July 23, 2009 "I love to see the Temple!"

OK!!!!!!!!! Well. I am just loving to write this e-mail right now. Yes- yes I am. Pageant is just insane. That's pretty much all that is. I love it though. Staying busy is fun- but it will tire you out. I think a big part of that is that I literally don't even have like 5 seconds to myself. I haven't even really had time to eat in the past couple weeks. So I just thank Heavenly Father for keeping me going. Because I know that I could never keep up this pace without His help. And thanks to that help I'm still able to wake up and go every morning as tired as I may be:) Oh man. I have like two sweeeet sweet stories but then I need to go so we can get to the temple. It's funny how prep days are always just as busy as any other day. ha. oh well. gotta love it. And I'm SOOOOOO grateful to be able to go to the temple each week. What a blessing. I was talking to one of the Peoria elders last night and they only get to go once every 6 months! And he just lives like half an hour away. Crazy bidness. So I'm grateful we are supposed to go at LEAST once a week. We usually go twice though. Anyways. Stories. So! First of all I'll tell you about the pics that I sent. They are of my new comp Sis Lukens and I. We were assigned to work in the "pre-show" for Pageant which is this big huge field with tons of pioneer-ish type games/activities/FUNtivities:) going on and we were assigned to the children's crafts. So- maybe our station wasn't the coolest thing ever and maybe we were a little tired and we just said "hey! you know what!? we are going to make this place the coolest place to be in Nauvoo" so what did we do? We had braiding as part of our little station where all you do is just braid rags together. So we put them on as headbands and started yelling at people to come braid with us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! woo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! funnest thing EVER!!!!! :) and it convinced them. And TOTALLY was the trend of the night. Pretty much everyone and their mom (literally) were wearing our headbands. It was sweet. So then we took pics when we got home. OH HAAAA!!!! and then when we were post-greeting we saw some of the Peoria elders and one of them said "what are you trying to be an indian?" and I was like "actually I am." and then just looked at him. I think he felt sheepish:) But then he just started spouting these weird facts about how I was actually wearing an irish bridal veil or something? whatever. He was weird. Is weird. Whatevs. SO! COOLEST THING EVER HAPPENED!!!!!!!! And I will just preface it with the fact that none of it was me. And I know that missionaries say lame stuff like that all the time and everyone thinks that they're just saying it to say it but I promise this time I am being for real- this experience had absolutely nothing to do with me. Heavenly Father just blessed me with it. So! I'm serving in the VC and in walks these 2 guys and their father. And they both had kind of scruffy beard things going on- so initially we all just assumed they were part of the Pageant family cast. Because a lot of them will grow beards. And those are the only bearded people you see here really :) So I went up to go and talk to them and Sis Aston came with since we're not allowed to talk to guys by ourselves (it just doesn't look good) and I totally assumed they were members of the Church. So we were going through the "where are you from?" "Alabama" etc etc and then I asked if they were here for Pageant. They had no idea what that was and said something like "is that put on by ya'lls Church of Christ?" or something like that and I was like "wait hold up!" and then we find out they know like nothing about our Church but had family who lived in Carthage and were on their way to some music festival in Minnesota or Michigan or something and just kind of stopped by. And oh my goodness. It was insane. Seriously best experience ever. So we were taking them through the tour and essentially got to teach the 1st and 2nd lesson and oh man. Their retention was just crazy. And they asked the best questions in the whole world. It was so insane. At first I was just convinced that they were RM's just pulling our legs or something because it was just way too perfect. They literally asked all the right questions. And the older brother is an archaelogist/anthropologist very educated person who really liked being told about the Book of Mormon. And the fact that I was Native:) ha! But what was SO cool was that he was telling me about how some of his professors have this theory that there was this huge "cradle of life" out here in the Americas and not just in mesopotamia and that everyone thinks they're crazy and I was like "HELLO! just get a Book of Mormon in their hands!" so he like asked us if he could get a copy and we're like "hello yes duh" but he was excited to read it. And then this is cool too! So they're southern, and have grown up around lots of religion but are probably the "most neutral catholics you'd ever find" so we're talking about Joseph Smith whom they hadn't really heard about and at first they're just following the story like "ok yeah he was born in 1805 so this vision had to happen in like the 1830's" and we're like "well actually he was 14" and then they just went crazy! "no way! he was only 14!" etc etc and then I was like "well are you very familiar with the Bible" and they're like "well kinda blah blah blah" and I said "well are you familiar with the story of Samuel?" and then the one goes "well yeah, because that is my name" DUH! so sweet. Well- first of all I probably should have known their names before I started the tour (my b) but so cool I just happened to pic the story that he knew! My point was in him hearing the voice of God as a child and that it wasn't unusual for God to appear to younger people but! he was able to relate. Heavenly Father is awesome. That experience just made my life. It is kind of hard, because we have experiences like that here and then just have to kind of pray that the missionaries where they are will be on the ball. But! Even if I never see or hear from the again, I am very grateful to have had that experience. Don't worry- we gave them the Book of Mormon and a bunch of commitments and they might be back through here on their way back? And referred them. But still. I just loved being able to teach someone like that. It doesn't happen often. And was such a tender mercy of the Lord. Because He knows how much I'd like to be doing that:) Oh I loved it. I LOVED it. So yeah. Sorry- now I'm way short on time. And I still need to write Pres and such. But!!!!!! I love you all. A lot a lot. Be excellent to each other. So I'm in charge of the t-shirts for the Sisters that they do every summer. And I think that happened because I was NOT planning on getting one:) oh how sentimental I am. But I'm thinking of putting this on them, ahem, "together we achieve more than not together" AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHHAHAHAHA I don't know why- but Sis Lukens and I think it's hilarious. So- we'll see:) LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sister Picard

