Thanksgiving & Nine Months Complete!

November 30, 2015

Happy thanksgiving all!! I hope you had a great holiday! We went to a family's home who didn't have an oven...just a stove and an "easy-bake" oven. That made things interesting! They luckily were able to borrow a roaster from their neighbors for the turkey. It all turned out really well! As we were eating with them, I realized that every family has different traditions for holidays, and it made me grateful for my family and also how it truly is a time of year where we can gather as families and talk about what we are grateful for. There are so many things to be grateful for! This is also a great time for service! We were able to do some service this week at a soup kitchen, and we helped organize a member's food storage. That was so fun! It was in their basement, and the basement was truly handmade. It was carved out of a rock and there were little streams in the floor. Crazy. It actually felt like a prison a little, just a lot cooler. Well, I guess a lot cooler looking. I'm sure it would have been the same temperature. Haha 

This week, I hit my 9 month mark! Crazy! I can't believe that I'm in the downhill now. I don't even feel like I've done enough yet! Hopefully that changes with these last few months I have as a full time missionary! I truly hope I can make the most of my last half of my mission and that it doesn't go by too quickly! 

This week we also saw the hand of the lord so many times! Our investigators, unfortunately, aren't progressing that much, but we are still trying to keep our end of the commitment of finding a ride to church for them. We had the hardest time finding a ride to take them to and from church, but we finally found one to take them to church, but not back. They said they wouldn't go if they didn't know if they had a ride back home or not, so we busted our buns to try and find a ride to take them home. After making lots of calls, (at like 7:30 at night) we finally found one!! Unfortunately our investigators stood up the ride and didn't come to church, but at least we were able to strengthen our testimonies of the power of prayer, persistence, and diligence!

I hope you all have a fantastic week! Love you all!

Keep PUSHing!

Sister Pierce

Thanksgiving with the Derr's...yes, those are all Legos behind us....they're legit!

Here's a close up of one of them. So cool!

This week was spiritually stressful...

November 16, 2015

Hello!! So as the subject line reads, this week was pretty intense. It probably was the most stressful week of my life. No joke. On Monday, it was petty mellow, then Tuesday we went to the temple, then after that, the week got crazy. We had so much to do in prep for the baptism, and we were also going on exchanges. Wednesday was going to be Lorraine's baptism interview but her mom canceled it because she wasn't in a good mood. I was freaking out cause I was leaving for exchange, and was going to leave sister Lee with the most intense and
busy days this whole transfer. It turned out that we didn't go on exchanges, and we got the interview done Thursday instead, but that was also the first day we got to talk about the program in detail. That was 2 days before the baptism. Ridiculous. Sister springer also asked me to give the talk on baptism. I felt honored, but that also kicked the stress level up a little. We also ended up printing the programs like an hour before the baptism, when we were supposed to be filling the font... I'm  pretty sure sister Lee didn't know how to handle such a stressed out companion. I didn't even know how to handle myself. Luckily, everything worked out and the baptism was amazing! She was beautiful and was so prepared to make that covenant with the lord. We also had some stress Sunday with getting someone to confirm her, but that ended up working out at well, and it just proved
to me how much the adversary is apart of missionary work when someone is about to make the correct choice of being baptized, and how the lord is truly right there  helping us all along the way. We ended the week with a trio to the JSM and that was amazing! We brought a group of investigators with us and it was such a spiritual experience. Oh! We also had transfer calls. We were supposed to get called on Saturday, but they forgot to call us. So I was really stressing. We got a call Sunday morning right before church, and I found out that I'm being transferred and going to follow-up train a sister. Sister Lee will remain here as junior companion. Crazy week! Hopefully that
didn't stress you all out! Haha but I'm grateful for the opportunity that I have had to serve here In Bedford and get to know all of the amazing people here. I'm also grateful for the opportunity I had to train sister Lee even though it's been quite an interesting journey. Hopefully this next training experience is a good one!

