Transfer 9: Week 4: Extended zone--OA

Hello!

Hope that this e-mail finds all of you well.... this mission is going by lightening fast for me, and I bet it is going likewise for you all as well. This week has been a week of interesting occurrences office and square wise. Sometimes our office tasks can require a lot of self discovery, like when we found a lovely batch of wires on our desk that said "Fix me" (Ok it was actually a nice post-it note that asked us to buy another one of whatever it was). Although Sister Au-Yeung and I do not know much about electronics, we know a lot about the varying departments in the Church Office Building. So we found our friendly neighborhood electronics engineers and asked them where we could purchase another wire to replace the one that was broken. To our surprise, instead of answering our question, they took the wire thing and made us a brand new one. Then they left before we could learn their names, so we can't even write them a thank-you note or anything. There are some definite benefits to being a missionary in Utah.

On Temple Square we have been having so many Chinese miracles, and fortunately for me most Chinese who come and visit Temple Square in small groups understand English very well. I was able to talk to so many this past week and see how much they wanted to learn more about everything... one lady liked the church and how it protected the family even though she cannot even begin to believe in God. I wish that more people recognized the importance of learning more. She couldn't conceptualize God, but she did know that if she did the things the church suggested that they would be able to have a better relationship with her son. (Of course we gave her a Family Proclamation)

That's the greatest thing about truth. Even if someone doesn't understand why it works, they can recognize that it does work. There is ultimate truth, and it comes from the same source that Moses received the Ten Commandments, the same source that enable Christ to walk on water or raise the dead... the true and living God. Funny thing is that people are often afraid of that exact thing. Truth. I'm grateful that I get to proclaim it each and every day.

Sister Pielstick

(Image is 'love' in Chinese)

Transfer 9: week 3: Extended Zone: OA

Good Morning!

Ok, so here it's 1:30, but it's still morning in Alaska! That's close enough, right? Time zones are the hardest thing to understand in this mission... if it wasn't so difficult to change one's schema (aka having it be dark at 1:00PM) I would be all for having a universal time schedule where everyone is up and going at about the same time. However that would pose far too many difficulties, so I'll just have to live with the fact that Kenya is one of the most awkward time zones I've ever had to call. Nine hours ahead and she wants to understand more about the Book of Mormon, from what I understood from the connection. That can be difficult at times though.

There are so many people here this weekend. Pioneer day weekend is possibly the busiest I've seen temple square in a while. And Utahans are not the only people out here for the celebration... we took the cutest family from Guatemala around who were here visiting relatives to see the activities surrounding pioneer day. Their little boy was adorably inquisitive... about 2 but just trying to get to a little diorama of the temple with all of his two year old powers. And mom was so caring. I loved her so much, how she was able to handle such small children and still keep the spirit intact was a miraculous feat.

Interestingly enough we are teaching a couple of people from the east. One investigator, he's about Grandpa's age, is the sweetest old man I've met on my mission, not to mention one of the most prepared investigators I've ever had. He has such a strong testimony of the Savior, and he's been through so much in his life. He understands and recognizes the important parts of the restoration, and he taught us those principles himself in our very first lesson... and he is calling the missionaries so that he can go and meet with them as soon as possible.

All in all missionary work is the best... it's a chance to teach people truth that they will use in their every-day life. It's also a chance to help people find hope in trying times and peace when things are the most turbulent. The only panacea for the ills of the world really is the gospel of Jesus Christ and for a few months I get to share it with literally the whole world.

Best of Luck!
Sister Pielstick

Transfer 9: Week 2: Extended zone: OA

你好

Sister Au-Yeung helped me type in "hello" in Chinese.(Mandarin and Cantonese are pronunciation differences, not written language differences so they both read the same Chinese)

This week has been a rather interesting week when it comes to conversation... we've talked to many prepared, many unprepared, and many just plain fun people this week. Unfortunately, because of our assignment, we do not get out on Temple Square as much as we would like to, but God seems to make up for it with interesting people when we come out of our assigned tasks.

We got to talk to Microbiologists and professors, middle school history teachers and very confused Chinese (who mistook the acoustical demonstration in the Tabernacle for a religious rite, fortunately Sister Au-Yeung was able to help them understand that tearing paper and dropping pins are not typically a part of a church service) The professors of science history helped me realize just how much detail is in our church from the Bible. They recognized the specific passages that correlate with just about every 'quirk' of religious worship that we have as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It makes me wonder why so many people are unable to recognize that, even in our own congregations. We talked about the origins of tithing, prophets, temples, everything... even baptism. It's funny how much logical sense the religion makes in comparison with the Bible. Then to think that it was started by a young farmer who did not even know that there was a wall around Jerusalem... where did all of these Biblical connections come from if not from God Himself?

