Sweet Mexican Soda Pop
Sister Hylands last day in Lakeville
Lakeville District @ the Temple with Cupkie's
A happy place!
Cathedral in St Paul
Monday, August 25, 2014
Finally!! More pictures!
Hermana Pierce's 20th Bday 
Sweet Mexican Soda Pop
Sister Hylands last day in Lakeville
Lakeville District @ the Temple with Cupkie's
A happy place!
Cathedral in St Paul
Sweet Mexican Soda Pop
Sister Hylands last day in Lakeville
Lakeville District @ the Temple with Cupkie's
A happy place!
Cathedral in St Paul
No hablo ingles!
Hello!
Well its official; I can't speak English. This week we went on exchanges and Hermana White took over here in Spanish and I did English work with Sister Toone. We had a lot of fun and some really cool miracles, but wow, I am so bad at speaking English. It really is just when we are teaching people, since I am so used to teaching in Spanish. I would try to say words like "Priesthood" or "Baptism" and I the Spanish words just kept coming to mind!
We did have some awesome things happen though. We met a lady named D and asked her if she believes in God. She said, "somedays." She told us that she doesn't understand why God would let so many awful things happen especially in the Middle East and places where things are really bad. We testified of God's love for us and started teaching her about the Restoration and tried to answer her questions the best we could. She kept asking us, "how do you know that?" and we just tried to respond as sincerely as we could. As we continued to talk the Spirit was so strong and she told us that she believed everything we had told her. She asked us if she could come to church before we even invited her and she was so excited to have a copy of the Book of Mormon! She told us she believes that someone sent us to her and that she is excited for us to come back! Of course, I won't get to come back, but I'm excited for the sisters too! Also, a little over a month ago Hermana White and I met a mom and daughter who speak English and gave the referral to the Sisters. They have been teaching them and the mom is getting baptized in a few weeks! :)
This week was seriously great. Hermana White did a great job in taking over the area and definitely has more confidence now and has been doing better with teaching/planning and everything. We got to teach pretty much all of the investigators that we weren't able to see last week which was great too. We taught Ri and Ma about the Plan of Salvation. The only problem right now is that Ma works on Sundays and there is no way she can get work off with this job.. :/ We have faith that if it is meant to be that Heavenly Father will provide a way!!
We taught J again too. So many great questions from that girl. We taught her about the Plan of Salvation as well and ended up focusing a lot on the Atonement. She didn't understand why Jesus had to come to earth and die for us. We explained and testified and the Spirit was there to help her understand. Her faith is definitely growing already.
Sundays are the best days. Yesterday we had a few people to church. Lucky for me, the Branch President asked me to speak approximately one minute before Sacrament started. A high councilor was supposed to come and speak but he didn't show up. I talked about prayer and I think it went okay, haha.
Yesterday we were able to visit Ma and E. They haven't come to church for a few weeks because they have been super busy fixing things up before the cold comes, but they said they will be there this coming Sunday. Our branch president told us he thinks there is something different about them and he was really worried for them because a few weeks ago when Ma was there the lesson was about eternal marriage and it got into some deep, confusing doctrine and Ma apparently seemed a little uncomfortable. Everything seems to be fine though!
We had a great end to the day yesterday when we visited Mi and A with Hermano Lopez. We retaught the Restoration since that was something Mi didn't understand and it honestly could not have gone any better. Hermano Lopez explained things so clearly that I even learned things I didn't know about the Restoration before. It helped so much and both of them expressed that they understood a lot better. It was great!
It's crazy that this is already the last week of the transfer! This summer has gone by so fast. Good luck with starting school and all the fall things coming up! Love you all!! :)
♥Hermana Pierce
Well its official; I can't speak English. This week we went on exchanges and Hermana White took over here in Spanish and I did English work with Sister Toone. We had a lot of fun and some really cool miracles, but wow, I am so bad at speaking English. It really is just when we are teaching people, since I am so used to teaching in Spanish. I would try to say words like "Priesthood" or "Baptism" and I the Spanish words just kept coming to mind!
