I'm 3 Months Old!

Well, I've made it 3 months already!! This is crazy! It has gone by so quickly, but so slow all at the same time. It's strange how that happens...and the other weird part is that I am finished being trained on Sunday! I'm no longer going to be a greenie!!! Woo!!!!!! Unfortunately, I'm sure I'll still feel like a greenie at times and continue to make mistakes, but hey! you live and learn, right?

Well, to start off...we now have i-pads!!!!!!! We got trained on Wednesday and walked out of the building with a new i-pad mini in hand. I was not expecting that at all!! The training was amazing though. These i-pads are going to be very helpful and useful throughout my mission, and I'm excited to continue learning how to use it in my studies as well as in teaching. 

I'm also branching out in trying new foods! On Sunday, I had lamb for the first time and some SUPER good cookies!! I had like 4 before I knew what flavor they were............Maple Bacon. Yep. BACON. Who puts bacon in cookies??? I think that should be against the rules or something. But the unfortunate part is that the lady in our ward sent us home with the rest, and now that I know there's bacon in it, I don't think of them the same, and I can't eat them anymore. I knew that was going to be the case when I asked her what flavor it was, since it's happened before, but I was not expecting the answer to my question to involve bacon. Ridiculous. haha

Anyways...Alex is doing well! We've had 3 lessons with him since I last emailed, and we've helped him figure out a plan for smoking! Last Monday we had a lesson on recognizing the spirit and helping him realize the answers he's been receiving about quitting smoking. we invited him to pray for a specific date to quit--even though he said God would be happy if he stopped that night-- but he put that commitment to the test and decided on a date. He texted us the next day and said he was going to stop on Thursday (2 days from when he texted us). We met with him on Thursday for our 2nd lesson and were excited to learn how his "quit-day" went. Unfortunately, he didn't do it. However, he decided to meet with his doctor this coming Wednesday and get the patch. That's a start! Then, last night, we met with him and talked about tithing and fasting. After he learned about fasting, he decided that he was going to fast for the next 24 hours about what he can do about smoking! That was so unexpected, but we believe that that was supposed to happen. It's pretty amazing how the spirit is able to speak to us and help us learn what the Lord would have us do is various ways. 

To end this week, we went to the Boston, Massachusetts temple today!!! That was such a neat experience! we can only go once every 6 months (Jan-June/July-Dec) and can only go if we're 2 hours away from the temple. Since transfers are next week and the 6-month mark is about up, Sister Craig and I decided that we should go together since we have no idea what's gong to happen for transfers. I'm so grateful that we were able to go and that we have so many temples around the world today so that we have the opportunity to go often! The gospel is true, and is for everyone. In our Zone meeting this past week, a sister said that the gospel is a "one size fits all". That is so true! The gospel is for everyone, all we need to do is go out and share it with them!

I love you all! Keep P.U.S.H.ing!

Sister Pierce

Bonfire lesson with Alex!! (and Chrissy, his girlfriend)

i-pad!

Boston temple

Temple trip with Sister Courchene (R.S. Pres), Sister Pleasants, and us.

Just Another Day in Maine

This week was FULL of service! For some reason, everyone in the ward decided to move. Okay, not everyone, but it was still a lot. On Tuesday we helped a Less Active family move for 7 hours!!!! We did not expect it to take that long, but they were really hesitant with asking members from the ward to come help. They thought they only needed a few people to help, so the missionaries were sufficient. Let me tell you...that was a ridiculous idea. Even though the Elders and we were there, they still could've used the help from the ward, and they realized that once we started packing up the trucks. They had 3 storage units to pack into 2 trucks.....so much stuff!! But, at least they felt confident in the missionaries lifting skills...haha

Throughout the reat of the week, we helped other memebers move and pack up their homes. It's crazy to think that I've only ben here a couple of months, but I already feel close with the ward and are sad to see people leave. At least we were able to visit with them a little longer becfore they moved. 

This week we alos went on exchanges. I stayed here in Saco and had to "take charge". I was pretty nervous, but it went super good!!! We had 4 lessons, and recieved 3 new investigators over the exchange! HOLY COW!!! Pretty awesome. That definitely boosted my confidence level! And then later this week, Alex referred us to his AA mentor and he's a new investigator too!! So exciting. The work is moving on!!! So exciting! :) 

I hope you all have a great week!! 

Keep P.U.S.H.ing!

Sister Pierce

Alex gave Sister Craig a gift....haha we were a little confused by it. haha

Helping the Corbett's move

Sister Pleasant is in the ward. Such a sweet lady!

