April 4, 2011

Hello my wonderful family.

Its so good to be emailing you again. P-days rock! Well anyways, what did everyone think of General Conference??? I loved it so much. The talks were all so well given and it felt like the spirit was hitting me over the head with a sledgehammer! Well lets talk a little about the rest of my week so we can get that out of the way.

So April fools day was just the other day. And unfortunately I didn't pull a single joke! Do you believe that??? We had a joke played on us though. We went over to our ward mission leaders house for dinner and as we walk in he is cooking up what looks like chili. So he serves us up a bowl and has us sit at the table and bless it. He intentionally didn't get drinks so he could get up and not eat a bite. Well anyways, me and elder Anderson both had some and boy that was definitely not chili. There was so much different random things in that mush it was ridiculous. Beans, cake, syrup, vinegar, protein bars, uncooked rice, leftover lasagna, and more. I could keep going but I wont. Just know, it was disgusting.

The main event I wanted to talk about or just share with you is about Ashley.

Ashley is doing great. We have been focusing extra hard on getting her to understand the doctrine of Christ and help her to gain a testimony. She has learned what the gospel is and what it contains, the commandments involved which she has to follow, and the proper order of things. But she has failed in gaining a faith in it. She may KNOW what it is but she doesn't UNDERSTAND what it is. What I'm trying to say is that she knows the doctrine but she doesn't have a faith in it. She made a big emphasis on how she wants to be sealed to her mother though. She knows that the only way that can happen is if she is baptized. So she understands certain prerequisites in obtaining an eternal family. She is a very interesting character. Her belief system is unique. haha. I learned a valuable lesson about this though. Applying Ashley's scenario into our own lives. How many commandments do we know, but how many commandments and points of doctrine do we UNDERSTAND? Do we have a belief in them or do we have an unwavering faith in them and their divine validity? (hopefully the latter) It is so important to know and comprehend how important of a role they play in our lives. They are there to guide us and keep us safe. Keep us separated from the world and the tactics of Satan. As we follow the commandments of God we are guided by his loving spirit. Our Heavenly father has a plan of happiness laid out for us so that we may ALL reach the Celestial Potential we were created for. So that we may experience the unending joy that our Loving father in heaven has prepared for us. I would encourage you all to not only KNOW the commandments given to us from our God, but to understand them, to fully apply them into your lives so you can experience all the blessings your Heavenly Father has in store for you. I love you all so much. If there is anything I can ever do I'm simply a letter away haha. And if there is anything you ever need, HE is always just a prayer away. I love you.

Take care.

Elder Pierce

P.s. I tye dyed my first shirt this past week and it turned out freakin awesome. So righteous.