I love you all! Enjoy your week!

Keep PUSHing!
Sister Pierce

Our full district! (Including the assistants)

Lorraine and Brother Colette

Lorraine after baptism with Mom, Grandma, Sister College, and Foxy 

Joseph Smith Memorial

Sister Lee, me and Elder Espinoza

The Lord is in this Work!

November 10, 2015

Hello family and friends! 

Last week and this week we spent a lot of time trying to contact some potential investigators and some LA names our relief society president gave to us. No one has been home, and to be honest, it's been pretty disappointing. Appointments keep falling though, no one is interested, and it's just been challenging for me. However, yesterday was a life-changer! Well, mission changer, i guess. Since we went to the Temple today, yesterday was a regular day, so we tried to contact some LA again. Some weren't home, then, we tried a lady who just happened to be outside about to rake leaves. We offered to help, and she knew who we were, and didn't want anything to do with us. She said she already did the whole Mormon thing like 4 years ago. After that comment was made, the conversation took a turn! She then had so many fond memories about the church and the people there, and she lit up! She did not look happy when we first got there, but once we started asking inspired questions and showed her that we cared, she opened up to us, and committed to come to church!!!! She hasn't been for 4 years, and after a 15 minute conversation, she is going to come! She also said that we made her day by stopping by! I felt great! After weeks of disappointment, we finally got something good out if it! Then once we left her, we went and street contacted into this guy who was pretty interesting. His name is "Mr. Wonderful". Haha I'm pretty sure he wasn't all there, but it was an amazing experience for me. Since my first area was tons of street contacting, I realized that I feel really comfortable in that area, and as we were talking to him, I felt like I was "home". I felt like a real missionary again! Just the things I said, how happy I was, how excited I was to talk to someone about the gospel, it was great! Then we saw another LA who we haven't been able to see for a while, and when we saw her, she was in really poor spirits. After visiting with her for a while and talking about prayer and the atonement, her spirits were lifted, and she said we made her day as well! Oh man, I really love missionary work. It's the best thing ever! To see the lord work in the lives of others and see how much He is a part of this work, it's simply amazing. 

We also had zone conference this weekend at the JSM. Elder Neilson came (the general authority over the missionary department) and it was amazing! I got chastised by the spirit a lot though (which President Stoker said is a good thing, because it means that we're actually listening...), but I learned so much more about the importance of working in unity with your companion, as well as the atonement. The atonement is amazing! 

Here is one of my favorite quotes from a talk we read in preparation for it. It's from April 2014 conference, "Bear up their Burdens with Ease", by Elder Bednar. 

"Thus, the Savior has suffered not just for our sins and iniquities--but also for our physical pains and anguish, our weaknesses and shortcomings, our fears and frustrations, our disappointments and discouragement, our regrets and remorse, our despair and desperation, the injustices and inequities we experience, and the emotional distresses that beset us.

    There is no physical pain, no spiritual wound, no anguish of soul or heartache, no infirmity or weakness you or I ever confront in mortality that the Savior did not experience first. In a moment of weakness we may cry out, “No one knows what it is like. No one understands.” But the Son of God perfectly knows and understands, for He has felt and borne our individual burdens. And because of His infinite and eternal sacrifice (see Alma 34:14), He has perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy. He can reach out, touch, succor, heal, and strengthen us to be more than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do relying only upon our own power."

The Savior is truly with us and knows what we're going though. He understands the times that we are hurt, depressed, frustrated, feeling alone, etc. He knows everything! He experienced everything! He is the one we can turn to when times get tough and we don't feel like anyone can help us. He can. Turn to him, and see the many miracles and blessings that come from using the atonement more fully in your lives. 

I love you all, and I am so grateful to be a missionary and to be a member of the true church. I think so many times that this church has to be true, because no one would put this much effort into anything if it wasn't true. That was confirmed to me again today as we went to the temple. This gospel is true, and if we hold to the rod in these last days, and turn to Christ and Heavenly Father constantly, we will not fail. 

