Con Amor

Dear Family, It was so wonderful to see you on Christmas. I love you all so much!! Although I know I am exactly where I am supposed to be, the last few days have been so hard. I have been blessed with wonderful miracles and the Spirit, but thinking about the Rex and how much each of us will miss him has been so painful. I hope and pray the Spirit has been and will continue to be with you during this time. After I got off the phone with Mom Thursday night, I talked to President Clements again. He gave me some comforting words and advice which I really appreciated. I know this is so hard, and that right now, hardly anything can make it hurt less. I do know though, that there is true power in the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He knows. He knows what it is like. He has suffered everything and knows exactly what each one of us are feeling. His journey never got easier. He endured all even unto death. Then, He rose again; He overcame death so that all could live again. What a blessing. What an incredible truth it is that we have! Right now, I know that it still is difficult to think about that time, because while it is a comfort, it seems so far away. Although the promised blessing of the resurrection is still in the future, there is peace and hope to be had now. Pray to Heavenly Father and plead for the Spirit in faith. The power He has is real; and can be had now and forever. One wonderful miracle we had this week was that Diana said that she wants to be baptized. Manuel is going to prepare to receive the Priesthood so He can baptize her. They still didn't feel like they had gotten a specific answer, but they recognized that baptism is a good thing and that it is the step they should take. I love them so much! :) Omar is also doing well. He knows that baptism is the next step for him as well! We just have to work out some details because he is going on a trip to California, but he should be getting baptized end of Jan/beginning of Feb. I am so grateful to be a missionary sharing the joy of the gospel with others. It is so wonderful when people accept it choose to take part in the happiness! When they don't, I know we must keep moving forward because there are prepared people out there! Stay strong and faithful family! I love you and know the Lord does too. Remember Him and turn your hearts to Him so that He can bless you! I know He will. con mucho amor, Hermana Pierce

:)

Hi Family!!! I am excited to see you in just 2 days!! :) I can't its almost Christmas! Thanks so much for the package :) I'm not exactly sure what time I will be skyping/facetiming on Christmas, but sometime between 10-11am (Minnesota time) So be ready!! We will only have 40 minutes so be ready! Hehe. The last few days with Hermana Wiggens have been great! She is a lot of fun. Her personality is a lot different from Hermana Crosby's so it has been a lot different being with her. But we already have a lot of unity in teaching/planning and have had a lot of fun too! I'm excited to be working with her; she is an amazing missionary. It definitely is stressful taking over an area, but she is so helpful and has been working hard to get up to speed with everything which I really appreciate. She is also creative and has come up with a lot of great ideas to help our investigators. We spent a good little bit of time finding this past week since, and we were blessed to find several new people! I'm excited to see what happens with them. One incredible miracle we had this week was with O. Its been awhile since I have talked about him because we have been in pretty loose contact with him for quite some time now. He has been an investigator for over a year. He is living/doing everything he should be other than coming to church. Every possible excuse anyone has had to not come to church he has had and more. Not too long ago he finally was able to get work off on Sundays permanently, but then decided to go with a friend to another church. It's been tough. Well, it turns out that over a year ago Hermana Wiggens was on exchanges here in Lakeville with Hermana Crosby's companion before me. They found O walking his bike to his trailer. It was a miracle then because he usually didn't take that route home, but had just so happened to. He saw these two missionaries and thought they were crazy. They pretty much chased him down and were yelling "Hola!!!" But, the Spirit touched him in that moment and he recognized that the Lord had placed them in his path. Fast foward over the next year and he had been in and out of conact with the missionaries and only attended church one time, last December. Well finally on Friday O answered the phone and I had Hermana Wiggens talk to him. She reminded him of the time that they met and he was so surprised. He agreed to meet us later that night. We had some members come with us too and we went to see him. He only had a little bit of time, but Hermana Wiggens reminded him of what had happened that day over a year ago. She made a very simple, but bold and inspired statement about how this wasn't a coincidence and that now is his time to choose if he was going to listen and act. He just looked at us and said, "Ok. I'm coming to church on Sunday." We set up a ride with the members that were there with us. I'm pretty sure I prayed from that moment until Sunday morning that nothing would stop him from coming. Haha. And, he actually did come!!!! It was so awesome!! We just have to make sure we keep firm contact with him and keep him coming and he could be ready for baptism very very soon!! :) Well I don't have much time to write today, but I will talk to you on Christmas!! Love you!!! :) Love, Hermana Pierce

Christmas pics

Feliz Navidad!!

Hi Family!! Ok so the big news first. Today we found out about transfers. I'm not leaving Lakeville! Hermana Crosby is though. My soon-to-be companion is Hermana Wiggins. I've met her briefly and she seems super nice. She has actually been working in a zebra area for the last few transfers, which means although she is a Spanish sister she has had an English companion and they cover both work. I'm not exactly sure how much time she has left, but I think it is only a transfer or two. So, most likely I will be in Lakeville for a good long while. So as far as sending stuff, it should still be okay to come to the Jensen's house! If you send it through the Mission Home it will get to me too so it really doesn't even matter. Last night and actually the last few days I have been feeling super stressed out. I had been trying to even think about transfers, but I couldn't help it. I knew whatever happened would be right, but I knew there was a big chance I would be taking over the area and that scared me so bad. Well, now I found out that that's exactly what I'm doing. Except instead of feeling super overwhelmed and scared and inadequate I feel so much peace. The Holy Ghost has comforted me and helped me to know this truly is what the Lord wants. I still don't know how it all will work out, and I really do have a huge responsibility ahead of me to make this transition go smoothly. My Spanish isn't great and I have a ton to remember and worry about, but somehow I know that it will be okay. The Lord qualifies who He calls. I know that I will have to rely on Him 100%, but it is going to work out and there are going to be so many miracles and successes. This morning the Zone Leaders called us to give us some zone comments: basically just things we are doing well and things to improve on, which they do at the end of each transfer. They told me that now is the time for me to decide what kind of missionary I want to be. My trainer is leaving and now I need to choose what I'm going to do. I feel like that is so true. Hermana Crosby has been wonderful. She is a really good missionary and has a ton of strengths. But I'm not her and I'm not supposed to be. It definitely is sad to say goodbye to her, but at the same time I'm excited and optimistic about the future. :) This past week actually hasn't been super eventful. P and S are still doing well, but unfortunately couldn't come to church. They had to start another job because there isn't enough work in their main job right now. So, that is going to be a big obstacle, but hopefully it will work out. Their date is now for January 18 and we made a calendar with them to help them visualize and prepare for it. Dad asked what their relationship is to each other- they are friends/roommates. Another good thing is that we were finally able to see K and L this week! They are the super sweet girls we had been teaching consistenly awhile ago. They had been super busy, but finally we were able to see them and they are still doing great! The girls still have been reading in the B.M. The biggest challenge is getting them to Church. They go to another one and their parents aren't really big on the idea of them coming to ours. But, they are awesome and I love them. This week we also got the chance to go to the Temple! It was perfect, just what I needed. I have come to love and appreciate the Temple so much. It is such a blessing to be able to go! We had both our Ward Christmas Party and Christmas program in Sacrament this weekend. They went really well too! I love Christmas time!! Those who put it on did a great job. :) Everyone else is doing well. Not a ton of big things happened, but hopefully we will have a great week this week! Oh and I will send some pictures For a cultural experience this week I ate a bug from Oaxaca that was like a grasshopper. :) Hehe Love you and I'm excited to talk to you next week! I don't know if I will be able to email on Monday, but I'm guessing not. So talk to you then! Love, Hermana Pierce

