Happy St. Patrick's Day....and Good Bye Iola Kansas!

Hey there!

It's me. Sister Hyer.

So....The time has come. My stay here in iola is coming to an end. It's been an amazing 6 months (holy cow, 6 months?!) filled with many adventures and journeys that have helped me learn and grow. After a while, I was beginning to think I would end my mission here, and leaving only felt like something I'd face when I got on the plane to go home. But the Lord needs me somewhere else....where? I won't know until tomorrow...but I'll go where He needs me to go!

iola has become my home over the past 6 months. I knew I cared about this place and the people here, but saying goodbyes yesterday made me realize how much I truly love them and how wonderful my stay here really has been. I didn't think leaving the area would be this hard...but through many hugs, tears, and 'I love yous', my heart felt a little different than I thought it would.

Reflecting on my journey here in iola, Kansas, I thought I'd share a few things I've learned/experienced over the past 6 months.

while serving in iola, I have:

- met so many incredible people

- experienced Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, my birthday, and Valentine's Day all in one area
- learned to love the country

- met more dogs, horses, chickens, and cows than I thought even existed

- laughed, cried, and made memories that will last forever

- driven a total of 10,000+ miles

- seen oh so many miracles

- learned more about the Gospel than I have my entire life

- had the blessing of being a part of 3 baptisms

- come to understand the importance of member missionary work

- been shaped and refined by trials

- learned the importance of prayer

- realized that I truly "can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13)

And above all else, while serving in iola,

- My faith and testimony have been strengthened. I can truly say with more conviction than ever that I know this Gospel is true. Heavenly Father loves us and has a plan for all of His children. Our savior Lives! Through the power of His infinite Atonement, we can be strengthened and be enabled to do things we would not otherwise be able to do by ourselves. The Gospel was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith and we are lead by a living prophet and apostles in these latter days. The Book of Mormon is true and can help us come closer to our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ. It's all true!

Goodbyes are hard. But I'm truly grateful for the time I've been able to spend here. Iola Kansas will forever hold a special place in my heart.

Here's to the last stretch  of my journey. Onward to wherever the Lord needs me.

I love you all!

Sister Hyer

Baptism and some Thankfuls

Hello everyone!

First of all. I have a new companion! I am training a new missionary--Sister Kamradt. She's from Draper...and now straight from the MTC! She is full of enthusiasm and is ready to get to work! She's great.

We are having a baptism this weekend! We have been teaching a girl named Brianna. We met her at our event, 'farm city days' about a month ago when we offered her a free cookie and copy of The Book of Mormon. Miracles happened that day! We invited her to church the next day. She said she actually had a friend who came to our church, and said she'd come with her! And guess what. She really did! We were having a baptism that morning before church, and was able to be there for that as well.

The next day we went and taught her about the restoration of the Gospel. At the end of the lesson, we brought up baptism. We usually extend an invitation for our investigators to be baptized, but this lesson went a little bit different than normal ones...it went something like this:

Brianna: "So. I've been baptized before. But the girl that got baptized today did it different. And then she had that part where the men put their hands on her head and gave her a blessing. I didn't have that. Is my baptism wrong?"

Us: "Well, it's just not complete. The gift of The Holy Ghost makes baptism complete. And it's also necessary for baptism to be done by someone holding the Priesthood Authority of God."

Brianna. "oh ok. Well I guess I need to be baptized again. When can I do that?"

My companion and I were floored. We didn't even really know what to say...this isn't a common conversation after a first lesson. But we were oh so excited and happy! And now she's getting baptized...this weekend! Oh miracles...miracles...miracles everywhere!

Also. I fail. I said I was going to write things I'm grateful for in each email, and I didn't last time! Here's my list for last week and this week:

- The Book of Mormon

- Opportunities to learn and grow

- Laughter and good memories with companions

- Music

- A wonderful mission president who loves and supports his missionaries

- Trials that bring me closer to Christ

- Beautiful autumn weather with temperatures in the 60s

- The support I feel from family and friends

- Members who feed us yummy dinners

- 3 hours of studies every day

- Answers to Prayers

- The holidays that allow us to reflect on our blessings

- Having the blessing of being a part of the Hastening of the Lord's work!

Oh how grateful I am for the bounteous blessings the Lord bestows upon me!

I love you all!

Sister Hyer

Veterans Day

Hello loved ones! I hope this email finds you all happy and well!

