Happy President's Day!

We ran out of money so we made baleadas. Cheap and delicious! Get ready, America, because I'm bringing these babies home with me! 

I live on a mountain, surrounded by mountains! It's awesome!

And Happy late Valentine's Day, too! What a festive week we are passing! They do celebrate Valentine's day here in Honduras. It's called Día de Cariño. Hra Cumatz and I made heart shaped pancakes--it was pretty sweet. (note: I just had to ponder that spelling of pancakes for about 3 minutes because we never use the letter K in Spanish, so using it now is super weird. Fun fact.) 

It's been a fun and full week of hill climbing and gospel teaching here in Copan Ruinas! It's really sweet when people decide to miss lessons here, because our investigators live a lot further apart and people don't just hang out infront of their houses waiting to talk to us like they did in Campana, so changing plans takes a lot longer, but it's chill! The Lord's work is getting done! And somebody actually came to church this week, so that was a blessing. It's just pretty funny to contemplate how big of a deal one person coming to church is when, upon asking Hra Harmon how many people came to church in Campana the otherSunday, she said "Oh, it was raining, so we only had 13". But hey, the worth of every single, solitary soul is great in the eyes of God. GREAT. I'm glad that I have a better opportunity to appreciate the one, because I'm not sure how well I learned that in the land Bountiful (or, in other words, Campana). 

We got to take another long bus adventure on Tuesday to attend our district meeting in La Florida (which is not pronounced like a US state, so as you read this mentally, go back and correct yourself. I have to do that every time) We arrived early enough to take the right bus this time, which was cool. But I couldn't fall asleep on the morning bus, and you have to fall asleep on the morning bus, because falling asleep on the afternoon bus is not an option. Allow me to explain: There are great big coach buses, that are like paradise and are only available at7:00 because they run all the way from Copan Ruinas to San Pedro Sula. Then there are normal sized buses. And then there are little buses, which are basically vans. And the people who run them will cram every body they can onto these buses. It's like playing tetrus, but with people. So as we were cramming into one of these little bus/van contraptions for the 1.5 hour trip back to las Ruinas (bad luck on our part) and as I'm contemplating where I am going to squeeze myself in, a slightly creepy Honduran man pats the eight-ish inches of seat next to him as if to say, Come hither. And I'm like, No. Gross. But he hops out and explains, you can have the larger part of the seat. I'll squeeze into the eight inches. And then the cobrador (not the guy who drives the bus, but the guy who shoves customers in) starts shoving me into the bus, so I got in. And those eight inches were looking pretty small. Elder Wing, who was sitting behind me, says "So, now he's going to sit on your lap." Luckily, he didn't. But the tiredness from not sleeping on the morning bus kicked in after the first half hour of the trip, and because this guy was way inside my personal space, when my head drooped down in sleepiness, it drooped right onto his shoulder. Awkward. And within the first milisecond of contact with a male, my sister missionary instincts kicked in enough to wake me up and jerk my head of off the still slightly creepy Honduran man, but then I'd start drifting off again and the whole process would repeat. It was kind of like I was playing Whack-a-mole on this guy's shoulder and my face was the mallot. Whoops. But eventually a few people started unloading and I got my personal space back, so that was nice. Life lesson: sleep on the morning bus. I don't know how applicable that is to anyone reading this letter, but if you find yourself feeling tired on a 7am bus in Honduras, you might as well sleep. 

We've been trying various tactics (started typing varios maneras, but then I remembered I was writting this letter in English) to create some excitement about the branch. We can't have branch activities in the church building, because nobody comes, so we have them in member's houses instead. This week we had one FHE, one Noche de Hermanamiento (which would be night of fellowshipping...I think) and one Noche de Traje, which involved bringing a little gift and exchanging it with someone else. We had that for Valentine's day. And Hra Cumatz and I (upon arriving very late and very stressed out but with one investigator in tow, so it was worth it) ended up quite embarrassed because we were almost the only ones who followed the branch president's guidelines that the gift should be something like a piece of fruit or chocolate. People put a lot of effort into gift giving here. We both handed over our meager presents with the promise to bring something better another day (which I made good on, so it's chill). But we couldn't have done much better than we did, because we were really out of money. Hra. Cumatz got pretty set back from going to San Pedro and back (that's super expensive) and she ran out a long time before I did, but then I got pretty set back paying for double the groceries. There was definitely a day that I left the house inAnd Happy late Valentine's Day, too! What a festive week we are passing! They do celebrate Valentine's day here in Honduras. It's called Día de Cariño. Hra Cumatz and I made heart shaped pancakes--it was pretty sweet. (note: I just had to ponder that spelling of pancakes for about 3 minutes because we never use the letter K in Spanish, so using it now is super weird. Fun fact.) 

It's been a fun and full week of hill climbing and gospel teaching here in Copan Ruinas! It's really sweet when people decide to miss lessons here, because our investigators live a lot further apart and people don't just hang out infront of their houses waiting to talk to us like they did in Campana, so changing plans takes a lot longer, but it's chill! The Lord's work is getting done! And somebody actually came to church this week, so that was a blessing. It's just pretty funny to contemplate how big of a deal one person coming to church is when, upon asking Hra Harmon how many people came to church in Campana the other Sunday, she said "Oh, it was raining, so we only had 13". But hey, the worth of every single, solitary soul is great in the eyes of God. GREAT. I'm glad that I have a better opportunity to appreciate the one, because I'm not sure how well I learned that in the land Bountiful (or, in other words, Campana). 

