Happy Halloween!!

Hola familia mia!

Hermana Ficklin and I are having a fantastic time here in Austin! This week flew by, like usual, and was full of great things. We were able to find some new people and also get in contact with some less-active members we haven't seen for awhile.

My favorite part of this week was teaching Gh and his brother. We brought a sister in the ward who speaks a little French and it was very helpful! The Spirit was strong as we went over the basics of the Restoration again. We have been working on establishing a common ground when teaching so that we don't immediately highlight all the differences between our church and others, but rather look at the good things we both believe in and work from there. Sometimes that's hard for me because the gospel is so great and I want everyone to be able to understand all of it right away! Our lessons this week were good though and surely but slowly Gh is progressing. His brother has shown some interest in sitting in on lessons, so maybe we can help him to progress too. Yesterday was wonderful because for the first time Gh came to church!! He seemed to like it so we're looking forward to following up with him this week.

We are doing a lot of work trying to implement things to help get the members involved with both finding/teaching new investigators and also helping less actives. It is the focus that President Forbes is trying to get us to take, and so we are trying to do that. It's so different than what I'm used to, and it is hard because it takes a lot of time, but we are getting there!

Yesterday I had a very unique experience of going to a Pentecostal church with some of our Hispanic investigators. It was so interesting. It really helped me to be in the shoes of someone who comes to a new church for the first time. It was way different than the Church of Jesus Christ of LDS- lots of loud music, the pastor screaming his message at the top of his lungs, and lots of "hallelujahs" and other praises randomly came from the congregation. It was good though... good people showing their love for God. It reinforced in me the importance of Priesthood Authority and correct teachings. It really was a cool experience though and I think it really helped strengthen the trust with our investigators too. They have a cool story. V was Catholic until she met her husband. He had been involved with the Cartel and spent 6 years in prison where he changed and decided to join the Pentecostal church. We haven't had the chance to teach him yet, because he works all week long, but hopefully this week!

I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a missionary and learn and help others. I wish I could tell you all the experiences and little things that happen because it really is amazing!

Tomorrow we are having Zone Conference in Bloomington and Elder Carlson of the 70 will be there. Should be great!

Love you all!
♥Hermana Pierce

The Why of the Gospel

Buenos Dias!

This past week has been kind of weird, but really good! Weird because a member threw a live, pet chicken at me and also because of transfers! Good, because being a missionary is always good and I learned lots of things! The chicken thing was actually really funny. Anyways, Tuesday Hermana Maravilla and I drove to Bloomington and said goodbye! I miss her already! I got to work with the Bloomington sisters for the day and we had a great time. I learned a lot from them and we taught some really cool people! Wednesday morning we had our transfer meeting and Hermana Ficklin and I hit the road!
Also, Hermana Rawlins is training this transfer so I'm a grandma in missionary terms! Haha

Hermana Ficklin was actually in Austin with Hermana Maravilla 4 transfers ago so she already knows the members and many of the people that live here. It's been awesome because we both know different things about the area and have been able to set right to work! President Forbes has been emphasizing working with part-member families, prospective elders, and children of record a lot lately. Actually, I think that's all I've heard him talk about in the last little while. We are trying to change our focus and work with these families! It's kind of a slow process, but hopefully we will be able to help a lot of people!

We had probably the best lesson we have had with Ge yesterday. We were really careful to make sure he understood what we were saying and our communication with him was good! He committed to pray specifically about the Book of Mormon, which is something he hasn't done before.

Saturday night and Sunday morning we had Stake Conference. Elder Golden of the 70 was there and said some things that I will never forget. He said that as members, we are really good about the what, how, where, and when of the gospel. We know what to do and how to do it etc. But one thing we need to work on is the 'why.' Joseph Smith said that the most important difference between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other religions is that we have the gift of the Holy Ghost. Elder Golden discussed how the Holy Ghost is the purifier and the sanctifier that changes us to become people that God can save. That is why we must pray and read in our scriptures daily. It allows us to feel the Spirit that we received after baptism. When we have the Spirit, we receive a continual remission of our sins and are made better. No unclean thing can enter into the kingdom of God and no one can be clean without the power and the gift of the Holy Ghost. I wish I could explain this as well as he had, but hopefully this makes sense! We need the Holy Ghost in our lives because it is what makes us clean. Every time we feel the Spirit we are changed.

I love you all and hope everyone has an excellent week! Do something great! :)
♥Hermana Pierce

Adieu Hermana Maravilla

Nidi!

