April 14th and 21st Update

April14th, 2014 

Hola Amigos,

This week went really well, but of course really fast just like always... Last week for P-Day we went to a place called Miraflores, and we played frisbee and volleyball with the zone which was pretty fun. 

There was a little waterfall, and I decided I wanted a picture sticking my head in the waterfall even though it was freezing cold, so needless to say I got a little sick and had a cold for a couple days, but now I'm all better! 

We had a good week with 12 new investigadors which was awesome to find so many new people to teach. We've been struggling a lot to have success in our area, but that just means that we have to work a little harder, and it's a good learning experience. We have a baptism scheduled for this upcoming Saturday, a lady that is 74 years old, but we found out she's addicted to chewing the cocaine leaves so hopefully she can drop her addiction, to take the next step in her life. 

We're teaching 3 couples that aren't married. We're working on planning marriages for all of them, so hopefully all of that works out within the next month or two. It would be really cool to have 3 weddings in May! 

A scripture that I found the other day while reading in Corinthias really stuck out to me. It's 1 Corinthians 13:11"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." When I first read it I was thinking, wow, Paul just lays down the law in Corinthians and is awesome! But I realized it applies to me really personally at the same time. I know I've always been immature about some things, and one of the best things for me personally serving this mission is just growing up a little bit. 

I know I can always be serious when I need too, but a quote by Elder Hallstrom from the presidency of the 70 in last weeks conference said, "Who we are, is not who we can become." I really love what he said, and Elder Holland gave a talk similar in the 80´s to a group of students talking about how we should never use the phrase, "That's just the way I am". It's something I'm learning, that really we can change who we are, if we really want to. 

Elder Ridd said that our desires define who we are, and eventually we become what we desire. I leave these quotes for all of you to think about and apply them personally in your lives, because as I'm doing it in my life, I'm learning a lot about myself, and how I can become a better person. 

I love and miss all of you like crazy, and hope that all is well back home!


Love, Elder Pincock

April 21, 2014

Hola Amigos,

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! Another week has already flown by, and transfers are this week so there will be a lot of changes coming up quick. We had a stake activity last night for Easter and it went really well! Also Saturday there was a noche blanca activity planned where all the baptisms in the stake would be this past Saturday, and originally there was about 20 planned, and there only ended up being 5. It's sad to see plans fall through, but all we can do is move forward and keep on working. 

This week I was studying The Sermon on the Mount, and reading the Chapter in Jesus the Christ about it. Matthew, Chapters 5-7 is just amazing the way Christ teaches, and how he established the greater law, and how through him the law of Moses was fulfilled. One of my favorite parts is in Mathew 6:33, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." It's excatly what Dad always says that if we put God first, everything else fill fall into place. 

Theres nothing better than experiencing the promise in our own lives, especially while I'm here serving my mission, and putting the Lord first, I know that we shouldn't even worry about the little things. In Matthew 6 Christ explains how God cares for the fowls and even the grass, and are we not more important than the fowls of the air and the grass? If he doesn't forget about little things like grass, how can we even think that he forgets about us when we are his children? 

Something interesting to think about, because I know that He knows us, and the Christ really did die for each of us individually, and he suffered every pain, sickness, feeling, and bad thing that we experience here. Christ also felt alone, and he had to suffer alone to complete his mission. It wasn't easy for him, and life isn't easy for us either, but if we put God first, all the little things fall perfectly into place. 

Love you guys and miss you lots!

Fastidiando los patos… (messing with the ducks)

 … 

Love, Elder Pincock

March 31 and April 7th 2014

March 31, 2014

Hola,

This week went so great and super fast! Last week we had a multi-zone P-Day and I got to see one of my best friends from the CCM in Lima, Elder Toomer! It was so good seeing him since it's been about 5 months. 

We got to catch up and talk for a long time which was nice. We also rented a huge turf grass field and played soccer with so many people which was so much fun! 

Also, I finally got to take my picture in front on the famous Cathedral in Huancayo. It was the first thing that I found when we Googled Huancayo after opening my mission call, so it was pretty cool getting to take a picture there. 

This week, there was a huge festival and like a big dance competition called Wylas. We got to watch a few of the dances and it was crazy! They all start out by using this plant called Hortiga, which stings really bad if you touch it, and they throw it in the air, and all the guys hits the girls' legs with it so they can dance faster! It was pretty crazy to watch, but a cool experience! 

Today is going to be a crazy day because I'm going to Lima in about an hour for migrations and I'll be there until Wedesday which is crazy!  Well this week my internet is cut way short since we're going to Lima, so sorry if I don't have time to respond to everybody! 

I love and miss you all like crazy, and a cool scripture that you guys can look up is in Romans 1: 16 or 17… 

Love Elder Pincock

April 7, 2014

Hola Amigos!

Well this week was super crazy, but at the same time super awesome! Going to Lime was a blast and was like a mini vacation.. haha! 

I got to go with two Elders from my group, Elder Larson and Elder Toomer. We had so much fun together. We took this famous bus called Cruz Del Sur and it was like luxury, so that was pretty cool. 

The hotel we stayed at was super nice, and I ran into some people I know. How crazy, huh? I saw Kenyi's cousin, one of my converts in Marcavalle. I also saw my teacher from the CCM, Hermano Gonzalez. It was so good to see them! It brought back good memories being in Lima. 

The best part was that we ate like pigs... We went to like a mall food court, and ate Papa John's pizza, and it was like being in heaven for just a little.  

We didn't stop there... There was a Subway, so we bought a sandwhich after eating pizza, and after that, we bought some KFC… haha! We had to take advantage because that's the only time for the rest of our mission  that we get to go to Lima. So we definitely made the most of it even though I felt gross after eating so much…. 

We got back Wednesday and time went by so fast! Other than that I had a couple really good spiritual experiences this week. First off, we went to visit a lady that recently got baptized. We heard a couple weeks ago she was talking bad about my companion so I honestly didn't want to visit her that bad. We kind of judged her for talking bad about us for no reason. 

Anyways, we still ended up visiting her, and she ended up telling us like her life story, about how her husband cheated on her with one of her best friends. She had to quit her job because he threatened to come take her 3 kids. So she just lives at home miserably. I definitely felt really bad for judging her, before knowing her whole story. I learned a really good lesson about not to judge, even when you feel justified to do so. 

Also, my companion and I got into a pretty big fight this week, and I know the old me about 6 months ago would have yelled back and fought, but for the first time in my life, I stopped myself before yelling, stayed calm, and explained myself calmly. 

He was still really mad so I gave him a few minutes to calm down and just sat on my bed. As I sat there and started thinking and started getting mad again.  Then I thought to myself, what would Christ do in this situation? I immediately felt prompted to kneel down and pray. 

As I followed this impression, I did something else that I have never done before, I thanked God in my prayer, for the challenge I was being put through, and prayed for my companion and I to have the Spirit to be with us and be able to finish the day working. I felt such a strong calm and comfort come over me, as I just poured out my heart and feelings in my prayer. 

I got up, and told him lets go, and we just went to work, and we were able to teach and have unity with us again. I've never resolved an argument so fast in my life, or felt so good after a fight. I know it's because I was spiritually filled after watching conference, and I learned that we should always be grateful, especially for our trials, because how else can we grow and progress? 

I know the words of the prophet and the apostles from this conference are so true, and come from God. I know we can be strengthened, as we thank God for our trials, and problems. 

I love and miss you all, and hope all is well back home!