Kakite Ano

Wow, this week was definitely way fun! We get fed almost every night and sometimes for lunch too. Our ward loves us. (: We have been fed HEAPS of KFC. Man, it is crazy how much the love KFC here. And it is heaps better in America. (: But we eat it to be polite! I have been eating heaps more of Samoan food, but I have really started to enjoy it. (: Oh, how the tables turn! Mom! You're not going to believe this, so you might want to sit down, but I LIKE TOMATOES. Can you believe it? I used to hate them, but they eat them so often here that I have grown to like them. (: BAM. (: Oh, and I'm getting better at letting my food touch...that one is still a work in progress.

We got our flat sprayed for bugs! It has been so much better since then! Our fleas have pretty much disappeared and our cockroaches are much less of a bother. It did make our flat smell pretty rank though, so we had to air it out for a LOOOOOOOOONG time. (: But it was a small price to pay for the reward of no more bugs. (:

So, this week...I got to drive! Sister Whiting, our Sister Training Leader, took me out to certify me! I don't think I can accurately describe how different it is! In America, we are used to having the rest of the car on the right side of us, and here the rest of the car, meaning the passenger, is on the left side. It was pretty rough starting out, but then I got the hang of it! I really enjoyed it! And Sister Whiting has a really nice car..so that helped too. Right turn is left turn, left turn is right turn. I just had to keep telling myself that. But really it's not that hard to get the hang of it when you're actually on the roads because everyone else is setting the example. (: What kind people. (:

So, we have a couple of investigators, Ruby and Blaire. They are best friends and their partners are brothers and less active members of the church. Ruby's partner is Whitianga, or Fitz and Blaire's partner is Rupes. Well, basically Ruby and Blaire would get baptized, they just don't want to get married, and you have to get married to get baptized. They have labelled themselves the eternal investigators, which is slightly annoying because they are practically members of the church...they come to church every week, they have strong as testimonies, they know all the things. They just don't want to get married. But last Friday, they invited us to come to the Temple Visitor's Centre with them and so on Saturday we got to go down to Hamilton and go to the Visitor's Centre! It was so fun!

So, real life transfers are this week. So, I might be getting transferred again!! Sister Leung-wo is convinced that I'm going to be staying in Puke 1st Ward with a new companion, but she thinks that she'll be leaving. I have grown to love Sister Leung-wo in the past 2 weeks. We are really great friends and I have loved having a companion that wasn't American. (: She has taught me a lot about Australia and the Samoan culture. (: Just for clarification, her dad is Asian and her mom is Samoan, so that is where the Asian last name comes from. She has 8 brothers and sisters of which she is the oldest! And she has siblings the same ages as Becca and Nate. (: AAAAND Her sister is preparing for a mission too!! Anyway...just a random side note. (:

This week I learned a lot about how the atonement works. And also about grace. I actually wrote a heap down, but I forgot my notebook unfortunately): But basically Brad Wilcox's talk, "His Grace is Sufficient," sums up all the things one could ever need to know about grace. It is a fabulous talk. FABULOUS! I read it before my mission, but it didn't really impact me like it did now. I really have become dependent on spiritual nourishment being out here on my mission. I love studying and learning more about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I can't even believe that it's almost been 3 months since I left home! I am a changed woman. I only say that because I know yous would say it, I feel the same. I probably talk a bit differently now, Sister Leung-wo says that I sound like a kiwi now. (: Which pleases my soul. (:

So, in our ward there is this adorable woman named Emma, but everyone calls her Auntie Emma. She is 93 and she is in the final stages of her life. She is living in a rest home and she is tired, but she has the sweetest spirit that I have ever felt in my entire life. You can feel her spirit emanating from down the hall. She is a devoted member of the church and she is the most wonderful woman that I have ever met. (see img4426) I can't even describe her, she's that amazing. She's a Maori woman and so we sang Whaka Ria Mai to her. (: She loved it so much and she just lit up when we started singing and she sang along with us. It was a really spiritual experience for me and I am really glad that I got to lift her spirits. (:

I love you all so much! The saying, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder," is probably the most true of all statements ever to be said on the face of the planet. Besides gospel sayings, anyway. I have grown to love all of you even more through my growth in the gospel and through my increasing love for the New Zealanders. If you have a few seconds this week, read the hymn, "Savior, Redeemer of My Soul." The lyrics are really beautiful. (: Also, "I Need Thee Every Hour," is another good one. (: Really, all of the hymns are amazing, so read all of them. (: But I do love you all! And I am really so blessed to be serving a mission! I wouldn't change it or trade it for the world. (: You are all wonderful and even though I miss you, time is flying and I am having the time of my life!

Arohanui,
Sister Pearce

4434 -> Sister Leung-wo and I in front of the Christus.

4436 -> Ruby and Blaire and I, Ruby is the one on the left and Blaire on the right. (:

4432 -> This is all of us including the VC sisters who taught Ruby and Blaire, Sister Brown on the far left and Sister Laban on the far right. (:

4448 & 4450 -> Sister Leung-wo and I today before emailing. We're pretty awesome. (:

Kia Ora!

So, this week started out with a dinner appointment with a recent convert named Phillip. (: He is probably the most cheeky guy you'll ever meet. (: It was a combined appointment with the elders and so it was really fun! Because Phillip's wife wasn't there, we had to eat outside. But a weird rule with tripanionships is that because there are three of us, we can teach single men and we can also go in their houses. Phillip, being a recent convert, didn't know this, but had already set everything up outside, so we just ate out there. It was nice eating outside, the temperature was really great, and the food was really nice. After we ate, we were doing a little family home evening with him and Elder Hester told him that we could've eaten inside. Phillip was so embarrassed! But then he turned it around into a learning opportunity. (: He's a really great guy, with an awesome testimony!

