Overcoming the Adversary

May 18, 2015

Hello all! Another GREAT WEEK here in GWS! Sister Tycksen and I are working really hard and having so much fun together! So...here we go!

 

 

 

 

Update on Annie and Ivan! They are progressing SO well! We were able to have some amazing lessons with them this week! We have taught them all the way to the Word of Wisdom and they have been reading in the BOM and praying. They know everything we teach them is true! On Saturday, we had a scare when Ivan texted us and felt like he was going too fast and needed to slow down. He tried to cancel our appointment so we texted the whole district and had all of them pray that he would allow us to teach him that night and that he would come to church the next day. We all prayed and stopped by Ivan's for the lesson. We were able to have a great talk with him and Annie and resolved all of his concerns. Satan was trying to over-power him so much but we just explained these temptations and taught him the lesson we had planned. He soaked it all up, as normal, and felt so grateful after! He committed to live the Word of Wisdom and then he and Annie came to all 3 hours of church yesterday! They loved it and Annie enjoyed primary! We went over last night to teach them and unfortunately Ivan wasn't feeling well so he didn't join us for the lesson. BUT, we taught Annie the law of chastity, tithing and fasting since she will be gone 3 days this week. She understood everything SO clearly and was just amazing. She is so excited for her baptism! The other day she said, "Am I allowed to invite my friends to my baptism, even tho they aren't members?" We told her yes and then she said, "Good... Because I already did! :)"

A huge miracle this week was that yesterday, we tracted into a man named Carlos and his family! We did the survey and taught him the first lesson. (His wife was caring for their baby.) After we finished reciting the first vision, the spirit was so strong and he just said, "WOW." It was amazing and he accepted a baptismal date of June 20th. We have a return appointment for the whole family on Tuesday! :)

 

 

Looking through some old pictures...
THE BOOK OF MORMON IS TRUE! READ IT!! :)

Another random and amazing miracle this week was on Tuesday. We were moving that whole day so, we knew we wouldn't really have much time to proselyte. We had to go and take our car into the shop that morning and a man was able to give us a ride back to our apartment. Well, while we were driving home, we struck up a conversation with him about the gospel! He said he had just recently moved to Glenwood and was looking for a church. We of course, recommended our own and found out he had been taught by missionaries a couple years ago! We invited him to come to church Sunday and yesterday, HE CAME! It was so great! Unfortunately, he's not a new investigator yet because we didn't get a return appointment to teach him yet, but he should be this week! God knew we wouldn't have time to proselyte on Tuesday so he gave us an amazing miracle!

 

We are giving EVERYTHING we have to Ivan and Annie this week and next so they can be baptized on the 30th. SO, we are meeting with them every day and praying and fasting so hard for their baptism! We KNOW they will be baptized! Please pray for both of them to continue to prepare and to be able to overcome Satan's temptations!

 

I LOVE MY MISSION! Miracles are being brought forth by the Lord! Have a great week and remember, THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!

 

Love,

Hermana Pierce

 

​

A BABY BOY and MANY Miracles!

May 11, 2015

The title of this email goes out to my sister and brother in law for their gender reveal I got to be a part of on skype yesterday! They are pregnant with a baby BOY that is due at the end of OCTOBER! I am so excited to meet my new little nephew this coming January :) I was so excited to be able to talk to my wonderful family yesterday. I love you so much and it was great to be able to share some of the amazing experiences I have had here on my mission in Colorado! :)

 

 

Hermana Tycksen and I were able to call home and
talk to our families on Mother's Day!

 

Well... I am excited to announce my new companion... SISTER TYCKSEN <3 She is from ALPINE, UTAH (Yes dad... she knows the Haws and Emery family very well ;) and I love her so much already! We get along GREAT and have so much fun together. She was originally called to Brazil but got reassigned to Colorado as she is waiting to receive her visa. Which, yes, you guessed it... She learned Portuguese in the MTC and not Spanish... SOOOO it has been an interesting week literally teaching her everything from scratch!!! BUT, the Gift of Tongues is SO real and it has been amazing to watch her speak to literally everyone she meets in broken Spanish through the Spirit. UNFORTUNATELY, we just got news this morning that she received her visa so she will be leaving me after one transfer. BUT, it's okay because I love Sister Tycksen so much already and am grateful we get to be together for 6 weeks :) [See above picture for why we're weird.]

