And Hermana Pickett prayed, Let there be light

Sep 8 (This one is out of order)
Hello family and everyone else interested enough to read this letter!

It's getting pretty late in the afternoon here in Honduras, so here's the fun story--sometimes (or rather, all of the time) in this lovely little town of Santa Barbara, the power goes out. And we can't use the internet if the power is out. So we went to write at 2 pm, our normal writing time, and the power went out just before we arrived. It stayed out until 4:30, and we go out to work at 6, so there is a fire under my tail today!

In regards to changes, we didn't have one. Davila and Pickett are passing another 6 weeks in Santa Barbara. We had a pretty normal week, if any week in the mission is normal. Axel and Walquidia are still progressing nicely (maybe a smidge too quickly) toward their baptism, which is planned for this Saturday. We found lots of promising new investigators, I didn't hurt myself any worse (major achievement, if you're me) and did our best to build the Kingdom.

Here's a funny moment from this week: One day, as we had not been able to find the people with whom we had appointments, we contacted a woman in the street and asked if we could come back in the coming days. We went back, found her house, and sat down to start a lesson. And then her dad came in. Little did we know, he was the founder and pastor of the Evangelical Christian church across the street. The next thirty minutes were really not very uplifting. It became increasingly clear that this man had no interest in hearing us. On the contrary, he continually tried to take possession of the lesson and convert us to "the truth". His favorite question was "But have you really accepted Christ as your Savior?" I figured out why people get baptized in Evangelical churches here. It's because, no matter what you say, the pastor is there to convince you that, no, you haven't accepted Christ as your Savior, and that you need to do so right now. When we finally found the oppportune moment to end the lesson (we had been trying to do so for twenty of the thirty minutes) we politely asked this man if he might offer the closing prayer. Enthusiastically, he almost shouted "Yes I will! Stand up! (we reluctantly stood) We're all sinners, but right now you're going to confess your sins and accept Christ! Father, say Father! You do believe in the Father in your church, right?" Yeah, we just left. We shook hands and smiled and left. We have now named that neighborhood el mar de apostasía, because the people there are spiritually drowning. We hear he is bragging that he beat the Mormons. When I heard that, I just thought about Moroni's promise that one day we will meet at the bar of God, and we will know who was right. I'll just leave that there. So, long story short, I didn't convert to Evangelicalism.

I'm sorry this letter is short and lame today, but I prayed fervently that the power would come back on so that 1. I could read my letters from all of you and 2. My parents wouldn't worry that I was dead (guys, I'm not dead), and now I've fulfilled that. So I got what I needed. While we were waiting for the power to come back on and accepting the reality that it wasn't going to happen any time soon, my companion offered the wisdom, Well, you can't always get what you want. In response now I can confidently offer (and I would sing this if I were telling you this story face to face) you can't alway get what you want, but you get what you need.

I love my Heavenly Father, and I am so profoundly grateful and awestruck that He has trusted me with this corner of His vineyard. I hope I can prove better for the task. I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week!

Love,
Hermana Pickett

Fourteen Ain't Eighteen

This week, we had our first zone meeting of the change. Hence, I had my first opportunity to say to the zone, "Hi. I'm Hermana Pickett, and I have 14 months on the mission" and that's when I am met with a resounding wave of "BAGGGGGGGGGGGYYYYYYYY" (that's mission talk for, you already want to go home, you're practically on the plane!) But no, I'm not baggy. Because I was called for 18 months, not 14. And fourteen sure isn't 18. Do they seem close by? Ask yourself what the difference is between being 14 years old and being 18 years old. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. 14 ain't 18.

You know what I got to learn again this week? I am an authorized representative of Jesus Christ, a laborer in the Lord's vineyard, a missionary for the only true and living church of the Almighty God on the face of the earth. That's a big deal! I won't always be able to say that, but while I can, I love it. I love being a missonary. It isn't easy at all, but I love it. At our zone meeting, our ZLs shared a video, in the which President Eyring, then Elder Holland, then President Eyring again spoke about this great work in which we are serving. President Eyring was speaking in a priesthood session, and Elder Holland was speaking to new mission presidents. Elder Holland posed a question that struck me to the core. He said "Presidents, you will have missionaries who will say, "Why isn't this easier, President? Why don't they get it? Why don't they flock to the waters of baptism? Why do they reject us? Why is this so hard, President?'" And to us, sometimes it doesn't make sense why the work is so hard. To us, the blessings and happiness of the gospel are so blatant, and we don't understand why others don't want those blessings. But this work is Christ's work. And if the Savior of the world was driven to ask if there wasn't another way, if the burden might not be lifted, it is easy to see that Christ's work is hard. It wasn't easy for Him, and it won't be easy for us. But He never stopped. He never said, I deserve a break. He never slackened His pace or ceased to be perfectly obedient. So we keep going, and we don't quit. That is the work we have been called to--the work of salvation.

