Hasta Ver (Feb. 16)

Hola Familia!

I'm so grateful that I could have my last full week as a full time missionary be so wonderful. Every day was full of good experiences and like always, I learned and grew so much.

Saturday was such a special day! Jenny, Alondra, Emily and Vanessa all were baptized! It was the perfect way to spend Valentine's day, seeing them show their love for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. In the days before the baptism we had some really good lessons with them. The Spirit was so strong and it was a good preparation for this weekend! Even more powerful was yesterday when they were confirmed. They were each given very specific blessings that could not have been more perfect. There is no way that the person confirming them could have known their needs so well. It strengthened my testimony of the power of the Priesthood and also just how much our Heavenly Father knows and loves us. :) These girls will continue on to do great things! Jenny's sister was able to attend the baptism, but unfortunately N was not. :( We haven't been able to see him again yet, but soon!




Yesterday was such a beautiful day. In addition to having the confirmations, the L's came to church! I was beside myself with joy seeing them walk in. They loved it too and we are seeing them tonight! They are another perfect example of how our Heavenly Father knows us and knows what we need. In such a short time they have come to mean so much to me!

I will share more with you about this week later, but I just wanted to share a few thoughts now. I can't even begin to express my gratitude to the Lord for this amazing mission journey. As I reflect on the past 18 months I think about the people that I have become so close to and the sweet experiences that have made up my mission. All the hard times or discouraging times seem to fade away and I am so caught up in gratitude and love for this experience. I can't even imagine my life without my mission. Looking back, everyday was full of exactly what Heavenly Father knew I needed. I know that not because of anything that I did on my own, I could also be what other people needed too and there really is no better feeling than that: To know that what we are doing is what Heavenly Father would have us do.

My mind has expanded and my spirit has been strengthened and I do know with more surety than I've ever had that Jesus is my Savior and that His gospel and church are upon the earth today. This work is true. God is our Father and we are His children who have divine potential to return to Him and become like Him. He listens to our prayers and He sends us guidance. Right now, in this moment, we have a prophet on the earth who has been called by Him to give us the necessary light to make it back home. I love these truths with all my heart. It has taken work and it will for everyone who wants to know. But when those moments of light come it is worth every single sacrifice that we make to find it.

I love you!

Hermana Pierce

Our Father Loves Us! (Feb 9)

Buenos Dias!

This week has been another great one, full of little miracles and lots of growth and learning! It's interesting that sometimes it is easier to see things in retrospect, which is what I have been doing lately with my mission up to this point. The blessings I have received can't be counted or described and I continue to love this work more each day.

We saw the L's and were able to have a wonderful visit and we were able to serve them as well! We really have developed a close friendship so quickly with them. Wade has come with us a lot too and they really get along. It's amazing what has happened in such a short time. When we first came over the wife, B, expressed a lot of doubts about doctrine. Somehow, most of those doubts are resolved and she has a very strong desire to be active and have her husband join her as well. We don't even know what we did, but the Spirit obviously touched her and helped her to change her heart! They haven't come to church yet, the roads have been bad, but we are confident they will soon! Hopefully this Sunday!

This week Hermana Hiatt and I got to go to the temple! Usually are over an hour from St. Paul so usually we wouldn't be able to go, but when I was on exchanges in Lakeville we had dinner with one of my favorite families there and they told us they wanted to take us to the temple. They even asked President Forbes who said yes, so we got to go! It was really good. I love the temple so much! It had been about 7 months since I had been.

Our investigators D and E are so sweet! They committed to giving up coffee this week and both are doing awesome with reading! I will have to tell you more about them later, but they are so interesting and fun! And they are really excited to get baptized at the end of March!

J and her girls are getting baptized this Saturday! There are a few things we have to go over with them this week, but as long as everything goes well it should all work out! They are really excited and doing great! We weren't able to meet with N this week, but we will this coming week and he should be at the baptism too! :)

Some of our investigators and less active families have some really big concerns that we honestly just didn't know how to deal with. Hermana Hiatt and I decided to fast this Sunday for them and it was one of the most uplifting fasts I've ever had. We received a lot of revelation and so much peace that Heavenly Father loves these individuals and knows exactly what they need. I have come to realize that He truly does know exactly what I need. I'm sure I will realize it even more as I continue through life. I have been able to see so many examples of when things have happened that have been exactly what I needed or exactly what I needed to do for someone else. As I have begun to see that He is in the smallest details of our lives, it has brought me so much closer to Him and I am so grateful for that! God is our Father and He loves us! :)

Love,
Hermana Pierce

I love St. Peter! (Feb 2)

Hola, como estan?

Just about every day this week Hermana Hiatt and I have had a conversation about how we don't understand how we have been so blessed lately! Missionary work is always awesome because there are always miracles and cool things, but either I have gotten a lot better at recognizing the blessings or these past few weeks have been truly exceptional! I think maybe a little of both.

We visited the family I mentioned last week that has been less active for years- the father and 2 sons. Long story short, science and reason led to doubt, and eventually to complete confusion about spiritual things. We had such a great lesson with them though and they are very humble and open to "experimenting" on the word and trying to regain their faith. We are seeing them again tonight and I can't wait! It's amazing how no matter where we are with our testimonies, we are never free from danger of losing it if we do not continually exercise faith to grow it. One of the saddest things I have seen on my mission is how many people who have once lived and held on to the gospel have somehow become lost. The answer really is in those small and simple things done sincerely and consistently.

We had an amazing lesson with the L's- the family I had met before on exchanges. Her doubts were about the Plan of Salvation but she told us she understood a lot better when we talked about it the other day. She wants an eternal marriage with her husband so bad! He wants to be with her too but hasn't realized what that means or what he has to do. They both committed to coming to church this Sunday. Sadly, there was a snow storm Sunday morning and a lot of people didn't come to church because of that, including them. Next week though!

J and her daughters are still so excited for their baptism and are doing awesome. We taught about temples this week and they loved it and asked lots of questions. They come to church every week and are reading and doing so great! We had a really cool miracle with their family this week. J's husband has not been interested at all. He is supportive and isn't against them going to church or getting baptized, but he told the sisters he isn't interested in anything to do with religion and he has had some bad experiences in the past with other churches. One day we decided to stop by unannounced to see how they were doing and we happened to find N, J's husband, at home. He usually is working every day all day except Sundays so we got to talk with him and he told us he actually really wants to be a part of what his family is doing. He has lots of questions and doubts about everything, but he wants this to be a family thing and he wants to know for himself too! We came back last night and had an amazing lesson and he is so committed to finding the truth. He had a complete change of heart! This gospel is for families and we are so excited that they will get to have this as a family too! :)

We were able to have a couple more great lessons with Tana this week. She is starting a job soon in the cities so will likely be gone this week, but it was nice to get to teach her a few more times. She had the opportunity to move earlier, but she decided not to. We asked her why and she told us that she knows there will be lots of temptations and she just felt like she shouldn't go. Unfortunately, she still be back there soon, but hopefully our last few lessons helped her and she will be able to stay strong up there!

As always, there is so much more I could say. I love being a missionary and I am so grateful for all that Heavenly Father has taught me so far. I hope you all have a great week! Love you!

Love,
Hermana Pierce