"If This Was Any Other Religion, We Would Have a Pew With Your Name On It." [Adios, Montrose!]

With Hermana Gogue

 

March 23, 2015

The title of this email goes out to the Montrose Stake President, President Taylor. That is a DIRECT QUOTE to me! Hahaha!!! He gave the missionaries of the San Juan branch a tribute during our Branch Council meeting yesterday and specifically expressed his deepest gratitude for my seven and a half months of service here. It was hilarious, and also very touching!

 

Montrose North Zone

 

Best, Most Awkward District Ever!

Well, as I'm sure you can tell, I'M GETTING TRANSFERRED! I am soooo nervous and excited and just a million other emotions about this but I know that the Lord has prepared my heart to leave. I have absolutely LOVED serving here and I feel like I'm leaving a part of myself here with these people. I absolutely LOVE the San Juan Branch to pieces and can't imagine having never met/served these people. Montrose has been a place of growing and humbling for me and has TRULY changed my life. Thank you to all that have served me and allowed me to serve them. I know the Lord has truly blessed us with so many miracles and I can't even begin to imagine my life without this gospel.

 

 

Tomas

The Archers


 

Cheryl from Spring Creek Ward

 

I don't have much time today, but here is a quick miracle/tender moment from this week!

 

On Wednesday we got to meet with our investigators Alma (mom), Alma (12) and Emily (9), which was a MIRACLE! They are SOOO sweet and are progressing SO quickly! We got to teach them about the Plan of Salvation and they expressed that they want SO badly to live in the Celestial Kingdom as a family. It was so amazing to hear their STRONG desires to come unto the fold of Christ. They want to learn. They want to change. And they want to have an eternal family. They read the BOM together as a family every day and the younger Alma even asked if she could do the "Additional Study" in the back of the pamphlets. This family truly is such a miracle and has blessed my life so much. When we told them that both Sister Gogue and I will be leaving they began to cry and express that they didn't want us to leave because they loved talking with us and learning and that they feel so comfortable with us. We assured them that it would be the same with the new Hermanas. It was just so touching to see how much they already emit the light of Christ. I can't wait to hear what happens with these beautiful daughters of God, especially as they prepare to enter the waters of baptism.

 

 

Tomorrow is transfer day and that is when I will figure out where I am going! I am so excited to start a new chapter of my mission, but it is also very hard to say goodbye to the people of Montrose. I love the members here so much and it has been an honor to serve them.

 

But, such is the life of a missionary! I love a new opportunity to grow and I love this gospel!

 

Sending TONS of love from the western slopes of Colorado!

 

Love,

Hermana Pierce

 



 Got my face shoved in a cake. Mexican tradition. Good laughs.
I love the Sandoval Family :) ​

The Sandoval Family

We Must CHOOSE to Participate in Heavenly Father's Plan

March 16, 2015

Hello family! This was such a WONDERFUL week! We saw SO many miracles and had a great week of finding and teaching! We found 10 more new investigators, have 10 people on date for baptism in March and April, taught 25 lessons, and the best of all...

 

 

TOMAS CAME TO CHURCH!!! Which means he is still on track to get baptized on March 29th! I am so excited for him and he LOVED it! He especially loved the family history library when we did the tour with him so we are excited to teach him more about temples :) He is progressing so nicely and is already in the middle of first Nephi in the BOM after 2 weeks of teaching him! We challenged him to read one chapter per day and he is totally up for it! :) He is the true definition of

​"​

kept from the truth because he knew not where to find it.

​"​

I am so excited for him to get baptized! :) We started the commandments with him last week and HE bore

​HIS

testimony about keeping the Sabbath

​day​

holy!

 

Anahi is doing great! More eager than ever to learn and we are already half way through the commandments with her :)

​ We left some conference talks with her to read and she loves them and is so excited to get baptized on April 11th! Pray that her mom will allow her to come to church this Sunday!