And speaking of such, Walquidia and Axel are definitely gettng baptized this Saturday! They had to go away this last weekend on a family emergency, but that's okay--they weren't ready last Saturday. They're ready now. The Lord knows how His plan is to unfold. We were also very excited on Sunday to see Bairon, a missionary aged young man who is honestly persuing the truth. He read from the title page to 1 Nephi 10 in one sitting. That was cool. He needs to grasp a little more profoundly his testimony of the restoration, but he really has been prepared for this message. Stay tuned for good news.

This is such an incredible message to be prepared for. Let's recap: Before the world was even formed, God created a perfect plan to give His children every single good thing and happiness ever. So He made an earth and sent us to it, and His only perfect child, Jesus Christ, came and lived a life without a single mistake--not even a single unclean thought--and even though He could have passed on to rest without suffering, because He had done nothing to merit suffering, He volunteered to bear the guilt and pain brought on by the mistakes and heartaches, not to mention illnesses and worries, for every person who ever lived and ever will live on this earth. Think about that! He paid for sins for people who haven't even been born yet! He bore the guilt for mistakes you and I haven't even made! And He did it because He loves His Father, and both of Them love all of us. So now, if we can complete the very small portion of work that has been left to our responsiblity (if we can trust God enough to believe in Him, change our lives for the better, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and stick it out, always trying our best) there is not a single blessing that will be kept back from us. That means living forever in a perfect body, with a perfect happiness, with our families and loved ones. That means peace now and joy forever. That's real.

I'm going to say that again: it's real. If you don't feel like it's real, say a prayer. Read the Book of Mormon. Test God. He told me. He'll tell you.

I know that God loves us, and that He loves us just as much as He loved His children in biblical times. That's why He's still calling prophets, like Joseph Smith in 1820 and Thomas S. Monson right now. I love Him, and I love to be one of His missionaries.

Yesterday, we spoke to a man who really doesn't like our religion, or religions in general, or governments, or the United States. After ranting about all of the above for a while, his anger became focused on me, an obvious citizen of a country he doesn't like. With hatred in his voice, he accused me of only coming to Honduras to find something I liked and take it away, because that's what Americans do. Without a moment of hesitation, I looked that man square in the eye and said "I am here because God sent me here to preach His gospel." And that's right. There's no other reason that I am here--just to be a servant of my Heavenly Father. And it's the best reason there is.

I love you all and I hope that you have a wonderful week. Take a second to remember what has been done for you, and ponder the question I was asked 13 months ago in the CCM: What are you going to give to Him who gave everything for you?

Love,
Hermana Pickett

Big Cake

big ugly bruise--love it!

SO glad I don't have to do this anymore!

Hunger games! 

Couldn't participate but still had fun!

My DL threw a bucket of water on me...

...and I wasn't happy about it

¡Hola familia y amigos! Espero que estén muy bien y que hayan pasado una semana excelente. Don't use google to translate that! I believe in your ability to read it.

Want to hear something crazy? I've already finished a whole transfer cycle here in Santa Barbara! It's already been six weeks! We don't know anything about transfers yet (although one elder is best friends with the AP, and he says there is a cambio coming...) so that will just be an excellent surprise for all of you next week, now won't it? Cliffhanger!

The best news of the work this week is that I actually got to participate! Other than Tuesday afternoon, I went out and worked every day this week. And that was awesome. I love the Lord and I love His work. I hated having to miss it. And the day that I couldn't go out, I stayed the afternoon in the home of the sweetest woman I have ever met in my life (her name is Carmen--think the Honduran version of Annie and you're there) and we talked about how we could help her to reactivate her husband and help her daughter avoid discouragement after having to return early from the mission due to illness. Afternoon very well spent. So even though I'm grateful I had the opportunity to read about 15 chapters of Jesus the Christ, I am very happy to be laboring once again in the Lord's vineyard.

