June 25, 2009 "We got the beat"

OH HEY!!!!!!! So- sweet day sweet day. My life is just sweet. I wish I could just really express how sweet it is- because then everyone would want to go on missions. And if everyone went on missions- well that would be awesome. OK! So for crazy! We went to the temple this morning and you will never even guess who was in the session? Jennifer Funkhouser from the ath dept!!! Crazy. Business! She is here receiving her endowment! And what are the stinkin odds that I would just happen to be in that session!? I don't even know. Heavenly Father loves me. It was SOO good to see her. Totally made my life. Also made my life today. We went to the temple with the Nauvoo sisters who have prep day and a bunch of the single senior sisters and then they took us out to eat after!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! I am ALL about that right about now. And it was seriously the best place in the WHOLE world. Well. In the world I exist in right now. It was SO cute. It was this little bistro/cafe way cute place. It kind of reminded me of the co-op. Food was TASTAY! I had a veggie sandwhich with HUMMUSSSS!!!!!! I haven't had hummus since I've been out. I was in HEAVEN. Oh. Heaven. SO good. And I'm obsessed with the senior sisters that took us out to eat. They are the coolest. Literally. I'll tell you more about them later. Because I love them. Favorites. But I only have a few more minutes. Sorray. Ok. So! What else is sweet? I'll tell you. My mission. Ok! This is a good story. This is probably the best. So! My new comp S Barry is an ASL sister. And I don't know ASL. So it's hard for her to get in language stuff. But! I have been picking up some stuff! Regardless- she does language studies every day. She's so good. But! There was a deaf family that came in yesterday and we TOTALLY gave the tour together. It was AWESOME! I gave the tour and then she interpreted it while I was speaking. It was intense yo. But! Everyone in the whole tour understood. It was just amazing. You could just feel Heavenly Father helping us. Because half the tour was deaf and half wasn't. But it just all worked out. We've been trying REALLY hard to get more referrals. S Barry is just killin it. I'm so proud of her. She's so awesome. And she's such an example to me! Just know- that whenever you go to a church history site or something- just give the missionaries referrals. Because you should be doing missionary work anyways. And that just helps it a long:) I LOVE being at Carthage. I LOVE when families or groups come in really wanting to have their testimonies strengthened- because they will. No doubt in my mind. The Spirit is SO strong here. People will even just comment on that walking on the grounds. I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE the feeling of knowing when the Spirit has come into the room. And from that point on it doesn't matter one bit what I have to say, it's just purely the Spirit testifying to each individual of what they need to know. I LOOOOOOOOOOVE THAT! It's just awesome. I don't even know what more to say- besides AWESOME. I have to admit it is kind of hard sometimes to really care individually about every single person that comes into the jail- especially since SO many people have been through lately. And it's hard with big tours too. I just really want everyone that comes in to feel important and appreciated and loved. And to have a good experience. And to have their testimony strengthened of whatever it is that they need. I just love it. Man. I just love it. I don't even know. So what if I'm kind of redundant and sound way missionary-ish:) Heavenly Father truly will bless you to do all the things He needs you to do when you are really giving it everything you've got. I just feel so blessed always. Always always. And I LOVE having E Picard and S Clive out with me. It's such a strength just knowing they're out there too. And I KNOW that they're just awesome missionaries. Oh I know it. I need to go pretty quick here- I'll try and get a better e-mail in next week. We're kind of pressed for time today. But! I just love you. Best. Family. EVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep on with the keepin on. Keep doing missionary work. It's good to hear about those efforts:) And- if you want to drop me a line- SWEET. Well- I suppose a letter? Whatevs. I'll be looking for the pics. I'm EXCITED! Hahaha. I just love everything! And I'm just so excited about everything! Except ok! It is stinkin hot outside by now. So we go running at 6:30 in the morn. It was already in the upper 80's at 6:30 in the morn. hello! And like 80% humidity. I was dying. I got done running and looked like I had just stood under a showerhead for 5 minutes. But- I suppose that's how it goes in good ol Nauvoo. Well Carthage. Whatevs. I actually like the heat. I've been trying to sit out in the sun in between tours to work on being brown and greet the people coming up the walk. For some weird reason I'm kind of about the humidity? Who knows? I will tell you that I have a sweet farmers tan and even a tan line from my danskos. Try not to enjoy that last part too much Hann. Don't be jeal. I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sister Picard

