"Fa la la la la la la ka-Ching" MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Wow what a week full of the Christmas spirit! Monday was absolute chaos. We had to go to the post office to send the packages and man there was the longest line and everyone had not so happy spirits!! We ran around getting everything done but I hope you liked the Christmas cards :)

Tuesday we had zone training and sister Hyer and I trained on things elder Bennett talked about. We served at the temple visitors center that night!! It was so fun!! Wow so many amazing people came in and you talk to a ton of people. It was way fun. We get to go again on the 30th. The church hired a guy named Emmanuel to drive us up in his bus to the TVC. He was so funny and I busted a gut laughing talking to him. Also he took a picture of all the sisters in front of the temple and then called two guys over and was trying to set us up with them. Hahaha FYI Emmanuel isn't a member. Haha so funny.

Wednesday we went on exchanges with the Leesburg sisters!! I was with Sister Snow. We knocked on this door and a very tall man opened the door. I had to crank my neck to look up at him. He looked like an NBA player. His name is Reggie! He was super nice. We passed him to the goose creek sisters. 

Thursday we went to go give this one lady getting out of her car a Light the World card and she just was not havin it!! She was like "No, I don't need that, Jesus is the light, I am the light! Matthew 11...!" And just went off haha it was funny. She was nice though. We contacted a solid member referral named Daniel and we are going back tomorrow!! That night Kennedy came to a lesson with us that fell through, so we knocked on their neighbors apartment door. This kind family from Egypt let us in and talked with us for a bit. The dad bore his testimony of God and it was making Kennedy cry. When we were leaving the dad told Kennedy "you cry beautiful tears" aww it was so cute and such a cool experience to meet them. 

Friday we planned and went to a lesson that fell through. We contacted a Spanish cleaning lady and we were trying to talk with her and then all of a sudden...

She was like  "no me gusto Mormons. Not good. BYE!" 

Me: "Okay well God loves you! Feliz Navidad!" 

We get in the car and Sister Hyer was like "what a savage Hispanic lady." Haha oh sister Hyer. She cracks me up.

Carlos' Baptism

We were driving home and we both got prompted to talk with this man walking on the side of the road. We kept thinking as we drove past well  "Do we do it?" Finally decided YES! It was totally the spirit. We flip a U and pull over to the side of the road.. start talking to him and are teaching him from the car. His name is Malik and he explained how he just lost a baby. We taught part of the plan of salvation and gave him a Book of Mormon. He took it and said he would start reading it right when he got home. He was so grateful for us stopping to talk with him. We called him the next day and he said he had read part of the Book of Mormon and it had changed his perspective on the situation he was in. HUGE MIRACLE!! We have plans to go back tomorrow and check in with him even though he texted us and told us he wasn't interested. We will see what he says tomorrow. Carlos also got baptized that night!! It was a beautiful service. It has been amazing to watch his progression in the gospel. He got confirmed yesterday at church!! What an amazing Christmas!

Saturday was so great! No better way to start off your Christmas Eve than to go serve at the homeless shelter! We handed out gift bags to them and they were so grateful! Loved it. It warmed my heart so much. Sunday was so fun we SKYPED!! Wow I loved that so much, I just love you family!! Best present ever. Thank you so much for everything. I read Luke 2 in studies and cried it just touched my heart. We had dinner with the Parkins and Carlos was invited over! We had church and wow I love church and the sacrament. I love the Savior. I know He lives. I know He is the Son of God and that He truly loves us each and knows us individually. Merry Christmas everyone! Have a happy new year. Stay safe out there :) also continue to light the world!! :)

Love you all so so much.

Xoxox,

Sister Hymas

 

Gifts from members

Hectic, crazy, busy, but MIRACULOUS week. :)

MERRY Christmas week!!  6 days ladies and gents. I'm so excited! :) 

Also, so sorry this email isn't going to be super great because we have a million things to do and not much time to do them haha! Sister Hyer and I defs didn't procrastinate doing all of the Christmas things the p day before Christmas. Haha. Oops.

Wow. This week just flew. Time flies when you're having A BLAST! Okay wow Monday was straight chaotic. We rode the metro into DC and had a grand trip. All was going well. We were planning on buying some DC things for gifts to send home from the souvenir cart/buses on the street. Usually there are a ton all along the street. Well sister Hyer and I get there and we start walking along and cannot find any. We walked, pretty much ran all around the Smithsonian. All over. Haha AND COULDN'T FIND ONE. We walked through a museum and finally just decided to ask one of the food cart people outside. She said they are all closed up because it rained that day and they aren't open when it rains! We were like "uhh.." are ya kidding. We came all the way here for zero souvenir trucks! Then all of a sudden she said "oh wait! There is only one at the very end of the street! She's the only one that's opened!" Okay. Totally the spirit that helped that lady to remember that souvenir lady, so grateful. We ran there and then got some gifts (which I sent in a package today! ;) let me know when you get it! P.s. You can open it Christmas Eve if you would like :)) and then we ran all the way back to the metro and I was sweatin like crazy. Haha. It was such a fun day though. We had dinner with the brassanini fam! And p.s. Brother brassanini works for the FBI. SO COOL. I feel like I never tell you guys about the people I meet here and how they all work for the FBI, military, NASA, etc. Ya don't see that everyday in Utah. Here it's a different story. You do see that everyday! Haha It's so cool!

Tuesday we had our half mission conference where Elder Randall K Bennett from the seventy spoke to us! It was so amazing. There are so many things to say about the conference but basically after everything he said I had such a great desire to be more obedient and work even harder. There are always things you can improve upon. I wish I could send you all the notes I took but I'll just include a quote here and there in all my emails hahah. Okay and then we had a lesson planed with Antwon that night. Okay super awkward story. He lives in lock out apartments so we have to buzz in to have them open the door. Well he came down and let us in. P.s. He doesn't have a phone. So we are talking with him and he is explaining to us how he doesn't have a phone and it's hard to contact him... then we move on to talking about if he's read the pamphlet, Book of Mormon, etc... when all of a sudden someone's phone starts ringing. Antwon's face turned to pure astonishment/"oh man they caught me" face. HAHAHAHA I lost my mind I was laughing so hard. He pulls out the ringing phone from his pocket and struggles to turn it off. He told us it was his girlfriend's phone, but his face clearly said something different. He really could've just told us it was his and he didn't want to give us his number haha. Oh well. Who knows! Maybe it was his girlfriend's phone. Haha it was just super awkward and super funny.