 

 

Mother' s Day luncheon the missionaries hosted
for the moms of the Carbondale Branch.

 

 

Wow! Such a week of miracles. I already shared this story with my family on Skype yesterday, but it has impressed me so much that I just have to tell EVERYONE about it! I am so excited and we have seen so many miracles already this week!

 

 

First day of tracting for Hermana Tycksen...
raining and miserable outside!

So at the beginning of last transfer we found an investigator named Carmen! She originally wanted us to come and teach son. The first lesson we had with Carmen her son wasn't present. Well, we tried all transfer to see them again and just nothing would work out. Long story short, we finally got to see Carmen again on Saturday afternoon. We taught her about the Book of Mormon and she was just eating it up! She said, "So... you're telling me that if I want to know if your church is the only true one... All I have to do is read this book?!" It was so cute and we had a huge break through lesson. After we finished I invited her to come to church and she said she couldn't because of Mother's Day. After practically begging her to come for AT LEAST one hour and bribing her with Sister Tycksen and I's talks during sacrament, she agreed to come for sacrament meeting! :)

 

After we finished the lesson, Carmen's son (Ivan) came in. He had heard a rumor about our church that we resolved and then HE asked US if we would be able to teach him more about our church. We taught him briefly about prayer and then invited him to join his mother and daughter at church. (His daughter, Annie was present in the lesson we had with Carmen and was eager to learn as well. She's 10.) We finished with another prayer, at Carmen's request, and when I had said Amen, she was bawling. She thanked us so much for coming to her home to teach her and her son.

 

Well... Sunday came and we dropped by in the morning to take her a cute little Mother's Day card and some home-made donuts. She told us that Ivan had made her breakfast but that they had to hurry because they had to go to church at 12! Well... guess what! THEY CAME! All 3 of them... In dresses and all :) It was so beautiful and they really enjoyed the meeting. After Sacrament, Ivan asked us when we were going to come by and teach him again. We, of course, told him that we could come by whenever he wanted and he asked if we could come that night. We set up an appointment for 7:30.

When 7:30 came, Sister T and I were SO excited for the lesson with Carmen, Ivan, and Annie. We had role-played the whole lesson in the car and knew exactly who would say what and in which language. Haha. Ivan prefers English over Spanish so we were planning to teach Lesson 1 in English to him and Annie and then restate everything in Spanish for Carmen, who only speaks Spanish. Ivan had never heard the Restoration so we decided we would invite all 3 of them to be baptized. (We had invited Carmen in the past and she had said no because she "already liked the current church she was attending") Well... we arrived and they were so excited to receive us. We started by singing "I am a Child of God" and Sister Tycksen did some beautiful harmonizing to make it extra special. They loved it an the spirit was already so strong. We asked how they had liked church that day and Ivan said he loved it. He said it was unlike any other church he had ever attended and that he was planning to come back next week to try out the English ward as well. He also made very interesting comment that he LOVED the way everyone dressed. He said that "THAT is how people should dress when they go to church!" It was amazing to hear that all 3 had absolutely loved sacrament meeting so much.

We began to teach the restoration and Ivan was eating everything up. Every question we would ask, he knew the answer. When we asked him why he thought a restoration of the priesthood was needed, he perfectly stated the definition of the apostasy and how the authority had been taken from the Earth when Christ died. He told us several times as we were teaching that everything we taught just "made sense." When the time in the lesson came to invite him to be baptized he said, "Well... I haven't been baptized yet and of course I want to be baptized by the same authority that Christ was, so of course I will be baptized!"

