Miracles!

I'm doing really well actually, I was having a bit of trouble last week but I've been strengthened again, so I'm learning all the things the Lord wants me to learn, so its good. My companion was sick for a few days so I had to stay in, which was actually relaxing, but he's better so we're out working again. A lot of good stuff has happened. 

So the boyfriend of one of the ladies we've been teaching is apparently an former church member who regained his testimony at some point before dating her and wants to come back, but didn't tell us until we brought bishop along. So miracles are totally possible. Alma the Younger.

I haven't told you about the M family have I? Man you would have an interesting time with the them. They're a recent convert family, husband and wife, grown up kids are still thinking about it. Hawaiian. They're a hoot. I'm not sure how to describe why though.

Okay, miracle for this week.... we met another Hawaiin less active who wants to come back to church, and he has some family living with him that may be interested in taking the discussions again, so it sounds like there's some promise there to help people.

So here's my week...

So here's my week: we've been over visiting the P. family a lot, particularly the member wife.  She is a fireball. Very strong spirit. Has blond reddish hair, wavy, a face very very weathered by a very very hard life and bad decisions. She's far too old for her age. A real tough woman. But I love her to death, I'm pretty sure she thinks of us as her sons in a way. She reminds me of a hardened Scottish lady. Taken it upon herself to mother us a little. Not in a weird way at all, but she likes to make us desert and talks with us a lot and tells us to be safe. We knock on her door and her four beagles that she rescued from various bad situations all raise a devilish chorus and she comes shouting and hollering at them and opens the door and all tired she says "Hey come in guys (huff puff)". We gave her a priesthood blessing one of our first meetings with her, for her health, because I was given the authority to do that from my Dad who received it from a line back to Peter restored to Joseph Smith. When I was done the room was peaceful and the husband and son and one of the teenage tennants there especially could sense it and came into the room seeking the light and they were all just glowing with peace and didn't want us to go, just talking with us. We go back by frequently. We're trying to teach our message to M. and gave him a Book of Mormon, but we haven't been able to see him recently.

Details...Bleh...Stuff Happened

Alright, here's the scoop! The full blown scoop! I'm in Lake Tapps, that's a lake in the Puyallup stake, I'm not sure about how many miles around but it takes about four hours to bike around the whole thing or so. Maybe less. And there are two islands in the middle, Tapps island and Snagg island, where the rich and hte richest live, respectfully. Our bishop lives on the very tippy tip of Snagg island. To get to either island we have to pass through security, so I always feel like I'm in a heist movie of some kind when I do it. The rest of the area is pretty rural. There's another island, inlet island. For the middle class ish. Sort of of. All the rich people live on the lake access and all the less rich people live across the street from them.

My companion is Elder G, about five foot seven and stocky and cool and calculating as James Bond as I've said. He's great. We do well. I'm actually follow-up training him but he's very very good so its not really training at all. He's taught me cool tricks like how to use a lighter to burn all the lint off my socks. You go "snap" at the bottom of your heel and the flames leap up all around your foot burning off all the lint and leaving your foot nice and toasty. Thats pretty neato and cool looking and I promise I won't do it in front of Mom.

The best thing has been whats happened at the P. home. The young man did sit in with us, and we explained about the Spirit that he felt and how He works and talks to us. He had one experience where he was praying that other people wouldn't suffer the same illness he was suffering at that time, and he suddenly felt warmth and peace over him and felt tingling all over. That's the Spirit. It comes in different forms at different times to say different things, but once you come to recognize it you know what is really the Spirit and what's not. Anyway we talked about that and we offered him a Book of Mormon to review and to pray about and to see if the Spirit testifies of it and he gets those same feelings telling him its true. So we hope he does it. I've never met a person who has said they've both honestly read and honestly prayed about the Book of Mormon and not gotten an answer. If you really want to know and are willing to change your life if you were to find out it was true, you will feel the Spirit. 

We did a service project chopping up a tree. Used a logsplitter. Had some good memories there.

A lot of missionary work is driving around looking for people these days. I don't like those days. We're trying to help the members learn how to share the gospel in natural ways so eventually we only have to teach and baptize.

Why are individuals baptized? I've wondered about this immensely: its because God, knowing everything, has never told His children to do whatever they wanted. He's always asked they make a promise to Him to keep those commandments He gives them for their benefit. He does not give a commandment unless it betters us and protects us. So He asks us to give up our own wisdom in favor of His wisdom and promise to keep His commandments. Does this brainwash us? Of course not. The commandments don't dictate much at all about your hobbies, interests, style of dress, personality at all. Just watch the I'm a Mormon videos. You shouldn't have a hobby of drinking on Saturday nights obviously, but you could have a hobby of drinking root beer on Saturday nights if you really wanted to. Anyway. God requires covenants for certain things.

