A Shortie...but a Goodie!

January 26, 2015

WOW! This was such an amazing week. Sister Adair and I had a lot more opportunities to find new investigators and we found a GOLDEN ONE! Her name is Margarita and she lives in Olathe. We tracted into her on Tuesday and taught her Lesson 1. She responded SO well and really has a strong desire to learn! We asked her if it would be important for her to know that these things are true and she said of course and that she really wanted to know! She even asked us if she could come to church with us on Sunday! So it was DEFINITELY a BIG miracle to find her. It amazes me how prepared some people are. The Lord truly has given them the divine opportunity to change their lives. Now all we have to do is find them! As far as our most progressing investigator goes, her name is Miriam. I think I've mentioned her before. She is 24 and lives here in Montrose. On Wednesday I was on exchange with an English sister, Sister Patera (who previously served with me and is now my STL- I ADORE her), so I had to teach the lesson all on my own. BUT, it was great! I really love Miriam and she has such a desire to LEARN! She absolutely loved the BOM lesson and knows that in order to know if it is true all she has to do is pray, read, and ask! IT was such an amazing night. I can't help but think about how grateful I am to be a missionary. We had another great lesson that night also with our long-time investigator, Giselle. She hadn't been that interested in the past, but we stopped by to visit with her roommate and ended up teaching her anyways! She was SO open and had a complete change of heart. She expressed to us that she was looking for guidance and really wanted to know if God was there. I was able to bear a STRONG testimony to her that I KNOW our Heavenly Father is in the DETAILS of our lives. We taught her a little bit about the plan of salvation and just expressed the love that God has for her. It was an amazing night and I KNOW that I have been called as a missionary for a PURPOSE at THIS specific time. I can't believe our time is so short to share this great message of the true gospel of Jesus Christ, but I am enjoying every second.

Thursday we had Zone Conference with President and Sister Murdock and it was GREAT. SUCH an uplifting experience and SO empowering. Sister M gave an amazing talk on the power of the atonement. It was so beautiful to listen to the words that are truly inspired by Christ. I love the Colorado Denver South Mission and feel so blessed to serve here. It was an outright amazing day and week!

I don't have much time today because we are headed to Telluride (yay!!), but just know that I am LOVING everything about being a missionary. Even though the work doesn't always go how you want or expect, we see miracles every day and I KNOW that I am doing the most important thing in the world right now. I hope you all have a great week and know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the greatest gift we have ever been given!

 

Love,

Hermana Pierce

Una vida centrado en Cristo

January 19, 2015

Man, another glorious week in Mont-rose, Colorado.

Let me tell ya about it...

This week we were busy trying to get back into the swing of things and working a lot on the LA Member initiative that we created for the branch. Nothing too crazy to report on, but we did get to finally teach a few lessons!

Maria: She is an atheist and we've had 3 lessons with her now. It's so amazing to teach her because she truly does want to know if this whole "religion" thing is worth it. So, we've started with the basics, and it's been HARD. I've never once taught someone without a common belief in Jesus Christ. So, we've had to come from a different angle and it's been sort of refreshing. When we visited her on Wednesday, she had been praying EVERY day to God. She doesn't even believe that there IS a God, but yet, she is still praying. Now that's faith.

Maribel, and Christian: We had a lesson with them on Thursday evening and it was AMAZING. We introduced them to the Book of Mormon and Maribel said that she had already read about it in the pamphlet. (Okay... I'll allow it.) The spirit was super strong and they have SUCH a strong desire to know of the truth. When we asked them what they thought they needed to do in order to gain a testimony of the BOM, Maribel said, "Well... of course we have to read the book!" She then proceeded to ask if she was allowed read more than one chapter a day. It's so great to see the Lord working through these wonderful people.

The rest of our proselyting time this week was spent contacting referrals and doing little things to help our current investigators. When illnesses come, it takes a lot of time to rebuild the area, so that's what we're working on right now. I'm personally working on not becoming complacent with my time in Montrose. 6 months is a long time to spend in the same 15 mile radius, so i'm trying to focus my efforts on what I haven't yet achieved here. It will be interesting to see what happens at transfers in three weeks, but I know that wherever I am placed is where the Lord needs me. We fasted twice this week (a struggle for me... but hey, who doesn't love miracles?), including a combined fast with our branch council. We met with them last night and talked even more about the LA families we are choosing to reactivate before General Conference. It is really amazing to see all of these members pull together to help save our brothers and sisters. I have such a strong testimony of the blessings that come from dedicating yourself to the Lord. The Montrose 2015 Stake Motto is a "Christ Centered Life." Our stake president challenged every member to think about the time in their life when they were closest to the Savior, and then, to get to that point again. Obviously, the time in my life that I have been closest to the Lord is NOW. I am focusing my efforts on HIS work 24/7 and I couldn't be more grateful for that opportunity. I challenge each of you to do the same. Think about what would allow you to TRULY center your life on Christ. I promise that if you are doing everything YOU can, Heavenly Father will do everything HE can.

