Suggestions on how to teach someone to read, please

First off, I get to stay! My companion is headed off to Roswell to be an STL [sister training leader] with Sister Slade, and Sister Slade's companion, Sister Lapara, my current STL will be my new companion! So basically, they're just switching places. Both my trainers are now my STLs and my STL is now my companion. Apparently I have a LOT to learn, because they keep pairing me up with some powerhouses. Sister Lapara served in this area the first 4 transfers of her mission, so it will not be too hard of a transition! She's a native to Guatemala, and super amazing. She only has 2 transfers left in the mission, so I think I'll either have only 1 more transfer here, or 3! Who knows though. Transfers cause crazy things. But the most important is that my address is still the same, so y'all can keep sending letters this way :)

On Monday we went to Lubbock for zone p-day. Those 4 hours in the car are killer, but being able to go bowling was fun! It was dang weird to see all us missionaries in normal clothes. Throws me off. Tuesday, we went back to Lubbock for Zone Training. Once again, painful drive. But it was an amazing training! We talked about hope and discernment: two things that are so necessary in the mission. I have definitely learned to pray for those Christ-like attributes, because no way would I be able to have success out here without them. Missionary work is so important, and it really takes all we have and then a whole lot more of what God has! After training, we went to go visit Sister Rocha's recent convert who is in the hospital. It took like 30 minutes to find his room, and he wasn't even there. But it was a fun adventure! Weird to be surrounded by so many people again. That doesn't happen in Portales. We also went on a 30 minute wild goose chase trying to find this restaurant the elders wanted to have district lunch at. The entire day was kind of ridiculous, but we eventually got back home and back to work!

This week, we started teaching a recent convert how to read! I truly have NO idea what I'm doing, but we know that him being able to read from the Book of Mormon is what will help him stay strong as he adjusts to life as a member of this church. If y'all have any suggestions on how to teach someone to read, hit a sister up. I'm at a bit of a loss.

We also have started doing service at the Consignment store in town, which is heaven. We basically get to feel like we're shopping while doing some amazing service. The woman who runs it is huge on helping others, and all the work they do is service towards the community. We figured we would get in on it and help share the message we have along the way.

We are having amazing success right now. THE FIELD IS SO WHITE. We have been working so hard this past transfer to find some amazing people who are prepared to learn and accept this gospel in their life. And we have! This past week we got 5 new investigators, and they are all so solid. As we shared the message of the restoration to a new investigator this week, I could not help but tear up. The message is true. I love being able to share it every day, because I truly get to feel the truth of it testify to me. But it was special in that lesson, because I could feel our investigator understanding and feeling it too. I love the spirit that comes with being a missionary.We are working so hard to help these people hold strong to their faith, while building it at the same time. I love this work so much, and I love helping people come unto Christ. I'm sad Sister Rocha doesn't get to be a part of teaching all these amazing people we've found, but me and Sister Lapara are going to get to work this next transfer!

Miracles are happening!! Love you all!

Oh, and Happy Birthday mom! You're the best mom I could ever ask for.

Congrats Lindsey on your graduation this week. You're a BEAST.

Hermana Peck

Oh, and the Christmas party is next Monday, so I'll be writing you all on Tuesday. Can't wait to get to talk to you in a little over a week!

Bowling for zone p-day this last Monday!

These drives to Lubbock are killing us. BUT the sunsets on the drive are to die for

Coconut ice cream the way Mexico makes it,

Wind storms right now: Dust storms and tumble weeds

The District. These pictures never cease to be awkward

Dad you would be so proud of me

Sunday night means
Spanish movies for language study
and hot chocolate.

I know we did a lot this week, because I am so dang tired. But I truly don't even know what happened. I'll try my best to scratch my brain for any details of this week. Although, I do remember one detail pretty clearly. I ATE SEAFOOD SOUP. Dad you would be so proud of me. It was like octopus, crab, and a lot more, but we had her stop telling us so we would be able to survive eating it. Holy cow, I was terrified. First time I've been offered sea food on the mission. It wasn't as bad as I expected, but I did not like the feeling of the tentacles. Freaked me out. I'm just amazed that I survived. I think Heavenly Father helped me out with that one, because I didn't hate it at all. Although, it was a little traumatizing.