Wednesday we had MLC which was awesome, elder Bennett spoke there too. And president Huntsman. I just love president! He is seriously the best. I know He loves each of us missionaries. And sister Huntsman, wow I just love her! She is awesome. Later that day we carried groceries in for this cute little Spanish lady. That was fun. We went to the temple visitors center with Sarah that night and saw the lights and such. 

Thursday We had exchanges with the ham/cat sisters. So fun!! I learn so much from these sweet sisters. I love them. RJ, a Ward missionary, took us all out to lunch at Chipotle! P.s. First time ever having chipotle! I like cafe rio better. Wow okay another awkward story. Sister Winward and I went to go check on our investigator, Mister. Yes his name is mister. So we knock, his mom answers says he's not home. She isn't interested but gives a referral who lived up the street! So we leave and go and contact it. We contact the lady, she isn't interested, we start walking back down the street and I see mister and two of his friend pull up to his house and start walking up the steps to his door. I yell "hey mister!" And wave. He sees me and hurries up the steps into his house. But this time we are at the end of his porch steps and I'm like "hey we just want to talk with ya for a few minutes about the Book of Mormon and see how your doing! Hello! Heyy Mister!" Haha during all of this, Mister runs inside the house, his friends are awkwardly standing at the door like 'what do we do?!' looking down at us and looking back at mister in the house, we hear his mother laughing hysterically in the background and then his friends look back down at us, and just slowly shut the door. DENIED. Sister Winward and I just stand there for me moment. And I just start busting up. It was so funny! HAHAH yes so awkward. Mister really just didn't want to talk with us haha. Oh well! 

Friday came around and we planned, planned, planned! Hector, our ward mission leader, took us to a cute little Mexican restaurant for lunch! Wow it was so cute. It's in downtown Leesburg and mother, you would love it! We ate pupusas, and that was the first time I've ever had a pupusa! So we documented it. There was a bonfire at a members house that night so we spent our dinner hour there with Carlos.

Saturday we had another exchange with the goose creek sisters! I was with Sister Goudy and wow, she is a rockstar. Loved serving with her for a day! We had the chance to help a little Spanish family move into their new home. We helped move some mattresses and such. They were kind of creeped out at first but were so grateful for our help by the time we left. Had our ward Christmas party that night and Carlos baptismal interview! He passed! Wahoo! He gets baptized on Friday!! He asked me and Sister Hyer to speak. Uh oh. Just kidding it will be great!! We are so excited for him!! :) he has come so far. Wow it's been amazing to watch him progress. By far one of the best parts of missionary work...

...Wow. But everything about missionary work is so good. 

Sunday we had a HUGE MIRACLE! Everyday is a miracle but this one was so miraculous. We were coming home from church and saw this lady walking her dog. Sister Hyer said "hey let's talk to her" so we pull over and get out to talk with her. For a split second the thought "uhg no let's just go eat some food" came to my head. (It was lunch time by the way) yeah well that thought was totally Satan and I'm so glad sister Hyer followed that prompting because we were led to meet the sweetest most prepared lady in the world. Her name is Robinette and she said she has been searching for answers for awhile and haven't been able to find them. She said she never walks up the Street in this direction but her dogs led her that way today and then she said she ran into us! NOT A COINCIDENCE. I asked her if she had ever wondered why there were so many churches and she said "yes! All the time!" Or something Ike that. Wow she said she would be baptized if she came to feel it was true, and now she wants to meet with us and come to church. MIRACLE MIRACLE MIRACLE!! I know for a fact that God leads US and leads those who are prepared TO US when we are being obedient to His commands. ALWAYS obey Him and ALWAYS follow this spirit. That night we watched the Ashburn stake choir sing Handels Messiah! It was beautiful. Carlos came and it was super!

I love this work so much! I love Christmas. I can't wait to talk with y'all!! And I can't believe this transfer is almost over. It makes my heart so sad. Here's a stellar quote by President Huntsman, "If we truly love, we're going to be obedient and we're going to help others be obedient." Given at MLC about helping other missionaries be obedient. Goes for all of us though! Missionary or not. Love and obedience coincide with one another. If we love God, we will be obedient to Him.

LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! 

Xoxoxo,

Sister Hymas

"This is God's work. The Gospel is true. AND I LOVE YOU!" #rhyming

Wow Wow Wow!!

You guys. This week though. It was full of miracles!! Also, we are riding on the metro to DC right now, and are currently going through tunnels and it sounds and looks like screeching dementors in this tunnel. Scary. And random. Haha. Also... CHRISTMAS IS IN 13 days. Not like I'm counting or anything haha I just love Christmas!! Not to mention Rach gets married in like 3... SAY WHAAT?! 

Tuesday, one of our ward missionaries, Jaya, took us to Cheesecake Factory! Wow. So much love for the food there. I got the Luau Salad and it literally looked like a luau in salad form! Definitely got the peanut butter chocolate cheesecake there... even though I'm so intolerant, it was worth it!! We had a lesson with Carlos that night where he received an answer to his concern and question about Joseph Smith being a prophet of God. It was so amazing. We showed the five minute restoration video at the end of the lesson and the spirit filled the room. It was there the whole time but was stronger during the video. There was a long silence after the video. Carlos broke the silence and said, "okay..... yeah. I believe he was a prophet." Jaw dropped. MIRACLES. LITERAL MIRACLES RIGHT BEFORE MY EYES. 

We went to the temple visitors center on Wednesday for Luis last day in the USA! He went back to Peru. So sad. :( but it went so well! I saw Sister Moore serving at the TVC! I went to high school with her! And her twin is in my mission. I also went on a blitz with Sister Snow and we found 3 new investigators for them!! God is seriously SO GOOD!! I cannot even express in words, how MIRACULOUS everyday is out here in the field. My eyes have been opened to see how God's hand is so evident in our lives. Every single life. We are His children and He does look out for us. I can testify of that.

