Faith Brings...Miracles

T'was a wonderful first week in Shoreline. I really like it here. The area is pretty similar to Seahurst and I know I will LOVE it here. The branch is quite a bit smaller here with about 30 active members but they are all super magnificant and seem pretty mission minded and willing to help us out. I again won't be able to write too much this week because we're at the family history library to email but I will try to tell you all a little about what's going on with our investigators a little bit. 

So firstly, Berenice. She's great! She is a referral from a member, Hermana Black. They are best friends and Berenice decided that she would be interested in meeting with the missionaries. They met with her once and she came to church once before I got here and we were able to meet with them this week as well. We taught her about the Plan of Salvation and it went really well. She had read the pamphlet on it and understood it all. Her and Hna. Black talk about gospel topics all the time and she is sincerely interested in knowing if the church is true. She said that she has been praying to know if it's true and doesn't know that she's received an answer yet, but that she knows that it will come. She said that since she met us a bunch of people have came to her randomly and tried to talk to her about other churches and it's always right after she feels like she's received an answer. We told her the Satan is going to work really hard against her right now because he doesn't want her to be happy. She liked the idea of reading from the Book of Mormon or praying every time one of those doubts came to min. She has a baptismal date of June 13th so please pray for her that she can receive an answer and be prepared for baptism on that date.

Another one of our great investigators is Alejandro. He's been to church the past three weeks now and has a ton of potential. He just gets too focused on the information part and not about receiving answers from God. So please keep him in your prayers as well.

I love serving with Hermana Norton. Things are going great. One thing that I have studied this week is having the faith to see MIRACLES! I feel like I started my mission with so much FAITH! Everyone I met was already basically in the baptismal font from my point of view. But as I saw all the people NOT progress, slowly I started to doubt in people. Sometimes I would teach certain people with the attitude that they probably wouldn't accept the gospel. How horrible is that?! So I read the best scripture the other day it's Alma 37:40. It's talking about the Liahona and the miracles that Lehi's family were able to see because their great faith and obedience. 

 40 And it did work for them according to their faith in God;therefore, if they had faith to believe that God could cause that those spindles should point the way they should go, behold, it was done; therefore they had this miracle, and also many other miracles wrought by the power of God, day by day.

It hit me that if I have the faith for their to be miracles here AND I do my part to work hard, I WILL see miracles. And it's the same way in ALL of our lives. We will see those daily miracles that we never even expected were possible. 

I love being a missionary here in the Washington Seattle Mission. Aka ZION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

11 Months!

The time has finally came... I have been transferred :( After 5 amazing transfer I am now serving in the Aurora Branch in Shoreline. I'm really really excited. I am now companions with Hermana Norton :) She's the cutest little missionary and I'm really excited to serve with her. I am really sad that I will not be in Seahurst anymore because I honestly love the branch and the people with all my heart, but I know that I am going to love Shoreline a lot.

I don't really have any time because of transfers but it was a great week with lots of member participation. We were able to get a bunch of people to church and it was a week full of miracles. Oh and did I mention that I hit my 11 month mark the other day?! Say what?! Time's flying by so I've got to work my hardest to not waste a moment. 

I love you all LOTS!!!!!!!!!

Con Amor, 

Hermana Pier
 

I <3 Missions!

Overall I'd have to say that this week was pretty solid.

Miracle 1-

The Vasquez Family! We went to stop by their house this week and Marlene, the 10 year old daughter, got so excited and told us that she was working on the "Faith in God for Girls"!  Which is a program that the church has for the primary so that they can learn the scriptures, how to grow in their faith, etc. She's been going over the their fellowship families house and working on it with them. So Sick! She told us that one of the things it says to do is to share the story of Joseph Smith as a thought during a Family Home Evening so she wanted to do it. She asked us if we could invite the Nunez Family (their fellowship) over and come do an FHE with them this week so she could teach about Joseph Smith. Uhhh... CAN DO! So that will be happening tomorrow. Other exciting things happening with the Vasquez Family:

They came to the Mother's Day Party our branch had on Friday and the parents both came to church on Sunday :) The best part is that Hermano Vasquez, Sergio, was never super interested in learning but he said that he just really felt a strong desire to go to church that day. The branch was amazing and really made them feel so loved and welcome.