On Wednesday we had the incredible blessing of having a conference with Elder Jose L. Alonso of the Seventy and his wife. We had to put in the sacrifice to obtain the blessing--On the bus at 5 am, off the bus at 7:30--but it was worth it. In Preach My Gospel, it says that we should be bold and loving. Elder Alonso is my new favorite example of how to be bold. He taught us to get to know people with opening lines like "We're here to help you to prepare to be baptized in the only true church of Jesus Christ", "We're missionaries and we baptize everyone who says hello to us in the street" and "Oh, so you've heard how the angel Moroni delivered and ancient record to the youth Joseph and now we have the fullness of the gospel?" And all of those things are true. I just didn't know we had permission to say them upon meeting someone for the first time. I know now :) He also spoke very strongly about the dignity of a missionary and how it is that we can come to know our Heavenly Father better. Best of all, Elder Alonso is working on his Spanish. So after a strong call to the latino missionaries that, just like we the gringos should always be working on our Spanish, they should always be working on their English, Elder Alonso gave key parts of his talk in English. So when a pair of sisters asked how they could gain more trust and support of the bishopric in their area, and in every other question about people relations, Elder Alonso said "Ok, aquí es lo que tienen que hacer: van a hacer un big cake." And he put out his arms to show just how big this big cake should be. And then he said, "Y si eso no funciona, van a comprar un bigger cake--no se preocupe del precio, President Dester will pay for it." It was very, very funny. So now we have a dicho in our mission--big cake.

And then, from Thursday to the end of the week, we took that spiritual high that we had learned from an apostle of God and applied it to the missionary. Unfortunately, every decided to not be home this week. But we are not discouraged! We street contacted more than I think has ever been done in this area, we asked everyone, interested or not, who they would like to share this gospel with, and we talked about baptism like the eternal blessing and pressing priority that it is. We need a little more oil to become a finely tuned machine on that front, but I liked working with the Alonso method. It's fun.

Investigator wise, Walquidia and Axel are still progressing smoothly toward baptism. Marvin, Judith's husband, seems to think that he can whimp out on the gospel and thus prohibit his wife from receiving the blessings she is so totally deserving. Now that I have a brace on my foot and I can walk, I will have to have a talk with him. Byron, the young man who came to church a few times, has been out of the picture as of late because his friend in Yojoa got married this week. We'll find him. Other than that, we are doing our best to tell the whole world about this true and living gospel and seek out those who are prepared to receive this message. I love doing that. I love this work.

I love you all and I hope you have a fantastic week. Find an opportunity to share your testimony with someone and share it boldly! We have no need to fear sharing the truth. I know that Christ lives, and that this is His gospel, and that only by and through Him may we have hope that there really is something better waiting for us and for our families. I love my Savior, and I am honored to be in His service.

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Pickett

We contacted a family that sells piñatasand helped make a few--maybe they aren't all that interested, but I have the best new life skill ever!

Cinnamon rolls, round 2 in the mission! It DEFINITELY rose enough

The Parable of the Sprained Ankle

I have been reading a lot of Jesus the Christ this week, so I will now explain this week in the James E. Talmage style that is currently permeating my thought process:

There was in the land of Honduras a sister missionary who, being influenced by the entertaining but potentially  dangerous idea of a Hunger Games activity planned by the elders in her district, sought a high place in which to hide herself and avoid being utterly destroyed in said activity. Due to the exaustion and standoffish attitude of her companion, the missionary sought after her hideaway alone. Upon locating a likely place to climb and find safety, she attempted to scale to the potential sanctuary and fell, striking her foot sharply in the descent. Despite her best efforts at shrugging it off and thinking positively, the missionary was diagnosed with an esquince, which being interpreted is sprain, and was impelled to stay in her bed all the week long, bemoaning her moment of foolishness and changing her ice packs during all watches of the night.

But Elder Talmage does not just give the parable, he gives the interpretation. So let's look at this week's mishap from a gospel standpoint. Sometimes in life, we put ourselves in dangerous situations, but they don't look very dangerous. Maybe we only sidestep one or two minor commandments to get there. We don't mean to fall, but we put ourselves in a good opportunity to do so. We won't always fall. I was not the only one looking for a good place to climb that day or any day, but I am the only one who had an accident. Not everyone is going to fall prey to the same problems. But just because our friends can come out of a situation that could be spiritually dangerous without a scratch doesn't mean that everyone will do so. So we put ourselves in the situation, and sometimes, we fall. And then three things happen: we cannot do what we want to do, we cannot do what we need to do, and we cannot do what we are called to do. More on that.