July 9, 2009 Melt like a popsicle on the 4th of july!!!!!!!!!!

Well. This week was pretty crazaay now that I'm thinking about it. Lots of fun though! Always fun :) So! Happy 4th of July! To be honest- we don't really get to celebrate that much because we're missionaries but! we had to make it a special day for our very own Brazilian, Miss Sister Granja! So! We coordinated with some of the seniors who didn't have to go in for a show and did a little bbq and even made her homemade ice cream! Which she had never had before! And we all wore matching patriotic colors to the jail. Admittedly- I was kind of lame because I didn't have any red clothing. Just lots of blue. Hmmm I wonder why that is?? :) So! That was lots of fun! Then! My wonderful companion was trying to clean a pan and thought it would be a good idea to try and "burn it off". I told her it was going to explode and blow up her face- but! whatevs. So then the next thing I heard was "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" that is a scream coming from the kitchen. The pan was on fire- so I said "don't put water on it!!!!!!!!!" then I ran in and our kitchen stove was just pretty much on fire so then I was like ok ok ok how are we going to put this out- by that time the fire alarms were going off and the Elder that lives next door ran in and threw the lid on the pot which stopped the burning flames from engulfing our kitchen. Fun experience. Fo sho. So then! Let's see what else. Elder Neunschwander (sp?) from the 70 came into town for the Pageant. So we had dinn with him at President's house on Sunday. Then afterwards we had to sing him some of our sociable songs. Have I even told you about this sociable thing? I forget. Well- what it is is a big fireside we put on where we pretty much try to be ypm's. Can't you just feel the excitement pouring out of my soul at the prospect? I am also accompanying for one song. OH bleh. Oooh blah. Isn't that from jimmy neutron? Ok. What was I saying. Oh yes. So! First- Elder N (we'll call him that) TOTALLY falls asleep while we're singing, which is HILARIOUS :) hahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahha But then we sing this song that is approximately 2 octaves higher than any of us can sing- so we try to hit the 1st note and it totally wakes him up and his wifes face was probably the funniest thing I've ever seen. That song is horrible. But! The thing is- regardless of what we sound like pretty much the entire audience will be senior missionaries and temple missionaries- so we could really sing whatever we felt like and they'd still say it sounded amazing. HA! I love it:) SO THEN!!!! The exciting moment arrives! PAGEANT STARTED THIS WEEK!!!!!!!!! So a bajillion people are here. We had 700 people go through the jail yesterday. Which is a lot. Every night we have to come in from Carthage to help greet and get referrals. It's fun because it's a time when we can actually be like missionaries and contact and what not. They even have Elders come in from the Peoria mission to help get referrals since a lot of the non-members in the area will come for the show. So! The first night of Pageant was on Tuesday and apparently every year it threatens to rain. Well- let me just tell you. It did not only threaten- it POURED! And Sis Barry and I were assigned to be contacting out in the pre-show (the pre-show starts @ 7 the pageant starts @ 8:30 so at the pre-show they have a whole bunch of fun pioneer-ish things to be doing. yee yee) So! It starts to just downpour and we both had on white shirts- go fig. So then we were running all over the place trying to find a sweater and we bummed clothes off of other sisters and then just kept talking to people in the rain. If anything- I hope it made them happy to see us looking like crazies :) But we tried to keep people there for the performance! And we talked a lot about faith and how God answers prayers :) It's fun to talk to the people because every conversation we have HAS to come back to the gospel- because we're missionaries. So I think sometimes people will think you're crazy in how you try to bring the conversation back around to Church. But! That's what we do ok! Transfers are on Sunday which is CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So! We'll see when my prep day is next week and where I end up! I'll be sure to let you know! I feel like I still have a billlion things to say- but I gots lots o stuff to do today! I LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!! You have no idea. Seriously. I love me some family. And I miss you. But it's a good kind of miss. Be good! Love you!