We got to take another long bus adventure on Tuesday to attend our district meeting in La Florida (which is not pronounced like a US state, so as you read this mentally, go back and correct yourself. I have to do that every time) We arrived early enough to take the right bus this time, which was cool. But I couldn't fall asleep on the morning bus, and you have to fall asleep on the morning bus, because falling asleep on the afternoon bus is not an option. Allow me to explain: There are great big coach buses, that are like paradise and are only available at 7:00 because they run all the way from Copan Ruinas to San Pedro Sula. Then there are normal sized buses. And then there are little buses, which are basically vans. And the people who run them will cram every body they can onto these buses. It's like playing tetrus, but with people. So as we were cramming into one of these little bus/van contraptions for the 1.5 hour trip back to las Ruinas (bad luck on our part) and as I'm contemplating where I am going to squeeze myself in, a slightly creepy Honduran man pats the eight-ish inches of seat next to him as if to say, Come hither. And I'm like, No. Gross. But he hops out and explains, you can have the larger part of the seat. I'll squeeze into the eight inches. And then the cobrador (not the guy who drives the bus, but the guy who shoves customers in) starts shoving me into the bus, so I got in. And those eight inches were looking pretty small. Elder Wing, who was sitting behind me, says "So, now he's going to sit on your lap." Luckily, he didn't. But the tiredness from not sleeping on the morning bus kicked in after the first half hour of the trip, and because this guy was way inside my personal space, when my head drooped down in sleepiness, it drooped right onto his shoulder. Awkward. And within the first milisecond of contact with a male, my sister missionary instincts kicked in enough to wake me up and jerk my head of off the still slightly creepy Honduran man, but then I'd start drifting off again and the whole process would repeat. It was kind of like I was playing Whack-a-mole on this guy's shoulder and my face was the mallot. Whoops. But eventually a few people started unloading and I got my personal space back, so that was nice. Life lesson: sleep on the morning bus. I don't know how applicable that is to anyone reading this letter, but if you find yourself feeling tired on a 7am bus in Honduras, you might as well sleep. 

We've been trying various tactics (started typing varios maneras, but then I remembered I was writting this letter in English) to create some excitement about the branch. We can't have branch activities in the church building, because nobody comes, so we have them in member's houses instead. This week we had one FHE, one Noche de Hermanamiento (which would be night of fellowshipping...I think) and one Noche de Traje, which involved bringing a little gift and exchanging it with someone else. We had that for Valentine's day. And Hra Cumatz and I (upon arriving very late and very stressed out but with one investigator in tow, so it was worth it) ended up quite embarrassed because we were almost the only ones who followed the branch president's guidelines that the gift should be something like a piece of fruit or chocolate. People put a lot of effort into gift giving here. We both handed over our meager presents with the promise to bring something better another day (which I made good on, so it's chill). But we couldn't have done much better than we did, because we were really out of money. Hra. Cumatz got pretty set back from going to San Pedro and back (that's super expensive) and she ran out a long time before I did, but then I got pretty set back paying for double the groceries. There was definitely a day that I left the house in the morning with the equivalent of 50 cents to my name. But the money came in (yay!) and we are no longer desitute, so don't worry about us. We're fine. We had to be very creative eaters this week, but we're fine. 

It's a very different gear here in Copan, but it is still the work of the Lord and I still love it. The people here are wonderful, even when they trash talk Mormons (happens) and close the door in our faces and don't reopen it (definitely happened). Or when they station their kids in the street to warn the family that we are coming so everyone can hide. That's my favorite. But I am so glad to be a missionary and to be serving here. I love my Heavenly Father and I love this labor He has given me. It's been a lovely week in the vineyard! I am so psyched to have so many more to look forward to. 

Oh! And here's a life note. We had this family in church yesterday from the States (weird!) The father works in the US Embassy in Guatemala, and so they just came over for the weekend. They were really wonderful to talk to, their nine year old daughter was a joy to have in my primary class (which was slightly less insane but still needs work) and they were kind enough to give us actual American candy to buoey (I don't know how to spell that any more) up our spirits. So, when you are on vacation, go to all three hours of church, because all of them are important, and especially if you are in a foreign country, give the missionaries some love. We all know they need is. Thank you, Barney family. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week! ¡Que le vaya bien! 

Love, Hermana Pickett     the morning with the equivalent of 50 cents to my name. But the money came in (yay!) and we are no longer desitute, so don't worry about us. We're fine. We had to be very creative eaters this week, but we're fine. 

It's a very different gear here in Copan, but it is still the work of the Lord and I still love it. The people here are wonderful, even when they trash talk Mormons (happens) and close the door in our faces and don't reopen it (definitely happened). Or when they station their kids in the street to warn the family that we are coming so everyone can hide. That's my favorite. But I am so glad to be a missionary and to be serving here. I love my Heavenly Father and I love this labor He has given me. It's been a lovely week in the vineyard! I am so psyched to have so many more to look forward to. 

Oh! And here's a life note. We had this family in church yesterday from the States (weird!) The father works in the US Embassy in Guatemala, and so they just came over for the weekend. They were really wonderful to talk to, their nine year old daughter was a joy to have in my primary class (which was slightly less insane but still needs work) and they were kind enough to give us actual American candy to buoey (I don't know how to spell that any more) up our spirits. So, when you are on vacation, go to all three hours of church, because all of them are important, and especially if you are in a foreign country, give the missionaries some love. We all know they need is. Thank you, Barney family. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week! ¡Que le vaya bien! 

