Sunday, November 2, 2014

The Book of Prophelations

Sister Baird and I have started writing a companionship journal called the Book of Prophelations (a combined form of Revelation and Prophecy..(: ) I will thus write you an entry from it:
1. And it came to pass that we did labour much in mileage, in an attempt to save the souls that live in the land of Beach.
2. But behold, we did labour diligently and grew in tiredness, and thus we were left unable to save the souls of men.
3. Therefore, we did turn to our Father in prayer, asking in faith to receive strength.
4. Nevertheless, we thus proceeded out of the Motorized Chariot and we had scarcely done so when strength was added unto us. And thus we see that our Brother Moroni speaketh truth that you do indeed receive a witness after the trial of your faith.
5. And it came to pass we did see Lavinia, as well as Elizabeth before we proceeded forth unto the Beach.
6. Birds did flock unto us in an attempt to eat our provisions. In a cunning attempt to touch one, we placed hot chips near our feet, but they durst not come.
7. We thus continued in the harvest of souls. Our plans dwindled, but we did therefore remain faithful and hopeful that the salvation of many souls would come.
8. It came to pass that we again began to travel towards the southern parts of Aucklandihah.
9. But behold, the Spirit of the Lord spoke unto us as if we were dumb, and caused the windows of the motorized chariot to fog. With fear of crashing, our progress came to a halt; but in the words of Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "it was merely an interruption."
10. Therefore, we did align our will with the Father's and did stretch forth our hands unto the Dilworth Whanau.
11. oh, how great was our joy.
12. Behold the time was nigh to return from whence we came and we did so listening to the counsel of John from the Family of BytheWay people.
13. Whilst travelling swiftly in the Silver Bullet, the Father directed us to the home of Naydeen.
14. Her faith was dwindling, but thus we see that the Father answers prayers through his humble servants.
15. Our souls did rejoice in the change of countenance thereof.
16. And we come to an end of our proceedings.
This week was really good. (: Haha, and we have probably too much fun together. I love Sister Baird! We had a pretty cool miracle this week that I will proceed to share with you all. (: So, there is this family in our ward, the Baker family, and they are the greatest member missionaries in the world. Well, Briana, their 13 year old daughter, invited her friend, Ngapipi, to our ward Luau. And Ngapipi decided a week ago that she wanted to be baptised! The only problem...she lives just on the other side of the mission border. Right in the Auckland Mission. We can see it, but we cannot touch it. Well, we referred her to Auckland Missionaries and then she suddenly decided that she didn't want to see us anymore. So, we were praying about what to do and we felt really strongly that we should go to Jeff's Road (the mission boundary.) So, we followed our prompting and drove over there at about 6 o'clock in the evening. We got there and nothing was happening and we were about to leave. When all of a sudden I felt the distinct impressing to wait. So, we prayed and then the windows started to fog again. We must be really dumb if the Spirit has to speak to us that way. So, we waited. And then about 2 minutes later, the Auckland missionaries pulled up behind our car. So, it was a major miracle! And we were able to discuss some things and such. It was such a cool experience. (:
This week has been really, really good. My companion is absolutely amazing and I am loving working with her. I have learned so much and will continue to learn from her as long as the Lord needs me to. (:
IMG_6467 -> Us at the beach. (:
IMG_6458 -> Gotta have the photo on the bike.
IMG_6473 -> Our car's odometer said 2015 and that's when both Sister Baird and I finish, so naturally I had to take a photo. (:
OFA ATU!!!
Sister Pearce


Sunday, September 21, 2014

Aotearoa and Her Rainbows

This week has been crazy!! The weather especially! Everyday this week the weather has been as follows.
6:30-> Rainy as, windy as, cold as.
8:00-> Sunny, not a cloud in the sky.
10:00-> Rainy, windy, cold.
For the Rest of the day, it alternates sometimes in minutes between warm and freezing cold. And today we are in the middle of a cyclone...welcome to New Zealand. (:

On Tuesday this week, we had District Meeting and it was seriously the best District Meeting that I have had on my mission. Elder Roberts is our District Leader and he gives such inspired trainings. This week's was on faith. This area has been testing my faith and so the training was so inspired. Elder Roberts split us up into two groups and one of the groups talked about faith and my group talked about hope. It was so good. There are so many things that I need to work on and the longer I'm out here the more I realize that I do not have enough time of my mission left to learn and develop them all. But I have learnt so much and I am going to continue to learn until the very last second of it all. I will learn and grow and get better. (: I love it. I love feeling the Atonement working in my life. I love feeling the Spirit testifying to me that what I am teaching is truer than true. I love watching the light pop on in my investigators eyes when they feel the Spirit for the first time. It is such a beautiful thing and each and every time, it strengthens my own testimony of this Gospel and the many things that Heavenly Father has done for us to show us His love for us.

On Thursday, we went on exchanges. Our Sister Training Leader is Sister Mann and her companion is Sister Taiseni. Sister Taiseni has been sick for the past three weeks and Sister Mann just needed to get out of the flat. Sister Mauia went out with Sister Mann first and I stayed with Sister Taisnei. Then at 2ish they came with lunch. (: We ate and then I took Sister Mann out to Beachlands to proselyte out there. Beachlands is seriously so beautiful. All the people are rich as though and most of them don't want to listen to us. But we found a potential who seems pretty interested. We also met this really old man named Ron, who had really vivid blue eyes. We were standing in the doorway and we were talking and he kept getting really close to our faces and speaking really loud. It took a lot of self control not to laugh through the discussion. But seriously, his eyes were so blue! It was a lot of fun going on exchanges. I always learn so much and see so many miracles on exchanges. (:

Our ward is having a luau in October and they have asked the missionaries to do a Samoan dance. So, our ward mission leader's daughter in law is teaching us this dance. But my companion, who is Samoan, said that we are not doing a Samoan dance. It's like she's teaching us a dance for children. It's hilarious and kind of embarrassing while we're dancing. Plus the fact that in order to do Islander dancing, you have to be able to sway your hips and let's just say that dancing has never been my forte..(:

Well, I officially have had the most awkward moment on my mission. I won't give you details, but it involved a dinner appointment with a 26 year-old single adult who still lives with his mum, who is taking an eternal marriage class at institute. And let's just say that he has A LOT to learn about being a socially acceptable human. (: He has a special spirit!

Well, that's about it for this week! Pray for me. I am in need of some extra divine help. I feel the prayers you do offer on my behalf and than you for them. I am so grateful to be out here on a mission. This isn't my time that I am on, it is the Lord's and I am working as hard as I can to find everyone that the Lord has prepared for me at this time. And the longer I am out, the more I am learning that the Lord has prepared me. (;

Ofa Atu,
Sister Pearce

IMG_6072-> This is when we were on exchanges and Sister Mann and Sister Mauia brought us McDonald's (which is 20,000x better than in the States) and they gave them mustaches...so we wore them. (: Monopoly, much?
IMG_6081-> The Rainbow that answered my prayer. (: (:
IMG_6076-> This is us and the Tongan Elders, Mafi and Tatafu. They are the best!
IMG_6063-> This is the really beautiful sunset that we saw as we were waiting for our English Class to start. (: There is something about New Zealand and her sunsets. I just love looking at them!
IMG_6057-> The Elders gave us sidewalk chalk and so Sister Mauia had a lot of fun with it.

Four eyes, Four eyes, You need glasses to see!

So the whole week I was thinking of that quote, but for the whole week I was driving myself crazy because I couldn't remember what movie it was from! Then yesterday, I asked my District Leader, Elder Roberts, and he calmed my craziness. It's from Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs!! So, that is my subject line because of the annoying itch it caused me this whole week. (:

This week was...hard, but good. We have really been struggling to teach. More than ever in my entire mission, but Sister Mauia and I are motivated and our teaching pool is slowly, let me repeat, slowly growing. We have a pretty keen investigator named Helen and I am pretty sure that she will end up getting baptised. But she just opened up to us with probably the strangest concern...so we're going to try and resolve that the next lesson we have with her.