 

Miracle 2-

The Giles Family, the less active family I always talk about, had an amazing miracle... Oscar, their 14 year old son received the priesthood yesterday! I've never been so excited. It makes me really happy to know that they now have the priesthood in their home <3

Miracle 3-

We got out of the ditch that Hermana Boley drove us into hahaha. Basically the roads are really skinny here. And as missionaries every time the driver backs up the other missionary has to go behind the car and help back them up so that they don't hit anything. Which is all fine and dandy except missionaries don't want to make their companions get out so they do EVERYTHING possible to not have to back up. Well, we were going to visit a ref and we realized that we passed the address and needed to turn around. As we turned, on the side of the road there was a patch of weeds and grass growing so she went to drive on it, thinking she could make it just fine. But... that grass was actually very long and covering a ditch. So in we went and our back wheel was like 2 feet off the ground. Some construction workers came to try to help us but said that it was a lost cause and that we should just call a tow truck. So we got in the car to call our vehicle coordinator and right then this guy pulls out of his driveway, sees us, and stops to help. He was just this little man and he's all like, "Ok, let's lift the car out of the hole." So Hermana Boley gets in the car and puts it in reverse and this man and I are in the ditch trying apparently going to lift it out and somehow it worked. MIRACLES! Hahahah I thought it was the funniest thing I had ever seen.

 

Miracle 4- 

We had 5 investigators at church yesterday with was so great. especially because 11:00 rolled around and NO ONE was there. We were really worried but just a few minutes later they all started filing in. 

Sunday really was just great! Best birthday ever. Firstly I got to talk to all my families. (and Josi and Taylor Ann) :) Me hizo muy feliz. Family is literally the best thing in the world. And then I got to watch the video that Josi put together for my birthday. oh my it was the best present I've ever received. It made me so dang happy.  Thanks so so so so so so much Josi. You're the best <3

After the skype calls we went to a member dinner and it was their 7 year old daughters birthday as well. They sang to us both and cut Dafne was so excited that we had the same birthday. And then last night while we were planning there was a knock on the door and the 4 elders who live in our complex were there and sang me happy birthday and gave me some treats.

 

To end I just wanted to put a fun little poem that was hanging in one of our members homes. I love it!

The Difference:

I got up early one morning and rushed right into the day:

I had so much to accomplish that I didn't have time to pray. 

Problems just tumbled about me and heavier each task.

"Why doesn't God help me?" I wondered. He answered, "You didn't ask."

I wanted to see joy and beauty, but the day toiled on, gray and bleak:

I wondered why God didn't show me. He said, "But you didn't seek."

I tried to come into God's presence" I used all the keys at the lock. 

God gently and lovingly chided, "My child, you didn't knock."

I woke up early this morning, and paused before entering my day.

I had so much to accomplish, that I had to make time to pray.

Pray really is so powerful and I know that God ALWAYS is listening and wants to hear from us. 

Con Amor, 

Hermana Pier

Jesus, Saviour, Pilot Me

It's been a beautiful week here in Seattle. And by beautiful I mean that th weather has been crazy. The beginning of the week was back and forth between raining and being sunny changing about every hour. Then, we got two days of gorgeous 87 degree weather. All leading up to 3 days of non-stop buckets of pouring rain. Hahah it was great. Except all the ups and downs in the weather have been making me sick. I've been losing my voice so I sound a little, well maybe more than a little, weird. I'm pretty sure my voice is about to give out completely. The best part was that yesterday we were out tracting and all of the sudden I got hiccups that lasted for like an hour. I was trying to talk so that people could understand me, but meanwhile I wa s hiccuping all over the place. Rough! Haha poor Hermana Boley has had to do a lot of the talking these last few days. 

We had zone cenference this week. I LOVE Zone conferences. They told one story that I really loved and learned a lot from. I'll try to explain it but it may not be as good as it was in the conference. 

There was a village and on top of a huge hill outside the village there was a giant boulder. It had been there forever and it was impossible to move, but because the hill was steep they knew that if they could just get it moving, it would gain momentum and go down the hill. One day their leader told them that they all needed to go and push the boulder with all their might. So they obeyed. Day after day they worked and worked trying to push the boulder but still the boulder didn't move at all. After quite some time they all voiced their frustration saying to the leader, "Why did you ask us to move this boulder? We all know that there's no way it's going to move." And their leader responded, "I didn't tell you to move the rock, I just told you to push. Now, look at how much stronger you are. Look how much you've grown." 

