it was getting a bit more comfortable. It was so awesome to see the growth and how it is just becoming stronger and stronger as a branch, its awesome! And then I had a cool experience with church too.  So that Sunday morning I had listened to a devotional by Elder Gong, and in the which he talked about ministering to the 5 thousand and the 1.  So that was in my head and just thinking about that, and when sacrament came around, we broke the usual 1 piece of bread, and we came up short by one person,  for the kid passing the sacrament.  So I got the chance to bless bread again, for this individual so he could have to chance to partake of this sacred emblem through the week.  It was cool just doing it knowing that I got to be in place of ministering and reaching out to the 1, to show that the sacrament is so important to do even if for just the one person.  So that cool experience that came from church and listening to an apostle. 

Speaking of which, general conference this week! Saturday and Sunday, I hope you have all pondered some questions, or you can ponder and prepare yourself to hear the words of our beloved prophet and apostles in our day, it truly is such an amazing opportunity!

Well hope I did not bore you all, love you all! Have a great week!

Elder Pickering

Another Animal Saved

Hey everyone! 

Back for another weekly that I know just keeps you all on the edge of your seats waiting to hear what kind of adventures have happened as of recent. Well here you go, I won't waste anymore time.

So Tuesday was a pretty chill day overall.  We had some insane storms come through on Monday night and so Tuesday there wasn't a lot of power in a bunch of places around here.  We went up to Alexandria to do some service up there at the food shelf, and none of the phones or internet and some of the power wasn't even going, so it was a different than usual day and just lots of odd jobs to keep everything running there after the storms.  And I guess all the service we do there paid off because we got invited to a dinner party type thing with all the old people that serve there.  So they rented out this cute little reception place that Ill put a picture of, and we had all we could eat ribs. So as you can imagine we made the most of that as missionaries. Us 3 also brought the age average of the room down by about 40 years probably too.

So then after the dinner Johnson went off on exchanges with the Alexandria English elders and so Pugh and I got to just do the work down here in Morris. We were able to stop by a lot of our people that day, and we set up so many lessons and had some great contact in that way! Then after the contacts with our people, we went finding and literally only had one door answer, and it was a bit awkward.  So immediately after we knocked, we heard this running and like excited kind of scream of someones name, then this lady answered, and we were not who she was expecting, she was thinking her girlfriend was knocking... I just wish that was the first time that had happened on my mission. Also that night Elder Pugh let me cut his hair, so yet another victim and my hair-cutting experience is building.

The next day we had a super awesome lesson type thing with someone we are teaching.  We had set up this lesson just the day before, so we stop by and catch her outside because there was some work being done on her apartment. We got to know her a bit more and she also wants us to work with her 18 year old son who she said she wants to be baptized because he never has been and she wants him to start having religion in his life, so we are super excited for that!

Later on in the week we helped a family move out, they lived about 45 minutes from us and are in the English ward, but we are always happy to help.  So we moved them, and thankfully they only moved about 2 minutes away, and with three trucks there it only took a few loads and made life easy, and then we even got dinner out of it, so service and food is always a win.  

Finally to end the week with Sunday we had a super good day! We had 19 total at church which is a record for us when you don't count the day that they organized the branch and a bunch of random people from the stake were there. So it was super awesome. We had the couple from the Stake high council there again and they brought someone up from down south, and they are so fun.  I led the music in church and gave the second hour lesson, so always keeping me busy here.  

Then after church we split up and me and Pugh went  with the Patiños to stop by some people and we had some awesome doorstep talking, and got some new people to teach out of it. The Patinos are the high council couple that will be coming every other week and they are just the sweetest old couple and so awesome to work with.  Also our Mission President and his wife made the trek out here to do an apartment check and we aced it, not that you all were worried ;)  and also that night we got to eat dinner with an English family that we are helping learn Spanish because they live down here in Morris. They fed us some smoked pulled pork, so man it was  a good way to end the week.

So things are good here in Minnesota, not always what you would imagine as a normal mission baptizing nations, but lots of finding and struggling. But that is part of how life is sometimes, we just stay positive and love the work.  Also if you didn't see or haven't had the chance to see the devotional that our Prophet gave this last week, it was super awesome and isn't just for young adults, so I encourage you to all go find it on Churchofjesuschrist.org or youtube and watch it!

Love you all, have a great week!