Solamente quiero terminar con mi testimonio. Estoy TAN agradecida por la oportunidad de hacer esta obra del Senor y yo SE que JesuCristo vive. Todas las cosas que tenemos en nuestras vidas vienen de el y yo se que si estamos esforando para hacer nuestro parte, el va a ayudarnos con las coasa dificiles. Gracias por su ayuda y apoyo en todo lo que hago. Haz lo justo y no se olviden de mi amor!

Hasta luego!

​Con amor, ​

Hermana Pierce

 

A Labor of LOVE

(*NOTE: Sorry, but for some reason, I cannot upload any photos this week. Will see if they will attach at a later date!)

January 12, 2015

Hello one and all! This was a crazy insane week! A lot is happening in the San Juan branch and there is a LOT to report on! The easiest way for me to submit this information to you, is through the letter I wrote to my mission president this week. Each week we are asked to give him an update of how we are doing personally and how the areas we have been assigned to serve in are progressing. The following is what I wrote to him:

Dear President,

Wow! This was a crazy week. As our key indicators probably show, we didn't teach a ton. Most of that was contributed to the fact that I had the stomach flu for 3 days. That was a bummer. Our transfer has really been set off a lot by illness thus far, BUT, the Lord is healing us and we are almost back to being 100% healthy :) The other reason we were a little slower this week was contributed to some REALLY amazing revelation that Sister Adair and I received for our area. She will probably write you regarding the same things, but the following is an account of my thoughts and feelings about the San Juan Branch after having been here for 4 transfers now.

So, as I'm sure you will read, Tuesday night Sister Adair and I were driving around trying to visit investigators and just NOTHING felt right. NOTHING. So, we both decided to go home and hash out some very specific goals with the Lord for this area regarding this transfer. When we prayed we both felt EXTREMELY prompted that through Less-Active (LA) members was how we were going to LIFT the San Juan Branch. After having served here for 5 months already, I was a little torn between what more I could do for the area. I needed inspiration and after receiving a priesthood blessing the day before, I felt SO strongly that THIS was the road we needed to take. This branch has seen 35 souls baptized in the last 6 years. And almost every single one of them is inactive. After truly thinking about it, THIS was the road we needed to take. So, we looked through all of our area books, found records, talked with members (this attributed to the bulk of time spent in bed recovering over 3 days) and found out that there are 38 LA members here in the Montrose area that could be attending the SJ Branch. If all of those members were reactivated, the branch would MORE than DOUBLE in size! (We have about a consistent 30 members at sacrament meeting every week). Throw a few convert baptism families in there, and you've got a ward. It became blatantly obvious to me that THIS was what I had been missing for the past three transfers. In the past, I had never realized that investigators weren't progressing because of the lack of support from the branch. The members would do all they could, but because of the size, no investigator would truly feel like they had entered into a family. A firm foundation needs to be established in order to increase convert baptisms in this area. And that HAS to start with the missionaries. The members of the branch are GREAT, but don't fully embrace the true meaning of missionary work. SO, my thoughts were to change the way they viewed LA members. Make it a labor of LOVE. Because truly, when we think about it, if we are treating these LA's like our brothers and sisters, they deserve WAY more. President Hinckley says in PMG that there is NO POINT in doing missionary work if we don't hold on to the fruits of our efforts. I couldn't agree more. And quite frankly, I feel like since I've been in SJ, we haven't spent enough time working to rescue these souls. They've gone by the wayside, as the bulk of our time has been attributed to finding and baptizing. BUT, I do feel that the Lord has specifically guided us to this revelation at THIS point in time for a PURPOSE. The branch was on the outs. Members were losing faith; even the LEADERS were losing faith. BUT, I have never been more sure about inspiration from the Lord, than this.