Well, last week Monday, we went to the beach as a district and it was a blast and a half. The elders made sandwiches and we got chicken nibbles and Mountain Dew. (: We had a picnic and then went and took heaps of photos! I absolutely love our district. (: Sister Mauia and I are the only sisters and I love it! There are two Tongan program elders, Elder Tatafu and Elder Mafi, our elders, Elder Mariner and Elder Au, and then the two Samoan program elders, Elder Roberts and Elder Komi Semu. Elder Roberts got called to the Samoan program, but he is a palangi form Arizona. He said that the language is really hard to learn! He is our district leader and he is probably the most spiritually strong elder I've met out here. He's the man!

Tuesday, we got to go to the temple! So all of the South Auckland Missionaries piled onto a bus and we drove down to Hamilton!! It made me so nostalgic...but anyway! The temple was amazing. The session was so good and it was a beautiful experience. (: We were asked to go fasting and the whole session you could hear the stomachs saying, "Feed me, feed me." But it was really good. We had a mean as feed afterwards and so it all made it worth it! I love this gospel. (:

On Wednesday nights, we teach an english class at the chapel. Only two people come, but they are the two coolest people ever. We have Ben Jin Wu, from China and Paul, from Korea. Paul is pretty good, but doesn't know how to write, or read, so that's our focus with him and Ben Jin can't speak at all, so we're starting at the basics with her. It's good that Elder Au is here because he can translate when she doesn't understand. It's so fun! Well, during our class, the Zone Leaders called and told us that we needed to drive our car down to Hamilton in the morning to trade it in for a brand new Corolla. (: The car we had was a hatch back, all the mission cars were hatchbacks, and with the bike rack on, you couldn't open the boot of the car, so Elder Marsden (who is in charge of vehicles) decided to get sedans instead. (: So, we got to drive down to Hamilton in a old new car and drive back in a new new car. (: It only had 11 k's on it when I turned it on. (: (:

Yesterday and Saturday were Stake Conference. I'm not going to say they were life changing, but they were pretty good. The Stake President is a Canadian and his accent is a weird hybrid of Canadian and New Zealand. It was good, but the best part about it were the choirs. For the adult session a choir from the Hill Park Ward sang and they did such an amazing job. It was absolutely beautiful! And then for the general session the Tongan Ward sang. The thing about Tongans is they have beautiful voices, but they like to sing really really loud. (: They have so much power! It's so great. And they wore their Touvalas which were beautiful! I'll attach photos!

Well, that's about all for this week. It was good. I am having a lot of fun with Sister Mauia! She's awesome. (:

IMG_5825-> The Three Non-Islanders in the District. (:
IMG_5836-> The District!
IMG_5839-> Elder Roberts and I!
IMG_5840-> Elder Au and I!
IMG_5959-> Us and the Tongans!
IMG_5980-> Elder Roberts parked his car in front of our flat and we had sticky notes...(:
IMG_5998-> We hung out with Tongans!
IMG_6041-> Us and the Tongans in their lovely garb!!
IMG_6042-> The Whole Choir!
IMG_6050-> SELFIE!!!

Sunday, September 7, 2014

BIRTHDAY WEEK!!!

This week was golden! But before I go into that, I just want to tell you a little bit about this area...(:
1. It is the most hilly area I have served in. No where is flat, seriously everything is constantly on an incline or decline. (: It's good for the body!
2. Palangis or white people are in the minority in this area. In fact I don't think I've met another palangi other than myself. Okay, okay, that might be an exaggeration. Actually, no, it's not. In the majority are Asian, Islander, Indian, Iraqian, Asian, Islander, and Indians. Seriously. It's crazy.
3. The ward only feeds us 4 times a week. At first I was like a little complainy about it, but it's a good thing they don't feed us everyday. A feed in this area is more like a banquet for a king. The people make huge sacrifices to feed us. They are so giving.
4. I love my companion. Being out here in New Zealand has taught me that you truly can get along with anyone. And I have learned and am still learning how to do that. The world is so much happier when you get along with everyone!

Well, the week started out last Monday. I am in a district of 8 missionaries. 5 of those are either Tongan or Samoan...only two palangis, and one asian. But the other palangi, Elder Roberts, is in the Samoan program. So only Elder Au and I can't really understand what everyone is talking about. But it is so awesome! The Tongan missionaries are hilarious! Elder Mafi and Elder Tatafu. (: And I'm pretty sure they love me because I'm white! They are always talking to me and high fiving me even when I totally fail. (: Haha.