My companions and I got along much better this week! We had district meeting this week and we talked about not flirting with other missionaries, or members. And then we talked a little bit about our purpose as missionaries and that helped heaps. My district is really awesome and we have some really great missionaries!

On Wednesday morning, we had companion study with the Zone Leaders and at about 10 o'clock, Elder Brann got a call from Elder Hirsche, so he went out of the room to take the call. When he came back in he was like, "Sister Pearce! You're moving to the Pukekohe 1st Ward to be companions with Sister Leung-wo!" Man, that hit me like a rock. I loved my ward! Which was the Pukekohe 2nd ward...so I moved just around the corner. But Sister Leung-wo and I came in the intake, so we've both been out about 8 weeks now. So, we are finishing one another's training. I was just so nervous. So, I had to go to the flat and pack up all of my stuff and move it to the new flat. Well, it's a freakishly old flat, and it's definitely a step down from my old flat, but it's better than nothing. Sister Leung-wo has already been living in that flat since she came here, so she's used to it. But there are cockroaches everywhere and fleas in the bedroom. I guess Sister McCarthy didn't care about the bugs so she wouldn't let Sister Leung-wo do anything about it, but since I don't want to be living with cockroaches, I called Elder Goodman and he is having someone come and spray our flat today, so we won't have any more bugs! Well, not nearly as many. There are heaps and heaps. So, I'm excited to get rid of the bugs, I'm sure that once that happens, it'll be a lot easier to live there. Sister Leung-wo and I get along pretty well. It is really easy to laugh and talk to her, we just come from completely different walks of life. She grew up in Australia with a Samoan family. (: So, we've been visiting all of the members in our ward and a lot of them are Samoan, so they just speak in Samoan and I can't ever understand them, so that is pretty hard, but it's been good. I'm hoping to learn Samoan from her! I know a couple of words...fiapoko is a know it all. (: Fa is bye. And maoga is full. (: I use that word a lot. Haha, it's pronounced mahonga. (:

In the past 4 days, I've eaten more Samoan food than I have in my entire life. And they eat heaps of food. I don't like a lot of it, but I try everything at least once. Taro is a big thing and it is so....I don't know how to describe it, but they use it like we use rice. Luckily, they know I'm American, so they offer me rice instead most of the time. (: Taro doesn't really taste that great, and it is really really fattening. It is pretty much just pure starch. Haha, but they love it! I guess in Samoa, they don't have much to eat and Taro is a really good filler, so they just eat that when they don't have anything else. Pretty resourceful if you ask me. (:

The ward that I'm in now is a really really awesome missionary ward! Our Ward Mission Leader is a really tiny British guy who wouldn't hurt a fly and he is so motivated to do missionary work! It's awesome. His wife, Sister Stanford is this big Maori lady. She is really awesome, but she is really blunt and straightforward.  We're working with this less active Kiribati family (pronounced Kidipis, it's a small island off the tip of New Zealand.) named the Bureti (pronounced Burez, 'ti' in Kiribati is pronounced as an s...weird, I know.) and the parents don't like coming to church because they don't really understand English that well, but the kids all really enjoy coming to church, so we are talking to Bishop Daji about starting up a class for the Kiribati people in our ward. (: Bishop Daji is really awesome! He's half Maori and half Indian. 

This week has been a real test for me. I've gone through a bought of homesickness and it's been really hard. Sister Leung-wo has helped a lot though because we are both pretty much in the same boat. I'm learning to rely heavily on the Lord and the Atonement and I am learning so many things about myself. Some of which I don't really like that much and so I am going to work on changing them, but some of the things I am really happy that I am learning about myself.

I hope you are all doing well, I love you and pray for you every night!

Arohanui,

Sister Pearce 

P.S. I learned How Great Thou Art in Maori...

Whaka Ria Mai

to-ri pe-ka ki-au

ti-a-ho-mai

nga-ro-to ite po

kei ko-nei au

ti-ti ro a-tu ai

o-ra ma-te hei au koe no-ho ai

faka dia mai

toh ree peh kah kee oh

tee ah hoe my

(I don't know how to explain nga) roh toh eeteh poh

keh koh nee oh

tee tee toh ah too aih

oh rah mah teh hey o koh no hoh aih

nga is made sort of by putting the back of your tongue on the roof of your mouth. (:

I love you!!

I didn't take very many pictures this week, but here are the ones I did take. (:

This is at District Meeting, well, before it started. We decided to be a little immature and hide from the Zone Leaders ...don't ask why..(:

This is a picture of how much shorter my legs are than Sister Miggin's and Sister Holmes'. (:

This is a picture of a dinner that one of the members brought us. (: We had a Domino's picnic on the ground. (:

This is the last day that Sister Holmes and I were together and we matched almost perfectly. (: Haha.

Rachel and her new companion, Sister Leung-wo.

Bug Bites out the Wazoo!