Last week was a week full of miracles! (which seems to be a reoccurring theme on the mish. just evidence that The Lord is in charge of His work, right?) We found an incredible family to teach! Their son is serving at an army base in Missouri, and met the missionaries. As he has been learning about the gospel, he wanted his family to hear about it too, so he asked if the missionaries could visit them in Kansas...so we received a referral to track them down. We taught them about the restoration of the gospel, and they accepted the invitation to be baptized in December! Hopefully there will be more miracles written in the future about this family!

It was stake conference this past weekend. The adult session Saturday night was all about missionary work. Our mission president was speaking, and asked all the missionaries currently serving in the stake to attend....he spoke about the importance of member missionary work and bore his testimony about the restoration of the Gospel. As he spoke about Joseph Smith, he said: "I would like all of my missionaries to stand and recite the experience Joseph Smith had in the Sacred Grove." As he said that, 30 missionaries stood from different places in the congregation and said:

"I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!”

It was so touching, and brought a very powerful spirit into the chapel. Our mission president bore powerful testimony of the Gospel and ended by saying:

"There is only one man on this earth today that has the power to make a change to hasten the Lord's work that would stir the hearts of over 30,000 young people to take action and serve the Lord as they serve missions around the world. That man is President Monson. He holds the keys. He has invited us to help in the hastening of the Lord's work."

The Lord's work really is being hastened. When Elder Ballard was here a few weeks ago he talked about how in the past, people didn't really have to worry about rushing to share the gospel...but in these latter days, we don't have time to waste! We must do our best to share the Gospel each and every day!

I love you all!

Sister Hyer

Farm City Days & Rylee's Baptism

Hello! I hope this letter finds you all happy as ever! It was such a busy week here in Iola!

     Over the weekend we participated in a city event called 'Farm City Days' (only people who live in the middle of nowhere would name an event after a farm haha) But it turned out so great! We set up our booth early in the morning (it was only like 30 degrees...so FREEZING!) and stood outside all day long and handed out cookies while we taught the Gospel to everyone that passed by! We taught about 25 lessons, handed out tons of cards, pamphlets, and copies of The Book of Mormon, and found some new investigators! It was a day full of miracles...and it was so fun to be apart of all the excitement on the town square!

     We also had a baptism! We have been teaching a young girl named Rylee (12) and she was able to be baptized yesterday! Her mom is a less active member and has a lot of health issues. Rylee met us at the church before her baptism and said that her mom was really sick and wasn't going to be able to make it. We didn't want her to miss her daughter's baptism, so we went over to the house. We did our best to encourage her to attend the baptism. My companion said an incredible prayer that she would have the health and strength she needed to get to the baptism. It took every ounce of strength and faith that she had to get out of bed, but she made it, not only to the baptism, but to Sacrament meeting for Rylee's confirmation as well...which is a miracle since she hasn't been to church in almost 3 years! There is power in Prayer!

     We are still teaching Anna. I just love this girl so much. She's only 13, but she is wise beyond her years. This past week, we started out teaching her more about The Book of Mormon. We had left her with a reading assignment of 3 Nephi chapter 11, the account of when Christ visits the Nephites. She loved it. We started talking about the Savior and His Atonement. Tears started to fall down her face. We asked her what she was thinking and she could barely say anything. she said: "It just amazes me that he would love me that much to do that. I just...I don't know how to explain it." The spirit in the room was incredible. Tears started to fall from my eyes too as I thought about the Love our Savior has for each of us. His love for us is real!

I love you all!

Sister Hyer

A Few of my Favorite Sistas!

Most of the Sisters on Transfer Day

Served with These two in the MTC

Farm City Days! It was FREEZING

Our Booth at Farm City Days

So. Um. Sometimes missionaries get bored...so...sometimes they dress up like Mary and Joseph and recreate the Nativity instead of writing in their journal before bed. 'There was no room for them in the (inn)dependence visitors' center.' ha.

Rylee's Baptism

The Albany Sisters

A Day at the Kansas City Temple

Such a Gorgeous Temple on SUCH a GORGEOUS Day!

Lunch with my favorite Sisters!!

50 Year Anniversary for Liberty Jail

What a week! Things are going great in Iola...I am convinced I really am meant to live in the country. I drove around in downtown Kansas City today, and didn't know what to do with myself. I've been turned into a country girl!