Anyway, I'm trying to talk about my week but I'm not very good at it. Details. Bleh. Stuff happened.

Family History and the Spirit of Elijah

Sorry, I'm going to make sure I send you a meaty email about whats actually happening over here next time. I've been good though. Just figuring stuff out. I have so much to tell you though about Family History as a teaching tool and stuff: listen, you ask about their family, you get them to realize that their ancestors may not have had the knowledge they've had, that their ancestors depend on them for work to be done, they don't even have to understand what you mean necessarily, the Spirit of Elijah will begin to testify to them that they have a responsibility to their ancestors, and then they start looking in the church to find out what they can do, and then they get baptized with the Temple already as the ultimate goal. We're still working on it but its the new training starting to go around along with other things. Yes. So things are working out. We're figuring it out.

Praying with faith...it works!

Note from Michael's Mom:

Michael was moved to a new area last week.

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My new area is not much different from my last area actually, in fact it seems quieter than the last area and yet missionary wise its hoppin'. We've got several hopeful baptisms lined up this month and EVERYONE keeps telling me about how wonderful the ward is.

My companion is cool and collected and has been out for one transfer. I'm actually follow-up training him -- but he has to run the area basically because I don't know anyone. But he's very good, very cool-headed and able. Thank heavens.

Praying with faith. It works: my last district leader told a story about how they were doing office work and needed a dresser, so first they prayed that they'd be able to find one at the stores, because they were having no luck. Finally they got to a store and they said "Oh yes we have one" and brought it out, but it was way too small. So they prayed again and asked very specifically for a dresser with this size and this many doors, and they found one to the precise specifications. It was much better when they told it though. The principle I think is to pray specifically so that you know what you're looking for, because if you pray for general vague things Heavenly Father doesn't know where to put His energy because you yourself don't know what you really want.

People are not converted by the message...

The training we've received has been extremely enlightening. People are not converted by the message; they are converted by having spiritual witnesses or experiences regarding the message. 1 Cor 2:1-5, "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power; That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." We cannot answer all their questions. I don't believe this Gospel because I know it perfectly. I believe it because the Spirit continues to tell me that it is true. That's the only way that they will know, because they received a spiritual witness. And throughout the whole Bible and Book of Mormon we see evidence after evidence of the Spirit being the primary resource of knowledge and direction for people. But this aspect is thoroughly ignored by Christendom. I aim to change that.

To receive a spiritual witness, one must have a desire to receive one. The best way to give someone a desire to receive one is to describe the blessings of it, within the Bible and in your own life. It's really refocused the way that we teach.

The most interesting thing that's happened has been talking with the Jewish father of the part member family. I've talked a lot about them. We went over to practice teaching their family, but they had it in their heads that they were feeding us dinner, and we had just come from our dinner appointment with the another family, who fed us tamalies, which were really good, and I had eaten three of them with refried beans. And then the next family graciously fed us a really really good lasagna and salad. But it was good, we had a long gospel discussion afterwards, where we covered everything that we wanted to teach anyway. He's had a bad experience with missionaries in the past, so the fact that he truly opens up the way he does to us is really good. But he doesn't want to be converted, so we just told him of course we'd love him to convert, but we really love him and his family. No sneakiness. And I told him if he reads the Book of Mormon and prays to know if its true then he will receive a spiritual witness.

Super Bowl and Missionaries

Yeah, I've been hearing about the awful weather out there! Washington has been pretty sunny this whole winter because of it so thank you for your endurance on my behalf!

Super bowl miracle! We had nothing we could do except tract for the last bit of the super bowl, but it was actually a blessing to do that because the Seahawks blew out the Broncos 43 - 8 so a) people were in a good mood b) not really paying attention to the game. So I was surprised how many people talked to us for a bit before closing the door. And they'd always tell us how the Seahawks were winning. And there was this one house that closed the door, but as we walked away they called out after us if we wanted anything to eat, and of course we did, so we ended up teaching them the Restoration and leaving a Book of Mormon, and they said we could drop by again in a few weeks. So we're not sure about their interest level but it should skyrocket if they actually do what we said and read and pray.

I'm about to run out of time again, so sorry this one is short. Which I think goes against some promise I made last week to talk all about Washington. Oh well.

Gotta go! Love you guys! Thank you for the support!!!!

Elder Michael Pierce