Relying on Heavenly GPS

9/26/2016

So it was a pretty good week in Pimpama!  We may not have a big teaching pool right now but we do have one really awesome Kiwi family who we are teaching. I think I mentioned them last week. The mom's name is Tenielle and she has 5 kids and we have a baptisimal date set with them for the 8th of October!  We will see about the exact date because that is when they will be showing General Conference in our area... but ya so that should be really good!  

We have visited her a couple times this week and taught her a few lessons. Also, when we were teaching about baptism (I was on a trade off) the Elder I was with took a blank piece of paper and drew all over it and said that the marks represented sin and then he talked about baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost.  Then he took a lighter behind the piece of paper and all of the ink vanished away (he used a special type  of pen) but it was a really cool trick.  We also taught her the word of wisdom later in the week which we were about apprehensive about because we know she smokes... but she said that she loved it all and was waiting for the sisters who taught her previously to teach this lesson and we were like what?? haha  But it is really cool to get to teach her and her family. We will have to see though because they didn't make it to sacrament meeting this past Sunday... but her mom from New Zealand was in town so that is probably why.  Let's hope things continue to progress well. 

But sorry everyone I'm out of time to email... we are working hard and doing our best to be who the Lord needs us to be.  We still are getting lost a lot because much of the area is so new that it isn't on the GPS so we just pray for safety a lot and hope that it will all work out!

 But I love you all! Have a great week

-Elder Pierce

The First Week in Pimpama

                                                         Didgeridoo- The real deal
9/19/2016

So ya this week has been a little crazy full of getting lost and meeting heaps of members and such! But me and Elder Meyer are super keen to get out here and be working.  It is a little hard at times because I feel like I'm being disobedient for not working harder or something but the only problem is that we don't know anyone so we have no set appointments to go to. 

The ward seems pretty keen to have us in the ward and they are excited that they have missionaries again. We have received a lot of referrals from members and such so we are excited to be following up with all of them. Also are ward is a pretty young (in terms of a lot of the members are young families). The ward is also pretty islander mostly kiwi's with really hard names to pronounce and such.. hahaha but I'm kind of used to that by now. It is also pretty cool because I have been able to see the lord strengthening my abilities like right before my eyes. Because usually I am really bad at remembering people's names, but it has been cool because everyone's names are just sticking in my head! Really cool, I guess it's just the small and simple things by which the Lord does His great and marvelous work. 

It is also pretty cool because our ward mission leader is like on fire and he is super keen to do the work and he has already had us over for dinner on that first Monday.  He also has been helping us heaps to get to know the area and the people quickly. 

We also have been having some success with a single mom and her 5 kids who have been taught all of the lessons in the past and the only thing keeping her from progressing was church attendance and she came this Sunday so pretty cool! 

But we are loving the new area and the new ward and we are just trying to be as diligent as we possibly can be so that we can help souls come unto Christ!  

I love you all and hope I answered some of your questions!  Everyone have a great week!

-Elder Pierce

So the wife of the bishop, Sister Mategna, is part aboriginal (Bishop is Maori though from New Zealand) so she has a real didgeridoo and she wasn't teaching us how to play it.. (because in their culture only men can play the didgeridoo) but the family was teaching us how to play it a little- it's a lot harder than you think to play!

 

It's Time to Say Goodbye to Camira

                                                   Good times- wearing some Lavalavas 9/12/2016

The best. sign .ever!

9/12/2016

So this week has been pretty crazy! The beginning of the week was just me and Elder Meyer working our hardest in good old Camira. We were having some crazy days where random crazy ladies roll up while you are door knocking and tell you to go away and never come back and that they will call the police and then we had some days where it was all going smooth and we were following up with potential investigators and doing some good work. 

Then on Friday (which was deep cleaning day or the day where we are all meant to clean up the flat extra good before transfers) we got a call from my last companion Elder Siliili and he was like... hey did you clean the flat really good today? and we were like ya... and he said, like REALLY well...and we said yup and he said like well enough that Camira is going to get white washed and new sister missionaries are going to come in... and we were like what??? At first we couldn't really believe it and we thought that he was joking because we called Alex Togia to tell him we were getting transferred and he was all, they are playing a joke on you, I know because when I was assistant we did that all of the time... But come Saturday night we found out for sure that it was true. 