​

One of our other investigators, Karla is doing so great! We had an AMAZING lesson with her the other night about the plan of

​ salvation. I felt super prompted to review it with her and she responded SO well and said that baptism was the step she knew she needed to take! She agreed that she felt she was ready to learn the commandments and is preparing for her baptismal date of April 19th!

We had the most touching experience with our investigator, Nora, on Wednesday. After our lesson, we asked her to come to church this Sunday. She said she REALLY wanted to but had to work until 12 (church starts at 11). WE asked her if she would be willing to ask her boss for it off, and she said she wanted to, but didn't know how because he only spoke English. So, she asked if we could help her. I wrote out on a sticky note for her, "I would like to ask for permission to attend church services from 11 to 12:30 on Sundays please" and she practiced reading it out loud to us and pronouncing the words. I couldn't help but tear up as I listened to this beautiful lady pronounce these foreign words and struggle to accept Christ more fully in her life. She is still on track to be baptized the 18th of April and although her boss wouldn't give her permission this week, we are hoping he will next :) The atonement of Jesus Christ really does make the biggest difference in our lives because SHE has that desire to change.

 

 

The opening and ribbon cutting at Tammy's thrift shop...
SO glad to be a part of it right from the beginning!

 

​I am very excited for this last week in San Juan. I can't believe this transfer is almost over! My mission is just FLYING by and I absolutely NEVER want to come back to the real world! Haha! I feel like my role here in San Juan was to be humbled and learn how to truly see others through Christ's eyes. Even tho I've had a lot of experiences that have helped me learn this attribute, I still want to embrace Christ even more. I feel so privileged to have served the members of this branch and am SO excited for the success that is to come by the miracles that are being wrought by the Lord. I LOVE THIS WORK! Nothing could ever compare to the joy I felt seeing Tomas walking through the church doors in his bright blue pants this Sunday. I was grinning from ear to ear all day. I feel so privileged to have the fullness of the Gospel in my life and am so grateful for the influence it has in my life and in my family. I am so grateful to be sealed to them FOREVER. I love and miss you all so much. Thanks for your constant love and support!

xoxo

 

Love,

Hermana Pierce

"Look Into the Person's Eyes Long Enough to See the Child of God in Them"

March 9, 2015

Hello hello! This was another AMAZING WEEK full of miracles! Here we go!

 

One of my favorites from the week happened on Tuesday while Sister Patera was here with me on exchange in Montrose. We were able to teach 8 lessons in ONE DAY!!! It was insane! I was teaching by myself again because she doesn't know Spanish, but we were talking with EVERYONE! The Lord was truly placing people in our path and we were taking advantage of the opportunities. I have felt SO close to the Savior these past few weeks and truly know that He is preparing the elect here in Montrose.

 

A horse outside of the City market...we fed him corn chips!

 

We have several progressing investigators right now and they are all so prepared! One of my favorite's is Anahi Estrada. She is only 9 years old and SO excited to hear the gospel. We originally started teaching her mom and then found Anahi. The mom lost interest but Anahi wanted to continue to learn. So, after permission from her mother, we have been teaching her about 3 times a week! This week we invited our branch mission leader's daughter, Azy, to join us (who is also 9). The spirit was so strong in the lesson! Anahi saw the example of Azy and is so excited for her baptismal date of April 11th. She WILL be ready by then! I am praying that her parents continue to let her learn and make this wonderful covenant with Heavenly Father.

 

One of our investigator's trailers

​Other than the tons of miracles we saw this week, we were always busy teaching lessons! We taught THIRTY lessons this week! Which was a personal goal of mine since I came on my mission! I can't believe Heavenly Father actually helped us achieve it! It has been SO amazing to see the complete flip in this area the past few weeks. We still have 7 people on date for baptism and have reached the standards of excellence two weeks in a row now (another goal of mine since the beginning of my mission). I am in complete awe of the mercy the Lord has shown us.

​
On Thursday, we had a specialized training while President Murdock was conducting interviews. It was great and our mission is receiving such AMAZING ​teaching techniques. I am in awe at how much revelation we have received from the Lord and his work truly is hastening!

