Transfer 12: Week 5; North 3

Hello!

This will most likely be my last post... I leave on My P-day next week.

This week has been super crazy. There are so many things that have to be done because this mission is not like any other in the world. We have to split up our area book and give our beloved investigators to the other sisters in the mission. Sister Au-yeung is already on top of the people I sent to her and some of the people who met with the missionaries before stopped meeting with them and now she is teaching them with her trainee... my crazy cat man friend and the Philippine man obsessed with finding the secret to happiness. Our investigator in Kenya hasn't been picking up recently because his phone died, so hopefully he doesn’t get lost. Sister Platt and Aranda have some interesting troubles with our investigator from Nairobi... so hopefully everything is going well.

We've met some amazing members during the Christmas lights. One lady I met was an amazing member missionary... she was a convert of a couple of years and wanted all of her friends to know more about the gospel. The funniest thing was that I never invited her; she just stopped me because I was a missionary. I love miracles like that, people who are so prepared that they would refer with anyone... I was just in the right place at the right time. I shouldn't have been there, but I was in the right place to get a miracle. I also love hearing people's conversion stories, whether it be because of a missionary or because of a scripture... the spirit comes so strongly. I think that one of the general authorities stated that when you speak by the spirit then miracles come out of your mouths. Miracles are interesting beasties to have. Following God's will and not yours is always interesting. I talked to this one older man who was a farmer and I remember thinking that we were wasting our time talking to him because he loved talking, but then he thought of a bunch of farm hands who needed the gospel. I never would have guessed. Just to prove that my judgments were incorrect I met another old man who was just getting active in the church again, but was telling us how he adopted one of his daughters and then we found out about his son who was so excited to be a missionary that he is already following the white handbook and studying his scriptures... it'll be fun to see where his son gets sent when he turns in his mission papers in two years.

We've also met some amazing guests as well... not any that were interested in learning more about the church, but some really neat people who were sincerely interested in learning more for themselves. I hope that the skiers get the snow that they want so badly. I'll pray for them to get some more.

Good to hear from you all and the Christmas tree is so covered with ornaments that I can hardly see the tree itself.
Sister Pielstick

Transfer 12: Week 4: North 3

Welcome to Temple Square!

We did the math... if you see how many people came here last year for the lights and divide it by the number of days that the lights are on we get about 30,000 people each night to see the lights. This explains why we are all so tired at the end of the night... (which are even more tired because we stay out one hour later almost every day... much to the chagrin of returned missionaries from other places, "sisters isn't it time for you to go home now?") It's good to be able to talk to more people though... There are so many from places all over the world, not just Utah. If you think about all these people who are here, every one of them have problems and stories and a life behind their frozen exteriors.

I've met some amazing people, some of who should not be alive. I met an old friend the other night and he was telling me a bunch of his old mission stories about being hit by vehicles and attacked by muggers and the like... it was fun. I'm glad that my stories are not dangerous, merely interesting people and funny awkwardness and being guided by the spirit. Knowing that God can and will talk to you is a great blessing. It's not just about getting a yes or no answer to a question that you have carefully formulated in your mind... it's also about knowing things about the people you meet without asking, or ask but they are incapable to telling you, or being able to turn to a scripture that helps them with a problem that you didn't realize that they have. Then there's recognizing the potential of people that in no way look prepared to hear about God, much less Jesus Christ or the restoration of his gospel. And the most miraculous one is that people understand my French and feel the spirit when I talk to them over the phone or on Temple Square. That definitely makes me interested to see how much God really wants His children to hear his gospel... One man I talked to, I am certain that he wasn't able to understand much of what I was saying but he wanted to get in contact with the missionaries to understand what he was feeling. I've come to recognize many different ways to receive answers to my prayers.

Just this week I was teaching an investigator in Africa (not in French) and we were talking about the nature of God... when my Bible opened to a scripture about Baptism (Romans 6:4)... one that I rarely, if ever, use. And one that was not even marked in the scriptures that I was using... the wording was weird so I didn't want to share it, but he apparently brings his Bible with him everywhere so he opened it up and read the scripture. It wasn't the King James Version that I was using, but when he read the verse I understood why God had brought it into my mind, because the wording in his version was exactly what he needed to hear and resolved his concern with what we were teaching about the purpose of Jesus Christ in God's plan. It was amazing. God is so aware of each and every one of us, no matter whom we are or where we live.