Thursday we went on exchanges with the Brambleton sisters!! WAHOO! So much fun. I was with Sister Ketch, who BTW is my sister! Sister Lang trained her too. P.S. Sister Lang definitely goes home this week. My heart. Broken. So sad. You better go to her homecoming! Sister Frei goes home this week too!! Crazy stuff!!  Anyway, it was my first exchange as an STL and it was totally hectic and chaotic but what's new?! haha plans had to be moved all around... etc. Craziness calls for a good time. I had a ton of fun :) Sister Ketch is awesome! She is a rockstar missionary. We had a good time laughing about all the memories with Sister Langford. Hahah.

Friday we had another lesson with Carlos, and Sarah came. He was struggling with a concern about if the pope had the priesthood and if Joseph Smith had it too, at the same time.. like two different people holding the keys or something. Anyway, basically long story short, the spirit totally took over that lesson. We were sharing some scriptures with him and it seemed like he was getting semi-agitated and antsy... when all of a sudden a jaw dropping miracle happened. This is the conversation that went down...

Carlos: "okay lets do it. 23 right?"

(My mouth drops.)

Sister Hyer: wait, what? So anyway..

(She didn't quite understand what he said hahah she just moved on)

Carlos: "23 right?" 

Sarah: "you mean like the 23rd of December? You want to get baptized?" 

Carlos: "yeah."

Me: "what made you come to that conclusion?"

Carlos: "ever since I started meeting with you girls, my life has been changing. On the inside. In a good way. I been searching for answers and 'God said you want a concrete answer? Okay send the sisters.' I had an answer the whole time, it was right in front of me. Just the way you sisters talk about God and Jesus... you can tell you love God.... (and he went on about us)"

Wow. Yeah I was SO amazed and my heart was so touched by his answer!! It was a testimony to me to be an "example of the believers in word and deed." People notice. You never know the impact you have on someone as you follow God and live the gospel. 

Saturday we had a good Correlation meeting and Hector took us and the Leesburg sisters to lunch at Pei Wei. Super delish. Funny story. Sister Hyer was waiting for me in the bathroom. She got a little bored and started clogging (the dance) in the bathroom. A lady walks in. She gives her a weird look hahah and all I hear is sister Hyer say "HA sorry it's cold, just clogging to warm up..!" Lady doesn't give her the time of day and just asks if she was in line. Hahah I could just feel how awkward the whole situation was, while I was in the stall. I was dying trying not to laugh out loud. Hahah so funny. Giovanni fed us dinner and taught us a new word in Spanish! Luis told Giovanni to teach us Spanish so we get to learn a new Spanish phrase every time we see him haha. He taught us "santa vocka" that means holy cow. Fun fact for ya!

I got asked this week if "Hymas" was a German name. Haha never got that before! Do I look German? I don't know, maybe I do! Random question, do we know any Doug or Brenda Hymas's that lived out here? Also, I got some saaad news about my recent convert Diane. Remember her? From ft Belvoir? She moved to Reston when I was still in the fort. Anyway, I got news that she doesn't want any contact from the missionaries and how she doesn't want to be a member anymore. My heart broke. BUT sister Hyer told me some comforting words that she heard from someone else's mission president. They said, "You have to remember, this isn't the end of their story." SO TRUE. I know it's not the end of her story. The same goes for everyone too! Such wise words.

I wish I had unlimited time to write and tell you about all the amazing things that are happening out here, but that would took years! Everyday is a rollercoaster. Everyday I have the blessing to talk with so many wonderful people. Everyday is a party with Sister Hyer haha. Everyday God blesses us with miracles, so many I can't even count. I am so so grateful to be here. I love being a missionary. This is God's work. The gospel is true. And I LOVE YOU!!!

Xoxox,

Sister Hymas

#LighttheWorld

Wow. I love DECEMBER!! I love a Christmas time!! I love the spirit of the Holidays. It just makes me so incredibly happy. Also because Christmas is all about Christ, and we get to focus even MORE on Him. I hope everyone is doing the #LighttheWorld initiative! Seriously, best thing ever. We can truly become more like Christ in the small simple actions we do each day. 

This week was MIRACULOUS. For FHE on Monday, we had a bonfire at Max's house! We had three investigators show up and a few recent converts! It felt like I was back in college but at the same time still living as a missionary. Basically everyday life serving in the singles ward. Haha. We also went Christmas shopping for some gifts at the Leesburg outlets so that was super fun! I'll be sending a package in a few weeks :) 

Oh my lands. Okay so I wore my rain boots on Tuesday. We were walking around and all throughout the day I just kept getting this nasty wiff of a horrid smell. I thought it was me for the longest time. I kept asking sister Hyer if I smelled bad and she kept saying "no sister!" So I kept on going just hoping people didn't think I smelled bad. Well, nighttime comes around. Finally sister Hyer was like "sister you probably just stepped in dog poop!" I look down on my shoe. Definitely stepped in dog poop and it reaked. However, I was so relieved to know that it wasn't ME that smelled so bad!! ;) haha.

I hit my 8 months on Wednesday!! Say whattt?? That's crazy stuff. I can't believe I hit half way this month!! Wowza. Crazy. Okay funniest story of my life. We had some car troubles this week. Sister Hyer wrote it so well in her weekly, she so kindly let me use what she wrote. In the words of Sister Hyer: "So starting the weekend before last the lights in our car weren't really working. The fog ones. The brights would work just fine but the normal ones weren't shining like at all. So we had to drive with our brights and get about a million honks and flashes. But it's fine. Safety first. We call the senior missionary over cars early last week and he tells us to take it into a Subaru dealership. On Wednesday we did. We sit there for a while and then the man comes and tells us there is nothing wrong with our car but that the lights are just dim naturally. I was having some real un-Sister missionary like thoughts in my head. Like dude. You try and drive this car at night. You can literally see nothing. But whateves. He didn't charge us anything so it was all good. We were like well maybe they weren't as bad as we thought. Well that night once it gets dark we realized we could see literally nothing. The dashboard showed the little yellow pictures that says your lights are on but there was no light!! So brights again. And we called the senior missionary again. We chat for a while and finally he is like, did you try pulling back the lever? So I do it and bam! Lights!! Perfectly normal ones. I about died laughing because I felt so dumb but hey. It's all good we have light now. #LIGHTTHEWORLD." HAHAHA. Wow. Mystery solved. Thank goodness! It was scary driving at night. 

