Hola hola hola!!! I never have been a huge fan of the hymn: There is Sunshine in my Soul... As you all know. Haha. But it kind of has a whole new meaning for me and I actually really love it in Spanish. Especially because I will always think of Alma when I hear it. Alma in spanish means soul and Tengo gozo en mi alma hoy means I have joy in my soul today. I have joy in my Alma today. :)
This week was wonderful, but kind of crazy. We had a great, but short, lesson with M and Alma at the mission home. The Spirit was very strong. The baptism was all set for Saturday morning, but then M couldn't get off work and we really really wanted him to be there. We made a bunch of calls and last minute were able to change it for Sunday morning at 8am. An awful hour for Mormons and especially Mormon Hispanics :) But, everything went super well and M was able to be there. She felt the Spirit so strongly and was speechless afterwards. She absolutely radiated. She was then confirmed in Sacrament Meeting and I honestly felt like I was getting the one getting the Spirit. Hermana Rawlins and I were both so happy despite being a little sleep-deprived since we got up at 4:30 to go fill the font! Definitely worth it though. We are confident that M will soon be ready too. It's just not something we can force and he hasn't gotten an answer yet. He will soon though!!
We found a lot of great new people this week. We are so excited to see what happens. We were able to come back already to see a lady named G. She told us she has had other people from other churches come before but she feels a lot different when we are there. She already believes everything that we have shared and is excited to keep learning. She hopefully will be coming to church this Sunday!!
Honestly there are so many things I could tell you about this week, but just know that everything is good here and I'm very happy!! Our mission has been very succesful as of late and it is so cool to be a part of it! And now for the big news of transfers...**drum roll**... Hermana Rawlins and I will not be staying together this transfer. She is going to St. Peter, a smaller town south of here, and I am staying... and training again. President called me this morning and let me know that I will be training a new hermana so hopefully I will be here two more transfers. :) I kind of have a lot of mixed emotions. I am sad to say goodbye to Hermana Rawlins. I love her so much. I'm really anxious and excited though to train a new missionary and to stay here in Lakeville and help this great little branch grow!!
Hope you all have a great week!!
Love, Hermana Pierce
Monday, June 16, 2014
Monday, June 2, 2014
Feliz Soy :)
Happy Lunes! This past week seriously went by so fast. I swear it was Monday yesterday. A lot of great things happened! A had her interview and since our District Leader (who does the interview) doesn't speak Spanish, I was able to be there to translate. She is so ready!! We are so excited for this Saturday at 10am!! M, however, is still unsure about it all and is not quite ready to be baptized this week. A decided she just needed to continue forward with it, even though her husband won't be able to do it the same day. We aren't exactly sure what his concerns are because he seems to like everything and is obeying the commandments. We are actually teaching them this Wednesday at President and Sister Clement's home so that should be good! Kind of intimidating, but good!
The other day we had dinner at a member's home and the 14 year old daughter had her friend J over. We didn't know they had invited him, but we were able to share a little about what we do as missionaries and ended up sharing the message of the Restoration. It was so good! Although it was in English and we aren't going to keep teaching him, it was so great. He is so open to it all and is excited to read in the Book of Mormon!
Another great miracle happened yesterday. I love Sundays and I love our branch :) Hermana Perez and her 22 year old daughter Arlett came to church for the first time in over a year. They both bore their testimonies and felt the Spirit so strong. They said they are going to keep coming back now and know this is where they need to be. We have been working with Hermana Perez for a long time and she hasn't come, so it was really exciting to finally see her there! Our little rama is growing and so many miracles are happening! I love it all so much!!
Transfers are in a week and I have no idea what is going to happen! Either way it will be great and I'll be where I'm supposed to be. I'm just telling you though so if you send anything my way, do it through the mission office unless it can get to me by next Tuesday. :)
I love you all and hope that you have a great week!
Love, Hermana Pierce
The other day we had dinner at a member's home and the 14 year old daughter had her friend J over. We didn't know they had invited him, but we were able to share a little about what we do as missionaries and ended up sharing the message of the Restoration. It was so good! Although it was in English and we aren't going to keep teaching him, it was so great. He is so open to it all and is excited to read in the Book of Mormon!
Another great miracle happened yesterday. I love Sundays and I love our branch :) Hermana Perez and her 22 year old daughter Arlett came to church for the first time in over a year. They both bore their testimonies and felt the Spirit so strong. They said they are going to keep coming back now and know this is where they need to be. We have been working with Hermana Perez for a long time and she hasn't come, so it was really exciting to finally see her there! Our little rama is growing and so many miracles are happening! I love it all so much!!