Life is traveling on wings of lightening... but I thought that I would add the link to the neat Bible Videos that were shown at the Christmas devotional because I love the depiction of the angels in them... a new and different version that seems more real than other depictions that I've seen before... I've been thinking a lot about angels recently, just how amazing it is to have the scriptures declared to you by a heavenly being from God. Angels are so different in different denominations of Christianity, some believe that they are an entity entirely different than humans, some that they are glorified humans, some depict them with wings, others with halos, some with merely white garb, others with colorful. I'm just fascinated by them.

Have a wonderful day!
Sister Pielstick

Link address: http://lds.org/bible-videos?lang=eng

Transfer 12: Week 3; North 3

Hello Everyone!

I am now no longer confused about the ornaments that everyone's been sending. I got the tree yesterday and now Sister Bryers from Australia has decided that she really wants to meet mom. (she also didn't believe that my dad was a surfer, but there is no ocean nearby... I suppose we're just going to have to visit her someday apparently she has some good surf beaches where she's from) thanks for all the ornaments... I loved them, I was just confused because there was no place to hang them on the Christmas tree that we found in our apartment...which just so happens to be the same Christmas tree that I had last year because I am back in the apartment that I had with Sister Bruno about this time last year. Sister Keliamakia almost stole a fish off of mom's tree... because she thought it was funny to have fish on a Christmas tree. (She’s from new Zealand and she's pretty much hilarious) The tree is now tacked up next to Jesus and I'll just show you the picture when I get home because I don't remember where I packed the camera cord for the computer.

This week was funny because I passed off in French... and I've been drawn to all the Quebequois on temple square. They all now have the spiritual equivalent of a neon sign that lets me know that I need to talk to them. One man came up and talked to us, he has such a sweet spirit... he was trying to find out how to know god better, and even though my French was terrible... he was almost crying because he felt the love of God so much when he heard about it in his own language. I wish that I had the words to tell him how much love I felt that God had for him... it was very overwhelming. God truly loves his children and goes above and beyond to help them understand and feel his love when they are seeking him out. I wish that I could bottle up that feeling and tap into it when I feel like I'm not worth anything... it was so strong. It was a testimony that God loves all of His children... even ones who have been avoiding him for a little while.

Another interesting experience came from a delightful Philippino... they are possibly the happiest people I've met in the world (except for the Chinese that come to Temple Square) He was a little shorter than me and was chasing his grandchildren around when he saw us. Usually we're the ones who ask for information, but he said that he always sends Christmas cards to one or two sister missionaries each year and he decided that we were the missionaries that he was going to add to his group this year. He must be one of the most amazing grandpas ever for his kids... just collecting friends from all over the world, so that they can see the stamps and things.

Christmas lights are out and so are all the people.
Have a wonderful day!
Sister Pielstick

Transfer 12; week 2; North 3

Life is revving up for the time of the Christmas lights. So exciting, they are going to open the Square an hour later for the entire season, instead of only being later on the weekends. We're so excited for all of the people... even though we've had loads here because of the Thanksgiving holiday. God is amazing; He takes care of everyone so well. Sister Fox and I met the most amazing couple from Costa Rica who came here to ski. It made me think because sometimes we get couples who come here for their honeymoons and they seem to be so focused on themselves that they can't even avoid walking into things... but these two were so considerate and cared for each other so much. I was happy to be around them and talk about everything. God really brings the prepared people when it's a little slower here. They wanted nothing else, but to be with each other forever and to feel God's love with them at all times.

When you meet different types of people you wonder what you need to go and do to be a better person. They are all children of God, but some you would emulate and some you would not. just thinking about how the people became the way they are... to their belief, to their hearts... it makes one start to think why anyone would assume that we are merely determined by our environments. There has to be something else, people who have had similar upbringings can have such different personalities. We are all so individual. Life is so amazing.

Albeit meeting new people is so good, our investigators are having a collectively bad week. They all got the "deadly flu" as one of them put it. I think it's amusing that they all got colds when they are from all over the world... Kenya, Romania, USA, Jamaica... I certainly hope that the telephone is not a conductor because one of them sounded like he just needed to rest for about a week... we hope that he gets the Book of Mormon soon so it can keep him company. Life is fun though and seeing how they learn about God and coming closer to him is the best experience ever.