We did have some awesome things happen though. We met a lady named D and asked her if she believes in God. She said, "somedays." She told us that she doesn't understand why God would let so many awful things happen especially in the Middle East and places where things are really bad. We testified of God's love for us and started teaching her about the Restoration and tried to answer her questions the best we could. She kept asking us, "how do you know that?" and we just tried to respond as sincerely as we could. As we continued to talk the Spirit was so strong and she told us that she believed everything we had told her. She asked us if she could come to church before we even invited her and she was so excited to have a copy of the Book of Mormon! She told us she believes that someone sent us to her and that she is excited for us to come back! Of course, I won't get to come back, but I'm excited for the sisters too! Also, a little over a month ago Hermana White and I met a mom and daughter who speak English and gave the referral to the Sisters. They have been teaching them and the mom is getting baptized in a few weeks! :)
This week was seriously great. Hermana White did a great job in taking over the area and definitely has more confidence now and has been doing better with teaching/planning and everything. We got to teach pretty much all of the investigators that we weren't able to see last week which was great too. We taught Ri and Ma about the Plan of Salvation. The only problem right now is that Ma works on Sundays and there is no way she can get work off with this job.. :/ We have faith that if it is meant to be that Heavenly Father will provide a way!!
We taught J again too. So many great questions from that girl. We taught her about the Plan of Salvation as well and ended up focusing a lot on the Atonement. She didn't understand why Jesus had to come to earth and die for us. We explained and testified and the Spirit was there to help her understand. Her faith is definitely growing already.
Sundays are the best days. Yesterday we had a few people to church. Lucky for me, the Branch President asked me to speak approximately one minute before Sacrament started. A high councilor was supposed to come and speak but he didn't show up. I talked about prayer and I think it went okay, haha.
Yesterday we were able to visit Ma and E. They haven't come to church for a few weeks because they have been super busy fixing things up before the cold comes, but they said they will be there this coming Sunday. Our branch president told us he thinks there is something different about them and he was really worried for them because a few weeks ago when Ma was there the lesson was about eternal marriage and it got into some deep, confusing doctrine and Ma apparently seemed a little uncomfortable. Everything seems to be fine though!
We had a great end to the day yesterday when we visited Mi and A with Hermano Lopez. We retaught the Restoration since that was something Mi didn't understand and it honestly could not have gone any better. Hermano Lopez explained things so clearly that I even learned things I didn't know about the Restoration before. It helped so much and both of them expressed that they understood a lot better. It was great!
It's crazy that this is already the last week of the transfer! This summer has gone by so fast. Good luck with starting school and all the fall things coming up! Love you all!! :)
♥Hermana Pierce
Monday, August 18, 2014
1 year and NOT counting
Hola familia! como estan?
This week was a little tricky with getting in to seeing all of our investigators. Hopefully this week will be better with return appointments and getting people to really progress! We have a lot of good people, sometimes the progress is just a little slow though.
