Finished June... July?

Dear Everyone,

How is everyone doing? Everything is just going swell here in the land of the FREEZE!! Jaja. It has gotten pretty darn cold here. Looking at the temperatures it doesn’t look cold but with the wind and humidity… brrr. We are doing great here.

We are enjoying everything about Lobos. We are trying to do everything possible to help this branch out. These past weeks we have been helping the branch get organized. We have noticed that there were papers and documents everywhere that were not in files. So my companion and I have been doing that a lot this week and last. We have been updating a lot of things on the church system. A lot of things still have to be done but we are slowing getting things organized.

This past Thursday we had our last goodbyes with President Benton. It was really hard for me to say goodbye because he has been here all my mission. He is a really special man to me. I love him with all my heart. I ended up crying at the end because we sang, “God be with you ‘til we meet again” and that is a tough song to sing at a farewell.


Presidente Benton y Elder Pickett

Yesterday we had 11 people in sacrament meeting. It was the coldest it has ever been. I don’t know how cold but with 4 layers on top and on bottom, and scarf and hat, I was still really cold. We had to give unexpected talks. We got assigned during the first hour and so prepared talks. I gave mine on my hero Nephi. I explained that each of us have people that set examples for us. I gave an example of my parents who taught me how to give service and then of Big Mark who is so loving and kind to all. Then I explained all the examples that Nephi left us. How he was obedient and patient during affliction. I thought it was a good talk.

Then today we played some paddle ball. It’s like tennis with racquetball mixed. We wanted to do a little something because we have already done everything here in Lobos. Kind of depressing but maybe we’ll come up with something else..


Paddle!

Abuelita y Grandpa, welcome!! I’m so happy that there with be 2 Elder Pickett’s in Argentina. And there are 4 of us on the Pickett side that are on the mission. Holy cow! Thank you all that have written me. Going all out for the last 2 months!!! I love you all.

Love

Elder Pickett

Trunky Papers Arrived!

We just received Allen's travel itinerary:


MISSIONARY TRAVEL
ARGENTINA BUENOS AIRES WEST MISSION


LANARGENTINA 23AUG BUENOS AIRE BA MIAMI FL 1030P 700A
4M 4520 TUESDAY PISTARINI MIAMI INTL 24AUG


AMERICAN AIRLINES 24AUG MIAMI FL DALLAS TX 1120A 125P
AA 320 WEDNESDAY MIAMI INTL DALLAS FT WORT


AMERICAN AIRLINES 24AUG DALLAS TX SALT LAKE C UT 300P 440P
AA 2527 WEDNESDAY DALLAS FT WORT INTL TERMINAL 1

We are smiling now.

It was a wet one....

Dear Everyone,

Another week has past and it was a wet one at that. We had rain at least every day last week and it made things very complicated. I think I have said this many times that the rain does not help us in the work.. jaja. We visit members a lot because the branch needs a lot of help. We are, at the same time, looking for people to get baptized. At this point we are trying to help daughters of two members. It is kind of hard to baptize them because they don’t want to come to church right now because it is really cold in the mornings. And one of them is scared of what her friends will say if she becomes churchy and stuff so it’s kind of complicated but it will all work out. I know they will. The branch is moving really slow lately… We had 13 people in church yesterday, no thanks to the weather.





Yesterday in church we heard a talk from a member of the branch about obeying the Lord’s commandments. It was a really powerful talk that touched everyone’s hearts that were there. He talked about how we just need to do and not question what the Lord says. Have the attitude of Nephi, “I will go, I will do…” It’s hard at times but there is no other way to happiness. Happiness comes from keeping the commandments. It’s that easy. We just need to be humble and accept the will of God.





I got sick last week with a really bad cold that started last week when we went to the lake and I forgot my scarf. It got worse from there that on Wednesday I was just stuck in bad with my head all stuffed up and feverish. It was pretty bad but I got over it and now we are good. Like I said before it has gotten really cold and well, people get sick really easily out here. But here I am. Just working hard. This letter is pretty short because nothing really happened this past week. We’ll see if we can make something happen out here. It’s getting kind of stressful trying to get this branch going but I think it will come… sooner or later. Haha.

I hope everyone is great. By the sounds of it, everyone is doing just fine. We are on the second half of June… Almost July… wow. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad. Hope you have a great day Friday. I love you all and have a great week!!