Singing the song of redeeming love

I know I say this at the beginning of all my letters, but once again I am astonished at how fast time is flying and how great of a week I had! Time has never gone by so fast in my entire life and it seems to just be speeding up. I'm loving it more and more each day too. :) Last Monday after P day Hermana Crosby and I went to the YSA FHE to play volleyball because C came too! It was so fun to see her having fun. I know it seems so simple something like playing a sport in the church gym, and I can't really explain it, but maybe because I have seen her so unhappy and know what her life has been like, it just is so great to see her being happy. And it isn't that her life has gotten easier. That's the thing about basically every single person I have taught on my mission so far. They have unbelievably hard lives/backgrounds and yet the difference of their happiness lies in their willingness to follow Jesus Christ. Despite what people have to deal with, they can be happy and that is the message I am so privileged to share with others. :) Tuesday Hermana Crosby had a leadership meeting so I went and spent the day with the Bloomington Sisters- Hermana Pelaez and Hendersen. I think I have told you before about Hermana Pelaez, but she is from Mexico and is so sweet. Hermana Hendersen is bran new, and seems to be pretty cool too! We had a great day. We knocked some doors and found a few people to teach and then spent a few hours doing service at a member's house. We painted one of the rooms in her house for her and it was so much fun! We sung hymns while doing it- alternating between English and Spanish. Hermana Pelaez is really good at English but still learning. So fun!! The next day we had exchanges. I was again with Hermana Watson, but this time in Lakeville. So I led out all day which was an interesting experience. I felt pretty stressed out, especially when President grounded all the mission cars because of the snow and we had to coordinate rides with members to make it to our appointments which then fell through. But, at the same time, I felt so much more confident in my ability to both speak Spanish and be in charge. It was kind of like being thrown into the deep end, but I guess that's how you learn faster. We went back to Bloomington on Thursday to have Zone Conference! It was really fun and inspiring. We even got to watch the movie Miracle.. (the Disney one about hockey) Turns out it is set here in Minnesota!! Afterwards we had a delicious dinner with Karla and her family and then one of the best lessons yet with P and S ! Maura, a super solid member in the YSA ward, came with us and we taught about the Word of Wisdom!! It was super good. Ok, so I actually am going to finish writing this a little later because I am heading to Minneapolis right now with the other Sisters in our ward and a girl from the YSA. Should be fun! So sorry, but I will write the rest of this at about 5 tonight. Love you!! Pt. 2 Ok I just got back from a super fun trip to Minneapolis! Macy's has this cute Santa display that we went to and then we ate lunch and did a bit of shopping :) But to continue with my week... We taught P and S about the Word of Wisdom and it couldn't have gone better. They understood why we would have this commandment and committed to living it!! As we were leaving we offered to take their alcohol with us to get rid of it. They agreed and we had a grand time flushing it all down the toilet!! Their biggest problem is going to be coffee because they drink it every morning before work. We had another great lesson with them last night at the Montecillo's home (active, amazing Hispanic family in our ward) and they said they had been doing pretty well... They had one cup of coffee, but they said they won't have any more! Unfortunately we have to push their date a little bit because they were sick yesterday morning and couldn't come to church, but it might be better anyways because Hermana Crosby and I were thinking maybe we are pushing them a little too hard to get to a date that we want rather than what will be best for them. Really it depends on what the Lord wants for them so that is what we are trying to figure out, but hopefully it should still be pretty soon! We weren't able to teach as many lessons as usual this week since we had so much going on, but we also had a really good one with F. He has been so busy with school and everything so it has been hard to see him. I can't remember what I've told you about him, but the sisters before me had been teaching his mom before I came. Then we saw her awhile ago and she said that her son wanted us to meet with him too! He is a super cool kid that wants to do what is right and follow Christ! We taught the Plan of Salvation and had a girl who just got home from her mission come too. He is still figuring out things with work so he can come to church, but he is another person that is so prepared! M and D are still coming along as well. Slowly, but surely. We still haven't quite set a date with them, but this week we will try again. We decided to ask them the baptismal interview questions to see where their fears and doubts lie. We didn't get through all of them yet, but it really comes down to if Joseph Smith was true prophet called of God and if he is the only prophet... Apparently there were a bunch of other 'prophets' in Guatemala. The lesson went really well though and D made a lot of connections between herself and Joseph Smith. :) Well family, I love you tons! Hope you all have a great week! Do something good!! :) Love, Hermana Pierce

Tengo muchas bendiciones :)

