June 21 & 28, 2010

Elder Pierce, Ethan & Elder Sorensen

So...sorry about the mix up last week, it wasn't my fault. I typed the long email and hit send then logged off. I didn't realize that there was an Internet problem and it decided not to send it. SO i DID hit the send button but it just didn't feel like working. So other than that how is everyone else doing? I hope everyone is doing good, Thank you all so much for the little surprise in my package, I'm working on responding, i will do it sometime this week. Well aside from that things are going great over here. Ethan, the guy who just graduated and is going into the navy, is going to be baptized this Saturday at 6 o'clock. He is going to have his best friend Eric baptize him. Eric is preparing for his mission so it should be a great experience for all of them. Then we are also working on their other friend Katie Biddle, she is not as excited but is still progressing. We are going to set her a date for this next 2 weeks, cuz she has been to church twice and is really happy when she goes, and whenever we go and teach her she never lets us leave without setting her a reading assignment. So we are working on her.

So they just had girls camp here not to long ago, and Elder Sitate (Si-Ta-Tae') from the 70 went and visited with them up there and went to their testimony meetings and bore his testimony, the girls said it was a really powerful experience for them all. Well they were serious because As of right now we have 4 new investigators because of it. We just had an appointment with a non member girl that went up there and she just had such a powerful experience, well we taught her a first lesson and set her a date to be baptized for the 24th of July. Then there was this other girl Vanessa, while the girls were bearing their testimonies, she started bawling and was like "what is this I'm feeling!" hahaha its the spirit!!!!! hahah she is 16 and is preparing to be baptized as well. There is such a strong spirit that is flowing through these girls its amazing. They really are daughters of God and ready to walk the path and be a true disciple of Jesus Christ.

Well we also had Stake conference up here 2 weeks ago and Elder Sitate spoke at all sessions and I had the privilege of going to all of them. It was a really cool time. It was so amazing cuz he talked about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and what he did for each of us personally. He had a PowerPoint presentation and everything. He is pretty computer savy, he is an engineer I believe. Well anyways, I took notes in which I'm going to draw out and send to you guys cuz he explained it a lot better than I could even try to. But he made a lot of emphasis on how the atonement works personally. Saying that for each of us, it will take a little more or a little less for everyone. But as long as they give their BEST efforts, he will fulfill the rest. It makes a lot more sense in the drawing I did haha. But then he also opened it up for question and answer at the end and we got on the subject of science and God. He said that all laws of the earth are Gods laws. The law of gravity is a perfect example, God created all these laws so that we can exist. There is no truth in science that cant be traced back to the gospel. Because ALL truth ARE principles of the gospel. And I loved the quote he said "science walks in the footsteps of God" it was just a really cool learning experience I had. So That was the Adult Session of conference on Saturday night. Then in the other session of conference we had. There was a new member session. Where all new members within the past 2 years got to attend and all investigators and reactivated members of the church were invited to. It was so spiritual because he addressed each section. He talked with New members, Investigators, members and missionaries. It was really funny as well, he has  great sense of humor about him. And i even got to shake his hand afterwards.

So listen to this crazy stuff. We were out tracting like 2 weeks ago, and we tracted into this lady and taught her a full first on the door step, baptismal date included, she said to give her a week to read and pray about it. So we were like tight. So a week goes by and we go and see how she is doing and we walk up to her door step and there lies the book of Mormon wrapped in paper with a note that says "Sorry guys, my husband said no"...crap, so we were like whatever, we got biffed. So right before dinner that same day, we have 20 min or so, we decided to knock some doors, we taught this couple a first and they told us to come back that same night, after they read and prayed about it. Mind you, we gave them the same book of Mormon that the other lady gave back to us. So we go back that night and walk up to the door step...BIFFED! They left the SAME book or Mormon on their door step with a note on it that said they didn't want to change churches cuz they go to "The Cool Church" (thats the real name haha). Needless to say, we retired that book of Mormon that night. I know its the word of god but its bad luck, so we are leaving it in the apartment from now on hahaha.

And our other investigator Emily just set a date for herself, and guess what date it was...September 11th haha, its a ways away but thats when she feels she will be ready hahaha, well thats when her mom feels she will be ready, and we have to baptize her Grandpa first so that was he can recieve the priesthood and baptize her. He is from Iran and wants to be baptized, its a really cool situation and the lord has blessed them and their family so much, its amazing to watch the change in emily that i have seen since we first started teaching her. She is growing at a very rapid rate in the gospel and it is just so great, and it makes going on a mission worth it, every second of it.

Well thats really all i have for this week, we have zone training tomorrow so that should be fun. President will come down to our area and interview all of us, maybe i can figure some stuff out about transfers from the AP's, we will see, i will keep you all posted. Thank you so much for everything that you do for me and for all the letters and love you send my way. I love you all so much.

Elder Pierce