Transfers are in a week and I have no idea what is going to happen! Either way it will be great and I'll be where I'm supposed to be. I'm just telling you though so if you send anything my way, do it through the mission office unless it can get to me by next Tuesday. :)
I love you all and hope that you have a great week!
Love, Hermana Pierce
?Como se amanacieron?
Querida familia, ?Como se amanacieron? That's a new little phrase I learned not too long ago.. It sort of means how did the morning greet you? Haha kind of hard to translate in English..
This week was full of some really incredible miracles. Like always :) We had Zone training this week and learned about the doctrine of the family. It was really good and made me even more grateful for my great family!! Love you!! The Clements only have a month left. It will be really sad to say goodbye to them. They are incredible.
That same evening we had 2 really amazing things happen. An appointment fell through and so we ended up going to a different area to find people. We taught 2 girls outside about the Restoration and afterwards were heading back to the car to go to another appointment. As we were walking we saw a man outside his house. He had these pretty flowers in his yard and we told him we liked them. He looked at us and kind of just stared for a minute. Then he walked over to his flowerbed and pulled out a few for both of us. We talked to him for a few minutes and soon found out that he had recently lost his teenage son and that many other challenges were happening in his life. He kept telling us it was a miracle we came and just seemed to be in shock. He finally alluded to some of the thoughts he was having about taking his own life. We talked to him for a few moments and testified about the Plan of Salvation and the peace he could find in the gospel. He spoke English and we told the elders about him, so we won't teach him, but I'm so grateful that the Lord let us be instruments in His hands to help this man!
Afterwards, we went to our appointment with M. She is 10 years old and is the granddaughter of an active member in our branch. She is so sweet. We taught her about the Plan of Salvation and towards the end of the lesson we tried to describe the Spirit and explained that it was through the Spirit that she would come to know these things are true. She didn't really understand and told us she had never had feelings like the ones we were trying to describe. Heavenly Father put into my mind exactly what we needed to do. Although she hardly ever had gone to primary, she had a CD with the songs on it. I found that out about 6 months ago, but had forgot about it. I asked her if she remembered any of those songs and she remembered I Am a Child of God. We sung it and afterwards paused for several moments. The Spirit came in so powerfully and she recognized it and described it so well! It was a cool moment because I have never thought about doing that to help people feel the Spirit, but it was exactly what she needed! Heavenly Father knows and loves His children!
I had another very profound experience this week. I was praying and asking Heavenly Father to help us find another family who is ready for the gospel. At the exact moment that I thought those words, an image of an apartment building came sharply into my mind. It is somewhere that mostly English-speaking people live, but we were teaching one other person in that same area before. Anyways, long story short, we went there and the first door we knocked we found a family from El Salvador. Both parents are currently not working and have a lot of challenges. They are Catholic but have problems with the Catholic church. It wasn't like they told us right away they would be baptized or anything, but I know that God wanted us to find that family for a reason! I'm excited to see what happens :)
All of our other investigators are doing well! M and A both have their interviews this coming week. We are excited for them! Other great doors have been opened recently and we know there is going to be a lot of growth here!
Love you all so much! Have a great week :)
Love, Hermana Pierce
This week was full of some really incredible miracles. Like always :) We had Zone training this week and learned about the doctrine of the family. It was really good and made me even more grateful for my great family!! Love you!! The Clements only have a month left. It will be really sad to say goodbye to them. They are incredible.
That same evening we had 2 really amazing things happen. An appointment fell through and so we ended up going to a different area to find people. We taught 2 girls outside about the Restoration and afterwards were heading back to the car to go to another appointment. As we were walking we saw a man outside his house. He had these pretty flowers in his yard and we told him we liked them. He looked at us and kind of just stared for a minute. Then he walked over to his flowerbed and pulled out a few for both of us. We talked to him for a few minutes and soon found out that he had recently lost his teenage son and that many other challenges were happening in his life. He kept telling us it was a miracle we came and just seemed to be in shock. He finally alluded to some of the thoughts he was having about taking his own life. We talked to him for a few moments and testified about the Plan of Salvation and the peace he could find in the gospel. He spoke English and we told the elders about him, so we won't teach him, but I'm so grateful that the Lord let us be instruments in His hands to help this man!