 

When Sister Tycksen and I had been talking about the date we wanted to extend to him while driving to the lesson, we had decided to take a leap of faith and ask him to be baptized on May 30th- Less than 3 weeks away. I have personally been praying and fasting since I got to Glenwood to find ONE person that can be baptized in the month of May. In addition, Sister Tycksen and I had fasted THREE times this past week to find one person to baptize in May. We both felt the spirit confirm that Ivan would be THAT one soul. So... I extended the date and Ivan accepted! He was so happy and so excited to learn more. Of course, we told him that he had a lot more to learn before he gets baptized but he just kept saying that we had answered every single one of his questions that no other church could respond to. He said that everything about what we had taught him just "connected" and that he knew he wanted to become a member of THIS church. (When he said that, I couldn't help but blurt out, "It's because it's TRUE! Uhhh... But, of course... we want you to find that out for yourself..." hahaha) We finished the lesson and both Ivan and his daughter Annie were set on date to be baptized on May 30th. It was such a miracle and both Sister Tycksen and I couldn't help but smile from ear to ear.

 

We also were able to introduce the Book of Mormon to Ivan and explain A LOT about Joseph Smith. He agreed to read the whole introduction and all of the testimonies of the witnesses in the front before our next visit. We then told him that we wanted to come back 2-3 times a week so he could be prepared for his baptism on the 30th. He responded with, "2 times a week? You can come 4 if you want! Even every day!" So... we set up another appointment for the next night. Sister Tycksen and I walked out of their home basically screaming and crying. We KNEW that our prayers had been answered and all of the fasting, and knocking, and praying had paid off. We had been given a miracle from God and we are determined to make sure that Ivan is baptized (along with hopefully Annie and Carmen) on May 30th. I KNOW this church is the ONLY true church and like Ivan said, "It just makes sense!" Everything always connects and comes full circle. "Dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." -Ether 12:6

 

Hermana Tycksen lost her name badge so she had to wear one of mine;
she got to be me for a day!

 

I hope you all have a great week! I love you so much! Thanks for your constant support and prayers! May God bless, wherever you are!

xoxo

--

Love,

Hermana Pierce

Eu estou dando a luz um bebe!!! Mais uma vez!

May 4, 2015

Well people! Transfer news is here and thankfully I will be staying in Glenwood Springs another 6 weeks! ANDDD I will be TRAINING another new missionary! Woohoo! I am super excited! When President Murdock called me on Saturday night to extend the call I accepted excitedly. Well, what he included after was a shock! I will be training a new missionary that is a visa-waiter for BRAZIL! Which means she won't know any Spanish (Spent the past 6 weeks in the MTC learning Pork and cheese)! I will be teaching her everything from scratch! AHH! Needless to say, I'm a little nervous about this one... but I know that we will see SO many miracles! The title of this email is in portuguese in honor of my new child... it says "I'm having a baby! Again!" :)

 

Saying good-bye to one of my dearest missionary companions, Hermana Adair

Well, needless to say this week was absolutely crazy! We were running around like mad men helping Sister Arnold get prepared to leave, saying bye to people, planning activities, etc. And on top of that, Sister Arnold was sick for two days, which was a big bummer! But, alas, she left for Denver yesterday and will be flying home on Wednesday. It was a great transfer together :)
 

Me and Hermana Arnold

When we send home a companion from the mission field,
we jokingly say, "She's dead!"

 

We have a busy day today getting ready for transfers and the new baby! :) I am companions with Sister Adair's companion, Sister Harper, today. (Sister Adair goes home this week too- that was a TOUGH break up... She has become one of my best friends ever!) But this week we spent the majority of the proselyting time we did have preparing for a Spanish branch activity. The missionaries were in charge and it ended up being great! The branch never has any activities so we told them we would plan it and put one together! We planned a "missionary night" full of fun minute-to-win-it games! The rapid pace of the games represented the quickness of the Lord's missionary work. If you aren't looking for it, a missionary experience can just pass you by! It was really fun, and despite the rough turn out, those that attended had a great time!