Keep PUSHing!

Sister Pierce

P.s. I'll send pictures next week of the temple. And of Lorraine's baptism since she's getting baptized this Saturday!! So exciting!! Have a great week!

I think I'm overloaded on sweets..and pizza...

November 2, 2015

Hello! I hope you all had a great Halloween and are enjoying the start of November! Where has this year gone?! It's crazy!

This week was possibly the most eventful week I've had on my entire mission! On Monday we had district p-day and carved pumpkins and went to Texas road house. While at Texas road house, the elders made me sit on the saddle for my birthday! Ugh...so embarrassing! But it made me feel good that they celebrated my birthday with me a little. Then on Tuesday, we did service at upReach and ended up unloading about 675 bales of hay! It was crazy, I've never seen so much hay in my life! It was loaded up in a Fritos lays 18 foot truck! Ridiculous! It was so
much fun though. I really love service, especially as a missionary! Then on Wednesday, the elders made me a birthday cake and the district all sang to me! I hate being put on the spot, but it made me feel good that I was cared enough about to have that happen unexpectedly. We also saw Lorraine on Wednesday and our investigator Jackee. Lorraine is hopefully going to be baptized next Saturday and Jackee is starting to look forward to our visits! Success!! She never really made time for us, but now she is. I think it's because she's more prepared for the gospel now and because we bring a member with us each week who she loves! Members are the best with missionary work. I have grown to really appreciate the efforts of members in missionary work. It's not the same when members are not involved. It's crazy! Members are the key to missionary work!

We also had trunk or treat this week and sister Lee and I had no idea what to be, then we decided to be New England fans. I was a Red Sox fan and sister Lee was a patriots fan. Nothing too exciting, but at least we dressed up a little! We also received a referral that evening from our investigator, Bobbi, who surprisingly showed up! It was awesome! Unfortunately it was super rainy that evening, so we just trick or treated from door to door in the church, but it was still fun to see everyone in their costumes! Then on Thursday, it was my birthday! It was weird though because it didn't feel like anything special. I guess that's what starts to happen as you get older, right?
Ha but it was pretty special backseat I got some phone calls from missionaries in our area, and we went out to lunch with sister holm and pettingill in the office. It's so fun to serve in the mission office area! We also saw our investigator, Leah. She met with missionaries in the last, so she already knows that the Book of Mormon
is true! We're still getting to know her, but I think she's going to be progressing soon! Then, that evening, we had a lesson with a LA, brother Therrien. He bought me a cake and we had a "mini birthday party"! Oh man...I had so much cake and candy this week.....It's insane.

Then on Halloween, we deep cleaned. Our apartment has so much junk in it! We spent almost all 4 hours just cleaning and organizing our study room. It's insane. We filled an entire box with just teachings of the living prophets books. Then we found a gajillion bars of soap, a pair of rollerblades, 2 bike helmets (no bikes, though), a box of hot curlers, etc.  and that was just one part of our apartment...ridiculous. Then last night we had a pizza party with our assistant ward mission leader, just for fun. He made like 12 pizzas! Crazy! They have a sign in their house that says, "pace yourself"....they obviously know how to eat a lot of pizza because we and the elders were slowing down around the 7th pizza....it was crazy! But so good!!

I am so grateful for this gospel and for how it truly brings everyone together. The gospel has blessed my life immensely and I have seen how it blesses the lives of the members in New England and the lives of those we teach. I am so grateful for the truthfulness of the gospel and for the peace and comfort it brings in trying times. I love you all and I hope you all can see the blessings of the gospel in your lives, because they're all around us!

Keep PUSHing!
Sister Pierce

Trunk or Treat 

Our Bishop is Luke skywalker....hahah so fun!