Also I never explained in the email, why the subject line.  So while we were driving, the car in front of us hit this bunny, and we drove by and thought that was the end of it. But on the way back a little later, the bunny was just laying there kind of chilling, so we carried it to the grass and saved yet another animal, we are getting quite the resume here in Minnesota.

Until next week!

Elder Pickering  

100 Days Until Christmas

Well just wanted to start off with letting you guys all know that Christmas is coming up here, I found out in just 100 days from my family today, so there is your weekly fun fact, from here on out its just double digits.

Okay so the week, so Ill just kind of go day by day here and if anything interesting happened I will put it in.

So on Tuesday we had interviews with our mission president. Also that day marked 9 months left here in the field which is super crazy how the time has gone, all I know is my missionary life so we will see how it goes haha. But that is still 9 months to work hard and get the Lord's work going here.  

At interviews we found out that next transfer will most likely be me and my Trainee Elder Pugh staying together and we will be back down to just a companionship and that should be a fun time. We get along and he has lots of energy and desire to work hard and be a missionary, so good things to keep on coming. Also this day we let our second butterfly go off into the world, so having a second hijo go off into the world was really trying for us.

Wednesday was a pretty chill day, we headed up to the food shelf up in Alexandria to do some service and help out there.  While we were there we stopped by this Hispanic restaurant where we have worked with the owner and he has been having a hard time with his business and keeping things going, so we were able to promise him some blessings if he makes some time for the Lord and so hopefully he listens to the advice and then can recognize the blessings. Also Elder Pugh got to participate in his first turtle save here, so another big step and life saving going on here. 

Also between Wednesday and Thursday we were able to get in with this guy we have worked with named Dangel.  He just bought a new TV so while we helped him set that up in his apartment is was killer time to just talk to him and his roommates and do some service.

Thursday was service and driving out to different lessons that were a little out, and none of them ended up answering, so that was too bad, so not too exciting of a day, but things happen.

Friday the 13th we did service again and that is always an adventure of sorts, which never ceases to entertain missionaries.  But the coolest part of the day was we got in with the lady that Elder Pugh and I tracted into with the Zls. We got in and got to get to know her some more and had a super good lesson, so we have another time set up this week and we are excited for that. Pugh was really excited to see a lesson come from someone that we found, so it was a good time.

Saturday was also super good, got some good blessings we had the chance to see.  All starting off with a beautiful sunrise while we were out running that morning at the track.  Then our Branch President took us to a Chinese buffet with Dangel, and while my comps slept in the car, I was given like 2 hours round trip to just talk to them and build that relationship and hopefully help Dangel see that we can be friends rather than just missionaries pressuring him to do stuff. 

And then later on in the day we went to stop by this guy Eliazar and we ran into him in the garage with another guy we are teaching just having them some cervezas.  But the other guy, Jose invited us to dinner with his family this week! So it is going to be a super good opportunity to be with them and strengthen them and see what comes from that!

And finally Sunday.  We had a pretty small turn out at the branch this week, only about 9 people besides us, but we make it work. I got to give an impromptu lesson and it went pretty well, thankfully we have had lots of practice in this branch just throwing together lessons and talks on the spot haha, But it is always a good time.  Then we got to watch the face to face with Elder Soares and it was  good. It was last night that I figured out that I can understand about 80 percent of Portuguese since it is similar enough to Spanish, so good times.

Hope you all keep up living your lives and don't forget all that matters most.  And as Elder Soares said, "if you forget everything else you have heard [read] today, remember that God loves you!"

Elder Pickering

Also I was totally gonna steal Elder Felix's inspirational email today, but he covered himself pretty good with the fine print, well done on that one.

Living Life on the Road

Hey everyone!

So this week was pretty crazy up here in Minnesota, like you probably here from me a lot.  

So last p-day we got to go to the state fair here in Minnesota like I said in last weeks email, and it was a good time.  For your fun fact of the week, its the second biggest fair of all the states just behind Texas.  So the reason we were down there in the cities is that Elder Johnson had a leadership training, and then we had new missionary training the next day.  So we were down in the cities from Sunday night until we got home on Wednesday night. That being said its hard to really help out your area being gone for so long.  But we got to stay in our mission home while we were down there so that was so much fun.  Just to chill in the evenings talking to Pres and then waking up and having breakfast with them, it was a good time, It was a throwback to good ol salmonella days when I stayed with them for the first part of my mission haha.  

