Be the Example

Well hello my family and friends!

Time is short. But life is good. and that's all that matters, right?

I am LOVING life here in Lee's Summit. The ward is SO happy to have sisters and they are totally spoiling us. The poor elders aren't too thrilled that we're getting all the attention and that our meal calendar filled up faster than theirs did. but they'll get over it....eventually. haha.

Quick story:

My companion and I ventured to the mall last week to do a little shopping (which was weird, by the way. I haven't been to a mall in a YEAR! i've only shopped at walmart for that long. haha.) So while we were there we grabbed some lunch in the food court. We sat down to eat, and before we started we each said a personal prayer over our food. When I raised my head and opened my eyes I caught the eye of a woman sitting across the court from us. I smiled at her and she looked away. We ate our lunch and as we went to leave this woman came up to us. She was from China, so her English was really broken as she said: "when i see you pray, it make me feel so good. i just want to cry." tears filled her eyes and she said: "i just wish my kids be like you. they not make good decisions and I wish they pray like you do." She told us a little more about her family before she went on her way, and that was that. Although our encounter with this woman was short, the warmth in my heart lingered throughout the rest of the day. What a testimony builder of the example we need to be as members because there will always be people who recognize our actions. We are making a difference simply by living the teachings of the Gospel. We truly must "...stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in"

i love you all!

Sister Hyer

Tis The Season of Miracles

Hey Ya'll!

yes, I did just say ya'll. The country is gettin to me! :)

Winter is here. and it's beyond freezing. It's a different kind of cold here...the Kansas winds and humidity adds extra bitterness to the already low temperatures. Hopefully I can survive a Kansas winter just like I survived a Missouri Summer!

It was a week full of Incredible miracles here in iola! Here's just a few:

Miracle number one: So, missionaries keep records of everything. We keep records of people we are teaching so that missionaries in the future will know people that have been taught in the area...and what and when they were taught. Sometimes investigators don't progress, so the missionaries stop teaching them for a while. Missionaries in the future are encouraged to go through these records and try some of these people again to see if their hearts have been softened....we call these former investigators.

One night, my companion and I had nothing to do, so we decided to pull out our stack of former investigators. We randomly chose one from the pile of papers and headed to the address listed. We knocked on the door and a lady answered. When I introduced myself, she replied, 'yeah I remember you....I am just about to leave to pick up my daughter...can you come back in about an hour?" We agreed, of course. That entire hour after we left I was trying to figure out where I knew her from..and it just wouldn't come to me! It was driving me crazy. So I said a prayer.

When we went pack to the house, she opened the door, and the moment I stepped inside her house it hit me! She had been at a member named patty's house one night at dinner! I mentioned that I remembered where I knew her from and she said: "Yeah...and actually, I just saw Patty when I picked up my daughter. I told her she was in trouble for sending you girls over to my house. haha. She said she didn't know what I was talking about." I felt this warmth overcome me and I knew at that moment we were supposed to be there. I said: "Patty didn't send us. We didn't even know you lived here. We just randomly picked a house and knocked on the door. We know that our Heavenly Father sent us here to express His love for you and to let you know that the message we have to share is true and that He wants you to accept it so you can receive the blessings He has to offer." She was amazed.

We sat down and taught her the message of the Restoration of The Gospel. We expressed Heavenly Father and the Savior's love for her over and over. We taught her how to pray and invited her to read the Book of Mormon....then we took a leap of faith and invited her to baptized. She accepted, and is now preparing to be baptized in January!

Miracles happen. Even if is by a record written about a former investigator from 5 years ago who no longer even lives at the address you tried.

Miracle number two: We went to eat dinner at a member's house and they had invited their two nieces over...Paige is 13 and Trinity is 9. After dinner, we shared a message about Christ's birth and how it's important to remember 'the reason for the season' and why we really celebrate Christmas. As we shared this message, the girls expressed that they had no idea who Christ was. My heart broke. These sweet girls had never felt of the Savior's love in their life!

We talked about how they are daughters of a Heavenly Father and that He loves them. They were full of questions and excitement as we shared this with them. We invited them to come to church with their aunt. They came to church with us yesterday and loved it. They took notes in sacrament meeting, and after it was over paige said: "you're coming over after this right?" I told her we would, and she said: "Good, I have lots of questions." We went over to their house after church and spent 2 hours answering their questions and teaching them about the Gospel. At the end of the lesson, we invited them to be baptized and they said yes with more excitement and enthusiasm than I've ever seen!

Before we left, Trinity asked to say the prayer. Neither of them had ever prayed before, so we taught them how and I helped her say one. I started off the prayer with her repeating after me, then she added a few of her own things...one of them being 'thank you for the sister missionaries teaching us'...something I had not told her to say. She finished her simple prayer and opened her eyes with the biggest smile on her face. My heart was filled with an immense sense of warmth and love. I had just helped a sweet Child of God pray for the first time...and the smile on her face was significant evidence that she felt of His love as she prayed.

Again...miracles happen. Even if they start with a bowl of hot soup at a member's house, a message about Christ's birth and 2 sweet girls who are yearning to know their Savior and Father in Heaven.

Oh how I love being a missionary!! How rewarding it is and how blessed I feel to be able to be apart of this work!

Much love to you all during this magnificent Christmas Season!

Sister Hyer

Thanks to my cute mom, we have the cutest mini 'Jesus Tree' ever! :)

this is how you know you're in the middle of nowhere...not a single road or city around for miles! haha