TRANSFERS!!! Hello From........

Hey ya'll!

Welp...as Dorothy would say, "I don't think I'm in Kansas anymore!" :)

Hello from Lee's Summit, Missouri!

I am back to civilization....a place with traffic, highways, stores (other than walmart), restaurants, and a ward that fills the entire chapel and has a full primary! It's a wonderful area.

I am currently serving with Sister 'Ita...she's great. Her and I were called to open up a new area in the mission. Since there have been so many missionaries coming out, our mission is getting full. As many of you know, they split the mission last July, cutting our geographic area and missionary count in half...we had about 300 missionaries pre-split, then we ended up with about 150ish after the split. Since then, we have had at least 25 missionaries come out each transfer, with an average of 10 going home. Over the past year, we have grown back up to close to 300 missionaries in the mission, but still only covering half of the geographic area. How incredible. This means a few things: First. the work is hastening. The Lord made the call through His prophet to hasten His work, and the members have responded...the missionary force is ever increasing and to work is moving forward. second. we have to find places to fit all these missionaries!

So we were sent to open an area where sisters haven't ever served before. There are elders here, so we're not alone...but we are the first sisters to be serving in the Lee's Summit 3rd ward! so exciting.

The day of transfers was crazy. I found my companion among the other missionaries and said, "hey. do you know where we're going or what we're supposed to do?" and she replied: "Nope. do you?" haha. So....we found the elders currently serving in our ward, went and picked up a brand new car (never even driven off the lot, had a total of 30 miles on it), keys to a new apartment, and a few copies of The Book of Mormon, and followed a member to our apartment. When we got into our apartment, we just sat down and looked at eachother, wondering what to do. haha. We made a few calls and got right to work. we're starting from ground zero, but it's so exciting.

The members are absolutley thrilled to have sisters here...we have been welcomed with so much love and support, I hardly know what to do with myself! It's cool because the ward was expecting sisters a few months ago, but they said it didn't work out....my companion and I said it didn't work out because we weren't ready to come here yet, and that we were the ones that needed to be sent here. and I truly believe that!

There was a sister who came up to us, with tears in her eyes and said: "I have been praying for you. I've prayed for 2 years for the Lord to send sisters to our ward. My husband is a non-member, and I've always felt like the sister missionaries were the ones that would be able to connect with him. I am so grateful you are here."

And I'm grateful too. What a blessing it is to be here!

Love you all!

Sister Hyer

Happy Day of LOVE

 Hello once again! Is it just me, or is time flying?! I feel like I was just writing an email yesterday! So crazy.

So much to write about, so little time! Gotta try to squeeze it all in one short email. I'll do my best.

First of all, Happy late Valentine's day! We had such a fun day...we had slept over at the Stanley sisters' house, so my companion and I woke up early and surprised them with a pink pancake breakfast! Then we went to some of the members' houses and heart-attacked their door. We wrote scriptures on hearts and wrote a poem about how when we read the scriptures we can know that the Savior loves us. Service can be so much fun when you make it that way! And it always brings joy!

Then! We had a general authority come visit our mission last week. It was so amazing! Elder Martino is a member of the quorum of the Seventy and as part of his assignment, he does mission tours a few times a year and spends time with the missionaries and the mission president. He spoke about so many things...here are a few of my favorite lines he shared:

-We have so much that others don't have--SHARE IT!

-Having the spirit in our lives depends on us

-If we don't teach the Doctrines of the Gospel to the rising generation, we'll lose it

- If it is to be, it is up to me

-You'll motivate through love more than through criticism

-We have to work smarter, not just harder

-Revelation if often time sensitive. We have to be engaged in the gospel at all times and be ready to act.

-The Atonement brings comfort when there is no peace

-Repentance is more than paying the price for sin

-We do things to become, not to merit

-The gospel brings comfort to a world that doesn't understand

He then left us with an apostolic blessing and in it he blessed us to be able to go forward with the courage to act on the things we'd learned and that we would know that we are loved by our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ. It was such an uplifting conference, and I left with courage and enthusiasm to do the Lord's work!