 

We decorated the church for the Branch activity the missionaries hosted

Getting ready to break the pinata

Food and fun!

Future Missionaries at the Branch activity

 

I have to run, but I love you all so much! So excited to Skype this Sunday! Muah!

xoxo

Love,

Hermana Pierce

 

 

 

Another Transfer Gone Already?

    

April 27, 2015

Hello all! Man! I can't even believe that this week will be my SIXTH here in Glenwood! It is seriously just speeding by and I can't believe I've already finished another transfer of my mission. Next transfer will be #8 out of 13! I have enjoyed serving in Glenwood and am really starting to love it here! There are some rumors that they could potentially be closing down our area due to a shortage of Spanish sisters in the mission so let's pray that that doesn't happen!

 

 

 

 

Hermana Arnold will be heading to Denver on Sunday because she is going home! So, next Tuesday (5/5 Transfer Day) I will be receiving a new companion! I'm excited for Hna Arnold to see her family and we've had a really good transfer together :) Let's go out with a bang this last week!

 

Okay so...Miracle!

 

On Saturday we went for a follow up appointment for a new investigator, Berna. Well, when we showed up at the trailer park, we first knocked on the wrong trailer and ended up talking to a girl there named Nicol. She answered the survey questions, we taught her the Restoration and she became a new investigator! Then, we found the correct trailer and Berna wasn't there. BUT the lady that answered is the mom of another family that lives in the same trailer. Her name is Carmen and she is AMAZING. We did the survey inside, taught her Lesson 1, asked her to be baptized on June 6th and she said YES! It was a miracle and although our appointment had fallen through, the Lord poured out another great blessing upon us! We are so excited to meet with Carmen again tomorrow and teach her about the Book Of Mormon. She said she will be waiting for us and will have prayed about Joseph Smith :)

 

 

He is HERE. And there. And EVERYWHERE. SEEK HIM.

Picture taken at Hanging Lake :) mormon.org / helives.mormon.org

We didn't get to see very many progressing investigators this week again :( We're going through a period of truly figuring out who will and won't progress and focusing our time on the truly elect. BUT, a family we are teaching, the Hurtado's, came to church yesterday and they loved it! It was a miracle to see them there :)

 

On Wednesday this week, we had Zone Conference and it was amazing! It focused a lot on BECOMING who the Savior wants us to be. I am truly so grateful to be a missionary in the Colorado Denver South Mission and love serving here so much. I am really going to start focusing on who I want to become, not only as a missionary, but also as a PERSON. I think sometimes I get caught up in becoming the best missionary I can be that I forget to just be myself and focus on the personal attributes I have that need bettering. It is amazing that the Lord really does know us personally. He has a path prepared for us and all we have to do is choose to participate in HIS plan. I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and for the changes it has brought about in not only myself, but all that are around me. I could never thank my parents enough for centering our home on Christ. This is the most important gift we have ever been given.

 



Saying good-bye to Sister McRae at Zone Conference

I love you all so much! Please share this wonderful restored truth with everyone. It can and will change their life and eternity!

 

XOXO

Love,

Hermana Pierce

Stomach Bugs and Miracles

 

The beauty of this state amazes me!

 

April 20, 2015

Hello, All!

Let me just start out by congratulating my sister, Kristen, and her husband, Eiji, on officially announcing their pregnancy! BABY on the WAY <3 She is due at the end of October and I couldn't be more proud of them! I am so excited to meet my new niece or nephew when I return home :)

 

Also, congratulations to my dad as getting called as the Bishop of the Keller 2nd ward! I am so grateful for the opportunity our family has to serve others. This gospel really is the greatest blessing we have been given.
 