1. We cannot do what we want to do. I spent the last week in bed with my foot elevated. It didn't matter that I would have liked to visit the people here that I love and want to help progress. It didn't matter that I wanted to write in my journal. It didn't matter that I wanted to get outside and breath clean air. I couldn't do anything but lay there and allow my foot to heal. That was lame. And boring. And surprisingly difficult.

2. We cannot do what we need to do. Getting my own food, changing my own ice packs, washing dishes, taking a shower that lasts longer than five minutes, you name it. If it was a necessesity that involved getting out of bed, I couldn't do it. And I had to let people help me. That was a pretty humiliating experience, not being able to fulfill my own needs. But Heavenly Father helps our humiliating experiences become humbling exeperiences, and He uses our mistakes to teach us.

3. We cannot do what we are called to do. 18 months wasn't a long time in the first place, but now that I am down to less than 20 weeks, losing a whole week of the Lord's time was unacceptable to me. The pain in my foot was only matched by the absolute knowledge that I had a work to do and I wasn't doing it. Lame, lame, lame. But I literally could not do work. I couldn't walk. So there was nothing to do but know that my two minutes of poor decision making would have a much longer time of relash.

We put ourselves in dangerous situations in life when we step out of holy places, and we fall when we sin. The spiritual damage we can cause is easily more painful and much harder to fix, at times, than a sprained ankle. Like it or not, we all have to go through the long and arduous process of repentance, and sometimes we even need other people, like a bishop, to help us. We can no longer enjoy the gladness and confidence waxed strong by virtuous and righteous living. We become incapable of fulfilling our spiritual needs by worthily partaking of the sacrament and living our covenants. We absolutely cannot work in the realms that God has called us to, because we cannot have the constant present of His spirit. And that hurts! Ibuprofen does not get rid of that! The good news is that we can heal. In the same way that our bodies have the capacity to heal themselves because of divine design, our Father sent us a Savior so that He can heal our souls. But we can avoid the pain that is sure to accompany our healing if we will skip those two minutes of poor decisions. We can't write off commandments as minor. We can't make excuses to leave our holy places. An accident won't always happen, but it's better to not take the risk than suffer the consequences. Long story short: keep the commandments, in this there is safety and peace.

So other than staying in bed, I went for an X-ray, I went to the hospital, I got another X-ray (hey, how much do we charge for those in the States? Because at the clinic they're only $20 and at the hospital they're only $2. That's a steal) I almost got a cast but didn't, I have a perscription for an ankle brace that I will receive on Wednesday, I made a lot of new friends in the branch by staying in the house with them all day long, and there was a miracle: We were inspired to call the Sister Leader Trainers and they came and stayed with us for three whole days so that there would always be someone to stay with me and someone to go teaching with Hermana Davila. They are the best people in this mission. We love them.

I should have some great stuff to report next week. I will actually be able to leave the house when I've got my brace and Elder Alonzo of the 70 is coming for a conference this week, so that should be great! I love you all, I hope you have a wonderful week, and remember--avoid poor choices! Sprained ankles hurt!

Love,
Hermana Pickett

X-ray! No broken bones here! 

Chad Fell Down

Baleadas and Divisiones--fun times with Hna Ugarte! 

Judith and Jonathon Fernandez Alvarado--cutest family ever

On top of the world! 

Got caught in another rainstorm--called to serve, aún en las tormentas!

Hello all! I hope you are having a wonderful week! It was another fun one down here in Sta Barbara!

This week started out with a district meeting on the importance of short lessons, so we've been doing that a lot. Gospel sharing tip: ever felt self concious or awkward in a long conversation about the gospel? In our experience on the mission, spiritual potency lasts about 15-30 minutes max, and that is helped greatly if the conversation is shared, rather than dominated by one person. Hence, we try to teach brief but powerful lessons, taking short turns between the compañeras and asking lots of inspiried questions. Try that sometime, it works great! So this week, teaching short lessons, we got LOTS done! And the best part is that the members in this branch are really excited about participating in the work, so we were backed up by a lot of powerful testimonies. I love that. Always go teaching with the missionary. It's a blessings-blessings-blessings situation (think win-win-win, but in a gospel circumstance).