Birthday Fun (Sister Lee's mom gave me a tiara and birthday sash. I had to take a picture of it) 

Our pumpkin

Birthday party gang

Sister Butler loves Betty Boop, so this is me with Betty

Me with some New England scenery!

I'm turning into a New Englander...

October 26, 2015

Hey there everyone! Happy Halloween this weekend!! I hope you all have fun plans and have fun ideas for what you're going to be! Sister Lee and I are still trying to come up with a clever idea to dress up as. Hopefully we think of something quick! Our time is running out. We get to dress up at our ward trunk or treat on Wednesday, so that will be fun! Then on Halloween, all of the missionaries need to be in by 5pm so that we can stay safe with the crazy things that tend to occur on Halloween evening. So, we are instructed to do a "deep clean on Halloween". That should be fun! We actually will have time to organize and see what materials we have for proselyting and such. 

So, yesterday, I hit my 8 month mark. Crazy! And I think I'm starting to turn into a new Englander because this morning during comp study, I said "sister Lee, that's a really good idear." I said idear! That's what all the New Englanders say! They literally add an r to almost every word, and idea with an r is the most common. And I said it and it was natural. I barely even caught myself! Goodness gracious.  I was super upset. Haha well, I guess it's alright because I'm actually letting my mission "go through me", right? Ha

This week we had zone interviews and I got a lot of good advice from President Stoker on how to best help Sister Lee. She's doing really well, but she's been very emotional the past week or so as we do real plays during comp study. She's becoming very overwhelmed and has told me that she doesn't like people or like talking to people....that makes missionary work very hard! So, it was good to get some advice from president to know how to best help her. 

We also found a new investigator this week. She was a referral from a member. We didn't have much time to visit with her because she had other plans that day, but it's exciting that we're still finding people to teach! We also have a few other potential investigators, that just are never home, but continue to reschedule with us, so that gives me hope that they're being more than "just nice". 

Also, yesterday during gospel essentials, I tried to interpret for Claude in ASL. I know a little bit from reading a textbook he let me borrow, but I still did terrible. He was very patient with me though. I also became flustered when I had to spell out a bunch of words and I was getting confused with letters. However, he kind of expects me to interpret for him...so that's interesting. It was hard though because the lesson was on the great apostasy. Ugh...and the other member who is going to school for ASL is somewhat inactive, and she didn't even know what the apostasy was...so Sunday's are going to be interesting....But it will be a fun challenge!

That's about it over here! Except for the fact that the elders are starting to call me "grandma" because I'm so much older than all of them. On Thursday, I'm officially going to be about 3-4 years older than them...weird...

Have a great week and great Halloween!

Keep PUSHing!

Sister Pierce

Fall colors...I slightly die a little inside when I know I can't pull the car over and take pictures of all of the beautiful colors around New Hampshire. Sister Lee thinks I'm crazy! I guess that's what you get for having a "photography mind". So, here's the best I could do with pictures...these don't even do it justice. You'll just have to come back and visit with me in the fall! That's my plan! :)

Snow? What the...

October 19, 2015

Well, we had our first snow fall yesterday!! okay, it was only snow flurries, but still!!! There were baby snowflakes hitting our car!!! I'm not ready for this weather. I'm sure my complaining will just increase as winter continues to approach, so sorry! haha Everyone keeps saying that this winter is going to be worse than last winter. Great. Luckily I only have one winter on my mission, right?!

This week was pretty good. Other than the quick drop in temperature, I survived another week! Training has it's good days and it's bad days, but it's been a great challenge! Sister Lee has been doing great with teaching, even if she doesn't remember what we're teaching. She also has been very complimentory of me with training her and giving her good advice on door apporaches. That always makes me feel good--feels like I'm doing something right!