Thursday we had interviews with president! I. Love. President Huntsman!! He is such a good man. He is an inspired man. He is so encouraging. I never leave an interview feeling down. Sister Hyer and I had the opportunity to train the missionaries all day on talking with everyone. I learned So much from each of them. I know God places people in out path for a reason, and if we don't stop and take the time to open our mouths and talk with them, you may never find out whether they were prepared to hear the gospel or not. So just Preach it! I love these missionaries. I'm so grateful to serve with them. Haha okay, sister Huntsman sis the cutest! One missionary was like, "man my throat is killin me" and sister Huntsman immediately pops up and was like "do you need a cough drop?! I have one! I have lots! The Costco sized bag! President asks me to carry them around for him!" Hahah love her. Gotta love Costco too. We also raked leaves for Ashley during our lunch break too for light the world!!

We had some amazing lessons this week. We had a few lessons with Carlos and he is progressing so well! I learned on exchanges with sister Bray to start every lesson with a hymn. I loved that idea so we decided now to start each lesson by singing a hymn! And wow. Lemme tell you. Miracles happen. We started our lesson with Carlos with a hymn and that lesson was completely filled and led by the spirit. That was the lesson where Carlos accepted a baptismal date for December 23rd. I know that hymns invite the spirit. I know that we don't have to be good singers either! Ya need the spirit? Sing a hymn and pray :) I'm so grateful for the Spirit. 

Also, we just got a text from Carlos today saying "I'm really feeling like I want to get baptized right now." WOW. Sister Hyer and I were just like: WOOOOOOOOOOOO!! It was a complete miracle. Carlos has been taught for like a year and now he finally wants to be baptized. It's a miracle. It's all Gods hand. I am just so grateful to be here.

We had stake conference yesterday and they are doing something so cool where they are taking all of the YSA wards in the northern Virginia and Dc Area and making a YSA stake. So we got to witness the stake be created! That was way cool. And two members of the seventy, elder Perkins and elder Calderwood came and spoke! I shook Elder Calderwood's hand and talked with him for a few minutes. Good fellow!! The bittersweet news is that our Bishop, Bishop Janzen, got called to be the stake president. So sad but happy at the same time! He is such a Good guy. I'm so grateful for his example of true selfless service and love.

I want to bear my testimony that I know God loves His children. I know His hand is so evident in our lives we just have to open our eyes to see Him. I love this gospel. I know that it's true. I know that Jospeh Smith is the prophet of the restoration. I know that Christ lives. I know He is our greatest friend and our Advocate with the Father. I know that He is the Light of the world and we can become more like Him by DOING what He did while He was here on earth. God needs us to love, lift, and help each other. SO.... Go LIGHT THE WORLD!! :)

Love you all so much.

Xoxoxo

Sister Hymas :)

Scripture of the week: 3 nephi 5:13: I am a disciple of Jesus Christ...

"She can't see, her eyes are frozen!" -Christmas Vacation

Okay funny story! So the subject line has everything to do with our morning workouts haha. We go jogging outside and it was freezing this morning! So freezing my eyes were frozen. Just reminded me of good ol Christmas vacation! Hahah so funny.

Monday was crazy busy! We did a long list of things that I've been meaning to do. Haha poor sister Hyer, she was so patient and cooperative! Haha. Okay but seriously we are like the same person. Not even kidding. Both want to be nurses, have the same interest, likes, same experiences... etc. so funny! We went finding and checked on potentials. We knocked on this one door and started talking with this guy named Leo. In the beginning he said he was super busy and it wasn't a good time but... We just started talking and didn't take that as an answer haha turned out to be a great conversation. Gave him a Book of Mormon and invited him to church! He became a new investigator but we have to pass him. He really bore testimony of sharing Christ's love with everyone. It was really awesome. Haha and it was so funny, he kept fist bumpin us and said "share the love, share the love." I was cracking up it was so funny!

Tuesday we had district meeting and that was fun. In our comp study that morning we watched a district video about talking with everyone. In the video M. Russell Ballard says "Teach your missionaries to talk to 10 people everyday independent of tracting, working with members, or teaching discussions. Proselyting is talking to people wherever the missionary finds them." LOVED THAT. So sister Hy and I set a goal to talk to everyone we see. No matter what. But by the spirit! So, we were going to check on a referral when we passed by this sweet oriental lady walking along the path on the side of the road. Sister Hyer saw her so we pulled over and started walking and talking on the path with her. It was such a tender mercy and miracle! She IS THE CUTEST LADY EVER. I LOVE HER! She became a new investigator, and we are planning on going on a church tour on Tuesday. And we are going to walk to the church with her because she "loves to walk!" She said. :) so cute. 

 Wednesday we had a lesson with Ashley and Ryan and Sarah came. They are rockstars, love both of them! Also Ashley gave us a candle! WHAT a nice thing to do! We went to the homeless shelter to do some service, we helped fold clothes in the back room where the computers are. Well there was a fellow playing some war craft or something (haha I thought of Kyle) and he started talking about prophecies he's made and his religious whole life story and such... He was way nice but it's true in the scriptures where it talks about there being many false prophets. I am so grateful for the spirit that testifies of truth to us. When we went finding that evening we met a woman named Victory, who thought I looked like a movie star! Then she and sister Hyer decided on Blake Lively, which is so funny I've gotten that a ton on my mission and before my mission! That night we had a lesson at a Shell gas station! You know me and the Shell's... we get along so nicely. Haha. Her name is Teijaye and she works there! So apparently the sisters have just taught her while she was at work. It turned out to be an awesome lesson. It was so funny because halfway through the lesson, there was something that scurried across the ceiling tiles and we were like whattt....?! Then Teijaye was like, "oh yeah, that's Ralphey the squirrel and his two babies." HAHAH they have a squirrel and mice problem apparently! Anyway, Teijaye was loving the Book of Mormon and after reading Moroni 10:3-5, she said "that is really good. I like that. What is this, the Book of Mormon? Man I gotta read this whole thing!"