Also. We had another baptism! Wahoo. Iola is on Fire. Our friend Tina was baptized. We found Tina through a member...this member called us one day and said: "Hey. I have a friend here. She said she liked the picture of the Kansas City temple on my wall. Wanna come over and teach her about it?" haha. So we rushed over there right that second, Then 2 months later she was baptized! Perfect example of how successful missionary work can be when members are involved. Share the gospel, My friends...even if it's just by hanging a picture of the temple or the Savior in your home!

Phew! What a week. I have more to share, but it will have to wait. Pday time flies. Just know I love you all!

Love,

Sister Hyer

Zone Conference Day

Me and Sister Zito

So. we slept over with the sisters in Stanley the night before valentine's day. My companion and I surprised them and decorated and made breakfast. Here's what it looked like! :)

Complete with Pink Pancakes.

TINA GOT BAPTIZED

Happy Missionaries on Baptism Day.

Valentine's day calls for 'heart-attacking' all our members!

we wrote a poem and then put hearts with a daily scripture on them to help them know the love of the Savior

We LOVE heart Attacks

reunited with My Albany sisters



One Soul. And some PICTURES!

Hey all ya'll!

First of all, I just want to say that being a missionary is the best. Seriously.

I'm back in iola! Transfers were last week, so I'm no longer serving in the terrific trio. It was so great to be there and serve with those sisters...but it's great to be back in iola. You don't realize how much you love an area and how much it becomes your home until you leave it for a few weeks. When I went back to church yesterday everyone kept saying how good it was to have me back, and one person even said, "welcome home!" I'd have to agree that iola has become my home away from home...at least for now. :)

I also have a new companion! Her name is Sister Fa'anunu. She's from Tonga and is just the sweetest. This is my second Polynesian companion, and I'm beginning to learn how loving, passionate, and generous the people of the Polynesian culture are. She has 9 brothers and sisters and is the 7th in her family to serve a mission! She is wonderful. She has a very tender testimony. It is going to be a great transfer serving with her!

So, I'll be honest...it's been a hard past few weeks. Satan seemed to be working his evil schemes on me (and the whole mission for that matter) and the trials of a mission had been getting to me a little more than normal. I have learned so much about prayer. I know that the Savior has never left my side...that He has carried me and lifted me through every tough day...especially the days I didn't think I'd make it through.

Things have been better this past week...I'm back on my feet with enthusiasm and determination to make this the best transfer of my mission so far. One thing that helped me was a letter from a recent convert I taught in my last area. You might remember stories about my investigator Jane, who was baptized right before I left Albany. At the end of last week, I got the most incredible letter. In it, she told me that she had a huge surprise for me...that she has decided to become a missionary! She said that it is all because of me and the impact I had on her, and that no one could ever take my place and she thinks about me every day. She mentioned that she's hated the snow because she's had to stay inside, but that it's given her the chance to read The Book of Mormon, Preach My Gospel, and anything else she can get her hands on. She finished the letter by saying that she has never been happier.

In an instant, I forgot all about the trials I was facing. All the fears, doubts, and disappointments I had been experiencing were washed away. Although I could never take all the credit, it felt amazing knowing that With the direction of the Holy Ghost, I had been an instrument in the Hands of the Lord to fulfill my purpose as a missionary and invite others to come unto Christ. I was holding in my hands the evidence that, with the help of the Savior, I had made a difference in someone's life...I had helped them to receive the truthfulness of the Restored Gospel and the blessings that come from living the commandments. All of a sudden I realized that it is all worth it. Every tear and disappointment...every door slammed in my face...every footstep I have walked...and every desperate prayer I'd ever said....so completely worth it--if only to be a part of changing this one life. If that letter was all I walked away with at the end of my mission, I would consider my journey a tremendous success...for as D&C 18:15 says:

"And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!"

And let me tell you, I was filled with more Joy than you can imagine. Who knew that a simple letter written on ordinary lined paper, folded into a small envelope, stamped and shipped from the small town of Albany, Missouri could bring me so much happiness.

This Gospel is true. I am so grateful to be a part of such an incredible work. Even though missions (and life) are hard, the Joy and happiness I've received as I've served far outweigh the trials I've faced. I love being a missionary...through the not-so-good days, I always come to realize it is worth it. I'm reminded of a quote I once saw that said: 

"Christ never said it would be easy...He only said it would be worth it."

I love you all!

Sister Hyer

our doors were frozen shut thanks to the freezing rain

our windshield...after scraping ice off my car in Kansas, I'll never complain about brushing snow off my car in Utah ever again!