Love, Hermana Pickett    

I'm on top of the world!

Had to say goodbye to Hra Harmon. Love this sister! 

New compas: Hra Neibar, Hra Harmon, Hra Pickett, and Hra Cumatz

Sadly, my feeling that my time in Campana was drawing to a close was quite correct, and we learned after writing last Monday (but a loooooooooooong time after writing. Like, not until 9pm. We did not handle that suspense very well) that I indeed had a transfer. So that meant that on Tuesday I had to go around and say goodbye to people. Saying goodbye to people is the worst. Especially when Araceli and Cecilia and Julia and pretty much all of fam. Huezo started crying. But the really cool promise of the gospel is that, if we do what we need to do, we never ever have to say goodbye to the people that we love. We can have them always. Separations aren't permanent, and the people we love never truly leave us (Remus Lupin taught me that, but the Plan of Salvation backed it up) (that was a joke, worry not).

But after the run of saying goodbye to people, which was tough, we woke up early on Wednesday and headed to yet another cambios meeting in San Pedro Sula. I knew I wasn't training, and one of the APs made an offhand comment to me that I had an awesome area, but other than that I had no idea what was waiting for me. And for some horrible reason, my name finds its way to almost the very bottom of the cambios list every time we do this, so that's always difficult, but a fin de cuentas I was assigned to Copan Ruinas with (the most ADORABLE chapina in the world) Hra Cumatz. Let me tell you: this is probably the most highly coveted area in the mission. Another sister jokingly (mostly) said "Hra, I'm going to kill you! Why are you going to Copan and not me?" It was half joking in the same way that in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding the brother and cousin are always saying "Hey Ian! We're gonna kill ya!" Pretty much like that....But we took last pictures and hugged goodbye (Hra Harmon's new compa is named Hra Neibar and she seems pretty legit, so I'm trusting her with my area/hijastra/fam. Huezo) and loaded up on a bus out to Zona Copan. Because it is very far away from everything. It's like Honduran Timbuktu.  We stopped at a mall in San Pedro to eat mall at the food court before heading out there. That was SO WEIRD! I was going up an escalator and thinking "What country am I in?" We ate at KFC because, even though Hra Cumatz always forgets how to say that, she loves the food there. And I got a pretzel from Auntie Annes for dessert, and I broke of a piece for Hra Cumatz and as she's chewing she said the equivalent of "Okay, wow, I love this." Too bad there definitely is not an Auntie Anne's in Copan. The bus ride out here has two parts: three hours to the stake center in La Entrada, and then another 1.5-2 hours in a different bus to Copan Ruinas. That's a really long time in a bus. But I successfully did not get sick (most people get sick) and I just kept looking out the window in shock and awe because it is GORGEOUS here.

Chapina de fuego! I love this Guatemalan girl! 

Run-down on las Ruinas: The town is called Copan Ruinas because there is a huge Mayan ruins site here. It makes this one of the more famous places in all of Honduras, and I now see at least one white person every day. That's weird. But I officially speak enough of Spanish and English to be an effective translator/peace keeper (we had a tough time with a Canadian on a bus from La Entrada the other day) so that's pretty cool. The city is built into the mountain, so we walk up really, really big hills between every appointment. Turns out my "totally out of breath" face is a smile, so Hra. Cumatz says if I die, I'll die happy. Let me tell you, if I die in Copan, I'll die happy and I'll die skinny, because the hills here are kicking me into shape. We have four missionaries here: yo, Hra Cumatz, Elder Pace (who is the same Elder Pace who was my district leader for 3/4 of my time in Campana and is now my DL in Copan, it's pretty funny) and Elder Wing. We have a branch of about 40 people, and around 120 inactive members. It is incredibly beautiful, and the work is incredibly difficult. No one wants to listen to us. The people here are actively set against the LDS church. Awesome, right? But the four missionaries thing is pretty recent, and I feel pretty sure that the Lord has some big plans for this area. So it's chill. Something's coming. Vamos a ver.

The good news is that, if this area is going to be difficult, living with Hra Cumatz definitely will not be! She is seriously one of the sweetest, most adorable people I have ever met. She's from Guatemala, she's probably right around 5 feet tall (maybe a little shorter), and when she teaches, she teaches with the power and authority of the Spirit of God. The funny part is that her nickname is Chapina de fuego (Guatemalan of Fire) and when something makes her mad, like creeper guys whistling at us in the street, she gets pretty mad. But a pretty mad, 5 foot 90 lb Chapina is kind of like a really small dog barking: You get it that they're annoyed, but it's kind of adorable at the same time. She made me a really cute card yesterday for my cumplemeses (I've got 7 whole months on the mission!) and I am really excited for  our next six weeks.

I still love being a missionary. Even if the people here don't want it right now, I know that we are bringing the true and everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that our Heavenly Father has done everything and given everything and continues to do all for our happiness, and we have the gospel as the instructions to living joyfully. I know that families can be forever, that God loves us, and that if we follow in His way, we can be happy forever. I know it. I taught it to the primary class yesterday.

If anybody is praying for the mission force down here, now is a perfect time to start praying a little harder. I'll keep you posted on the Copan adventures. Next stop eternity!

Love, Hra Pickett

PS Somebody tell Graham happy birthday for me!

