CA Week 7

Hello Family!!

Sounds like lots of exciting things are going on this week. I didn't know Betsy and Renee and Adrik were home! So fun! Did you all get to do anything fun? How long are they going to be there for? And Uncle Bruce came/ is coming?! Tell him hi for me and give him a hug!!! I miss and love you all. I am really grateful to be a missionary. This week has been one of the best, or the best, so far for us. 

We started the week really really well by getting to set up an appointment with an investigator we haven't taught in a long time. His parents and sisters are all members of the church, and he knows that it's only a matter of time before he joins the church too. His sisters are even planning on going on missions at the end of the school year. We'll be teaching him tomorrow!

We had a really really great lesson with one of our investigators, Imelda on Tuesday. We brought a recent convert with us who is really amazing. We were teaching Imelda about faith and how if we have faith to let Heavenly Father help us, He can help us with our challenges. Having Lolita there was really powerful. She has a really firm testimony of the Gospel and it really helped Imelda alot to not just hear it from us, but from her (Lolita, our recent convert) as well. 

We met a man this week, named Alvi. He works in construction and knows a ton of members from La Canada from working on their homes. We were talking to him about religion and the Church. He was talking to us about his faith. His beliefs seem to coincide alot with ours. It was really really interesting to hear him talk. He mentioned how there is a Mayan holy book that talks about how a white holy man with scruff/ beard came to talk to teach them, and he also mentioned how unafraid he is to die because he knows that even though his body will be in the ground, his spirit will be in heaven, etc. It made me so excited to teach him, especially to talk to him about the Book of Mormon and to share an entire book about the people in the America's experience with God, and with the visit of the Savior! We have a lesson with him and his family this week and we're really excited. 

We were able to contact a lot of people this week and are really excited about teaching some of them. We had an interesting experience the other day as we were inviting a former investigator to a Halloween party. We went to drop off the invitation and she had a friend there. Her friend was very anti Halloween and told us that we were not Christian if we celebrated Halloween. It was really interesting and I wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, she was very persistent on that. Her friend (the one we went to see) defended us a little and was really sweet. We decided to leave before it got too weird so we set up a time to come back. Ironically, we ended up setting up the appointment for Halloween day... ha!

We also met a boy named Ben this week. He's about 18ish and we talked to him about the church. Originally, we had scheduled to do a church tour, but that didn't happen. However, when we went to confirm the tour the day before, we met his dad. Well, his dad is very passionate and started talking about all kinds of Bible references, etc. and talking to us about how we don't believe the right things, etc. It was really funny though because when we'd try to just explain to him who we are as missionaries, he'd be really nice and respectful. Well, the church tour had fallen through and so we stopped by and talked to Ben and invited him to read the Book of Mormon. It was a really good chat. When we came back and talked to him, he said that he had read some of it. We got to meet his sister, and she said that she had read some of it. His dad had even looked through it! It was interesting to talk to them because they seemed to be really curious and at least open to talking about it. I especially love that even though we had only talked to Ben, he had talked to his family about it and that they are talking about us after. They have all looked at least at the Book of Mormon. Hopefully that leads to open spiritual conversation, and not Bible bashing though. 

Another interesting contact was meeting with a woman whom we had actually contacted one of my first weeks here. The first time she had really turned off herself to us, but this time, she was really open and talkative to us! we talked to her for a while about her family and her kids. she has five kids, the oldest is 13! She's 23 years old (yes, the math there is a little interesting...) and is married to a former investigator. She was really nice and we're excited to talk to her today! My companion was a little weirded out that she is her age and has 5 kids though! I'm sure there must have been something miscommunicated or something ;)

We had a Halloween party with one of the wards in La Canada this past Saturday and so we were inviting everyone we could to that. Making invites gave us a really great opportunity to start talking to people and has opened alot of doors for us. Probably the most exciting thing that happened this week is that as we were driving into the parking lot for the party, we saw one of our investigators, Imelda, getting her kids out of the car!! It was so exciting!! We were so excited and were going crazy about that! Then, later on, another one of our investigators, Isis, came, with her family. Her sister and her sisters' fiancee and their baby, Isis' mom, and Isis and her daughter!! Everyone loved the activity and had so much fun! Both Isis' daughter and Imelda's daughters won cakes in the cake walk. Imelda's sons left the party telling everyone they saw "This is the best party EVER!! We HAVE to come back next year!". When they came to a RS activity last week, they said "WE LOVE CHURCH!!!". We are still working on getting her to come to church for Sunday, but poco a poco, she is warming up to the church. Getting her to meet members has really done miracles for her I think. Before Isis' family left, her mom told me that she would really like to come to church, but she doesn't really understand English (the party was mostly put on by the English ward in La Canada). After I told her there was a Spanish congregation, she said that she' d come!