So, miracle. Our area is surrounded by a whole bunch of smaller towns. At the beginning of last week, we helped one of investigators paint their house (yes, we painted the WHOLE house) and while we were there, he had a few other friends over. We started talking to them, and taught them about The Book of Mormon and other principles of the gospel. We asked where they lived and asked if we could come visit them...they said we could, but that they lived kind of far away in a small town...population, like, 60. haha. We haven't really had much reason to go out to this little town of Kincaid, so we hadn't made it out there. We made the long trip out there and couldn't find the house we were looking for. While we were searching, we realized that there was a less-active part-member family that lived just down the street. We stopped by the house and met a young girl named Anna. Her mom was baptized when she was about 16, but hasn't really been active since. We taught Anna about church and the Book of Mormon, and invited her to be baptized...and she said yes! She will be getting baptized on November 3rd. And to think it all started with a paintbrush and a few gallons of paint! :)

Miracle number 2. This weekend, The Historic Liberty Jail celebrated its 50 year anniversary since the dedication. Elder M. Russell Ballard was invited to speak. Not all the missionaries got to go, but my companion had written a song about Joseph Smith's time in the jail and was asked to perform....so I got to go! It was amazing. Yesterday we met at the jail and had a special VIP meeting with Elder Ballard. Then last night there was a fireside for the local wards and stakes. All the sister missionaries sang a special musical number, so we were able to be on the stand with Elder Ballard. While he was speaking he spoke about how he believed if Joseph was here, he'd talk about how we need to spread the gospel. he asked: "Are you really converted? do you really have a testimony? Do you know Joseph Smith was a prophet? do you know we are lead by a prophet today? Do you know that the Savior lives and loves you?  Because if you do, you'd want to shout it from the rooftops and share it with the whole world"

Then he told a story about a general authority who once told him: "I'd rather offend a person by sharing the Gospel with them, than offend God by not sharing it."

That's the mindset we all need to have! I find so much joy in sharing the Gospel with others. I really do know it's true...and if I could, I'd shout it from the rooftops for the world to hear. But for now, I'll stick with proclaiming it to those I meet along this journey of my mission. :)

I love you all!

Sister Hyer

BAPTISM- Jane

My dearest family and friends! Time is short this week, but It has been a week of miracles here in Albany!

Best news/biggest miracle of all. WE HAD A BAPTISM! In mission life, that's a big deal anyway...but here in Albany it's an even bigger deal because it's been about 3 years since the branch has had a convert baptism!!! It was such a miracle. Her name is Jane, and she's great! We have been teaching her for about 3 months. Things have been really rocky through this whole process. We found her through a former investigator, and when we first met her, she was...well...kind of a mess. She had recently faced some really hard trials and had completely lost every ounce of faith she'd ever had. She had no desire to pray and didn't believe that she was loved by anyone, let alone Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. We did our best to visit her often, but she wasn't putting any effort forth whatsoever. She would miss appointments, avoid our calls, and never respond to our texts. We were just about to give her a break for a while when we got a text one night. "I need to talk to you. when can you come see me?" Of course, we got there as fast as we could. She said she'd had some really spiritual experiences and that she knew everything was right and that she'd do whatever it would take to be baptized. So we told her we'd be by every day the for following two weeks, took her cigarettes so she could quit smoking, and said a grateful prayer that everything was going to work out. Perfect, right? Wrong.

Later that day she texted us and said: "Can't make it to our appointment or church. Had a change in beliefs." My heart was shattered. How could things have gone so perfectly earlier that morning, just to have everything fall apart that exact same day? then the answer came into my head: Satan. That sly monster! How dare he mess with these missionaries. So we called her and asked her if we could at least come talk things out. She hesitantly agreed. The next morning we went to see her. She expressed her concerns and we talked her through everything. My companion and I don't remember a single thing that we said...which is when you know that it was truly led by the spirit! We left her feeling peaceful, once again, about being baptized.

The few weeks following that experience were all equally as rocky as the beginning. But things took a turn for the best and all of a sudden we were planning her baptism! The day of the baptism came...we set everything up, including cleaning all the spiders and cobwebs out of the font...(yes, it has been that long since It's been used). It was such a great baptism. Right after she was baptized, we went into the dressing room with her and asked her how she felt. She said, with tears in her eyes: "...like I did the right thing..."

I love being a missionary. Things may be rocky at times, but there are always good things to come!

Love, Sister Hyer

Just Sportin our TAGS!

my sweet new shoes! Adidas liquid rides! :)

Tennis with the Elders!

We are like...Way good at this :)

excuse the awful pedicure....but this is what happens after wearing the same shoes every single day for an entire summer. :)

Just bein way happy missionaries! :)

Just US

Me and Jane

Sister Doolittle's First baptism, and Albany's first baptism in almost 3 years!

So Blessed...

