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