Have a great week.
Sister Pielstick

Transfer 12; week 1; North 3

Hello!
I'm a little baffled because I am not in Extended or Cover... so that means that I will not be in the Beehive house anymore. I am still coming to terms with that sad eventuality, but it'll be good. I am companions with Sister Fox from Athol Massachusetts. Yeah, east coast! We're also the only Americans in the entire zone (aside from Sister Shaw and Sister Felici, who people never believe that she is really from Austin Texas), which is so funny considering there were only three international trainees and both of the sisters training got international sisters. This makes zone meetings hilarious, to say the least. I'm going to miss being with internationals.
Missionary work has been wonderful as well. This week has been one of the most productive (teaching wise) my entire mission. I've taught more discussions, invited more people, and helped resolved more concerns than any other time. Needless to say it is also the happiest time of my mission. We have new investigators from all over the world and they are reading from the Book of Mormon as often as they can. (One lost contact with the Internet, but next month it'll be fixed... hence the need for daily contact. There is Such a difference when they don't read... you tell the loss of spirit so much.) I am excited to call people And I got to call Sister Fox's mom to invite her to learn more.... she didn't want to learn more, BUT she said that she knew some people who would love to learn more... in fact she was so excited for me to call them she gave the phone to them so I could invite them there on the spot. They are the sweetest couple in the whole world. I am so excited that I get to help them understand God's plan for their lives. Missionary work is like that sometimes... you find people and they are amazing and they do actually want to learn more and you can't really do anything about it. I mean it is crazy to think that someone who has never heard of our church before would agree after one phone call to meet with missionaries to learn more, but they do. And sometimes when you invite them to be baptized they say yes.... when they haven't even seen a church building before... that is a miracle to me greater than the parting of any Red Sea.

Everything is doing well, and I am enjoying learning more and I had a wonderful pokey stick day (the Korean holiday that is on 11/11... which meant that it was especially special this year) Thanks for all of your love and support.

Sister Pielstick

Transfer 11; Week 6; Cover Zone--Beehive house

Oi vey!

This transfer is going by so quickly. I can't believe that it is already over and I'm about to start my 12th transfer. Crazy.

Everything is going well, I had some rather interesting experiences with people from different religions. I met some of my first Church of Christ Congregationalists. They were some of the nicest people that I've had the pleasure to meet whilst I have been on my mission (second only to the Catholic priests that I have met while on my mission). They had amazing questions and it seemed that we both were having a hard time figuring out why one wasn't the other. (They believe in Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, everything except modern day revelation... but we couldn't figure out why though. It was fun to try and figure it out though)

Also I have a firm testimony of the Book of Mormon and Satan's desperate attempts to disprove the validity of the Book of Mormon. There is something that needs to happen in order for someone to truly take the book into consideration is to believe that reading it will not turn you into a cult. (I tried in vain to explain the definition of a cult was not to read a certain book, but I gave up in the end... some people just don't listen to the spirit or the Webster dictionary) It was fun trying to help people, albeit it's hard to help them when they resort to speaking in gibberish whenever you are testifying about the Savior... I'm going to have to go back and study Corinthians more fully soon.

Thanks so much for everything that you do! I'm excited to see what happens next. (even if it means that some of my best friends on the mission are leaving on Wednesday :(... so sad... except maybe my new friends will be coming to the mission as well)

Sister Pielstick

Transfer11; week 5; Cover zone--beehive house

Hello!

How are you doing? There is so much to do in order to get everything done. I talked to the most amazing fisherman (imagine Deadliest Catch, like Dad likes watching only it's actually his life) who loves the change that he saw in the life of his daughter because of the restored gospel... the people you meet on your mission help you see how amazing God's children actually are.

Still more people in hibernation, at least in hibernation they answer their phones on a more regular basis and we get to talk to more people than we usually do. Sisters get really restless though. I think that they are all stir crazy in the motors... most zones get 40-50 hours on the computers so they find it rather difficult to manage everything and be on task... but that's the challenge of any mission I imagine.

Our investigator from Kenya just agreed to be baptized... we're so happy. But we didn't get much farther because his phone died. He's really amazing though. (and he's getting a new phone soon that should accept our calls on a better basis.) We're learning a lot and everything is going well otherwise... missions are a whole lot of work and I'm not certain of how I am going to adjust to real life at all... but that's what happens I suppose.