Tuesday rolled around and we had District Meeting. Elder Roberts is our District Leader and so this was his very first District Meeting. He did so well!! We talked about a really effective way to find people! There's this survey that we have come out with and it is really effective! It gets us in doors and resolves concerns straightaway! Sister Mauia and I had an awesome role play with our zone leader Elder Hillier. It was hilarious, but so good!(: After District Meeting, the zone leaders drove us down to Papakura where we picked up our brand new car!! It is so nice! A Toyota Corolla, brown, hatchback! It's adorable. (: We named her Laqueesha because she's brown. (: Driving here in NZ is totally different than in America, but I like it a lot more! There are no stop signs, just give way signs or yield signs. They are beautiful things! Haha. It's cool. (:

One of our keenest investigators, who was set for baptism this week, dropped us. We got this text on Tuesday afternoon, right after a mean lesson with our other investigator, and she said that she has decided not to meet with us anymore and that she doesn't want to get baptised. ): Both Sister Mauia and I had to develop testimonies of agency. It was good though. It taught us some really good lessons. We went over to her house a couple of days later and she said that she had been reading some stuff that put her off and now she just can't get over it. So we both bore our testimonies and encouraged her to listen to the next set of missionaries she comes across, but it was an official drop. Hard, but it was a really good learning experience. (:

Well, I officially left the world of teenagers this week! It's a little bit of a weird sensation, not saying, "I'm 19." I've been attaching "teen" to the end of my age for the past 7 years! Haha. (: I got spoiled on my birthday! 4 Cakes, Chicken Nibbles, Mashed Potatoes, Butter Chicken, Rice, Chocolate Milk, Whittaker's, French Toast, Eggs, and Fruit. It was so good! Probably the best birthday ever!

So there are like 4 beaches in our area and we went to one on my birthday and we're going to go out there again today for Preparation Day. (: I love New Zealand beaches, they are so nice!

Sunday was Father's Day, so HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO MY WONDERFUL FATHER! (:

I am doing so well! My companion is amazing and I love her so much!

Have a wonderful week!

Sister Pearce
I'll send some more photos in another email as well. (:

IMG_5680 -> Our District!
IMG_5712 -> A surprise visit from some of my old investigators!
IMG_5728 -> My Birthday Party. (:
IMG_5753 -> Me at the beach. (:
IMG_5762 -> The Missionaries of the Chapel Downs Ward. (:
IMG_5767 -> A New Zealand Beach. (:
IMG_5790 -> "NEAR FAR, WHEREVER YOU ARE!!!!"
IMG_5812 -> All of us. (:

Monday, September 1, 2014

It's Been A Week of Firsts

Well, this week was long. But it was good. It was full of >goodbyes >Lost Luggage >A CAR >Sister Mauia >Chapel Downs Ward and >South Auckland (again)!!

It started out this week really good. Sister Uele is so amazing. I think out of all of my companions she has been the one that really was my sister. We have such a good connection and I love her so much. (: We had District Meeting on Tuesday and as hard as the Zone Leaders tried, it was kind of just a waste of an hour...(: They're still little boys. Haha. Sister Uele and I were walking home with plans to make pancakes for lunch when Elder Faloon and Elder Napier invited us to come to get pizza with them and Elders Witt, Au, and Fonokalafi. So, we decided to go! So, we went and got pizza and then went to the skate park to eat with the Elders. (: I took some awesome videos of the Elders trying to conquer the bowl, but unfortunately I can't send videos. ): One day you'll see them. Then we got transfer calls! I am going to head up to the Redoubt Zone with Sister Mauia!! Back up to South Auckland, where I started my mission. I was pretty excited, but pretty nervous at the same time. But in the words of one of my great friends, "Heavenly Father knows you better than you know yourself." (: How true that is!