With 15 seconds to spare

I raided Hra Harmon's camera this week and I found this picture from Christmas. Thanks for the trader joe's chocolate, it was amazing!

So we had a pretty strong feeling this week that it was going to be my last one in Campana, so we decided last Thursday that we were going to make this week count! Hence, we set a higher goal for lessons, street contacts, and references than I have EVER set in my mission! This week was insane!

I love being busy. It's the best thing ever. Which is good, because this week we were busy. Every night this week we have come home ready to die, we are so tired. But we received a talk to read two weeks ago by Elder Callister of the presidency of the 70 and he said that we need to be consecrated missionaries, and consecrated missionaries put EVERYTHING on the alter of sacrifice, which means at the end of the day, there shouldn't be anything left to give. That about sums it up!

We are still working hard with Johana and her family, and on Monday we visited them after having our first "official" FHE with fam. Huezo. That was awesome. Fam. Huezo is actually a neighboring family to Johana, so we take them with us when we visit them now. And fam. Huezo is the best collection of member missionaries I have ever seen! We went one night with Yeimy and Odalis and right away they were saying "We are so much happier now that we are baptized. You should get baptized. Are you not sure? You should pray. God answers prayers. There's this verse in James, it's 1:5..." And then we went with Maria. Oh, Maria. First, here's a Spanish principle. There is Usted, which is You but formal and polite. There is Tú, which is You but in a more familiar way, usually for family and friends but never used here, except in prayer. And then there is Vos. And you only use Vos for your closest and most basic relationships, or its super disrespectful because it's so casual. I have talked to a lot of people who say they won't even talk to their spouse in Vos because it's disrepectful. So Maria is saying again and again to Johana's husband, "Marry her!" and she's saying it in Vos. It will always bring joy to my heart to think of Maria saying "Casáte!" over and over again. But the good news is that, after we left, the two of them talked it out and they want to get married and baptized. Johana told us the other night that out of the blue, Miguel just got a really good and really stable job, and she feels like God is already blessing them for their choices to be obedient. We testified that He is.

We also had our first lesson with Candy Huezo's husband, and the two of them are already golden. His work schedule is pretty hectic, but they are already married, so a bad schedule is definitely the least of two evils. Kendi and Mexi, our two little girls out in Puente Alto, have gotten over their fear of getting water in their ears and nose and are psyched to get baptized soon. Laynie, I showed them a picture of your baptism and that helped a lot. Thanks for making righteous decisions :) We had  couple of really cool first lessons this week: Karen, who is Julia's sister, Cyntia, who was listening to the missionaries in Fesitranh before moving away and already wants to be baptized, and fam. Oriana. Get this: it's eight people! And they have numerous family members who are converts to the church and who are super excited to help us teach them. We are so pumped!

We had a pretty sweet experience with one of our less active members this week, Alba. She has been promising missionaries for years that she'll come back to church, and she doesn't come. So when we went to visit on Sunday afternoon, ready to talk about Día de Reposo (the sabbath day) again, she looked at us and said, "God must be pretty angry with me, right?" And I decided that no, God isn't angry with us when we fail Him. It's pretty hard for us to understand that, because even with the people that we love, we can very easily get to frustration and anger when people don't do what they said they would. But, with His infinite and perfect love, our Heavenly Father does not turn to anger, but rather to heartbreak. He is not frustrated, but He is deeply saddened. We shared with Alba the blessings and purpose of the sacrament, that we can be clean and happy again, and one of my favorite scriptures from 3 Nephi 9. It is a plea from the Savior that says in essence (I don't have my English scriptures, sorry) Will you not repent and come unto me, that I may heal you? He wants to help. He wants us to be happy. We just have to walk far enough forward that His arms may envelope us, and we can be healed. It's a miracle, and it's the sweetest truth in creation. I love that I get to tell people about it all day. I love this work!

But amidst all of these wonderful moments, we started feeling a little bit of pressure to meet those insanely high goals we had set for this week--namely, the 60 lessons we wanted. At 7:00pm, we had fulfilled our visits with recent converts and less actives, but we needed two more lessons, and the first one fell. It was chill, we found another one. But it ran a little long, and then our guy for the last visit, Pablo, wasn't where he said he would be. Two problems: we can't look for him, because we don't know where he lives, and we didn't have time to look for him, because consecrated missionaries are exactly obedient and enter their house at 8:00 or 8:30 if they are in a visit. So we had to find him before 8:00. It was impotant. We searched around a bit and started to feel pretty tight on time, but at 7:55 our stake president's wife called from her house, "We found him, Sisters! He's here with us!" So we had that lesson with Pablo and the stake president's family (pretty awesome teaching companions, right?) but Pablo was rambling about very off topic things and we had to cut him kind of short at 8:25. And his prayer/ Saida's explaination of how we pray took about 2 and a half minutes, so we shook hands and cheek kissed and RAN home, but we made it! With 15 seconds to spare! It was pretty awesome, and we feel like we used every bit of our time optimally this week, which was great. But we moved the goal down a little bit for next week, so Hra Harmon's new compa won't have a heart attack.

I love this work so much. I love the Lord, I love this time that I have to serve Him, and I love His children that I am with here. It will be pretty hard if I have to leave this week, because over the last five and a half months (it's been a while here in Campana) these people and this ward have become like my family. But the Lord has made a way for us to always be with those we love, even the people we meet in Honduras and might only know for five and a half months. I am grateful for every moment that I have spent here. I am grateful that the Lord continually puts a mirror before me and shows me that I have such a great need to change, and then He helps me do it. I love Him and I know that this gospel is truly and uniquely His.