That's all! We have to get to a German language meeting for SIster Kaberry.... fun, right?
Sister Pielstick

Transfer 11: week 4:Cover zone--Beehive house

Hello family!

Life is pretty much amazing, despite the frigid weather... maybe it was just a hot summer and I got used to it or maybe my companion's warm bloodied-ness is making things hard... who knows? Anyways, Utah is cold, but I am glad that God has me spending another fall in the Beehive house. Even if it means that I do not get to take as many people as I would like to the conference center. (which is my personal favorite place to teach people, always has been, actually) But we took an amazing man from Oregon there the other day and he was so sweet, I wanted to adopt him as my grandfather. But, he already has granddaughters. Oh well, I'll just share with him more about the restored gospel... that'll be good enough, right?

Also our investigators from Africa are eagerly awaiting the coming of the missionaries. They don't have the feast picked out, but they are trying to figure out how in heaven's name to get to church when it is so far away. I never thought of how much of a blessing it is to have a church so nearby (even when we had to drive almost 35 min to get there) and these people typically travel by bus, which makes the drive even longer than it would be normally. But one especially is amazing. He met a group of members who came out to help build orphanages and he saw something different in them and wanted to gain a testimony for himself of the truth.

Also we're excited to see what Halloween excitement will happen this year, I didn't realize that Halloween was so close! Next week. Oivey... and then Sister K Farmer and a whole bunch of other people will go home to their families for thanksgiving. Life is certainly crazy, and the crazy people come to the Beehive house. We've had some wonderful people, members of the church as well as guests who asked about the law of chastity in the middle of one of the children's rooms. We haven't been on Temple Square as much as I would like with my assignment, but life is still pretty good.

Have fun!
Sister Pielstick

Transfer 11; week 3; Cover Zone--Beehive house

Hello!

This week has gone by so fast! There are so many things that need to be done, and far too little time in which to do them. I wish that I had more time in a day. Being in Beehive house all the time and in motors so much is making it rather hard to see the people on Temple Square... but I'm certain that things will work out in the end. I just wish that I could be more productive... over conference we got over 9,000 people for us to call on the phones and we have to get in contact with them. Which makes me so happy to be in the Beehive house, because we get so much time to call.

I've already talked to a couple, and they are pretty much amazing. For some reason people almost hang up on me when they find out that I am a missionary... then when I mention that I am a scientist as well they stay on the line and talk for a little longer... which helps a lot in these cases. Who knew that microbiology was of interest to so many people? (and that you could bridge to the gospel from tuberculosis and Penicillin) Muhahah... I've also discovered that your success is dependent on how you choose to be. If you choose to be sad because you forgot your coat and it's 50 degrees outside, then people don't want to talk to you and they definitely do not want to learn more about the gospel that has obviously not made you very happy... and when you are happy to be there, then so are the guests and then they are more likely to refer for missionaries.

I'm so lucky to be a district leader.... I'm not certain what I can do to help the sisters out, but they certainly help me learn how to be more productive in teaching, in missionary work and in life. They are such amazing examples to me and then I get to learn a little more about how much God loves each and every one of his children. We are also now allowed for the first time ever in my mission to commit people to baptism! Which makes me so so happy! I feel like a first transfer again, only now I know how to talk to more than 10 people a day. This change in the mission direction is so so necessary. I just wish that I had more time to enjoy the new freedom that comes from helping people focus on a clear goal. Baptism. Entering into the first real covenant with God and enabling you to access the Atonement of Jesus Christ to the fullest extent! These last few studies have been so much fun because we can practice baptismal commitments... our first lesson to commit is planned for Friday!

Otherwise missionary work is slowing down a bit as people start hibernating for the winter... honestly, it seems like no one wants to be where it is cold outside. Oh well God really and truly loves us and wants us to be helped to know what we are doing. That's why he put us in a nice warm house for the winter (well it will be warm as soon as they figure out how to turn on the radiators... apparently the person who did it last year retired and forgot to tell someone how to do it... so funny it reminds me of when I had to buy ink for the large printer when I was an office assistant.... no one had purchased it for about 4 transfers so no one who was on the mission knew how it... except for Sister Hardy... but she knows how to do everything)

Hope that this finds everyone doing well!
Sister Pielstick

Transfer 11; week 2; Cover zone--Beehive house

Hello Family and friends!