Hi family! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Sounds like you did! Last Monday, right after I finished emailing you guys, we headed over to an apartment building to go knock some doors. Right as we were walking up to the building we heard, "Hola!" from behind us. We turned around and it was P and S ! We were shocked to see them because we were really far away from where they live... but P 's sister lives there so they were visiting. Anyways, we asked them what they were doing and they were heading home so we followed them and then had an awesome lessons about Chastity! It went really well. They committed to living it and the Spirit was strong. It was a really sweet miracle... Heavenly Father showed us exactly who our focus should be on and gave us the opportunity to help them progress more. We had other lessons with them throughout the week and were able to set a baptismal date for December 21! They are a little apprehensive because it is so soon, but we know they can be ready by then and we are going to help them so they can make that goal! Wow, I love them so much. I wish you all could meet them because they are seriously so cool! :) Things are going really well with C right now too. They difference in her countenance is as clear as black and white. Making small and simple changes that help us to better follow Christ is really what brings happiness. She is a perfect example of that. Since she has been meeting with us again, going to church, and living the commandments she has begun to radiate with joy. It is such an amazing thing to witness. Very soon this week, possibly tonight, we will be setting a baptismal date with her too. She has brought it up and knows it is what she wants. The only thing is that she will be in Mexico for a few weeks over Christmas so we are going to have to wait until she gets back in January. She is so awesome too! Haha, of all the people we teach though, she is the hardest for me to understand. She talks sooo fast!! I always make Hermana Crosby talk to her on the phone hehe. Thanksgiving was very good! Since the Jensen's are in California we ate with Brown family... another family in the ward. A few other small families came as well. It was a nice time. It was a nice, relaxing day, but I was super excited to get back to work. Taking breaks are good, but I'm happiest when I am working and I hate feeling like I'm not accomplishing anything. M and D are doing really well. We had a great lesson about faith with them and helped them to see they need to make steps forward... we only can receive a witness after the trial of our faith. This Sunday we- Hermana Crosby and I, the Riley family (M's sister and her family who they live with), and M and D- all fasted that they could know when would be the right day for D to be baptized. We are really hoping and praying we can set a date with her this week. I think I might have explained this before, but M was baptized when he was 10 but never had anyone to take him to church after his sister left to go to school in the States. So, he is completely new to all of this and they both attended another church in Guatemala where they are from. What we are hoping is that he will be able to get the Priesthood and baptize his wife. :) Everything really is great here. I love the people we are teaching and the experiences I'm having with them. I can't believe it but 2 months ago from today I arrived in Minnesota! My perspective of the gospel has changed so much. There have been hard and humbling moments, but some very wonderful ones too. Despite how hard it sometimes can be, I am so happy I am here and wouldn't trade it! Through the difficulties the Lord is helping me to become better. :) One other quick funny thing... Hermana Crosby and I were joking about how creepy people could think we are. We have detailed personal information about just about every person living in a trailer park or apartment building. We know everyone's car and drive by to see if they are home all the time. And we keep records of most interactions we have with everyone including a detailed description of how our lessons go. Haha, at least it is for the cause of proclaiming the truth! :) Love you!!! Have a good week!! Love, Hermana Pierce

Happy Thanksgiving

Buenas Tardes! Sorry this is a lot later than I usually write and also sorry becuase it is going to be pretty short! This week is different becuase of Thanksgiving. So I have less time to write today and then Thursday is my P day but I can't write then. Anyways, thanks so much for the treats! Haha I've been trying not to eat everything in there all at once! I really love the wassail in there though. yum!! :) We had a busy week! We were able to teach 13 lessons with members this week which is a record for me! One of the best things that happened was that P and S were able to get work off every Sunday and they came to church!!! First of all, when we commit people to getting work off it usually doesn't happen, at least not for a long time. We taught them about the 10 commandments and Sabbath day earlier this week and then they got it off within 2 days! We haven't had time to follow up on their church experience, but I think they liked it. D, P's 6 year old daughter loved Primary, even though she was scared to go at first! The only unfortunate thing was that all the talks were about family history, the temple, and tithing! All topics that we haven't even begun to talk about... so I just prayed the whole time that they could feel the Spirit and that they will have a good week and notice a difference! I love them so much and am so excited to see them making changes in their lives for the better! They really want to follow Jesus Christ and they have shown they are willing to act in order to do so. :) Another miracle was that O also was able to get work off! There was this big huge ordeal with his boss, but finally he got it so he never has to work Sundays! Unfortunately, his phone stopped working and he wasn't able to coordinate with us or a member who was going to give him a ride, so he didn't make it this Sunday. That was dissappointing but he should be able to come next week! Overall we are just teaching some really great people and my love for them is growing so much. Each week I recognize the Lord's hand in my life more and more and my faith is growing too. :) There are still so many ways I could be doing better; so many things I could improve, but I am learning to be patient with others and especially myself. I am so grateful for the Atonement and the opportunity it gives me to improve each day and try better. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know me personally and are helping me every day. Since I started my mission I have grown to appreciate more the knowledge I have of the Gospel. It is such a blessing to be serving as a missionary, and I learn to love it more and more each day. I love you all so much and am so grateful for the wondeful family and friends I have in my life! Thank you for everything and have a happy Thanksgiving!! :) Love, Hermana Pierce

Pictures from Minneapolis

Muchos Milagros en Minnesota!