One thing that at first was a disappointment is that Mi isn't going to be baptized this Sunday. He still has some doubts and questions about some of the fundamentals and he can't really be baptized if he doesn't have a testimony of those things. Their family is struggling with finances and other things and so there is a lot of stress on Mi right now. I have no doubt that he will be baptized, just not right now. One thing that I really had to learn this week is that the Lord's timing is not my timing. He knows exactly what Mi needs and when he should be baptized. As a missionary my purpose is to help people come unto Christ through the principles of the gospel, of course including baptism. It is hard when there are a lot of people that I want with all my heart to accept the gospel and right now. I keep learning again and again I just have to have faith, do my best, and trust in the Lord. :)
Last night we taught an awesome mom named Ja the restoration. She has had so many questions all her life about religion and never has really been able to find the answers. She is Catholic, but doesn't like everything about the Catholic church. We taught her about when Jesus Christ was on the earth and set up His church, and she was one step ahead of us and asking about why there are so many churches now. Then we taught about the great apostasy and Joseph Smith and she thought it was cool, but still wondered how anyone could know if it was really true. That lead perfectly into the Book of Mormon and praying to know the truth for ourselves. The Spirit was so strong as we were able to teach the lesson to meet her questions and needs. We are seeing her again this Thursday! I can't wait! :)
This week I will have been out on my mission for 1 year. There is a elder leaving from the branch this week and yesterday was his open house. We didn't have a dinner appointment but we were invited so we went and had tamales. :) It made me think back to the time right before I left and all those feelings of being nervous and excited. It is amazing to think of how much I have changed during this year. This is the first year in probably 15 that I didn't go to school, but I have learned more in this year about things far more valuable than what I learned from text books, not that that stuff isn't important ;). I have learned about my purpose in life, the gospel of Jesus Christ and what it means to be His disciple. I've learned that it is possible to love everyone no matter who they are or where they come from and despite any and all weaknesses. I have learned so much about the Atonement and the blessings of repentance. All of that, plus Spanish, and yet there is so much more still to learn. I am so grateful for these next 6 months I have ahead of me as a full time missionary and then for the rest of my life after that to forever be a follower of Jesus Christ and a witness of Him. :)
Love you!!
♥Hermana Pierce
This week was a little tricky with getting in to seeing all of our investigators. Hopefully this week will be better with return appointments and getting people to really progress! We have a lot of good people, sometimes the progress is just a little slow though.
One thing that at first was a disappointment is that Mi isn't going to be baptized this Sunday. He still has some doubts and questions about some of the fundamentals and he can't really be baptized if he doesn't have a testimony of those things. Their family is struggling with finances and other things and so there is a lot of stress on Mi right now. I have no doubt that he will be baptized, just not right now. One thing that I really had to learn this week is that the Lord's timing is not my timing. He knows exactly what Mi needs and when he should be baptized. As a missionary my purpose is to help people come unto Christ through the principles of the gospel, of course including baptism. It is hard when there are a lot of people that I want with all my heart to accept the gospel and right now. I keep learning again and again I just have to have faith, do my best, and trust in the Lord. :)
Last night we taught an awesome mom named Ja the restoration. She has had so many questions all her life about religion and never has really been able to find the answers. She is Catholic, but doesn't like everything about the Catholic church. We taught her about when Jesus Christ was on the earth and set up His church, and she was one step ahead of us and asking about why there are so many churches now. Then we taught about the great apostasy and Joseph Smith and she thought it was cool, but still wondered how anyone could know if it was really true. That lead perfectly into the Book of Mormon and praying to know the truth for ourselves. The Spirit was so strong as we were able to teach the lesson to meet her questions and needs. We are seeing her again this Thursday! I can't wait! :)
This week I will have been out on my mission for 1 year. There is a elder leaving from the branch this week and yesterday was his open house. We didn't have a dinner appointment but we were invited so we went and had tamales. :) It made me think back to the time right before I left and all those feelings of being nervous and excited. It is amazing to think of how much I have changed during this year. This is the first year in probably 15 that I didn't go to school, but I have learned more in this year about things far more valuable than what I learned from text books, not that that stuff isn't important ;). I have learned about my purpose in life, the gospel of Jesus Christ and what it means to be His disciple. I've learned that it is possible to love everyone no matter who they are or where they come from and despite any and all weaknesses. I have learned so much about the Atonement and the blessings of repentance. All of that, plus Spanish, and yet there is so much more still to learn. I am so grateful for these next 6 months I have ahead of me as a full time missionary and then for the rest of my life after that to forever be a follower of Jesus Christ and a witness of Him. :)
Love you!!
♥Hermana Pierce
Monday, August 11, 2014
I♥Lakeville
Hi Family!!!
This week went by so fast and tons happened! It was great.
We saw V on Monday. She is pregnant and has been in the doctors a lot/sick so she hasn't been doing great about coming to church. Hopefully we will be able to keep her progressing, but we will have to move her baptismal date. She has such a strong desire to be baptized and she is doing well with keeping the commandments and everything else! Her little boy came to church though with his grandma, Hermana Perez and his aunt. Hermana Perez and Arlett (her daughter) have been actively coming the past few months! :):):) It always makes me so happy to see them!