We hope that everything is going well with you all. This last week has been crazy busy, having General Conference in the first two days of the transfer was a very scary thing because so many people were going outbound and so many things were changing all at once... Sister Pielstick may or may not have been really sad to leave the office and mad that she got an assignment that she has been trying to avoid since the beginning of her mission. (not Beehive house, District Leader) But since I am now consigned to my fate, I thought that you all might like to know why I am not always with my lovely Australian companion.

Sister Kaberry and I have a lot of fun, we both attract the oddballs and the Beehive House attracts the oddballs so we've met some really amazing people and some really bizarre people this past week... our favorite person to talk to was a wonderful man named Ali who loves his children and his grandchildren and almost referred to have missionaries come. I love prepared people who are not afraid to ask the hard questions. Answering questions makes me so happy, assuming they are not asking for the bathroom or whether the china dogs in the front parlor are originals. I just hope that everyone understands how powerful being in the home of a prophet can be because they really enable us to bring the spirit with only a little explanation. I love presetting the feeling of love that you get as you walk through that house. Sister Kaberry also speaks German so we also get to talk to wonderful German couples... but no German Sheppard yet... (just kidding, I know that wouldn't be the best idea in the world) This is wonderful because every person I seem to contact seems to speak German... which can be frustrating.

Also we have an investigator in Africa who lives about 3 hours away from the nearest church, but he just told us that he is thinking about driving his motorcycle over to the church to see what it is all about. So funny, people in the states might complain if the church is 30 min away from their home when they are in a car. People are so prepared sometimes, and when you feel like you don't have anything to teach them Heavenly Father teaches them everything through the Spirit. I'm glad that God is on my team in this endeavor. It makes things a lot less difficult.

Nothing else to really report except that I really am looking forward to seeing what General Conference was all about because I certainly didn't know what all the leaders talked about... I saw the afternoon session and absolutely fell in love with Elder Perry's talk on missionary work. (surprised? me neither)

Best of luck, and just so you know Australian is the hardest accent to learn ever…
Sister Pielstick

Transfer 11; week 1; Cover zone--Beehive house

Hello!

I write to you now with a whole lot of changes and a lot less things to do. (I kind-of feel like a traitor to Sister Au-Yeung for leaving the office right before the biggest transfer this mission has had in over a year and monthly report and General Conference) It wasn't my idea, it was Gods. Oh well... God needed me back at the Beehive House, for some reason or another at the same time as last year. General Conference in a prophet's home, not a bad way to spend it, right?

I'm also writing to you with a new companion Sister Kaberry from Australia and Germany... which means that I have now had companions from all the continents on the earth except Africa, but I am teaching a man from Africa... does that make up for it? He is the sweetest man in the world and is in love with a member from Utah (how they met each other I do not know) she's really nice so far but because of exchanges I actually haven't been able to get to know her very well yet. But I'll let you all know more about her next week when I'll know her very well. But she's from Australia so that's pretty amazing anyways....but more exciting news is to come.

For the first time in Temple Square history there is a missionary going to the beautiful Florida Jacksonville Mission! Her name is Sister Mendivelso and she's one of my favorite people in the world. We were roommates for two transfers and I won't be able to see her again while I am on my mission.... but she may get to serve in my home town. (But apparently the mission is HUGE, did you know that it covers part of South Carolina?!? I am praying that she gets sent to our area with the sisters there. Love her so so much. She is hilarious and Columbian, which makes her even more awesome.

Since I wrote pretty much everything else that happened on Saturday.... I'll just let you all go with the fact that the church is true and that there really are prophets and apostles on this earth.... and sometimes they give amazing talks about tiny flowers.

Love you all!
Sister Pielstick

Transfer 10: Week 6; Extended Zone--OA

Hello!

This week was a Japanese week. So many different people from Japan, and they were all amazing.... albeit Japanese culture does not look kindly on having strangers visit. I hope that the missionaries tract into the people that we met over the last couple of days, especially after they watch General Conference. (They promised to after talking to us.) The gospel can really help all people find peace no matter what trials they are coming into in this life. God knows them, and when they come to a place where they can feel His love He gives it to them freely. One Man from Tokyo was so sweet, we have a display here on Temple Square where you can watch the Testimonies of the 12 modern apostles speak, we showed him Elder Perry's testimony and he felt the spirit so strongly, he wanted to know how he could listen to more... so we told him about General Conference and he's going to go and watch the apostles talk... he hopes that one of the Nehongot (Japanese) Seventies speaks this conference.