Hola familia! Que tal? Wow what a week. It flew by. I swear I was just sitting here writing you guys like yesterday. Anyways, amazing things happened and I learned a lot this week. There is this lady, G, who the missionaries had taught before I got here, but she is super hard to get in contact with. Finally, we were able to have a lessons with her. It has been months since she last had a lesson from the missionaries, but she said that just a few days before her son, F, had been asking about us and wanted us to teach him! This week, we were able to have a lesson with him and it was awesome! He is 20 and decided he doesn't want to do what his friends are doing- drinking, partying etc. He has so much faith and really wants to learn more about God. He said yes to getting baptized! We haven't been able to see him again but I can't wait til we do! He is a perfect example of how the Lord prepares people to hear our message. He had been making changes and shared experiences with us and we testified that his faith will continue to grow and he will find the answers he is looking for! Also, we have still been teaching P and S. They are the best. I am always SO happy after teaching them. We are going to be teaching them about the 10 commandments and Sabbath and then hopefully Word of Wisdom this week. Please pray for them! They are so awesome and sincere, but they will definitely be faced with opposition because they have lots of changes to make! So I had some incredible things happen to me that taught me a lot about prayer. I have been working on having specific prayers rather than just 'please bless so and so...' Friday we had an awesome day lined up. We were going to have 4 lessons with members plus several others. Hermana Crosby and I were super excited to go have a great day with lots of work! Thursday night I prayed for each of the people we were planning on seeing. I prayed that nothing would interfere and that we would be able to see everyone and it would all work out. The day started out great. We went and saw a sweet less active lady named M. She is really nice and has lots of faith but also lots of health problems so she never makes it to church. By noon though, we got a series of cancellation calls/texts and were left with nothing until dinner time. Seriously everything fell through. I'm sure you've noticed by now that this happens a lot. You'd think I would just be used to it by now. I'm not. I'ts frustrating. Hermana Crosby and I were both pretty frustrated. We both had the same thought to drive out to Apple Valley even though it would kill a ton of miles and we didn't really have a plan once we got there. Apple Valley is where O lives. (I'm sure I've told you about him before... He is so close to baptism, living everything other than coming to church... things keep getting in the way like work, his car breaking down, you name it) We haven't had contact with O for over a week because something happened to his phone. We decided to go try and knock on his door though. He didn't answer. From his doorstep I looked at the road and saw a truck drive by. I couldn't see the people inside but I somehow knew it was O. About 5 seconds later he called us. It was him! He had seen us outside his doorstep! He was with a friend doing something. We planned to meet back in about an hour and in the meantime went and found another person to teach a restoration lesson too! When we got back with O we had a great lesson with him. Seriously what a miracle. The timing was so perfect! He told us that his friend usually takes another way to get to his house but had decided to go that way and drive right past O's house. :) We actually had another lessons in Apple Valley too with a lady we had taught several weeks back. She actually had done her reading assignment! We are going back to see her this week. I think the only thing that actually went as planned on Friday was dinner. Afterwards we went to M and D. They live with M's sister and her family- the Rileys. Both Brother and Sister Riley speak Spanish and often join our lessons. We had a plan to teach about prophets, but Brother Riley was really set on watching this 30 min church movie called Together Forever. He had mentioned it to us before and so Hermana Crosby and I watched it earlier in the week to try and plan a lesson around it. We decided against it though because it was unbelievably cheesy and we didn't really think it applied to M and D. Well, Brother Riley really wanted to watch it and we were in his home so we weren't going to argue. It actually went really, really well. M and D definitely felt the Spirit! I think it was good too because instead of us trying to teach them more things and shove more doctrine at them, they had the opportunity to just feel the Spirit and be taught by Him. I know they are going to get an answer soon because they really are trying! Afterwards we were supposed to go teach this lady named C and her daughter K. C wasn't home though so we just taught K and her friend N who was also there. They are about Brooke's age! The lesson was about the Book of Mormon and it went so well. At one point K said, and I quote "I think I would like being a Mormon. My life would probably be a lot better." :) :) :) She was also super excited to read the BM because she has tons of questions about what we are doing and what is going to happen one day etc. We told her the Book of Mormon has those answers and she said she would definitely read and pray about it! Basically Friday didn't go as planned at all, but it was much better because we had so many miracles. It felt so good to know that we where God wanted us to be, even though it wasn't where we though we should be! One more awesome experience I had with prayer was the next day. It was with A. I had been praying specifically that she would read the Book of Mormon and pray for answers because that is what she has been struggling with. I prayed that she would feel the Spirit and not be able to rest until she had read and prayed. Also, that she would have more of a desire to read. Saturday, she described a voice in her head telling her that she should read. She kept feeling like she should and then she did and as she has begun reading more she really likes it! At first she didn't want to read, but now she does! It was such a cool experience for me to see that Heavenly Father does answer prayers- sometimes the way we want and sometimes not- but either was He does. :) Also, other great news! Back at the beginning I told you about C. She had decided she wanted to go to the Catholic church instead of ours after we had a Law of Chastity lesson with her. Well, we had a nice surprise yesterday and saw her at Stake Conference! Apparently her life has been super hard the last few weeks and she knows that she needs to get baptized and make changes!!! :) We will be seeing her this week several times and hopefully getting a date set ASAP! Well, sorry that was a bit long. Hehe. It was just a great week and I am loving it more and more each day. My Spanish is finally getting to the point where I feel like I can express at least kind of what I am feeling haha... Still a ways to go, pero esta mejorando. (but its getting better) Les queiro mucho! Gracias por sus correos de electronico y sus oraciones y amor! I love you all so much! Thank you for your emails and prayers and love! Love, Hermana Pierce