Happy May to you all! Can you believe I've been out nearly 4 months?! Time flies when you're havin fun! ;)

Last week a majority of the missionaries in the mission had an experience of a lifetime! We had Elder Quentin L. Cook, Elder Halstrom of the seventy, and Bishop Davies from the presiding bishopric come speak to us. It was so amazing! The entire chapel and overflow were filled with missionaries...and that was only half of our mission! What a sight to see! At the beginning of the meeting, our mission president stood at the pulpit and said that before we began Elder Cook wanted so shake our hands. The sisters were all sitting on the front row, so we got to be first...and then we watched as each and every missionary in that chapel stood to shake his hand. Being in his presence was a testimony builder that these men are called of God. What an incredible experience! At the end of his talk, Elder Cook said: "As an apostle of Jesus Christ, and by my Priesthood authority, I would like to leave each of you with my blessing."  And then he went on to say that as we serve the Lord, the people we love will be blessed for eternity. What a special blessing given by an apostle!

That same night we also had a baptism! Two baptisms in two weeks....this area is on fire! :) Curtis was finally baptized! We found him about 4 days after I arrived in the mission as we tracked...I had said we should knock on his door because I liked the color of his house. :) Miracles happen! I've been amazed at the changes I've seen in him in just a matter of months. He quit smoking and drinking tea, read The Book of Mormon every day, and was praying to gain stronger faith. It was a great baptism. He was so happy....a theme that seems to be reoccurring at all these baptisms ;) The Gospel of Jesus Christ and His plan for us really is the plan of happiness!

One more neat experience. One of the local break-off branches of the church is called the Restoration branch. They recently held an annual conference here in Independence. One day there were 2 men from that branch that came into the Visitors' center to learn more about our church. After taking them through the presentations, I began to ask one of them more about his life. He spoke very good English, but had a very thick accent. He is from a country in East Africa called Rwanda. He told us about the trials he's faced and what life is like in his country. He told us about his family and that his wife had passed away about a year ago. He left us with his information so we could contact him and teach him more about our beliefs. It took him about 10 minutes to leave the visitors' center because he just kept telling us 'thank you' and how wonderful we were. He said he just felt so happy and made us promise we would write him to share more. He could recognize the difference from his church and ours...he had felt something inside his heart.

I am one blessed girl to be having such amazing experiences. What incredible opportunities I am able to have! I am grateful for this time to be serving, learning, loving, growing, and gaining a stronger testimony of my Savior!

Love you all!

Sister Hyer

Curtis' baptism! Does he look a little bit like Moses?

Don't ask why he's wearing a dress..it's a long story. haha

Curtis after his baptism!

Still at the Visitor Center

Hello my dearest family and friends! What a week it has been! My P-day got changed, so it's been the longest 10 days of my life. haha. But things are going great! Lots is happening in my area and we are constantly seeing miracles.

First of all...I'm now a biker sister! :) Because of all the new missionaries, we are down to 3 cars to share between 20 sisters. Three areas were turned into 'no car' areas....so we bought bought bikes! despite the difficulty of trying to ride a bike in a skirt (and yes, it is just as hard as it sounds) It's actually kind of fun! :)

Shannon got baptized last week! It was a wonderful day. She was so happy! She was in tears of joy and just kept saying: "I'm just so happy...I'm all giddy!" The ward reached out to her and welcomed her with open arms. The fellowship of the members has been incredible from the beginning. The relief society came and made refreshments...the bishop was there...a member of the stake presidency spoke...and everyone offered hugs and words of love and encouragement. The day before her baptism, a member of the relief society brought us a few brand new dresses for us to take over to her to wear at her baptism. She is a single mom with no career and doesn't have very much. We took the dresses to her, and when she tried them on she just burst into tears. "I just feel so loved. You all are so wonderful." Through this experience, I have learned the importance of fellowship by members of the ward. We truly can love people into the gospel!