We also had some interesting times interpreting Scriptures from the Chinese translation of the Book of Mormon... because apparently it is written in regular Chinese not old Chinese (like the King James is in Shakespearean-esque English not colloquial) So when she was reading the last verse in Chinese she read that the Judgment Bar was cute, like a cat... not pleasing. We had some fun conversation about this but we still have not come to a conclusion about what the cute Judgment Bar will look like. Maybe it will be pink? I don't really know, interesting to think about though.

We are all preparing for Conference, transfer conference and general conference... They tried to have me sing three songs for transfer conference because they are trying to have a musical spiritual transfer conference.., all about the Savior, so I finally do get to sing the song that Dagan found for me. YAY! It turns out that it is Sister Günter's favorite as well, and Sister Willis from England is accompanying me...as is her beautiful American companion Sister DeMontingy. We're really excited about it.

And interesting thing happened.... President Holmes gave the mission a pre-conference treat... we got to watch 17 Miracles, a movie about the handcart pioneers. It was pretty good, albeit I already knew all of the stories because of my mother's tutelage. Who knew that the apple pie in the middle of the desert was not common knowledge? I guess other mothers prefer other types of bedtime/anytime stories. Who would have known?

Best week for investigators ever! They are all not officially reading, or excited to read the Book of Mormon and one loved what he read in Moroni so much that he is sending his family to church even though he is working on Sunday. (we met him on Temple Square and he is a truck driver so he has a hard time making it to church) But there were so many amazing miracles this week... and that was just the past few days. General Conference season is truly a season of miracles. As Sister Bruno always says "Heavenly Father is amazing" (to be honest it only works if one says it in a Brazilian accent, but I'll try my best... apparently my Portuguese isn't too bad though. I greeted one fellow and he tried to carry on a conversation with me while his daughter put copious amounts of flowers in his hair... such a good dad)

Love you all! Be excited for conference! With God nothing is Impossible.
Sister Pielstick

Transfer 10: Week 5: Extended Zone OA

Hello!

So I decided that since we were cleaning out our boxes for the summer that I'd show one of the things that we do here in the office. Since the church cannot do more than give a copy of the Book of Mormon to the guests who come here from mainland China we have many referral cards that they give us that we scan and keep digital copies in the computer for them to be contacted in the future when missionaries go there. The cards in the picture are only from the time I was in the office... not counting the other two summer months that I was not in the office. Amazing to see how many people wanted to learn more about the gospel and are now only waiting for a chance to hear it. Oddly enough the only scientists I've had refer on my mission are from the Asian countries and I cannot really communicate with them. Someday perhaps...with a lot of education on my part.

But the mission here is pretty fun. We're counting down to General Conference. I am so grateful that I get to have three General Conferences on my mission; I think it is my personal favorite time of year on my mission. We get to work with members of the church from all over the world, and as we work together to help others come closer to Jesus Christ we end up uplifting each other. I learn so much from the members that I meet. They help me realize the kind of person I want to become after my mission. In turn I hope that at least some of the scriptures that I share and the questions that I ask help them out... because if you really think about it we're all in this great battle together.

Think about it... we've been saved for generations to come at this time when evil is considered good and good evil, that if someone wants to have a family that it is considered a waste of your potential. When if you allow anything to happen without commenting you are considered to be tolerant... if you fight for morality that you are considered small minded and petty... and we're right in the midst of it... God really wants us to succeed that is why he sent us prophets in this day and age. And General Conferences and temples and the Book of Mormon.... there are so many different things to help us grow in this day and age. Hard as it is -I am glad to be here at this time. Who needs story books? We're fighting real battles each and every day of our existence. The stakes are greater than those found in any novel... our salvation is at stake. The reality of beings that existed since the dawn of time are rising and falling every second. It's exhilarating.

Yes we had some amazing people that we've taught. One woman that we're teaching over the phone finally realized that she finds the answers to her questions in the Book of Mormon. There is a different spirit around you when you study the scriptures and when you do not. I've never realized it more than while I was teaching my investigators or the members here. I don't even have to see them, but I can recognize in a few moments if they have or have not.... even if the lesson is in Cantonese.

The Spirit is that strong.

Sister PIelstick.