 

 

And lastly, as far as announcements go, I just wanted to officially announce to everyone that I've decided to extend my mission a little bit, so I will now be returning home on January 12th, 2016! I was planning on being home for at the beginning of December so I could make Winter Semester at BYU, but after a lot of praying and fasting, I have decided that I want to lengthen my full 18 months as a servant of the Lord! Thank you for all of your wonderful support! Serving a mission has been the greatest blessing in my life and I want to fulfill every day I have to share this amazing gift.

 
 

Exploring Fun Caves on P-Day!

 

Alright, well on with the week!

 

So, I don't have too much to update on this week as far as investigators and teaching goes, but I do want to share a miracle!

All this week we have been visiting a LOT of Less Active members. The Carbondale branch where we serve usually has about 15 active members each week and this week at Sacrament meeting there were 32 people present- not including the elders!!!! That is far more than DOUBLE what we normally have! AND, we had 10 less actives there! It was SUCH a miracle and we saw the direct fruits of our labors! Unfortunately, yesterday, I had a stomach bug and was bed ridden all day, so we didn't get to be at sacrament meeting, but I KNOW that the Lord was blessing us for all of the hard work we have been doing. I know the Lord is in the DETAILS of our lives and that he will NEVER forsake us. Seek Him. You will find Him.
 

 

Hanging Lake hike on P-day

 

Lastly, I just want to bear my testimony of this true and restored gospel. I am so grateful for the opportunity to have this great, eternal truth in my life. I know that the true priesthood authority of God has been restored to the earth today through the prophet Joseph Smith. I know that living these commandments and following the Lord's counsel has brought me more happiness than I could ever imagine. Share this gift with EVERYONE. Each and every person deserves to be this happy! I am so grateful for the great blessing my family is. I couldn't have asked for a better guide here on the earth. I have such a strong testimony that our families truly are ETERNAL and FOREVER. See you soon... In white <3

 

I love being a missionary! Make it a great week!

Love,

La Hermana Pierce

 

 

 

Picture: He is HERE. And there. And EVERYWHERE. SEEK HIM.

Picture taken at Hanging Lake :) mormon.org / helives.mormon.org

Spiritually Feasting

April 13, 2015

Hey ya'll! Things here in Glenwood Springs are great! The weather is beautiful, the work is hastening, and we had another good week of work :)

 

Here's a miracle to start off!

 On Saturday, we went to contact a potential investigator that ended up living WAAAAY farther away than we thought she did. Well, we get out of the car and are walking to try and find the apartments when I see a guy outside washing his car. I nudge Sis. Arnold and we walk over to OYM him. He turned out to be Spanish speaking and his name was Franklin. We did the survey with him and he had some REALLY amazing answers. Right from the first survey question, I felt the spirit confirm to me that HE was the person I had been praying for in this area to be baptized in May. HE was the elect. Well, we transition into the first lesson and he knew EVERY answer to every question that we asked. We invited him to be baptized by the proper priesthood authority on May 30th and he said YES. It was truly SUCH a miracle to find him. The potential we had been looking for ended up not being there. BUT, we KNOW that we were led to that random street to find one of God's elect waiting to hear the true, restored gospel. I received SEVERAL confirmations from the spirit that HE had been selected by the Lord. We are so excited to meet with Franklin again tomorrow :)

​As far as progressing investigators go,​ most of them took a couple of steps back this week, which was a little sad, but we are working with them to resolve their doubts! We had a SUPER tough lesson with our investigator Patricia the other night where it seemed like everything we taught them while trying to do the BOM Dialogue was disputed with a Bible Bash comment. Sister Arnold and I couldn't believe what we were hearing and just felt prompted by the spirit to bear our testimonies, end the lesson, and pray for them. We did just that, and I ended up in tears as I testified of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and that I KNOW that the Book of Mormon truly contains the FULLNESS of the gospel. When we got back to the car, we were a little discouraged but KNEW that we had fulfilled our purpose and that their hearts would be softened. It was so shocking to hear someone that had loved the BOM so much to completely flip a 180 all of the sudden. BUT, I KNOW that Patricia will continue to progress and feel of the love that I and the Savior have for her.