Despite the historical logic, it also is interesting to note that despite knowing all of these things about our church that they still had not asked God and found out if it was all true. You have to have the spiritual knowledge from God in order for religion to change you and actually mean anything more than an interesting connection between the old and new beliefs. God's plan is truly perfect, allowing for knowledge to be gained from all angles. Maybe there is going to be a scientific connection sooner rather than later? Who knows?

We're teaching some wonderful women from the east coast. They are so wonderful... they try their hardest to come closer to Jesus Christ through daily prayer and scripture study. And one of them had the missionaries walk in while we were teaching her about the restoration... which was nice, albeit it is going to be an interesting missionary story for those Elders in Pennsylvania. Going to a house while she was trying to get in contact with the missionaries in her local area. Miracle investigator I'm sure.

Best of luck with everything!
Sister Pielstick

http://www.watton.org/clipart/bible/bibles.shtml- Bible art

Transfer 9: Week 1: Extended Zone: OA

Hello!

I hope that this finds everyone doing well... this last transfer went pretty quickly with all of the interesting changes that happened in the middle of everything. I am now training someone in the office... Sister Au-Yeung! Asian fun again... we were so shocked to hear that we were going to be companions again. So my time with Sister K. Farmer was short lived, but we had loads of fun. Maybe we'll be companions again on the mission... but to be honest only the Lord knows.

With the summer in full swing there are so many people on Temple Square... some who are interested in learning more, some are interested in the flowers and a new influx of people who are obsessed with the falcons that live in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. There are about 8-15 people who will track every movement that the falcons make... they've even given them names. I suppose having a family of the fastest birds on the Planet would make anyone excited, but it was just a new thing that I hadn't experienced before. Maybe after my mission I'll be a bird chaser rather than a tornado chaser...I bet that it would be infinitely safer, assuming that I do not dress up as a pigeon or rodent.

Falcon enthusiasts are not the only people on Temple Square though, there are also many people out for weddings and one of the most amazing programs that the mission has started doing is taking the family of the couple getting married on a tour of Temple Square while they wait for the marriage to take place. The family can request to have a missionary take them to see the temple model or to see God's Plan for His Family so their family and friends do not have to wait in the waiting room forever waiting for them to come out. It's not really there to get referrals from guests, but it's there for the family to still feel included and understand why their children want to get married in the first place. Missionary work is an amazing thing.

We also have seen many miracles because of members of this church who have had that desire to share the gospel with their family and friends. One allowed us to take his girlfriend on a tour so she could feel and experience Temple Square. They were so much fun, and he helped her see why it was important to him... she was so impressed with the combined testimonies of us and him that she wanted to learn more from the missionaries...

Best wishes to everyone.

Sister Pielstick

Transfer 8: Week 6

Hello!

The weather is Hot, the unusual thunderstorms are pleasant, and the Temple is still made out of granite. And Sister Pielstick is still in the office. However now I understand more of what this place means... basically if there is anything related to lists or numbers, or anything resembling a list or a number then we get to take care of it. Missions require a lot of work, and this mission requires a lot of background help to keep running smoothly... We're not leaders, we just get all the information they do and we report for the mission. That didn't make much sense either: suffice it to say that office assistants help with the mission's temporal needs running while the assistants to the president keep the spiritual needs of the mission met. It's odd and has no category to put you in, so I guess it suits me perfectly.

Missionary work is fun though. We just met this amazing family from South Africa, who had the most amazing questions and wanted to read and understand more from the missionaries. I love it when you get to meet people who actually are looking for something and want to learn more about the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Teaching History was so much fun, because you never knew what question that it would prompt: eg teaching about the temple and them asking us about Joseph Smith. I was in love with them. We have the opportunity to teach so much in Temple Square, and to teach the entire world here. I feel sorry for other missions sometimes, because we have no end of potential investigators here. But then again, they get to teach them face to face... so I suppose that would make the difference worth it. It just makes me sad when people do not recognize how much this mission works to teach the entire world. Sister Farmer and I had one set of Elders who brought their investigator to Temple Square (no, sadly, it was not Elder Bonaro)... which was so much fun because as the four of us taught together their investigator opened up so much and we got to learn more about why he wanted to read the Book of Mormon, which wouldn't have happened so quickly in any other setting than standing in front of Mormon himself with four representatives of Jesus Christ working toward one goal. Missions should work together towards a common goal instead of competing one with another.

We also had a wonderful new investigator from California. She is AMAZING, she called me and asked for the bigger picture that God has for her life. She had visited Temple Square last year, but was not even remotely interested in anything but the history. Then when she went through a hard time she thought about the church and decided to call us and learn more and meet with the missionaries. There are a few more miracles, but life as a missionary is wonderful and I am excited to be here on Temple Square.

Sister Pielstick