So, Sister Uele busied ourselves visiting members, investigators, and friends saying goodbye and taking photos with those who I have grown to love with all of my heart. It was so bittersweet saying goodbye to the Lake Rotoroa ward, knowing that I would grow in my next area, but knowing that I was leaving behind families who had become like my own family. I said goodbye to and took photos with everyone that I wanted to and I got packed all in the amount of time that I had. It was literally a miracle. (: Pictures to come. (:

Well, Thursday, Transfer Day, rolled around and I was rushing around packing my bedding and loose ends and at 8:15, Sister Heu came over and dropped off my birthday present. (: Chocolate, oh, how she knows me. (: Then at 8:30, Sister Hughes and Sister Mu'amoholeva came to our flat. Sister Hughes is getting transferred up to Manurewa, the zone just below Redoubt. So, we'll be companions and Sister Mu'amoholeva will stay with Sister Uele. (: The Zone Leaders came with the trailer and I packed all my stuff into it. Saying goodbye to Sister Uele was so hard. We hugged and suddenly my allergies acted up and my eyes watered uncontrollably. It's crazy how inconvenient allergies are, eh? Then we left. I left my heart, my sister, and my ward. But! On to bigger and better things!! South Auckland needs Sister Pearce and Sister Pearce needs South Auckland. (: So, we got to transfer meeting and moved what I thought was all of my stuff to my new zone's trailer. Had transfer meeting, learned about a temple trip on the 9th of September, what a nice birthday gift, and had lunch! After lunch, we shot off! An hour and a half in the car with Sister Taisnei, Elder Winter, and Elder Nelson. It was...interesting. Haha.

We arrived in Manakau at the Redoubt Road chapel and waited for our companions to arrive. They unloaded the trailer and as the trailer kept getting emptier and emptier I realised that one of my very important bags was missing. So, the Zone Leaders texted the Assistants and the Assistants said that the Glenview Zone had it. So, somewhere in translation, it got left in my old zone's trailer. WHOOPS!! So, the last little while I have gone without my bedding and some other things. Bedding in New Zealand in the winter is very important. So, it's been really cold these past couple of nights. Very. Cold. It's quite sad. But! Again, Heavenly Father knows me much better than I know myself. (:  Also, while waiting in the car park for Sister Mauia, I learned that WE ARE GETTING A CAR!!!!!!!!!!!! MY FIRST CAR ON THE MISSION!! I am very very very excited. (: But there's something wrong with it so we won't get it for a few days. But at least we get one! (:

Then Sister Mauia came to the chapel car park! The first thing I noticed was how tall she is. I think out of all my companions, she is the tallest. (: So, I am again the short one! Fun times. We got along right away! I am so excited to work with her. She has only been out for about 6 months, so I am the senior companion, another first of the mission. (: She is from American Samoa and both her English and her Samoan are really good. She is really loud and loves to laugh and just like my past three companions, struggles to be obedient. But that is what I am here to help her with. (: I think Heavenly Father trusts me. I'm starting to trust myself. It's a beautiful thing! (:

We are serving in the Chapel Downs Ward! It is a very small ward. Almost small enough to be considered a branch, but it is growing and I am excited to help it grow. The work is booming up here and we have over 20 investigators that all are begging to be baptised. Nah, haha, but they are all really interested to learn more about the Good News that we have. (: The ward is really good and the members love coming out with us. I know that I am going to love this area! (:

Well, I started in South Auckland and the Prodigal Daughter has returned once again to South Auckland. (: It is so busy and it is mostly Polynesians. I don't think I've seen more than 5 Palagis, or White People, since I've been up here. (: All good! I stand out. And I love Islander food. Taro and chop suey. (: The bomb!

Here are all the pictures that I have taken this week, if they don't all fit, I'll send them in two emails. (:

Sister Pearce. (:











Sunday, August 24, 2014

A Completed Journal, A Talk in Church, and Dinner

This week was really good! I got hammered with a cold, but it is getting better. (: Our Ward Mission Leader gave me a really nice blessing and I have definitely noticed an improvement! I have gained such a testimony of the priesthood being out here. But I have also learned that it controlled by faith. I have been striving to gain more faith in everything this week. Especially in myself, in other people, and in the Gospel. It has been a really good experience for me. And I can definitely feel my faith growing. It's not quite an oak of knowledge yet, but it might look like a little bush right now. (; 

I finished a journal this week! Actually, it is the first journal that I have ever finished...in my life. It was a rather joyful and momentous occasion...(: I was reading back over it and I realised that there were many things that I wanted to change and things that I wish I would have done differently, so I am going to start implementing them into my new journal. (: One of the things is at the beginning of every entry I am going to write at least 5 things I was grateful for that day. It has been going really well and it makes me recognise the blessings that come from being grateful for the blessings that Heavenly Father gives me each day. 