Thursday was happy Thanksgiving indeed!! We ate at the Parkins, and ate SOO so much. Holy cow. So much pie. So much DELICIOUSNESS.  It was so nice of the Parkins to send a pic!! I hope It made your day! We played Telestrations with them, just like the good ol times with the fam! 

We met a cool guy and his daughter, their names were Sam and Emily, from Jerusalem! I really am so grateful for kind people like them. Sam was so hilarious I'll send you a video of him! We had a lesson with Carlos! He brought us pizza! We sat outside the church on a picnic table in the dark. It was a spirit filled lesson and Carlos is so prepared he just won't accept a baptismal date yet. He is SOOO CLOSE. it's so hard to see the people you just love not accept the baptismal dates, even though you know they could be baptized on that date!! But the spirit taught me that night, that people are prepared when they are prepared. And if they aren't keeping commitments, they aren't ready or prepared to be baptized. Keep praying for him that he will accept a date soon! Thanksgiving was such a blessed day I am so grateful for this beautiful life God has so graciously given me.

Friday we planned! We had a lesson with Ariel that went so well! Read Mosiah 18 and boom ba da bing! The spirit put him on date! For December 24th! MERRY CHRISTMAS right?!?! We were finding that night and we went and knocked on this door. We met three kids, two older sisters and a seven year old little boy, named Isaac. We were just talking at the doorstep when all of a sudden Isaac just dropped to the ground and started doing push-ups, the best way a seven year old can. Haha it was SO. CUTE. I was dying laughing, wasn't expecting that to happen! Then we knocked on their neighbors door, and a man looked through the window, waved his hand and yelled "Sorry, the door is locked already!" Hahah. Okay then! Some people are so funny, and everyone is SOO DIFFERENT! You just never know what you're going to get!

Saturday we had ward Correlation, and went to a baptism with Sarah. We had a killer delish dinner at the Brassaninis, she made breakfast and nothing gets better than breakfast for dinner!  We went finding with Namuun and met this kind Afghan family. They let us in immediately and fed us food! It was my first time having afghan food!! They were like dumplings or something? So good though! Well we tried sharing a message and they were so intent even if they weren't interested in learning more about Christ, both women there really seemed like they were listening. Not so much the dad. But Those people were so kind! And made super good food. :) Namuun just testified! She came from a family who didn't have a belief in God. She is a rockstar. Seriously all of these members are! I love them!!

Sunday was wonderful! It was a busy Sunday. Church was a little hectic, haha and we got asked the morning of to teach the gospel principles class about the law of chastity, pretty sure it was because no one else wanted to haha. But it turned out so great! After church, we went to the temple visitors center with Carlos and Abbey took us. It was So good! Oh yeah and when we got there, It was a total surprise because they turned the LIGHTS ON!!! Oh man, tender mercy they weren't supposed to turn on until December 1st. They are beautiful!! It's like a BEAUTIFUL magical fairytale land! It's so colorful! It was a great trip and I just praying that Carlos will accept a date soon. He is so ready and so close! Prayers for him would be wonderful!

I know the power of prayer is real. So real. Heavenly Father hears every prayer. Big or small, doesn't matter, He hears us!! This next week is going to be complete chaos! Just kidding all of December is going to be so busy but I am looking forward to it!! We have exchanges tomorrow, interviews and the STL's and zone leaders are doing training at interviews so that will be super fun! And I just love president. It's always so good to talk with him. Also, the sisters of DC south get to serve at the visitors center in December!! Sister Hyer and I get to go 4 times! Woot woot! This time of year is so special. I invite everyone of you to go watch the new Light the World video on Mormon.org  or lds.org. I invite each of you to serve someone each day of December. Christ spent His whole life serving. Because Of Him, the world is a much better place. We can help other feel His love one simple act of service at a time. :)

Sending all my love!!!

Xoxoxo,

Sister Hymas :)

Transferred? Or Not Transferred...?

TRANSFER WEEK......

Monday we had the great blessing of going to DC with mama lodge!! She so kindly agreed to drive us into DC and that is a nightmare lemme tell ya! Well especially for sister Lodge. It is super scary driving in DC. It was so hilarious though, she is the funniest southern lady you'll ever meet! There were many instances where she was yelling different things and hyperventilating and claiming she peed her pants a little, not gonna lie I was laughing my head off the whole time haha. We went to the American History museum and that was super fun. It's sister Bennett's fave. We ate lunch and took some pics, and then headed home, went grocery shopping, quickly wrote a few emails and then went to dinner at the sweet Croker's home! Cutest family and such great examples. Then we contacted a referral who wasn't interested, and tried to contact some less active members, and did areabook work. Then... that night after nightly planning... we waited for the phone call. The phone call before you find out about transfers the next night. We assumed and just felt that sister B would be called and assigned as a STL and would leave Bristow.  Well all of a sudden we get RING RING from President. He said he needed to speak to BOTH of us and he spoke to sister B first. Well, I overheard him tell her she would TRAIN in Bristow! SO automatically I was like okay. IM OUTTA HERE! Sad day but I could sense I was leaving even if I didn't want to accept it. I love Bristow and the people here. They are amazing. Hey ya never know.. maybe I'll come back?! ;) Well then president needed to speak with me. He said "Hello Sister Hymas, I want you to serve as an STL this next transfer. You have grown into a wonderful missionary and we need to show your example to the other missionaries" or something like that. He gave me some really kind compliments that made my heart want to cry. I LOVE PRESIDENT!! So here goes nothin. I ain't got a clue of what I'm doing, but then again ya never know what you're doing on your mission. You just go with it! Haha

