April 22, 2010 Testify this bible's worth we'll testify this bible's worth! (rendezvous line :) )

Family-

Wow- this week has been CRAZY! I am in Nauvoo. I'm companions with Sister Barry again and with Sister Wendel who is one of the new sisters. We are the only trio- AWESOME. It has definitely been a change to come back to Nauvoo from the proselyting world. It is weird to not be around 19032840329842039482 people all the time. It is weird to breathe fresh air. It is weird to see green things. At the same time it is just wonderful! I was able to serve in the Visitor's Center for the first time yesterday. I forgot how much I like talking to people- imagine that:) I was able to give a few tours and get referrals and my life was great. I feel so much more qualified after having served a proselyting mission. I'm a lot bolder than last summer. I actually may have had a negative effect on a lady's blood pressure yesterday. They came in and are Christian and only had a few minutes so I was trying to give them a first lesson with a little history thrown in (they had just seen the JS movie) and she was getting antsy and wanted to go eat lunch or something so in my defense I was making it very brief but she asks me, "In two seconds what is the difference between your church and any other Christian faith." And I said, "We have the priesthood power of God." Then she got really mad at me. Oopsie :) But- it is what it is. Don't worry- I patched it up and she left not quite as upset:)

I have loved being around all my senior couples again. They are all my best friends. I love the strength of their testimonies. I have loved being around all my Nauvoo sisters. You don't fully apprecitate what you have till it's gone- so true in this case. I have never been around so many sisters at once that just get along and love each other. We have lots of fun. We think we are really funny:) A couple of neat stories from the past week. We were doing training in the call center and I had been thinking a LOT about Cassidy, well, pretty much since I had been in the field. One of the very first things I wanted to do when I got back to Nauvoo was see how his progress was going with the missionaries. So! I had S/Morgan call him when we were in the call center and we found out that he had gotten baptized! How exciting right?!?!??! I about peed my pants. Actually what I did was scream and kind of fall on the floor by S/Morgan and maybe my eyes were glistening a little:) It was such an AWESOME feeling. It made me think of D&C 18 that talks about helping the people you love and care about find the gospel. It was also a really great plug for all the sisters here to refer their friends from home. It works! Referrals work. I received a referral from a guest yesterday after I told her that story. So- Cass is helping out the missionary effort here. :) I don't think that anyone in the world had as many sister missionaries praying for them. All of the sisters from Nauvoo had been praying for him all of our field assignment. All of them would ask about him everytime that they wrote me. So! Everyone was super excited. They all feel this connection to him even though they don't know him. It was really great. Nauvoo miracle :) SO! Be thinking of all the people you can refer this summer for pageant! There have been over/around 50 reported baptisms off of Pageant Referrals last summer. These are people that started being taught because of our work with the Pageant. Cassidy's definitely wasn't reported- so I think that there are even more :) The Lord's work is great. The gospel is SO true. I love how being on a mission has really helped to "seal the deal" as far as my testimony goes. I love my Savior, and I need Him so much in my life right now. I am grateful to be a missionary. I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Be good! Do work!

Sister Picard

April 15, 2010 good ol' Nauvoo

Family!!!!!!!