This week has been incredible. We have been seeing so many opportunites come, our energy has been up and excitement to do the work, we have continued to be a little more united as we work and teach together, and we are finding people, our planning has been so much better. It's been amazing to see the difference. Reading the Book of Mormon to try to finish it by Christmas has also been amazing. I have learned so much already and have seen little miracles in my life this week through it. It's amazing the blessings that come when we strive to have more specific and inspired goals pushing us each week. 

And, icing on the cake! This week, we went to visit a family in the ward, to get to know them a little better. We were talking about their family and she mentioned that she had served a mission. She served in Argentina, Buenos Aires North. Hmmmm....sound familiar anyone?! Well, I knew that she is about 35, 36ish, so I asked if she knew any Elder LaPierre. She said it sounded familiar. Well, we came back the next day to check up on something and guess what she found in her mission scrap book?! A Picture of Cris!!!!! Apparently they served in the same zone!! Does Sister Barillas sounds familiar?

Anyways, love and miss you all. Hope you're all doing really well! 

Love, 

Hermana LaPierre

PS- the pics are of me and Hna. Corriga (Barillas) and my district last transfer (one we have one new elder and 2 new sisters).

CA Week 6

Hello family!

This week has been good. As of today, I am now officially on my second transfer of my mission! Woohoo!

Alot of things happened this week- we had a really good fhe with a really great family in the ward and his (the father's) nonmember mother was there as well, she's a sweet woman, 3 boys are so cute and gave really powerful, simple testimonies of the Gospel. It was amazing to watch, especially to see their grandmother sitting in and listening to them bear their testimonies of the Gospel. They are amazing little missionaries already. The Spirit was strong. 

Another great experience I had this week was in exchanges on Tuesday. I had a sister come to train me for a day. She is an incredible missionary. Her name is Hna. Zamora, she's from Mexico. It learned so much from her. She opened our area and has baptized almost 20 people since she's been out on her mission, so I've heard alot about her before. We were talking about how sometimes missionaries tend to limit themselves by their weaknesses and say things like, "well, I'm just shy, or I'm not a people person, so I can't really talk to people", how it's hard to go out of our comfort zone, and so alot of the times, we just stick to the missionary work we're comfortable with, but don't push ourselves to go much further. In Alma 26:5, it talks about the harvest and how the field is ripe, but we have to work hard, labor with all our might, and then the harvest is great! I love studying the harvest because it proves how much work there really is, if you want it enough to work for it. I was really excited to go finding with her as well. We went to an apartment complex to find a potential investigator and ended up knocking the rest of the apartments there. I realized that she would just talk to them enough to find someway she could relate a gospel principle to them and then would just start bearing testimony. It made contacting alot more spiritual and more powerful than I had done it before. I still feel a little uncomfortable when I do door contacts, so watching her made me want to knock until it wasn't awkward anymore, or until I just let go and let the Spirit take over. 

This transfer, I really want to focus on becoming an instrument in the hands of the Lord. I know part of that means forcing myself to go out of my comfort zone and letting the Lord know that I want Him to use me. I was studying in PMG the other day about the Book of Mormon and one of the things it says that stood out to me is that reading the BoM is one of the best ways you can grow closer to the Savior and recognize His Spirit in your life. I know that's true- it's what I'm out here teaching to other people, so I made a goal to try to finish the Book of Mormon by Christmas! Hermana Mulitalo is trying to finish it before she leaves after this transfer, so we're working on it together (only, I'll be going a little slower). I'm really excited. Elder Holland gave a talk in the MTC where he talks about the need to push ourselves as missionaries if we expect miracles to come. If I really want to be Heavenly Father's instrument here, I have to do what it takes to get there, and generally that means more than just being a "good missionary" that does the "missionary things" and not limiting myself to what I can do here. Anyways, that's just something I've been thinking about this week. 

We got to visit our investigator, Isis', family this week. We made several stops by to try to see her, but were not able to see her until yesterday! It was really good though because we got to talk to her sister and her sister's fiancee. We want to try to teach them as well. Her whole family is really nice to us and I think they've gotten really used to us coming around, which is great. Her sister also just had a baby and they talked about starting to go to a church again- so I think we're here just at the right time. Their mom (Isis and her sister's) is a cake decorator and she said she might be able to teach us a little bit sometime. I'm all over that!