Tuesday we had one last district meeting with my crazy fellow missionaries. We played headbands and catch phrase. And ate crazy foods. It was so fun though!! We packed and had dinner with sister Donovan. We stopped by sister lodges and the benders. 9:00 pm came around and we found out that I was being sent to... SHENANDOAH YSA WARD!! WOOP WOOP!! Partyin with the young single adults haha I was sooo pumped! My companion is sister Hyer and is the cutest Sista! We cover the whole Stake it's a big chunk of land. It will be a grand ol time. I read a quote in the mission newsletter they send out each week and the sister who wrote this weeks article said "transfers are comin up! Elders and sisters, wherever you may go, bloom where you are planted." AMEN! So even though I'm leaving beautiful Bristow and the people I love so much, I will try to bloom in Shenandoah. "I'll go where you want me to go" :)

Wednesday we did a lot of packing and cleaning and I mowed the lawn one last time!! Sad day. It was super fun. We had a great visit with Brother Kearney and brother Hafley and sister Brown came. Brother Kearney is the one who spoke last Sunday and has had a really rough life. Anyway it was awesome and he shared part of his conversion story and bore testimony of Joseph smith and how his life was parallel to his. He was searching just like Joseph was and when the darkness came upon Joseph when he was praying, brother kearney had a dark life too... but in both lives, the light overcame the dark and God showed Himself to them. God led brother Kearney to the gospel and that light overcame all the dark in his life. I was tearing up the whole lesson, it was so good. I also really loved one thing brother Hafley said at one point, he said "The only difference between the righteous and the sinners is daily repentance." Loved that!

Also, fell down the stairs carrying my 100 lb luggage hahaha it hurt. Sister Bennett was in our room and yells "you okay?!" Me: "EHH." I'll send pics. And then guess what! We were leaving the house to go say bye to the Hale family. My heel caught the edge of the garage stair and I also missed the last two steps somehow and fell flat on my face/knees. Sister Bennett just happened to turn and see it all happen hahahaah and she yelled "SISTER!" With a tone that sounded like: why are you on the ground?! Hahahaah. I'm such a klutz. I'm still a klutz. Some things never change. We visited the hales fam! So sad. Their three year old little girl named Charlotte ran up to me and asked "Sister Hynas, are you getting translated??" You mean transferred? Hahah. So cute! My heart was being yanked knowing I would be leaving Bristow the next day, but at the same time I felt that I couldn't stay. I know God needs us in certain places at certain times. I knew my short time in Bristow was up. Serving there was quite the glorious blessing I must say. I am so grateful.

Thursday was a longgg day. Transfers makes you tired! Sis Lodge picked us up, we went to sis Bennett trainers meeting, went to transfers and met sister Hyer! She is cute, bubbly, hardworking, and an awesome missionary. We met our zone and did some finding! Had dinner with a recent convert named Sarah who is super awesome. We had a solid lesson with a guy named Ariel, he just GETS the gospel!! We then went to institute, and can I just say I love YSA WARDS ALREADY! We met Luis, a recent convert there because it was his first time.

Friday rocked socks. I love this area!! The people are so willing to talk with you. Sister Hyer is a rockstar missionary, teacher, companion, friend, she is hilarious and makes me laugh so hard all the time. We had PLANNING and some awesome lessons. One was a church tour with a man named Greg who we have to pass to the elders because he's old and has a family but he is so solid. I have never felt the spirit so strong. He just gets the gospel and is prepared. We invited him to be baptized dec 31st and he said he would pray about that date and read the Book of Mormon and try to come to church on Sunday! Wow. Miracles. I can't remember the other lesson or lessons that happened.... there seriously was so much that happened it was overflow on my brain and I can't remember. Struggles! Ha! But it's so good. It's so good to be busy! I LOVE IT!!!

Saturday we got to go to the temple with Sarah who is a recent convert!! It was her first time and she brought names to do and it was seriously so awesome. It was a ward temple trip too so a lot of members came! Sarah said at the end of it all "that was SO amazing!" It made me tear up watching her do the baptisms for her great grandmothers. It was such a rewarding experience! Also, cool thing happened! Members were asking me where I was from while we waited in the lobby of the temple. This girl heard and she came over and was like: "I served with some elders who were from Herriman!" And then she told me she knew Al Johnson and Logan Bingham... all these people I went to school with! Haha such a small world!! ALSOOO.. there is a member in my ward here that totally served in the Yellow Sage Ward! Remember Elder Tagg? He's blonde. Yeah he totally lives here and is in the Shenandoah Ward hahaha. So funny. We were talking and I said you look so familiar... we found out he totally served in our ward before I left on my mission. Small world!! 

Sunday was great! We had ward correlation and Ward council. Then oh my lands... SUCH AN EMBARRASSING MOMENT! Brother Berrett had asked me to give the opening prayer in sacrament, okay no big deal. So sacrament comes along and he announced from the pulpit "we want to welcome sister hymas our new sister serving in the ward, and I won't ask her to stand because she will be coming up to give the opening prayer..." OKAY. WELL, I thought he said "we want to welcome sister hymas our new sister serving in the ward, and I WILL ASK HER TO STAND EVEN THOUGH SHE WILL BE GIVING THE OPENING PRAYER" hahahah. SO of course I stand up and I kinda look around and everyone looks at me like "uhh... why is she standing up" and I quickly realize I probably wasn't supposed to stand. Then sister Hyer told me what he actually said. Yeah so embarrassing. Hahah total sister hymas moment the very first Sunday in my YSA Ward. Whatevs. Then we had a munch and mingle after church! YSA wards are so fun!! Haha it's so different, but the people are such rockstars I love it. 

SOO, It has been a long week! Not in a bad way, but just new everything makes for a long, tiring week. Nevertheless, I love the Shenandoah YSA Ward! I'm so grateful to be serving with sister Hyer! Everyone calls us Sister Hy-Hy haha. Or something like that. She is a rockstar missionary and I look up to her a ton. Being an STL is kinda stressful but I'm super excited and grateful to serve as one. You learn so much from the people you serve. I'm so grateful to be the Lords missionary. This has truly been the greatest 7 and half months for my life. Thanksgiving is coming up and that calls for attitude of gratitude! (You should always have one but especially now haha) I am so grateful for the gospel. It is what makes me so happy. I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father, and the Holy Ghost. They only want what's best for us. I am so grateful for my amazing crazy family that is so loving and supportive and sends the funniest emails and letters to brighten my day. I'm so grateful for chocolate. It's the simple things in life right? Haha. I'm so grateful for the Atonement and the knowledge we have that even if we mess up, we can repent, and keep trying. I'm so grateful for this beautiful life God has blessed me with. We really are so blessed to live here on earth and to have all these experiences. We don't really recognize it sometimes, but everything we go through is helping us to become more like our Father in Heaven. Sometimes we just have to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Once you do, you realize what's really important: family, keeping the commandments.. etc... doing all God has asked us to do in order to return and live with Him again someday. I am so grateful for that. 