So- quickly I will be writing you about the past couple days of my life. I will try and sum up quick because we have lots to do and I'm supposed to be speedy! So! I am now officially back in Nauvoo. Crazy crazy:) But! This is the best story that I need to tell you. SO! President and Sister Bahr were supposed to be coming to get me on Wednesday morning and time was just a tickin and so we finally called and asked if they needed directions- turns out traffic was horrible (welcome to New Jersey.) So we got a late start and then traffic was STILL horrible so we were a little concerned that I might not make my flight- but I was not so concerned because I knew that I was with the Bahr's and so something miraculous would happen and everything would be okay. So! We get to the airport and they tell me that I'm too late for my flight and that they are going to have to figure out something else. At this point, I still wasn't too concerned. I only felt bad if I would throw off the whole Nauvoo schedule. So! They actually ended up re-routing me to a different flight that would still arrive in St. Louis around the same time. So it all ended up working out, like I knew it would since the Bahr's are amazing. So I was sitting in the airport in Cincinatti looking at some pictures from NJ and thinking about my life and I see all these sisters walking together (6 to be exact.) So I thought to myself, "Hmm, that's odd. The only place I've seen that many sisters together is Nauvoo. But those wouldn't be the new Nauvoo sisters, I'm in Cincinatti. They wouldn't be here." So like any good missionary I go over to ask them what mission they are from and introduce myself and find out that they are indeed the new Nauvoo sisters!!!!!!! Talk about a serendipitous happening! AND THEN!!!!!!!!!! To make it even better- they had flown from Salt Lake with Sister Beck. Yes, like Julie B. (That's what I asked when they told me:) ) So!!!!!!!!!!!! Then I was able to meet Sister Beck and Brother Beck which was awesome! I knew that they were headed out to New York because everyone had been so excited to see them. It was such a neat experience. I thought that the reason I missed my flight was because my other flight was going to crash or something. Nope! Heavenly Father just loves me a lot. So He let me meet up with the newbies and meet my most favorite in the whole world Sister Beck. I love her. She is amazing. And guess what? She loves my hair. She said, "Sister Picard, what do you put in your hair it is so shiny and gorgeous!" I replied, "Sister Beck, that's just the way it is." HAHAHA! Then I told her I was Native. Then Brother Beck said I was beautiful in Italian (he guessed the Italian in me- cool huh?) Well! I need to go! Quickly- the pics are of the park I went running in every morning. One of my favorites from Paterson. Me and my new BFF Sister Beck. Me and Sister PARKER! (from the "other" Jersey mission:) ) and! Nauvoo :) I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!! I'll probably be e-mailing again at some point. I don't know when my preparation day will be- so it could be a minute. LOVE YOU! Be good. Do work. Church is true. Heavenly Father loves you.

Sister Picard

April 12, 2010 I love my life :)

Family!!!!!!!!!!!!

So my lifeJ It has been just a little bit crazy these days. I am serving in Jersey City. I am so glad that President Bahr is so inspired to let me be here for these last couple of weeks! I am serving around missionaries that I love and I’ve met new members and new investigators to love and it has been awesome!

We had a fireside last night in Caldwell. The missionary choir sang and then there were also speakers. It was wonderful! The best part was being able to see so many of my missionary friends before I leave AND seeing a lot of my best friends from PATERSON!!!!!!!!!! They walked into the chapel and it made my life! I was so happy to see everyone. I was also able to see some of my favorite young women from the Emerson ward. It was a really fitting way to end my time in New Jersey I think. I was able to see everyone that I love right before I leave. Heavenly Father must really love me or something J I love to sing with all the other missionaries. Their testimonies are so evident and the Spirit is so strong! It has surprised me how much of the mission I have gotten to know in just a few months. I feel like I have so many friends! I’m so glad that I was able to spend time here. New Jersey Morristown Mission is definitely the best proselyting mission in the whole world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don’t really even know what else to write. There is too much. And it would take a whole lot of effort on my part to try and explain everything. It’s this weird phenomenon that happens when you are on a mission. I’ve come to the realization that I really don’t know what is going on in all of your lives, and you probably just don’t understand or even care too much about my life. BUT! I love you. I love the gospel. I love how many people I get to talk to each day about it here. Going back to Nauvoo should be great! I want to make sure and get all the new sisters excited to be there! I can’t believe that I just started my mission in Nauvoo a year ago. CRAZY! Crazy I tell you. My life is good. I love it. I love the gospel. The rest of my life will be spent in bringing others closer to Christ. Yours should too. Keep it up. Do work. I love you.

Sister Picard

April 5, 2010....life is good in the hood :)

Family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My life is CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can I just even tell you?! Can I just even tell you. Ok- so for the last two weeks of my stay in New Jersey I am serving in the Jersey City 2^nd Ward. I am in a walking area!!!!!! Woo!!!!!!!! No more being in a car all day driving to appointments. I am right on the Hudson front, which means I see NYC pretty much all the time. We have Hoboken in our area, which is where Daniel wants me to go and eat at that one bakery. Our ward is really young and is full of people who work or go to school in the City since we are so close. I really like it. I have already had the opportunity of going to some sweet parts of our area. We were at these projects and Sister Dennis asks me, “Are you prepared for this?” I replied, “I don’t think so.” Then the elevator door opened and we had to get in. I have never smelled anything like that before in my life. I couldn’t breathe out of my nose because my eyes started to water. I couldn’t mouth breathe because then I could taste it. So, I think I ended up just holding my breath? I almost started to cry because I didn’t know what to doJ AWESOME!!!!!!! We get to go running in this cute little park that has a great view of the City. I have really savored these last few teaching appointments I’ll have as a “proselyting” missionary. I can’t even begin to try and tell you the mix of emotions I am right now. SO! That is why it was so good to hear all of the amazing talks at General Conference. So! Everything that was said the first session the first couple of talks even was everything that I needed to hear! It is amazing how much Heavenly Father loves us. It is such a blessing to have a living prophet! I love everything about the Gospel so much. I wish I could be a missionary forever. Alas! My time is far spent and I need to go grocery shopping or something. I always have the intent of writing more- and then I actually sit here and nothing comes out. Just please know how much I love my life and how much I love my Savior. I LOVE YOU!!!!!! Be good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sister Picard

March 29, 2010 good week :)

Fam!