Well, Saturday night rolled around this week and we were just doing what we do when we got a call from a member of the Bishopric...everyone in the church knows what it means to get a call from a member of the Bishopric. It either means a talk in church or a meeting. For missionaries it usually means a talk in church. Brother Wotherspoon asked all of the missionaries in our ward (there are 5) to give short, 3 minute talks, about what we did to prepare for our missions and a little bit about how our parents prepared us for baptism. It was really cool for me to think about how I prepared and how my parents had prepared me. (: It was awesome to stand in front of the ward I have come to love so much and tell them how much I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have been in this ward for 6 months. This week is transfers and I hope that the Lord continues to need me here. But I am so excited to serve wherever the Lord sees fit. (: 

The weather this week has been a total blessing. The sun has been shining for the past 4 days. Now, let me explain Aotearoa a little bit. When the sun comes up in the morning it is a beautiful thing. If you don't see the sun in the morning, it usually means...really cold and rainy. But sunshine could also mean cold and rainy 5 minutes later. It's a lottle bi-polar. (: But when the weather is like it has been these past few days, everyone is in Heaven. It has been sooooo warm. We don't even have to wear jackets during the hours of like 9:30 to 5:45 at night. But the second it hits about 5:45 the temperature drops dramatically. Sometimes into the negatives. So, if you're not prepared, you are going to get really really cold. It is such an adventure! I love it with all of my heart. (: 

We had dinner with the coolest family EVER! I think I might have talked about them before, but I can't remember...they are the Swamys. They are from Fiji and they are Indian. But don't mistake it. They are not Indians, nor are they Indians from Fiji. They are Fijian Indians and they are very passionate about their nationality. (: Well, anyway. We had dinner with them and they cook the meanest food. It is similar to Indian food, but a lot less spicy, which is good for my weak mouth. (: As Dad can attest to. But man, it is literally the best food on the planet. (: I love it. They taught us to make Roti and the curry dish that they made, so I'll make it when I get home! 

Well, that's about it for this week! (: The photos are as follows:
0110 -> We needed to wash Sister Uele's huge blanket, which can only be hand washed in warm water and we only had our rubbish bin that was big enough, so we had an adventure washing it. Welcome to New Zealand!! 

0073 -> Brother Swamy wanted to show off his great cooking skills!

0077 -> This is all of us, Sister Uele, Me, Sister Swamy, Brother Swamy. (: 

I love you all! I am growing in faith, hope, and charity and I am loving it! There are so many good changes that I have seen in myself and I will literally never go back to what I was before. This life is beautiful! This Gospel is beautiful! We are all Heavenly Father's children and he loves us more than we know! I love you!!

Sister Pearce (: 

The Week That Changed My Life (17-Aug-2014)

I don't even know how to put this week into words. Think of the happiest moment of your life...

Now multiply it by....6!! (megamind reference...)

No, but seriously.

It started on Wednesday. Zone Conference. 5 Higgins Road, Hamilton. Look it up. Inside that chapel, I got one of the rudest awakenings I have ever received. It was a wonderful awakening, but a rude one.

For all of my missionary friends, I invite you to read, listen, and learn. This will change your life, if it hasn't already. Okay, there is a talk written by Lawrence E. Corbridge. It is called The Fourth Missionary. This talk has changed my outlook on my mission and on my life. In this talk, Elder Corbridge categorizes missionaries into four different groups. (He refers to both Elders and Sisters)

The First Missionary- is disobedient. He does what he wants to and as a result is either sent home or insists that he is sent home. No good comes of his service, he does not have the Spirit, he forgoes development, finds it hard to fit in, and ultimately, is not changed by his mission.
He thinks that obedient missionaries are weak and he likes the idea that he is not like the others.
He fails. Instead of moving forward, he moves backwards. He cannot have faith because while he might believe in God, he does not believe in himself.