 

 Evangelina...a recent convert's baby

Well, that's about all I have time for this week! I hope this message finds you well, wherever you are! And remember, the church is SO true!! I LOVE being a missionary!! :)

​xoxo​

Love,

Hermana Pierce

​​

PS: Transfers are coming!!

Please send all mail to:

Hermana Erica Pierce

999 E. Tufts Avenue

Cherry Hills Village, CO 80113​

PIC: Best part of my week is that THIS is on the door of our INVESTIGATOR. Yep, I knocked anyways. Yep, she accepted a return appointment. TAKE THAT, SATAN! For those non-Spanish speakers it says, "This house is Catholic" and that they do NOT accept any other religions. Underneath it specifically mentions Mormons. HAHA. Best. Day. Ever.

 

We TRULY Are Instruments in the Hands of the Lord.

March 2, 2015

WOW! This was an absolutely AMAZING week filled with HUNDREDS of miracles. So, let me start from the beginning!

 

 

 

On Wednesday morning during my personal study, I felt prompted that Sister Gogue and I needed to go to a trailer park called "West Main" to tract that day. I had tracted this trailer park before since I have been in Montrose and was unsure why I received the prompting. But, I told Sister Gogue during our companionship study that I wanted to change our plans for the day and go and try West Main.

 

 

So, after our studies, we met up in another trailer park with the elders to introduce them to an investigator we would be handing off to them. When we finished, they asked us where we were headed and we said we were off to tract West Main. One of the elders expressed to us that they had just recently tracted the whole park and that almost everyone in there had done the survey and wasn't open. They gave us a referral of one trailer we could try but other than that, they said it was pretty much dry.

 

 

Feeling completely discouraged, Sister Gogue and I got in the car and I began to cry to her, wondering what more we could possibly do. I have been in this area for 7 months now and have knocked every trailer door I could possibly find. I was so confused of where to go. I said a silent prayer and found myself driving to West Main. I thought at the least, we could contact the referral from the Elders.

 

 

Well, we get over there, park the car, pray, and get out of the car to contact the referral. No answer. So, we decide to knock the door next to it. Rejected. Next door, same thing. We continued in this pattern for about 10 trailers in a row. No answer, or rejection. Finally, we arrive at a trailer with countless crushed beer cans and cigarette buds lining the walkway to the door. I remember thinking in my mind, "Great, this oughta be good!" We knock. An unshaven, rough, hung-over man answers. We introduce ourselves and explain the survey. He says he will answer the questions. We ask the questions. We introduce the Message of the Restoration. We teach the Restoration. We ask to come back. He says yes. We get his phone number and set an appointment for Saturday. We leave. A miracle in itself! Although he was a single man and would be a referral for the Elders, we had taught a lesson and found a new investigator for them.

 

 

Our spirits slightly lifted, we continued to the next house. A woman named Sarai answers. Same story: survey completed, lesson taught, return appointment set, new investigator found. Another miracle, and even more incentive to keep going. Well, needless to say, we continued in West Main trailer park for the next 2 hours. When all was said and done, we had completed 6 surveys, taught 5 lessons, and found 5 new investigators.

 

 

When Sister Gogue and I finally returned to our car, just in time to leave for our dinner appointment, I couldn't help but find myself in tears at the miracles that had been performed by the Lord. Suddenly, it all made sense. The Lord had prompted me. I had intentions to follow. The adversary tried to discourage me. We acted anyways. On Saturday, we found the time to return to West Main and finish what we started. We then found 7 more new investigators, including a family of 5.

Jumping for joy at the miracles of the Lord!

 

We finished the week with 14 new investigators, 23 total lessons taught, 21 completed surveys, and 7 investigators with a baptismal date.