Love

Elder Pickett

Well, it's cold

Dear Everyone,

Another week has past and here we are still. This past week was a pretty uneventful week but we’ll see what I can tell you guys. This past week we had our last interviews with President Benton. It is really sad that he is finishing the mission. I really love him more than anyone else out here. He is an amazing man. He and I talked about stuff after the mission… uh oh. We talked about setting high goals and keeping them high if we don’t reach them. If you don’t reach your really high goal the first time, you have to give more effort the second time, or third or until you reach it. We talked about other things like marriage and stuff like that. It was kind of funny to talk about that with him.

Then Saturday we had a couple of things happen. Well, we had lunch with a member who brought over her old friend. His name is Carlito and he is the oldest guy on the block. In fact, his dad owned the whole block that we were on. So this guy does not talk about religion. He talks about everything else but the thing is, he has a third grade education and he speaks like a criollo. And on top of that, he was drinking wine until it came out his ears. We were talking and laughing during lunch then he asked us if we want to go see his horse. We said of course and we went out and checked out his horse. Then he wanted us to take fotos with his horse and him. He was a little bit on the tipsy side and so it was kind of funny. He took some pictures with him then we told him to go on home and take the siesta and so he did.


Mate anyone?

Then we went to a birthday party of a member and that was a lot of fun except that we were fasting and she made 12 pizzas. Oh man how I wish I wasn’t fasting then. Haha.

Then we traveled that night to sleep with the zone leaders because Sunday we had stake conference. And this stake conference was a special one. We had a satellite transmission from Salt Lake. Elder Zivic, from Argentina, spoke to us about how to be members that don’t fall away and become less active. They talked about some things that were specific to Argentina and that were one of them. Then Sister Wixcom, Elder Anderson, and Elder Packer all spoke. Elder Anderson spoke in his French Spanish so it was pretty funny to hear.

Then this morning we went to the Lake here and it was so cold this morning. We about froze our tails off but that’s what winter is like here.







Well, speaking of cold, my inbox was cold today also. Thanks to those who have written me and I hope to hear from more of you. I love you and have a great week!

Love

Elder Pickett

Feliz De de LOBOS!!

Dear Everyone,

Just another week here in the country. I am becoming real good friends with the horses. I think I might take up horses when I get home… Not. Jaja. This past week has been a real cold one. All of a sudden winter hit us hard. We were enjoying the 60’s and now we are in the 40’s. I have to use a scarf now!


On a train ride, one of many

This past week we did a lot of visiting the members. There aren’t a lot of investigators right now so we are strengthening the members right now. We are trying to help the members come back to church and help the new members stay in the church. It is quite a big job because our pueblo is so big that it takes a long time to travel without bikes. We are the only area in all of the countryside that doesn’t bikes and they haven’t approved them yet so it’s kind of tough.



Attempting to cook some frozen ground beef

So this week my companion and I were contacting people in the street and I contacted a lady and she did her whole “I’m Catholic...” shpeel and then when she was leaving, she gave me a warm friendly slap on the face like I was her grandson. JAJAJA. Talk about shock!! My comp and I couldn’t stop laughing! That was just too funny. Just some of the crazy things people do here.



Mr. Tough Guy in an empty train

Last Thursday was Día de Lobos and this pueblo turned 209 years old! That is really cool. On Sunday there was a parade and almost all of the town was there on one street. There were about 150 schools that marched in the parade and that was really boring to watch. And then came the fire trucks and police cars. That was the best part of everything. It was really cool to see how everyone was so patriotic and full of life to celebrate this holiday.

So to help our members stay strong and keep interested in learning more, I have been challenging them to read the Book of Mormon with me. I challenged them to read at least 3-4 chapters everyday to finish the book before I go home. They have taken up the challenge and have been keeping up and have been asking great questions so that they can understand what is happening. I love how they are honest in their studies and desires to learn more about the gospel. They will be greatly blessed for their efforts and so will each one of us. If we put in a bit of effort each day to read a little bit of the scriptures, we will receive a lot of blessings.

I gave my testimony yesterday in church (because there were only 14 of us and so someone has to fill in the silence jaja) and I gave it on sacrifice. The Lord blesses us for our sacrifices. Big or small, the Lord blesses us. But we must not just serve the Lord because we know we will receive a reward but we must serve Him because we love him.

Thanks for the news from home and I hope everyone has a great week. Love ya all

Love

Elder Pickett