Man, our flat must have fleas or something because Sister Holmes and I are getting eaten alive! I have bites, all up and down my legs, on my feet...man, it's itchy as, but I washed everything and I'm going to vacuum my bed and spray permithrin. (: Hopefully, it'll cease to torture me. (: I look like I have a disease or something. (:

SO! I had legitimate, authentic Indian food this week. Don't you dare try any Indian food in the States and tell me that it's good Indian food because chances are it wasn't anything like what we ate this week. I can't even accurately describe to you how good it was. It was Brown Daal and then there was a dish of cooked chick peas with this bread stuff, not naan, it was just flour, water and some spices, but holy llamas, it was delicious. The chick peas were surprisingly good! But it was so freaking spicy. Ya'll probably know how wimpy my taste buds are, but this was out of control spicy. Holy crap. But I'd eat it every day if I could. It was so incredible! Indian culture is really beautiful. The only thing is that they demean the value of women a heap. Jazz had to serve us and the men, like we weren't allowed to do anything and if the men wanted something, she had to get it right away. I felt terrible, but I guess they are used to it. It really is an amazing culture, I mean how could it not be when they make such good food! (;

So, the beach was absolutely amazing! It was such a beautiful sight, and the water was so refreshing. (: President Rudd allows us to wade..so I'm not being an apostate missionary, don't yous worry. (: I've hardly ever been to a regular beach, let alone a black sand beach and it was a blast! We took off our shoes and ran through the waves. My feet have never been and probably never will be, so black. (:

We almost got attacked by a dog this week!  It was scary as! But I guess being a missionary constitutes being chased by dogs. Otherwise, you aren't doing it right. (: We went to visit a less active that we had never met before and they had a gate. Being the persistent fools we are, we opened the gate and walked up to the front door. As we were knocking on the front door, a dog came barrelling around the corner and started yapping and barking and growling at us. It was trying to bite us, but it had really bad aim or something, or I think that Heavenly Father was definitely watching over us. We didn't really know what to do so we just slowly worked our way around it and back out the gate. Moral of the story: don't go in gates. (:

Elder Hirsche and Elder Galt came and spoke to us this week. I guess the whole mission knows that we're having companion issues, but talking to the assistants made everything better. We are getting along so much better and it is really really great. (: Elders Hirsche and Galt are so inspired and they were able to solve our problems. They left us each with a  commitment and as we are applying those commitments into our companionship, we are getting along so wonderfully now!

Yesterday, we went tracting out in the wop wops again! On this road called Gunclub Road. Yeah, we found a new investigator. I'm telling you, the roads that are the most neglected are the ones that have the prepared people! I freaking love the people here. Even if they do slam the doors in our faces. The ones who don't are even more amazing, and the ones who let us in are absolutely celestial. I'm telling you, when we work hard and are exactly obedient, we see miracles. And when we go to all the places of our area, we see even more miracles. It's absolutely mind blowing. I love missionary work! It's crazy to think that I'm already on week 8! (:

This week was really quite amazing. We saw heaps of miracles and all of our investigators are really golden. They are all so keen to learn more about the gospel and they are just ready to be baptized! I love watching the work move forward in the Pukekohe 2nd ward! Our ward is absolutely amazing and the people in our area are so prepared and so ready. Of course, there are the people that are just rude and don't want anything to do with religion, but for the most part, it's really amazing! Walking around all day, I have developed some pretty mean calf muscles...like they're really impressive. (: But anyway, I pray for all of you every night and I can feel your prayers strengthening me everyday. 18 months is a small price to pay, when what we know is so special and important. When we know that families can be together forever and that God is our loving Heavenly Father, 18 months isn't a long time.
I love you all so much. And my love for you grows everyday.
Arohanui,
Sister Pearce

P.S. I wouldn't be objected to a letter here and there. Not to sound desperate or anything, but...seriously. (:

Sister Rachel Pearce
131 Ward Street
Hamilton 3204
New Zealand.

4341 -> Don't tell me that that isn't the prettiest thing that you have ever seen.

4346 -> Just another beautiful picture of the ocean and the black sand. (:
                                                (From the Editor:  Photo missing from email  - sorry)
4352 -> This is Elder Hester and I. We're so cute together, right? (; Ah, jokes. (:
                                                (From the Editor:  Another Photo missing from email  - sorry)
4359 -> So, this is Elder Otto and Elder Hester...don't tell me that that isn't the most epic picture you've ever seen...and I captured it at exactly the right time. (:

4366 -> This is Jazz! Our cute little Indian friend. (: You can kind of see the food that she and her mom made for us...oh, my goodness gracious hallelujah. IT WAS SO GOOD. Dad, you have no idea what good Indian food is! Just...no.

4382 -> This is the Howard family minus Bailey (he was at SMYC), but we had just played a game that involved cookies and it just got messy. (:

4394 -> So...this is our district...starting from the left...me, elder hester, elder otto, elder wright, sister miggin, elder kaio, sister holmes, sister leung-wo, and sister McCarthy. Haha, we were super bored and Sister Miggin had happy face stickers. Nek Minit. (:

4409 -> This is my beautiful companions and I .(:

1237 -> This is the official Pukekohe 2nd Ward picture! Elder Hester, Elder Otto, Sister Miggin, Sister Me, and Sister Holmes!

4350 -> (The unknown photo - sorry from the editor - no description to put here)

Tainui says HII!!!

Oh..man..this week was so awesome. Like, almost too awesome for words. (: It started out on Monday with Mission Conference! There are now 201 missionaries in the New Zealand Hamilton Mission and all of them gathered in Hamilton for a Conference with President and Sister Rudd. We met at Hammond's Bush (forest) and it was absolutely stunning. Roger Hammond has been cultivating this bush for over 40 years and now the church has asked him if they can take it and turn it into a camp for families and youth and YSA. It is going to be so awesome when they finish it! Well, anyway! We had a lot of speakers come, one of them being Roger Hammond. He told us about his journey in growing the bush and such. Then....ya'll might wanna sit down for this next part....like, seriously, it's too cool for school...you know the famous rugby player that there is a Mormon Message about? Sydney Goins? Yeah, international rugby star, return missionary, and now temple president? It's no big deal or anything, but he and his wife came and spoke to us. NBD. They spoke to us about the temple and the sacred covenants that we make there. They did a really good job. They are such a cute couple and they tease each other relentlessly! It's so cute. Anyway, that was really awesome. (: Then President Rudd spoke to us for a second and then we listened to Elder Ballard's talk to new mission presidents about companion unity. It was an answer to my tripanionship's prayers. It helped us so much. Then President Rudd told us that we were going to be rededicating the mission. So, the stakes, the flats, the areas, the zones, and the mission as a whole. He gave the elders permission to come into our flats and rededicate them for the use of missionaries. It was really awesome and since we did that as a district and zone we have seen heaps of miracles happen! Totally blessed. (:

So, some of our investigators, Sonie and Jazz, they're India Indian and they are super super awesome. (: Yesterday was Jazz's birthday party and so we went to support her. Best idea ever. First of all, Indian music is really awesome, second of all, Indian food is really delicious, and third of all, Indian dancing is really hard. (: Jazz made us get up and dance with them and it is a serious work out. They had on their Indian garb and so they were probably hotter than we were, but it was hot as! but so fun. (: I am really happy that we went. I have faith that we can bring them closer to Christ, but Sonie loves his weed. (; It'll happen one day.

Tainui is one of the members we're helping prepare for the temple. We walked past her on our way to emailing today and she told us to tell all of our peeps in America, HI! (:

So, this week we went out tracting in the wop wops of our area. Like seriously in the middle of nowhere. We found this country road that had a mailbox in front of it, so we assumed that there would be a house at the end. So, we walked down it! There were two houses and the first one that we went to had a huge as dog that started barking at us, and a girl came out of the door and she got this happy look on her face and told us that her sister's boyfriend was a member of our church and that she was thinking about getting baptized! She wasn't home when we were there so we decided that we would come back after dinner. So, after we ate dinner we walked back out into the middle of nowhere and knocked on her door. Her dad answered the door and was like, "We're all Catholics here, go away." He was just super rude and so we just kind of walked off all dejectedly. We were about 8 meters away from the house and these little girls ran after us and said, "WAIT! OUR COUSIN WANTS TO TALK TO YOU!" So, we went running back and there was Anne, our golden investigator, waiting for us. They were all apologizing for their dad and uncle and the way he treated us, but anyway, Anne is now set for baptism on the 15th of February and she came to church yesterday. She's golden as! (: We love her!

A couple of emails ago, I talked about the Howard family and how they're less active recent converts and Sister Howard is really struggling to get a testimony? Ya'll remember that? Well, anyway, they are now going to temple prep class! WHOO!! We were so excited when we saw them going to temple prep yesterday, we about did Sister Miggin's happy dance...which isn't publicly displayed..ever... (:

So, here in the lovely country of New Zealand, you have to buy stickers to put on your rubbish bags, otherwise they won't take the bags on rubbish day. Well, we ran out of stickers, so we just set our bags of rubbish in the garage. They were tied up tight and junk, so we didn't really think anything of it. Well, on New Year's Eve, we were sitting in our flat and all of a sudden Sister Holmes goes, "EW!" And flicks her foot. And there was a little maggot just minding it's own business in our flat. Then we started looking around and there were about 6 just in our flat. So, we went into attack mode and started killing maggots. I don't know how many of you have had experience with maggots, but they don't die. Ever. I hit one maggot probably 57 times and it didn't even faze it. Grossest thing ever. EVER. So we got out our bug poison and even that didn't kill them, so we started shuttling them out of our flat via papers.......grossest thing ever! So, we continued to kill maggots for the next couple of days, our garage was seriously overrun. We spent over an hour one night just trying to kill and poison them. NASTY AS. So, we bought heaps of rubbish stickers, so we won't have that problem again. :/

Pretty much all of our investigators right now are golden as. But one of our best is Teno. Her goals for the new year include quitting smoking and drinking and finding faith in Christ. So, yeah, we're here to help her with that! She is really really keen on learning all that she can about the gospel. She has read every single pamphlet that we have available for her and she writes notes on them. She prays every night and is starting to read the book of Mormon. The first night that she prayed, she wrote it down and then the next time we met with her she let us read it. If I thought my prayers were improving since being on my mission, I have some serious lessons to learn. Her prayer was so sincere. So heartfelt. And the first line was, "thank you for sending the sisters to teach me." So, of course that made us all tear up. Man, it was seriously the most awesome prayer ever. (: She's so awesome.

IMG_4283 -> Sister Klundt, Sister Mann, and I at Mission Conference. (:

IMG_4285 -> Sister Fisher and I at Mission Conference! (:

IMG_4305 -> This is the country road that we found Anne's house on. (:

IMG_4309 -> This is Sister Miggin, Sister Holmes, and I on the country road that we found Anne on. (:

IMG_4310 -> This is a bridge over a railroad track that we found and Sister Miggin and I tried to make it look like we were falling off the bridge...it didn't really work, but Sister Miggin's face is pretty priceless. (:

IMG_4315 -> These are some crazy cows that were eyeing us and following us around. They were seriously just walking with us along the road, but if we tried to get close to them, they'd like turn and run the other way. But we had some friends for a while. (:

IMG_4319 -> This is the sunset...yeah, be jealous. (:

IMG_4333 -> This is Jazz dancing in her beautiful Indian dress. And all of her Indian friends that are sitting behind her. They all eventually started dancing, but my camera lost power, so I didn't catch that.