Ok- I don’t have too much time right now- but! I thought it would be important to get an e-mail off really quickly. I was really blessed this week and was able to go to the Manhattan temple TWICE!!!!!!!! Heavenly Father definitely loves me a lot! I was able to go with all of the departing missionaries and also with a recent convert who was receiving her endowment. It was the best week ever!!!!!!! I love the temple more than anything! Also- I am getting transferred. So I will be transferred for two weeks, then I will get the BIG transfer and head back to Nauvoo. Which is just crazy to me. I can’t believe that I will be leaving Jersey. Bleh- I don’t like to think about it. At the same time I am excited to get back to Nauvoo and see all of my sisters and the senior missionaries and mostly the TEMPLE! I love that temple. I love being a missionary. I LOVE being a missionary. I hope that when I say that (or type that I suppose) that people know that I am sincere. I am so glad Heavenly Father knew how much I would love being a missionary. I am so glad that He also knew the places I needed to be sent to. It is so amazing how much He loves each one of us. I am very excited about General Conference! I know that the Spirit will be so strong and I’m excited for the messages I need to here! I am also excited about Easter week and this time we have to think about our Savior Jesus Christ. I am SO grateful for the Atonement. I can’t even begin to imagine the love that Christ has for me- but I am so thankful for it. I appreciate it more every day, because I learn how much more I need the Savior every day. I love you all so much! Sorry I didn’t write much- but I’ll be better next weekJ I LOVE YOU!!!!!!! Be good! Do workJ

Sister Picard

March 22, 2010 hey now hey now- this is what dreams are made of.... are made of

Family!!!!!!!!

Well. My life. So- I don't remember if I wrote last night but we have had some crazy storms here! So! We were able to go and help clean up the church last week which was fun. The church building got power back in time for us to be able to go to church yesterday which was good. Some members didn't have power for 4-5 days. We didn't have power for just a night. Must be missionary blessings :)We had a crazy week last week with meetings and with going to Ellis Island and what not, but Heavenly Father blessed us a lot for still trying to hit mission standards. We were able to get all of our lessons in and a couple referrals which was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! I love being in New Jersey. It's great. I love my ward. They are great. I don't really know what else to say. I'm trying to think of good stories to tell you. OH! I know! So! We were sitting in sacrament meeting yesterday and I see this girl that I thought looked really familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it. Turns out it was my friend Sara Robinson! We knew each other from the summer I did Sports Camps. We were in the same ward. She was visiting our ward with her HUSBAND! (yes- people have met, dated, and got married while I've been on the mish:) )They were visiting the Relief Society president. But they are doing an internship in the City and live in the Jersey City ward. But! Point being it was SO fun to see someone that I know! I love when that happens :) My companion says I know everyone. I suppose that's what I get from moving a lot and going to BYU:) I told all the missionaries today at choir practice- oh ps- we're doing ANOTHER mission choir thing for Easter- that they all have to do a big all mission field trip to Nauvoo. It would be very fun and spiritually uplifting and I would get to see everyone and give them tours in my pioneer dress:) I think they were convinced. Now we just have to get the approval from good ol President and Sister Bahr! Well I just love being a missionary. A talk that I recently love is the Enabling Power of Christ or something like that by Elder Bednar (before he was even Elder Bednar.) I have definitely come to the realization that I can not do ANYTHING with out the help of the Savior. The Atonement is not only there to help me repent of my sins caused by weaknesses but also to help give me the strength to overcome said weaknesses. Ether 12:27 baby. Always has been the fave! We met some sweet people knocking this week. I think that my Jersey accent is pretty legit. I should have it really good by the time I go back to Nauvoo. I just mimic it while we're walking down the street. It's funny because my companion can't even tell if Americans have accents- it's just all English to her:) So! If I name one of my kids Sal- you'll know why. It sounds SOOOOOOOOO sweet when Jersey people say it. Or Paul. I like that one too. WELL! I love you! Be good! Do work! Much love. Hug Hug Kiss Kiss.

Sister Picard