The work continues to be great every single day here in Austin. This was Hermana Maravilla's last week in her mission. I'm going to miss her so much! She is an amazing missionary and we had so much fun together. Along with working hard at missionary work, we have laughed so much, especially the last few days! I have learned so many things from her and I really am sad to say goodbye. I wish we could have had another transfer! She's my first companion that I've only gotten one with! I'm assuming I'm staying here, but transfers haven't been sent out yet so I don't know who is coming here or anything.


Austin District and Hermana Maravilla


I realized that I don't think I've mentioned anything about C, a lady we are teaching. She is a hilarious person that has been taught my missionaries for over 20 years. Yes, 20. Or maybe 30. She can't even remember anymore. The sisters were teaching her when I came here and Hermana Maravilla and I saw her a few times and decided that we aren't going to keep teaching her because she is not in any way progressing. We talked to President Forbes about her at conferences a few weeks ago, and he counseled us to continue teaching her. So, we have been, and its been good. It was a little humbling because Hermana Maravilla and I decided that if after 20+ years she hadn't been baptized, it probably isn't too likely that something is going to change now. I have thought and prayed about it and I realized that the Lord doesn't care how long things take. Hours and hours and hours have been spent in this one lady's home. But that's because He loves her that much. And He loves each of us that much. He doesn't give up! Of course, there are some times when people really aren't ready at the moment and they need time, but the Lord will tell us who needs us and when. We still aren't sure what to do exactly to help her, but please keep her in your prayers!

The rest of our investigators are doing well. G is ever faithful in coming to church. We are just trying to help him understand some fundamental things that he struggles with. He will take some time, but things are good!

G

Gh had a busy week, but we did start teaching him the Plan of Salvation. It's pretty slow with him like usual, but still good! He loves learning the things we teach and wants to come to church, but hasn't yet. It's a tricky situation with his family, but we are working on it!



I had exchanges this week with one of my favorite people, Sister Hyland!! She came to Austin and we had so much fun! We met an awesome girl named Ch. She is really interested and we are seeing her this Thursday. Sister Hyland taught me a ton during exchanges and I'm so grateful for her!


Last week I was thinking about the principle of fasting and I decided I needed to get a testimony of it. I have fasted before, but always kind of dreaded it and looked forward to it ending. I studied about the purpose of fasting and began my fast on Saturday with a new outlook. I really wanted to make it meaningful and test out the principle to gain a testimony of it. I had a really good experience! I actually enjoyed fasting, felt the Spirit very strongly, and saw almost immediate answers from Heavenly Father!

Well, this week is still a mystery as far as what is going to happen. If I get anything while I'm still on here I will send it, but it's probably safe to assume I am staying in Austin and getting a new companion! Haha

Love you all!
Oh yeah, nidi means hi in the African language Anyuak :)
I'll send pics!
♥Hermana Pierce


Trip to Iowa with Megan
King, who joined the Church in Seattle

Follow the Prophet

Hola, como estan?

This week did not start out great, but finished awesome! I ended up having to go to the doctor on Tuesday morning and it turns out I had strep throat. I got some antibiotics and steroids that helped almost immediately which was a huge blessing. Our mission medical advisor who is also Bishop's wife, told me I had to stay in all day Tuesday and Wednesday. Those were a few painfully boring days for both me and Hermana Maravilla, but wow was I ever grateful to be out working again on Thursday!



We were able to see Gh again this week and things are going well! He is reading and keeping his commitments. He just needs to come to church! We saw G a few times as well this week. I think I told you about him. He has been coming faithfully to church for about a year and has been taught on and off by missionaries. He wants to be baptized but feels like he has a lot to learn still before he can make that commitment. We have been getting to know him more and he is making good progress!


Gh

One fun adventure we had this week was teaching and eating dinner with a less-active family from Micronesia. There is a young mom and dad who are members and they live with other cousins/family members that aren't members. Just this week the father of the young mom came from Micronesia and he is very active so he will be a great influence on their family. The Spirit was strong as we taught them about the restored gospel and Luann, the mom, bore a powerful testimony! They came to conference yesterday too which was awesome!



A few days ago we found a man named Gi. He is very nice and lives with his wife and four children. We set up an appointment with him, but he called us later to reschedule. He then called us yesterday to cancel again, but told us he would like to meet and would also like to come to church. We invited him to the 2nd session of General Conference and he and his son both came! We will be meeting with them this week!