Another exciting thing that happened this week is that we had one of our investigators at a Relief Society Activity on Wednesday. It was so awesome to see members take her under their wing. It was even better when a couple days later, one of the hermanas in the ward asked us who she was, and if she could have her phone number so she could talk to her or visit her. Another recent convert said that she wanted to come with us to visit her as well. Imelda (that's our investigator's name) has 4 kids, and 3 of them came with her to the activity and played in the gym with kids there for mutual, etc. They all loved coming to church! We were even able to do a mini-tour with her while she was there and show her the Chapel. She hasn't come to church yet, but step by step, she'll be there soon I'm sure. 

This week has definitely have it's challenges, but there are good things going on here. The work is moving forward. 

I love and miss you all so much!

Love, 

Hermana Laree LaPierre

CA

Hello everyone!

 

This past week was suuuuper cold (for CA) and rained a couple days. It was in 50s and 60s- I was not a fan, especially since I haven't gotten any coats/ jackets yet. But we're back in the 90s and sun, so I'm good for now. It was nice to actually feel like I was in a Boston fall though for a couple days (minus the colors).

 

The week, alot of our appointments fell through, including our strong investigators as well, so it was a pretty slow week. We got to teach seminary on Thursday morning. It was a good lesson- we taught about missionary work, using the story in the New Testament of Christ calling Peter and a few of His other apostles to be "fishers of men"- one of my favorite scriptures, before, but especially now after this past conference. The majority of the class was awake and we had several comments from the class, so I'd say it was a pretty successful lesson!

 

Another interesting experience I had this week was on Wednesday. We went to a member's house for cena and she fed us soooo much food. She started out  giving us a small bowl of clam chowder, and then came out with a HUGE plate of food for each of us- mashed potatoes, ribs, tempora shrimp, rice, beans, etc.... It was really good, but a TON, so I kept trying to eat it all, but couldn't without getting sick. I started feeling really sick so I went to the bathroom. Well, I didn't throw up, so I went back to the table. I got back and not only did I have the rest of my plate to eat, but she had put a giant bowl of arroz con leche by my seat. Ah! I tried finishing my food, but finally gave up. I did finish the bowl of arroz con leche though- it was really good, but I was so full I was more focused on trying to eat without getting sick again.

Then- like an hour later, we went to visit a former investigator and a potential. They were making mole in behind the house and told us to come back there and talk to them, so we did. We ended up staying until the mole was finished. She had made a ton because it looked like they were having a party (they're were like 15-20 more people that started showing up as we were talking). She ended up giving us a little bit with a plate of beans. It was pretty good, the beans were super spicy and tasted kind of pickley (I don't really know how to describe it). Well anyways, I got super sick again and this time really was about to throw up- gagging and everything. I was trying so hard not to show it and was concentrating and praying so so hard that I wouldn't throw up in front of them. AWKWARD! Luckily, my companion noticed that I was not doing so well, and asked if I could use their bathroom. I didn't think I'd make it to the bathroom for a while, but by the time I got there I was feeling a better, so I didn't end up throwing up! So that was good, although I didn't eat after that until the afternoon the next day.  I really cannot eat a lot of food, which makes dinners very interesting/ exciting. However, we went to a members' house the other day and had a steak dinner with pasta salad, broccoli and fruit,etc. I had no problem with that dinner! I don't think I'm entirely adjusted to real, authentic Latino food. It's really pathetic, but hopefully that will change in a while.

 

The other exciting mission experience I had was giving a talk in Sacrament meeting yesterday. I chose to talk about the Doctrine of Christ. I looove studying that topic so I learned alot while I was preparing for the talk. When we got to church though, the other speaker (an RM from the stake) wasn't there yet, so I was kind of freaking out. Luckily, half way through my talk she showed up! I ended up speaking for I think about 20 minutes, all in Spanish. I was so nervous and I know I definately was not speaking correctly. I told a few experiences, but I'm not sure they actually made sense. It went well though. The more I study the Doctrine of Christ, the more I understand how important it is and why it's at the center of what we do, in the church and as missionaries. It is our access to the Atonement, and how we apply the Atonement in our lives. Thus, how we come closer to Christ. Another thing I think is so interesting is how in 3 Nefi 11, after Christ spends the chapter describing His doctrine/ gospel, he closes with an invitation to go and preach it to others. It makes alot more sense now why our purpose as missionaries is the doctrine of Christ.

 

We had a mission conference this week with Elder Corbridge. It was good, a little confusing, but good. I learned alot of good things about our purpose and teaching our purpose. He talked alot about how to teach better- teaching twith a destination, route and conclusion to each lesson.

 

I love you all, hope you're all doing well.

 

Love you,

 

Hermana LaPierre

 

 

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