    I had an incredible experience last week. About a month and a half ago, my previous companion and I were tracting and we knocked on a door. The man that answered was a samoan man with a thick accent who mentioned that he was a member of our church, but that he didn't attend anymore. He is married and has 3 kids, but none of them are members. My companion was from  Samoa, so of course they instantly connected. They started talking about samoan food and they invited us over for an authentic Samoan dinner. We had everything set up, but my companion got transferred a few days before we were supposed to go over. My new companion and I went to dinner and just got to know the family. They started to tell us about their experiences with missionaries. The wife said: "We have missionaries come to our door all the time...but you are the first missionaries Pene has ever let into the house. He usually hides when he looks out the window and sees who it is. It's amazing how you missionaries have enough power to make grown men run and hide!" :) They were very hesitant to open up and talk, so we spent most of dinner just getting to know them. We stopped by a few weeks later and was invited over for dinner the following week.
    As we tried to plan for what we wanted to teach them, we were having a hard time coming up with what we felt was right. We wanted to make them feel loved--not like our newest missionary 'project.' I kept thinking about a Mormon Message called: "Good Things to Come" by Elder Holland. I had asked my mom to send me the DVDs of the Mormon Messages but the package was slow getting here. Every day I would check the mail, hoping that it would make it. The day we were supposed to go over for dinner there was still no package. About an hour before we were planning to go over, I got a call from some of the other sisters saying that I had a package! The DVDs had shown up just in time.
   As we sat at the dinner table, Pene started to tell us his story about his life with the Gospel. He told us everything. We were amazed...he'd never really opened up before. He was in tears and he said: "You girls are welcome anytime you need anything. You need a drink--you come here. You need dinner--you stop by. You just warm my heart." I responded with tears in my eyes, expressing my love for them and that I knew Heavenly Father loved them as well. Then I showed them the Mormon Message. It is a short clip about how the Lord will help us endure our trials and how there are always "Good things to come." Elder Holland says: "Some blessings come soon...some blessings come late...and some don't come until Heaven. But for those who embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ..they come."
   When the clip was over we looked at Pene. He was in tears again and didn't know what to say. His wife, who was also in tears, looked at him and said: "That was just what you needed to hear." It took a minute for him to respond and then he looked at us and said. "How did you know I needed that?" We told them that as missionaries we pray to know what the Lord would have others hear and feel and that we felt guided to share that message with them. They were both amazed. And so were we. We had prayed to know how to touch their hearts, and the Lord directed us. The spirit was undeniable. We left with uplifted hearts and spirits, a tupperware full of leftovers, and an invitation to come by whenever we wanted.

The Gospel is true! The Lord loves each and every one of us. He knows our hearts....He is always there.

I love you all!

Sister Hyer

My Zone at Morning Sports

We had a HUGE thunderstorm a few weeks ago. It was INCREDIBLE!

The Sunsets in Missouri are AMAZING!

It was like Christmas with new Bikes in our Apartment

All the sisters that serve in the Visitor Center

Shannon's Baptism

We took Shannon to Liberty Jail

Me and Sister Call

Baptism Week for Shannon

Hello all! I hope everyone is doing wonderful! I miss all of you!

Exciting things have happened this week. We have a baptism coming up on Saturday! I'm not sure if I've told you anything about Shannon....We found her about a month ago. We went to contact a referral from a ward member, and she answered the door. She had just moved in with them. She invited us in and was golden from the beginning! We were there for about twenty minutes and taught her about the restoration and the Book of Mormon. She loved it! So at the end of that lesson, we invited her to be baptized....and she said YES! It's amazing how the Lord leads us to those that are ready to hear the gospel. So we've been teaching her ever since. She's amazing. We will go to teach a lesson and she accepts it so well that she basically teaches US the lesson. :) We took her to a baptism last week so she could see what it was like. After it was over she says: "That was absolutely beautiful. I can't believe I've been missing this in my life. I was only seeing part of the picture before...and now I have it all." She is wonderful! We just love her!

Everything else is going great! There are tough days...but that's life! I'm learning so much...about myself...about the gospel...about others. I can't believe how quickly I come to love the people out here. I feel this instant sense of genuine love for them the moment we start teaching them the gospel. I love it! What a great experience and a marvelous work I get to be a part of! :)

Keep the letters and emails coming! I can feel your love, support, and prayers, and I appreciate it more than I can express! I couldn't ask for better family and friends. Hope you can all feel MY love, support, and prayers for each and everyone of YOU! LOVE YOU ALL!

Sister Hyer

PICTURES! First Baptism and Some SNOW

Sorry one of the Pics is Sideways. this Girl is Looking Awesome! She's got the Missionary GLOW! 

Me and My companion, Sister Ho Ching

He's tryin to teach my how to be gangsta haha

Milk's Baptism! He's dancing in this picture...like he did all night! :)
The couple on the far right is my mission president and his wife.

On our snow day, we made a huge pile and jumped in it! My companion is from 

Samoa, so she's never really seen snow before. She kind of missed the pile of snow when
she jumped, but she still had a blast playin in it! :)

My two favorite sisters that live in the house, Sister Ogletree and sister Call!