Afterwards, we went to our appointment with M. She is 10 years old and is the granddaughter of an active member in our branch. She is so sweet. We taught her about the Plan of Salvation and towards the end of the lesson we tried to describe the Spirit and explained that it was through the Spirit that she would come to know these things are true. She didn't really understand and told us she had never had feelings like the ones we were trying to describe. Heavenly Father put into my mind exactly what we needed to do. Although she hardly ever had gone to primary, she had a CD with the songs on it. I found that out about 6 months ago, but had forgot about it. I asked her if she remembered any of those songs and she remembered I Am a Child of God. We sung it and afterwards paused for several moments. The Spirit came in so powerfully and she recognized it and described it so well! It was a cool moment because I have never thought about doing that to help people feel the Spirit, but it was exactly what she needed! Heavenly Father knows and loves His children!
I had another very profound experience this week. I was praying and asking Heavenly Father to help us find another family who is ready for the gospel. At the exact moment that I thought those words, an image of an apartment building came sharply into my mind. It is somewhere that mostly English-speaking people live, but we were teaching one other person in that same area before. Anyways, long story short, we went there and the first door we knocked we found a family from El Salvador. Both parents are currently not working and have a lot of challenges. They are Catholic but have problems with the Catholic church. It wasn't like they told us right away they would be baptized or anything, but I know that God wanted us to find that family for a reason! I'm excited to see what happens :)
All of our other investigators are doing well! M and A both have their interviews this coming week. We are excited for them! Other great doors have been opened recently and we know there is going to be a lot of growth here!
Love you all so much! Have a great week :)
Love, Hermana Pierce
Monday, May 19, 2014
9 months? What?!
Well hello there family! Can you believe that tomorrow is my halfway mark of my mission? I can't. I swear I just barely was leaving Twin Falls and heading off to Mexico. I can't say I have loved every single minute, but the past 9 months really have been amazing and full of so many wonderful things. I am excited for 9 more!
Yesterday was Stake Conference and Elder Spackman of the 70 was there. He gave a great talk both yesterday and Saturday night in the adult session. We also heard from our Stake President and he had some great thoughts too. There is one thing that really stuck out at me. He said that many times it is hard to read our scriptures because we feel like we don't have enough time. We feel like we have too many problems, worries, things to do etc. He challenged the stake to double their time by reading from the scriptures every single day. When we read from our scriptures, we can receive revelation that will help us to solve our problems, and find solutions to our busy lives much faster than if we just try to do it all without reading. Basically, if you feel like you don't have enough time to read, do it, so that the Lord can give you the time you need. :) I loved that a lot and thought it was a great thing to remember.
M and A are doing great! A is still as ready as ever, but M was feeling a little too rushed. They decided to wait until June 7th, so that they could both be baptized on the same day. Although we don't want to move their dates, the Spirit really confirmed that this was a good decision. It will be better for them both to get baptized on the same day so they can support each other more fully. They now know all the commandments and are living all of them!! :) The members are doing great at fellow-shipping and we are super excited for them!
This week I also had the opportunity to go on exchanges with Sister Breedlove. She is actually from the same place as Hermana Rawlins- Snowflake, Arizona. They knew each other before so it is kind of funny. We had a great day! Although she doesn't speak Spanish so I pretty much was the only one who talked all day, I learned lots from her.
One cool thing that happened is we met a really sweet mom and daughter from the La Republica Dominicana. First time that I have met someone from there! We taught them the Restoration and they loved it.
There is a member of our Branch who has a granddaughter named M. She is 10 years old and lives with her and her very less-active dad. He told her that she is old enough to make a decision about going to church/getting baptized etc and she has come to church the last few weeks! We are teaching her this week and hoping she will be ready soon! She's so sweet!
Lots of great things are happening here! Love you all so much and hope all is well! :)
Love, Hermana Pierce
Yesterday was Stake Conference and Elder Spackman of the 70 was there. He gave a great talk both yesterday and Saturday night in the adult session. We also heard from our Stake President and he had some great thoughts too. There is one thing that really stuck out at me. He said that many times it is hard to read our scriptures because we feel like we don't have enough time. We feel like we have too many problems, worries, things to do etc. He challenged the stake to double their time by reading from the scriptures every single day. When we read from our scriptures, we can receive revelation that will help us to solve our problems, and find solutions to our busy lives much faster than if we just try to do it all without reading. Basically, if you feel like you don't have enough time to read, do it, so that the Lord can give you the time you need. :) I loved that a lot and thought it was a great thing to remember.
M and A are doing great! A is still as ready as ever, but M was feeling a little too rushed. They decided to wait until June 7th, so that they could both be baptized on the same day. Although we don't want to move their dates, the Spirit really confirmed that this was a good decision. It will be better for them both to get baptized on the same day so they can support each other more fully. They now know all the commandments and are living all of them!! :) The members are doing great at fellow-shipping and we are super excited for them!