Pictures--Hold to the Rod; 1st snowfall

Great week

Hello! Wow time is flying so fast! Already a whole transfer done in Minnesota! I am staying here to finish my training with Hermana Crosby. :) I had another great week in Lakeville! Once a transfer we get to have a district P day and get to do things with the other missionaries. Last week we went and played laser tag and also played some bball and dodgeball at the church! Super fun! I'm super excited for today too, because we are going with some members in our ward to Minneapolis to do some sight seeing! I'll take pictures! Last Monday we also had a super fun FHE with K and her kids! They are adorable. We talked about Lehi's dream and made an "iron rod" out of those wrapping paper tube things. Each of the kids got to hold on to the rod and we would give them scenarios and give them choices of what they would do. If it was something good they got to go forward on the rod until they made it to the 'tree of life' where the 'fruit' was waiting. The fruit in this little activity was cookie flavored. :) They are so cute and I love them so much! I have some other really good news! M and D, the people who we thought dropped us last week have actually decided not too and are still going to be searching for the truth! On Tuesday there was a President's fireside in Bloomington that was really good. They came with us to that. I don't know if they got anything out of it, because they were super tired but at least they came and haven't given up yet! Later in the week we sat down with them and they expressed their concerns. Basically they are trying to find an answer, realize they need to do more on their part, and are going to do what they can so they can find an answer. Please pray for them that they will be able to recognize an answer soon! They are such a sweet family; they just don't see the blessings that this gospel can bring them yet! So, at the fireside, Elder Godoy of the 70 came. We also had mission conference with him the next day! He is awesome. He's from Brazil originally and hilarious. The conference was very good and then afterwards we had lunch and he sat by me. He asked me where I was from and he said that this week he will be in Twin Falls! He's doing something with the stake presidents I guess. I'm not really sure, but I thought it was cool! Recently we started teaching these two girls, P and S. They are roommates and very sweet ladies. P has a daughter who is in 1st grade. They work crazy hours like every single person we teach, but they are very open. Every time we have had a lesson with them the Spirit has been so strong! Hermana Crosby and I were pretty bold from the beginning that they are going to have to make changes in their lives but the blessings that await them are wonderful. I'm really excited to see what happens! This week was just a week full of great things. We taught a Restoration lesson to this couple, A and D. They have a very strong faith in God. They shared with us some experiences they've had and how they know that God really does answer prayers. Angie was astounded when we told her about Joseph Smith's experience. We told them we know it is new and different from what they've heard, but invited them to pray about it. A said she definitely would. She said it would be one of the first things she did! Such an awesome reaction! A lot of times people say things like, "ummm okay I guess yeah I'll pray maybe sometime I don't know we'll see." We asked them what it would mean if the Church of Jesus Christ really was restored on the earth today. D said it would definitely clear up a lot of confusion. I'm super excited to go see them tonight and see how their experiences were! :) I know for sure that if they actually did as they said and prayed about it with a sincere heart they will get an answer. I have a funny story for you guys too. We were teaching this girl named M about the Restoration. She's the one we taught last week about the Plan of Salvation. Anyways, she has absolutely no knowledge about the Bible or prophets or anything like that. We were trying to explain the concept of authority and Hermana Crosby used an example of an ice cream truck driver vs. a cop. What would you say if an ice cream truck driver pulled you over and wrote you a ticket? Probably not listen and tell him to leave. What if the same thing happened with a cop? You would listen and pay the ticket. So we were talking about this and how it is relates to Priesthood authority and then she interrupted and said, "wait, but what if the ice cream truck driver had a gun and threatened to kill you?" Haha. One of the sweetest moments this week was yesterday. We were teaching these two kids, C and N. We were teaching about the Plan of Salvation and about how we lived with Heavenly Father before we came here. C said, "wow I learned something new today! I didn't know we lived with God!" I asked him how that made him feel and he said it made him so happy. Those kind of moments are what make it worth it. It is the best thing ever to watch the joy that the truths of the gospel bring to people. Especially to sweet children like them. :) Last night there was a Thanksgiving concert at the church. It was with different religious groups from the community. We as missionaries ushered at it and then got to enjoy the night and listen to the music! Such a fun treat! Also yesterday W, the man who was baptized in July received the Priesthood! The spanish ward in Minneapolis is going to the temple to do baptisms and he is going to go! And we are also to help! :) The bishop of the Lakeville Ward, Bishop Mason, talked to Hermana Crosby and I yesterday too. He gave me a new perspective as he talked about how what we face as missionaries- watching people again and again not keep their commitments and the frustrations that comes with that- is a small taste of what the Lord deals with all the time. Every one of His children breaks their 'commitments' as they sin. Yet He loves us unconditionally. Wow, I can't even imagine how frustrating that is to have every single one of your children fall short every single day. Well, I love you all. Thanks so much for the emails! Please send me letters too! It is super fun to get mail! :) Love, Hermana Pierce

Pictures - Temple, splits, bike

I can do this, but only with His help

Hiiiiii!!!! Great to hear from you all! I'm glad things are going well. :) Wow, missionary life is such a roller coaster of ups and downs. This week had some pretty extremes of both. Overall there were more good things, but a couple of big disappointments as well. C, the girl who I was probably most excited about because of how well she is prepared (the one we taught Word of Wisdom to in like 5 minutes), dropped us. It was devastating. Satan works so hard against these people. She ended up getting a boyfriend and didn't want to make the changes. :( Also, M and D, a cute couple who have been progressing and coming to church every week decided they are going to look for another church. So, that was rough. It is so sad to know how much the gospel will bless these peoples' lives and do everything you can to help them realize that, and then have them choose to not accept it. No bueno. On the other hand, this week was full of some really great things too! Tuesday Hermana Crosby and I went to Bloomington. She had a leadership meeting and I worked with the Bloomington Spanish Sisters for the afternoon. Hermana Mattson is from California and is a convert of about 3 years. Hermana Pelaez is also a convert and is from Mexico! I had a ton of fun working with both of them. Hermana Palaez is really good at English, but her first language is Spanish and so I learned a TON from her in just a few hours. Then, we went on exchanges and I stayed in Bloomington with Hermana Mattson and Hermana Palaez went with Hermana Crosby to Lakeville. I had an interesting time with Hermana Mattson. Wednesday morning we got up and I asked her what she had in mind for exercise. Kickboxing. Haha, we went to this racquetball court at their apartment and she "taught" me how to kickbox. Hilarious. I definitely got more exercise from laughing than anything else. Haha. The rest of the day was a little rough because she had no one lined up to teach. We knocked doors all afternoon and had some pretty interesting encounters! No one was too interested though and one guy actually freaked out and yelled at us to get off his doorstep. Good times. Actually, even though it wasn't the best day, I did learn a lot and its always fun to see how other missionaries do things. I was pretty happy to be back that night in Lakeville. We taught this one girl, Z who was awesome! Hermana Crosby had met her when we were on exchanges the week before and Wednesday night we taught her the Restoration. She had some questions and thoughts that I felt like I could relate to well. I am super excited to see her progress! So, you asked what I did for Halloween. We had an appointment set up for that night, but it fell through. We couldn't go knock doors obviously, so we stopped by some less actives and a few ward members who help us a lot and brought them some treats. Then we were able to have a lesson later with this lady D who I told you about before. Her husband was there for the first time too so we taught about the Restoration. Friday morning we went to the Temple!!! This awesome lady in our ward, Sister Andersen, took us and we went to lunch afterwards. First time in a long time I heard it in English! It was a very good experience. :) I actually had read a talk earlier in the week called The Temple is About Families by Richard H. Winkel. Read it sometime this week, it's so good! It was given in October 2006. That gave me a new perspective as I went and it made me think more about the importance of families. I love my family SOOO much! I'm so grateful that we have the gospel and are able to enjoy the blessings of the temple. It also put things more into perspective as I am away from my family right now. I miss you all a lot, but this is such a short time compared to eternity. I'm not giving up time with you, my family, because we have forever. :) Haha okay, sorry I haven't been clear at all apparently. I don't attend English class to learn English. Hermana Crosby and I teach English class to Hispanics who do not know English. Haha, we do that every Saturday and it is always really fun. I've told you before that Sundays are the hardest days. I decided yesterday that it was going to be a great Sunday and that I needed to not have an attitude that every Sunday is going to be terrible. It honestly wasn't the best day, as far as things that happened, but I was happy all day :) Also, President Clements has encouraged us to expect miracles all day every day. Yesterday we didn't know who we were going to teach so I said a prayer and asked the Lord for a miracle. And He gave us one! We met this super sweet girl named M. It was a really good lessons about the Plan of Salvation. Normally we teach the Restoration first, but Hermana Crosby and I both felt like the Plan of Salvation was the way to go. It went really well! Overall this week was good, but I realized even more fully that there is no possibility that I could ever accomplish one single thing without the help of the Lord. I was reading my Patriarchal Blessing this morning and realized that the Lord has given me so much potential, but I have a lot do to do be able to accomplish those things. Right as I was thinking about how impossible it seems to reach that, I thought about how the Lord truly can make everything possible. I can do this! I can do this, but only with His help. :) Love you so much family. You are the best and I am so grateful for you. Stay strong and be happy. :) Love, Hermana Pierce