No, I want to watch this on TV

Oh, my goodness, gracious. This week was much like last week, but worse and better, all at the same time. For some reason our trio unity went down the toilet this week and we struggled to pull it out of the abyss. Luckily, the Lord knows all and He knew that we were struggling, so Sister Whiting, our Sister Training Leader, and her companion set up exchanges for Friday and Saturday. They set it up so that I would go with Sister Whiting back into her area for Friday night into Saturday morning. So, I packed up my stuff and went off to Beachlands. They weren't messing around when they called it Beachlands...it's seriously like right on the beach. Anyway, so we drove up there, and it took like an hour, so we got there around 9:00. Then we kind of got to talking and I was able to vent a little bit about the week and what I was struggling with. And it helped immensely. I was able to sort out my feelings in my head and in my heart and Sister Whiting gave me some really really awesome advice.

Funny interjecting story: Their flat is pretty old, but pretty nice. And the toilet is like in between two sliding doors, one of which Sister Whiting's bed is pushed up against, so you have to go all the way around into the kitchen and through the shower area to get to the toilet. Well, anyway! When we got to their flat, the first thing Sister Whiting said was this, "I hope you're not shy because whatever business you take care of on the toilet echos through the whole flat." Holy crap, I lost it laughing. And she said it all nonchalantly, like...yeah, anyway, it was just really really funny. (:

Anyway, so onto the next day, it was pretty awesome. Exchanges went really well and we saw some miracles happen. When Sister Miggin, Sister Lamoureux, and I were together we had a mean lesson with a Maori girl named Teno. She really wants to stop smoking and drinking and so we taught her about the Word of Wisdom and how the change she would make in her life would also benefit her little daughter, who is cuter that pie. So, we're going to keep teaching her and hopefully we're going to set her for baptism tonight. I think that that lesson really helped Sister Miggin and I to connect. I learned some pretty personal things about her and what her past is like and I feel like from then on we became really close friends. But still not without trials, praying, crying, laughing, a little bit of yelling, and more praying. I have grown so much closer to the Saviour, even since last week. But that is what this work is about, the Saviour, and I think for a minute, I forgot that. But now that I've figured out what I'm doing, and remembered why I'm here, I have started to grow and learn even more about myself.

So, something wonderful about Sister Miggin, is that she is really motivated. She is pushing us to meet our goals and then shoot for even higher goals. So, yesterday, our goal for "talking with everyone" or tracting was to talk to 40 people. So, we went to one of the neighbourhoods that we haven't been to and knocked on every house and every door. For 4 or 5 hours, we knocked and knocked and it felt like we were just talking to rocks. But we hit our goal and went passed it! 47 TWEs later, we were tired, wet, and hungry. (: It was all good though because then it was dinner time. AND we found a shortcut home. So, moral of the story, you can work as hard as you can and have no success, but Heavenly Father still loves you enough to get you home quicker. (: It's the little things in life that make me happy. (: Like, pictures...I really want more pictures. From all of the people!

So...Christmas. My first one away from home...I think that it's a tender mercy from Heavenly Father that New Zealand has warm Christmases. I think that if it had been cold and snowy for Christmas, I would've been a wreck. So, having a warm Christmas was a tender mercy that it was warm. Well, it was actually rainy on Christmas, which ruined a lot of families plans to have barbeques at the beach, but no big deal. (: Anyway, the Coopers, an awesome family in the ward had us over for lunch. And holy cow. holy cow. holy freaking cow. In Over the Hedge, when RJ is explaining to the animals about how much food the humans have and where it comes from, well that is an accurate descpription of just how much food was present at this meal. I'll attach photos. I think I've probably never eaten the quantity of food that I did there, and I'm actually quite ashamed to admit that, but I ate heaps and then there was dessert. Oh, my goodness, don't even get me started on dessert. Okay, I'm already started...they had these delicious "chocolate shots" in little shot cups and it was probably the most heavenly thing I've ever eaten. (: It's a pity that I was so full because I could've eaten 10 of them. Which is pretty embarrassing, but it is true. (: (:

On Thursday my time, I got to Skype my family! Holy cow, it was so good to see them! It was so good to see familiar American things! Like the fact that our house only has one door and it is really clear that it is the front door. You can't tell here...they have like 3 doors and they are all potentially front doors, so you just kind of knock and hope that it isn't the bathroom door or something else really embarrassing. (: But, yeah. It was awesome to be able to talk about this land that I have grown to love so much with my family that I also love so much.

This week, on Thursday, a woman very dear to my dear is turning 25 and since I am not going to be there to celebrate with her, I want you all to make that day extra special to her. I love my mommy with all of the energy of my soul and I probably wouldn't be here without the example that she has set for me all of my life. She is such an amazing woman and so compassionate. So, make her day special. Make her feel like she's 20 and she'll probably love you forever and ever. (: I LOVE YOU MOM! You'll always be my role model. (:

So, tomorrow we have MISSION CONFERENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, the whole mission is meeting in Hamilton and we're going to be hanging out with all of the other missionaries and President and Sister Rudd. And then all of the Senior couple missionaries as well. (: I am so excited!!! I can see all of my MTC friends and meet a lot of the other missionaries. (: I love being around other missionaries! It is one of the best things ever to happen to man kind. (:

You wouldn't believe how tan I am. Me, the whitest white of the white people, and my skin is tan. Can you even believe it? Now I'm even blonder and tanner. (: And my hair is supa curly. All the time. No stopping it. Even straightening it is a waste of time. Haha(:

Well, I love you all! I hope you are all doing well, and that you are healthy and happy! I am loving it here in New Zealand! The people are really awesome. (: And I really love my companions and we are growing together in unity and in the gospel. (:

IMG_4259 -> That is just one of the many tables that the Cooper's set up for dinner in their garage.

