I have fallen in love with Colorado!!!!!

Making Jam is a must with cat T-shirts

We found a jump~my Dad would be so proud!

Notice the supper dupper safe bike helmet

I have fallen in love with Colorado!!!!! I really would not mind coming back and living here when I'm old and married. There are so many rolling hills and the air is so crisp!! And of course the people here are incredible. Really a neat bunch of people.

So this week we had a Jam Sesh with a cute sister in our ward!!! Every single one of our evening appointments cancelled so we called a sister in the ward and asked if we could help her in any way. So we made a bunch of raspberry jam and it made me think of the delicious raspberries at Bear Lake! It was great. Unfortunately the jam didn't turn out so great though. We must have put too much sugar in or something because it is too sugary to eat. We still had a blast making it though. And we wore cool cat shirts as aprons while we made jam.

I have some good news everyone! It is totally possible to ride a bike in a dress. I DID IT! And I had an absolute blast while riding my bike. The weather was great and the view is amazing. Me and my companion laughed as we rode up and down the hills of Colorado. I kept thinking that my dad would be so proud of me for successfully riding my bike! I took a picture for proof, don't worry. Haha! But as I was riding and thinking about making my dad proud, it hit me that I have an even stronger desire to make my Heavenly Father proud. I am here doing His work and I want nothing more than to please Him. Afterall, this is HIS mission, not mine. I go about my day working my hardest and doing all I can to please my Heavenly Father. And then at night when I pray and account to Him my works, I can feel good about what I've done. There is still so much to do and I can always work harder. But my motivation every morning is to get up, make a difference, and work my hardest to please my Heavenly Father. By doing that, I have built such a strong relationship with Him! He loves us all so much. And when we serve Him, we feel that love so strongly.

So the bikes are a success. The other day we were riding and some kids had a little plastic jump set up. My companion was talking to me and didn't see the jump until I said "Sister I dare you to go off that jump!!" Sure enough she did! It was so hilarious. Then the next day we were also on our bikes and on our way home, the jump was just calling our names. So we set it up and did some gnarly jumps. It was so much fun!!!! I think I'm gonna join BMX when I get home. LOL not. But really. Missionary work can be fun. We laughed so hard the rest of the way home. Girls on bikes in skirts going off a jump...the man who walked by with his dog sure got a kick outta that sight!

We did some tracting this week and eventhough we got turned away many times, I felt good about our efforts. And we did find one man!!! So it was all worth it. We had a nice conversation with him, gave him a Book of Mormon, and he invited us to come back!!! We have an appointment with him tomorrow, which I am very excited about. He seems like a solid guy. There is one guy we taught who was rather entertaining. My companions has taught him in the past, but this was my first lesson with him. They call him spaceship man because he believes that the Book of Mormon came from aliens. And this past lesson we taught him the plan of salvation...when we talked about the kingdoms, he told us he would love to go where its warm...meaning he want's to go to Hell. He then explained his goal of kicking the devil out of his seat and taking over down there. I thought he was kidding so of course I'm laughing. Then the member who was with us asked if he was serious. He was more serious than the pictures from the 1800s. Boy that was an exciting lesson!!! Unfortunately he is moving this week, so we won't be able to teach him much longer. I'm hoping we can give him a new goal for the celestial kingdom...we'll see. LOL. We also have a couple potential investigators. We've had many appointments set up with them, but they all cancelled this week!! Hopefully we will have better luck the next week. The hard thing about this area is that it is so small and everyone is SO busy. When we tract, 9/10 houses are not home because they are all at work. And we aren't allowed to tract when it's dark so we don't catch a ton of people at home. So we work with the members a lot to get referralls and meet with thier friends. This ward is absolutely amazing. They have a ward mission plan and each month the ward works on a goal to be member missionaries. Its so awesome!!!

We also had a stake releif society meeting this weekend. The speaker was stupendous. Her message has stuck with me throughout the week. She talked about how we cannot pray for our trials to go away. We have to pray for the strength to overcome them. And through the enabling power of the atonement, we can become strong. Just as it says in Mosiah 24, we will be strengthened to the point where we cannot even feel the burdens on our backs. When things get tough out here on the mission, I have learned to pray for strength. And it's amazing how the Lord will strengthen me. The atonement is so incredible It has enabled me and given me the strength to do things I otherwise would not be able to do on my own. This brings me a lot of comfort and encouragement to know that I can do all things with the help of the Lord. I read an awesome talk about how the Lord "will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." It is so true!!!! If we are obedient and have faith in the Lord, He will not let us down. He might stretch us and make us grow through our trials, but He will not make us run faster than we have strength. All these trials are for our own good. And if we go about them with the right attitude and perspective, you will see your capacity to do hard things through the atonement. This gospel is so wonderful! The things I am learning are helping me become a better person and helping me know how to help the people we teach.

My last though for today is also from a talk we listened to this morning. I forgot who it was...but the speaker said we need to "bloom where we are planted". I love that phrase. Life may take us to unexpected destinations, but if we can learn how to bloom where we are planted, we will be happy. And as we grow and establish deep roots in a firm foundation, everything will be okay. I realize that I am going to be moving around a lot on the mission with transfers. But if I keep that in mind, I will better be able to adjust to the changes. And of course a firm foundation is necessary in order to bloom. A firm belief in Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the gospel that has been restored for these latter days.

Colorado is great. And I am so excited to see what this next week has in store for us!!!!!

Much love,

Sister Hoer