I hope you can all stay busy in the work of the Lord, be it in your home, your job, school, or just in the crazy opportunities to meet one of the Lord's children in the street. It's the best way to spend a week I know!

Love,
Hra Pickett

My "twitter" umbrella finally died, after 6 months of fighting bravely. #Restinpeace

So on Monday I had to desfrost the feezer part of our fridge with Hra Harmon's blow dryer. Eventually, I could just pull out huge chunks of ice. It was sweet. 

 I am so grateful for this time that I have had with Hra Harmon! She is such an incredible blessing and I wouldn't have rather spent the last 8 weeks with anyone else! 

Huezo baptism! I had to do some serious deep breathing to chill out from all the stress, but seeing all of them in white seriously helped :)

We saw this great view of the mountains as we walked one day and both of us stopped and said, "Wait, we're actually in Honduras. Weird. Let's take a picture!" 

We are teaching these two sweet kids, Ronan and Isabel. They said they want to be missionaries, too, so we lent them out tags. 

The First Steps Toward a Forever Family

Best news first: familia Huezo got baptized! This last Saturday, after
a feast of stressing out that will be discussed later, we were blessed
to see five members of this beautiful family make a sacred covenant to
follow the example and mandate of Jesus Christ by entering the waters
of baptism, and yesterday they sealed that covenant by being confirmed
members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and
receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. But a lot of week happened
before that.

This week we have been refining the missionary skill of finding
appointments to fill up the gap when someone isn't where they said
they would be when they said they would be there. It's a good time.
And it's lucky that we love doing that, because we do it a lot! But
the Lord has always called His servants to "preach by the way", so we
are just following in the footsteps of those who have come before us.

We had a really remarkable day on Thursday. Our mission, San Pedro
Sula Oeste (west) combined with the mission San Pedro Sula Este (east)
and we as a force of about 300 missionaries had the privilage to hear
from Elder Ochoa, of the 2nd Quorum of the 70, and Elder Soares, of
the presidency of the Quorum of the 70, and also from their wives. And
it was awesome! Between the messages of diligence and miracles that
were shared along with the talk "How to Become a Concecrated
Missionary" by Tad R. Callister (we were given that talk to read to
prepare for this conference--I now read it every morning, because it
is that awesome), Hra. Harmon and I now have a recommitment to
participating in this work with all of our heart, might, mind, and
strength. Someday, when I have the notes from that conference with me,
I will gladly expound the epicness of that conference, because it was
pretty sweet. And, as an added bonus, Elder Soares is from Brazil, so
his Spanish is peppered with Portuguese. That was fun.

Two more side notes about that conference: I was called to sing in the
choir (we were selected--we're kind of a big deal) and we performed
"Behold, a Royal Army". Our director is an AP from the Este mission
and we as a group had a collectively good time. And I got to stand
next to Hra. Escalante to sing, so that was magical. I just love that
Mexican. Other note, I was asked to give the closing prayer. Before
this experience, when our investigators felt scared to pray, I was
never really sure why someone could actually feel fear to say a
prayer. I get it now! It was one of the most intimidating moments of
my life, especially because the opening prayer was offered by that
same AP from the Este mission and his Spanish is way better than mine!
But I closed my eyes and tried my best to just talk to my Father, even
if I couldn't express myself quite so eloquently as I wanted to, and
it went alright. Lesson learned: have compassion for those who are
scared to pray. It can be terrifying.

On Friday we had a visit from the Sister Leader Trainers, Hra Bayles
and Hra Morales. Hra Morales became my compa for a day and my hija
went with Hra Bayles. But it was pretty lucky that we could cover
double ground, because Hra Morales and I went to the baptismal
interviews of fam. Huezo. I guess we should have expected that if our
lessons with fam. Huezo usually ran longer than we expected them to,
their interviews would run long as well. But the hour that we planned
to spend there passed and, a fin de cuentas, it was two and a half
hours in total between arriving and departing. That's a long time! But
I got to get to know Hra Morales better and that was cool, because
she's pretty cool. We also had an inventory at the end of the day and
I am really grateful that I could receive some advice and counsel from
that wonderful sister.

But here's the kicker: fam. Huezo surprised us with the news that they
couldn't get baptized at 5, which is our normal baptismal hour.
Rather, they needed to have their baptism at 10 in the morning! That
was only 14 hours away! And then, of course, all of our baptismal
clothing grew mold last week and was useless and no one wanted to
answer their phones, and it was raining, but two minute panic attack
aside we found people to baptize them and two witnesses and five
Baptismal Records and a big stack of white clothing, so it all went
well in the end. Marco Jr. told us yesterday that after being
confirmed, standing before the ward and being welcomed in was a
feeling that he had never felt before. But he said it was "bien
maziso", which is catratchan for super, super epic. I am so grateful
that the Lord has called me on this mission, and that I was able to be
there to help this family find the tools to bind themselves together
and to the Lord forever.

I love this gospel. I testify of its truthfulness. I know that God is
our loving Heavenly Father, and that He has done all, including give
His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, so that we can come back to Him.
All that is missing is for us to decide to do it. Let's decide!

I love the Lord, I love this work, and I love all of you. Have a splendid week!

