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