This week I have been studying for Lorraine and pondering on how we can teach the word of wisdom and the law of chastity to an almost 10 year old who is very innocent. I have been stressing about that for a while, but let me tell you! The spirit is AMAZING!! I was just reading the lessons, and I had so many ideas just flow into my mind about how we could simply teach the law of chastity and word of wisdom. Lorraine loves the children's book of mormon, so I decided to pull out a scripture story of Daniel in the old testament kids bible (Daniel 1) to talk about the word of wisdom along with showing some visuals that my sister Rebecca made for me! (Thanks Becca!!) And for the law of chastity, I have been thinking of how we could focus on modesty and eternal marriage. Those are just some ideas, but as I was working on them, I was SO EXCITED!! I can't wait until we teach those lessons to her. The spirit is truly amazing and is in every aspect of misisonary work (as well as each of our lives). 

I love you all and hope you have a great week!! 

Keep P.U.S.Hing!

Sister Pierce

The 6th Transfer

October 12, 2015

Hey there everyone!!

This week was pretty good! Sister Lee and I started off this new transfer pretty strong! On Monday evening, we did some tracting, and within the first 15-20 minutes, we received 3 return appointments! Holy cow. That was way better than we were doing last transfer! We also found 2 new investigators! We met with Oliver Monday evening and then taught Jackee on Wednesday. We felt pretty good about ourselves! We also had a lesson with our investigator Diane Noreikis this week. She asked us a few tricky questions, like "how did Joseph Smith see God and Jesus when the Bible says no one can see me and live?" I definitely had to brush up on my bible knowledge after we met with her, but I think we handled it pretty well. It's been tricky being the senior companion and actually being able to (or at least try to) answer the questions we are asked. Sister Lee is doing great though! The duo is a lot better for her, but it just puts some more stress on me. No big deal. Nothing I can't handle! At least not yet...

We also met with Lorraine this week and broke the news to them about having to move her baptism. We found out that we have a zone conference on that day and a general authority is coming... Her mom wasn't too excited about that. Hopefully we can figure out what to do about that, and that it all works out!

We also had a ward burrito night and the missionaries helped make home made tortillas! That was pretty fun. Something funny was that our assistant ward mission leader said that I look "very Mormon", especially with an apron on. He said I should start a Mormon cooking show. Haha yeah right! I'm not good enough for that. But I took looking "very Mormon" as a compliment. Maybe that's why so many people start to walk the other way when they see us coming...dang...haha

Anyways, that's about it over here! I hope you are all doing well! Love you!

Keep P.U.S.H.ing!
Sister Pierce

Brother Therrien at church!

 This sign is on Donald St! So awesome!

Lorraine and Foxy!

This house basically describes New England

Last transfer I experienced my first need war! Pretty legit.

Leaves are Falling Everywhere...

October 5, 2015

Good afternoon everyone!!! (Well, morning for you on the West coast). I hope you all enjoyed conference, I thought it was amazing!!! All of those men and women are truly called of God, and I am so grateful to be a part of this gospel!

This week we went on exchanges, and guess who I was with?? Sister Davis!!!!! Ah, it was the BEST!!! I forgot how much I loved teaching with her! When we met with Loraine, we taught her about following the prophet. I asked her a question that I worded very poorly, and thanks to sister davis, she fixed it for me and then re-asked it by doing an impromptu skit. She was Noah and she was telling me (the wicked people) to repent and come on the boat. I told "Noah" that I couldn't see any rain clouds, and that I didn't think I needed to repent. I then started to act like I was drowning. haha so fun!!! Loraine and sister Springer seemed to like that. :) We also taught a new investigator while on exchange and sister Stoker (the mission president's wife) offered to come with us! That was pretty fun. Kind of nerve-racking to have the mission president's wife teaching with us, but it was still a good experience. Diane Norekis had quite a few questions which were kind of tricky, so I was grateful that we had a member with us to help answer those. 

Besides conference, nothing else too exciting happened this week. Except that the leaves are starting to change and the fall weather is here! Which means that it's starting to get really cold...dang. 

