Week 81 January 18, 2016 Well this will be a short one... sorry :(

     I don't have too much time today so this will be a really short email. I am leaving Seocho and transferring to Pyeongtaek! I will be serving in the 2 English branches down in Osan and Camp Humphreys. I was kind of bummed to find out I will be finishing my mission speaking English but if that is what the Lord wants me to do I guess I gotta do it. I mean now I can proselyte to all the black people down on the base and since I love African Americans I am pretty excited about that. I mean how cool would that be to say I baptized an African American on my mission in Korea!? President did say they may change a few things and we may help with the Korean ward too down in Pyeongtaek. Since this is Korea and all the Area President wants us to teach as many Koreans as possible so I think we will still proselyte to Koreans sometimes so that is good. I don't want all of my hard work in learning Korean to go to waste so I gotta keep it up. Which means more SYL with my comp and a never ending effort to master Korean before I go home. I will be going cosenior again with someone from my group I was with in the MTC. I will probably only get to serve with a young missionary for my last two transfers but I guess it is whatever. I mean as long as I do my best and work my very hardest that is really all I can do huh? When I started my mission I thought being DL, ZL, or AP made you better than everyone else but I have realized that it doesn't. We are all doing the same work and can all be leaders in our own way. Like we can serve our comps or those around us to make sure they are always happy and succeed. I have really been trying to do that these days like forget myself and serve others more. Doing this will help me more easily give up my will to God and accept His.  

      The message I want to share this week is one I shared a few times with members this week when we met them. The scripture is Joshua 1:9 and I really like it. We honestly do always have to be strong and of good courage because when we are not Satan can tempt us easier. Also when we are strong and courageous we can progress better and the Lord promises to always be with us. So that blessing in a way should persuade us to be not afraid and have courage. There are a lot of people here in Seocho who want to meet me before I leave. It is Pday but we have appointments like all day long haha. I love you all and appreciate all the support. I got Sara's package and the PJ's thanks a bunch!! Also tell the ward thanks for sending me a Christmas package too :) 

Love, 

Elder Picard

Week 80 January 11, 2016 "Well folks my Mom is 50!"

     Well folks my Mom is 50! She may be getting old but she sure doesn't look old. My parents are just too beautiful to look old. I can't believe Elizabeth turns 13 in a little over a month, that is crazy!! I still remember when she was the cutest little baby sister, why do they have to grow up? :( She is still the cutest and best baby sister though. It sounds like you all had a wonderful Christmas season and I was glad to hear that. My last Christmas season as a missionary was also amazing!! Seocho ward is the best and I don't want to leave. We get transfer calls this week and since I have been here for 4 transfers already and only have 4 transfers remaining I think I will be off to my last area. I would love to stay in Seocho for the rest of my mission or at least 2 more but that most likely won't happen :( Seocho ward has spoiled me so much and I ate like a king here. I didn't just eat like a king but also learned a lot from serving in this ward. Seocho ward is full of supermembers that love the gospel so much and are always willing to help us missionaries out. It is such a blessing when members help us out because us foreigners can only teach so well in Korean. Plus this is the first ward I got a baptism in. Out of the 4 transfers I have been here we had 3 baptisms so that was pretty sweet. We have a few guys that are retired that always come to the call even if we call last minute needing help teaching someone. Missionary work progressing okay with just missionaries but with members helping that is when the work flourishes and hastens the most. I cant wait to get home and be a member missionary. Come to find out being a member missionary isn't as hard as I thought. I of course will finish off strong and work my butt off in Korea but I can't wait to go home and help my friends come to know about this gospel and more importantly come to know Jesus Christ and His importance in our lives. 

      God truly is good. I have realized this on my mission more than ever in my lifetime. I know He is always there and will help us all the time. "When you are going through something hard and wonder where God is remember the teacher is always quiet during the test." I came across this quote and was like "Wow that's deep" but man is it true. God is our Mighty Teacher and He knows what we can handle. Even if our mortal human minds can't grasp everything He can. So for that reason we have no need to worry. I love my Heavenly Father and am grateful for all of the hard times. I for sure am not too grateful for them during them but after I always realize how loved and blessed I am. 

Love, 

Elder Picard

Week 79 January 4, 2016 "It is 2016!"