We have been teaching a woman lately named Walquidia, and her oldest son, Axel. She's pretty funny. She has been absolutely inactive for a long time, but since the day we found them she is down to business, 100%, family history active. It's awesome. The problem now is that her records have been lost, so she might have to be baptized again. She's game for that. So she and her son have baptismal dates on the 6th, if necessary. I like her. We've also been visiting a kid named Byron, who has a lot of friends in the church, and he came on Sunday (we were totally not expecting that). He had a legitimately good reason not to come, and he came anyway! That never happens! so we're pretty pleased with him. I'll keep you posted.

We've been working a lot with fam. Fernandez this week (last week I called them fam. Hernandez. That's my bad, we definitely heard them incorrectly). On Wednesday we had divisions with the Sister Leader Trainers, so Hermana Davila and Hermana Ugarte went to the first half of our lesson/baleada night with them and Hermana Porter and I (Porter/Pickett reunite AGAIN!) finished it up. The husband is having his mighty change of heart, little by little. On Friday we went to see how Judith was doing, because she had been feeling a little sick on Wednesday. When we got there, she was sick with a fever and head ache, and couldn't eat or drink anything without throwning up. To top it off, the poor thing had a two year old climbing all over her. (Shoutout to motherhood--moms are my heroes). We asked her and Marvin if they would like us to call someone so that she could receive a blessing, and they said yes. So our DL and his comp came, explained a little more about the priesthood and blessings, and blessed her to heal. When we visited the next morning, she was out of bed and energetic, telling us how she had already felt much better the night before. Her husband had said, very similar to the words of the closing prayer he had offered (for the first time!) that of course she would heal, because she had been anointed and blessed by brethren with authority from God. MIRACLE! When we invited them to be baptized on Sunday, he didn't bring up his previous worry about being rebaptized, and I am quite sure that that is because he has had first hand experience with where authority from God really lies. He's a little doubtful about the two of them being able to get married in the near future...but that's okay, we'll get there.

Speaking of miracles received through priesthood blessings, we visited a family of relatively new investigators this week, and they couldn't sit down for a lesson because their two year old daughter was very sick with a high fever. We were with a young man who is preparing for his mission, Johnny. We asked if he felt comfortable giving a blessing, and he said that he hadn't ever done that before but if he could read the words out of the mission handbook, it would be fine. When we went back, Oneda, the child's mother, told us her baby had fallen asleep and slept peacefully all through the night after we left, and now has no trace of her fever. The whole family, including Oneda's husband (who has never heard us talk about the gospel) recognized that it was the blessing that made the difference. I am so grateful for the portion of His power and authority that God has granted unto us, and that if we have the faith and obedience necessary, we can expect miracles in our lives.

Hermana Davila and I went on an adventure to a new pueblo called San Vincente this week, and we loved that quaint little town! (Yes, I am applying quaint to a town here. It's appropriate) We're hoping to have a lot of interested people there. We had sopa de mondongo again (always an adventure) and had more frustrations with the lights going out before we are ready to come in for the night. We are helping the presidencies of the Yong Men and Young Women's organizations to plan a "Mini CCM", and we think that's going to be really cool. It's not happening until September, but it's going to be really cool. We played ultimate frisbee today and I, like Chad, fell down (hence the subject line). I think I jammed my ankle...and that hurts a lot. But I'm sure I'll be able to walk without wanting to cry soon, so that's fine! What really gets me is that I'll probably have to take a break from running for two weeks or so. I really like running. So more doing silly things on P-day, like falling down.

I am so glad to be a missionary! I love it. It is the best work I can do. There is a fair share of hard moments, and weird moments, like the fact that I haven't had an appetite for anything but chocolate milk this week (Shoutout to Hermana Hickman) (Parents, I consummed more than chocolate milk. Worry not.) But I love it. I love knowing that I am doing what God wants me to be doing. There's no better feeling than that. I hope we can all share in that this week.

I love you all!
Hermana Pickett

21: Old Enough to Drink (not interested) and Go On a Mission (already there!)

Even with the poncho, we were soaked on Thursday night! My skirt was so full of water, it was falling off!

That apartment up on the second floor is where we live! 

We visit this big field every morning to run laps. Hurray for fitness! (And for losing two inches off of my hips, because that happened.)

Birthday stash! SO DELICIOUS! (And that blue striped dress is the cutest ever!)