I love you all!

Keep P.U.S.H.ing!

Sister Pierce

Sister Lee and I

General Conference: sister Pettingill (part of the office staff) and Loraine's mom- sister Springer!

The leaves are starting to change!!!!!

Trio Power=No More

September 28, 2015

Well, we got some news on Friday that a sister was going home early, so that resulted in an emergency transfer and Sister Hamilton got sent to Farmington, Maine yesterday afternoon. i'm super bummed out. But, at least I am still here with sister Lee! 

Anyways, this week was pretty exciting. On Monday, we visited some potential investigators and met this man named Roy. Sisters have visited there in the past so he knew the drill. He knew we were missionaries, knew why we were there, and knew that we couldnt come inside because he was the only one home. We talked with him about the gospel and he is a strong Christian and became super excited to learn that we believe most of the same things. He got so excited that he asked is he could give us a hug. haha after awkwardly standing there for a few seconds I began to say, "well, not really..." then he gave me a hug anyways and eventually gave sister hamilton and sister lee a handshake because he could see how awkward we were about recieving hugs...haha It was pretty funny. he seemed really interested in learning more, and said he would get back to us in a couple of weeks after he reads a little of the book of mormon. Unlike everyone else, he actually seemed sincere and true about getting back to us. I guess we will see though!

On Wednesday we met with our investigator Loraine. We brought her a children's book of mormon, and she (and her mom) were so excited!!!! Loraine began to read the first story right away! Sister Springer (her mom) then asked if we could come back on friday and make it a regular thing to come twice a week. When we came on Friday, I extended a baptismal date to her, and she accepted!!!!!! As of right now, she will be baptized on November 7th. Her mom was thrilled!! I was thrilled as well! We originally planned on extending October 17th, but as we were weekly planning, I didn't feel good about it. So, I looked at the calendar and november 7th stood out to me and sisters hamilton and lee were a little confused at first, but once I extended it, the spirit confirmed to me (and the othere sisters too) that november 7th is the day for her. The spirit is amazing in missionary work!

We also visited a LA on Wednesday and sister Hamilton and I set up her TV for her! So fun! It made me feel good that we could do that and that we didnt; need to call the elders. haha

Then, on Thursday, we went to the mission office to help them with facebook and the mission blog. that was fun to do someting a little different. we then got treated to lunch by Elder and Sister Pettingill (office staff who lives in our ward). We also visited a LA, brother Therrian, that evening and invited him to church since sister hamilton and an elder were doing a musical number. and guess what?? HE CAME!!!!!!! He left the church about 2 years ago and didn;t want to go back for various reasons, and also because one of his cats is about to pass away, and he didn't want to leave her alone for too long, but we were SO excited he came! Sister Hamilton and I ran to him when we saw him in the foyer! No joke. We litterally ran to him...haha I also couldn;t stop smiling because he was welcomed by so many people! He thought he was forgotten, and not missed, but that became false doctrine very quickly! person after peerson after person came up to welcom him back and to tell him that they missed him. So great!! I literally couldn't stop smiling. The church is amazing!!

Then, last night, after we exchanged companions, we had dinner at our ward mission leaders house. He's our new ward mission leader, so we didn;t know him and his family very well, but as we had dinner with them, I grew to love that family so much! they're a blast and are so sarcastic, I love it! haha they're also very blunt (escpcially brother Reber, our WML). haha he's pretty great. he asked sister lee randomly what her first maname was and she answered him right away! I was like, "Sister Lee! don't just give it away!" Brother Reber asked me why I said that and I said that it;'s more fun to have people guess it. So, they then started to guess my name. After about 3 guesses, my name was guessed by the daughters boyfriend! After he said brittany, a daughter said, "yeah, she looks like a brittany", then prother reber said, "what's your last name? Pierce? Brittany Pierce, like Britney Spears? Nah..." they then kept guessing and I said one of the names was right. When the boyfriend said, "was I right?" and I said yes, he was in total shock! haha he thought I was "pulling his leg" and I obviously wasnt! haha it was pretty great. ha

Wow. This is really long...sorry! I just want you all to experience every detail of my week, i guess. haha But, I think that's about it! I love you all and hope you all enjoy general conference this week!! The church is true!!!