The Second Missionary- is also disobedient. He does what he wants to do, but he serves his entire mission. He is dishonest and his frame of mind is to not get caught. As a result the good he would have done is gone undone, He does not have the Spirit, feels regret and misery and ultimately is not changed by his mission. This is the missionary that the mission president feels he has to babysit. This missionary is so negative and has such a lack of faith that he starts to pull down other missionaries around him. He lies. He covers up.

The Third Missionary- is obedient and worthy. He does his duty and serves faithfully, but he withholds his heart. He does what the Lord wants, but he wants to do what he wants to do. As a result, much good is done, he enjoys the Spirit, but conforms his behaviour. He gains little or no knowledge and ultimately is not changed by his mission.  This missionary is the bulk of missionaries serving in the field right now. He does what he knows he is supposed to do, but he does not throw his heart into it. He doesn't give himself to the Lord. He is not changed because he does not want to change. The Lord can only change you if you let him.

The Fourth Missionary- is obedient and worthy. He totally surrenders himself to the Lord. He has charity. He measures his success from within and his dominant desire is to do what the Lord wants him to do. As a result, much good is done. He enjoys the Spirit. His nature is changed. He is redeemed and ultimately this missionary benefits from and is changed greatly by his mission. The Fourth Missionary is not perfect. He struggles and he has weaknesses. But he does what the Lord wants him to do. He lets the Lord turn him into what the Lord wants him to be.

These four categories were like a slap in the face for me. I know what I need to do now and I am going to do it! I had many spiritual experiences this week and so many of them have helped me to become more of who Heavenly Father needs me to be. (:

Oh, and we had a baptism amidst all of this learning and growing. (: Our little Jahvarn got baptised on Monday. (: It was such a spiritual and beautiful baptism. (:

I am so grateful to be on a mission. This is has been probably the most important week of my mission and I will always remember what I learned and what I gained from this week. (:

Love
Sister Pearce



Sunday, August 10, 2014

When You Ask For Sunshine, You Get A Rainbow

Okay, This week.
How do you say it?
This week might be a little hard for me to talk about, not because it was hard or anything, but because it has a very special place in my heart. We didn't see any huge as miracles or anything, but I saw many changes within myself. I have changed dramatically being on my mission and I am bold enough to say that my mission has saved my soul. Things that I didn't know before my mission, I know now and I am so grateful for that knowledge. I have been reflecting a lot on my pre-mission life and I am so not proud of a lot of the things I did and of who I was. But I can say that I am now proud to be Sister Rachel Pearce. I am proud to be a New Zealand Hamilton Missionary. I am proud to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I read in my study journal the other day and there was a Zone Conference that we had with President Rudd and he said, "Whether you have been called as a New Zealand Hamilton Missionary because you have souls to save here or because you have your soul to save, it doesn't matter. Each one is of eternal significance to the Lord." That really stood out to me. Why was I called here? I don't know for sure, but I do know that part of it was so that Heavenly Father could mold me into who I am today. There are so many things that I wish I could tell you about myself, but I think my favorite is this: I have learned that it is okay to not be right. Even if you are right, but the other person thinks they are right, let. them. be. right. (; It is a wonderful concept and much contention is avoided when one party decides to be the better person!

Jesus Christ set an example for us. I can testify that it is possible to follow His example and that when you turn your life to Christ it becomes that much easier to live. Loving people is the key to life. We are literally all Brothers and Sisters and "pure Christlike love flowing from pure righteousness can change the world." I promise that it is worth it to love everyone. Even when it is hard. I have learned that the really hard way. And I can promise that it is truly a relieving feeling when you can recognize all people as children of our Heavenly Father. Do it. I dare you.

Okay, this week Sister Uele's family brought us matching T-shirts from Tonga. (: They are the coolest T-shirts I have ever seen. (:




Arohanui,
Sister Pearce

Also, 64 is the family that we have been teaching. Jahvarn, the ten year old is getting baptised tonight! And we are literally so excited. (:

88 is the family that we had dinner with last night and they are so awesome. Sister Williams is the Stake Relief Society President. And Patriarch Williams is...the Patriarch. (: Haha, Then there are there two sons and Moana the little one. And then Rani. Rani is from Indonesia. And she has a powerful testimony. (:

Sunday, August 3, 2014

More Broken Bones!!