¡Buenas tardes! It is another lovely afternoon here in in Santa Barbara, about 88 degrees and sunny (there is a new weather feature on my Missionary homepage, so I am now very well informed about the climate here). And today is my first Pday as a 21 year old! We borrowed the oven in the church to make a cake (Parents sent the cake mix and we actually found real Duncan Hines frosting in a random pulperia). President Dester wished me a happy birthday first thing on Tuesday, I was sung to by two large groups of elders (because the only other sister for two zones is my companion) and I had a new, pretty dress to wear. Add in the bag of peanutbutter M&Ms and it was the perfect cumpleaños.

We didn't do very many exciting things with our Pday after the pizza explosion last week, but last Tuesday was our multi-zone conference. We went to a place called Merendon, which is the zone just outside of San Pedro (and one of the most dangerous zones in the mission--they can't send sisters there! FUN!) and were enlightened and inspiried by the wise words of President and Sister Dester, the APs (of which we have four, two assistants in the office and two "training assistants", who are constantly traveling to assist in training) and the Zone leaders of zona Cofradía (my zone) and zona Merendon. Here's a Its a Small World moment: my two previous district leaders, Elder Pace and Elder Rodriguez, are now companions, serving as the zone leaders in Merendon. As I greeted the two, there was a look between them like "You know her!?" It was kind of funny. Sister Dester reminded us of the Church standard of emergency preparedness, and we have all been assigned to prepare an emergency backpack. That brought back so many fond childhood memories of Jansport backpacks in the storage room, amid piles of canned dried apples and powdered milk. I guess only Mormon kids have childhood memories of food storage, right?

On Wednesday, we were blessed to have as our companion hermana Cindy Lopez, who is our branch president's wife. She never had the chance to serve a mission but she is a spectacular missionary! We were amazed, moment after moment, by the power of her testimony and teaching, and were inspired by her example of fulfilling our duty to preach the gospel. We were also incredibly blessed to meet a beautiful new family, though on Wednesday we only met two of the members. More to follow below.

We spent more time in on of the outlying neighborhoods of our area, a place called La Ceibita, also accompanied by members. The members actually are willing to go out teaching with us here! It's a miracle! Hermana Davila and I had the opportunity to learn how to form a semita, which is a delicious and pretty roll commonly enjoyed here in Honduras. We also had a great visit with a woman named Suyapa, who seems very prepared to progress and is only missing the opportunity and drive to come to church. That night, we had the first of what will be many in the branch practice of Fellowshipping Nights, which (for right now) are gatherings of about 15 people in the home of an investigator or less active member, wherein the lesson is taught by members and the purpose is to increase faith. We visited a woman who has not come to church after having a bad experience with other members, but she gave us a reference to visit her family member after the lesson (she's never given us a reference before) and her son, who is only slighly more active than she is, did come to church. Baby steps. There fell a torential downpour that night, so we huddled under the emergency poncho (another 100 points to Mom) and spent the evening in the dark. It's going to be such a shocker for me when I live in a place where the lights going out isn't a daily occurance.

Now then, I mentioned an awesome new family. They are composed of Marvin and Judith Hernandez (which is officially my favorite last name) and their small son, Johnathon. They had been being taught previously by the elders, but Marvin did not share his wife's interest in the gospel and requested that the missionaries stop coming. Upon arriving, we, the elders, and Judith alike were pretty worried that Marvin wouldn't be interested in having Mormon missionaries in his home again. But his sweet wife has been praying that he would listen to us, and he is listening. Last night was our second lesson with the pair and Judith offered a beautiful prayer, asking to know if the gospel was true so that their family could recieve the blessings of eternity. I am sure I will have miracles to share about this family very soon.

This really is a wonderful area. We are working our way up to achieving our wildest dreams slowly, and I have yet to see one of our investigators come to church, but we met a woman last week named Walquidia, who has been inactive for 14 years, but who came to church with her children and stayed for all three meetings, like it was the most natural thing in the world. We are finding more people every day who are happy and interested to hear the gospel, and who look at us like "Do you have what I have been waiting for?" And then we testify that yes, we do have what they are searching for. I know that this is the true and living church of Jesus Christ, and that it stirrs the souls of our investigators because it is the only way to receive the blessings that every child of God yearns for. I love Him, I love the gospel, and I love my opportunity to share it.

I love being a missionary! This Saturday I completed my thirteenth month in the mission, but it still feels like I started yesterday. We taught yesterday with a young woman who recently returned from her mission in Guatemala, and I love seeing her light up as she participates in the work. I know that being a missionary is something that I will never really finish, even if I have to take my plaque off eventually. I may not always be able to wear my Savior's name on a badge, but I will certainly be able to have it written upon my heart forever. I hope that everyone has a wonderful week and that we can all take the opportunity to share this wonderful gospel with someone!