     It is 2016!!!! I go home this year... I never thought this year would come but hey it is here haha. This past year was full of a lot of ups and downs but I think I learned more this past year than I have in my whole life. The mission just teaches you so much, it is great!! It is kind of hard to believe that for this whole past year all I did was missionary work. It makes me tired just thinking about it haha but not everyone gets this much time to do missionary work all day every day so I consider myself pretty lucky. It is Mom's birthday this week so I just wanted to give a shout out to her! My parents are so old these days haha. They may both be around half a century old but they are healthy and most definitely dont look that old ;) I keep hearing stuff about America and am scared to go home because I dont want Clinton or Trump to be President haha. I honestly think Dad would do a better job leading America than those two crazy pants. What do you say Dad? The first Native American President? My New Years was good and was filled with a lot of good missionary work. On New Years Eve we did stickerboarding on Gangnam Daero and talked with a ton of people and a lot of them were foreigners. Since my bed time is at 10:30pm I woke up the next morning and didn't realize it was 2016 for a few hours.

     My message I wanna share this week is pretty awesome I will say. My mom sent me a bunch of quotes in my Christmas package and I read one this past week that knocked my socks off! I read it and immediately was like "that's a super good one!" It hit me deep down and I want to share the quote with you all. I dont know who wrote it but it goes a little something like this, "When you feel like you're drowning in life, don't worry- your lifeguard walks on water!" After reading this it made me remember how truly helpful, loving, and powerful our Savior is. I know we have a superhero on our side and His name is Jesus Christ, He is the only Begotten of the Father, and He will never forsake us.   

Happy New Year!!!!

새해복 많이 받으세요!

Love, 

Elder Picard

Week 78 December 28, 2015 "I got to be Santa again!"

     My last Christmas in South Korea as a missionary was amazing. The Seocho ward for sure spoiled us missionaries and made our Christmas wonderful. I got fed a ton and even got a few super nice presents like some ties, a scarf, and a bunch of snacks. Elder Dalley and Elder Whitney got me these sweet baseball hats with the Chinese character meaning their mascot. They only had two left so I got a Dodgers one and a Giants one. I don't necessarily like either of those teams but the hats are sweet. Plus the symbol for the Giants is the Chinese character for Giant which fits because I am tall. I can't believe my last Christmas as a missionary has already past. Time flies! I only get to call home one more time and that will be like one transfer before I go home. I am an old missionary for sure. I never thought it would happen and that I would just be a greenie for life but that didn't work out like I planned haha. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that all is well in America. We weren't able to meet our investigator this week because he was busy so that was a bummer but we will for sure try and meet him this week. We have been struggling to find investigators these days but yesterday we got a referral and we are going to meet with her this week so we will see how that goes.

      Well we are going to play basketball in 영등포 today so I am going to keep this short and sweet. For Christmas my mom sent me a bunch of inspirational quotes that were all laminated and nice looking so I bought a case and put them in it. That is beside the point though haha just thought I would mention it. I was going through them the other day and I found this one I really liked, it was something Muhammad Ali said. The quote was "Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a CHAMPION." This quote just kinda hit me deep down. I mean who likes to be a quiter or labeled one? I don't that's for sure. So yeah lets all work through the hard times with smiles on our faces looking to conquer each and every trial that gets in our way.  Jesus Christ is on our side and I know He will help us NOT quit but instead help us keep on keeping on! 

Love, 

Elder Picard

The best mission leader in Korea!

Week 76 December 21, 2015 "It's not about the lights, it's about the love"

     I can't believe Christmas is in 4 days! Time flies when you are having fun as a missionary for sure. I feel like it was summer just yesterday and I was wondering if Christmas would ever even come. I am so excited to Skype you guys, it will for sure be college level. I am hoping that I get to be Santa Claus again like I was last year. It is crazy to think that last Christmas I was right next door in Gangnam. Dont forget to keep me in your prayers that I get to be Santa ;) haha. We haven't been able to meet Sister Lee or Femme for a while because Femme is in America and Sister Lee is too busy to meet this month. She comes to church still so at least I get to see and talk to her once a week. Sister Lee is still just amazing and doing great. Femme texted us a few times and she seems to be doing good in America and isn't stressed so that's good. 