 IMG_4261 -> This, my friends, is the dessert table. I think that it might be self explanatory. (:

IMG_4262 -> They had pretty ornaments hanging from the ceiling and it was like a summery winter wonderland. (: And then there's just Sister Holmes making a crazy as face in the corner of the picture. (:<

IMG_4264 -> Okay, this old guy is probably one of the greatest men I've ever met. He rides around on his little Jazzy all day and we've become some of his best friends...his only friends really. His wife just passed away three weeks ago and he's really lonely right now. But I'm telling you, he is the cheekiest old guy with the most warped sense of humor you'll ever meet. He's such a sweetie.

IMG_4265 -> This is Beachlands where I went with Sister Whiting. (: So, pretty. I can't even believe that I'm here in New Zealand!

IMG_4267 -> This is a little duck pond that we found tracting the other day. It was so pretty!

 IMG_ 4272 -> This is Sister Me, Sister Holmes, and Sister Miggin. (:

IMG_4281 -> This is Sister Miggin with different flies on both of her shoes. We probably killed about 20 flies the other day and our flat is still over run.

(Ghost Writer - i.e. Dad received this photo with no description - I think it has something to do with sheep!)

I can do hard things!

Last week was such a good week! And the beginning of this week was wonderful as well, and then Sister Holmes and I found out that we were staying in Pukekohe and we would be training a new sister! We were both pretty nervous and we weren't really looking forward to having a third sister, but we were helping each other to be motivated and excited! I love Sister Holmes. (: The day of transfers rolled around and we rode to Hamilton with Elder Hester and Elder Dellaca, and we finally got Elder Hester to sing for us! We've been trying to get him to sing for the whole transfer and he finally did! He has an amazing voice. Holy cow. I...just...dang. He's really amazing. (: So, the car ride was really fun! Then we arrived at the chapel and we just hung out with all of the people getting transferred. In our zone there were only three people, Elder Johnson, Elder Oliva, and Elder Dellaca, but we gained four new! Elder Otto is Elder Hester's new companion. Elder Kaio is Elder Wright's new companion, and we got a new zone leader! Elder Terry is Elder Brann's new companion. He's from England and he is so funny. Like a comedian. (: And then there's Sister Holmes' and I's new companion, Sister Miggin. She is 22, from Ogden and she is really funny! The first three days of our companionship were the hardest days of my mission. It was so awkward. And it didn't help that I was feeling extra emotional because I got my Christmas package and I started to feel really homesick. So, I think out of all three of us, I've been the one having the biggest struggle. But, then, we were all struggling to get along and to find our stride. The second morning, we were a complete mess, like it was terrible, so we had an emergency comp inventory and we had companion study with Elder Wright and Elder Kaio. Elder Wright really helped us, but it was still really hard. I've never prayed to Heavenly Father so earnestly in my whole life. I've never hungered so much for an answer. I've never cried so much in one prayer. But I did. And I poured my soul out to Heavenly Father. And He listened. Yesterday, our tripanionship hit a breakthrough. We had another inventory and we all decided that we waned to get along. We wanted the unity that we had all been praying for. And we had a really wonderful day yesterday. Sister Miggin is really really awesome. She is a super hard worker and she is really good at talking to everyone. And that is something that I've struggled with, and I've learned heaps from her just in the past three days. We still have an insanely long way to go, but we are getting there. And we have all grown so much closer to each other and to Heavenly Father in the past 3 days that it is immeasurable. The Atonement, and the power of the Atonement are real. I've felt it's power buoy me in the past 3 days more that I ever have before. Jesus Christ died for me and I will never ever ever forget that. What is it about us, His imperfect siblings, that made Him want to do all of that for us? It was His love for us. And I have felt that love deepen and grow in just a few days. I love the people of New Zealand. I love the people of Pukekohe 2nd Ward. I love Sister Holmes. And I love Sister Miggin. I can't deny, nor will I ever that Jesus Christ lives! That He died for me, that Heavenly Father's love is so real and He does answer our prayers! And I love seeing people come to that realization. (: It makes my day when one of our investigators feels the Spirit. I LOVE THIS GOSPEL. I LOVE ALL OF THE THINGS!!!!!! (: (: (: (: (: (: A couple of scriptures that really helped me were Alma 26:22, 27: "Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works and prayeth  continually without ceasing-unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given to bring thousands of souls to repentance, even as it has been given unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance. Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy bretheren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success." Just thinking about Ammon and the wonderful missionary that he was and the fact that their hearts got depressed makes me a little let stressed that my heart got and is depressed that I can pull through it, if I bear it with patience. (:

Okay, so, Sister Miggin is really really awesome. (: She made up a fake scenario, making it seem like I would marry Elder Hester. (; Haha, it was a hoot and a half. It all started when I told her that I hadn't ever been kissed and then it all escalated from there. Man, it is a hoot and a half, I already said that, but it emphasizes how funny it is. I'll have you know...my heart is supa locked, but Elder Hester is pretty darn attractive. (; Basically, it included Elder Hester, showing up in Herriman and asking me to marry him. And then of course I said yes, I mean, who wouldn't? (: Man, being on a mission has made me so much more confident in myself. I can't even tell you how much confidence I've gained being out here. I mean, let's be honest, boys are more attractive when they're missionaries, but sisters...eh, it goes downhill. BUT! It's really nice to be able to get to know Elders on a completely no strings, not looking to get married basis. I love it. I have made so many friends both missionary and member and non member. I love it. And I really love the accent. (: The people here are so funny! All so cheeky and sarcastic. It is so great! They think I'm funny. I'm pretty much like a comedian here! So, yeah it's really awesome. Not gonna lie. (:

So, we set one of our investigators, Billi for baptism! She was way pumped and we felt really good about it. Then we went to visit her the other day and she had decided to not get baptized. She wants to learn more before she commits to a date. I mean, she's only 11 so, it does make sense, but we think she'll get there eventually! All of our investigators are progressing nicely and we are constantly striving to find new ones! Our area is so huge and so we are going to start expanding our borders and go outside of where we have been tracting. (:

I can't believe Christmas is on Wednesday! That's in two days for us Kiwis. (: TWO DAYS! We have a dinner appointment with an awesome missionary oriented family named the Cooper's! I guess Christmas feasts here are like...CHRISTMAS FEASTS. So, our feast starts at 2 and will probably last for a long time. I'm so stoked. Food here is so delicious. (: Different, but delicious! And the Cooper's make some really really really really really good food. (: We had a feed with them a couple of Sundays ago and they made this delicious mushroom chicken...and no one can go wrong with mushrooms and chicken. A lot of people here make this Rhubarb Pie. I'm not going to say it's gross because that's not very nice, but...it seriously isn't very good. Maybe I just need to get used to it, but I do not like it so far. (: Adapting. I need to work on that. (: NO, I LOVE IT HERE. Man, I wish you could all just come and experience it with me!

So, something I struggled with before coming out is calling people! And Sister Holmes makes me call people all the time, so I'm getting better at it. I like that I can say, "Hi! It's the Sister Missionaries!" So, they don't actually know that I'm the one talking...ah, jokes. (: But yeah. I'm growing in so many ways! Luckily not, out! I'm actually losing weight! Wahoo!! It's really awesome. (:

Okay, picture time!!
#1 and #2: Are the same sunset, just different...anyway, so pretty, eh? And that's just outside of our flat. (:

#3 Sister Holmes, Sister Me, and Sister Miggin. (:

#4 Sister Miggin and Sister Me (:

#5 This is the sky just all of the time. That was twilight on a really hot day. (: Earlier that day, we had a crazy random thunder storm. And thunder here is like 100x better than in Utah. It's so loud and since there aren't mountains you can here it for miles and miles. The Elders in Waiuku, which is 20 minutes from Pukekohe could here it. It is so amazing.

#6 This is on the way to transfer meeting. Elder Hester is on the left and Elder Dellaca is on the right. (: And then Sister Holmes and I in the back. Elder Hester thinks he's a cool cucumber with his sunglasses. Elder Dellaca is just a character. Unique and one of a kind. Haha, and then Sister Holmes and I are just way awesome. (:

I'll be glistening for 18 months(:

IT IS SO HOT HERE. And it isn't a hot like Utah, it's like soak you to the bone with sweat hot. But I am loving it! I'm getting sort of tan, well, I have tan lines, so I like to assume that I'm getting tan. (: But both Sister Holmes and I sweat heaps, so at least I'm not alone in that gross area. (: (:

This week was the best week yet. We saw heaps of miracles happen in our area. (:
Miracle #1: This is our longest miracle, it took a whole day to unfold, but once we recognized that it was a miracle, we got super grateful for everything that had happened throughout the day.  Sister Holmes and I had planned to go to an area of ours that was further away and so we were going to ride our bikes. I don't remember if I told you about our garage mishap a couple of weeks again, but guess what? Happened again. Sister Holmes pressed the button and it only opened half way. So, we tried for like 15 minutes to fix it, but we just couldn't, so we texted our district leader Elder Wright, and so he and his companion rode their bikes out to our flat to help us. It took them like 15 minutes to get there and another 15 to fix it. Turns out the area we were planning to go to wasn't even our area, so we rode a little bit differently and knocked some doors, then we had an appointment at 4:00 so we rode back to our flat at 3:20 ish and we got there and she pressed the button and...nek minit...garage is broken again. It wouldn't even open at all. So, we just figure we'll go through the house door...ah, jokes, we didn't unlock the bolt at the top this morning because we just went through the garage. And there isn't a way to unlock it from the outside. So, there was literally no way that we could get into our flat. So, we had to call up Elder Wright and Elder Oliva again, and they had to ride hard out to get to our flat. It was probably 25 degrees C, so like 97 degrees F. So, like super hot. And Humid, but anyway, we spend 1/2 an hour breaking into our flat and when we finally got in we were like 15 minutes late for our appointment. So, Sister Holmes and I hustle our way over to his house and it turns out he wasn't even home! So, we started thinking of ideas that we could do instead, when...nek minit...he pulls up in his car! So, if all of the events that had been happening through the day hadn't of happened, we wouldn't have seen Rima and we had a really awesome lesson on the Book of Mormon with him. HEAVENLY FATHER ROCKS.
Miracle #2: We had a dinner appointment scheduled for Tuesday and they called the night before and said they'd just drop something off at our flat. Which is nice because then we can take a nap. (: Anyway, so earlier in the day Sister Holmes was like, I want McDonald's and me being the stickler that I am with McDonald's didn't really go for that. Anyway, towards the end of the day I started to crave McDonald's. Weird, eh...I...just ew...anyway, Sister Langi drops off McDonald's at our flat for dinner...nek minit..Sister Holmes and I both downed a Medium Fry, two Big Macs and a Medium Orange Fanta. It was probably the best meal I'll ever eat. Don't judge me, okay? I've walked it all off and more. (:
Miracle #3: Sister Holmes is getting married! Ah, jokes, A like 65 year old man and he was hitting on both of us. Sister Holmes just asked him if he needed help with anything and he was like, "Oh, if I was 40 years younger, you could marry me." Oh, man, it was crack up. Then the next day, we got hit on by another old man! He was a little tipsy though, he'd had a few glasses of wine. (: It was funny as!