I LOVE YOU ALL WITH MY WHOLE SOUL!!! Have a blessed, gratitude-filled week. Count your blessings everyday. List what you're grateful for. I promise when you do that, you will feel great joy in your life. :)

LOVEEE, XOXOXO

SISTER HYMAS :)

Sis. Frei!

 

Sis. Langford

One last mow

My former home

God is Good

IM FEELIN 22!! (Name that song 😜) Jk. I'm feeling like I'm 16 even though I turned 20 this week. Hahah. My birthday was so wonderful all thanks to all the kind people who sent texts, emails, packages and letters to wish me a happy day. I love you all so much and am so grateful to the people God has blessed me with in my life. He is so good.

Monday fun-day!! We went to target! Wahoo!! I got a shirt and sweater, and some gloves! Stocking up for the winter :) haha. We went to Panera as an early birthday lunch! Wahoo :) super good place, do they have those in Utah? I can't remember. It's like Zupas kinda? We went grocery shopping and had dinner at the Buongiovannis! Love them so much. We visited the Childs, less active family, and got to know them better. They are sweet. Then we visited sister lodge because she got hurt Sunday and so we brought her a get well card and flowers and visited her and her husband. It was a very fulfilling day! I loved it. I just love this place, and my companion, and these people, and being a missionary! I just love the gospel. 

Tuesday we had Zone Training, wahoo! We talked about some rules that the mission is implementing. Afterwards, we had the honor and privilege to meet a famous piano player from Peru! His name is Diego, and he will be performing in DC next week. He's autistic. The Spanish missionaries had the chance to hear him play and he is real good they said. It was so neat! He was very kind, He even gave me a kiss on the cheek! First kiss on the mission.... haha jk, It's their culture :) on our way home, sister Bennett and I pondered the things that were said at zone Training and both of our hearts felt really heavy. I felt like crying and I didn't understand why I felt the way I did. But then it came to us: we both felt like Bristow would be shut down within the next few transfers. This area is kind of at a stand still and it would make sense. I just love these people and this Ward! It was really hard for sister Bennett and I, we both started crying. I felt it confirmed by the spirit that God sent us here to work hard and give it one last shot. We both know it will be opened up again, just in a bit. These people will be prepared by then. Sad, but really spiritual experiences that afternoon. (NO WORRIES, later president told us that Bristow wasn't getting shut down. I'm pretty sure God was just testing us to see how we would react. If we would crumple up in a pile or if we would continue to work. God works in mysterious ways :)). We did a lot of area book work that day and had wonderful dinner at sister Kanouse home. Her house is GORGEOUS. Holy cow batman. You would die if you saw it MA. She made a dish called red chicken, and it was SO SO GOOD! And we had apple pie. She showed us her big beautiful house and we had a good visit with her. She lives out in Nokesville. My favorite place! We were driving somewhere that night and the song "God is good" came on. And I LOVE THAT SONG! Y'all should look it up!! By Nashville Tribute Band I think? Anyway, sister Bennett was like, "this song is the motto for your mission: God is Good! You say it like everyday" hahah. I loved that!! Because it's so true. GOD IS GOOD. He is so good. I just love Him. And I know He loves us. He is SO a good and blesses us unconditionally. Life is a beautiful thing. God is good. :)

Wednesday we did a lot of area book work again. We drove out to beautiful Nokesville to see some beautiful people! We met a kind woman named Annette who referred us to another kind woman named Dawn, who's husband is a baptist pastor. Then we went to go find this recent converts home. No one has seen her for a long time. So we find this house and this shirtless older man opened the door and said "hey. How's it goin." Hahaha, he wasn't interested in our message, he said "I got my own message. And we've got the wrong president." Or something like that. We don't think he was having a good day...! Anyway, found out the girl we were looking for moved. We had dinner with the browns (their house is the one in Nokesville that I love so much). Had great time! We dropped off some thank you notes and then contacted a referral. It was so interesting this is what happened: We knocked, a man answered, we said "hello! We are the sister missionaries!" he said to stay right there he had to go get something, we waited, he came back with a picture of his daughter who is a nun and told us "SOO I think you can tell I'm good right now!" Haha okay yes sir! It was so scary when he said stay there, and ran away. Sister B and I just looked at each other like "uhh..." I was thinking he's either was going to get a shotgun or a Bible for bashing ... It was a miracle he came back with neither! Haha. He was kind though. I really am just grateful for kind people. We went and saw Alex bender and filmed a small and simple video with her! I'll send it home. Have you guys been doing them? :) 

Thursday... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEE!! :) I had such a splendid day!! :) I woke up to a house decorated with all the decorations you guys sent in the party box! ;) lemme tell ya... the party box defs made one good partay! We opened the box the night before and then sister B said I couldn't come downstairs till tomorrow morning hahaha. I'll send the video she took! Haha. Then she made me pancakes!! Such a good companion right?! :') couldn't have asked for a better companion to spend my birthday with. Then we planned all day! At lunch we ate the cupcakes you sent MA, and had a mini birthday party. Thank you SO MUCH for the gifts you sent! :) I was so needing those half tees. I'm so grateful for em!! Then I took a nap. Then we planned some more and ate a ton of dove chocolate. Oops. ;) our dinner with one of the members fell through a few days earlier, so sister Lodge invited us over for dinner and oh my LANTA. I walk in and they yell happy birthday, they have a huge cupcake balloon tied to the chair I always sit in at their house, they bought me a beautiful stained glass gift and also got me DELISH gourmet cupcakes. Holy cow. I LOVE THE LODGES!! They made my birthday even more special I just wanted to cry 😭 I love them. Mama and pa lodge forever. Then we talked to Christy who's daughter may be interested and then saw the o'haras who just thanked us for everything we do. Then we had more partying after nightly planning! Party in a box lasted ALLLL day and will keep me entertained for weeks. 😏