I got to spend the day with an old companion, sister Doolittle! it was great to be together again

our terrific trio :)

Thumbs up for shoveling Snow!

Snow day in Kansas!!

More of our Terrific Trio!

We may have been having too much fun....oh wait! there's no such thing as too much fun...especially while serving in a trio ;)

transfer day with my sistas!

love this sister! she's done with her mission, so I'm sad she had to go home...but so happy I was blessed to be able to serve with her.

my new companion, sister Fa'anunu

A Beautiful Snowy day in Kansas

So....one of my favorite members in the ward is an incredible artist. he takes the time to draw every missionary that serves in iola! How cool is that?!

Havin some fun on Pday



Day to Day in the MIM

My dearest family and friends!

It's been a crazy week here in the M.I.M!

My companion needed to take care of some medical needs, so she went home last weekend. Seeing that I couldn't stay in the middle of nowhere by myself until transfers, my mission president put me in a trio with some sisters serving in an area an hour and a half away from iola. It's been a ton of fun serving with them! My mission president wrote me an email last week and told me to make sure that serving in this trio didn't turn into a big slumber party haha. It's been fun....but not THAT much fun ;)

Since my companion left, I will be staying in iola for another transfer. also. I will be training a new missionary again. Crazy! Either I've done something right as I've trained in the past and the Lord trusts me more than I think He should, or He's giving me a chance to try again and do it right this time. haha. Either way it's a great opportunity to learn and grow as I teach a new sister the things I've learned as I've served! It will be a great experience!

I was having a conversation with a senior couple in the mission and they were sharing an experience they had. they were talking about how sometimes when we make mistakes, Satan tries to bring us down and make us think we are worthless and that we have failed. They said something I'll never forget:

"We only fail if we fail to learn what Heavenly Father would have us learn."

We all make mistakes--we're human. We're not failures unless we fail to learn and grow from the experiences in our lives. When we fall, we just gotta pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and move on!

I love you all!

Love,

Sister Hyer

Testimony Builders

Hello My dearest friends and family!

This past week we went to visit a member who has been suffering from different types of cancer for almost 4 years. I hadn't really had a chance to get to know her since I got here to iola, so when we got there I said: "Alright, tell me all about you." She laughed at first then began telling us about her life. She joined the church when she was in high school when a group of her friends were all getting baptized. She said she didn't really have a testimony at that point and that she mostly did it to fit in with her friends. But her faith grew over the years and her testimony was strengthened as she lived the gospel. She married a man who wasn't a member, and had 5 kids who she raised in the church, but who had since become inactive. She talked about how she'd stayed strong in the gospel even though there were times when she felt alone. We showed her the Mormon Message from the talk by Elder Holland, 'None Were With Him'. It says:

"Brothers and sisters, one of the great consolations of this Easter season is that because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to do so. His solitary journey brought great company for our little version of that path—the merciful care of our Father in Heaven, the unfailing companionship of this Beloved Son, the consummate gift of the Holy Ghost, angels in heaven, family members on both sides of the veil, prophets and apostles, teachers, leaders, friends. All of these and more have been given as companions for our mortal journey because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the Restoration of His gospel. Trumpeted from the summit of Calvary is the truth that we will never be left alone nor unaided, even if sometimes we may feel that we are. Truly The Redeemer of us all said: “I will not leave you comfortless: [My Father and] I will come to you [and abide with you].”

 I asked her how she's been so faithful, and how she's stayed strong even through her battle with cancer. She said something along the lines of:

"When I first found out that I had cancer, I went into my room and sobbed. As I stood there crying, I felt something touch my hand. This warm feeling radiated through my whole body. I opened my eyes to see what or who it was, and there was no one there. I knew it was the hand of the Lord, and that he was there to comfort me in my time of need. He has never left me. I know it with all my heart." As she told her story, she started crying, and could barely speak as she finished with, "I have a testimony of the plan of salvation. I know it is real. I believe Heavenly Father has helped me through this battle so that I could testify to others of the truthfulness of the Gospel."

With tears in my eyes, I could barely respond. I thought for a minute about what to say... "As missionaries, our purpose is to visit people and uplift them and help them come closer to the Savior, Jesus Christ...but today, I have been uplifted and my testimony has been strengthened. Thank you...for being such an incredible example and testifying of the truthfulness of this Gospel to me and to all those you love."