 

Other than that, we have just been working hard and sacrificing for the Lord. On Saturday, we fasted from Breakfast until Dinner (a mission-wide thing we do every Saturday to help achieve our goal of 100 baptisms in May) and then we did ANOTHER mission-wide fast starting right after dinner on Saturday until Sunday dinner. Let's just say it was a lot of spiritual feasting. As all who know me are well aware, fasting has never been my strong suit, but after our almost 48 hour fast this weekend, I felt SO MUCH STRENGTH. A recent convert explained fasting to me as, "giving up physical food for the spiritual." I want to invite each of you to fast and discover what more YOU can do for the Lord. I love this gospel and I LOVE being a missionary,

 

Make it a great week!

 

xoxo

Love,

Hermana Pierce

In Christ ALL Shall Be Made ALIVE

April 6, 2015

WOW! This week was INCREDIBLY HARD! Haha! I can't even begin to describe how much the adversary was working on Sister Arnold and I. It was definitely one of the most personally, emotionally trying weeks of my mission. BUT, with a good priesthood blessing, a lot of time spent on my knees, and some good 'ole hard WORK, it all turned out alright :)

My absolute FAVORITE part of the week was SATURDAY AND SUNDAY... GENERAL CONFERENCE. WOW! What a MIRACLE it was to have conference THIS week! I absolutely loved all of the sessions! What an amazing blessing it is to have a PROPHET of God on the earth today. We got to watch the sessions at a members house, (The Page's- I LOVE THEM!) which was ESPECIALLY great because it meant that we got to relax a little bit, lay down and just soak up every moment! I am especially grateful for the opportunity to listen to conference on EASTER. I truly LOVE Easter just because it is SO focused on Christ and hardly anything else! What a truly amazing miracle was wrought by the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

 

Old Montrose South Zone: #Heishere

[Disclaimer: Easter Morning, Sister Arnold and I did begin with a fun little Easter egg hunt in our apartment where we took turns hiding each others eggs ;) Thanks so much mom for the GREAT package!! Just call me the Easter Bunny!]

 

 

Easter Egg Hunt

 

This week we made a goal to REALLY focus on doing our hour of finding every day. Well, On Saturday, after the morning session of conference, we had exactly one hour to go finding. Well, NO ONE was answering their doors! NO ONE! Haha! We knocked about 7 doors and NO ONE. Well, the next two we knocked we found 2 new investigators! It was so amazing and I was so grateful for this tender mercy in between sessions! :)

​Our investigators, ​t

he Banda

​f​

amily

​ are doing GREAT​

! The mom is on page 105 in the BOM and they are both praying! We had a GREAT lesson with them yesterday and were able to talk a little bit about how there is only

​one ​

true​

church today! :) It was beautiful! AND they began to understand a little bit more that yes, all that comes from God is good, but that only OUR church has the PROPER authority!

​Here are some of my favorite "one-liners" from General Conference!

​- LIFE is NOT confined to a 4 inch screen! -Jose A Tiexeira

- We could not embrace all of her choices, but we could embrace her. -Brent H. Nielsen

- Christ suffered to GRASP us as we all fell. -Jeffrey R. Holland [ONE OF MY FAVORITE TALKS]

- Salvation does not fulfill the Father's aspiration for us. -Dieter F. Uchtdorf

- When we pray, is it to replay our greatest hits of righteousness? -Dieter F. Uchtdorf

- RUN to receive the blessings of agency! -Robert D. Hales

- STAY BY THE TREE!!! -Kevin W. Pearson [Also another favorite]

- WILLINGLY accept the father's will, even if it doesn't match our righteous desires. -Niel L. Andersen

- I do not shame to tell you who I was, but JOY in my conversion... 'Twas I, but 'tis not I. -Dale G. Renlund [ANOTHER FAVORITE- SO GOOD]

I love you all so much! Have a great week!

--

Love,

Hermana Pierce