Keep P.U.S.H.ing!

Sister Pierce

What the Tiwi looks like...not too exciting...

 Loraine and Sister Springer!! (and Foxy's family...Jayden, Marilda, Whisper, Trixie, and bambi--I'm holding Whisper :) )

 Brother Therrian!! 

Brother Therrian and Brother Fontaine (an amazing fellowshipper and member of the ward!)

Our investigator Diane Faiella!

"Thank You" sign in Manchester. I have no idea what is being thanked, but I thought it was pretty great. haha

Claude!! A sweet gentleman in our ward. He's deaf and gave me a ASL textbook a few weeks ago. Now that sister hamilton is gone (who was interpreting for him) I think he's expecting me to learn! Oh dear...haha At least I have the alphabet down already!

Last Trio Picture

Me and Sister hamilton!!!

Picture from Hanover. Our next door neighbor, brother Johnson made us "survival bracelets" (made out of rope), and we had to take a picture with them! 

Fall is in the Air...

September 21, 2015

Hello everyone!! This week was a hot one! However, yesterday it cooled down by about 15 degrees and this morning during our exercise, I could see my breath!! Crazy. I guess that means fall is approaching and that the leaves are about to change! I can't wait to see the leaves here. Everyone raves about them. We've seen a few hints of it with a leaf here and there change but we haven't experienced it fully yet. I'll definitely send pictures when that change happens! 

So this week, lets see...we went on splits Monday night and I went with the member (sister Blakeman). our appointment ended up falling through becuasse Julie was a t work, so we went and contacted some LA instead. None of them were home either, so that was a bummer, but it was fun to help a member see a little bit of the missionary life! It was also fun to get to know a member on a more one-on-one basis. I don't think she's much older than me because she and her husband just graduated from BYU-Idaho in December and then moved out here for PA school. They also have 2 little girls. She is super cute and it was fun to do something a little different. 

We also found 2 new investigators this week!! Loraine (9 years old) and Diane Norekis (her daughter is a member). We're hoping to see Loraine be baptized next transfer because she is so receptive and is just soaking up all of the lessons! We just need to get her and her mom to church...

we then had zone conference and learned more about the Bible and the Book of mormon. we had a 60 day challenge to read the book of mormon in prep for zone conference, and it was so cool!! I love the book of mormon more than I already did, and my testimony has grown so much stronger since I've been out. We also got a "Tiwi" installed into our car. These black boxes are ridiculous....they are a GPS with a speed detector and agressive driver detector. When you speed or brake too quickly, you get told to "check your speed" or are told "agressive driving". I have only experiencd the "check your speed" one, but it scares me every time it goes off! which doesn't happen that much, so when it does, it freak out! haha These black boxes will definitely help decrease car accidents and crazy driving in all of the missions stateside. (since they're being installed in every mission vehicle). 

Oh! this week I also spoke in church! I got called saturday night and we have church at 9am. I litterally wrote the talk in 2 hours. that's the quickets I've ever done it! It's amazing how much the spirit is with you when y ou're put under pressure to speak! My topic was obedience. That was fairly easy since that's the main topic as a missionary...haha. I think it went pretty well. The funny thing is that the member who was going to speak backed out since her topic was changed to obedience to blessing of obedience. we had dinner with her family on Tuesday, and she told us that she backed out of her talk (after having it for a month) and so when I got the call, we called her immedielty to "thank her" for the opportunity, haha she thought it was hilarious. Ugh. Members....hahahah

Well, that's about it for me! I hope you all have a wonderful week and I'll talk to you next Monday!