Faith it 'til you make it

Buenas Tardes Familia! What a week! Last Monday night, after having family home evening with K and her 3 adorable kids, AAA, Hermana Crosby and I went on a little road trip! Not really, we were going on exchanges and had to meet in the middle. I went to St. Peter to work with Hermana Watson and Hermana Jones came up to Lakeville. Tuesday was a very different day. It was interesting to see how different the teaching styles of different people are. Hermana Watson and Hermana Crosby are nothing alike at all. Hermana Watson is a lot more quiet and reserved. It was good for me, because I really stepped it up and talked to people a lot more. Hermana Crosby and I similar in a lot of ways, and both of us are willing to talk, but I usually let her because she is better at Spanish! It was fun meeting some new people though and having a change in scenery. The next day we got up super early because we had to drive to Bloomington for New Missionary Training. Hermana Watson was worried about traffic so we left really early and then ended up getting there 45 minutes early because it wasn't bad at all! Haha, I guess it was better to be super early than super late though. Anyways, the training was very good. President Clements led a lot of it, as well as Sister Clements and the APs. I learned a lot! One thing that stuck out was from Sister Clements. She told us instead of faking it until you make it, faith it! I loved that and have been working on faith a lot lately. We also had a really good lunch that one of the Relief Societies made for us. Lately I have been loving butternut squash! We had this butternut squash soup with cinnamon and it was so delicious. That night, we headed back to Lakeville and had a few good lessons to end the day. One with D, a lady who H. Crosby and I found a few weeks ago and has a lot of interest! She has some of the most unique, but good, questions. We also stopped by a less-active home and shared a message with them. Thursday, we had some more meetings. It was Zone Conference and then we also had interviews with President Clements. I really felt the Spirit throughout the day. I had this new sense of enthusiasm afterwards and felt like I had a lot more direction. We had a nice dinner with some members and then back to work! Except, everything fell through and we didn't really know what to do! I have learned quickly that this is not uncommon in missionary work, haha. Anyways, we drove to a trailer park where several investigators live. We had a few people in mind to see. I had this thought come into my mind that if I believed there could be miracles, there could be. Well, everyone we had in mind to go teach didn't answer the door. We decided to knock some doors on a street we hadn't really been to before. And.. we found 3 different Hispanic families!! It was awesome! Heavenly Father is in charge of His work! :) We also had a good lesson with a man named O, who has been investigating for a long time. He is doing awesome, just needs to get to church! Friday was a beautiful day. We road bikes! We do some service at this Legal office so we rode out to there. Their office helps people who need legal assistance but can't afford it. They sometimes have some names of Hispanics who can't speak English. So, we go and translate. Haha and when I say we I mean H. Crosby and I sit there quietly. :) Not quite to the level where I can have conversations about legal things. The time on our bikes took awhile so we weren't as productive as I would have liked (we are out of miles and have to be super conservative with our car), but we were able to see a few other people including R, the deaf man. And sorry for the confusion, but no, I don't actually teach in ASL. We always have a translator with us, but I have picked up some things so I can say a couple basic things haha. Oh, and I can pray in ASL. :) (Fast forward to Sunday- he got the Priesthood! H. Crosby and I sat in on his ordination, it was great!) Saturday, we had lunch with a recently married couple in our ward who are great examples of missionaries and have come teaching with us a few times! That was really fun. Then we went and taught M and her daughters K and L. Oh and K is 15 and L is 13. I love having lessons with them. Such sweet girls! We had to push our weekly planning to Saturday since we had all our meetings and things going on... So another kind of unproductive day as far as teaching goes... But its necessary so we do it! We went to the ward's trunk or treat and talked to some less active members and recent converts that came. There was a dinner afterwards and then we had English class. Yesterday was a rough day. We had a lot of people lined up to come to church. We took breakfast to B and A (A is the lady I told you about who we had challenged to pray about the B.M and Joseph Smith) so we could eat together and then have them follow us to church. Well, they were asleep. :( We knocked on the door for a solid 10 minutes and then finally A's brother answered the door. He told us that they weren't going to be able to make it. We left the breakfast for them. That was not the best start of the day and then other people who we were planning on having at church didn't come either. Only 1 for the second week in a row. Anyways, the rest of the day was rough too, but I guess I have to experience the hard so I can recognize the good. This has been such a learning experience and I know I'm experiencing hard things so that I can better learn to rely on the Lord and experience the joy too! :) Well, I love you all so much! Have a great week! Love, Hermana Pierce

