Hello Everyone!
Well my first full week in Junin has gone by so fast! I had a cold for almost the entire week, but now I'm a lot better and feel great!
The members here in Junin really are great, and the branch President is willing to work hard with us which is awesome. We found some really awesome new people to teach this past week which I'm really happy about.
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| Saying Goodbye to my friends before going to Junin |
We found a parrot here which really surprised me because it's so cold, and the parrot knew how to talk. It was awesome! We ended up talking with the parrot for a good 15 minutes which was really fun!
The weirdest thing I ate this week was a soup with a bunch of mariscos ... I ate an entire mini octupus which was really weird, but ended up not being too bad..
Something really interesting I was studying this week was a talk from this past conference in April called "If ye love me keep my commandments." There's one part that talks about obedience, and how there are 3 types.
1. Natural Man's obedience: To reject God's laws in favor of our own wisdom, desires, or popularity.
2. Selective obedience. Claiming to honor God while picking and choosing what commandments to keep and to fully follow.
3. The Savior's obedience. Willingly we obey using our agency, just as Christ did. It requires deep personal commitment and self mastery. I feel like a lot of us including myself fall into the second category in picking and choosing the laws and commandments to keep, but not all of them.
In the mission obedience is such an important principle, and we should all try to be more like Christ, and fully obey God without worrying or making excuses.
I hope you're all doing well in your crazy lives back at home, and that you all can find ways to follow Christ more fully in your lives.
I love and miss you all so much have a good week!
Love Elder Pincock
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| I got to see my old Pension |
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August 4, 2014
We had a really successfull week here in Junin which I'm happy about! We worked really hard and contacted people like crazy. We found 7 new investigators all from contacting which my companion and I are really happy and excited about.
I'm really loving the work here in Junin, and happy that it's starting to progress here.
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| We even love our neighbors |
Something interesting I've been experiencing is the promise of Gordon B. Hinckley come to life, and the more I just forget about myself and work, the happier I am. We had a lot of really rough contacts that rejected us pretty bad, but we walked away smiling and starting singing hymns together. I love how attitude affects everything, and having a good attitude has always kept me happy here in Junin.
I also read a talk this morning by Elder Randall L. Ridd that ironically talks about exactly what we've been experiencing here in Junin with hard work. I feel better about myself the harder I work.
We might be having a wedding this month with a couple that we are teaching which I'm super excited about.
This week it SNOWED!!! It was only for a little bit, but it was the first time I've seen snow in my entire mission which was pretty awesome.
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| This is how I go out |
Yesterday, there was a race here in Junin, but with pure Volkswagon Beatles.... It was kinda funny because they're not fast at all, but just super loud.
This week we'll traveling to La Merced for a multi zone conference which I'm really excited about!
I love and miss you guys all a ton and hope y'all have a great week!
Love Elder Pincock
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August 11th, 2014
Well this week went by pretty fast with all the traveling, but at the same time pretty awesome going to La Merced again it's really pretty there. I had a really crazy experience this week I wanted to share with you guys.
We had plans to travel to La Merced Friday, but sometimes there's trouble finding a car, so we usually have to travel with San Pedro to make it easier. Well we planned to go to San Pedro's around 5:00 to get there before 6, but we ended up being delayed a little with a lesson, and getting the money from the pension. Before we knew it, it was almost 6:00.
Our pension's sister told us it's a little dangerous to be traveling this late, and as soon as she said those words, I had a super stong impression come into my mind. It was a line from my patriarchal blessing that says "Pay diligent heed to the instructions and examples given by your mission president, and your life will be preserved." It came so clear to my mind it was almost scary.
The entire way walking back to our room, I couldn't stop thinking about what I felt, and even though I didn't want to change all the plans last minute, I remembered how President Henderson told us not to travel after 6.
Honestly, at first I wasn't sure if I was just being too worried, or if God was really trying to warn me. When we got back to our room, I shared with my companion how I was feeling, and the impression I had gotten. After that he told me he felt the same way, and we prayed together about it. After that I felt so much better to make the decision not to travel even though it was only about 6:15.
I remebered that confusion doesn't come from God, and after I made the decision I felt so much better and just knew it in my heart that it was the right decision. Even though San Pedro was making a little fun of me for being a "ruler" I didn't let it get to me... haha
Well the craziest part of the whole experience, was the next morning while leaving for La Merced, there was a huge bus crashed on the side of the road, the same exact road we would have been on if we have left that night. I'll never know if I actually would have been on that the bus, or part of the crash, but I do know that I received a strong prompting of the Spirit, followed the prompting, and was definitely blessed in such a crazy way.
I remembered about our prophet Thomas S. Monson learning the hard way of not following an impression of the Spirit, and when I heard his testimony I had made a promise to myself to always try and follow the promptings I receive.
I'm in Tarma right now for a zone conference, and the internet is super slow so I might not be able to send pictures today. I love and miss you all so much and hope you have a great week!
Love Elder Pincock