     The message I wanna share today is something President told us at our Christmas Conference. President taught me a lot and I learned a bunch of cool stuff. He talked a lot about the importance of forgetting ourselves and serving others. Like how we have to swallow our pride in order to have the spirit and to teach with power and authority. Our spirits must overpower our bodies and be in control. The one thing he said that stuck out to me is that my Father in Heaven is proud of me and will not give up on me. As long as we try our best the Lord will never give up on us. Imagine a baby trying to take it's first steps when it falls down it gets right back up and tries again. The baby would either get back up by itself or the parents would help it back up on its feet. You never yell at the baby and say "Come on why can't you walk? You are taking way too long!!" the Lord likewise won't say these things but He will wait patiently and succor to our calls. He will even cry with us in hard times just like He wept with Martha when Lazarus died. We obviously won't see Him crying but He is and hates to see us fail or to see us sad because He wants us to become like him. So lets go out there and be like that determined baby who gets right back up!!!! 

Feliz Navidad!!!!!!!

Love, 

Elder Picard 

A famous Picard family quote was started by DJ when he was just a little guy when we drove around looking at Christmas lights he said "It's not about the lights, it's about the love."

Week 75 December 14, 2015 "Read 2 Timothy Chapter 4, it's all good"

     This past week was pretty good. The weather is slowly getting colder which is nice because I like the cold. Seocho ward is still awesome and still treating us missionaries like Kings. I feel so privileged and bless to serve in the Seocho Ward. I am excited for Christmas and cant wait to Skype you all, it will be great! I didn't get the chance to send home a Christmas package so I am sorry about that but I sent every member of our family a letter so hopefully you get those before Christmas. I tried to be sincere and elaborate the best I can but I had to write them really fast so if they are no good I apologize. You guys have any fun plans for Christmas any vacations without me or anything? haha. I hope that you have a rocking Christmas in Utah and create a bunch of cool memories you can tell me about later. Just remember a wise young Daniel once said, "It is not about the lights, it is about the love!" That memory came into my mind the other day when I saw some Christmas lights and it made me so happy :) 

      My message this week is found in the New Testament. It is a super good motto to live your life by. It also to me seems like a really good guideline to keep in check and to keep you motivated. It goes a little something like this, " Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life,whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses" (1 Timothy 6:12). So from what I understand is that we have to fight the good fight of faith obviously but also that we have already fought that fight once before we were born! This scripture then means and is encouragement that we can do it again and push on with faith in Christ. To end I will share one more scripture. This is what I want to say at the end of my mission and also at the end of my life like Paul was able to. " I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:7). All of Chapter 4 is really good but I don't wanna copy and paste the whole chapter so you all can go read that later. Lets all fight the good fight together and make our Father in Heaven proud!! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night. ;) 

Love,

Elder Picard

Week 74 December 7, 2015 "I am so excited that it is the Christmas season"

    Well folks I will be staying in Seocho for at least one more transfer with Elder Whitney. It is crazy that I only have 5 transfers left and that this will be my 12th transfer in country. Just gotta keep getting down to business to defeat the Huns (the adversary). I am hoping I stay in Seocho for a long time because this area is great. Maybe my comp will go ZL next transfer and then I can stay and be Papa Seocho. I am so excited that it is the Christmas season, Christmas is the best!! As a missionary Christmas is even better because all day every day you get to talk to others about Jesus Christ and the true meaning of Christmas. We got these cool new proselyting cards that have the new "A Savior is Born" video link so give to people as we proselyte. They work so much better than the normal I am a Mormon cards so I love using them. It especially helps me to think of Jesus more throughout the day which had made me so much more happier these days. You all have to go to the new christmas.mormon.org website, it is awesome!! Also I would request that you blow up social media with message of The Savior and Christmas this year. 

      My best Guatemalan buddy, Elder Monterozzo, goes home this week so it will be really sad to see him go because I would say that we have grown pretty close in the last 3 transfers of living together. He gave his farewell speech last week at Zone training and I got some really cool revelation/insight while he gave it. He spoke on how the mission has a lot of ups and downs and how you cant let the hard times get you down. I gotta just keeping trucking till the very end. The revelation or thought I received was this "I have to ride the mission roller-coaster with a smile on my face no matter how many times there are surprise flips and turns." Also the roller-coaster goes fast so even if I am scared, frustrated, whatever I can't scream but instead I gotta smile. This is the same for life too. Life is a roller-coaster. This life is something that shapes us into who Jesus Christ wants us to become. Being an optimist is hard. Always having a smile on your face is hard. Submitting your will and everything you want is hard don't get me wrong but we gotta do it. People need that happiness. Others need our help. I am going to try my best to be that optimist who is needed so much. It will be hard but I gotta be a happy positive boy not an angry negative one. 

Merry Christmas!!!!!!

Love, 

Elder Picard 

Instead of pictures this week please go to christmas.mormon.org website and share the message of Christs birth on social media.