Mi is doing well also. He has his interview this Thursday so hopefully all goes well!! They came to church and seemed to enjoy it. The hardest thing for Mi is not getting bored in church because it is kind of long. Hopefully he will continue to enjoy it more and apply it better in his life. We taught them this past week about things to do to have a better church experience. Alma is still doing amazing. She loves the gospel and shares it with everyone. She has such a strong testimony and even though it is new to her so there are plenty of questions and things she doesn't fully understand, she has so much faith!
Ma also came to church with the kids, but had to leave before Sacrament. We aren't sure yet why E didn't come, but we had a great lesson with them Saturday! We keep going back and forth with them trying to decide if we should keep teaching them, but lately they have been doing a lot more to come to church and everything, so Heavenly Father is definitely answering our prayers!
Last week I told you about how we met an awesome couple named R and May. This week we taught them about the Book of Mormon and it was an amazing lesson. They gave us their full attention and expressed sincere interest to know if it is true. The Spirit was powerful again with them and we are teaching them this week too with the Montecillos! R told us that usually May doesn't like to listen to anybody from churches other than the Catholic, but that she felt different with us and so he thinks that means something. I'm so grateful that we found them and I know that they are prepared! :)
We had Zone Conference this week with President Forbes. It went very well! We are going to try to focus on working more with less actives and active members to do finding. It's obviously a challenge for us to do that since we don't have tons of people, but we have some new ideas that we are going to try!
I'm excited for another great week of missionary work and I hope that you all have a great week too! We are going to St. Paul today to do a little sight seeing! I'll send pics next week.
Love you!!
Hermana Pierce
This week went by so fast and tons happened! It was great.
We saw V on Monday. She is pregnant and has been in the doctors a lot/sick so she hasn't been doing great about coming to church. Hopefully we will be able to keep her progressing, but we will have to move her baptismal date. She has such a strong desire to be baptized and she is doing well with keeping the commandments and everything else! Her little boy came to church though with his grandma, Hermana Perez and his aunt. Hermana Perez and Arlett (her daughter) have been actively coming the past few months! :):):) It always makes me so happy to see them!
Mi is doing well also. He has his interview this Thursday so hopefully all goes well!! They came to church and seemed to enjoy it. The hardest thing for Mi is not getting bored in church because it is kind of long. Hopefully he will continue to enjoy it more and apply it better in his life. We taught them this past week about things to do to have a better church experience. Alma is still doing amazing. She loves the gospel and shares it with everyone. She has such a strong testimony and even though it is new to her so there are plenty of questions and things she doesn't fully understand, she has so much faith!
Ma also came to church with the kids, but had to leave before Sacrament. We aren't sure yet why E didn't come, but we had a great lesson with them Saturday! We keep going back and forth with them trying to decide if we should keep teaching them, but lately they have been doing a lot more to come to church and everything, so Heavenly Father is definitely answering our prayers!
Last week I told you about how we met an awesome couple named R and May. This week we taught them about the Book of Mormon and it was an amazing lesson. They gave us their full attention and expressed sincere interest to know if it is true. The Spirit was powerful again with them and we are teaching them this week too with the Montecillos! R told us that usually May doesn't like to listen to anybody from churches other than the Catholic, but that she felt different with us and so he thinks that means something. I'm so grateful that we found them and I know that they are prepared! :)
We had Zone Conference this week with President Forbes. It went very well! We are going to try to focus on working more with less actives and active members to do finding. It's obviously a challenge for us to do that since we don't have tons of people, but we have some new ideas that we are going to try!
I'm excited for another great week of missionary work and I hope that you all have a great week too! We are going to St. Paul today to do a little sight seeing! I'll send pics next week.
Love you!!
Hermana Pierce
Monday, August 4, 2014
Happy August!
Happy August!