BEES KNEES....... June 19, 2009

WOOOO!!!!!! Ok. So! Lots to talk about I think. First of all- transfers mean I'M STILL IN CARTHAGE!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Gotta love it. I really do. But I love Nauvoo too. So- both favorites. But I'm really glad I'm in Carthage. I have a SWEET new comp named Sis. Barry. She's AWESOME! She's one of the ASL sisters. So that's lots of fun. She always prays in sign- so I have to watch her pray so I know when to say amen. Which I do in sign language. Yeah- it's pretty sweet:) I have to admit- while I'm writing this letter if I do seem a little less coherent than normal- I didn't sleep very well last night. We had this AWESOME storm last night. Which I thought was sweet- except for that I couldn't sleep at all because of the lightning and rain etc etc. Well let's see- what else has been going on. I think that a lot does- but then I sit down to write and then I think that I do the same thing every day:) We were SUPER busy the other day. We had about 300 people come in approx 2 hours. That's crazy business. But the big tours are fun! I just get this adrenaline rush like "there's a bajillion people here and they need a tour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and I need to give them one!!!!!!! and it's going to be AWESOME!" My favorites are when we have youth groups come in. We had a big group of seminary grads from UT (go figure) come in at that time. I was able to give two of the tours and I LOVED it. Admittedly- I got a tad emotional in the martyrdom room in one of the tours. But- cut me some slack (wow- lame term. sorry- I'm a missionary. more slack to be cut please) that was the first time I've ever teared up in the martyrdom room. And it was in front of 30+ high school students. SWEET! I just thought of Hann and Gus and I just wanted them all to have this insane experience where their testimonies would just grow a ton particularly about Joseph Smith. And the beautiful thing about that is that when your testimony of Joseph is strengthened so is your testimony of the Book of Mormon and of this as being the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and just pretty much everything. So! It's the way to go! And! These kids are all about to go on missions or college or big deal status stuff and I just want them to all have good strong testimonies and I wanted to help facilitate that. That's all I ever want. To just do and say what Heavenly Father wants me to. So! All I can do is just try to be good/obedient, read/study like CRAZY, and really try and love and care about the people I come in contact with. I'm trying to think of what else I do? It's been getting pretty humid out here. I actually kind of like it? It's only gross when I go running in the morning- then I come home and have to like peel off my clothes because they're so sweaty. Sick. Which I'm sure you wanted to know. Sorray! OH! I know. We do funny stuff still. Don't worry- I'm not too lame. Or maybe I am lame and just think lame stuff is funny? So- as you may or may not have known- our last name has Star Trek implications- aka Captain Picard. My lovely Brazilian Sister Granja happens to be a trekky- go fig. So she always calls me Capt Picard. Well- she doesn't- maybe Sis Capt Picard because that's more white handbook approved :) And then we pretend to teleport ourselves different places by pressing our nametags instead of whatever it is they apparently do on the show. So..... Sis Granja and I were the only ones that stayed in Carthage everyone else got transferred. So all the new Sisters came in and same us randomly press our nametags and then appear across the room... they thought we were crazy. But- yeah. That story sounded cooler in my head. Really I just try to make up stuff to make me sound cool. Don't worry though. I still work it. I wear my "do work" bracelet every day to make sure that I remember how sweet my family is and to... do work. I think of lots of funny things in my head and then start saying them to sisters- sometimes I think my humor is under appreciated. I also like to sing all the random songs that pop into my head. I know that every probably just LOVES it:) Well- the moral of this e-mail is to do missionary work! Every member a missionary. The gospel is the sweetest thing ever- and everyone needs to know about that. Thanks to Aubs for her SWEET letter! And I got a letter from Sis Enser too which made my life. And my bff Kendra! Oh and Becca! Man- good letter week I suppose:) OH AND GUSSY!!!!!!!!!!!!! HELLO!!!!!!!! Sweetest brother ever! Totally sent me one of those new gospel art books. Sis Granja was drooling over it. She said I'll use it every day in the outbound. That brother o mine is inspired I tell ya. And! Rachelley is officially in the MTC! in ENGLAND! Crazy crazzy. I'm SO excited for her to be a little sister mish with me. Good times all around:) Well! I should probably get to gettin. I love being able to go to the temple. It's the best. ever. period. yes. LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sister Picard

June 11, 2009 "I love to laugh...ha ha ha ha!!!!"