So, for the rest of the weekend, we basically devoted all of the proselyting time we could get (when I was feeling decently) to a branch initiative for these LA's. Sister Adair brought a tool she had used in Denver called 'Invitando En Fe,' and we went to work. We spent countless hours searching for a plan that would motivate the branch council to take their responsibility for these LA's seriously. On Friday morning during my personal study, I prayed SO intently that I would know exactly what road to take with this. It had been SO taxing on my mind and I wanted to completely submit to the Lord's will in whatever we, as missionaries, decided to do. Well, needless to say, for the next HOUR, I didn't stop writing down revelations. It was coming to me as if the Lord had been turning the pages of PMG for me. He led me DIRECTLY to where I needed to read for these members. I focused the majority of my studies on the 'Accountability' section of Ch. 8 in PMG. The rest was spent researching scriptures and discovering what more I could do to get through to them. By the end of my personal study, I had about 4 pages of notes on exactly what the LORD wanted done. I knew I had received the guidance I had asked for.

So, since we had asked the elders to ponder the same during their personal study that day, we got together and conjoined all of our personal revelations. When all was said and done, we had a SOLID plan for our branch council meeting on Sunday (yesterday) evening. When Sunday evening came around, I knew we had put in the effort (about 10 hours, we figured out) to be guided completely by the spirit. And that was EXACTLY what happened. We presented our portion for branch council. Used the words of the PROPHETS, instead of our own, and briefly described what we felt needed to be done. The list of 38 names we handed out right from the start was enough. The branch felt the spirit of the Lord testifying to them that we NEEDED to save these brothers and sisters. The spirit was so strong throughout the remainder of the meeting and the leaders of the branch council's hearts were softened. The meeting consisted of a lot of deep conversation about the fate of the branch. BUT, it was concluded that the Lord had established the SJ Branch for a reason and that we, as members, could concentrate our efforts more fully on the work of salvation. Several comments were made about how we could go about that and in turn, it was decided that the missionaries would be focusing all of our efforts on the BRANCH. Essentially, our call is to LIFT the area we are in. So, we told the Branch Council that whatever they needed (within reason, of course), would be done.

It truly was an inspiring meeting. I felt the spirit testify several times throughout the week that THIS was the miracle I had been waiting for. THIS was the purpose I was HERE, serving in this branch, at this specific time. I know without a doubt that the Lord is guiding his missionaries. I am SO grateful for the opportunity to serve here. I am so excited to see where the Lord will take us as we strive to save his sons and daughters. I love this gospel with all of my heart. I love the members of the San Juan Branch. I couldn't help but hold back tears last night as I expressed the love I have for each individual member of the branch. I know that everything we have been asked to do is inspired of the Lord.

Thank you for your trust in us as missionaries. The SJ Branch NEEDS Elders and Sisters. I am so excited to see what our efforts will result in. I love the CDSM with all of my heart. I have never been more excited to do missionary work and am so entirely thankful for the opportunity to serve.

Love,

Hermana Pierce

That perfectly describes every thought I've had this week. I love my mission. I love these people. Never forget the love of our Savior. It is perfect and encompasses every aspect of your day to day life.

Until next week!

xoxox, Hermana Pierce

Transfer 5

January 5, 2015

That's right folks... I'm already started my 6th month and 5th transfer here in the great state of Colorado. And let me tell you... time is FLYING by. I can't believe I only have 11 months left in my mission! I feel so blessed to serve the Lord at this time in my life.

 

 

 

Transfers

This was a great week! To start off, transfers were supposed to be TUESDAY but because of terrible weather conditions got moved to THURSDAY. Which meant that Sister Flores and I got to spend New Years Eve together! We were really excited and spent the day doing service at the thrift shop and then had coordination meeting. We had to be in by 6 that night so after saying some final goodbyes we headed back to good ole' Dover Road and turned in. She spent the evening packing and I played with the Tobler grandchildren and was in bed by 10. It was a wonderful way to reign in 2015! :)

 

 

Popped into the Stake dance

 

​Thursday was TRANSFERS!!! Transfer Meeting started at 11:45 so we headed to Grand Junction and enjoyed saying some final goodbyes to some missionaries I absolutely ADORE that are getting moved for their last transfer. So... here is the news! Sister Flores went to DENVER for her last transfer and is serving in the Spanish WARD there. It is her greenie area and I know how badly she wanted to go back and tie up loose ends so I was so excited for her. She will be amazing over there and will really enjoy her last two transfers. I feel so privileged to have gotten to spend at least 1 transfer with her! After the out west transfer train left... the other missionaries arrived and my new companion is... drum roll please... HERMANA ADAIR! :) She is DARLING and I absolutely LOVE her. She is 20 and went to SUU before her mission. [However, she is converting over to the BLUE COUGAR side post-mish so that will be awesome :)]. She has 3 transfers left [just like every single one of my companions thus far--- I think I'm cursed haha] so we are thinking she may die in Montrose! Unfortunately, she has pneumonia right now :(( so we weren't able to go out and do too much work this week because she is still recovering from that and I am still recovering from my cold as well. BUT, that did leave us with a lot of opportunities to talk and get to know each other and we get along greatl! We talked a lot about our families and backgrounds and she is SUCH a strong, amazing person and definitely has such a beautiful testimony. I just absolutely love, love, love her already. I really hope we get to stay together for more than one transfer!