I have been thinking about this a lot this week and how our leader, our loving Heavenly Father puts us in some tough situations sometimes. Sometimes there are things that to us seem silly and too hard to complete, but He knows better. Every fallen through appointment, every investigator that drops us, and every down right hard day as missionaries refines us and strengthens us. And it's the same is "normal people life" as well. We learn and grow. Some things Heavenly Father asks us to endure seem down right difficult. But He is always there guiding us and supporting us. 

I know that one of these trials that has been hard for my family this past year and something I haven't talked about very much is my step dad's cancer. He has been in remission for about a month now but there's a lump on his neck again and he will be tested tomorrow to see if it's cancerous or not. I would like to ask any of you that can to please pray for him. I know our family could use the prayers right now. The amazing thing to know though is that no matter the outcome, it's God's plan and everything will work together in the way it's supposed to. 

This week should be a great one! I will get to call my families on Mother's Day and will turn the big 2-0 on the same day. I just want to end telling you all that I know that our Savior, Jesus Christ loves each and every single one of you so much! I just wanted to share the words of one of my favorite hymns, "Jesus, Savior, pilot me." It's so amazing to know that he is always, always helping each of us personally.

1. Jesus, Savior, pilot me
   Over life's tempestuous sea;
   Unknown waves before me roll,
   Hiding rock and treach'rous shoal.
   Chart and compass came from thee;
   Jesus, Savior, pilot me.
2. 2. As a mother stills her child,
   Thou canst hush the ocean wild;
   Boist'rous waves obey thy will
   When thou say'st to them, "Be still!"
   Wondrous Sov'reign of the sea,
   Jesus, Savior, pilot me.
3. 3. When at last I near the shore,
   And the fearful breakers roar
   'Twixt me and the peaceful rest,
   Then, while leaning on thy breast,
   May I hear thee say to me,
   "Fear not; I will pilot thee."
   
   

Con Amor,

Hermana Pier

 
the little kids with the lesson we made to teach the building up of Christ's church when he was on the earth and in the actualidad. 

My planner this transfer. (Thanks for the quote print out Taylor!)

Fiesta Time!

Hey hey y'all this was a great old week. I think I legitimately begin every email that way but that's okay because it's the truth :) This week I realized that my time on my mission is going by too fast. So, it was time for me to step up and be more bold with everyone that I came into contact with. To testify to everyone that I meet of the truth of the Gospel and to NEVER apologize for what I believe! And I have had one of the best, happiest weeks of my mission. 

Here in Seattle we meet a lot of people from different places from around the world with different religious beliefs. Every day we come in contact was Catholics, Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Muslims, Christians, and every other religion under the sun. It's great because I have learned a lot about what other people believe and been able to see how many similarities there are between what we believe. I used to try to just bring up this similarities we have with people. To help them see that we are a lot like them... but this week I realized that it really is some of those differences that we have that sets The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints apart from other churches. I have testified to everyone I saw of the message of the Restoration. I have made sure that everyone I meet knows that I know that Jesus Christ is the son of God and that it's only through Him that we can return to our Heavenly Father and live with our families forever. As I have done this I have seen a difference in the responses of the people. I was worried people would be offended and mean but actually everyone was respectful and we were able to find a lot of new potential investigators. No one can tell you your sincere testimony is false.

Other than that not too much happened this week. We had a giant party in the church to help las mujeres jovenes earn money for Girl's camp and it went so well. They had food from a bunch of Hispanic Countries and a pinata and singing and everything I was pretty sure i was in Mexico hahaha it was great. We had a family of investigators come and basically every less active in the branch as well so that was awesome. We're just trying to figure out how to get their attendance to translate to church on Sunday! 

Other than that it was just a normal week. We worked really hard and had great time. I LOVE Hermana Boley and am learning lots from her. We had 2 people at church this week and also accidentally joined a bible study group from random church. They tried to teach us about how we weren't in the truth. It was funny and we invited them to learn more and left mormon.org cards before making an excuse to leave. Awk. 

Hope you all have a great week! 

Love,

Hermana Pier 

Because of Him!