So! I was really questioning the love of everyone in my life- because I hadn't gotten mail in a looong time. Or at least it felt like it. Really it was like maybe a week and then!!!!!!!!!!! I TOTALLY HIT JACKPOT TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! woo! yee yee! Even DANIEL wrote me- man. That just made my LIFE!!!!!!!!!! And I got letters from Aubs AND Rachelley and they're two favorites. And! I got Julie and Ryan's wedding invite which ALSO made my life. MAN. Life. Is. Good!!!!!!! SOO GOOD!!!!!!!! And my little Rachelley is totally going to the MTC today! Crazy! I'm so excited for her though. She is awesome- she'll only be the best missionary in quite possibly the whole entire world. YES!!! I'm just happy. I can't get over it. Shood- I'm kind of a dorky missionary huh? But honestly- the mail just made my life. I just kind of want to sit here and bask in it for a mo :) Welp. Let's see. What has been going on in my life? Pretty much same old same old. I just do work. Transfers are on Sunday so that's really exciting. I'm excited to see what happens:) So! Next week my prep day will change. So e-mail may be on a different day. And I could be back in Nauvoo? Who even knows. We shall see though:) We had our President's interviews yesterday. President Ludwig is just SO inspired. It was good to be able to talk to him- and I got a lot of really good advice that put a lot of things into perspective. It's so SWEET how Heavenly Father just knew how much I needed to come on a mission. So I would stop being such a big time loser face:) There are just SO many ways that I need to be improving. I have really tried the past few weeks to be obedient. Not that I wasn't before- but just making sure I'm in bed EXACTLY at 10:30 and waking up right at 6:30 and getting a full hour of study in etc etc. And that helps. It really allows Heavenly Father to bless you in ways you never would have thought of. I think that it would surprise you to see how I would react to different situations now compared to before my mission. Let's just say I've been working a lot on my favorite... PATIENCE!!!!!!! :) But it's all good. And I just LOVE being at the jail. I mean- people literally spend their whole lives waiting to come out to Carthage- and it's up to me to make sure they have a good experience! Oh my cute! We had this adorable big ol family from Miami come in the other day and I LOVED giving them the tour. They were very receptive to the Spirit. You can definitely tell the people who come wanting to have their testimonies strengthened- and realize the sacred place that Carthage is. As opposed to the people who come in all hurriedly, keep looking at their watch, and expect you to hurry up and give them a tour in 5 min. It's like "ok- seriously? you have driven a bajillion hours all the way from UT- carthage is way the heck out of the way- you came here on purpose- and yet you only allotted 5 min to be here?" whatevs. I need to get over that. Because everyone still deserves a good experience- and the opportunity to feel the Spirit. But I SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO badly wanted to speak Spanish to that family! It just about killed me. I was dying inside! I came back after the tour and just sprawled on the couch and told Sis Parker how my heart literally hurt to know Spanish and that it's the deepest desire of my soul. Perhaps only slightly dramatical? :) hahaha I love the Sisters here. They are STELLAR! That's S. Morgan's word she uses all the time. STELLAR! I'm STELLAR! You're STELLAR! We're all STELLAR! I just love her:) She makes me happy. Let's see. We had Zone Conference on Sunday. That was pretty sweet. My throat starts hurting a lot at the end of the day. Too much talking. I'll probably come home a mute. ha:) Wouldn't everyone just love that? I try really hard to not have a "missionary voice." That is one of my #1 goals. And to not say "ummmmmmm" or other filler words. We had a big group of Seniors who had just graduated from high school in UT come through. I think that was this week? Not sure. That was a fun tour though. I was just like "Hi I'm Sister Picard I'm from Rapid City SD (yeah that's right I claim north rap- sorry if I hadn't told you yet. weird. I know. I figure it gives everyone a little flava flaaaaaave. not from ut) and I'm brown because I'm Native American. I'm taking you through the jail now." AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ok I didn't say it like that- but maybe I did. But it just sounds funny to think about. Well! I should probably wrap this sucka up. Although I know you just love hearing from me so much. It probably makes your life. All the time! Oh ps- mom. LOVE the creeper chart. Also- I may be slightly apostate and when we stopped by the grocery store I SO wanted to look at all the Jon and Kate magazines. So how about you just read them and tell me about them? It's kind of a big part of my life. All those cute little babies. CUTE BABIES!!!!! We totally had a family with a bunch of adopted kids come in and they had a couple of little black babies I about DIED they were SOOOOOO CUTE!!!!!!!!!! That made my life that day. Heavenly Father is great. He always makes my life. Somehow. Everyday. And today it is especially made. Because I hit the stinkin motherload with mail. My life ROCKS!!!!!!!!!! That's right. I just said my life rocks. Well- because it does. K- I'm really done for real now. Oh I know! I can't get ahold of a conference Ensign. They're always sold out at the bookstores in town- so if you could get one to me- that would be great. A legit Ensign though;) AHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are the coolest family ever. Word.