Love,
Hermana Pickett

Catracho Italiano

Hello! Here's a shocker--I'm sitting directly under the fan and I've been sitting here for a long time, so I am FREEZING! If you were wondering, yes, it is very possible to be very cold in Honduras.

I am loving Santa Barbara. This is such an awesome area to work in! There is plenty to do, there are plenty of members willing to work with us, our branch president is beyond legit, and the power stopped going out every night. Who could ask for anything more?

Something that we've been doing a lot lately is making pizza. Turns out people here really, really like pizza. Like, a lot. And there isn't a chain pizza restaurant here, so there are a lot of people who figure they might as well just make people at home. Problem: said people don't know how to make pizza. What does the big question become? "Hey, White girl! Can you make pizza?" Fortunately, yes I can. And I have been doing so. Last Monday, at the end of P-day, we went next door to our neighbors (the really nice ones who made us sopa de mondongo) and we made pizza. The really exciting part was the sauce, because I've never had to make pizza sauce from scratch before. The husband of this couple was very funny, continually offering to help or taste test or do whatever was necessary and his wife said "Amor, don't you think she can handle it?" and he said, "But, I'm a professional--soy italiano!" The pizza turned out quite well (especially the sauce, surprisingly), although the crust was a little thin. We solved that problem today, when at the suggestion of one of the elders in our district we made pizza with a less active sister in the ward. There was enough dough for four very thick crusts, but we were too hot and tired to finish. We've got another pie's worth in the freezer.

The other big to do of this week was our monthly branch activity, the branch talent show. If you think Mormon talent shows are a big deal in the states, you should see them in Central America. For the most part, it was a really cool and really enjoyable experience. We as the missionaries had planned to perform as a district, and we ended up singing Hark All Ye Nations, but we accompanied it with the cup game, kind of like in Pitch Perfect. Fun fact--any song written in 4/4 time will work with the cup game. So after much practicing, that turned out pretty legit. Hermana Davila and I couldn't really decide on something to do as a companionship, but we had made a lot of jokes about singing Let It Go in a mix of English and Spanish, so that ended up happening. It was so cute--all of the little girls in primary were singing along! I think I definitely have a solid option for the family Christmas talent show this year (my submission will be via Skype...about 12 hours late...whoops). The Elders put on a skit about "whipping the district into shape". It was very funny, but all of the jokes were missionary inside jokes, so other than the Justin Beiber parody, nobody got very excited about it except Hna Davila and I. Poor elders. There was also a lot of really cool cultural dancing--let me say, I hope that when I'm a slightly age advanced woman in Relief Society like some of the ladies here, I can still shake it like they can. There were also some slightly uncomfortable parts of the show, like the couple that lipsynced a song about I Will Wait for You in the Mission (apparently it made our elders miss their girlfriends really badly) and the girl that belly danced entirely too well and the young women dancing slightly provocatively to a Shakira song...oh, well! Fun anyway! That event took up pretty much our entire day on Friday, and we talked and planned for it all week, so I don't really know what to do now that it's over. I feel like Inigo Montoya after he finally got his revenge. I guess there's always the piracy option...

I really am glad that I am serving here. We keep finding random inactive members, like we're on an eternal salvation Easter egg hunt. We have a couple of semi-promising investigators, but I know that there is no end to the miracles that I will see in this area. I feel so blessed for the opportunity to work in this area. I love it already. The elders in El Centro had a baptism on Saturday, and they asked me to speak on the Holy Ghost. It was a really great opportunity to remember why we get baptized, and furthermore, why there are so many missionaries teaching about baptism. We were reading the scriptures about the conversions among the Lamanites by Ammon and his brethren yesterday and we realized that we can be that kind of missionary--that kind of incredible influence in someone's life. I hope that some day, someone could write about the people that I taught that they "never did fall away". I love the Lord and I love this chance I have to serve Him. I know that this church is true. I have felt the happiness that it has brought to me and I am always seeing the blessings it brings to others. Know it, live it, love it!

Have a wonderful week! And go ahead and fondly remember the day that you completed 21 years of life because I'm doing that TOMORROW! I'm finally old enough to be a sister missionary!

Love,
Hermana Pickett

PS Happy birthdays to Annie, Addy, Becca, and Sam! I LOVE you guys!