Ups and downs

Hola familia, que tal? Time is really starting to speed up around here! The first week or so in Minnesota was so long, but today seems like it was just barely last Monday! Some great things happened this week. Oh, but first, let me just tell you that I got clarification about the blog rule. It's fine if you have one for me, but I just can't use real names. Sorry, it's kinda weird to read and not have a name to attach it to, but that's the rule. So, last Monday night we had a really awesome experience. We were supposed to see a lady who just got baptized two days before I came. She has three adorable little kids. Her husband isn't a member and is never usually there when we are over because he works late. Well, Monday night we went over and they weren't home. We sat in the car outside their house for a few minutes and made some calls there to give them a few minutes and see if they would get back since we had confirmed and they should have been there. The dad showed up a few minutes later, but not the mom and kids. So, we started driving off to another place where some investigators live that we could go see instead. Sister Crosby all of a sudden turned the car around and said that she felt like we needed to go talk to the dad. Right when we pulled up, the mom and kids pulled up too! We were able to have a FHE lesson with the WHOLE family!! And it was so good. We talked about Jesus and His life and this things He did. It was seriously amazing and I'm so grateful that Sister Crosby listened to the Spirit and that was able to happen! This week we didn't have as many lessons, and actually a lot of plans fell through. It was a little tough because we had worked hard to set things up, and make it a great week, but it didn't happen how we wanted. This week President Clements pushed like crazy for us as a mission to get investigators to church. Our goal as a mission was to have 250 to church. We had rides with members set up for four different people, and then we were going to drive out to this one family's house and bring them breakfast and have them follow us to church. Well, none of that happened. The only investigator who came was a lady who comes every week and who doesn't even go to the Lakeville ward because the family she lives with (who are members) live in Burnsville so they all just go there. Needless to say, that was frustrating. But, we tried to make the best of this week and we actually did have a lot of great things happen too. We have a few new people we are teaching and so far they have been open and receptive! I think my favorite part of this week was when we were teaching these two girls, K and L. We also teach their mom, but she wasn't there for one lesson because she was at work. Anyways, they are very nice girls and really want to do what is right and follow Christ. K gave her first out loud prayer and it was one of the sweetest things I have ever heard. She said something like, "thank you for letting me learn about You, because I never have been able to before..." The Spirit was so strong! I can't believe I forgot to tell you this before, I guess just because so much happens its hard to remember everything when I'm writing, but I'm actually not just speaking English and Spanish, but ASL too. There is this older man, R, who is deaf. He was recently baptized and every week we have little lessons with him. We always have someone with us who actually knows sign language, but still! He is very honest and hilarious. So, last week we gave him an assignment to read in his picture Book of Mormon and write down something that he liked. We promised him macadamia cookies too. This week we met with him and were surprised to read his very accurate account of what happened in Lehi's dream of the tree of life. He showed us some of the pictures in his book and we quickly realized that he actually just copied word for word the caption under the picture of Lehi's dream! It was so funny. Well, he tried. We will be bringing him cookies. We set a date for baptism this week too! Our investigator C, is so amazing. I told you about her a little last week. This week we saw her twice. The first time we had another great lesson and talked about baptism. We invited her to be baptized and she said yes! Right now, the date is December 7, and we promised her she can be ready by that day. The second time we taught about the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. I'm always amazed by how much she understands about the Spirit. She has recognized that He speaks truth and has felt so much happiness as she has learned about the gospel. She also told us that she had a lot of pressure from her family who are not thrilled about her talking with us. She told them she is going to do what makes her happy and talking with us does. :) We were finishing up the lesson and we asked her if she had any more questions. She said, "yes, actually I do. I heard you guys don't drink coffee and I was wondering what the deal is with that?" We decided to just go ahead and teach the Word of Wisdom right then and there. We talked about not putting addictive things into our body and she said, "oh that makes sense, I understand that. I know I'm addicted to coffee and I don't need it." We asked her if she would commit to living the W.W and she said, "Yes! I already gave up alcohol so coffee should be a piece of cake!" This girl has so much faith. Oh, so to give you an update on A, the lady who we challenged to pray about Joseph Smith and the B.M., no she did not pray. We had a lesson with them this week and ended up changing plans because her two brothers were also there and they had never been there before. So we talked about the Book of Mormon and hoping that she will actually pray. We are getting to the point with them that there isn't much left to teach and it really is in their hands. So pray that she will have the desire to pray and recognize an answer if she does! Saturday morning we went to a baptism! It was a man who the elders had been teaching. Funniest thing ever. He came out of the water and kind of did a little cheer and raised up his hands. I think he even might have whistled. Apparently he is a public speaker and does something with the news station. Well, after he was baptized he gave his testimony... which included some quotes by the author of Duck Dynasty (he brought the book too as a prop). It actually was a really good testimony, just hilarious. His wife had been a member for a long time so it was a very happy day for their family! Well, I love you all and hope you have a great day! Mom, I haven't seen the package yet, but I will look for it today! Thank you! And thanks for the letters/emails/prayers/love/support! It means so much and I am so grateful for the wonderful family and friends I have! Tengan a buena semana! Les quiero! Hermana Pierce