So both me and Elder Meyer are transferred to Pimpama in Coomera which is near the Gold Coast. We are like reopening the area because it was closed for a little bit and so now here we are safe and sound in the Gold Coast! hahaha This was definitely not expected but we also heard that the new President McSwain made heaps of changes this transfer. 

Road trip to GOLD COAST!

So the past few days has been really crazy saying goodbye to all of the families and people that I have come to know and love this past almost 6 months. But we are excited to do the Lord's work here in Pimpama (pim-pah-mah).  Sorry that I probably won't get get a chance to write everyone back today because time is flying away really fast. And it took ages to upload all of those pictures. But I love you all and it is going to be fun. we heard that the ward here is also mostly islanders but we will have to see come Sunday I guess! 

But have a great week everyone!!
-Elder Pierce

Goodbye pics in Camira

                                                             Bishop Togia's Family

                                                                 Us with the Bishop

                                                          Cook Island ukulele

                                                Wearing the Cook Island head thingy

                                                               The Glassie Family

                                                                The Sovala Family

                                                                 The Frandi Family

                                         Last district breakfast at Mackers (aka McDonalds)

Last picture with the Zone Leaders

Bringing Souls Unto Christ

Some "Righteous" Graffiti...CTR... haha

9/4/2016
Dear Everyone,

G'day from the land down under ( I still don't here too many people say that but i think that is just because of the area that I am in at the moment). Well, me and Elder Meyer are out here working in Camira and doing our best to bring souls unto Christ. 

We have a lot of work to do and recently this week what we have been trying to do is follow up with some of the new investigators and potentials that we have found but it seems like a lot of the times they are not home. A few of them have dropped us but we are still doing our best trying to follow up and be on top of things as well as using our resources effectively and all of that good stuff. But I know if we continue to try and improve our skills and show our diligence in both obedience and effort then the Lord will bless us with those people who have been prepared to teach and he will guide them to us or we will be guided to them. We just have to try a little harder and do that extra mile for the Lord. But I'm trying to do all I can to be who the lord needs me to be as one of his servants in this part of the vineyard. I know the Lord has kept me in Camira for such a long time for a reason, I just hope that I fill that reason.. haha 

But ya this week is the last week of the transfer and I will probably stay another transfer to train Elder Meyer some more but who knows, we will have to wait and see. 

I love you all :)

-Elder Pierce

Zone Meeting

Elder Meyer and me at the temple

Traveling to the temple on the bus and one of the Elders was asleep

Temple Week

                        Elder Pierce & Elder Meyer with President & Sister McSwain
 8/30/2016

So first things first, sorry for emailing late because We went to the temple today (Wednesday) so today is our P-day. The week has been pretty good! I have been getting use to driving (surprisingly it wasn't that hard to get used to driving on the left side, the only problem is that I'm not good at driving). But since the mission gives us only a certain amount of Kilometers that we can do per month we already smashed it... so we have not been using the car just back to biking at least for a week. That's okay because I know how to get around better with biking anyways. Also they got my bike finally fixed (not the one that i broke in the accident with the motorcycle) But ya I will say it is more convenient to have a car. 

The Brisbane, Australia Temple

                                                
Elder Meyer is doing really well :) before he left on his mission he went out with his missionaries a lot. He has just been working out translating just some German words to English. Currently we have not had too many people to teach in our little area, so we have been continuing to do heaps of finding.  It is hard because 2 of the three suburbs that we cover I have almost talked to talk to everyone and so now I know like all of the people who just walk around and I've knocked on most of the houses. 

It is a little stressful being the companion who is suppose to know what is going on. haha I'm just trying to do what the Lord needs me to but I just so happen to be falling short a lot. But oh well you can't say I'm not trying!  Ya that is pretty much the week. (sorry the email is short) 

But I love you all :)

-Elder Pierce

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