Exchanges! (I was with Sister Kimball--the ginger)

Mother's Day

Happy (late) Mother's Day to all of you mother's and future moms!!! :)

This week was good! On Monday we had a lesson with a new investigator (Greg) and since we always have to have 3 women to one man (when meeting in a home), we had to meet outside since we were unable to get a member there. As we sat outside, we tried to bring in the Spirit as best we could, but the Adversary didn't like that idea.... When we said the opening prayer, and started talking about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, huge semi-trucks drove by, people were blasting their Rap music in their cars, people were screaming and cursing across the street, etc. It was ridiculous. I guess that's what you get for trying to be obedient, huh? haha But luckily it eventually calmed down. 

Later we got interrupted by his friend, Brandon, who thought he was crazy for meeting with us and said that people would think he was crazy for reading the Book of Mormon. Surprisingly, Greg stood up for what he was doing and said that he was meeting with us and starting to read for "peace of mind". Way to go Greg! Sister Craig and I were very impressed, and Sister Craig then invited Brandon to sit and read with us. At the end of the lesson, Brandon asked to keep the Book of Mormon and Restoration pamphlet we gave him. So sweet! That strengthened my testimony of inviting everyone, and anyone, to hear our message about the restored gospel. Even if they think we're crazy, there is still a chance that they won;t feel that way once they feel the Holy Ghost testify to them of the truth of the message. So cool.

Another neat thing that happened was in our Gospel Principles class yesterday. The lesson was on Missionary work and it was such a confidence booster to hear the members express their trust and appreciation to us! A sister said that she is trying to be a better member-missionary and has been trying to invite more friends to church, partly because she feels guilty for not helping us find people to teach, but also because she said she feels confident in us. She was saying that she's been waiting for some good missionaries to come, and that we finally came! That made me feel good! It's hard when you've only been out for a couple of months and have feelings of inadequacy because your companion has had more time to study the scriptures and get this missionary-thing down, so that definitely gave me hope that I can actually do this!

Missionary work is hard, but I am so greatful that I was able to come out and serve a mission. Thank you for all of your support and for the prayers you are sending my way. I love you all!!!! :)

Keep P.U.S.H.ing!

Sister Pierce

Another Day in the Life of Missionary Work...

Well, to start off, I forgot to tell you that I had an authentic Japanese meal last Sunday! That means I tried raw tuna!! Yep. I'm being a missionary and trying new things!...even if it slightly scares me...hahah but, it was pretty good!!! And we also ate with chopsticks the entire time! Talk about being adventurous! Luckily, I know how to eat with chopsticks, and Last Friday I was able to remind myself how to use chopsticks. We had a ward talent show, and I went up to do an eating contest with using chopsticks to eat grapes and blueberries. That was hard, but super fun!! :) haha

Anyways, we had a lesson with Shiva last night! It was kinda awkward because he's just a couple years older than us, and we walked over to a pizza place so he could have dinner, and it felt like we were on an awkward first date..........awkward... We wanted to get to know him, but we also wanted to get our purpose across so he would know what we do and that we weren't there to hang out. While we were teaching him the restoration he asked us some really good questions, (such as, if you sin without knowing you've sinned, have you really sinned? and When christ came to earth was he like a scapegoat? or are prophets like scapegoats?...something like that...) and it was amazing how we were able to answer all of them! (I believe that's one reason we go in twos. So we can help each other answer tricky questions that med students may ask..haha). But it was also amazing how we were able to answer the questions he had with the gospel. Every question (for the most part) can be answered with the gospel! So cool!! I knew that was possible, but when you have to put your gospel knowledge to the test, it's great to know that the gospel has truth and you can rely on it to answer the questions people have. So sweet. Unfortunately, Shiva turned out to not be very interested, but at least he was able to learn a little more about our beliefs and have some questions answered! 

Alex is understanding the Book of Mormon so well!! It's amazing how much the Lord has been preparing him to learn about the gospel. Although he's still smoking, he's living all the other commandments! So that's a plus! We're still trying to help him stop because at the moment, he's waiting for the Lord to work a miracle on him to have him stop smoking, but he hasn't been putting forth any action to try and stop himself. He's so funny. He told us that he feels guilty pretty easily, so we should work that in when we visit with him, but that wouldn't be very smart. haha we actually saw him Saturday afternoon and challenged him to not have another cigarette for the day, and he said he would do it if we didn't eat for the rest of the day. Ugh...he got us there because at that moment I was starving and I was not ready to do that (especially since fast sunday was the next day). he got us good. It was actually good to be put in his shoes for a second and realize how hard that challenge waould have been without any notice! I obviously wouldn't have been able to do it! haha  But we challenged him to do it all of Sunday -- a 24 hour fast like us-- and he said he'd do it. We haven't heard from him at all since Sunday morning because he threw out his back, so we'll see what happens when we see him tonight!

I hope you all have a great week!!! :)

Keep P.U.S.H.ing!

Sister Pierce

Legit Japanese meal (after the fact). and proof that I used chopsticks!! 

We even wore slippers during the meal. So cool!

Beach time.

Enjoy Coke!

I'm pretty sure "Not a Road" is really a road.....haha