This dog scared me so bad.
He was like camouflaged into the dirt.
 Basically gave me a heart attack when I looked down
and he was at my feet. Luckily, he wasn't evil!

On Thursday, we literally were on our bikes for 5 hours without stopping. It was cold, rainy, and no one was answering their doors. We talked to a lot of people on the street that day. Which, is super good, because we really want to get the word out on the He is the Gift initiative! It's so much fun sharing the message of Christ's birth. People just love it. And I love talking about it. But that day was one of the longest I've had so far. We were out for so long, and my body was aching. BUT, it was all worth it, because that night we had an amazing lesson. It was with this woman who has investigated for like 8 years now. We had our branch mission leader and his wife with us. We shared an average lesson on scripture study, and when we were leaving, her husband came in, and she asked us to share a message with him. We shared one on family prayer and then all got on our knees to pray together. The spirit was so string and you could tell that their family was so happy. We stopped by a few nights later and she couldn't stop thanking us for the sweet spirit we brought into her home. It truly was one of the coolest lessons I've had, because you could feel their family coming closer together. This is literally the coolest thing ever. I love being a missionary!

On Friday we got to do service which is always so fun! We're supposed to do 10 hours a week, but there's never enough stuff to do. Although, we found out that this store in town needs service. It's run by a church and the people are so nice. We're going to start that this week!

We forgot to take pictures this week,
so we rushed a photo shoot before our dinner appointment,
whoops

Sunday was like the happiest day ever. We had 3 investigators at church! They are all so awesome. People are truly progressing and I love it, because it's becoming something they want to know, not just something we want them to know. We also got to go watch the Christmas Devotional which was awesome. I really really love Christmas time this year! We're expecting a white Christmas too, which should be fun!  But for now, I'm still able to rep my crochet toms some days when the sun is out. Which is such a blessing. I am definitely a California girl; the sun is a necessity.

This week is the last week of the transfer, so I'm going to make it good! We have so much work to do. It's crazy. We're teaching a recent convert how to read in Spanish...I BARELY KNOW HOW TO READ IN SPANISH. I mean, I do, but teaching it. Dang, some miracles are for sure on their way, because ain't no way I can do this on my own.

Also, how was the Christmas concert? I was sad to miss it. It's one of my favorites. I want pictures of it! And of the house with all the lights.

Love you all!

Hermana Peck

Thanksgiving

This week has been so crazy! We tried so hard, and things just kept going wrong. Not the missionary work, but everything else for sure! On Tuesday, we went out for a few appointments. At one house, Sister Rocha was getting me back for laughing at her falling, but her plan failed, and she ended up getting in the wrong car and then once she realized it, she ran out and fell into a hole on the ground. It was so funny. I mean, really sad, but she wasn't hurt, so I was laughing my head off. We finally got into the car (the right one) and she realized the phone was missing. We searched the hole, and all the other places we went that night. It was GONE. So, we basically were without connection to the world this week. That was a struggle in itself.

On Thanksgiving, the sun was shining, the weather was perfect, and we hopped on our bikes all day long and got some awesome finding done. We got so many invites to come in and eat with random people's families for Thanksgiving. It just amazes me how friendly people are. At 5, we headed over to Danny and Brenda's for Thanksgiving. Which, by the way, I made a dang good apple crisp pie for. Not nearly as good as mom's, but for the lack of time I had to make it, it was GOOD. Thanksgiving was so fun, the food was great, and we played Loteria. Which is like Spanish BINGO. They all thought it was different, but it's like the exact same thing, haha. We found out Saturday night that we weren't even supposed to work Thanksgiving. Perks of not having a phone, we got to work an extra day..yay. Haha, but we got some good stuff done, so it's alright! I'll know for next year:)

On Friday, it was like we just weren't supposed to work. Maybe it was God giving us a break since we worked Thanksgiving. We were headed out after weekly planning to go to our dinner appointment, and our new phone had been delivered! So stoked. But then we hopped in our car and it would not start for the life of me. We were stoked that we at least had a phone now to tell our members the situation, but we got stuck on the phone for an hour trying to activate it before we could even call them! Like an hour late, we called our members, and they brought us dinner and tried to jump the car. Didn't work, so we were stuck at home for the night until our mission leader could come get us!