Pictures: Fall in Minnesota

Loving Lakeville

Hi!!! Wow this has been a long, crazy, awesome week! I really don't even know where to start. I forgot to tell you last time, but Sister Crosby is a Sister Training Leader which means I will be going on several exchanges these upcoming weeks. Tuesday there was a leadership meeting in Bloomington and so I worked in Burnsville with two other new missionaries. (Both English speaking) Sister Davis is from Perth, Australia and Sister Andersen from Idaho Falls. We were on bikes all day and if I could describe it in one word it would be: hills. Oh my goodness. We probably biked a solid 20 miles throughout the day. It was a pretty fun though and we knocked doors which I basically never have to do because we have tons of investigators! Got some angry people slamming doors, a few straight up rude, and even some crazies. Haha, it really made me appreciate the fact that I am speaking Spanish and get to be with the Hispanics. They are so awesome. This week has at times been frustrating because I never feel like I can express what I want to say in Spanish! I can usually keep up in the conversations but when I try to say something, it is kinda rough. It's not like I would expect it to be any different, but sometimes I get a little impatient that I'm not there yet. Sister Crosby has been such a big help for me though. She pushes me hard and also encourages me a lot too. So, we taught 27 lessons this week. We have tons of people we are working with. The biggest problem is trying to get these people to church. Our church is at 9am and it turns out that Hispanics hate getting up early. So, we have several people who are living the commandments and doing what they are supposed to be doing, except for coming to church. Sunday is also the most stressful day ever. Probably a lot more stressful for Sister Crosby though. She has to translate Sacrament and Relief Society. Sometimes there is another ward member who can help but he is on vacation. Our Sunday School class is in Spanish though so that's nice. I am so glad we have P day Monday because after days like yesterday, Mondays are when I need them the most! So, there is tons I could tell you about, but I will just tell you about my day on Thursday because it was the best. We had a lesson with a family that has been progressing for awhile. It was supposed to be on prophets, but the mom expressed a lot of concerns about how she is hesitant to go to church or participate in our church because she doesn't want to turn her back on what she knows which is Catholicism. Like basically every person she said something to the effect that every church leads to God. We realized the root of the problem was that she hadn't prayed specifically to know if the B.M is true and if Joseph Smith was a true prophet. So, we have been praying a lot this week that she will pray sincerely and recognize answers. We then had a lesson with a man who was baptized in July. Our focus for him now is for him to get the Priesthood. He has been very hesitant but we had a great lesson with him. There is a temple trip for baptisms with the Spanish group coming up in November so as long as he comes to church and stays for all 3 hours he should be able to get the Priesthood and go! He came for all 3 hours this week so he is doing great!! We taught another lesson to a lady who had some very genuine questions. She wanted to know about who Mormon is and why the Book of Mormon is named after him. It was a really good lesson. Several things fell through for the later part of the day on Thursday, so we ended up in a trailer park and met a lady who was outside watering her yard. We talked to her for a few minutes, but didn't have a ton of time to teach a whole restoration lesson. She has some questions about Joseph Smith though (she has been taught before by elders) so hopefully this week we will be able to answer her questions and help her to progress! Thursday we also had an absolutely amazing lesson with a girl who is so ready for this gospel. About a month before she met Sister Crosby and her old companion, she had decided to stop drinking and make some changes in her life. She has had a very difficult past and she really wants a fresh start. This girl is such a testimony builder that God really does prepare people to hear this gospel! Our lesson was about faith and repentance and she pretty much taught herself the whole thing. She has said yes to baptism and we are setting a date with her hopefully tomorrow! I am so happy for her because she is an incredible person and she just gets it. She is very receptive and actually loves reading in the B.M. and is very willing to do it. She also told us she has recognized the Spirit and has seen answers that this is true. There is nothing better than hearing that! Oh and she is one of the few people we teach in English so I can actually communicate with her too which is nice :) After her lesson we met another family who was enjoying a quiet night at home. They were very inviting and we are excited to teach them more too! We ended the night at a less active member's home helping her 10 year old son with his math homework. Great day! Ok, sorry that was ridiculously long, but it was just such a great day and I love being a missionary even though it is hard. I am so grateful to be here and I'm so grateful that the Lord has trusted me to help these people come to know our Savior. I was thinking the other day about how Sister Crosby has been helping all these people since before I came here and that even though she doesn't really have a choice, I feel humbled that I get to be a part of helping these people that she has loved and served for so long. She trusts me to invite these people to be baptized and to teach them etc even though I am so far from perfect. And then I realized that the Lord is doing the same thing. He loves all of His children so much, and it is so humbling to be able to serve them and help them, even though none of us are perfect. Well, I love you all tons! Thanks for the emails and letters and support! By the way, I did get your emails from last week, although I'm not sure how many times you sent them so I don't know what worked and what didn't. Maybe just send them twice, one through your own and one through Dad's so I can see what works and what doesn't! Oh, and I found out that transfers in December will be the 18th. So, I should be at the Jensen's until then, but after that it is up in the air. It would probably just be best to send everything through the mission office so that it can get to me for sure. Just remember packages have to be express so they can forward them. :) And thanks that would be great if you could get my stuff to me because winter is rapidly approaching! Keep letting me know what's going on! Love you all!!! Love, Hermana Pierce

Picture: First Companion

1st pictures after arriving in Minn

Week 1 in Minnesota

Hey family! Ok, I don't even know where to start! This week has been insane. It was so great talking to you! While we were flying over MN I felt so much excitement and happiness. Remember how I told you that when we flew here before I felt that way? It was basically the same thing, but even more and I felt the Spirit super strongly. Oh, and it is so pretty here. It is fall, and gorgeous. First thing, we went to the church by the mission home and received some instructions. I had my first meal in America in six weeks and I was almost in tears because of how happy I was to eat a sweet pork sandwich, salad, cowboy caviar with chips, and sweet pineapple. Oh and carrot cake! mmmm! It was the best. Wednesday night I said goodbye to Hermana Ficklin and hello to my trainer, Hermana Crosby! Hermana Crosby is so incredible. Besides being a great missionary and example, she is just someone that is easy to like. I know we are going to have so much fun! She reminds me a lot of Lizzie, so obviously she is awesome. :) Anyways, she is from California and is the oldest of 5. She has been out for about 8 months and her Spanish is very good. Dad, fun fact: Her dad went to Melbourne, Australia on his mission! I had been praying and fasting to have a good trainer that could help me a lot! She is definitely an answer to my prayers. My area is called Lakeville. It is this very nice suburb town. It is clean and a pretty rich area. Since we are Spanish missionaries we teach in a lot of surrounding towns, mostly in a place called Burnsville. The work is really moving in this area right now! I'm grateful for that... I basically have just jumped into the deep end and there is a lot to get used to and a ton to do, but that is how I like it. Busy, busy, busy!! We have a solid amount of investigators and taught a lot of lessons the last few days! Right now, Hermana Crosby does most of the talking. Our goal by the end of these twelve weeks is to be 50/50, so I have a lot of Spanish-learning and practicing to do! We are super lucky because we are living in a Member's home! We are actually the only Spanish-speaking sisters in the mission who are living in a home. The Jensen's are the best. They are probably the nicest people ever. They have six kids, but all are moved out except for the youngest, Charlotte, who is 16. We live in their basement. Sister Jensen is absolutely amazing at piano. Listening to her play is so fun. The second night I was here we crawled under their grand piano with Charlotte and listened. Fun fact about the Jensen's that I found out yesterday: Their son-in-law is the founder of Ragnar! Anyways, I love the Jensen family! We watcher the afternoon sessions of conference with them also... We watched the morning ones at church... in Spanish. So, needless to say, I will be waiting for the ensign to come out to get some personal revelation for myself! Haha, but it was good because we had some investigators come. So far, I have invited 4 people to be baptized and have also recited the 1st vision several times. We have taught quite a few lessons and so things are getting smoother. It is a little hard in the mornings to want to get out of my very warm, comfortable bed, but I just think about the people I get to help and that is what is motivating me! I'm so grateful that there are so many people we are teaching because it makes it easier to feel motivated, especially as I am starting off and getting used to everything. Ok, so obviously, today is P Day! So pretty please write me emails before Monday morning! Also, thank you for the watch and pictures! They turned out great! Can you guys please send me as soon as possible my winter stuff? Winter is getting close and I'm gonna need my things soon! Also, with that, could you send me my brown knee high boots? Or even just send those first and the other stuff later because that is what I really need right now! So, usually, it is best to send everything to the Mission home and they will forward it to me wherever I am. But, you need to please send it priority so they can forward it. My address right now though is 17781 Ikaria Ct., Lakeville, MN 55044. Unless something crazy happens I will be there until about Christmas time. So you should be okay to send anything directly to that address. :) Well, I love you all tons! Hope all is well at home! Let me know what is going on!! Love, Hermana Pierce

Last pictures from Mexico