Week #67....The Filipino Feast....

-Had a solid 2 hour+ basketball workout this last monday. Oh so good :) legs are done from it though...

-Ate the most food ever at this member house nicknamed Khatib Kingdom. It was a Filipino tradition to eat with their hands at this particular meal and so they just dump it on the table and eat. 

More Filipino culture: -you can't eat the last piece of something. Very disrespectful.

I love the Filipino's. They are the most happy people I think I have ever met. Wow. It is slightly unbelievable. It reminds me of Mom and Karen and how they laugh all the time together. BUT, EVERY FILIPINO is like that. All the time, with anyone else, especially other Filipinos. I love this area. 

Then this week we headed up to Sibu (East Malaysia) and then to the island of Penang (off the coast of the northern part of West Malaysia) for exchanges with the Zone Leaders. These are two of the last places I have not been in the mission so it was nice to see a couple new places. 

Then this weekend we came back and had a baptism in our area! Sister Mae! She is so awesome! She was investigating when I got here! We have a few other baptisms coming up in a couple weeks as well! Filipinos are so receptive to the gospel. 

-Side-note: I still am able to supply the Chinese sisters wit ha steady stream of referrals since i get to use Chinese still quite a bit in Singapore especially but even in other areas throughout the mission.. 

Many times on my mission people have questioned me about Joseph Smith, his history and such. I have always had to go back to my experience reading the Book of Mormon. When I took 7 days and read the whole thing in alignment with Moroni's promise. And the spirit I felt. I can't deny that. That book is convincing evidence of Joseph Smith is a prophet. I bear witness. Please read it, ponder it and pray about it with a sincere heart. 

I love you all,

Till Next week...

Elder Pierce 

P.S. Thanks to the Boston University Ward for sending me few letters, you guys are awesome and I miss you all! 

Week #66....Who do you fear?

-We went back to JB on monday which was awesome. I loved seeing some of my old friends, Justin, Jason, Lily and even Kai! So good! Good to be back in a chinese area for a day!

-Then to KL for my first time! We got to eat lunch at the famous Petronas Towers (the famous ones) that was super cool. Both exchanges were awesome. 

-Also Mission Leadership Council was awesome this week. President Simmons is the best. And his wife reminds me of you Mom. Just the way she acts. I told her that and she laughs but she is the funniest thing ever! They are both awesome! 

Ate such good food this week. Elder Perritt is a boss and is a golden member for malaysian airlines and so we get to go into the golden lounge for free and they have a buffet and river running through it and wow (heaven on earth). Seriously though. 

Also had some really good schwarma and mexican food made by the senior couple in KL! Grandman Hanson! I felt your presence in that food! Literally so good! 

Workouts are going great. Getting back into the nightly routine of pushups etc. along with the constant morning runs/basketball workouts! Getting ready for the imminent comeback to the squad! Can't wait! 

I love my mission so much. It is seriously the best thing ever. I have met and seen so many people change and I can't express how grateful I am for everyone and everything that has happened. I don't understand why I deserve to be apart of so many blessings. There are hard days but the reward is so great. To see someone truly convert to Jesus Christ and to fall in love with the book of Mormon is heart wrenching and I love it. 

This week I have been pondering, fear. Do you fear God or man? Evaluate yourself. There are times when we all fear man more than God but if we can try and limit that as much as possible then we will feel God's love radiant on us which is a million times more rewarding than any possible fame and likeness that man can give us. 

Moroni 8:16

love you all,

Elder Pierce

Week #65...So many white people! Mom and Dad where are you?

So i don't have a ton of time but here goes.

This week was amazing. 

Filipinos love basketball. So that is always a plus. And they love music. What else could people want? 

They play basketball on saturday nights at the church with a lot of non-members so we are trying to figure out a way to take advantage of it. It is harder to teach a class to adults who think they know what they are doing :) 

We played a musical number at the sisters baptism on Sunday which was nice. I played an arrangement of "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing." (my own with a few differences) while my companion (who is an amazing singer by the way) with the sisters sang. Went amazing. 