Saturday, we finally got back into the groove of things! We have been doing some crazy finding with this new "He is the Gift" program the church has. If you haven't seen it, do it now! Check out Christmas.Mormon.org. It is so amazing, and I loving sharing this message with people. I can already tell that Christmas in the mission is going to be so fun. We have a couple solid investigators and I am so excited to keep working with them. The work here is building, and we are also finding some solid families to teach. People love the message of Christ's birth, and the spirit is so strong when we get to share and teach about it. Saturday night, we had a second thanksgiving! It really was just a week full of food. We have so many leftovers in the fridge. The people here are just way too nice.

On Sunday, Sister Rocha had to translate for the stake presidency who came to talk. She tried to get me to do it, but HECK NO. I may be more fluent now, but translating? No way. Not yet. I helped her a little, but translating is like a whole different ball game.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I'm so glad that it was fun (at least that's what I've heard). Mine was wonderful!

Love you all!

Hermana Peck

P-day in Portales means Dollar Tree adventures

Not saying it's better than an ocean sunset,
but dang, the sunsets are pretty here

Sometimes, you just have to pull over and take a comp selfie

I made couga! Is that how you spell it? 

On bikes!

On the outskirts

I'm like fluent now!

Nothing ever is consistent on a mission. It's so weird. Every single week, something new happens that I just never expect. On Monday, we were in Clovis shopping, so I finally have warm clothes! I look like a dang marshmallow, but I'm warm! It's actually been nicer weather this week, which is awesome, because we got to work on our finding. We were out on our bikes like every single day! We found so many people and they are all so cool! I swear, the people in this town are so nice. They all welcome us into their homes, talk to us openly. It's so crazy how people just trust us like that! But I am eternally grateful for it, because we meet so many amazing people. Our pool of potential investigators is growing, and I can't wait to start really helping all these people we meet.
Tuesday and Friday we had to go to Lubbock. Tuesday was a planned trip to go have zone training (and I didn't get us lost!). On our drive there, there were these two sketchy black vans following each other behind us. They finally passed us and they were some government vans. Who knows what they were for, but we had fun trying to guess. Road trips as missionaries turn out weird when there is nothing to do for 2 hours. We're just not used to sitting around like that! Friday was an unplanned trip that they told us about last minute. It was so cool though! We got to hear about a new church program coming out for Christmas. Y'all can see the video on the 28th, so be sure to check it out! I'm so excited about it. The church is going hard on missionary work. We want everyone to hear our message! And they're totally making it happen!!

Saturday we got to go to our branch Thanksgiving dinner. Oh goodness, it was so fun. The people here know how to laugh and how to eat too. This holiday season is looking bad when it comes to healthy food.  But, one of our investigators was there! And he brought his aunt! So fun! They were given such a warm welcome by all the members, which is so important. Because once we are gone as missionaries, they need members to help them stay active! Member fellowship is so much more important than I ever realized. So props to mom for always inviting the recent converts over! You're a boss.

Sunday I had to give a talk in church. I was SO nervous! But it went really well. All the members were complementing me on my Spanish, and we discussed the things I talked about in Relief Society for a solid 10 minutes. It made me feel so good. Guys, I'm like fluent now. It's crazy! I can understand all the members! THIS IS HUGE. I've wanted this for like 6 years now, and I can finally say I did it! It's amazing what serving God with your full heart can do to your talents. They just explode!

Also, sad story from yesterday, my companion threw up on the side of the road:( We were driving home, and at a stop she told me to wait. She ran out and...it was nasty. I felt so bad for her! Could you imagine?? I swear, something new happens ever dang day. For example (this is totally not spiritual) this guy named Cholo asked us if we wanted to see his tattoo, and proceeded to flash his stomach which had some prayer written across. He also has a bunch of gospel music he wants us to have. He was a hoot. I just love being a missionary!

Miss you all!

Hermana PECK

Cleaning out a garden for service, and the old rotten vegetables were NASTY. The entire inside was like turned to water...But we sure laughed a lot that day!

Driving to Lubbock twice in one week is killer....

Spanish branches celebrate Thanksgiving too! Except the food is 91285612 times better

Teaching in the Cold

Holy cow, did y'all know that missionaries teach outside in the cold? I mean, I always assumed that was a thing, but oh my goodness, it's COLD. This California girl can't hang. Plus, driving in the snow..SKETCH. I've never done it before, and all of a sudden I have a mission owned vehicle to take care of...in ice and snow. Sometimes, people in the church are way too trusting.
This week was much better! We got so much stuff done. Lots of finding, lots of new investigators, and lots of work to be done.

