Check out #HEistheGift on YouTube...December 7th

November 24, 2014

Well hello there everyone from Montrose, CO! 

This was another good week... so here is the update!

 

 

Bye-bye, Hermana Noakes   :(
 

On Tuesday we went to transfer meeting and I got to pick up my NEW companion, Hermana Flores. She is 14 months into her mission (only 3 transfers left) and is a NATIVE! She grew up in Washington D.C. and spoke Spanish in the home and English at school. Her parents are from El Salvador and Ecuador and I really adore her! She is SUCH an amazing teacher and missionary. We get along well and I believe we will see SO many miracles this transfer. Also, it doesn't hurt to have a native speaker around ;) She went to BYU pre-mish as well and is also 20!! She was a previous Sister Training Leader, but got released when she got transferred here. It is so cool to have one of the leaders of the mission as my companion. She is very obedient and we work together really nicely. I have already learned a lot from her!

 

 

Hello, Hermana Flores!

On Wednesday we saw a miracle! We were in Olathe and only had about 30 minutes to tract. So we prayed and found this hidden away trailer park. We knock on the first door and a woman answers. We explain we are doing a survey and ask to come in. She lets us in and we do the survey with her and her husband. It went great and we got to teach them! They became 2 new investigators and had sooooo many questions for us about the plan of salvation. It was a wonderful experience and was a miracle that we got in the door to teach them (especially since it was really cold outside!). 

 

 

First snowfall of the season!

We are also teaching a girl named Karla and saw her this week as well... she is so prepared and accepted the soft baptismal invitation. She is by far our most progressing investigator and loves to learn. She is out of town this week in Telluride where her family lives but we should hopefully be setting her on date soon! 

On Friday we did some service for Sister Nicholson in the branch who is having a baby in a few weeks! And then that evening we had a Relief Society activity where we learned how to make "pan de calabasa!" It was wonderful and really fun! We all know how much I love to make/eat bread! It reminded me of you, mom :)

On Saturday we had an amazing zone meeting with one of the most amazing announcements ever! The church is putting out a Christmas initiative called "He is the Gift." It is based off of a video the church has produced that will be released on the 27th of November. It is being released to help others remember the true meaning of the Christmas season. We were able to watch it on Saturday for the first time (special screening for missionaries ;)). Wow. Speechless. What an amazing video and opportunity this is for missionary work. As missionaries, this is HUGE. They have given us 10 "He is the Gift" pass-along cards to hand out every day and we are tracking all of the new investigators we find as a result of this initiative. AND, if that weren't enough, the church has purchased the HEADLINER for YouTube on December 7th. The video is projected to be seen by 220 MILLION people in ONE day. Pretty insane right? Needless to say, we are definitely excited to share this wonderful video with everyone we meet and spread the TRUE meaning of Christmas. Christmas in the mission field is DEFINITELY one to remember <3 I AM EXCITED!!!

Missionaries in charge of "Limbo"

Saturday evening we had a "Festival de Thanksgiving" for the branch. There was a dinner and all sorts of fun games. Unfortunately, none of our investigators that we invited attended, but it was still amazing to spend the evening with the members of the branch. I really do love everyone here so much... they have become my temporary family. I am so grateful for the opporunity to serve... I have no idea what I would have done if I never would have gotten to meet all of these wonderful people! 

Yesterday we attended church and then in the evening, saw ANOTHER miracle. We had planned to go and see one of our older investigators, Carolina. She is 17 and finishing up high school. When we first met her she was SUPER solid and loved to learn. She was on baptismal date but then fell off date and off the side of the earth. She was having a lot of personal struggles with her boyfriend and family. Well, when we were planning the other night, I just felt impressed to try her again. So, last night we headed over to her house and tried to see her. She answered the door and let us in. We had an AMAZING lesson with her and Hna Flores related really well to her. The spirit was suuuuper strong in the lesson and she told us that she wanted to continue to grow closer to Christ. Hna Flores asked her if she would come to church this Sunday and she said YES! We were chatting some more and I asked her what she was doing on Thanksgiving. She said she didn't think she would get to spend it with her family since they were going to Mexico for the next month for the holiday season. SOOO... I invited her to come and have Thanksgiving dinner with us! She was really excited and said yes! She will be joining us for one of our three (yes... three) Thanksgiving dinners on Thursday. I am so excited and it just warmed my heart to know that she won't have to be alone on Thanksgiving. I come from a VERY loving family and it broke my heart to see her abandoned by her own. I love her so much and know how much this gospel could change her life. So, I am so excited to spend this holiday with her and a lot of the other people that I love so much :) I will miss my beloved family in Texas and my mom's homemade rolls, BUT I know that we will be close in heart as we share the many blessings that we receive daily from our Father in Heaven.