 

 

My new companion, Hermana Adair

 

Miracle of the week: MIRIAM.

She was a referral that sister Flores and I contacted on Monday and she is amazing! We taught her about the Restoration and she understood everything so clearly and loved our message. We asked her if she came to know that these things were true if she would be baptized and she said "YES, OF COURSE!" Our teaching pool is basically in a puddle right now so it was so great to finally find someone that has a strong desire to know of the truth! We have another appointment with her tomorrow so I will keep you updated! :)

Like I said, Hermana Adair and I basically spent the whole weekend just recovering and getting healthy again so I don't have anything else to update on!

I hope you enjoyed your holiday break and that the new year treats you well! Take advantage of this new start and remember of the greatest gift that has been given to us--- Jesus Christ. Read more about his mission and how we can live with our families for eternity at mormon.org :)

I love you and most of all...

I LOOOOOVE MY MISSION!

​xoxo.

​

Hermana Pierce

​

MONT-ROSE (4 Transfers Strong!)

Merry Christmas! Me and the Big Guy!

 

December 29, 2014

Yes! It's true! I am staying in Montrose another transfer... and I am SO excited about that!! As for the explanation to the title of this email... If you want to be a REAL native from Montrose... you HAVE to pronounce it "MONT-ROSE." It's quite humorous to hear every now and again. Sadly, Sister Flores will be getting transferred. I will go to pick up my new companion tomorrow at Transfer Meeting! :)

 

 

Smith and Flores leaving...Rogers and Pierce holding down the fort!

I'm feeling a bit under the weather (Cold/Flu- Like symptoms) today, so I'm going to try and condense the week into a few paragraphs. BUT, just know that I love my mission and I am so happy to be serving. Christmas time is the absolute coolest season to be a missionary! And I loved every second :)

 

 

A white Christmas In Montrose!

On Tuesday evening we were able to go caroling with our Branch President and his family, some of their neighbors, and the Elders! It was SO FUN! They told us to come dressed up, so of course, I would never pass up that opportunity!! SO, I got me a Mrs. Claus suit, and away we went! It was a BLAST (even tho it was only 20 degrees :| haha) :).

 

 

Me as Mrs. Claus!

Wednesday we went to go and make gingerbread cookies for members of the branch and investigators with the Elders at the Evensen's. That was so much fun and we were able to spend the rest of the afternoon delivering them. That evening we had a wonderful dinner with Sister Burr and then went out caroling with the other Montrose Zone! It was SOOO FUN to be with all the missionaries and was absolutely hilarious. There was about 25 of us in one group and we loved bringing Christmas Cheer to several homes :)

 

 

Making Gingerbread Cookies!

THURSDAY... CHRISTMAS! Woohoo! We had zone meeting in the morning which was great! It was fun to be able to gather together as missionaries again on Christmas day. Then, afterwards we went around delta and caroled a little to some of the ZL's investigators. Then, we came home for lunch (quesadillas... again lol. I'm becoming Mexican.). Then, we headed off to skype the fam! It was so fun to be able to talk with all of you! It doesn't seem like it's been 6 months since I've seen you! Time really does fly! I can't believe I've completed over 1/3 of my mission! AHH! We then spent the rest of the evening with the Evensen's. It was a great day :)

 

 

Opening presents from family at the Evensens

I won't bore you with the rest of the details of the week... It was pretty slow considering everyone was in a post Christmas coma. BUT, we did manage to have an amazing lesson with Tomas y Bella yesterday. They are great and are progressing nicely. The mom has even started to open up and is now allowing us to teach her! This week is New Years so it's bound to be a little slow. We have to be in by 6 on New Years Eve so I hope wherever you are, you enjoy ringing in the New Year! I'll be fast asleep in my bed! Haha!

 

 

Christmas Day!

I love being a missionary and am so grateful for the opportunity to serve. Have a great week! :)

 

Love

Hermana Pierce