So, I only have like 10 minutes left, because I got so many wonderful emails from people that are the bomb. But I'll try to say as much as I can!

As a missionary, you can make anything fun.
Even a district p-day to a tiny museum 

Monday, our district leader decided to have a p-day together, so we went to the museum here at the college. Oh dang, it was so boring. Basically the history of dirt. But we got stuck there for like an hour, because the guy who works there was very excited to tell us everything he knows. We figured we would humor him, because we basically do the same thing to other people all the time!
We had exchanges this week, which means I got to see my old trainer! It was so fun being companions with her again. We got teaching together DOWN. It was a blast. The second half I was with our other STL, and I kinda broke down to her. We talked about how coping mechanisms to stress just aren't the same in the mission. All I wanted to do was go for a drive, blast some music, and sing at the top of my lungs. And you know what? God is so good. We got lost looking for a potential, and ended up driving, while jamming to glorious, my new favorite song (thanks, Chrystal). We didn't even have to break a rule! It's amazing how much God takes care of us. That did not have to happen, but the fact that it did, made this week so much better. Since then. I have noticed God's hand in my life so much more. He is just everywhere! And I just wasn't noticing.

3 Generations

We also had zone conference in Lubbock, and Hallelujah, I didn't have to drive! It was so much fun. Our leaders are seriously so amazing!
That night, the elders still had our car coming home from conference, so we had to hop on our bikes to make it to our dinner appointment. Pitch black, freezing cold, on a flat tire. Oh boy, was that fun! But we made it and didn't even get close to dying. Yay!

Saturday was luckily a little warmer, so we got to hop on our bikes and go finding. We were out there for like 3 hours, but it was so much fun. We just go all over town and talk to everyone. And the people here are so nice. I don't think I ever want to leave Portales. The people are too nice.

Anyway, I love you all! But I have to go. I didn't get to say all I wanted to, but y'all are the best and I love missionary work!

Love, Sister Peck

Packages from the best moms ever!
It was such a happy trip to the mail box

Goodbye Sister Slade. Hello Sister Rocha

This week was way hard. We had transfers on Tuesday, and I had to say goodbye to Sister Slade and pick up Sister Rocha. Sister Rocha is so awesome and she is an amazing missionary! I am really glad that I get to have 2 trainers, because I get to learn 2 ways of doing things. BUT this whole transition was like the hardest thing mentally. Being the trainee, I was so used to just relying on my trainer to know what to plan for, how to use our time best, where to go, and how to get to the places we're going. Now that I'm the only one who knows the area, I get to plan everything. There were so many days when I could not figure out what to do with our time. Appointments were falling through, investigators were dropping, and we were not finding anyone to teach! I mean, don't get me wrong, we met plenty of people, but they all preferred English, so we had to refer them to the elders. We ask everyone for referrals of people who speak Spanish, but everyone just says "oh, well everyone here speaks Spanish!"...I don't know what they're talking about, because I'm not finding them! Definitely not one of the happiest weeks of my mission, but we're working on building up our teaching pool, and things are looking up!

The much needed, gorgeous sunset

I've only gotten lost like...5 times. I mean, lost is not really lost here, because the town is so small, but it's weirdly lined up. We did get a little lost finding a potential investigator on the outskirts of town, but got this gorgeous view as a perk!

SO.MANY.DIRT.ROADS. And cows, a whole lot of cows. We had to pull over at one point, and these hilarious hick guys in this fancy sports car pulled over to see why we were stopped. I swear, they looked like duck dynasty guys. I've never actually seen that show, but the fancy car, huge beard, and camo shirt just screamed duck dynasty. It was classic.

Sister Rocha, my new compa:)

My companion is teaching me how to knock. We didn't do it at all last transfer, but now that it's colder and no one is outside, we figure it's the best way to find people who are interested! We meet so many varieties of people. Luckily, no doors have been slammed in my face either! Last night, one family let us in and we got to teach them the whole Restoration. It was in English, so the elders will teach them from now on, but teaching in English is bomb. I get to say all the stuff I want to! And I can use analogies, oh it's just the best.