Also we had the chance to go to the Temple here in Minnesota while we were in the cities and that was so good, its always nice to go and feel of the peace that is in the temple after a while of not being able to go. So we had a long, but productive week down in the cities while we were there.

So for the service we do at a salvation army down here in Morris, for the past couple weeks we have slowly been filling this semi truck trailer to the brim with clothes that is going to be donated. This week they had a ton more to put in there, so we had to do some climbing over boxes and bags of clothes and we were sinking in and just having a good time. It got to about a billion degrees in that truck, but we had a good time enjoying the little things.

So the work here is still going poco a poco, but we are working hard.  We had a lesson with this guy named Matthew this week who was in our area book.  He and his family are from Micronesia and his sister apparently served a mission in Guam, so we think that most of the family is members but he is not, and he is super down to have us come over and teach him. So that will be super fun for us to work with him and a cool little miracle situation that comes up.

So that iss my week this week.  Also butterfly update, 1 of our 3 cocoons have now hatched and we had to let him out into the world, so all you moms with missionaries out, we understand what its like now.

Have a great week!

Elder Pickering

Off to the Fair

Hey everyone, hope you all had a great week this week! 

I am gonna try and get this quick email out here because today we are going off to the Minnesota State fair. The huge one they put on every year, so I wont have much time to email, but I am gonna type fast and get you as much off as I can.


So starting off the week we did our weekly service at a Food-shelf up in Alexandria, and a truck that comes with a bunch of food came that day, it comes once every few months. So we helped unload load after load of canned goods and rice and all sorts of foods. So we got a second workout that day and helped out there. Its always super fun to do service and just get down and work, become a part of the community and make a difference in peoples lives that way. It is an awesome way to get to know people as well as reach into their hearts and help them feel of God's love for them.


So the next day we had the zone leaders down in our area for exchanges for the day. They are officially the first English missionaries to have made their way down to Morris and see our apartment and participate in the work there for the day. I got to be with my new companion Elder Pugh along with one of the zone leaders named Elder Murphy.  He was also my zone leader for a little while back in Lakeville, so me and him have a good time together, and we got to have a switch up for the day. So us 3 went out and got to work. We got to do some good ol finding and Elder Pugh got his first tracting in. Elder Johnson isn't so keen on going finding or tracting, so it was super nice to be able to do some of that work and get the area building up, because nothing happens as a missionary until you have people to teach. So I got the chance to take Elder Pugh to tract some of his first doors, and he got plenty of his first rejections of the mission. Its not the easiest or most fun way to do missionary work, but we ended up the day with someone new to teach, Diana from Nicaragua, and so we will hope that goes well and are excited to have someone else to work with!


Now to keep up with the craziness of the work, we had zone conference this week as well. So we had to drive on down and do that trip and stayed with the zone leaders a second night, but this time in their apartment. Its always weird to see a bunch of missionaries and all that after being so far away from all them. You get to see people and how much weight they have put on since you have last seen them haha. But zone conference was good, Sister Barney our mission presidents wife threw down on peoples' cars and apartments for not being clean, and thank goodness for that, there are way too many missionaries who just like don't know what the term cleaning means, so I hope that this will lead to less having to deep clean apartments when I first get there, so Sister Barney is the MVP of the conference.


Also we got in with a guy that we have worked with for a while this week! His name is Dangel and he used to have a date set and we would see him at church all the time, but he started a second job on Sundays and it all just went downhill and to us he fell off the face of the earth. But since he lives close by we have continued stopping by and this week it paid off! We got in and had the chance to catch up and hopefully we can have some more consistent lessons with him again, so that was exciting and nice to have that contact again, so this next week hopefully all goes well with him too!


Also we have invented a game here where we mix soccer and tennis and have been playing that sometimes for exercise time and just making it fun, and so far I have been the reigning champ here in Morris, so if anyone is wanting to take up a new sport when I am home, I can show you the ways.


So that has been our week, nothing super crazy, but keeping on doing the work. Today should be a blast and maybe will lead to some more pictures this week. There is just not near as much to take pictures of out here in the middle of nowhere. But enjoy this picture of a baby bird that hopped up onto Elder Pugh's shoe and he got to enjoy the experience of being a Disney princess for a minute.


Love you all and hope you are all doing great!


Elder Pickering