Oh, I totally forgot: We  have this one investigator named Johanna,
and we were so ready to start suggesting she leave her husband,
because she wants to get married and baptized but he just wants to
drink, and they came to church together yesterday! He has been
promising her for months that he would come to church and he finally
came! It's a MIRACLE! If anyone was praying for them, thanks. It
worked.

Les quiero a todos!

Hra Pickett

P.S. Someone tell Robs happy birthday for me!

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

American holidays. What a strange thing to ponder. Anyway, for you kiddos who are enjoying a day off of school, have a good day! Days off are sweet! We don't really have them...but that's okay!

We had another splendid and quick week! We've been visiting a lot of not so active members and teaching a LOT of lessons (I topped my record for most lessons taught in a week) and keeping generally busy. There was only one very rainy day this week but the chill kept up even when it was dry, and pobrecita Hra Harmon caught a pretty good cold on Wednesday. We've been quoting that part of Pride and Prejudice a lot lately when Mrs. Bennett says "People do not die of colds." But we are in a third world country....No, es broma. She's not going to die. We're good.

We've been going on a lot of visits this week with Jeimy, who was one of my first baptisms here. That was really cool. She's such a sweet addition to our little company and she is always ready to share her testimony in our lessons. She taught with us on Thursday night and it was so cold we were walking down the street in one big huddle, and when we had to stop and take out our planners, she would say "Ay, Hermanas, abrazenme! Tengo frio!" Very good kid, that one.

We were also practicing our talk-to-everyone skills this week, and that was fun. As much as we've heard that newly returned missionaries are really socially awkward when they get home, I can't really imagine that. It seems like we'll just start talking to everyone, all the time.

We had a pretty been heart breaker this week: we visited fam. Buh (well, just Diana) for what looks like the last time in a while. Pretty much out of nowhere she decided she doesn't want to listen to us anymore. It was really hard to think about all of the times that I have imagined her and her husband at their baptism and in the temple and hearing her say, I don't want it. The worst was at the end of our conversation, when she cited the common phrase here that when Christ comes again, He won't come for a church, but for His followers, so "We'll be together again one day forever." And while it is true that Christ won't come for people labeled with a certain sect, the eternity that I am hoping to attain is one that necessitates saving ordinances, such as baptism by one holding the authority of God to perform the ordinance. How do you explain someone that what they are picturing as heaven would be almost hellish, because we would have the knowledge that we could have attained more? I sincerely hope that they will some day change their minds and soften their hearts enough to even try the gospel (they haven't been reading the Book of Mormon. That is really the root of the problem) and we continue to pray for them, so I know the Lord will bring about His work in His own time.

But on a happier note, it's just a short walk down the street from fam. Buh to fam. Huezo, and they're doing fine! By some insane miracle Marco and Marquito are already home, so we got to see the entire family together in church yesterday. I just love seeing that family in church. They are working towards getting baptized on this Saturday, the 25th of January. Turns out Marco hasn't quite quit smoking yet...and we had no idea...but he's going to stop smoking as of last night. We set a rule with him that he has to ask permission from someone before he smokes a cigarette, and of course everyone in his family is going to say, "No, hombre!" We also told him that if no one is around, he can either ask himself or pray to ask permission. So if he actually does that, I think it will go pretty well. He's a determined guy, that Marco Huezo. I'm really not very worried about him. We were talking about eternal families with them and the bishop yesterday, and then when we were talking about him giving up his smoking habit, he said "No, I'll stop. I want to be baptized and I want to enter the temple with my family." And everybody else wants to go, too. Hra. Harmon and I told them when it's time for them to go next year, we want to come, too. I hope that's possible....we shall see!

The Lord is certainly not being stingy on blessing our work. Before my eyes I am seeing people change, and change for good. I am seeing the gospel bless families and bring happiness--in short, I am seeing every single on of the blessings that we promise daily come to pass. It's not always a fast thing. Usually it's not. One of our investigators, Carol, who Hra. Gisseman and I visited for the first time about two months ago, really came to a realization that the Atonement was for her this week, and finally found the desire and the courage to come to church with us. Vilma Sabillon told us this week when we talked about her baptismal date that she knew she had to be baptized, because for months she has known that she must come to church. She says "Everyone tells me it would be easier to just stay home, but I tell them no. I have to go to church. I wouldn't feel right if I didn't go." We asked the ward this week if they would be willing to help us pay the fee for the Sabillon wedding, and without grudging they kicked in half of the price. And Julia, whose mother hates us so much she lied and said Julia had moved away (it was absolutely hilarious how much detail she put into that particular mentira. Green house, 2nd entrance of the Gran villa, next to a woman named Suyapa--she didn't go halfway on that), but Julia told her mom she doesn't care what bad stuff she says about the church. She's going to come, and her kids are going to come, because they like how they feel when they are there, and they like reading the Book of Mormon. The Lord is hastening this work, and He is moving it along. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to be a part of this miracle. Last night with fam. Huezo, after Marco described how at the beginning they felt no desire to be baptized and now they are all anticipating with excitement their baptismal date, the bishop said (in reference to the previous comments that had been made about missionaries) "That's why sharing this gospel is so important. Without these sisters here, it would have been almost impossible for you to get baptized, right?" And I was just thinking about D&C 18, when the Lord promises that if our joy will be great for brining even one soul unto Him, how much greater will be our joy if we bring many?