Elder Perritt and I have a lot of fun together during the time we are actually together. We are often on exchanges with the zone leaders or on member exchanges on the weekends (too many lessons to teach) but last p-day and today we are enjoying playing the organ and piano together. It is a very musical companionship. 

Each week I report with East Malaysia since Elder Perritt is an English missionary he works more with west malaysia and singapore. So i take care of Sibu, Miri, Bintulu, Kota Kinabalu, and Kuching. 

This week we were on exchanges in Kota Kinabalu. Amazing zone leaders there. I was with Elder Spurrier who was my previous zone leader in Miri. It was awesome. We literally talk to everyone no matter the language and we can since he is Malay speaking and I am chinese! That just about covers everyone in Malaysia so that was cool! Elder Spurrier is from Holladay Utah and went to Olympus high school so we will probably be hanging out after the mission! Cool stuff! 

Then we went to Kuching and I went on exchanges with Elder Call. So good. I tried to not let anyone from the chinese area know that I was coming back but that didn't go so well. Audrey and Penny and President Teo all found out (I have no idea how) and yeah. President Teo ended up following to a lesson! Way cool to see him again! 

Then yesterday we had stake conference here. So many white people. I though mom or dad was going to pop around the corner at any moment it was really weird.

This week we are headed to JB and KL for exchanges after the missionary leadership council tomorrow! 

We are on the road a lot so it has been hard keep the workouts going but have been running or basketball each morning. We live next to the church in singapore which is nice. 

Alma 5:26

love you all,

Elder Pierce 

Week #64....Singapore! and the Filipinos! Oh how I love Filipinos!

This week has been crazy. 

-I now have a smart phone. And a computer. That's weird. 

-I work with Filipino's but I am immersed in a Chinese city. 

-Not to mention one of the richest most beautiful places in the world. (Singapore)

-My companion is from Sydney Australia (Elder Perritt) and is called English Speaking. 

---He is awesome by the way. I love him. I know this is going to be a good companionship.---

-Using Whatsapp. All the time. 

-Living in a very expensive apartment in downtown singapore. 

-Eating real subway and quiznoz! wow. That was a shock to the taste buds. 

Saying goodbye to everyone in Miri was sad. But I will be back on exchanges so that will be fun. 

This upcoming week week we will be heading to KK (Kota Kinabalu) on Tuesday and then to Kuching on Thursday! That should be fun! Going back to good old Kuching! But not in the Chinese area but in the Malay area because the zone leaders are Malay speaking. 

-Did I mention that we book a ton of flights? we do. A lot. Most are Malaysian Airlines. 

I got to Singapore at 12 pm on Wednesday and we picked up 21 new missionaries from the airport at 12:15pm so things went fast. We did new missionary orientation, train the trainers and did some trainings in those with no preparation since I had just gotten to Singapore literally minutes before but luckily Elder Perritt and I were able to work well together improvising right from the beginning. It has been a lot. But a lot of fun as well. 

And with all this going on we are still contacting people on the trains and buses and street. Working with a full new ward has been a shock. I am used to tiny branches. Not big wards full of Filipino members who give you referrals every two seconds. That has been wonderful. We have a baptism this upcoming month on the 20th. Her name is Mae and she is so ready. This area is ready to explode. The Filipino work is unbelievable.  

I can now more understand why the church in the Philippines is so amazing. They are the most humble down to learn people I have ever met. So much different from the Chinese people. 

Still learning and speaking chinese a lot though.  There are tons of Chinese people here in Singapore and their chinese is actually proper! Not slang! 

I have felt the hand of the Lord this week so much. I needed it too. Much of it has come because I have needed to lean on Jesus Christ. I didn't have it in me to do everything that the Lord asked me to do this week. If we can learn to get out of comfort zone more often and lean on Jesus Christ, the miracles and the spirit will come. And that is what makes me happy. When I can feel the spirit and know I am doing the right thing. I am following the Lord's path for me. 

I love you all. 

Elder Pierce