This week I also had the opportunity to go on exchanges with Sister Breedlove. She is actually from the same place as Hermana Rawlins- Snowflake, Arizona. They knew each other before so it is kind of funny. We had a great day! Although she doesn't speak Spanish so I pretty much was the only one who talked all day, I learned lots from her.
One cool thing that happened is we met a really sweet mom and daughter from the La Republica Dominicana. First time that I have met someone from there! We taught them the Restoration and they loved it.
There is a member of our Branch who has a granddaughter named M. She is 10 years old and lives with her and her very less-active dad. He told her that she is old enough to make a decision about going to church/getting baptized etc and she has come to church the last few weeks! We are teaching her this week and hoping she will be ready soon! She's so sweet!
Lots of great things are happening here! Love you all so much and hope all is well! :)
Love, Hermana Pierce
Monday, May 12, 2014
Great to see you!!
Hello Family! It was so great getting to see and talk to you yesterday! I love you!!
Haha I really don't even know what to tell you from this week now. Like I told you, M and A are still doing well. We are teaching them tomorrow and Wednesday, they have their interview on Thursday and then we will see if M will be ready for the 24th too. A seriously might as well already be a member. She participates in everything and loves it all. She has faced a little opposition from friends and family but has defended the Church and tells them even though she doesn't know a ton about it, she knows its true. :)
So many doors are continually being opened. The sisters in Burnsville started teaching a family, but they speak better Spanish so we are going to meet them this week. Hopefully it all goes well! We taught the friends of the Montecillo family, R and V, this week. They are both Catholic, but open to learning. What they don't realize is that they are living with the best member missionaries possible :) Seriously, we are so blessed to have some amazing families in our branch.
Ah, I'm sorry I really don't even know what else to tell you! Right now, we are driving a rental car because ours had a recall and will be in the shop for 3-6 weeks. It's awesome because we don't have to keep track of miles. Its a 2014 white Hyundai Accent. Since it is a rental I am the only one who can drive it right now, so I'm hoping that if for no other reason I will have to stay next transfer :) Haha. Seriously though I do hope I stay here for a while longer, now that things are going so well with the Branch. President told us he likes it when he can keep missionaries in the same place for a long time. We will see though! Transfers just happened though and this one doesn't even end until June 11 so I still have some time either way.
Love you all so much! Hope you have a great week! Tell Puppy hi for me and that I hope she gets better soon! :) -Hermana Pierce
Haha I really don't even know what to tell you from this week now. Like I told you, M and A are still doing well. We are teaching them tomorrow and Wednesday, they have their interview on Thursday and then we will see if M will be ready for the 24th too. A seriously might as well already be a member. She participates in everything and loves it all. She has faced a little opposition from friends and family but has defended the Church and tells them even though she doesn't know a ton about it, she knows its true. :)
So many doors are continually being opened. The sisters in Burnsville started teaching a family, but they speak better Spanish so we are going to meet them this week. Hopefully it all goes well! We taught the friends of the Montecillo family, R and V, this week. They are both Catholic, but open to learning. What they don't realize is that they are living with the best member missionaries possible :) Seriously, we are so blessed to have some amazing families in our branch.
Ah, I'm sorry I really don't even know what else to tell you! Right now, we are driving a rental car because ours had a recall and will be in the shop for 3-6 weeks. It's awesome because we don't have to keep track of miles. Its a 2014 white Hyundai Accent. Since it is a rental I am the only one who can drive it right now, so I'm hoping that if for no other reason I will have to stay next transfer :) Haha. Seriously though I do hope I stay here for a while longer, now that things are going so well with the Branch. President told us he likes it when he can keep missionaries in the same place for a long time. We will see though! Transfers just happened though and this one doesn't even end until June 11 so I still have some time either way.
Love you all so much! Hope you have a great week! Tell Puppy hi for me and that I hope she gets better soon! :) -Hermana Pierce
Monday, May 5, 2014
5 de Mayo!!!
Buenas Tardes y Feliz dia de 5 de Mayo!
Fun fact: 5 de Mayo is an American holiday... but Hermana Rawlins and I are still going to celebrate by making some guacamole haha.