 

 

Ninos at the branch activity

We are working hard, being exactly obedient, and sacrificing A LOT for the Savior this holiday season. As a full-time missionary, my ONLY desire is to bring ONE person unto Christ. That is the greatest gift I can give to someone.... and that is exactly what I will do.

May God bless you wherever you are...

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Love, 

Hermana Pierce

 

TRANSFERS! Staying in San Juan...

November 17, 2014

Well this week was downright WONDERFUL. We saw so many miracles and I absolutely can NOT believe that the transfer is already over and that I start my FOURTH tomorrow! My mother pointed out to me today that I am already 1/3 of the way done with my mission almost! AHHH! I wish I could stay forever! 

So with that being said, TRANSFER NEWS! I am staying in Montrose for another transfer at least! This one is the most important (because of Christmas ;)) so I am SO happy I will get to spend it with all of the wonderful members I love of the San Juan Branch. Unfortunately, Sister Noakes is getting transferred :( We knew it was coming, so I was prepared, BUT I am still sad to see her go! I really do love her so much and will miss her dearly. I will find out who my new companion is tomorrow at Transfer Meeting in Grand Junction. EEEK! I am nervous/excited to take over the area and start a new adventure with a new companion! Prayers needed, please! :)

 

Saying good-bye to Hermana N will be hard...

Oh man, do I have some stories for you! I don't have much time to write today because we are headed back home to finish Sister Noakes' packing, but I will try and share as much as possible!

Monday: We went to contact a referral from the black canyon elders. Was supposed to be a nice Hispanic lady named sue. Needless to say, we got the wrong house. Tall man opens the door. We explain that we are Spanish speaking missionaries, blah blah blah, before I even get the word missionary out of my mouth, he screams, "SHOVE OFF!" and slams the door in our face. The concerned man upstairs comes outside to see if we are okay. We say yes, get in our car, and start to drive away. Well, I feel prompted to go back and talk to him (even though he was English) and we do! We are outside doing the survey with him when grumpy pants from downstairs goes to take his trash out.... Needless to say he wasn't happy to see us. He starts yelling at us, asking if we have a permit to be in the area, who we are and WHO we REPRESENT. I responded with, "well actually, sir, we represent Jesus Christ." He didn't like that. He told us that we were what was wrong with the country, asked to see our I.D. (we didn't show him... don't worry), etc. It was interesting BUT the moral of the story is, I was SO SURPRISED with how I handled it! I just calmly explained our purpose, that we weren't solicitors and that we were sorry he felt disturbed by our presence. We agreed to not come back (as far as he thinks ;)) and apologized again for the inconvenience. It was DEFINITELY an experience I will NEVER forget, BUT I learned that I have been blessed with a LOT of patience and confidence since coming on my mission. The Lord works in mysterious ways!

 

It's cold out...ready to go tracting!

Tuesday: Taught the Padilla family. The dad, Arnulfo, said he believes the Book of Mormon to be the word of God and is reading it, BUT still won't leave his Catholic church. I love them and they will soon realize the importance of the RESTORED priesthood authority. 

Wednesday: We had the last district meeting of the transfer. It was SUPER awesome and so edifying. The spirit was so strong and I was grateful to be able to serve with all of these wonderful missionaries. That night, we taught 3 (YES, THREE) member present lessons! and one LARC! It was amazing and two of them were to new investigators! (AND ONE OF THEM WAS SUE.... We found the right person! :))

Thursday: Hardest day of the week for one reason: BLANCA.

You all know about Blanca. I talk about her constantly. She is my pride and joy, I love her to pieces and she was progressing towards baptism for a period of time. Well, you also all know that she struggled with the concept of the Book Of Mormon. She just couldn't get a testimony of it. Sister N and I thought we may have to drop her soon if she couldn't get past that, but we hoped it wouldn't have to happen. Well... Thursday night, it happened. We went over to read with her and it went south, really really fast. She started doubting everything and it started getting almost contentious. That's where I stepped in and just calmly asked, "Blanca, do you think at this time in your life, you can receive a testimony that the BOM is true?" Well... at least she was honest. She told us "NO" and I immediately began to cry. And I continued to cry for the next HOUR. We bore our testimonies to her, took pictures, hugged, cried, hugged, and cried some more. And then we left. Just as swiftly as we came. It was devastating. I cried all the way back to Montrose. It was hard but I KNOW that the miracles I am about to talk about were a direcrt result of our faith in letting her go. I love Blanca. I WILL stand next to her in all white... one day :)

Friday: We did a lot of service and weekly planned. Hno. Barrientos took us out for lunch and then we taught Sue again that night. She accepted the soft baptismal invite! :)

Saturday: MIRACLE CITY. Oh my gosh. 