 

I am constantly amazed by the mercy of the Lord. Just when you feel like you can't go on any more, He sends you exactly what you deserve. I will never again doubt the power and authority of the revelations we receive. I am so grateful that I was being obedient, reading the Book of Mormon, study journal open, with my mind prepared to receive the promptings of the spirit. Because of that, someone may inherit their eternal salvation. We TRULY are instruments in the hands of the Lord.

I love this gospel and I LOVE my mission.

xoxo,

Hermana Pierce

Snow is Still Kinda Fun... Even If You're a Missionary

A Texas girl in the snow!

 

February 23, 2015

So, you heard it right, we got over 2 feet of snow yesterday! It was absolutely crazy out of no where but it's made missionary work a little bit more interesting :) Let me tell ya about it!

 

This week on Tuesday I was on exchange with Sister Christensen. She's super fun and I like her a lot :) We had a good day and in the evening taught an amazing lessons to a potential, Maria. We invited her to be baptized and she said yes! We are working on setting up a date for her.

 

With Sister Christensen on exchanges 

Then, on Wednesday and Thursday we just tracted and contacted a lot. It felt really good to get back out and talk with people again! And Sister Gogue is improving dramatically! She is starting to feel a lot more comfortable now and is starting to speak even more in Spanish. On Thursday we were fasting for a LA/RC convert family and we broke the fast with the mom over dinner. They are improving dramatically and are one of the reason's I feel I have been called to stay in Montrose so long. Alejandro, the dad, was baptized about 4 months ago and is going through some of the temptations of a new convert. I love this gospel and know that we saw so many miracles from that fast.

 

Elder Baker as King Benjamin in our Primary lesson for the children
 

On Friday, we saw a miracle with our less active, ALLEN! He has never opened up to us before BUT, when we went by on Thursday, he started asking us how we knew that the BOM was true and we were able to have an insanely spiritual lesson. We got super real with him about the struggles and challenges we have gone through to know if the BOM is true. He was SO engaged. In the 6 and a half months I've been here, I have NEVER seen him like that before. The spirit is working so strongly on him and he absolutely is feeling the spirit prompt him to know for himself if this is really what he wants. He is 15 and I think in the past when he was baptized he didn't really understand much. But, now that he is older he sees the importance of God in his life and said he wants to come to church next week! Also, he said he hadn't prayed in a year and a half and he said the closing prayer in our lesson! It was amazing and was exactly the miracle to give us that extra incentive to work even harder with these LA's.

Saturday we had our "Train the Trainers" Meeting in GJ so we traveled down for that and received a little extra guidance as trainers and trainees. Yesterday, we had church and a HUGE snow storm came in and it hasn't stopped snowing since. We taught a fun lesson to the primary kids about prophets and had "King Benjamin" (really Elder Baker haha) come in and visit them :) It went great! In the evening since it was snowing so badly we just went to contact a referral and ended up finding three potential families out of it! We just went up to people and took their shovels from them and shoveled three driveways in 2 hours! It was cold and my toes were frost bitten, BUT we got to meet some amazing people and open the door for a return appointment. They had no idea why these two random white girls wanted to "quitar nieve" for them, but we did it in love and it was an amazing miracle/experience. In the evening we went to visit another LA and ended up shoveling their street in front of their trailer and taught a quick lesson. It was a fun break and great experience to contact all of these people that were ready and willing to receive our service.

 

Train the Trainers meeting

I love being a missionary. Many miracles are coming in San Juan and I feel SO privileged to serve at this time. The work is hastening. Truly. How I deserve to be this happy, I have no idea. Yesterday, I hit my year mark of going through the temple and receiving my endowment for the first time. I can't believe how happy this decision to serve has made me and I love the miracles and memories that living and serving as a representative of Jesus Christ brings. I wouldn't trade it for the world. Today I have such a strong testimony of temples. They provide so much peace and serve as a refuge from the world. As a missionary, we invite people to come unto Christ so they can ultimately end up in these wonderful edifices of the Lord. I couldn't ask for a greater duty.

 

 

Me with a huge icicle!

Make it a great week, wherever you are!

Love, Hermana Pierce