This week was a little bit hard because almost all of our progressing investigators had to cancel this week. Despite all the cancellations and no-shows, many great things happened! A and M are doing amazing. We taught them the Word of Wisdom this week and it was a lesson that I will never forget. We brought Hermano e Hermana Montecillo with us and their testimonies were so powerful! The biggest struggle for them is coffee. A told us she loves it and is super addicted to it. Hermana Montecillo was the same way before she was baptized. She bore her testimony of the many blessings she has seen from giving it up. When we first told them the things included in the W.W., A responded. "I'm sorry, I won't do that." However, as the Spirit touched them I watched as her countenance completely changed and by the end she said that she will live all the commandments. She has already gotten her answer that this is the true church and she will do whatever she needs to. :) M also said that he will live it. They came to church again with their kids yesterday and A went up and bore her testimony! It is so amazing how much progress they have made in such a short time.
Manuel and Diana are also going to be coming to the Branch now which is awesome!! Another great moment I had yesterday was sitting in Relief Society. The lesson was on The Book of Mormon and Diana made a comment and bore her testimony about it. I watched A listen intently and could almost see the Spirit working in her. 6 months ago, Diana didn't know if the Book of Mormon was true. Now she has a very strong testimony of it... and that testimony is helping others to come unto Christ too! That's exactly how its supposed to work! :)
We had about 45 people in the branch yesterday even without the Stake presidency, the Clements, and other members who came last week just to see who got called to the branch presidency. :)
What's more is that last Sunday the Stake President challenged the members to bring all of their friends and people they know to the branch so that more people could know about the gospel. Just one week later the Montecillos did that and brought 2 friends, V and R, who just barely moved here from Mexico. Hermano Montecillo explained to them a lot of the basic things about our beliefs and they really liked church. They said they would come next week too and we got them some Books of Mormon and are going to teach them this week!
Like I said, not too many more updates with other investigators right now... The other day though after our whole evening of appointments cancelled Hermana Rawlins and I prayed to know what to do and both got the same prompting to go see R. We taught him and his wife together. She was very nice. We have had an impossible time getting him to read/pray but she saw the Book of Mormon on the desk and started reading it before she even had met us! She's very into her Christian beliefs but we know we have met them for a reason and that Heavenly Father will work miracles in their lifes! Just as He does in all of ours.
Love you all and am excited to talk to you on Mother's Day!! :) Have a fantastic week! ♥Hermana Pierce
Fun fact: 5 de Mayo is an American holiday... but Hermana Rawlins and I are still going to celebrate by making some guacamole haha.
This week was a little bit hard because almost all of our progressing investigators had to cancel this week. Despite all the cancellations and no-shows, many great things happened! A and M are doing amazing. We taught them the Word of Wisdom this week and it was a lesson that I will never forget. We brought Hermano e Hermana Montecillo with us and their testimonies were so powerful! The biggest struggle for them is coffee. A told us she loves it and is super addicted to it. Hermana Montecillo was the same way before she was baptized. She bore her testimony of the many blessings she has seen from giving it up. When we first told them the things included in the W.W., A responded. "I'm sorry, I won't do that." However, as the Spirit touched them I watched as her countenance completely changed and by the end she said that she will live all the commandments. She has already gotten her answer that this is the true church and she will do whatever she needs to. :) M also said that he will live it. They came to church again with their kids yesterday and A went up and bore her testimony! It is so amazing how much progress they have made in such a short time.
Manuel and Diana are also going to be coming to the Branch now which is awesome!! Another great moment I had yesterday was sitting in Relief Society. The lesson was on The Book of Mormon and Diana made a comment and bore her testimony about it. I watched A listen intently and could almost see the Spirit working in her. 6 months ago, Diana didn't know if the Book of Mormon was true. Now she has a very strong testimony of it... and that testimony is helping others to come unto Christ too! That's exactly how its supposed to work! :)
We had about 45 people in the branch yesterday even without the Stake presidency, the Clements, and other members who came last week just to see who got called to the branch presidency. :)
What's more is that last Sunday the Stake President challenged the members to bring all of their friends and people they know to the branch so that more people could know about the gospel. Just one week later the Montecillos did that and brought 2 friends, V and R, who just barely moved here from Mexico. Hermano Montecillo explained to them a lot of the basic things about our beliefs and they really liked church. They said they would come next week too and we got them some Books of Mormon and are going to teach them this week!
Like I said, not too many more updates with other investigators right now... The other day though after our whole evening of appointments cancelled Hermana Rawlins and I prayed to know what to do and both got the same prompting to go see R. We taught him and his wife together. She was very nice. We have had an impossible time getting him to read/pray but she saw the Book of Mormon on the desk and started reading it before she even had met us! She's very into her Christian beliefs but we know we have met them for a reason and that Heavenly Father will work miracles in their lifes! Just as He does in all of ours.
Love you all and am excited to talk to you on Mother's Day!! :) Have a fantastic week! ♥Hermana Pierce
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