Hello 2016!

January 4, 2016

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a great start to this new year!! This week has been pretty good. We started it off with a super chill p-day. I seriously don't know how it was so relaxing and we still had time to do everything! Normally p-days are the busiest and sometimes most stressful days, but somehow this one was great! I think I finally have this p-day thing down...that only took me about 10.5 months. Sad.....anyways. Then we had a lesson with the Bubar's. We taught them the plan of salvation, and sister Bubar (the LA) remembered most of it, which was exciting! Brother Bubar didn't know it, but he was very interested in it. We're going to invite him to be baptized tonight, hopefully that goes well! We're not totally positive on what his true intentions are with us teaching him, So hopefully tonight will be a positive experience!

On Tuesday. It snowed!! Woo hoo! That was something exciting to wake up to, but it wasn't very magical--like it is when it snows before Christmas--It was just like, "oh, there's cold, wet, white stuff on the ground. Fun!...not really now I have to shovel." Haha okay, I have a much better attitude then it may seem, promise! I've actually been
looking forward to the snow so we can shovel! It's pretty great.  We even shoveled a lady's driveway the following day, and she was surprised with how much we love to work! (I think the previous sisters have helped her out before or have asked her if they could serve her in any way for her to respond like that. But I didn't mind! We just said, ” yes! We love doing work!" And pulled out our shovels from the car. So great!).

The snow is pretty fun, but it also makes for interesting driving situations. On Tuesday when it snowed, It really tested my driving abilities. But, I'd like to inform you that I have discovered I have some mad Indiana Jones driving skills!! :) if you have ever been on the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland, or Disney World, you'll know what I'm talking about. We were out contacting potential investigators in Woolwich, and our GPS led us down this sketchy road that wasn't plowed very well and was pretty narrow. By the time we got further down the road, it was no longer plowed, there were animal footprints, and there was a fence blocking the way saying "private property". That
was pretty sketchy. The snow was at least 2 feet deep, and I had to turn around quickly, or else we would have gotten stuck. I didn't even let sister black get out to reverse me because I didn't want to get stuck anymore than we were already getting. After I turned around, that's when my Indiana Jones skills kicked it, and I felt like I was on that ride. The road was super bumpy, we were fish-tailing, and the steering wheel was super loose, almost to the point that it felt like it wasn't attached to the car. Pretty crazy, but it was so much fun!! I was so impressed with myself that I could drive out of there safely, and that we didn't get stuck! That was the second time that night where we almost got stuck. We visited another potential, and they have a super steep driveway. I took us 5 tries to get out of the driveway....but we got out! Oh boy, we've had some pretty exciting adventures so far!

We've been trying to contact a lot of our potential investigators this week, and we've met some pretty interesting people. There was one couple who we met who were super  friendly and were apparently 3 days away from being baptized! We asked why they didn't get baptized, and it was seriously the most ridiculous response, and it barely made sense. Apparently people didn't show up to a single adult activity, and his response was "where were the other 9?" (referring to the 10 lepers Christ healed). That was his response. Literally. I'm still really confused....but, that whole experience really upset sister black. He was so close to being baptized and now he's so set on his "new path" that there is no way he will change. She is discovering more and more that people have their agency and they don't always use it the way we, as missionaries, would hope.

We also met other people who made missionary work a little more exciting. One man said he believes Star Wars and religion are in the same realm, and that positivity is his religion, and there was another man who claims he has a masters degree in Aerospace engineering and proceeded to tell us how the moon is populated and how he knows that because he saw it on YouTube. .........very interesting. But pretty funny when you look back at it! Missions are the best! You learn so much, and the experiences you have are so unexpected! So great! :)

Sorry this is a longer email, and that there aren't any pictures, but hopefully you enjoyed the stories I shared! :) I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Keep P.U.S.H.ing! (Pray until something happens)
Sister Pierce