Transfer 10; Week 4 Extended Zone: OA

Hello!

This week has been pretty fun. There have been so many Australians coming out for General Conference. Maybe the church should make one of the sessions go to Australia and the other be in Utah... except that would be a lot of change and then the Australians couldn't plan six week church history tours that culminate in General Conference at Temple Square. It's fun how excited everyone here gets about it, the excitement is so contagious that even the non-members want to come back and get ticket to watch a real live prophet speak the words of God. We had an Australian who really wanted to extend his trip so that he could see it first hand, but he said he was definitely going to watch it when he got home. (Albeit it would have been sweeter if he had also wanted missionaries to come and talk more about prophets, but everyone has their agency)

I suppose this week was Australian week. I got to try and explain what little I know about rugby to Sister Au-Yeung, who was convinced that it was something to do with raising bunny rabbits... not exactly. Lots of things to learn and improve on... especially my Cantonese. I am not trying to learn the language while I am on my mission... I merely want to be able to introduce myself. However when there are nine tones involved and I can only identify about 5 of them... sometimes Sister Au-Yeung tells me not to say certain things ever again. I also had two Buddhist missionaries (I've never heard such a thing before, have you?) try to convert Sister Au-Yeung and I to Buddhism... I didn't have the heart to tell them that I had read the books they were talking about and they had actually confirmed my faith in the apostasy of the early churches and my testimony of the restored gospel. (English was not their first language and they were trying so fervently...well, I wish that was the real reason, in actuality I had forgotten that I had read the books until he told us the title and the author and left... the mission makes you forget many things)

But after all this and more I can now tell you that I am still a member of the restored version of the original Christian church. And that I am going to need some major memory help after my mission, or I'll have to re-start reading the whole library again.

Love you loads,
Sister Pielstick

picture from http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnwhite/367901857/

Transfer 10; week 3; Extended Zone; OA

Hello!

This is Sister Pielstick checking to make certain that everyone has survived the first week of the new school year. Don't get too stressed, God will help you get through everything. God is certainly helping a lot through all the hard times that this mission has been having. We just found out that one of my friends from the MTC died in a car accident last week... so sad. She was companions with Sister Moisio while she was outbound to New York. Funny how life takes turns that no one expected, the world really does go a mile a millisecond sometimes... it's hard to put President Utchdorf's council to focus on what matters most sometimes. Ok, to be perfectly honest, most times. But my roommate Sister Judas said the most profound thing yesterday: "You don't hurt as much because you let the atonement work on you. If you don't let it, then it can't really help you do anything." That is so true. Take time to think about it Jesus Christ was "despised and rejected of men" but he overcame all. He broke the bonds of death so I know that I can see her again. As we take the time to focus on the atonement, we discover that there is so much good to look forward with each bad thing. For every door shut there are about a thousand other doors that are opened. Amusing how we focus so much on the closed door that we fail to see all the growth that will come and all the doors that will open with the choices that we make to follow the Savior.

One of our investigators is still really ill; I hope that he gets better soon. But even though many terrible things have been happening, there is so much good as well. This week I got to meet President Packer. He is an inspiration to me. I wish that all of you could have been there to see him; he really does care for the gospel. I watched him pour over the temple display with tears in his eyes because he could feel all of the hearts that were changed because they got to peek inside to see what they were aiming for. He spoke a little Chinese to Sister Au-Yeung and then was wheeled away to another meeting... talk about wasting yourself in the service of the Lord. I was so honored that President Holmes allowed me to meet him.

I also gave my talk a few weeks ago, but I haven't had time to get it properly set up (aka typed up) so I'll write that soon.

Best of luck to everyone!
Sister Pielstick

Transfer 10: Week 2: Extended Zone--OA

畫貓!

Sister Au-Yeung and I have been having a lot of fun trying to resolve concerns that we had about doing missionary work... we're trying to make our time more productive because we are helping the mission a lot of the time so we want to be the best missionaries in the world when we get out on Temple Square. We discovered that asking people merely if they know anyone to share the gospel with is a rather ineffective method of sharing the gospel and uplifting people's testimonies. However asking them about themselves and their testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ somehow always brings the friend or the concern God wants us to help them with come to the surface. It was amazing to see the difference in how we could actually help people come closer to Christ just by changing the way we asked questions. I should have figured that out ages ago.