This week was GLORIOUS! Firstly, Hermana Boley is amazing! I'm so excited to be her companion this transfer, it's going to be great!!!! A couple of highlights from this week were:

1. Getting members really involved in our lessons and building fellowship with our investigators. We had more member present lessons this week that ever before and it really made a difference. One example, the Vasquez family that came to church last week. We took their fellowship to a lesson with us and we talked all about the pamphlet "For the Strength of Youth". We talked about some of the standards that we live as members of the church and how it's helped us to stay doing the things that the Lord wants us to do. The member was able to testify of how much those standards have helped her family to be strengthed. They came to our Branch Activities this Friday and really enjoyed it. Gabby told me that her daughter finished reading the entire pamphlet and was really impressed by things like modesty and different standards like that. She wants to start coming to Young Women's Activities everyday :)

2. Doing service for our of our investigators, Flora. All her daughters attend an english ward and are active. She's met with tons of missionaries but never been baptized. She doesn't speak any English, hence where we come in the picture. Although the work with her is quite slow because of some people that have pushed her in the past, she's slowly making progress. The Senior Sisters here and the Seatac bishop have asked us to not give up on her because she is an amazing women. We were able to go other with all the Seatac missionaries and some members and work in their yard for a few hours. It was great to help people that are so busy and then to see how much they truly appreciate it :)

3. We had a couple of investigators at church again this week so that was exciting. I got to teach of Gospel Principles class because the teacher was sick. I love when we have investigators at church because it really is there that we can feel God's love so strongly. I LOVE THIS GOSPEL!!!!

Today I would like to invite you all to watch this amazing video. It's called "Because of Him". https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_S3TI4bYerU
 It's an amazing 3 minute video about our Savior, Jesus Christ and really helps us to better understand the amazing gift that our Lord has given us. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. He knows us perfectly and it's through Him that we can change and become better everyday. As Easter approaches this week I would also like to invite every one of you to share this video on your Facebook, Twitter, and whatever other social media pages. Share this amazing knowledge that we have with other people so that they too can come to understand His never ending love for them :)

I love you all so so much. :) Have a wonderful Easter and never ever forget that you're children of God!

Con Amor,

Hermana Pier

Transfers...

Transfers... dun dun dun. I was absolutely positive that I was being transferred. Firstly, I'd been in Seahurst forever and also I just love it way too much there. So on Friday I started packing my bags. Transfers calls came last night and... I am staying another transfer. WHAT?! Heavenly Father must really love me a lot. Hermana Phillips was transferred and my new companion is Hermana Boley. She's adorable and I'm really excited to serve with her. So I found out that I was staying and thought to myself, "Dang it! Now I have to unpack." Buuuut we found out we were going to being moving apartments and had to clear everything out. :) Thankfully because I was packed it's made the process a bit easier. Also, they closed the area of the Elders serving in our Branch so it's now just us. We are going to be taking over all of their investigators and people they've been working with. So... our prayers to find a bunch of new investigators worked I guess? Haha hopefully that area gets opened back up again soon. It'll be great though.

This week was interesting. Hermana Phillips sprained her ankle. (photo attached) Hahah. The story is great. She's going to kill me when she reads this one day. So we were at the stake center waiting for general conference to start on Sunday and all the missionaries were in the gym taking pictures and she decided to jump up behind some sisters to photo bomb their pictures. She slipped, fell, and went flailing. We started laughing so hard.. until we realized she was actually hurt :( The doc says that she shouldn't be walking on much and gave her this boot thing.

Speaking of General Conference, wasn't it just amazing?! It was broadcast to us and we got to watch all of the sessions. Something that really hit me was the need for us as members of the church to take a stand for our beliefs. Just as God is hastening his work, so is Satan. We can't be fench sitters anymore. We have to choice which team we want to play for and gear up. And do you want to know the best part? If we choose the Lord's team, there is absolutely no way we can lose. My goal this transfer is to play for the Lord's team always and let nothing stop me from playing with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. I invite all of you to look to look at your life and see if there's anything keeping you from playing. Sometimes Satan makes us too busy with other things or he makes the things like daily scripture study and prayer seem little but really if we can dedicate our lives 100% to the Lord we can complete the work He needs us to.

I love you all so much. Feel free to write me some letters :)

Con Amor,

Hermana Pier