First off, Wally (our less active, Deisy, that we teach, HER SON) was BAPTIZED! He is 8 and oh so precious. We have been teaching him for a little while to help him prepare and it was just precious. He was soooo excited. It doesn't count as a convert baptism even tho his dad isn't a member because he is only 8. BUT, nonetheless, it was just so heartwarming to see another person enter the waters of baptism. And this time, it was even better because I knew that WE helped him get there. 

 

 

Wally's baptism

Deisy's family at Wally's baptism

Then, that afternoon, we went to Olathe. Couldn't see ANYONE. Last house we knocked on before dinner was a potential. We were let inside, and we share the first lesson. The mom and 10 year old daughter LOVED it and even wanted to come to church. We had already found 4 new investigators so far this week so they made 5 and 6 (and we met our goal of 6!). It was amazing and I screamed in excitement after. 

Well... if that wasn't enough, after dinner, we went up to Delta and tried to contact a new investigator that we only got to teach once. We get to his house and his sister Noemi lets us in (it was SUPEERRRR windy and freezing). Basically, Octavio (the new investigator) wasn't even there... BUT we got to teach Noemi and her husband and family. They loved it and agreed with everything we said. ANOTHER 2 NEW INVESTIGATORS TO MAKE 8 FOR THE WEEK! It was such a miracle to find them and I was so overcome by how aware our Heavenly Father was of our prayers that week. So so so many miracles <3

Sunday: Yesterday we had an amazing 3 hours of church and then had a charla foganera afterwards. It was wonderful and I just realized how much I LOVE the members of this branch... I can't imagine having not come on a mission and never meeting them!!! 

I LOVE MY MISSION! :) 

This is the best work in the WORLD. Congratulations to Bishop Smith on getting called as mission president this week. You and Rebecca will CHANGE the lives of so many missionaries and people. 

God's speed,

I love you all!

​xoxo

​

Hermana Pierce

The Lord POURS Out His Blessings...I'm Always Soaking Wet!

November 10, 2014

NOOOOO. Transfers are here and I am sad. Well actually, I am great.... but we are pretty sure Sister Noakes is leaving :( sad day. I love her so much and will be sad to see not only my companion, but FRIEND, leave. BUT I know that the Lord will provide and that I will be okay without her. She has taught me so much. I can't believe I've spent the past 2,016 hours with her. That's a long time. It's a good thing I love that girl. 

 

 

Winter is coming!

This week was another tough one, but the work WILL press on! We're coming up on the last week of the transfer and we KNOW we will see miracles. 

Speaking of miracles, here is one that we saw this week: 5 NEW INVESTIGATORS. Woohoo! The investigator turn around has been a little slower this transfer so it was good to get back into the swing of things in that aspect. TWO of those newbies were found on MONDAY. The first two doors we knocked on this week and BOTH contained people that were prepared by the Lord to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was BEATING cold on Monday [makes tracting a little tougher] so to get into someone's house and teach them was WONDERFUL. #tendermercy

This week we did ELEVEN hours of service! That is usually what we do during the day [usually 1-3 pm] since almost no one is in their house. It was awesome and it is actually a HUGE stress relief! I love serving the Lord and His children... in all aspects.

 

The Tobler's grand daughter...she's a crack up!

 

On Wednesday evening it was 8:30 [awkward time before we go in for the night]. Sister Noakes and I were unsure of who to see. We started driving towards a less active member's house to try and visit them when I felt prompted to go and see a potential/referral we received, Yolanda. We knocked, chatted for a minute and introduced our message. She asked us how much time we had, we flipped the question around, and she allowed us to teach her! At 8:30 pm! Who finds a new investigator at that hour?! It was awesome and she is so sweet. It is so amazing to find those that want to listen to the gospel. People here are so kind and always treat us [for the most part] so kindly. I love it, I love it, I love it! :)

Thursday evening we stopped by Juan [the new less active member we found in Delta] and taught him and his 8 year old daughter. She was SO engaged and LOVED the message we shared. She knew little to nothing about the gospel and soaked up everything we said. She even begged her dad to take her to church! Sadly, they didn't end up coming, but we are seeing them again on Thursday. She is only 8 so she doesn't count as an "investigator" but that's just one more soul we can bring unto Christ to covenant with our Heavenly Father :)

That night, we also had a lesson with Blanca. It went GREAT. We put it ALL out there for her and basically said that if she never read the BOM she would NEVER know if it is true! Both Sister Noakes and I ended up crying when bearing our testimonies. The spirit was sooo strong. I know she will be baptized one day. We are just waiting for her to receive that testimony and confirmation that we know she can. 

On Friday evening we had a baby shower for a member of our branch, Sister Nicholson. OH MY GOODNESS it was so precious!!! I love that family so much and will be so excited to see their new beautiful boy!

