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