Friday I had the special opportunity to go to the "Endure to the End" meeting with sister Bennett!! It's a meeting you go to when you have like 2-3 transfers left on your mission. People call it the trunky meeting. It wasn't trunky at all, it was awesome! Usually you aren't supposed to go if you don't have 2-3 transfers left on your mission, but there were no companionships that we could exchange with so the APs just said for me to tag along haha. It was so funny when we got there, we went in and sat down. We were talking with a group of sisters and President walked over and looked at me and said "now hang on, let me get this straight here, you're not planning on going home any time soon are you?" Hahahaah he looked distressed like he forgot if I was going home or something, I was like "no no no, no worries pres! I'm just here for sister Bennett" haha. It was funny. Later that day we helped rake leaves for Jim and Serena and the Hafley's came too. They are rockstars. We had dinner with the Rodericks! And we checked on people the rest of the evening. Get this. We walked up to this less actives house and I knocked on the door and saw my reflection and I noticed I didn't have my tag! I was like, "uh sister where's my tag....?!" I had a heart attack. It was already so dark outside and we had already gone a million places that night so I thought for sure if lost it. Turns out I left it home the whole night. Hahahaah. Totally a sister hymas moment. Lesson learned, check and double check if ya got your name tag before ya leave the house! Haha I was praying Heavenly Father would help me find it and the whole time he was telling me it was at home and I was just really worried it wasn't. Listen to that still small voice, He's got your back. ;)

So Saturday morning at like 4 am I woke up with super bad stomach pain again. I had it last Sunday morning too. It was super bad, I just prayed so hard it would go away and Heavenly Father eased the pain and I was able to go back to sleep. All day I felt pretty sick, but I witnessed many tender mercies throughout the day. 1. Sprite and saltines are my BFF when my stomach is upset. 2. Sister B is awesome and took great care of me! 3. These people are amazing. Members, nonmembers, doesn't matter, they rock! We met this Asian man who clearly wasn't interested but he was very kind. Hahah as he was walking away from us he let one rip and I about lost my mind laughing, I tried so hard not to laugh. We were able to see sister Wilson and guess what she told us in our way out? She said "you are beautiful people and I love you very much!" I about cried! I just love that sweet lady! She reminds me of my beehive homes buddies. We had dinner with Jim and serena and we just laughed so hard the whole time, cracking jokes and what not. Some how we started talking about Jamaica and Serena said something funny and I said "JAMAICAN me laugh!" HAHAHA I crack myself up. They laughed too, no worries. ;) God is good folks; God is so good.

The Sabbath day was beautiful! Sacrament was so good. There were some really good speakers. One man who spoke is a recent convert of a year or so and he has been through a lot. And when I say a lot i mean a TON. Long story short, he's been in gangs and prison and drugs and grew up in a dark place he said. He spoke on the love of God. His testimony was so pure and real, I was so touched as I listened to him speak, you could tell that he has such a good heart and that he truly loves God and Jesus Christ. One of my favorite lines he said in his testimony was about Joseph smith. He said with tears in his eyes and a choked up voice, "When I heard about Joseph Smith, I just knew. I just knew. How can someone hear about this and not know it's true?" I know God reaches out to His children no matter what walks of life they come from. Some hearts are more prepared than others, but when we are humble we allow the spirit to testify to us of restored truths and I am so grateful for that. That evening, we shared a delicious dinner with the Clarks. I love that family! I cannot express how much I love them. Definitely will stay in contact with them, they feel like my own family and sister Clark is a hoot and a holler, I just laugh so hard every time I'm with her! I literally am always laughing when I'm with her. Funny story, when we were leaving their house, we walked down their porch steps and started back to our car when all of a sudden I hear all these leaves crunching by the side of their house, it sounded like someone was running away. I was the one ahead of sister Bennett and I turned around real quick and ran back up the steps and hid behind her hahah It scared me so bad! I was like "sister, there is someone down there!" She grabs my flashlight and we softly turn around the corner and peek around the tree, she shines the light into the forest where we find some deers just hanging out. HAHA I about lost my mind I thought we were gonna get kidnapped. Well we almost did by a herd of deer! ;) jk. We had a huge miracle and were able to meet with a less active family that evening and get to know them better and share a short message. It was a huge miracle, God totally led us to them. We were supposed to go to a NARMF with Alex Bender and Serena but plans kept falling through and it was so obvious that God needed us there in that home that night. I am so grateful for the guidance of the spirit. This work would not get done without the Holy Ghost.

Sister Bennett and I have a had really good transfer. Although the work in this area may be slower compared to other areas, the work is still goin!! Miracles happen everyday. The spirit of missionary work has grown in the ward. We have been able to visit more less actives and reach out to more members that don't come to church often. Each week we learn and seek to improve our efforts and how we can best help the work go forth in his area. Sometimes it's difficult for me to know if we are doing effective work, or if we are trying our best, etc. Satan is really good at discouraging and bringing us down, but the Lord uplifts and lets us know in a loving way if we are doing all we can. Sunday, Brother Meier came up to us and expressed his gratitude for our efforts and told us that even if the baptisms in this area arent a large amount, that we do a lot for the area and Ward. He said even if we aren't seeing a lot of success, we still do so much. I am grateful for his sincere comment, it uplifted both mine and Sister Bennett's hearts. The work isn't always easy and sometimes we wonder if we are being effective or making a difference, but I know that if we are being obedient, following the spirit and going about trying to share the gospel and do good in the area where we serve, we are being effective. Sometimes the most effective efforts are in the small things we do each day. Alma said it best to his son Hellman in Alma 37:6-7. "... behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise. And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls."

Love y'all so much! This week is transfers. I honestly have no idea where I'm going. I think I'm leaving Bristow. It breaks my heart. I love these people so much. GAH worst part about missionary work: leaving the people ya love so much. Live every day to the fullest! 

Xoxoxoxo

Sister Hymas :)

Woodbridge Zone Sisters

Sydney in a forest