Sister Picard

June 4, 2009 A rendezvous in old Nauvoo

Ok. Well. I just have no idea where to start. It seems like I've just been running around like a chicken with my head cut off all day today. Too much to do. And too little time. But! Now I'm e-mailing and I actually enjoy doing that for the most part. OH I KNOW!!!!!!! So the weather here has been pretty spastic as of late. It's been really stormy or really sunny. I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE the rain. Everyone else has gotten sick of it, but I like it better every day:) I love big storms. We've had a couple of severe storm warnings and the like. Not as intense as Gus's MTC flu epidemic. That stinks for him. I'll be praying he still gets out when he's supposed to. I love rain. I love rain. Let's see- oh! The chorister from the home ward came to Carthage. I was jeal that she had seen all of you more recently than I had!!! I miss you guys sometimes:) That was fun though. Oh I know! So! On Tuesday we had the busiest day we've had since I've been at Carthage. I took 5 tours just by myself. I know this may not sound like a lot, but consider that each tour takes around 45 min or more- it's intense. Two of my tours had over 30 people. One of them was a Church History tour of high school students who had just graduated. It was fun. I think I saw all of the Hollister fashions for the upcoming summer:) HA! It was fun to see people Hann's age. And I like giving tours to the youth- and really helping them to feel how special Carthage is. Because they honestly won't remember a whole lot about what I tell them (even though I just say it so dang classy:) ) but! they will remember how they feel. And it's my HUUUUUUGE responsibility to help facilitate their experience there. A lot of people wait their entire lives to be able to see Carthage. I so appreciate the people that come really wanting to feel the Spirit and wanting their testimonies strengthened. Not only does it strengthen their testimony, but mine as well. I LOVE it!!!! People crying in the Martyrdom room is just music to my ears:) But I've actually been able to hold it together fairly well. I haven't cried in a tour yet. I probably just jinxed myself. But man the Spirit is strong there. And it's been SO neat to see how the Holy Ghost can work through missionaries. There are times when I totally have no idea what to say and then I just start talking and it all comes out good. D&C 84:85. BIG TIME. That is my life. Trying to study and prepare myself enough so that I'll say what I'm supposed to. So! I was just thrashed after that day. I didn't want to talk for a looooooooooooooooooong time. No jokes about me not talking please:) My throat hurt. But! I haven't lost my voice or anything- so I just keep on talkin;) knock on wood. I'm trying to think of other fun things I do. Pretty much I just give tours all day every day except preparation day. It's been so important to focus on being a missionary and not a tour guide. Because it's very easy to just know the script and tell the people what they have to hear about the scripts and what not. It's completely different to try and make them want to gain a stronger testimony or to be a missionary. I just want everyone to have the gospel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everyone. That's all. That's all I ask in life. For everyone to be as happy as the gospel makes me. Then life would just be goods:) Oh- big time blessing. I haven't gotten sick of running on the track yet. I still make everyone wait for me to be done running in the morn- it's fun though. It's a good way to start the day. I think everyone is starting to like running more too. Which is good. I just have to tell you- there is one Sister out in Carthage with me- Sister Granja she is from Brazil and she is SO fun!!!!!! We have too much fun together. We're the only brown sisters- so we pretty much have to:) Oh I just love that little Brazilian. haha There was this crazy Elder - senior elder- who is just crazy. And admittedly kinda bugs. But one of the first days we were at the jail he talked to both of us independently but we had similiar experiences. We had both just been transferred out to Carthage so we didn't know him before. And he may or may not be but definitely is a know-it-all. People in their old age... whatevs. So he came up to me and was like"You're polynesian"and I replied "no actually my dad is native american and my mom's italian but I do get that a lot"and he goes "well you're polynesian""um, no I'm not actually....""well you look polynesian""well I'm not""so you're polynesian"
ok. dumb! and then later that day to Sis Granja- and we'd actually JUST been talking about how people will think they're all smart and say "Sister Gran-HA" because they think she's hispanic but she's not. Pronounce j's in Portuguese. Anyways- here was their encounter.
"So you're Sister Gran-HA" (ok and ps I was sitting there the whole time just about dying. DYIIIIING)"No- actually it's Sister Gran-JA""No- it's Gran-HA""Well actually I'm from Brazil and in Portuguese we pronounce the J""You see it's called a "jota" in spanish and you don't pronounce it "j" you pronounce it "h" so it's Gran-HA""ok..............."
(ps Hann- it's an oversized hat. it's funny)
CRAZY PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is crazy. They just went home though. Good riddance saloon-y. That's what I say. Oh well. The other seniors I serve with are SWEEEEEEEEEET! Elder Reber played football at the U so we tease each other all the time about our "rivalry". It's good to talk football sometimes too. I figure it's not too apostate. Gotta do what I gotta do. And all the other Seniors are just so sweet. They really are SO nice. I love it. But! I probably should get to gettin. Need to go up to the temple. GET to go up to the temple. I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE it! And I love all of you. Stay fly. Have a great summer. Without me. I can't believe it's June already. That my friends- is CRAZY. Crazy. I most definitely am not ready for it to get hot. Or bugg-ish. I HATE the bugs. Pray that I don't get chiggers. I think I would just die. Literally. If I knew there were bugs in my skin. I'd just sit down and cry. Oh sick. OOOOOH sick. I just thought about it. Ok- well. Good bye for reals. I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sister Picard
PS- I really appreciate the letters- they literally make my life. I am not over exaggerating or being the slightest bit dramatical. They. make. my. life.