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

Adios Mexico

Hola! Well, my time here has come to an end and a new adventure awaits me! I am very excited and nervous and ready and not ready all at the same time. This time has flown by, and has been so great. This week especially has been SO good. Nothing in particular happened, except that I have felt the Spirit so strongly this week, especially the last few weeks. The only thing that was not so great about this week was our field orientation day. It was good, but unbelievably long. Friday was possibly the longest day of my entire life... Even longer than the first day I was here. But está bien! It was good and made what I´m doing seem more real. Sunday was so good like always. This was probably my favorite. Again, nothing in particular, I just have really felt the Spirit! Yesterday was really awesome too. Sad, but good. We said goodbye to the other Hermanas: Hermana Livingston and Dodson, and also Elders Jolley and Cluff. No me gusta goodbyes. :( Last night we had one final lesson with Hermano Hardy that was, like always, incredible. Afterwards the Elders gave us blessings. It was so cool because even though none of them had really given very many, if any at all, the Spirit was so strong and I could feel the power of the priesthood. I will miss this district and the CCM, but I know much greater lies ahead! This week I have also felt much more that I truly am a representative of Jesus Christ. I have the power and authority to preach His gospel and bring others unto Him. What an amazing responsibility and privilege. I don´t know why, but this week that just really hit me. Whenever I testify of what I believe and know to be true, my fear leaves me and I feel the Spririt. It is absolutely amazing and I know it will only continue to get better as I meet and teach others. Every single person needs this gospel! Hermana Ficklin and I also got a lot closer this week too. We had a difficult lesson one night... Actually, it went well... Our investigator Renato committed to baptism, but something just felt off. Before the lesson we had practiced asking questions andn trying to listen to the Spirit. While we were practicing, I received revelation for what we needed to say to Renato. I guess I just assumed Hermana Ficklin felt the Spirit too because I did, but later she told me she hadn´t and had no idea why not. We had a really good heart to heart. Sometimes, we do everything we can, and just can´t feel what we are trying to feel. I have learned in my time here that there are often times things that Heavenly Father is trying to teach us... He pushes us to exercise more faith in Him. Anyways, even though it was a more negative experience, it ended up being good because we were able to just talk about things we really hadn´t before. I am grateful for Hermana Ficklin and for what she has taught me! Well, Spanish is still getting better... slowly, but surely. At this point, I understand the grammer and can conjugate in any tense... it is just a matter of applying it which takes tons of practice! I´m grateful because even though it has been hard, I haven´t worried too much about my spanish. I know the Lord will help me... It isn´t about Spanish anyways, it´s about helping people to come to Christ by feeling the Spirit. Even if they can´t understand us, they can feel the Spirit. :) I´m super excited to talk to you guys tomorrow! Is there anyway I can talk to Brad and Brooke or will they be in school? Mom, I´m so glad to hear you all were okay and didn´t get hurt on the freeway! That is so scary. It is so good to know Heavenly Father is watching over you! Brad, I´m sorry to hear about your shoulder! Get better soon! Dad, thanks for the update and for the stuff about Sunday School! I will read through that more thoroughly when I have time! :) Brooke, por favor, write me! I love reading about what is happening with all of you! Oh and that is awesome about Karin! No, she did NOT tell me! Can one of you give her my email and tell her to write me pronto! Thanks :) Well, I will talk to you tomorrow! I leave the CCM at 3am! Today I am pretty much just packing and getting ready.. and hopefully getting to bed early! ¡Les quiero mucho! :) Hermana Pierce