 

 

Sister Nicholson's baby shower

 

 

Baby shower games

 

 

Oops...more baby shower fun!

Yesterday, we had a great morning at church. I translated it into English again and it went well! Some have asked me about my Spanish and it is coming along well! I don't know if I am 100% fluent in ALL aspects, but I am definitely fluent in things relating to the gospel! I can speak about mostly anything with ease. We speak about 70% of our day in Spanish and almost always teach in Spanish. I can see that I truly have the gift of tongues and that the Lord is guiding my words. I learn every day and can literally see my abilities being strengthened by my faith. I am becoming more reliant on Spanish and it becomes harder and harder to speak in English. Even my personal prayers are struggling to find the words in my native tongue! I love it and I love these people. It is so amazing to have the opportunity to jump into another culture and adapt to their ways and their language.

Last night the branch had a baptism! It was amazing!!! The elder's investigator, Alejandro, got baptized and it was BEAUTIFUL. I bawled like a baby. The spirit was so strong and I couldn't help but feel how happy the Lord was for him and his family. His wife was a less active member and it was wonderful to know that 2 souls [and many more to come] have been brought back to Christ. They are now progressing towards being sealed as a family for time and all eternity. Definitely a moment I will never forget.

 

Alejandro's baptism

Elder Penuelas returned for the baptism!

San Juan Cinco: Reunited again!

That is about it for the week! I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve the Lord and can't believe all of the blessings he POURS out every day. I am always soaking wet! This IS the true gospel of Jesus Christ. It HAS been restored, and is here to bring you home. This IS the good news. 

Take care y Dios les bendiga!

Love,

Hermana Pierce

 

4 MONTHS DOWN...13 TO GO!

November 3, 2014

Buenos tardes :)

This week was great! I don't have to much to update you on, but here is the low down!

Tuesday: We finally were able to teach! 3 lessons in 3 hours! It was wonderful and was a miracle directly from Heavenly Father as a result of our fasting.

 

 

Montrose North Zone

Wednesday: Zone Conference! It was amazing!!!! Seriously the most uplifting experience. President and Sister Murdock gave wonderful talks on Christ and sacrifice. It was such an edifying conference. AND, I got asked last minute to participate in a special music number! (literally- they were announcing the musical number when she asked me to join in) Haha. It was a spur of the moment and I hadn't even looked at the music but it went alright :) Sister Hall and I sang a duet of "I know that my Redeemer Lives."

Thursday: We had District Meeting and I gave a training on Diligence, Long-suffering, and Patience. I talked a lot about the Sons of Mosiah and showed a clip from the video "Missionary work and the atonement." (you can watch that on YouTube) It went GREAT. I LOVED preparing it. I absolutely love teaching and preparing lessons, I've realized! It has really become one of my favorite talents to develop! How appropriate considering I'm a missionary! It went great and afterwards our DL, Elder Rogers didn't even give his training because he "didn't want to follow that." Haha! It was so great and I know that the spirit was guiding me to say what the missionaries in our district needed to hear! That night we had Trunk-O-Treat and the Padilla family came! We gave them a church tour after and then had dinner with the Branch :) It was wonderful and so fun! 

 

 

Missionary Hallowe'en costumes

Friday: We finally found a new investigator! And a SUPER SOLID one at that! Her name is Lorena and she actually was at the trunkotreat the night before. We tracted into her (miracle/inspiration??? haha) and taught her all of lesson 1! She then said she would try and come to church next week and that she loved listening to us! 

​Saturday: We went to contact a referral and found a Less Active named Juan! ! He was baptized by sisters in 2002 and had marriage problems and fell away from the church. He was so excited to meet us and  ​said he would come to church next week! He is absolutely HILARIOUS and said that "when we cut ourselves we bleed the same blood as he does" (Mexican blood). HAHA. It was hilarious and definitely brightened our day :) 

Sunday: Yesterday was great. We had an amazing fast and testimony meeting. I bore my testimony about FAITH and shared the scripture 2 Nephi 26:13. It was amazing how guided my words were. The gift of tongues is SO real. I couldn't believe what I was saying during half of it but knew that the Lord was using me as His servant to help one of His children. It was a wonderful Sunday and definitely recharged me for the week!!

 

 

Well, that's about it! Sorry I didn't have any good stories this week! Another semi-slow week but I know that the Lord is giving us a time of trial so we can WORK for eternal salvation. I love the opportunity I have to serve and can't believe I've already completed 4 months of my mission! It is crazy that I am finishing my 3rd transfer in just 2 weeks! Sister Noakes will most likely be leaving and I will be getting a new companion! Sad but exciting! EEEK! :)

I love you all! 

<3

xoxo

Hermana Pierce

​PS: Today I dyed my hair.... because, why not? :)​