So, on the other side of miracles is...not miracles? But there is this less active woman that we've been working with..her family has been consistently coming to church and her husband is a prospective elder, but she has this crazy concern about modesty in the church. And we tried to explain to her that people aren't perfect and that the church is perfect, but the people that run it aren't. She is just looking for an excuse to not have to quit smoking and going to church. Well, that was last Monday that we talked to her and almost every day this week we have stopped by their house to see her because we have, hopefully, a lesson that will help her with her faith, but every time they either don't answer, or one time she had her son Bailey come to the door and tell us she was sick. We know that she wasn't because the next day Bailey told us that she had him tell us that she was sick. We are just sad that she is mad at us and doesn't want to talk to us, but I guess she has a history of being easily offended, so I guess from now on we need to be extra careful of what we say to her. It makes me sad because she obviously had a testimony..that's why she got baptized, but something has made her doubt everything that she believes. Oh! I know what it is. It's Satan. That little fiend. So, Sister Holmes and I are going to try and weasel our way into their house so we can make her remember why she was baptized. We love her. And we love her family, but it just makes me mad that she doesn't want to work anymore! We'll get her!

The reason this email is coming a little later than usual is because we had zone p-day today! It started out...well...Sister Holmes and I had to use a real live map and find the train station from our flat. Nek minit...no problems, we got there like 1/2 hour early. We were just super worried that we were going to get lost so, we booked an hour to get to the station. So, we waited for the rest of our district and then bought tickets to Papakura! We got on the train with our bikes and then rode from the train station to the chapel and had about an hour of companionship study. It was really fun! Sister Holmes and I hung out with Sister Leung-Wo and Sister McCarthy and role-played different ways to teach about the Book of Mormon. (: It was so fun and then we sang some songs and it was really really awesome. (: After that we rode our bikes to the park and played kick ball! It was so hot and the sand we were playing on was white, so it was completely blinding, but I made an awesome catch and it just made my day. (: Then we took pictures and headed back to the train station. This might be TMI, but I was more sweaty in the last few hours that I have ever been in my entire life. It was so hot and humid and running and stuff didn't really help the whole situation, but everyone else was sweaty too, so it wasn't as embarrassing as it could've been. (: I love this zone! The zone leaders are Elder Brann and Elder Johnson and they are really really great missionaries! Then there's Elder Lelenoa and Elder Brown. Elder Lelenoa is the DL of the other District. And Elders Vakemeilalo and Veimatahao are the tongan speaking elders. And then there's Sister Pula and Sister Muava and they are the samoan speaking sisters. Then there's Sister Fiu and Sister Truhijillo. They are English. That's the other district and then in my district there's Elder Hester and Elder Dellaca. Sister Holmes thinks I'll marry Elder Hester one day. I just don't comment because my heart is locked. (: But I wouldn't mind it (; Then Elder Wright is the DL and Elder Oliva is his companion. And Sister McCarthy and Sister Leung-Wo are just super awesome. (: It was a blast!

So, this week I saw a legitimate haka! The boys at Wesley College did one for us. (: It was probably the most terrifyingly cool thing that I have ever seen in my entire life. They were so into it and they just made it look way cool. Even cooler than the one in Forever Strong, but I still love that one. (:

Anyway, this week I learned a lot about myself. I learned that I am strong, and I can do hard things. I can do uncomfortable things, I can do things that don't make sense, and I can teach people about the gospel. We had an awesome lesson with one of our investigators this week. Her name is Sarah, she's 16 and we set her for baptism! She is set to be baptized on the 4th of January! Sister Holmes and I are hoping that we don't get transferred so we can see her be baptized. But guess what? There is a huge possibility that I'll be training! Transfers are on Thursday and in the intake there are 19 new sisters and President is probably going to have to ask my intake of 4 weekers to be trainers! I don't really feel ready to be a trainer, but if that's where Heavenly Father needs me, then I'll do it. So, I might be in a completely new area...as a trainer next week. I really want to stay here, but "not my will, but thine." It will never cease to amaze me that Heavenly Father is so aware of our needs and our desires, but also that He is aware of the things that we need in our lives to help us grow. He knows me better than I know myself and I think I know myself pretty well. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about the people back home, but I don't dwell on that and I don't want to. I throw myself into the work and I am loving it. I LOVE NEW ZEALAND!!!

Love,
Sister Pearce

IMG_4214 is Sister Holmes and my arms...we're comparing watch tans.. (:

IMG_4218 is Sister Holmes and I before we got on the train. We were sweaty, but it only gets worse. (:

IMG_4219 is the train station and a sign that says Pukekohe!!

IMG_4222 this is my zone!!! Top Row, Left to Right: Elder Wright, Sister Holmes, Elder Brann, Elder Johnson. Middle Row, Left to Right: Elder Dellaca, Sister Me, Sister McCarthy, Elder Hester, Elder Vehimatahao, Elder Vakimeilalo, Sister Pula, and Sister Truhijillo. Bottom Row, Left to Right: Elder Lelenoa, Sister Leung-Wo, Elder Brown, Elder Oliva, Sister Muava, and Sister Fiu. (:

IMG_4224 is Sister Holmes, Elder Brann, and I. (:

IMG_4335 is Elder Hester and I!!! (: He is really awesome! He is from here, North Shore, but he has a medical condition that made it so he had to stay here, but he is totally mean (cool) and a way good missionary.

IMG_4227 is Sister Holmes and I when we were sweaty as. Supa gross, but it is a bodily function that all people everywhere will one day have to accept. (: