Did you love conference?

Hello everyone!!

 

Did you love conference?! Ah! It was so great- I wish I could sit and listen to talks all day. The age change was crazy!! It totally surprised me and I am so jealous! I would have loooooved to go when I was 19! It would have been so nice to leave after only 1 or 2 years of school than just while I'm towards the end of school. It'll be interesting to see how it changes the social side of BYU for freshman. I'm jealous, I totally would have went when I was 19 if I could have, but it's probably a good thing I didn't because I would have had a totally different experience and wouldn't have gotten to know the people I met had I left earlier. So I make myself feel better when I think about that. Besides changing the age for missionaries, conference was really powerful. I always think it's so interesting to hear the repeated themes that seem to jump out each conference.

 

So generally our pday is on Monday, but this week it was changed because we got to go to the temple today! Since it's out of our mission, we had to have a member drive us, so Sister Ross, who we live with, drove us. I was really adament about no other temple being as awesome as Boston, which is almost true, but the LA temple AMAZING!! It is was so beautiful! It was really great to get to go to the temple, the Spirit is strong there, it was the perfect finish to General Conference weekend. We got to see the Staples Center (where the Lakers play) and Dodger Stadium, and downtown LA! We also stopped in the visitor's center there since we missed the 8:30 session. They have a room in there that is decorated to look like you're in Jerusalem, it was really cool to sit in there for a while and watch videos with parts of Christ's life. We also stopped by the distribution center and I finally got a new set of scriptures!!! I've been wanting a new set since the MTC, but they didn't have any matching sets left. I'm so excited to mark them up with everything I've learned finally! I also got the cds of last october general conference in Spanish so I can try to get more practice with understanding Spanish! (I'm getting better, but trying to speed up the process)

 

This week has been really good. Last Wednesday we started teaching English Classes. We used the program the Church has set up and did the first lesson- it was introducing yourself to others/ neighbors, etc. It was suuuuper simple. and I think some of the women were a little offended at how simple it was. Now that we know that they're all a bit more advanced, we can try to make it a little more challenging. Most of them know at least some simple English from just living in the U.S. for a while. I'm excited to teach them, it's been kind of weird to teach English, while I'm still trying to learn Spanish! But I think it also helps me to know how I can improve my Spanish, and have learned some good ways to learn/ practice a different language too, so that's been helpful. Our next class is tomorrow so I'm excited to see how that goes.

 

Last week we also went knocking into a man named Jose. One of the weird things about being a Spanish missionary in LA/ CA is that you never know when to start out in Spanish or English, so we usually just start in English and then if they say that they can't speak English, we go to Spanish. However there's a toooon of Armenians and people from all over so it's sometimes hard to know what language people speak. Well, we knocked into Jose and started talking with him about who we are, and asked him what he knew about us. He said he didn't know much English, so I asked him what language he speaks- "Spanish"! So we started talking to him in Spanish and he said "What?! Why didn't you say that first?!" We talked about the Book of Mormon and he asked if he could read it. Ha! Um...yes! We lent him a Book of Mormon and he asked when we'd be back. (Golden door approach...on his part, not mine!) We're going to visit tonight and are really excited.

 

We also had a great lesson with our investigator Isis. We had a ward member, Hna. Thompson come with us. She was great. They clicked really well. We taught the Plan of Salvation, which was a great lesson. She still has a baptismal date of Oct. 28th, so we're working towards that and are really excited to watch her progress. We also had a good lesson with another investigator, but it got cut short since she had to take care of her daughter after something had happended. We were going to drop her thinking she was just now wanting lessons (we've stopped by a bunch of times), but she seemed to really be up for us coming over. Now that we've made contact with her and have set up appointments, it's been a lot easier to meet up with her.

 

Sister Becerra (my mission president's wife) came out to teach us on Saturday night. It was kind of nerve wracking because we didnt' have any lessons planned, but we were able to meet with 2 less actives that we haven't gotten to see in a long time. She was really bold and got to the point in both situations. It was really fun to watch her, I learned alot.

 

Betsy- Happy birthday last Friday! I hope it was good. How was Wicked in August by the way?! And Bryce and Lisa- Happy Anniversary today!!!!

 

I hope everyone is doing well, love you all.

 

Love,

 

Hermana Laree LaPierre

 

 

 

I wanted to tell one more story! so sorry!

 

We went to eat at the house of a woman in our ward this week and she told us this story. Earlier that day she was at work (cleaning houses) when the daughter of her boss came up and gave her an envelope and told her not to open it there, she didn't want her parents to see it. She put it in her pocket and forgot about it. After work she went to pay her bills and only had $6 to her name. She realized she was feeding us that night and had no idea what to do since she literally had no money. She remembered the envelope, opened it and found $30 in it! She was able to buy the materials for our dinner for only $15 (and it was soooo good- chorizo tostadas, and beans). After she told us that story she was talking about how the Lord was watching out for her and how she knew it was becuase she kept the commandments, and paid her tithing. She kept saying "aqui, pasa los milagros". I believe it. She has chosen to follow the Lord and has chosen to see His hand in her life, and because of that, He has continually blessed her and helped her out. Anyone could say that that was just a coincidence, but she chose to see it as a miracle and a blessing because of her obedience. I know it was and I know that as we seek to see His hand more often in our life, we'll begin to see Him more.  It is amazing to get to know these people better. It is so humbling to hear about their stories and the lives they have come from. I was amazed and shocked by her story and how, even when having so so little shared so much of that with us (she only told us that story after we ate!) and didn't even think twice about it, she set up a feast for us and kept offering us more and more. It's amazing how when they have so little, they choose to see the Lord so much.

 

I'm way over time,so I should leave. I love you all. Have a great week.

 

Hermana LaPierre

California Week 3

Hola familia!!

 

It's official- I am half way through the first transfer! Apparently it's October now, but it feels like it's July. We've reached the 100s already, I'm pretty sure, and it's not even noon yet! This week has been pretty good.

 

I'm not sure I told you about this last week, but one of the highlights of last week was getting to teach a French lesson! We somehow recieved a referral from SLC for a woman and the referral note was all in French. We weren't really sure what was going to happen, so we brought a girl that we live with (we live with members, so we brought their daughter), who is taking French in high school. We went over there and this cute 18 year old French girl answered the door. It was definately a good thing that we brought Crysta because Anouk (the referral) did not speak alot of English, and we obviously, do not speak alot of French, so Crysta was translating for us. Anouk joined the church about 2 months ago in Switzerland. Her family and friends all dissapproved, some more than others, her siblings especially. She moved to CA with her parents about a month ago and doesn't really have friends here and can't really understand English, so that makes it even harder for her. She was so sweet! We got her in contact with the Elders in the YSA ward nearby to see if someone in their ward speaks French. I have no idea how we, the Spanish Sisters, got that referral, but I'm glad we did. It was a good visit, with all of the opposition she had because of getting baptized, she still seemed very adamant about becoming a part of the church here too.

 

This week, we made invitations for the Relief Society Broadcast and brought them around to investigators, less actives, and recent converts. It was so fun and a good excuse to try to stop by to visit some people. Alot weren't home (per usual), but we were able to leave the invites at the door with a note, so hopefully it was some church contact for them. We also got to teach/ help out at Achievement Days this week, teaching about God's love for each unique person, and then helping the girls make duct tape wallets (they are so cute!). It was alot of fun, and helpful for me to get to know some of the ward members a little bit better. We were hoping that some of the girls would have friends there that they had invited, but none of the friends ended up showing up.

 

We have alot of success with less actives here, so we try to limit ourselves to about one per day and then try to find the rest of the time. We have a small pool of investigators that we are hoping to increase, not just for quantity, but also for quality- to find people that are really progressing, keeping commitments, and that are prepared for the message of the Gospel. It's a slow work right now, but hopefully it'll pick up. My trainer knows the area really well, she's been here since April (almost half of her mission by the end of this transfer) and so has a hard time since she's worked here already so much and seems to have done work in pretty much every place we go. Anyways, it's been lots of fun and lots of opportunities for me to learn and change. If I'm not a different person when I come back I'll be very disappointed :) .

 

The Gospel is amazing. I love it! The more I study and learn about it, the more amazing it is. I am blessed to be a missionary, even when it's challenging. It's pushing me to a totally different level of understanding- of myself, the Lord, the Gospel, the world, everything.

 

I miss and love you all and can't seem to keep up with everything you are all doing, but am excited for you all.

 

Love,

 

Hermana Laree LaPierre

 

 

 The first picture I attached is from the MTC- my district with one of our teachers, Hermano Gardner. He was also was the teacher that was Manuel and Mario in our role plays. He was an incredible teacher and I learned so so much from him and his investigators.

 

Picture # 2- we were trying to make a service coupon for one of the members on a thank-you card we had written. It's terrible! The Spanish is pathetic and the coupon looks goofy, but oh well, we got the point across. I hope.

California Week 2

Hola Familia!

Well, our time in the La Crescenta (English) Ward, was very short. We got a call/ text on Friday letting us know that we no longer have that area, so we are now officially refocused on the Spanish work alone. It's a good thing. We had already picked up an investigator in La Cresenta, so we planned to go to his house on Sunday and have him follow us to the chapel so he could go to church and then do a pass off lesson after their church with the elders in the ward, but we got to his house and he wasn't there. Called him and no answer. So we're planning on visiting him sometime soon and setting up a pass off lesson so he can meet the elders who will be teaching him. His name is Edwin and he's really great. We stopped by last week and he gave us a couple referrals and then talked about how he needs to start getting his kids and wife to come to church with him! Amazing! He hasn't even taken any lessons yet, but he's already been to church twice!

A highlight of this week was teaching Isis for the first time. We've met with her a couple times, but didn't teach her a lesson until Friday night. We talked about the Restoration and she seemed really receptive. I invited her to be baptized on October 28th and she said yes! She is a really great woman, has a cute 2 year old daughter and really wants to be a good mom, she's in optometry school right now too (I think, or at least that's where she's heading). We talked alot about how having a family (daughter- we aren't really sure on her marital status yet) gave her purpose in her life and how the Gospel can give us more purpose and how much of a blessing is is to have the gospel when raising kids. She was all over that and loved how much strength and purpose the Gospel gives us. I'm really excited to teach her again on Friday. 

This week has been really good, and really hard. I love moments when we teach Isis or talk to Edwin because they are so receptive, at least right now, they make being a missionary very easy. However, other times, it's really hard. One thing that's been hard has been working together as a companionship to find the balance between overworking and not working hard enough. Sometimes I feel like we waste alot of time that we could use doing better things, like finding investigators or visiting with people. I want to be the best missionary I can and want to leave my mission feeling like I gave my mission everything I had. I think I have alot to learn too about internalizing my purpose too so that it's not all just about busyness either but really bringing people to Christ. 

Being trained has been good, a little frustrating and hard sometimes, but good, and very very humbling.  I'm learning what real missionary work is like, and also that it's not just helping the people in Tujunga come closer to Christ, but also bringing myself closer to Christ. 

Love you all and miss you tons, 

Love, 

Hermana LaPierre

ps- we're also going to visit the house where they filmed ET, apparently it's in Tujunga!

California Week 1

Hola familia!!

I am here!! I finally made it to California! It's hot, humid, and sunny! I love it. I'm serving in the very north west corner of the mission. We serve in the Tujunga Spanish ward, which covers pretty much all of the northwestern corner of the mission. Our area just includes 3 cities for the most part: Tujunga, La Crescenta, and La Canada, but most of the Spanish work is in Tujunga. My trainer's name is Hermana Mulitalo. She's from SLC and is really nice. She's fun to work with. 

My first day here, we landed in Ontario and Pres. and Sister Becerra picked us up and took us to the mission office in Arcadia. We had an orientation, lunch and they let us take a nap before we were paired with our trainers. Once we were paired off, we headed out for our areas to start working! (they told me as we were walking to the car that I'd be the one driving...luckily LA traffic isn't very different from Boston...at least not so far!). We taught a couple lessons that night. One in particular was to a man named Andy. I wish I could describe him, but really, you just have to know him. You can tell he's been through alot in his life, he has kind of a rough exterior, but he's pretty harmless. He talks alot. He goes off on tangents alot, which makes teaching him in any reasonable amount of time kind of difficult (on Sat. we were teaching him for an hour and a half!!) and he'll try to contradict everything that you say, which is kind of frustrating, but it's all just part of teaching him. We teach him in English, so that was nice the first night. We taught another woman who was really sweet, I think she was a less active. We read with her in Alma 32 about faith. It was a good lesson. 

Alot of what we do here is very much Spanglish. And most of the time, I don't really understand anyone when they speak Spanish so I just smile and nod alot. I can usually catch enough words to know what they'd talking about, but not the details. I know it'll come with time, but for now it's been pretty interesting to hear, real native Spanish. It is definitely not what we spoke in the MTC :)

We've been driving back and forth to and from Arcadia this week for training/ orientation and so didn't get alot of full days of missionary work. One of the things that have been the hardest have been to make every moment productive and effective. It seems like there's alot of time we could probably take more advantage of if we planned better. We spend alot of time trying to visit less actives and potential investigators and most of the time, they arent' there and so we have alot of time we didn't plan for. However sometimes it works out really well. We went and visited a potential's house the other day and placed a BOM with a teenage girl named Jocelyn. We will hopefully be teaching her this week, so we'll see what happens. We also visited with some less actives. Most of the lessons with them this week, we just read with them through the LDM. One woman we went to visit, Maria Lena is really nice. She stopped going to church after her recommend was taken away, but is still really receptive to missionaries. She fed us some really really good pineapple water (exactly what it sounds like- water with crushed pineapple in it and sugar, but soooo good) and we talked to her about faith, etc. She's a good woman. 

The APs just called us last night and told us that we'd be taking on an English ward too, so now we'll be serving the Tujunga Spanish Ward and La Crescenta Ward. We live with an LDS family from that ward so that will be fun to serve in their ward. It's a little weird to serve in English, but I'm excited. We had just passed off a golden investigator to the english sisters because he wanted to go to the english ward, and I was really sad because I wanted to teach him really bad, and now we get to!! 

I'm excited to be here. I can't believe I am here already! I can't wait to see real citrus trees and avocado trees!! Life is good. 

Love you all!

Hermana LaPierre

You can reach me by writing to this address

Sister Laree LaPierre

California Arcadia Mission

170 W Duarte Rd

Arcadia, CA 91007

hola!

Hola familia!!

I'm heading out to CA in 3 days!!!! We have pday today because we spent all day yesterday in an in-field orientation where they prep us for the field. It was really really good.

Congrats Renee and Steve!! He looks like a cutie! and Happy birthday Kenzie!

Before I forget again- dad, I mentioned this to you a little, but I'll get to call this week while I'm at the airport!! I have my calling card and everything ready to go! I'll probably call around 7 utah time. should I just call the house? will anyone be home?! I can just try to make the rounds on cell phone numbers I remember too if I need. Also, I'll be able to get dear elders on monday, but that'll be the last day!

Glad to hear everyone is doing well. Orientation yesterday was really really good. We talked alot about the administrative important things, like key indicators, etc. the importance of not lowering your expectations too. We practiced contacting too and finding, working with the members, etc. I loved it all, but especially talking about how to work with members in the missionary work- getting them involved, practicing with them, etc. I'm excited to get to do that with them. One thing I've been thinking alot about this week is how I can dedicate myself more to my purpose. Yesterday, one of the men in charge of the orientation said, that it's not always about working harder, as much as working smarter. I think that's true at least to some extent, we have to know what we have available and be creative to make our purpose happen. Helping people understand how they need the gospel is so important, even for me, especially for me.

We had an awesome devotional on Tuesday- this cute German couple. One of the things he talked about was how we need to be teaching and testifying with conviction. I can only teach the things I know (experienced, seen, or felt), things I've internalized for myself. I've been studying more and writing down my thoughts, questions so so so much more this week. It's been amazing! as I study and am not afraid to ask questions and think about how these principles apply in real ways to real people- learning how to apply the principles to different people, I've gained a much deeper appreciation of what I'm out here to do. My conviction of the gospel is stronger. I've been making a list of things that I KNOW and a list of things I don't feel like I can testify/ teach with as much conviction. I've been studying and thinking what questions I have and what I'd want to know if I were an investigator. Then I study PMG and/or the scriptures to look up answers. I've been writing down every spiritual thought I have and everything I learn. as I've done so, I've noticed much more thoughts coming to mind, and answers to questions coming. That's one of my favorite things ever.

I love you all and hope you are all doing great! Next time I see/ hear from ya I'll be in CA!!! Which is great because it's starting to get a little cold in Provo. I'm glad to head out once it's getting a little colder to warmer weather! Who knows what I'm walking into this week ( I definitely feel like I'm walking into an unknown), but bring it on California!!

Love,

Hermana LaPierre

hola!

Hola todos!

 

Como estan? Este semana fue muy bueno. Recibimos nuestros planes de viaje ayer! Ay que ver! (that's what our Spaniard teacher used to always say!-Jamie, maybe you can back me up on that expression) Anyways, I can't believe next week is our last full week here! This month flew by!

 

A few people have asked me about what the MTC is like now, so I thought I'd talk a little about that today. There are really 3 time blocks here- breakfast to lunch, lunch to dinner, and dinner to bed, each about 4 hours long (casi). Generally we have 2 three hour class periods each day during 2 of those blocks, with either additional study or language study. The other time block we spend at gym, studying, etc. Each class period is lead by a teacher (we have 2, so each teaches one block a day). During the class times, about an hour of that is spent teaching progressing investigators. Not everyone teaches each class period, but generally every one teaches one of the investigators every day (3 companionships teach in the morning/ afternoon and 3 teach at night- something like that). Then they spend the other part of class going over grammar principles or talking about gospel fundamentals for missionary work, and doing coaching, as a class or they pull individuals or companionships out to do coaching, where you  can get more personalized help or get answers to questions you about teaching. We have 2 progressing investigators- Mario and Ricardo (though we are not teaching Ricardo anymore, so we have a new one now) that we teach regularly, a few times each week. We also have started teaching each other as investigators while other missionaries are teaching- we teach each other. While other missionaries are teaching during class periods, or while the teacher is doing individual coaching, we have companionship study, where we can plan lessons, study language/ gospel study, etc. In the monings, at 10:30, we always have personal study (right before lunch) for an hour. Everything else changes a little depending on the day. On Tuesdays, we only have one 3 hour class period because we have devotionals that night, and on Fridays because it's our pday. Anyways, I have a feeling I probably just confused the heck out of some of you, so if that didn't make sense, then forget what I just said :) The MTC is great- very long days, but generally, the weeks go by pretty fast.

 

This week we taught at the TRC again yesterday. Our new teacher, Hno. Stoddard (he lived in boston a couple years ago! before his mission), told us to essentially not use our planned lesson and just walk in and teach without any plan or clue what we'd teach. We had a pretty good lesson planned, so it was a little sad. Anyways, we got in there and just started talking to her and getting to know her. Eventually we got on the topic of enduring to the end, so I shared 2 Ne 31:20 (one of my favs now). It was a good lesson, hopefully what she needed to hear. On her eval she said she wasn't really sure where we were going with the lesson some times, which I thought was kind of funny, because, neither did we! It's been very helpful to learn here, how to rely more heavily on the Spirit to teach lessons. I've loved learning a little bit more about how to do that.

 

I wanted to bear my testimony today before I say goodbye. I really do know that Joseph Smith was a prophet. If there is anything I have learned deeper and know more, it is that. The Book of Mormon IS the word of God. Joseph really did translate it by the power of God. I know the Restoration was necessary for us to become disciples of Christ. I know it. I know Heavenly Father loves His children more than we will ever understand. He loves us so much that he restored this Gospel back onto the earth so that we can choose to make the covenants that will lead us back to Him. I know He lives. I know he speaks to His children today. I love this Gospel more each day. It is real, It is powerful, and it changes lives everyday. I know because it changes mine everyday.

 

I love you all so much.

 

Love,

 

Hermana Laree LaPierre

 

PS- Tanner: I met a girl a couple days ago from Tri-Cities, WA. She knows some of your family! There's another hna in our zone from there too- hna. Braggs.

mom- no i never got the CD of the talks- want me to send you my ipod so you can put them on there? either way

 

 

LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU!

Stolen from Renee -Laree's Drop-Off July 11, 2012

and she's off!!!

Posted by Renee at 3:56 PM

Betsy and I got to drop Laree off at the MTC on Wednesday the 11th of July!

Her last request was to get ice cream at the BYU Creamery down the road from the MTC.

The girls got to join in the festivities! (Lucky too, because they got their ice cream before lunch!! That NEVER happens at Betsy's house!!)

clearly, she is more than ready for her mission...

Sofia took this one for us!

and then a gentleman offered to get one of us all!

she's vamoosing!

she got 2 escorts! special girl!!!

her last look at civilian life....

look very carefully! this was our last glimpse of her!!!

Remember me?

Aloha Familia!

 

Yep, I'm still alive and in the MTC. With less than 3 weeks left!!!! The weeks are going by a little bit faster now.

 

Happy Birthday Jaxon! I know it was a couple days ago, but didn't forget! I was thinking about you all day!

 

This week has been great and full of so many great experiences.

 

First of all- we got to host for the first time this week! it was fun. We just welcome the new sisters coming in and help them get their stuff, find their bedroom and classroom and send them off once they're at class. It's fun. I got to host 2 girls- one Samoan girl going to CA (different mission) and another UT girl going to Honduras. Both were cute girls, doing pretty well for their first day.

 

Also, as all the hosting sisters were sitting around talking I was talking to one sister that lives in our hall. We see each other all the time obviously, since we live right next to each other. Well, anyways, we were talking and I mentioned where I was from. She said she had lived in Swampscott! I was a little confused seeing as that's in our ward! She is the Crawford's daughter!! (mom and dad- I'm sure you're the only ones that know who I'm talking about) We both looked at each others' name tags and just laughed!! She's awesome! We had a fun time chatting about each other's families. I couldn't believe I've seen her and talked to her every day since being here and just barely realized who she is!

 

Probably one of the best things about the MTC, for me at least, are the devotionals. We have a fireside on Sunday, and then after the fireside, they play films and past devotionals in different rooms around campus. Then on Tues. we have another devotional. These are so so great. Each week we've been hoping for an apostle to come, but hadn't had one yet. This week however we got to hear from Elder Neil Andersen!! It was amazing! He pulled up a picture of President Monson and we all sand Happy Birthday to him, since it was his birthday! I half expected Pres. Monson to come out while we were singing, but he didn't. The devo was really inspiring and uplifting. He mentioned 9 things that Pres. Monson would say if he were here. These were the focus of his talk. 1- follow the prophet, 2-do your duty, 3-trust in the Lord, 4-Let the Lord shape your back, 5-smile and enjoy yourself, 6-Love the people you serve, 7-never ignore a prompting, 8-testify of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 9-witness of the Power of the Savior. He has a really gentle way of speaking that I loved, but also speaks as an apostle. There was definately power in what he said and in his calling. There are so many things I could say about this talk, but I think one of the things I felt most was how much I want to let the Spirit guide me as a missionary.

 

We also listened to a past devotional from Elder Bednar, which I loooooved. it's called becoming a missionary and was all about how when you leave your mission area, you do not stop being a missionary. It was very powerful to me and made me see what I can do, not only now as a missionary but in the future, with my future family, etc. Very inspirational and thoughtful, to me at least.

 

My time is up, so I'll just say I love you all and hope all is going well for you. I think of you all very often.

 

Miss and Love You,

 

Laree/ Hermana LaPierre

Pictures From Laree's Pre-Mission Prep

 The CALL

Laree called us all via Skype through MANY computers. 

"I'm going to Arcadia, CA!"

PREPARATION

Study, study, study.

Temple

 Gotta give that talk.

 Farewell Open House

It was overseen by these former and current bishops who all were in the Arlington Ward together at one time!

Pinata Cookies

Bruschetta Bites

and, of course, te old stand-bys

Autograph quilt by Jo Maitland

Some of the well wishers

Dad and Norma Chandler

with Brian Sweeney

and his cuties, Megan and Conor

 

The Batistas

Cris is over 6'!      Ian's TALL!

Can she hear him? He's so much taller!

with Ian Patton

The Balmforths

with ep

Michelle and Benjamin

with Tyson

We just can't celebrate without our Romano girls!

with Mom and Dad

On to departure!

Packing

It all fit!

She's so LITTLE!

Well, here goes!

Heading to the Gate.

BYU Creamery a must stop before entering the MTC

 

 

Interviewed at My Farewell

Mission Life Week 6

Hola!!

Ok, well...I think it's week 6, pretty sure at least. How are you all doing?! Mom and dad, how was your trip to UT? Hope you're all doing well and sounds like you are all having fun.

There's not a whole lot to report this week other than that it seems like the weeks are going by alot faster now. That is both a great thing, but also a scary thing. I am so excited to be out in the field, but then also feel very not ready to be out there all at the same time. It'll come faster than I'm ready for, for sure. I just hope I've learned everything I could before I leave.

The MTC has been fun. We have really really great teachers that make it so much more fun. The way it works is that we generally have 2 3 hour classes during the day. and each teacher teaches one of those class periods. Generally, for one hour of each class time, 2 of the companionships teach our investigators and whoever isn't teaching has companionship study.The other day, we were in class doing comp study while one of the companionships were teaching and other teacher, Hermano Cuadra, who was not teaching that class period came in to talk to me. He said he noticed that my feet did not touch the ground when I sit all the way back on my chair, so he gave me a footstool to rest my feet on!! Ha!!! I started laughing so hard. I think he thought he was pretty funny but also was kind of serious. It's true, sadly though, when I sit all the way back, only the balls of my feet touch the ground. I would defend myself by saying that I still do not need a footstool, but use it anyways just because it makes it more fun to put my feet up on something. My whole district got a good laugh about that one.

Also, we were told by one of the elders in our district that it was his birthday the other day so one of the sisters in our district spent some time this week making signs for him to decorate the classroom with. Well...it ended up not being his birthday and he was just kidding, but we celebrated anyways. Hermano Cuadra was teaching that morning and so had us sing to him, thinking it was his birthday too. When he found out that it was not his birthday, he was so crushed! He's been teasing him about it since. It made the day a little more fun anyways.

We taught Ricardo and Mario this week. Both are doing well. Our big exciting news for the week was that when we last taught Ricardo, he said that he had read the introduction to the Book of Mormon!!!!!! In case you did not pick up on this in my other letters- this is a miracle! This means that he actually touched the book, opened it, and read it!! His pastor came though and got mad at him for reading it, so he stopped. So we still have some work to do on figuring out what it is that he's afraid of, but he read!!!!!! It was so exciting. One of the things I've appreciated about teaching Ricardo is how realistic it is to real investigaors in the field. I have learned so much as I teach him because I have been pushed to work harder. I have never tried so hard to be led by the Spirit before as I feel like I do here. I honestly don't think I've prayed or searched the scriptures so hard either. It is hard work, and sometimes it's frustrating, but it's nice when you see it pay off, even in some small way like seeing an investigator who refused to read the LDM/ BoM for so long finally decide to read, even just the introduction.

Thanks for your love and support. Love you all. Hope you have a great week.

Hasta luego,

Hermana LaPierre

Mission Life - Week 5

Hola Querida Familia!!

 

So the title of this e-mail is a little decieving since I've only actually been here for 4 weeks (tomorrow...but who's counting?!). But they count the first week here as Wed- Sunday when you first get here, so if you go by that then I'm on week 5. Which means I only have 4 more weeks until we go to California!!

 

This week was good. Not as many funny stories to tell as last week unfortunately, but it was still good. I was running the other day back to our room after our gym time at the field with my companion and the 2 other hermanas in our district and heard someone scream "Laree!!!!". It's been a while since I've heard someone call me by my first name, so that was kind of funny. I turned around and it was Yina Fernandez!! Mom and Dad,  you're probably the only ones that know her, but she says hi! It was so fun to see her. '

 

This week, we've also been continuing to teach our 2 investigators, Mario and Ricardo. These have both been good experiences. Ricardo is an Evangelist and has some trouble accepting the Book of Mormon. When we taught him on Tuesday, we tried so hard to prepare what he needed to hear, we were going to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ (PMG lesson 3), but after talking to him for a couple minutes, it became pretty clear that that was not going to happen. We tried to talk to him about why the Book of Mormon is important, and kind of stumbled our way through teaching him that. The lesson that we prepared was apparently not what he needed to hear, but now we know what we need to teach him tomorrow!! One of the blessings of teaching him has been that it has forced me to think and study more about why we need the Book of Mormon. That's been what I've been studying ever since the lesson and it's been really great. Our Tues. Devo this week was all about the Book of Mormon too, and our lessons in class have been on the Book of Mormon too, so it's been a very enlightening week! It's been so fun to study more about why we have/ need the Book of Mormon. Hopefully our lesson with him tomorrow will be helpful to him. After we taught him, our teacher helped us see some things we can improve in with our teaching. that was really really helpful.

 

Probably the best experience this week was teaching Mario again on Monday. Most of our lessons with him so far had just been good lessons, but not anything super powerful, or didn't really seem like it was what he needed then. I really really really wanted to teach him something that he needed to hear. I had been thinking about and praying about it all day and was studying the lessons to know what we should teach. Sister Southworth and I would sit down to prepare our lesson and just stared at the lessons, but didn't feel anything. We finally made a lesson plan, prayed about it, but still didn't feel much about it. During our additional study just before our lesson, we finally put something together and felt pretty good about it, but had very very little time to practice it. I was so nervous to teach it, especially because we had wanted it to be so spiritual and powerful for him. We said a quick prayer and then went in to teach him. It was exactly what he needed. We talked about our Life on earth and the Atonement, and asked him if he had ever felt bad or guilty for something he had done, and wanted to be clean. He told us about some things that he had done while in Mexico that he still felt really guilty about. We spent the rest of the lesson teaching him about the Atonement and testifying to him. We had him read the scripture in Mosiah 14 that says, talking about Christ, "by His stripes, ye are healed.". The Spirit was so so strong, by the end of the lesson, I didn't even want to talk- we just sat there for a few minutes, pondering the lesson and feeling the Spirit. We testified to him that he can be clean again, and we also invited him to church, he said he'd come! After he said the closing prayer, we all just sat there for a couple minutes. I did not want to leave!! I am so so grateful it took that long to prepare  the lesson- it was worth every minute!

 

Even though I know these lessons are roleplay and that in reality our teachers playing these roles are members, RMs, and endowed, it still feels so real there is still so much power. It's been a really great experience. I'm glad that it's like this so I can learn before I'm in CA.

 

 Hope you're having fun in UT Mom and dad.

 

Love you all!!!

 

Hermana LaPierre

mission life- week 4

Hola Familia!!!

How are you all doing?! Thank-you for you letters, packages, pictures and support. I miss you all.

This week, I think I've honestly felt every emotion there is. It was great- so many exciting things, sad, frustrating, funny, weird, awkward, fullfilling, and everything in between. I think I talked about this last week, but one of the districts in our zone left on Monday, and our 3 Elders left on Tuesday. It was soooo sad. They're the closest things to family here and having them leave was hard. On Sunday night, we sang God Be with you til we meet again as a zone, and all the leaving missionaries gave their testimony. It was so great- just sad to see them all go. They're great.

We got a new teacher this week, since Hna. Scott is leaveing for an internship, and thus, a new investigator too. HIs name is Hno. Cuadra. He's from Barcelona. I loooooove his accent! He's hilarious, and very expressive. He does a great job of making hte 3 hour classes much more entertaining. Our investigator, Ricardo, is also fun. He's Evangelist and doesn't really get why we need the BOM, so we've been tryign to help him understand that. He's helped me to learn what it really means to not teach lessons, but teach the people. It seems so much more easy to just teach, REstoration, then plan of salvation, etc. But with him, we can't. It wouldn't work. It's been a fun learning experience to teach him according to what he needs. its forced me to think about how I teach a little differently.

We taught at the TRC again this week. I love going there because usually the volunteers speak at a normal speed, so it forces me to think about what they're saying a little more. I love not quite understanding what's going on because it forces me to think more and to see where the holes in my Spanish are. I love it. I remember why I love spanish so much. It's a great, beautiful language. but after a while, i swear my tongue rebels and refuses to move like it should. that's always entertaining.

The MTC has been humbling in so many ways. One of my firends before I left told me that he thought he really understood hte gospel before he left on his mission, but then realized how much he didn't actually know. I totally get it now. I feel the exact same way. I've always know the answers and know what to say to people, but I'm starting to understand the gospel a little bit deeper now, or realizing what I want to know more than just surface level. On Monday, Hna Southworth and I were studying the Restoration. It finally clicked why that was so important and what Heavenly Father was doing. He loves us all so much that He wants us all to return. Each dispensation is him trying to give His children another chance. I've said those words a million times, but I understand it more now. We watched a talk from Elder Holland this week. It was great- and made me want to be more committed to these 18 months.

Another things that's been humbling here is that somehow, everytime I forget to do something that would seem like I'm breaking the rules, someone calls me out on it :). The other day, I couldn't sleep and just wanted to get out of bed, so I went to the bathroom. Teh lights were off,and I thought they were motion sensored, so I tried to move my arms to turn them on. they didn't and I wan't going to the bathroom with the lights off., so I went into another bathroom, and tried movign my arms around it that one. Nothing again. I went back to bed. 2 mins. later, Hna Packer, on of the sisters in my district got up to go to the bathroom. I went with her to see if she could turn the lights on. we walked in and all of the suddedn teh lights turned on. i was shocked! i turned aroudn and realized she had just flipped the switch! I laughed so so so so hard- I'm sure if someone was watching, they would have been so entertained to see my flailing my arms around trying to get the lights on!!! that image was entertaining to me at least! we were talking for a couple minutes and a security guard came in to tell us to go to bed. I think she thoguht we'd been there for a while. we went back to the room. Hopefully she didnt' think we were breaking the rules, I think she did. Oh well... I'll let someone think I'm a rebel for the first time in my life ;).

I have to go, but I thought you would all be entertained by this story too. while Hna Southworth abnd I  were teachign Ricardo, I testified that Jesu Smith was a prophet. She looked at me and just started laughing. I didnt' realized it untitl then and then Ricardo and I started lauging too. Woops! I mess up on that all the time!!

Love you all and miss you so much.

Love,.

Hermana Laree LaPierre

Week 3

Hola familia y todos personas!!

First of all- CONGRATS BRYCE AND LISA!!!!!! You just made my week! I'm going to go print off those pics after I'm done e-mailing and show them off!!

I hope you are all doing well. I totally forgot that you were all heading up to NY! I'm so jealous, wish so bad that I could have been there. I'll be fasting for Emmett too. Miss you all so much and wish I could be there to help out with everything, comforting to know that Heavenly Father can step in instead...He's probably more help than I am anyways ;).

This week was really great. We have 2 new investigators- Mario and Anna! We haven't met with them much yet, but I'm excited to teach them. Yesterday, we got to teach volunteers at the TRC! that was so fun. We taught 2 RMs, Taylor and Alex, and then a woman name Silvia, each for 20 minutes. The Spirit was there. It's amazing how broken our Spanish can be, and yet when the Spirit is there, somehow our thoughts and feelings are communicated. I finially think I understand a little bit more that spiritual things really are communicated spirit to spirit, not by words. You can teach in perfect english, or testify, but if you don't do it with the spirit, it still doesn't really matter what you said at all. That's been humbling to learn.

This Tuesday, we had a good devotional from Gary Coleman. He used to be the Arcadia mission president!!! AND- I found out that he's one of my really good friend's grandparents! I was going to go say hi to them after, but decided against it since we had to get back to our classroom. He talked about how we as Mormons are obsessed with Christ! It's true!! Everything we do is about coming closer to Him. It was a great devo. My favorite talk we listened to this week was Elder Bednar, Character of Christ talk. He gave it on Christmas day last Dec, and they replayed it on Sunday. It is incredible. AFter reading it, I've been thinking alot about it. It made me think of the scripture in Matthew 4 that says" follow me and I will make you fishers of men". One of the things that Elder Bednar was talking about is that it's what you are and who you become that invites the power of the Spirit as you teach. I want to become PMG so that I can teach with that power. He talked alot about turning outward, rather than inward. Christ's character was to always turn outward, even during His suffering in the GArden and on the cross, He was still concerned for others (He healed the guard's ear and taught the thieves on the crosses next to Him). Part of Christ's character is to always turn outward. I want to be like that too. There are so many opporutnities to think that in some way, I have it harder and thus, I should be given some slack, or somethings- it's easy to focus on myself and what I want out of my mission and what I want to feel and learn and do, but that will never make me a good missionary. Turning outward, like Christ is so key. I hope my mission becomes like that.

One of the missionaries in our zone left for Peru this week! It was sad to say good bye to her! 3 of our elders are leaving to Guatemala MTC this week. That will be a little hard. They'll be great, our district will be all to CA after they leave. Today is P-day and the temple is open again so we get to go to the temple today!!! I"m so excited!

Sorry, this is all so random. Just thoughts I've had during the week. Being a missionary has a way of making you look at yourself if a totally different way. I always assumed that as a missionary you just all of the sudden were perfect at everything. I know it's silly, but i was a little surprised when I realized that I'm still me! I still have the same struggles, and yes...my runway does not all of the sudden just get shorter (that's for you dad!) but that is changing. Missionary work is great.

Randome things for family:

Carrie- I got your letter!! the elders were teasing me about it being a boyfriend because I was so excited to open a letter!

Bryce and lisa: ah!!!!!! so excited for you!

Mom- can you send me the list of addresses for my thank-you notes. you can dear elder me and let me knwo if you need me to send you a list. also, I realized that I never brought any family pics here!! any chance I can have you send me some?! (and my camelback waterbottle maybe later) I dont' have the cord for the camera, so I was just thinking of sending you the card when it's full. and then having  you send it back to me!

Katy and Micah- I love you, and am praying hard and will be fasting of Emmett!

Everyone- I'm sorry I can't write individual e-mails to you all. I wish I could. Once I have your street addresses, I will for sure! Lisa, I got your e-mail! I'll keep an eye out for him too! Thanks for the e-mail. Renee and Carrie, I hope you are doing ok with your little ones still inside ;).

I miss you all and love you more! The church is still true!

love,

Hermana LaPierre

MTC Address

In case you never got this, this is the snail mail address, or somethings along these lines, sorry 30 mins goes by so fast!!

 

MTC box 204

CA-ARC 0911

2005 N 900 E

Provo Ut 84604

Mission Life Week 1.5

HOLA MI QUERIDA FAMILIA!!!!

Como le va? How are you all? Hope everyone and everything is going well. I know I can't always send personal e-mails to everyone, so I just wanted to start by saying, thank-you so much to all of you for your help and support. thanks to the sibs (Bryce and Lisa and Lisa and Jim) who let me come visit them before I left in TX and D.C. and Nicole, Betsy, Renee, and Carrie, for coming down to visit- I am so grateful to have been able to see all of you, and that you drove down for it! Betsy and Renee- thanks for taking me to the MTC! I'm glad you were there to send me off, especially when I was so nervous! (the rest of you were there in Spirit!) And Mom, Dad, Katy, Micah, Jamie, Michelle, and Cris- thanks for putting up with me for the past 2 months (that grants you special gospel blessings already I'm sure!) Jim- there is an elder in my zone who reminds me so so so much of you! He's from PA and he even looks like you!

So I think I should start by saying that I think I spoke a little too soon last week when I said that Spanish was a breeze for me. I may or may not have been a little overly confident :). I still have a lot to learn. It's been helpful to be able to understand quite a bit, but I still have a long way to go before I can say things correctly, and get a better religion vocab...Woburn High must have skipped the religion section ;) They told me that I could jump up to an intermediate class, but I deciced to stay here, with my district. I love them, and I love my companion. It's been fun to get to know each other even better, especially the other companionship of sisters. The elders seem so young sometimes, but they are really great guys. 3 of them go to the Guatemalan MTC in 2 weeks, and that'll be really sad. I think we've gotten pretty close with each other and we all get along really well. We're all incredibly different, but that's what makes it fun. My comp and 3 of the elders are all going to Arcadia!

We had a good devotional this week- Vaugh Featherstone gave it. He talked about his great niece who served her mission in Boston!! It was a great devotional- no specific theme (other than mish work obviously), but really inspiring and uplifting. We got to sing This is the Christ in the choir for it, which was also fun. I love that song. (thank-you cris ;)  )

Hermana Southworth and my highlight this week was committing Manuel to be baptized!!!! yesterday was our last time teaching him, which was kind of sad. it's been a great experience. It's amazing how quickly you become invested in someone else's wellbeing, especially when the Spirit backs you up. I know it's all roleplay, but it's felt so real to me. I think Hermana Southworth and I would both agree that we've learned alot from this. I know I'm not a perfect teacher, and there's alot I can work on, but I loooooove teaching the gospel! I love testifying that everything will be ok when we come closer to Christ. I love that if you're teaching the gospel, Heavenly Father will back you up and the Spirit will come- even in broken, awkward spanish.

Random experiences this week- I think it's a combo of a new face wash and dry desert, but my face has been peeling and super dry all week! I keep joking that it looks like my face is shedding! I think I'll invest in new facewash and a water bottle soon! Ha! Apparently we aren't allowed to have gum. That's been tough. I have alllot of gum to send you soon! P-day is awesome- took the best nap of my life today! We dont' have an official Sunday school and our sacrament meeting and RS are separated during the day- it feels like old school church! Last week in RS we learned about how to be more proper, lady-like women ;) I couldn't get Princess Diaries and Miss Congeniality out of my head!! It was great though. I'm apparently not a natural lady, correctly crossing my legs will never happen. The food here is a little weird too- or at least for me, but it's not too bad, just making me a little sick,but not bad. I love it here though! It's been great!

LOVE YOU ALL SOOOO MUCH!!

The Church is true and the gospel is amazing.

love,

Sister/ Hermana Laree LaPierre

MTC/CCC Acclimation

Hola familia!!!

I've been in the CCM (MTC) for a total of 4 days (going on 4) and already it's been a really great growing experience. I finally understand why so many missionaries write such short messages to friends. They keep us so busy!! We're supposed to have the purpose memorized by Sunday, a talk to give to our comps done by sunday, the handbook read, and letters writted and lessons planned, and it is hard to do all of that!! It has been really great though.

Without the help of the Spirit, I have no idea how we can work this fast. On our first day, they only spoke Spanish to us in class. They kept it pretty simple and wrote a lot of things on the board in ingles. I could understand quite a bit and could speak to them quite a bit too. They told me I could go into the intermediate class if I want to, but I'm not really sure if I want to or not. I don't feel like I'm always challenged in my Spanish, but know that there's quite a bit of the basics that I still mess up alot. I also really love my companion, Hermana Southworth, so having to change companions and districts would be hard. Sometimes it's tempting, but I think I can help Sister Southworth with her Spanish and hopefully help myself in the process. I want to help her, but also don't want to come off as a know it all. and truthfully, my Spanish is really not great at all. I think I just take a bunch of words/ phrases/ etc. and put them together and hope it makes sense. My congugations are all over the place and my vocab is still pretty limited. AND my pronunciation is terrible! It's been fun though! And I'm having fun with it, just trying to find ways to challenge myself so I can keep improving my Spanish.

We taught our first investigator last night!!! It was really cool. His name is Manuel (it was a teacher acting like an investigator). Because Hermana Southworth and I were the last to go, we had a ton of time to prepare, so we essentially prepped the first discussion. We had watched a video about Manuel, so we knew a little about his life and planned the lesson to that. He's been in the U.S. for a little over a year and is from Mexico. His family is here because his sister has cancer and they're seeking treatment here (it's all role play scenarios I'm pretty sure). Anyways, so in our broken Spanish we tried to talk about God, and families especially. I felt impressed to share a little about Emmett and so I did. The Spirit was really strong. It was really cool. Hermana Southworth and I tried to transition back and forth from testifying and sharing scriptures and explaining principles. It was really fun, especially for our first time teaching. I think we rocked it! ;)

All of the hermanas that I live with are great, energetic missionaries. They're awesome. Sister Southworth is sooo sweet. I love her. She has never learned Spanish before in her life, so I've been trying to figure out how to help her without making her feel uncomfortable or without sounding like a know it all, and trying to find the balance there. However, she is amazing!!!! she's familiar with so many different languages (like 6 or 7) including- German, Arabid, Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese and Brail! she has a sight impairment and so she's learned brail her whole life. She's been teaching me a little here and there. And chinese too, she knows I'm interested in chinese- I told her I work at chinese flagship. She's really quiet and timid, but it's been fun to get to know her. I think we're becoming a little more comfortable with each other. She's also really positive and so I've really enjoyed being able to learn from her in that way. She also knows her scriptures reallly well. I think we'll make a good teaching couple.

So glad to hear that Emmett is doing well and is perky. Give him a hug from La! and everybody else too! .

Everyone was so perky when we first got here! it was a little overwhelming! Now, I feel like I'm one of them! ha! I've been able to see a bunch of friends from school and live on the same floor as on of the girls in my ward last year. we put our papers in on the same day! It's been fun. I saw Mark Gillespie a couple days ago, and know some of the teachers as friends from school too. That's helped alot to make me feel more comfortable. I know I'm doing the Lords work and know that because of that, He can help me and Hermana Southworth as we try to figure this out. He already has! there are so many miracles around! I love it and I love you all!!

Miss and love you,

Hermana LaPierre