This week was pretty good. It started out with some shopping on Monday. And then we went to the Supermarket to shop for food...I hope your face hasn't hit the keyboard from boredom yet(; We were having District Preparation Day at Lake Rotoroa and so we parked the car and I emptied my pockets and Sister Uele got out of the right side car and shut the door. Looking back on this, I realised that she just kind of stood there, but at the time it didn't mean anything to me. Well, Sister Whiting got out of the driver's side, on the same side as Sister Uele and she goes, "Oh, Sister Uele! What did you do?!" And then Sister Uele just lets out this heartwrenching, "OWWWW..." No tears were shed, no screams here uttered, just "OWW." Well, I knew something was wrong at this point so I jumped out of the car and ran around the other side to check on my companion. When I got to the other side of the car, Sister Uele was just standing there looking at the pool of blood accumulating on her thumb. Luckily, I had my drink bottle, so I poured some water on it and we tried to clean it off a little bit. It immediately started bruising and swelling. It was pretty awesome! For me, not so much for Sister Uele. (: Sister Whiting and Sister Swindler had some tissues, so we wrapped those around her thumb and went to play Ultimate Frisbee. Sister Uele was lucky and didn't have to play...(; We didn't really think that she needed to go to the doctor, but when she woke up the next morning it was still oozing blood and so I made the executive desicion and we asked the Zone Leaders to take us after District Meeting. So, we went to the Doctor. They took X-rays and then we waited for 4 hours to get in to see the doctor...4 hours. It was the longest wait of my life. But fun fact, Elder Thompson, for the Quorum of the Seventy came in..so..that was fun! Haha. Well, the verdict is...the tip of her finger is crushed. That is how hard she slammed the door. So, they referred us to a hand therapist and we got to go out of zone!! (: Haha, she got this awesome thumb splint that is bright green. Totally inconspicuous. (; It's so awesome to get to give back what Sister Amituanai did for me when I broke my arm. It's also awesome to see how many things you can't do without your thumb. (;

I don't really have any other news from this week, but just a couple of cool miracles...last week at church this lady walked in and no one had ever seen her before. So we went up to talk to her and she said that she wanted to come to church because she had driven past the temple and they invited her in to the Visitor's Center. So, we're going to start teaching her. Also, Christine and Lawrence, who got baptized last week are already doing missionary work. (: Christine's sister already wants to be baptized, so we're going to work with her too. (: Jahvarn is getting baptized next Monday and we are so excited for that. (:

This week I have learned that even though times get hard and even though the light never seems to come, that it does come. Even though we struggle through some days and others go too fast, love every minute. Every minute matters. Even the small successes matter to the Lord. In Relief Society yesterday, Sister Kaile Hill gave a lesson on President Uchtdorf's talk from October 2011, and I took some notes that I will share with you now. 1. Forget Not to be Patient With Yourselves. >Celebrate your good efforts. >Keep working, and stop punishing yourself. >Be grateful for small successes because God notices the small things. >Find wonder and enjoyment, even through the trials. 2. Forget Not The Difference Between a Good Sacrifice and A Foolish Sacrifice. >Every person is different. >Are you committing your time and energies to the things that matter most? 3. Forget Not to Be Happy NOW. 4. Forget Not The Why Of The Gospel. >When we focus on the why of the gospel, confusion fade. >"The “why” of obedience sanctifies our actions, transforming the mundane into the majestic. It magnifies our small acts of obedience into holy acts of consecration." 5. Forget Not That The Lord Loves You. 

I love you all. I love New Zealand and I love the Lord. Every day I grow closer to him and everyday my life gets a little bit brighter. (:

Love,
Sister Pearce

5338-> The thumb before the doctor. (:

5340-> The thumb after the doctor. (:

5342-> She feels a little bit hard core I think. (: I was just sad for her.

5346-> Do you see the inconspicuous green thumb?

5347-> Our friendship in a nutshell...

5351-> We both awkwardly looked at each other without planning it and...

5352 is the result. (: (; I love Sister Uele. She's my favourite!!