I am so grateful for this opportunity to be in the Lord's service full-time. I love this gospel and I testify that it is true. God really is our loving Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ really is His Son, and He really did give everything for us, so that we can choose happiness. Joseph Smith really was a prophet called of God, and the Book of Mormon really was written by prophets who might have walked this same earth that I tred now. In Alma 32, Alma asks, "And now, is this not real?" It is real. And I am so glad that I have this time, not only here in Honduras, but every day that the Lord grants me to tell everyone how true it is.

I love you all and I hope that all is well. Have a wonderful week!

Love, Hermana Pickett

P.S. Tomorrow makes 5 months in Campana. Crazy, right?!

71°F is the new FREEZING!

Well we've had another fun filled week here in Campana! That's the mission for you--it's the funnest, hardest thing I've ever done! People here ask us a lot what we've been doing lately, (technichally, it's more like, What are you doing that's new?) and we say, "Well, we're walking, a lot, and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ!" And they nod and say, Correct. Yes, yes it is correct.

We're keeping up with our usual families pretty faithfully. Alma and Junior, who are the parents of Jeimy (who was my first baptism that I had actually been present for the whole process) are really interested in being baptized...but they're not getting married until he gets back from his job...in eight months to a year. So that's unfortunate. Fam. Huezo is getting good and excited for baptism! The only problem is that Marco, Sr. left on Thursday for his job in Colon, so we just need to pray him back very quickly! We got serious with fam. Sabillon about getting their wedding together, so we'll see how that goes. Mostly, all is well and we are enjoying a whole heap of blessings from the Lord in His work.

However, the weather as of late is not complying very nicely with our happy, sunny vibe. On Tuesday, the rain was coming down in (what felt like) icy sheets and the wind was trying to pull our umbrellas out of our hands all day. If you've seen Frozen, it was pretty much like when Anna is wandering across the fjiord whispering "Cristoff? Cristoff?", only we were pitifully saying "Podemos compartir un mensaje con ustedes? Bien cortito? Por favor?" On our last bus ride home, Hra. Harmon pulled out the first 20 lempira and started to dig for the remaining six, and the conductor stops her and says, Don't worry, this is fine. So we might have looked a little rough. Every single one of our appointments started with "We didn't think you would come!" because, when it is raining, no one leaves the house. There is no good reason to go out. Be it a lesson with the missionaries, going to church, picking up the million lempira that are laying in the street, nothing. And a lot of people didn't want to open the door long enough to let us in, so that was kind of sad. But we sang There Is Sunshine in my Soul Today and The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow about 20 times each, so we are fabulous anyway! But we really thought we were ready to die, we were so cold, and it was somewhere around 71. Parents, you're probably going to need to bring a parka and several warm blankets when you pick me up from the airport someday when I'm finished, because actually cold is going to be unmanageable!

I also had to save Hra. Harmon from another drunk man on the rainy day, and he got a very abrupt explaination of the Word of Wisdom from me. Patience with drunkards is harder when you're cold and wet. I'll work on that.

Most of our life plans this week have been interrupted due to unfortunate circumstances. On Wednesday we were sent in to a very sketch looking Honduran public health clinic so that Hra Harmon could get a tetnus shot. But the vaccinations center there is at least in part funded by the Church (there was a sign with the same words as our nametags!), so that was cool. Thanks, Church, for paying for Hra. Harmon's shot. Hra. Harmon also got shot up on Wednesday with a new rabis vaccination--she's the first missionary ever to receive it! How cool is that?! The best part is that she needs three more (she's had two already) and its not exceedingly convenient for us to get to the mission nurse for her to receive her vaccinations, so our nurse is currently asking President Dester for permission to teach me how to administer the shot and putting me in charge. Awesome, right? It's just administered through the deltoid muscle, so it's not like I have to stick her in a vein or anything. Easy, peasy. Hra. Escalante joked multiple times that I was going to be the next mission nurse, and even though that's probably not true, I might come home knowing my way around a syringe.

We also had to go for my appointed time at the National immigration office, so in five months or so I will have a card declaring me a citizen of the country of Honduras. They don't do visas here, they just make you a citizen. That's pretty sweet. I'll be a real catracha!

I love being a missionary, even though it turns out it's a little difficult from time to time. Diana Buh told us out of nowhere the other night that she doesn't want to read the Book of Mormon and has no interest in being baptized in our church. We got out of that appointment and I cried on the way to the next one. I think I scared Hra Harmon a little bit, but it took me back to a scripture about Alma and the sons of Ammon: they loved the people they taught so much that they could not bear the thought that even one of them should be lost. Sometimes as a missionary, we get exposed to the love that God has for His children, and I am never prepared for that. It is such a big feeling, I just don't have room for it. The Lord really has put His trust in us, as missionaries and members alike, to care for His beloved children and bring them home again. And each person's agency, which has all of the power to bring us and them happiness, has all of the power to bring sadness as well. Such is life--the best things are the worst when used badly. I sincerely hope that Diana can have a mighty change of heart, and I hope that she won't miss out on feeling the love that God has for her. Because I've felt it, and it's a lot.

I am grateful for every day that I have here, even when it is "freezing". I am grateful for this gospel and for the love that I can feel from my Heavenly Father every day. I love this work, I love my Savior, and I am so glad I have another 11 months to labor in the Lord's vineyard.

Enjoy being properly cold! ¡Les quiero a todos!

Hra Pickett

So when it rains really hard, our water stops working. But we still need water for washing dishes, flushing toilets, etc. So for my water runs to the pila I put my towel around my head and clipped it under my chin. Hra. Harmon saw me and said, Thanks for the water, Mary! But I didn't feel like Mary, I felt like ET.

