"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

'Tis the Season of Gratitude & Delicious Food 🍗🍰

AH. I LOVE NOVEMBER. I just love the fall. I love the changing leaves and the sweaters and the hot chocolate and the pumpkin pie and the gratitude and the fact that Christmas is in less than 7 WEEKS!!! Just a fun fact for ya. 😉

Monday I studied something very fitting for Halloween, in Alma 44 about Moroni and his soldier cutting off Zerahemnah's Scalp and sticking it on his sword. I was like gagging it was so gory and gruesome! Haha I love the scriptures so much though. They are my favorite book! We went to an old cemetery Monday morning and took some cool pics. You know me and my cemeteries... I just love them! They are peaceful and serene and just awesome. We went shopping and wrote emails. Then we had a zone activity that night because we aren't supposed to go out. So we played volleyball, mafia and had a grand ol time. It was a super fun day! I really love serving with these missionaries. There are really great missionaries in this mission and I feel very blessed to serve with them. We have a good time! 😉

Tuesday we had district meeting and took some more classic-awkward-district-pictures with mustaches. Haha we had lunch and then stopped by Alverna and had a good chat about doing our best and then relying on the savior for the rest. We had to drop her though because she wasn't keeping commitments. Then My body got super sick and I felt nauseous and my head wasn't doing good, it was so weird it came all at once. I went home and slept for an hour or so and felt much better. We had dinner with the hilarious sister Cuesta!! She made us Colombian food! It was SOO good! She is from Columbia and is the sweetest lady you'll ever meet. She gave us a few referrals! We went finding in this one neighborhood and had some crazy experiences. All in like 45 minutes. MOST AWKWARD MOMENT OF MY WHOLE MISSION: First door we knock on:

Me- "Hello! How are you doing sir?"

"I'm fine, can I help you?" (As he steps outside his screen door)

"We are the sister missionaries in the area! Have you met the missionaries before?"

"Oh I've met plenty of missionaries!!"

(I go in for a handshake) "My name is Sister Hymas by the way, it's great to meet you!"

(He completely denies my handshake. Seriously my hand is there for like a solid 8 seconds. He doesn't even look down. I put my hand back down after the awkward silence. I felt like there were crickets chirping in the background... He keeps staring me in the eye and says) "nice to meet you too. I have to eat. Goodbye." And walks inside his house. HAHAH TALK ABOUT AWKA-AWKWARD!! Then a little while later, we were knocking on this one door, when this car drove super slow past the house we were at and then stops. In the middle of the road. We were both like, WHATT the.... and totally walked super fast down the street in the opposite direction. Sista B gotta hold on her pepper spray (apparently you can have it MA, sorry!!?). And then ran for our lives to our car. Hahah it was intense. 

Wednesday we raked a TON of leaves in our front yard, and mowed part of it. I'm becoming a mowing queen. 😎 we went to lunch with sweet mama lodge!! We went findin around town. We met some very kind people, some who weren't interested at all, witnessed miracles, God led us to a sweet woman who had just moved here from LA and who's so willing to have the missionaries come over. We have to pass her though because she lives in Warrenton. We had dinner with the Kanouse family AKA cutest family in town! They have two little kids. Their little girl is adorable and we just became best friends! She is like one year old. Apparently she doesn't bond with people, but she did with me! We bonded over our earrings and her superhero cape haha. We had a miracle lesson with Josephine! We finally got to see her again. Her sister got in a bad accident so she has been taking care of her, but guess what! So last time we saw her we talked about overcoming our weaknesses and being humble and relying on God. We shared Ether 12:27. Guess what. She was stressing real bad before a test she was taking at school, and she just said God please help me out here, and so she opened up the Book of Mormon and read that scripture! She said yep, I opened it up right there and read it! MIRACLES!!! It was so rewarding and made me so happy and proud that she did that. I was so grateful :) she is solid and is searching for the gospel and doesn't even know it, her schedule is crazy busy though so trying to meet with her is hard. 

Thursday we finished mowing the huge lawn and raked leaves on our back patio. Haha MAN IT WAS A WORKOUT. Sister Bennett and I were talking about how we are learning so much about housey things. Like raking leaves, mowing, cleaning, catching mice and just taking care of a house! It's really good. We had a lesson with sister Wilson and read 3 Nephi 11 with her. I LOVE that chapter! The spirit always fills my heart and I feel Him so strong when reading that chapter, I know Christ came to the Americas after His resurrection and established His church. We visited a member, sister Taylor and she has the cutest kids ever. Their names are Rex and Adelaide. Haha Rex is three and was chattin it away with me with chomping on an Apple. It was so funny he came up to me real close and was like, "I like your ponytail." (Starts playing with my ponytail) "It's not like my moms" hahah little kids are the best. We had a delish dinner with the Hafleys! They feel like my family. Mom and dad, you would totally love them. I can see you being BFFs with them. Sister Hafley made mashed potatoes for me because I said I was craving them! I love her! :') tender mercies. We had a lesson with herman and the Browns came. Herman is doing well! The lesson was going well too, he said he had been reading and he started reading the Book of Mormon over again. Unfortunately, he pretty much dropped us that lesson. It was so sad. But I know he just isn't ready yet, and that it's alright. All in God's timing. :) Herman will always be my elderly BFF. After the lesson, Brother Brown commented on how missionaries are set apart and given the authority to teach and there is a lot of power behind that and a lot of times missionaries don't recognize that.

Friday we planned and planned and PLANNED!! Sister Bennett and I received some revelation that we need to focus more on the less active/part member families in our Ward and helping people come back to church. So we planned more for that. We had a delicious steak and potato meal with some of Sister lodges famous homemade desserts, pecan tarts and peanut butter balls! THEY WERE SO GOOD. Man. The food the Lodges make is always SO delicious! She's from the south. That probably explains it! Then we had a visit with sister Benge and talked about sincerely and earnestly praying to Heavenly Father. We shared some of my favorite verses in the Bible with her, in Luke 22:39-44. I love verse 44. It is so beautifully written. Christ humbly and EARNESTLY prayed to our father in Heaven as he suffered agonizing pain in the garden of Gethsemane. The more I study the Saviors life, the more real He becomes to me. The more the spirit fills my heart and tears fill my eyes. I know He suffered for each of us individually. I know He loves us deeply. I know He lives today.

Saturday we finally had the BLITZ in our area!! We blitzed it up in our Virginian rain forest. It's such a fun and completely different part of our area. The elders enjoyed it! We met a fellow named Joe. He said he knew of the Mormons and thought we were a cult. He said he's always had questions about what we believe and so forth. He asked questions about Joseph Smith and polygamy and apparently I had a good rebuttal to his question, sister Bennett said. I honestly don't really remember what I said just something along the lines of when God commands us to do something, he provides a way to do it. It was totally the spirit. Towards the end of the conversation he boldly stated "YOU'RE NOT GOING TO CONVERT US!" Hahah. Of course not Joe, only the Spirit can do that. You could definitely tell he was interested he just didn't want to say it. He also said something really kind and sincere. He said "I can tell by looking at you that you have good hearts." Aw! It made me want to cry! But it's just so cool to hear and see that people really do notice a difference about us. Not just missionaries, but everyone who has the spirit with them. Later, we were driving up in the rocky, hilly forest and our poor little Toyota Corolla almost got stuck, I had to push the car up this hill a little bit. Haha! Also, funny and embarrassing moment! We had to run home for something real quick, and our neighbors were outside. I hadn't talked with these neighbors before. I started walking over and yelled, "HELLO!! Y'all Waiting for the school bus?"

"No.. we don't have school!" 

(I remembered the kids here had A long break from school) me: "ohh yeah! I forgot abo--..."

Then they yelled and said" it's Saturday!!" And all busted up laughing. Haha it was a mom and her two kids. Hahaha Oh my lands. So embarrassing. Whatevs. It lightened the mood and conversation! Ya gotta do what ya gotta do, even if that means bringing our your dumb blonde skillz haha jk that's just who I am. Later we met and saw the benders!! And they have this cute golden retriever. He's big! I was all loving him and he started jumping on me and then all off a sudden his nose caught the edge of my skirt and he started to jump and my skirt went with his nose....!! Hahaha it almost ended tragically, but good thing I hurried and grabbed my skirt and put it back down! The benders were laughing. Funny funny funny. 😂 we had a jam sesh with the guitar that night. We practiced a song for presidents birthday because we had the guitar! His birthday was Sunday, so we sent him a video. I'll send it to you! I seriously miss singing and playing the guitar. It felt so good to do it again.

Sunday was beautiful! We had a great day at church. A family brought their friends to church and I was able to talk with the mother, Marisol. They live in Maryland and they are really searching for a church right now. She said she loved church and felt so happy and comfortable! She is so solid guys, I can feel that she will get baptized. It was such a tender mercy and blessing to be able to talk with her and hear her testimony of the Savior and of Gods love. Dinner with the Hammonds was a treat! We had.... gourmet hot chocolate, orange juice, yogurt parfait, waffles, fruit, eggs, cinnamon rolls and pumpkin cookies. WOWZA. I felt not super hot after eating but it was SUPER GOOD!! 

I love the sacrament. I have learned that the more we conscientiously prepare throughout the week for the sacrament, the more we get out of it. The more we can feel the spirit and focus on the Savior as we partake of those sacred emblems. I talked about this a little bit before, but some of my favorite scriptures right now are in Luke 22:41-44. The spirit touches my heart each time I read them. The more I study about Christ, the more real He becomes to me. Those verses are so beautiful to me, I love them. I love where it says he KNELT in prayer; He was willing to do according to Gods will; and in agony, He prayed more earnestly. This question comes to me: When we pray, do we do these things? The Saviors example humbles me and gives me the desire to want to be better and become more like Him. I am so grateful for Him and His atoning sacrifice. I know He is real and His love is real. I know He lives.

Because He lives, we can be Oh-SO HAPPY.

So go and be so happy!! Have a wondrous, gratitude filled week 😌

I love you guys! So much. ❤️

XOXOXO

SISTER HYMAS ☺️

"I must-ache you a question"

Birthday Coat!

"Hood-lums"

Smiley Syd

HAPPY HALLOWEEN AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Jk, just happy Halloween :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FOLKS!! Welp we just saw the strangest thing. We are driving to our Halloween zone activity, and we just saw a guy running with super short black shorts and a red cape. Hahah Happy Halloween? Hahaha so funny.

Monday we got our hair cute, washed our car for Zone conference, bought lots of delish food (one of my favorite things about p day hahah), wrote emails and letters and had a fine dining with the Lodges! We had good ol papa johns and salad and cookies. Then we stopped by Julia's when we were supposed to have a lesson but she had to move it. Dropped off trunk or treats, then did a lot of work in the area book. Okay, our area is seriously so dark at night. It starts to get dark at 6:30-7ish. There are a gazillion trees which makes it even more eerie! It's like so scary at night. And have y'all heard about the clowns going all over the nation trying to scare people? Yeah well, we've heard from plenty of folks and I DO NOT LIKE CLOWNS! So every time its night all I think about are clowns poppin out of the forest! HM MM NO THANKS.

Tuesday was a hoot!! We had one sweet zone conference. We talked a lot about finding and talked about our 300 baptisms by the end of the year goal! We only have 69 baptisms till 300. President also said that in a few weeks, we will have passed our last year baptisms NUMBER. We are all pumped to get out and find those prepared people! The field is WHITE and READY to harvest! Then the rest of the day and evening, we helped set up for the trunk or treat and oh my lands, it was so amazing. Sister Lodge and sister brown are rockstars. The trunk or treat and carnival was so fun!! Our little ward mission group (consisting of us, sister lodge and sister brown, and brother hale) was able to pull it off. It wasn't us of course. God definitely blessed us with one fun and successful event! It was so fun. Sister B and I dressed up as Santa's helpers. I was the elf Haha. We just found stuff around the house to use! It was such a grand time.

Wednesday we went to go see a woman named Naomi, who the sisters have stopped by a few times and had lessons with her. She wasn't really progressing. But I hadn't met her yet so we decided to go! We had an AMAZING LESSON! She is so prepared you guys! Holy Macrell. Here's her lesson report: Naomi is so prepared. She doesn't even know it! We stopped by and started talking. She is religious! Has strong testimony of Jesus Christ and God. She shared with us that she tries really hard to do what's right and she seeks for truth. She wants to overcome her habits and we shared a Ether 12:27 and she said that the verse is so true! We talked about if we rely on Christ and ask for Gods help, he can help us overcome our bad habits. We shared how we believe Christ's same gospel and church is on the earth today and how God has called a prophet to lead us and learn the gospel. We taught how the priesthood is given to prophets and apostles and is on the earth today. Talked about Thomas S Monson. We shared the first vision and Naomi has had similar experiences where she has asked God questions and received answers. We testified that Jospeh Smith did see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and he was called to be the next prophet. The church and gospel, and priesthood authority was restored through him. We testified of the Book of Mormon and how she can know if the message is true through the power of the Holy Ghost and if she reads and prays and desires to know if it's true. We invited her to be baptized when she feels it's true and she nodded and shake "yeah if it comes to that, all in Gods timing." We invited her to reread the restoration pamphlet and read Alma 5 about repentance. She said she listened to a preacher talk about repentance and it was really good so we invited her to read Alma 5. Invited her to pray to know if it's true. I just love her! She is seriously so amazing. A cute little Asian woman! We had lunch Then did some more finding. Our lesson with Marshall and Jess fell through so we went knocking on their neighbors doors. 

One house had this cute little puppy running around their big ol yard. No one answered the door, and we were just loving the puppy and playing with him for a few minutes. We started to leave and the dog just kept following us. Even past the shock collar gate or whatever it is! We were like uh... stay dog! Haha seriously we were there for like 20 min trying to get the dog to stay. It was hilarious. I should've video taped the whole thing I was laughing so hard. Sister B chucked an acorn and ran for her life and the dog didn't fall for that! Also when I picked up the dog to take a picture it totally licked the inside of my ear BLEH haha puppy kisses. That puppy was definitely a tender mercy. I named him Poppy. :) we had dinner with the hale family and their two yr old little girl asked if our cat sassy was violent. It was so funny. Then we had a quick member present lesson with Herman! The browns came, they are for real rockstars. Love them. And Herman is just my old BFF! We are always cracking jokes with one another, he was sick so we had a quick discussion. But he is awesome and he has been reading!! MIRACLES! I fasted for him last week and the Lord totally answered my prayers. It's so amazing. I just love herman and really want him to get baptized. We tried stopping by James in the dark forest and it was straight scary. It's SO DARK AMD EERIE. bleh. All I imagine are clowns in the forest. AGH. then we saw the benders and they have a cute new kitten! Look, two baby animals in one day. TENDER MERCIES GALORE!!! Then that night I got mail from the Mia Maids of Yellow Sage and a package from sweet cam!! He sent me Ukraine chocolate and goodies! And the chocolate bar he sent is AMAZING. It literally pops in your mouth like pop rocks!! "It's a party in your mouth!" As sister B would say :)

Thursday we went and tried seeing Alverna, but her husband Rob answered instead. We have talked to him a few times, he is hilarious. He's an old big black guy. We asked him how faith has helped him in his life and he said he hopes it's helped him become a better man, husband and father. By the end of our short conversation he said he would come down and visit with us when we come to see Alverna next week. Wahoo!! Hah he's so funny, as we were walking away he yelled at us and said to go put some coats on and "be good now!" Such a good man with a good heart. Then we met Candy and her husband Mick who was working down on his chunk of land front yard. haha I had a nice conversation with him as we yelled back and forth. We were super far away from each other but that doesn't stop me! Haha nice guy. We also found some bamboo plants in someone's front yard, all amongst the oak and pine trees. Haha so different?! Kung fu fighting anybody? ;) we had sister Lodge come to a lesson we had set with our NI Wayne, but he wasn't home. His father, Charles was though! He is a kind elderly fellow who LOVES TO TALK. We talked about the gospel, plan of salvation and Book of Mormon. He wasn't one bit interested in what we had to share or what we believe but he loved to tell stories! Haha. It was fun to talk with him. I feel like he could be so solid, someday. We went dining and I felt like we should knock on a certain door. We go up, knock, a kind man named Armin answered the door. We started to introduce ourselves when out of nowhere a loud voice of a woman yelled, "Y'all from the Mormon church?!"  And I said "YES! You heard of them?" Then she comes stomping around the corner to the door ferociously yelling, "Well I'm a defunked member of the Mormon church and I'm gonna keep it that way!! BA BYE!" We just stood there. I was trying not to laugh I thought it was kind of funny! hahaha. Wasn't expecting that. I haven't had that happen to me on my mission yet. Good times good times! Ate homemade pizzas and Halloween candy with the Buongiovanni family for dinner and then did some more dining. Had a rcla lesson with Destiny. It was so dark and foggy that night, so creepy! 

Friday we had to head up to the mission office to get a new phone because ours was dropping calls and messages and shutting off so that was fun to be able to see all the cute senior couples! I seriously LOVE THEM. I would love workin in the mission office for a day just to hang out with them! Cutest ever. Then we planned and guess what we actually finished this time! Wahoo! We finished in less time than we usually do haha 😂 we had a super good dinner with the rodericks and they totally remind me of my family.  I'm just so proud to be a HYMAS! Haha I just love you fam! Anyway, They treat each other just like we treat each other it's so funny. Sister Roderick made this super good Apple something cake.. my lands. It was heaven! We met a really sweet lady named Wanda who told us her life story and how God has blessed her with so many wonderful opportunities. She talked for a long time and we both just couldn't cut in and turn the conversation around. Once she was done, we shared parts of the restoration. While we were talking I just felt so strongly to testify of the Book of Mormon. She had said something that made it sound like she wasn't interested in reading the Book of Mormon and then the spirit just filled my whole heart and body and I opened my mouth and not gonna lie. I just PREACHED IT! The spirit was just pouring the words out of my mouth as I testified of the Book of Mormon being another testament of Christ and how we can know this message we share is true. She kind looked a little taken back and nodded yes the whole time. I told her we wanted to give her the book and she said "okay yes I've never read it before, but I will look at it." I hadn't ever felt like I've testified with such power about the Book of Mormon. At least not that powerfully. I totally know that it was ALL the spirit. It was such a cool experience. You can definitely tell when your testifying with Gods power compared to when your not. Later, we met Brandon again, when going to try and see a recent convert LeAsia, who is less active now. Brandon is her brother. Lemme tell you, it wasn't a coincidence that we felt that we should go check on LeAsia. It wasn't a coincidence we ran into Brandon twice. As we simply taught a few principle of the Restoration, I felt that Brandon was prepared to hear the gospel. I felt that God loves him so much. I was about to invite him to be baptized when of course, someone came outside and grabbed him and told him to come take care of his crying baby. He kindly said, "sorry you guys have a good night" and shut the door. My heart just felt so heavy and sorrowful after that! I pondered for a bit why I felt that way. I realized that God allowed me to see a part of the situation he is living in right now and that he is so prepared to hear the gospel even if he doesn't know it. I know God loves him and wants him back. I know He feels that way about each and every one of us. I love the gospel and know that this is Christ's restored original church on the earthy today. I know his atonement is real and we can apply the power of the atonement in our lives daily. I know He lives and deeply loves and cares for us. I know He loves Brandon and needs us to go back and help bring him home.

Saturday we went finding in the good ol amazon forest! Love that place! We knocked on this cute yellow house that had garbage dumped all over the front porch. This African American lady with half of her hair in curlers opened the door and said in distress, "sorry ladies as y'all can tell I'm in a rush! And I am so sorry for the mess, we got a raccoon round here, I call Em bandit and he is something else MMMHMM!" Hahah she was so funny, we had a discussion with her and she went on to tell us this after I invited he to be baptized, she said "Oh hunny I was a soldier." And I said "oh you were a soldier?! Thank--" (I was about to thank her for her service when she said) "IN the gospel!!" Hahah. Anyway she became a new investigator! Miracles!! Going back next Saturday! Then we met a sweet lady named Kathy, who also became a new investigator! She was real sweet. She started tearing up when she mentioned she got baptized with her oldest daughter. She said it was a sweet experience and she just started tearing up and then it made me want to cry!!... it was a miraculous morning in the amazon Virginia rainforest! We had a BLITZ in prince Williams area that afternoon where we contacted some Spanish people (always my fave), met a real interesting fellow named Floyd! Haha we knocked on his door and he opened it, smoking a cigar, and said "oh y'all going round doing your Jesus thing mhm okay yeah Praise the lord Jesus and praise Obama!" Then proceeded to go back inside haha. People are so interesting. Then God gave us a HUGE miracle. We knocked on this one door. A sweet older African American lady opened the door, she was Warm and welcoming. She said she didn't know There were sister missionaries and we started talking from there. We think she wouldn't have talked to us if we weren't sisters. Sorry Elders. ;) haha jk. Anyway long story short, we taught the whole restoration, 3 kingdoms of glory, prophets, priesthood authority, read part of 3 Nephi 11 and holy cow I've never felt the spirit so present when reading the Book of Mormon out loud to someone, and invited her to be baptized. She thought it was so interesting we showed up because she had been praying about specific things and she said that maybe God was giving her an answer when we showed up... (it always happens that way! God knows us. He knows who is prepared to hear the gospel.) So pretty much she is SO SOLID AND SO PREPARED and the CUTEST lady EVER and I am SOO JEALOUS the elders get to teach her. Not even fair haha. Then we had dinner with the Bastians again at a Thai food place. It was the first time I've ever tried squid! Ain't half bad!! Did ya gets pics from Sister Bastian? :) had a lesson with a former investigator named Julia and she is going to start reading the scriptures again and we are going back to read with her!! YAY!! :) we also had a visit with sister Benge. She is a rockstar. I cannot even express my feelings of how much God loves us. And of how incredibly GOOD He is. I can't even put it into words, but I know that He loves His children. Nephi says it best in 1 Nephi 11:17- "And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things." AMEN.

Sunday was so great. It was beautiful weather! I love taking the sacrament. It is my favorite thing. I look forward to church so much throughout the week! The Sabbath is seriously such a blessing, if we treat it the way God has commanded us to: if we keep it Holy. I love this Ward to pieces, I'm going to bawl the day I get called out of here. I had a really amazing personal study that day too. I studied a lot about faith. First I am in Alma 43, where Captain Moroni is just a straight spiritual stud and just dominates! He is so awesome. #bookofmormoncrush then I was studying in Matthew reading over all the miracles Christ performed while he was on earth. He healed, served, forgave, and loved people unconditionally. Those people were only able to be healed through their faith they had in Christ. We too can be not only healed, but uplifted, strengthened and led by the faith we have in Jesus Christ. I love the scriptures. People, they are the word of God! I know they are the word of God and that they are true. STUDY THEM DAILY. If we prayerfully STUDY them, we can find and receive answers to our questions and our testimonies of the Savior and His gospel can be strengthened. We had a wonderful dinner with the brown family and talked a lot about mowing the lawn! Have y'all ever heard of a lawn boy? I haven't, but apparently they are indestructible lawn mowers! Haha. The weather was kind of creepy too. What a perfect Halloween eve! :)

Guys, I have learned that we can be happy and positive no matter what we go through, if we rely on the Savior and strive to become more like Him and our Father in a heaven. I love the gospel! The gospel makes me so happy. There are often times throughout my mission where I just feel so grateful to be a missionary. The spirit overwhelms my heart and tears just fill my eyes because of the joy that missionary work brings! This work is truly God's work. He stands at the head and leads us daily. He wants His children back and the only way we can return to Him is through His son, Jesus Christ and by living the principles of the restored gospel and receiving those ordinances of salvation, through the priesthood authority. I am so grateful to have this opportunity to serve Him. I know this work and Gospel is true.  Have a blessed week, and a happy Halloween!! :)

Love each and every one of you SO MUCH, 

XOXOXOX,

Sister Hymas