My New Golden

                                                  Elder Meyer made it to Brisbane!

8/22/2016

So the past week has been pretty busy and crazy with me picking up Elder Meyer and it being Elder Siliili's last week in the area. But I have really enjoyed my time with Elder Siliili, He helped me learn heaps and also we gained a lot of trust from the members because he is Samoan and he can speak it fluently! 

Last photo with me and Elder Siliili

On Tuesday we did a service project for a lady that we met door knocking (sorry I forgot to take pictures..) we had to go mow her back yard which was pretty much a jungle.... But it all worked out good because we got the bishop's younger sons to come with us and we made quick work of the yard. Wednesday we had a trade-off with the assistant to the president Elder Sunagawa (from Okinawa, Japan) pretty much because Elder Siliili convinced him that our area needed some help but that was pretty fun.  We went and door knocked most of the day and we did a lot of singing which was also pretty fun :) We also found out what Elder Siliili's last assignment is and that is to be a traveling assistant with Elder Sunagawa for the last three weeks because they are both going to leave for home in three weeks.  They will just go around the mission and do trade-offs. 

Then it was Thursday, which was when we were suppose to go pick up my new companion from the airport but on our way to the Brisbane city airport (45 minute drive w/o traffic) we got a call from the office saying that they didn't know where Elder Meyer was and that he had apparently missed a connecting flight but they still were not sure where he was...  They told us to go back to our area and just work. We said many prayers for him that day.  We got a call later in the day that he had missed a connecting flight from London to Singapore and that he would be into Brisbane by 6 or so that night. So we went and drove over there to go and finally pick him up! When we finally saw him and it was funny because one of the office sisters saw him and the first thing she did was give him a hug (picture included) Unfortunately he didn't have any of his bags because apparently they  were left in London... but now we have all of his bags but it was a bit dodgy for a day or two because he didn't have any extra clothes just what he was wearing.

Also another piece of news is that we still have the car!... but I am the driver... a little stressful because I'm not that great at driving especially in Australia.. We already accidentally backed into another car.... We also on Friday went to the mission office to get Elder Meyer interviewed by President and to pick up his luggage and President and Sister McSwain came with us to pick up his stuff (which wasn't even there yet like they said it was!)  Since we had some extra time President took us to dinner at a Thai restaurant which was awesome to have a dinner With the president!!! 

But man it has been a pretty crazy week!  My new companion Elder Meyer is the man! He speaks English really well for it being his first area. And he understands almost everything (he learned a lot of English in high school). He does have a pretty thick German accent (not quite like Dieter F Uchtdorf) but you can understand everything he says. He was  only in the MTC for 3 weeks.  He seems very prepared already and we get along really well :) He is also pretty funny! I just need to help him be a little less shy and just to share what the spirit prompts (which is what I am also working on... haha) But ya I'm excited for the work :) 

Love you all and have a great week!

-Elder Pierce

Lessons in Perseverance

                               Elder Pierce with the car that they get to use in their area now :)
08/15/2016

So it has been another good week still with its craziness because during snap gravity (our exercise program) one morning, Elder Siliili re-broke his toe that he broke playing rugby before his mission and he is going to have to get some surgery to remove a piece of bone that is not attached to anything but is just floating around.. haha, oops! But he has to be one of the hardest working missionaries in the mission because even while his toe is broken we were still out going door knocking (while he was wearing flip flops).

LUNCH!

So our teaching pool at the moment in the area is really small so we have been door knocking every day for multiple hours a day but it's been really good. :)  We have also been going through our ward list and checking who actually still lives in the places they say they live because our ward is really small. But we think when we are going to be done going through the list they are going to turn our ward into a branch... but we had a miracle while we were out checking one of the names.  When we walked up to the house it had turned out that the family had moved out like 3 years ago but the girl who lives there now had a grandma who was very active in the church and she was really close to her grandma and so now she wants to follow her grandmas example and learn more about the church! Which was really awesome like it says in the Doctrine & Covenants to find the elect souls of God! Just awesome :) 

But ya it turns out that my new golden* will come into the mission on this Thursday and he is from Germany. Not too sure what his name is yet but we think the reason that he is coming mid-transfer is because of his visa.  Thursday will be a crazy day because we still don't know where Elder Siliili is going yet... but ya it should be good. (* a "golden" is what they call a brand new missionary in Brisbane)

Elder Siliili is also a really good singer so we have been singing together heaps. I have some videos but I don't know how to send them yet but I will figure that out.  We also just got a new ward mission leader called after 2  transfers w/o having one... his name is Jeremy Atkinson (one of the three palagi (white) families in the ward). But ya that is pretty much the week. :) 

Love you all and I hope you have a great week!

-Elder Pierce

New Companion (just for a little while)

My companion (on the right) and another Elder we were with for  a few days, Elder Gali (pronounced Nali)

08/08/2016

Alright so I will fill all of y'all in. SO first my companion is the man! His name is pronounced See-lee-E-Lee. He is only going to be in our area for three weeks though because he is here on a mission extension because he was suppose to be home last Tuesday. But President asked him to extend for a few assignments that he has for him. But after three weeks I will be golden training in this area so we will have to see how that goes.. but the Lord will help me out. 

I'm trying to learn as much as I can from him before he goes.  He is just the man, so awesome to be around :) Unfortunately He has been very sick for the last few days so we couldn't work for a few days this week.. But we are excited to smash it this week! 

I'm totally fine from the crash, not even sore anymore! So the Lord does protect His servants!! But I am working with the mission to work out how to work with the insurance but it will be all good :) 

Love y'all !

-Elder Pierce 

Helmets Save Lives

                                           Protected from serious harm- Bike vs. Motorcycle
8/1/2016

Dear everyone!

     

Sorry I have to be quick because a lot of my time was eaten off because I had to fill out an bike accident form and stuff like that. But the week was a long week. This past Monday we went and actually did something during p-day and we went and played touch with the other Elders. We were pretty full on that day with appointments and such. We taught one of our part-member families, the Taoro family. But the week was one full of fast and slow parts and ups and downs. 

I'll get to the parts where stuff actually happened. On Saturday we were on our way to the appointment at night and my companion just crossed the road and I went to cross after him and I saw a motorcycle coming and I thought that I had more time to cross than I did... But I didn't have the time so the motorcycle collided with me. To start neither me or the guy got seriously injured. I am pretty sore all over with bruises and a couple scrapes but M'm alright. We will have to see how it goes because they had the police come out to survey the scene and I have to pay a ticket for about $341. But ya we are all alright my bike and the guy's bike are worse for wear but all is good. He was a pretty reasonable guy so it was pretty good. 

Post-crash aftermath

But ya so transfers was today and......drum roll..... I'm staying in Camira but Elder Tsuchiya is getting transferred! This will be my new companion's last transfer so it looks like I will be here in Camira for a little while more! I'm glad the Lord is giving me another chance to do his work here in this area! :) My new companion is Elder Siliili. He is a Samoan who was born in New Zealand and has lived in Melbourne his whole life.  He can speak fluent Samoan which will be awesome for our ward! I'm really excited to just smash the work!! 

Sorry the email is short but things are looking up. But we also have a car full time in our area! But ya that is all sorry it's quick.

 Love you all :)

-Elder Pierce