We also have been talking to a lot of people from Canada and Hong Kong recently (apparently there are a lot more people than I thought living in Canada who don't speak French, but Cantonese) It's fun to get to know people from all over the world and see how much the gospel can help anyone from anywhere with any concern that they might have. We talked to one family about three days ago who were not even remotely interested in the church or the history or much of anything that we as missionaries knew anything about... but as we were reading the Book of Mormon yesterday we found a chapter that completely answered the questions that were bothering them at that time. Perfect how that works out, no?

We've also been having fun scheduling interviews with President Holmes, because in a mission you have interviews with the mission president every 3 transfers or so. It's fun because we get to know the sisters so well as we work out schedules and help them meet with President Holmes... which is wonderful. I'm looking forward to mine, but we keep on moving it so that other sisters can meet with president... fortunately Sister Au-Yeung is very good at not letting me forget to add ourselves to lists and places that we need to be so that will be excellent.

One of our investigators from last week got to meet with the missionaries and she is almost done reading the Book of Mormon! We're so excited to see how she finding more peace and joy in her life, and we were so happy that she didn't have time to talk to us this week because she was meeting with one of her church friends to do a service project. Go member friends! They are the best.

Have a wonderful day!
Sister Pielstick

Transfer 10: Week 1; Extended Zone; OA assignment

Hello Family and Friends.

Hope you're all doing well. I've been doing pretty good. I've talked to some interesting people and taught some amazing people, but since you all seem to be so busy I won't bother you with any of the details. Just suffice it to say that I am still with Sister Au-Yeung in the office at Temple Square mission, the Tabernacle is a lot bigger on the inside, and rooming with a francophile is pretty hilarious sometimes.

Best of luck with school starting soon!
Sister Pielstick

transfer 9: week 6; Extended Zone -- OA

Hello!

I went to my first baptism today... for President Holmes' granddaughter, Haylee. All she wanted at her baptism was to have missionaries there (because she wants to be a sister Missionary when she grows up) so, he had us go to the baptism. It was interesting because here in Utah they baptize all of the children at once. While I thought that it would be cute little Haylee, it turned out to be cute little Haylee and 20 other 8 year-olds. Needless to say I was slightly in culture shock, in Florida we have only one person per baptism, and I was half expecting the little kid to re-enact the early English converts and have a foot race to the font (I'm pretty sure that this one little girl with curly hair would have won... she bolted for the font as soon as her name was called and was in before her father even had time to get though the door, but she was so cute.)

Missionary work is going strongly, albeit for some reason the entire square has exploded with people... it reminds me of Disney World on Labor Day weekend. It's hard to get anywhere because there are people everywhere. Sister Au-Yeung and I have taken to talking people to the conference center because that is the only place you can be in without seeing millions of people everywhere. (it is really hard to get people to feel the spirit when there are loads of people everywhere) But we've had some fun miracles with old couples and Chinese students... so many more people who can feel the spirit that is here, and the love that God has for each and every one of us.

Have a great day!
Sister Pielstick

Transfer 9: week 5; Extended zone--OA

Hello and good morning!

Everything is going well here at Temple Square. Plenty of people are coming to learn more about the gospel... well they don't always know that's what they are doing, but sometimes people surprise you. Like we had one couple today who referred for missionaries and we talked to them for only about ten minutes. They were pretty amazing, considering that they wanted us to help them get to the Christus and the most significant thing that I could say was you could meet with missionaries to learn more. The spirit had to be involved with that couple referring, otherwise I think that they might have just walked away and not talked to us.

Our investigators have been hard to get a hold of, but we have one wonderful woman who is from Utah that Sister Au-Yeung and I are teaching because a member who met her a week ago took her to Temple Square so that she could learn about the gospel in her native language of Cantonese. She's golden and is already reading from the Book of Mormon that magically appeared (she got it from Temple Square, but we have not had Chinese Book of Mormons for weeks in traditional Chinese, which is the Chinese read by Cantonese speakers ... Mandarin speakers typically prefer simplified. I think that God knew that she needed it and found a way to get her one) She's also praying every day, which helps her feel God's love for her. I love prepared people.

Because of an interesting P-day activity (we watched a musical based on the Martin and Willie Handcart companies put on by a stake in south Jordan) we've lost a bit of the time we typically use for e-mailing, but I look forward to hearing from everyone.

Sister Pielstick

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)