Sister Picard

July 2, 2009

Well- to be honest, I'm fairly tired. Writing this e-mail just isn't sounding super exciting to me right now. So! I'll try and make the best out of it. And make my life sound super duper exciting :) I've driven too and from Nauvoo a bajillion times already today it seems like. Lots of car time. But- you gotta do what you gotta do :) So! What is most exciting about this past week you may ask? I will tell you what is most exciting about this past week. The commemoration of the Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith took place on Saturday the 27th. So! All of last week we had lots of people in. On Saturday I- just me- took 200 people through the jail. That's crazy talk. Esp since we were close for an hour and a half during the commemoration ceremony. But! What an awesome experience to be serving at the jail on the day of the martyrdom. Just 165 years after:) I had some sweet tours. Heavenly Father always gives me reasons to be happy. I really felt blessed that day to be able to be serving a mission at such a special place. I was able to give tours to a couple of big youth groups which I always love. One of them had over 60 people. This may not sound like a whole lot- but you would only think that if you've never been in the jail. It's a tight squeeze once you get over 20-25-ish. But! We did it. At the end of one of the tours they asked to sing A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief- and that was pretty sweet. And I was so blessed to be able to have the energy to keep it up all day long. And it was a bajillion degrees outside with a bajillion percent humidity. I'm not even exaggerating. But! I think I've become impenetrable to the differences in temperatures. It's just always hot. And you just kind of have to learn to deal with it. Here's this for weird- I'm so turning into mom. I like clean stuff up all the time. And I'm always having to be doing something. It's weird. And I LIKE budgeting my money? Whaa?????? Weird. And I'm just obsessed with grocery shopping. It is the highlight of my existence at this point. And I plan out all of my meals and exactly what I'm going to buy. I'm just turning into a weird kid. And I obviously have nothing more exciting to write to you about than any of this:) haha Let's see- what else is going on in my life? I'll tell you what has been difficult for me. I do the same thing every stinkin day. Literally. Every day. Same thing. And it is SOOO easy to just turn on auto-pilot. I have the whole tour just memorized. So I could say it in my sleep. Literally. And probably throw in some quick witted jokes even :) But! It's SOOOO important for me to really care about each and every person that comes in. Heavenly Father gives people the opportunity to come to Carthage for a reason. If they're prepared it can just be an awesome experience. And I need to make sure I'm doing all that I can to make sure that they get the experience God wants them to have. But! I've learned at the same time I can't MAKE people feel the Spirit or give me referrals. That would be Satan. So- a lot of it is just trying your very hardest all the time (which is way hard esp if you're tired or don't particularly enjoy everyone on the tour etc etc) and knowing the God will do the rest. I'll come home a lot of times and wonder if anything that I did that day did any good. Or even if my mission is important at all. And I just have to trust that God called me here for a reason. And just keep trying :) I'm sounding really negative. I shouldn't. There are TONS of awesome things that happen to me everyday. Seriously. Like- these sweet people totally bought us Subways one day. The senior couples at the jail make my LIFE! They are hilarious I tell you. We went to the store today with 2 of the senior sisters and I just LOVE them. And there are always families that come in that I can really connect with that make it so much better to be alive and giving tours:) The CUTEST little babies came in yesterday. Their dad was from Nigeria and their mom from Idaho and they were just SOOOOOO cute. I loved them. I didn't get to take them on the tour- but they're my friends. And they're coming back next year! So I'll be sure to look for them :) So! Conclusion of the story is to just be happy. Today I was happy when a sweeet song came on at Wal-Mart and I got to dance to it. Slightly apostate- but it made my life. I LOOOOOOOOOOOVE you! I a) can't believe you got a trampoline. b) won't resent you for not having one throughout my whole life at home c) will enjoy jumping on it when I go home if I'm not too old and decrepit by then d) hope that you all were cruisin in lovin memory of michael jackson and had some kind of dance party for him, I would expect nothing less e) asked reggie miller to come back and play with my boy baby ty h. what a sweet combo for the pacers huh?:) f) I assume dad was talking about blake griffin when he said that the "robotron-mutant from oklahoma" got drafted first g) want to watch the new transformers with daniel h) hope that rubbing a monkey paw on dad's head will get rid of his dot. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sister Picard

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.