I hope you all watched and loved conference! I am so grateful for modern day prophets! I had too many favorites to even name. :) Let me know what your favorite parts were!

Love you!
Hermana Pierce

Hello

Hello!

Good things did happen this week, although I can't say it was that fun. I have been so sick all week. Obviously, it isn't fun being sick, but it's especially not fun having to stay inside a lot and not be able to do what missionaries do. I still have a slight sore throat, but I'm getting better so hopefully this week will be much more productive.

We had Zone Training this week with President and Sister Forbes. They are so awesome. President Forbes has a lot more confidence in being a mission president now and is doing great things to help shape this mission into what the Lord wants at this time. Sister Forbes is hilarious and so nice. After the training was over I asked President to give me a Priesthood blessing. He did so and although I did not suddenly get better, I received revelation and left feeling more happiness and gratitude. I'm so grateful for the Priesthood!

I have probably given thousands of people pass along cards with our number on it. Unless it is to a current investigator or member, no one ever calls. Except... Gh! We met him a few weeks ago and he was busy so we only had time to exchange numbers and briefly explain who we are and what we do. He told us he would call and amazingly within a few days he actually did! He is from Benin, speaks French, and is trying to learn English. We taught him for the 2nd time this week and although it is hard because of the language barrier, it is a lot of fun and the Spirit has been powerful! He is determined to understand and he will not let us move on if he doesn't understand exactly what we are saying. Despite the language barrier his understanding is better than probably 90% of the people I have ever taught. He gets it and loves it.

Sorry, there isn't much more to say this week. I loved the Women's conference! I'm really excited for General Conference and can't believe its already here again. Love you!

Hermana Pierce

Happy Fall

Buenos Dias!

Things are starting to get more normal around here! We have met all of the other sister's investigators and they are now feeling like our investigators. We are working with some awesome people and there are, of course, many challenges, but that doesn't stop the work from going on!

Austin is a smallish town, but then there are little tiny towns/farming communities around it. We had dinner with a member who lived out in one of these places and we found out that there was a less active man who lived out there as well. We stopped by before dinner, but he wasn't there. We decided to try again after dinner too in case he had gotten home. We found him outside and he was just about to leave again so it was perfect timing! His name is Michael and he's very nice. He invited us to come back again and teach him and his wife and son who aren't members! We're really excited to see what happens!

We are working with an investigator named G from Benin. He comes to church just about every single Sunday and has been for about a year. His teaching record doesn't make much sense so we just decided to teach him from the beginning and see where he is at with everything. We brought a member on Saturday who had taught him in the past and she said that it was a lot different this time. We aren't sure why or what changed, but we are really excited to be teaching him. He understands English pretty well, although it is difficult to teach him certain concepts. He has really good questions though and is doing well!

My little heart did kind of break in half the other day when we called Ma and he told us that he couldn't meet any more. He told his family that he was pursuing the LDS faith and a war of screaming and crying began. They didn't necessarily have a problem with the religion, just that it was something different. He told us he still is interested but doesn't want to cause problems in his family. He did agree to meet one more time with us though in a few weeks after things blow over a little so we are hoping and praying he can overcome their opposition! Hermana Maravilla and I were talking afterwards and we felt peace because if it is the right time for him, all will work out. She shared some stories with me about how some crazy things happened to some of her investigators before baptism and it ended up making them stronger, more faithful members once they overcame. Hopefully the same happens with Matthew!

I have been working a lot this week on developing charity. It's funny, this life is full of learning the same lessons over and over because sometimes we just don't get it! I let myself get a little frustrated with some situations and people this week. There were a few people we met that said some of the most ridiculous things about the church and our beliefs without knowing anything. I also was getting sick of hearing every excuse in the book and more from less active members about why they don't go to church. I finally realized that being annoyed with these things was not helping anything, and really just hurting myself. I have been praying for more charity and I've already seen a big difference in just a few days. Sister Clements had an analogy that we have to be like a cork. No matter how hard you throw a cork into a bowl of water, it won't go down; It's resilient. I'm learning all over again to be a cork and its a great thing because I am more happy and more effective!

I know that this is the Lord's work. No matter what we do, it will go on. But we are the ones who are blessed with joy and growth when we diligently serve Him. He does His work through us. He knows we aren't perfect and that is why He let's us serve. Take every opportunity to choose the right and every opportunity to help others to do the same!

I love you!
-Hermana/Soeurs Pierce