It's 2014!

Living that Honduras life!

Happy New Year! It's a little tough, feeling like it's actually the first week of January when it's hot and humid outside, but I'm doing my best to take that one for reality. 2014 is going to be a pretty crazy year for me. It's the year I finish my mission, which means that it's the year that I do a whole bunch of epic things in the service of the Lord. Stay tuned for more. It's going to be awesome.

This week was pretty great! On New Year's Eve, like unto Christmas Eve, we had to come home early. But we were gifted some tamales by more than one sister we visited (tamales are GOOD!), so we had something to feast on. Also, due to a lack of movie theaters in rural Honduras, movies come to DVD a lot faster here (let's call that the reason) so we watched the new Disney movie, Frozen. Oh my goodness! Such an incredible film. Hermana Harmon and I were hooked. And then the twist came around and we were yelling for at least three minutes "NO! No puede ser! Digame que no es asi!" We were a little torn up about it. But all ended happily (we should know, we rewatched the ending about three times) and we have already begun integrated quotes from that movie into our daily lives. And I have all of the songs stuck in my head, so I wander around and sing them. Sometimes in Spanish. (Just imagine it--La puerta es el am-oooooooooooooooooooor!) So that's great.

Hra. Harmon and I are keeping pretty busy, but that's the way we like it. We are still visiting fam. Huezo faithfully, and every single one of them (including a sister who doesn't even sit in on our lessons) came to church this week! The dangerous part is that it was fast and testimony meeting, and there had been a temple trip on this last Friday, so everyone who bore their testimony talked about sealing and work for the dead. The bishop came in to the Basic Dotrines class and introduced himself to all of the investigators and explained that he was available to answer any questions, and then asked if anyone had questions, and Marco Huezo launched into what does sealing mean and is it necessary for salvation, etc. And after 10 minutes of that, the bishop said "Hermano, the missionaries will be able to answer those questions for you when they come to visit." And we were both thinking, Bishop! We do this EVERY DAY! It is your turn! But apparently when we go to visit tonight, we will have the great blessing of answering questions for an hour. Seriously though, it is a blessing. We are so happy that the fam. Huezo is doing so much work to investigate the church and as of right now, they are all progressing nicely to be baptized on the 18th.

We are discovering this week that here in Honduras it is much more common to have family than to have neighbors. About five times this week, we had to say, Wait, you're cousins/sisters-in-law/brothers? Are you kidding? The best one was a girl who sat in on one of our lessons and said, I'm his cousin, and then a few minutes later we referenced one of our other investigators and she said, That's my mom. And then we asked why she didn't live with her mother, and she says, "You know Marco who lives in La Gran Villa (very close to our house)? I live in that same house. Marco is my brother in law." And I'm thinking, the gosple has now come at you from three different directions. I think it's time you were an investigator. But it's kind of magical that families live so close here. No need to take a car or a plane, you can just walk over to your sister's or your parent's or your uncle's house and hang out. It's pretty cool. And it also gives people great motivation to come to church, ie You are Johanna's cousin? She's coming to church this week--when you come, you can sit with her!

It's also pretty amazing how many people are ready and willing to listen to the message of the gospel. We talked to a pair of sisters the other day at a pulperia (like a corner store sort of thing) and they invited us to come back and meet their family, and they are super pilas! We are seeing mighty changes of heart and miracles in people's lives--being a missionary is pretty amazing!

Aside from being amazing, being a missionary is also pretty fun. Hra Harmon and I are generally having a pretty good time. On the way out of a lesson yesterday, she got distracted by a couple of kids and ended up almost walking into a rather old, rather drunk man. She corrected herself by sticking her hand out in the defensive "I am a missionary, I only do handshakes" stance, but after firmly grasping her hand for longer than is acceptable (and I'm looking at his glazed over expression and I'm ready to start saying "Drunk, Hermana! He's REALLY drunk!") he says, "Feliz año nuevo!" (but imagine that in your best inebriated, toothless Spanish man voice) and starts pulling her in for the hug. That's when I took my companion firmly by the shoulders, told the man, Escuse us, and yanked her away from him. He really did have a good grip on her. But we got away and took off down the street laughing. It just got funnier and funnier the more we thought about it. It was lucky though that I got my brownie points for saving her in the afternoon, because in the evening Hra. Harmon officially joined the dog bite club! He didn't get her very good--it just looks like a little scrape, it didn't even bleed. But I guess I need to work on my judgement skills, because as this dog started barking I thought "He's just defending his territory, which is over there. We are walking on a horizontal plane parallel to his territory, so he won't pursue." Yes, that was the word in my head. But he did pursue. Whoops. We've decided that the dogs of Campana are posessed by deamons because it's way Satan can think of to deter us from the work. Guess he's getting pretty desperate :)

I am so grateful for this time that I have to serve as a missionary. The Lord is teaching me so much about who He wants me to be, and it is such a miracle that day after day He keeps giving me the opportunity to change. Even more, it is a miracle that day after day He is trusting me with His precious children here in Campana. I love the Lord, I love His gospel, and I love to be one of His missionaries! 2014, here I come!

Les quiero mucho!
Hermana Pickett

P.S. Muy feliz cumpleaños to Uncle Craig, Uncle Ron, and Jake! Hope it's a happy day!

So these wonderful people "built a bridge" through the river we wade through, so we can do it mostly without wading now! It's a miracle! We had to take pictures!