I try not to really think about the time, but when I realized that this is the month I left for my mission a year ago I kind of freaked out!
This week was a great one! M is doing great. I love their family so much and am so happy that I have been able to teach them. They went to Duluth this weekend for A's birthday, so they weren't at church, but they have been doing great about reading in the Book of Mormon and praying both individually and as a family. :)
We had a great lesson with V this past week too. We taught her the Word of Wisdom and had her read the scripture in D&C 89:18-21 which is the promise if we obey. She got this surprised look on her face and said, "That's kind of scary! So, if you keep it you will be protected, but if you don't an angel will slay you!?" The way she said it was so funny! She committed to living it and said the sweetest pray afterwards too! She really wants this in her life, but there are a lot of distractions too so we are hoping she will be able to come to church this week and keep doing well!
We had a great miracle yesterday when M and E, a family we have been teaching, showed up to church out of the blue. They have been taught on and off before by missionaries and recently we picked them back up and have been trying to help them progress. M especially is going through a lot and he said that he would like to be baptized. They aren't married though and don't really understand why they need to be even though we have taught it several times. We have confidence the Spirit will help them understand and they will have the desire to change!
One night we were out finding and it was just about time to go home. We decided to knock one more door and ended up finding an awesome family! Their names are R and M. We taught them and their kids the Restoration and have a return appointment this week. They were the sweetest people and the Spirit was very strong. When they heard about Joseph Smith they both had these looks of amazement on their face and we could tell they could feel it!
I think that one of the hardest things about being a missionary is hearing the same excuses over and over and having to be patient. There are times when I just want people to accept the gospel and understand the message so bad, but they don't. I have to take a step back and trust in the Lord. He knows who is prepared and who isn't. Of course everyone won't accept this message right now at this time, but there are people that will, because it is the truth! We just have to have faith, love, obedience, and diligence!! I love being a missionary and am so grateful for the huge blessing it is to share the gospel!!
Love you all and hope you have a wonderful week! :)
♥Hermana Pierce
I try not to really think about the time, but when I realized that this is the month I left for my mission a year ago I kind of freaked out!
This week was a great one! M is doing great. I love their family so much and am so happy that I have been able to teach them. They went to Duluth this weekend for A's birthday, so they weren't at church, but they have been doing great about reading in the Book of Mormon and praying both individually and as a family. :)
We had a great lesson with V this past week too. We taught her the Word of Wisdom and had her read the scripture in D&C 89:18-21 which is the promise if we obey. She got this surprised look on her face and said, "That's kind of scary! So, if you keep it you will be protected, but if you don't an angel will slay you!?" The way she said it was so funny! She committed to living it and said the sweetest pray afterwards too! She really wants this in her life, but there are a lot of distractions too so we are hoping she will be able to come to church this week and keep doing well!
We had a great miracle yesterday when M and E, a family we have been teaching, showed up to church out of the blue. They have been taught on and off before by missionaries and recently we picked them back up and have been trying to help them progress. M especially is going through a lot and he said that he would like to be baptized. They aren't married though and don't really understand why they need to be even though we have taught it several times. We have confidence the Spirit will help them understand and they will have the desire to change!
One night we were out finding and it was just about time to go home. We decided to knock one more door and ended up finding an awesome family! Their names are R and M. We taught them and their kids the Restoration and have a return appointment this week. They were the sweetest people and the Spirit was very strong. When they heard about Joseph Smith they both had these looks of amazement on their face and we could tell they could feel it!
I think that one of the hardest things about being a missionary is hearing the same excuses over and over and having to be patient. There are times when I just want people to accept the gospel and understand the message so bad, but they don't. I have to take a step back and trust in the Lord. He knows who is prepared and who isn't. Of course everyone won't accept this message right now at this time, but there are people that will, because it is the truth! We just have to have faith, love, obedience, and diligence!! I love being a missionary and am so grateful for the huge blessing it is to share the gospel!!
Love you all and hope you have a wonderful week! :)
♥Hermana Pierce
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