This made me realize that Heavenly Father as helped me endure my trials not only because He loves me, but so that throughout my life, I can testify of the truthfulness of the Gospel.... It is true! I've said it over and over to all of you, but I'll never back down from my testimony.

I love you all!

Love, Sister Hyer

ONE YEAR MARK!!

Oh heeeey!

Big news ya'll. This week marks another huge milestone in my mission.......

IT'S MY  ONE YEAR MARK.

What the?! Where has the time gone?! Seriously. I feel like I was just writing about my 6 month mark...and now that's all I have left. I'm convinced that time is literally going faster...and there's no sign of it stopping.

I have been reflecting the past year of my life and can't even believe how much I've learned, grown, and changed for the better. Here are a few things I've learned as I've served this year:

- Prayers are answered....every single time. They may not be answered the way we want them to be...but they're answered the way God knows they need to be. He knows us better than we know ourselves...He knows our hearts and He knows what is best for us.

- Serving others brings joy. Simple as that.

- The Book of Mormon is true...every page of it. If your testimony is diminishing, read the Book of Mormon...as you come to know that it is true, you will know that Jesus is the Christ, Joseph Smith was a prophet, Christ's church has been restored to the earth, and that this is the true Gospel. It truly is the keystone of our religion and of our testimonies.

- It's never to late to learn, grow, change or repent

-The Gospel is everything. It is what life is all about. Sometimes we get distracted with other things, and we fail to remember that the ENTIRE reason we are here is to live the Gospel so we can return to live with our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ. That doesn't mean other things are bad or wrong, we just have to not only make the gospel a priority, but THE priority.

- Life is hard. It is meant to be that way. But we're not alone.

- Miracles happen. They happen all the time...but sometimes we fail to recognize them as miracles. As you look closely at your life, you will be able to truly see how many miracles occur each and every day.

- I am blessed. Oh so blessed. More blessed than I ever realized or that I can even begin to express.

      I wish I had time to share with each of you everything else that I have learned so far through my service in the Lord's work. But , the bottom line of all of this, and the greatest thing I've learned is:

-This Gospel is true. All of it. Every. single. detail.

I love you all! Here's to the next 6 months of my journey!

Sister Hyer

...'cause missionaries need facemasks too....

This family is incredible! They take such good care of us. They had us over for Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day...they spoiled us with gifts, yummy food, and lots of love and hugs! How blessed are we?!

one of my favorite members here in Iola!

love this family oh so much!!

dressin up for the nativity. Who knew wisemen could be so beautiful?? ;)

spoiled on my birthday....a delicious dinner AND cheesecake!

Freezing temps in Iola. Add a humid wind and you can count on being frozen for a few days.

when we had our big ice storm, we had to park the cars...which means if we want to go anywhere...we walk. this is our, 'we're freezing don't want to tract in an ice storm' face. but we love the gospel and know it's true. so we do. oh the things we sacrifice as missionaries. but we Love it!

Freezing day #2. 2 scarves. 1 pair of gloves. 3 cardigans, hoody and coat...3 pairs of leggings and a pair of pants under a skirt...2 pairs of socks...and as many hand warmers that would fit anywhere I could put them. This is what a freezing windy day in Iola looks like. 

did these cute girls' hair for their Christmas dance

freezing rain...everything gets covered in a layer of ice...makes for beautiful trees

Short and Sweet

Happy Holidays everyone!

It's a week of pictures! Go check 'em out!

I'll leave you with a Christmas thought by our beloved first presidency:

"Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour,
which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).

"Let us make Christmas a time of rejoicing and celebration, a time to share the marvelous truth that Almighty God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem the world! May the joy of that knowledge be with each of us this Christmas season and throughout the coming year."

I love you all!
Sister Hyer

Me and one of my favorite elders/best friends here on the mission and fellow dart/k-town resident, Elder Holt 

we had to make an ornament for our mission Christmas tree...so I printed this picture out and wrote, 'It's all about Love!'

Service Project 

Bowling with some of my favorite sisters!

the 2 sisters I've trained! I'm one proud mama ;) (that's what they call the trainers)

Me and Sister Jarman!