Keep P.U.S.H.ing!

Sister Pierce

P.S. I'll send pictures next week of the "Tiwi" so you can see what I'm talking about.

Trio Sisters

September 14, 2015

HELLO!!!!!! :)

This week was pretty great. We started the week off with a New Missionary Training meeting and it was wonderful! I love hearing about and learning from the experiences that other missionaries have and be able to learn how to improve from them. This mission/the missionaries in this mission are pretty awesome. :) 

We then were able to meet with our investigator Diane and talk with her about...well, everything. That lesson was pretty scattered. That's what I've found about new englanders. They just talk all of the time and get off topic pretty quick. it definitely makes us missionaries learn how to be "on our toes"! We then met our other investigator Bobbie on Wednesday. We haven't been able to see her all transfer, and sister hamilton began to worry that we "lost her". Well, if we lost her, we found her again! She expressed her interest in continuing to learn about the gospel and said she will try to come to church on Sunday!! That was pretty exciting. Then, we had a lesson with a LA member and found out that her daughter, Loraine, hasn't been baptized yet and has the desire to be baptized (she's 9). We're doing to start teaching her this week. We then met with a potential investigator wednesday night and set up a return appointment with her for tonight. The tricky thing about that is that we want to have a member there, and our new ward mision leader is really stressing us to go on splits (both we and the elders in our ward are a trio). That means, I'm going on my first split tonight because sister hamilton thinks I should go to teach Julie since I'm more expereicned and she thinks she would benefit from me teaching her. I'm a little nervous for it, but I know it will go well. I always get nervous before things happen, but once I'm in the middle of it, it always works out. Luckily. haha 

On Thursday night, we had dinner at the mision home with President and Sister Stoker! It was so weird to go back to the mission home since I hadn't been there for almost 7 months. It was nice to see what it looked like without all of the snow though!!! Dinner's in this companioship are interesting though. Sister hamilton is allergic to Wheat and corn, and sister lee is allergic to dairy, corn, peaches, pears, and apricots. I think heavenly father is forcing me to be a little more healthy or something. haha but, it's fun to see what people come up with for meals!! My favorite meal so far was a homemade Cafe rio salad. Super good! 

Later in the week, we met with a LA member, Brother Therrian. He is awesome! He has some challenges mentally, so it feels like we're teaching a child in an adult body. It's a blast! he is so honest, and so interested in the gospel. He also has a strong deisre to read the book of mormon (this is the first time he's had the deisre to do so) and he LOVES it!! He also loves having us come over each week. I love being loved. haha I think it's such a blessing as a missionary. Once people know our porpose in being there and  can see that we truly care about them, we all then develop love for each other and it makes our visits so much more enjoyable. 

We also tried to contact some potential investigators, and ended up meeting more potential investigators: Judy and Collin. We talked with them on their porch for nearly an hour! they are born-again Christians (which is huge out here) and they discovered that we pretty much believe the exact same things, we just have something special to offer: the book of mormon. Judy was SO close to accepting one, but she didn't take one because her husband said he wouldn't read it (he's a new testament teacher). She told me that she would talk to him about it, and we left her with our number and church address. I sure hope she calls!! If not, we'll stop by in a couple of weeks anyways. haha the joys of being a missionary!! :) We get the opportunity to "hunt people down"! haha (not really, but it feels like it sometimes). As we were meeting with them, we bore testimony after testimony, and Judy especially, loved everything we had to say and believed what we said. It's amazing the power testimonies have. 

Well, that's about it for this week! I love you all!!

Keep P.U.S.H.ing!

Sister Pierce 

Message from our Neighbor in Hanover

This reminded Brother Therrian of his "sisters" haha super creppy. he liked it for the dress though. haha

New missionary training meeting

Mission home--without snow!!

Crowns from sister lee's mom!! Sister Lee loves crowns, and wanted to give us some too!!