Also, my old companion is now my STL [Sister Training Leader], so she is coming on exchanges with us tomorrow! I have a "size of Texas" list of questions for her about this area, because she knows so much about it. That will hopefully help next week go way smoother.

Anyway, I love you all! Thanks for the letters, dad. I got the one from home and the one from Europe on the same day this week:) They helped me so much!

Bye bye blonde

I just want y'all to know, that even though this was the hardest week for me so far, I learned so much, and I'm not going to let it push me back at all. Now it's time to get to work and start seeing the blessings for doing something that's so hard.

See ya in 16 months!

Hermana Peck

P.S. I turned 2 months today! I need to stop counting...it makes it all go way too slow

LOVE YOU

It's like angels singing when you hear investigators say stuff like that

Manuel came to church! He asked us how he can truly prepare for baptism, because he wants to be clean and get a new start. Which, by the way, is like angels singing when you hear investigators say stuff like that. He is doing amazing and I can't wait to keep watching and helping his life change for the better. Marissa and her daughters are a hoot. We have so much fun teaching them, and they really love it when we come over. We just hope and pray that Marissa can start coming to church! But she works on the dairy every day (as does this whole town). Some serious prayers are needed for that one. But I know miracles will happen, because I can see that they are truly prepared! We also got to teach Linda this week (the one who we did service for) and she is great! We're still trying to figure out who will teach her, because she speaks Spanish, but reads English, and we can only teach people who plan to come to the Spanish branch.

On to the craziness of this week. Friday was the mission tour, when Elder Pino from the seventy came to visit and talk! It was awesome. He spoke in Spanish too (with a translator) so I got to hear it all twice! Boss part of being a Spanish missionary. We were in Lubbock with half of the mission. Our mission is too huge to ever do anything as an entire mission. But it was really wonderful. Our old stake president [Elder Waddell] was his [Elder Pino's] old counselor! He was excited when he found out that I knew him.

All but two of the Spanish sisters in the mission

That night we got home just in time to have to stay at home all night. Halloween means in the house by 6! But don't worry, we partied it up (like missionaries do). We had costumes, trick or treaters, eating doughnuts off a string and then, thanks to the best sister ever, homemade cookies!

Halloween party festivities

Members coming to trick or treat at our house.
I was a cheetah and Sister Slade was a cow.

Temple trip!

The next day we drove back to Lubbock to go to the temple. We got to do a session in Spanish!!! It was so amazing. The Lubbock temple is tiny, but beautiful. Like, it's weird how small it is. But the spirit is just as strong! We're allowed to go to the temple once a transfer so we went for it!

Sister Slade's old companion was there 
(yes, it was planned)

I'm so glad we did, because the next day, we got TERRIBLE news. Transfer calls are not my favorite. Our mission president called and told us that my trainer [Sister Slade] is leaving to go be an STL [Sister Training Leader] and I'm getting a new trainer. Who, by the way, is my trainer's old trainer. Or in other words, my grandma. I was basically in tears, because I'm terrified to be the one who is supposed to know stuff about the area. I barely know anything! It feels like we're getting white washed. That happened to the elders, so I will be the only missionary in Portales who isn't new to the area. PRAY FOR ME. But, my new companion is apparently amazing. Her name is Sister Rocha. She's native, which will help a lot! I'm terrified, but so excited to learn more stuff. Plus, Sister Slade is now my STL, so I'll still see her when she comes for exchanges! Which, will be the bomb.

Also, fun news, Brenda and Danni from our ward had 11 pit-bull puppies this week! Bad news, there will be another 11 dogs in Portales to bark at and chase me. PIT-BULLS! This week, I got chased and almost bit by an evil dog. Luckily, I was on my bike, or else I would not have gotten away. Does that make me a real missionary now? I think it does:)

Shout out to Chrystal this week for the boss package! My companion and I LOVED it. It was such a super surprise. And tell Tyler [Castleton] thanks for the CDs! My companion is best friends with someone he made a CD with. Christian Hobbs? She wanted me to tell you.

Siblings, Y'all did wonderfully this week at sending letters! I felt the love. Oh, and I'm probably going to dye my hair. I don't think my companion will let me not do it now. I've talked about it too much.

Love you all! I loved knowing that Dad, Cliff and I were all in the same state this Halloween! I thought about you all a lot! LOVE YOU MILLIONS.

Peace,

Hna. Peck