Hi Family!
Winter has arrived!! I'm loving it right now because the snow is super pretty, and even though it has been kind of cold (in the teens) there hasn't been too much wind and I know its only going to get a lot worse!
Just like every week, this was another great one! All of a sudden it seems like we are teaching a lot of sweet families! We found two sisters that live next door to each other with their own kids and they are awesome! Their names are Mia and Ma and they speak English/Spanish. We taught the moms about the restoration and then yesterday we taught Ma and her kids about the Plan of Salvation! We also taught Ju and her sister plus their kids a few days ago and it was so fun! It is so much fun teaching families with young children. They were all really good too and paid attention and had a great time. We have some good activities coming up to invite them to and hopefully we will get them to church this week!
Things with Ge are about the same. He doesn't have a job right now because he hurt his back and couldn't do the job he was doing, and he has a lot of other challenges going on right now too! I can't imagine what it would be like to come to a new country where you barely speak the language and without any family or friends. Then add that he doesn't have a job and the other problems. Some people really do have such hard trials. We met with him last night and I don't know if he really learned anything, but I just hope and pray that he could feel the love Heavenly Father has for him and the love that we and the members have for him as well!
Our lesson with Brother K (Ma) was so great this week. We taught about faith in Jesus Christ. It's something he struggles with a little because he doesn't understand why Jesus is different than other good people like Mohammed or even just other prophets. It went well though and by the end he was beginning to see the difference. He has studied many world religions and told us that what he thinks is amazing is that there seems to be little pieces of truth in all religions, but the LDS faith seems to have it all as far as he has seen so far. Yes! Because it is the true church of Jesus Christ! :) We are teaching him again tonight! It's amazing... this man is a doctor and a lawyer, he is the head of the pain clinic at the Austin branch of the Mayo and also works in Rochester a few days a week, he has strong associations with many influential people and he himself is very influential, yet he is interested in what a couple of twenty year old girls have to say and he makes time for us. Of course, it really isn't anything to do with us, and everything to do with Jesus Christ and the Spirit that he can feel, but still! I have felt the Spirit tell me what to say to him and its incredible how well he receives it. Keep him in your prayers!
When I first got to Austin we started teaching S, a 17 year old girl who the other sisters had been teaching for a long time. She wanted to be baptized but had to wait until she turns 18 because her step-dad won't give her permission. Her sister Jackie is a member and she has a few other siblings that are members as well who live in the cities. We decided to give her a break for a while because she wasn't really doing much as far as progression goes. The two girls still come to mutual every week and sometimes to church. We recently talked with one of the young women leaders about teaching them in her home. She agreed and tomorrow we will be teaching them. We have seen them at their own house a few times in the couple weeks and S actually set a date for herself for baptism! She told us she prayed about it and wants to be baptized January 18th! :) Hopefully things will go well as we teach her the lessons again and help her prepare for that date!
I can't believe this is the last week of the transfer. Hermana Ficklin and I are having a great time and loving being missionaries! Hopefully we will stay together for another one, but we will find out next Monday! Have a great week :)
Love,
Hermana Pierce
Austin has about 25,000 people, so it is way smaller than Lakeville area. There are little tiny towns around it that we also cover but hardly ever go to. We are about 45 minutes away from Rochester. One thing I really like about the town itself is the houses. Most are really old and have cool architecture... same with some of the really old churches. The thing I dislike about it is the horrible smell that often reaches my nose. This is where they make Spam and they have a huge pork production plant... similar to Falls brand but way bigger. Lots of people work there. Depending on the day it can smell super bad no matter where you are in town. I think now that is winter it might be a little better though. There is one ward, it is relatively pretty small compared to the Lakeville ward or really any other ward I've ever seen. I would guess there is about 80-90 people on any given Sunday. I could be off, not sure. Its really great though, lots of good people! It is part of the Rochester Stake... There are 5 wards in Rochester which is huge compared to other parts of Minnesota (lots of lds doctors) and a few other wards/branches are a part of it as well from around SE Minnesota and some of Wisconsin/Iowa.
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