Happy Thanksgiving!

Patience truly is a virtue. And patience is key when it comes to answers from our Heavenly Father. I read this morning in 1 Nephi chapter 10 that "the course of the Lord is one eternal round." so there is no time in the Lord's eyes. Only His wisdom to know when is the right timing here on earth for His miracles to come forth. This past week I have really been reflecting on the miracles that surround us. Mormon chapter 9 is one of my favorites which tells all about how God does not cease to be God...He is still a God of miracles today. And that has been so evident to me on my mission! When my companion and I were first put together 3 months ago, we fasted that we could find a new investigator who would be prepared and who would progress towards baptism. For the first 6 weeks we were together....nothing. A lot of potential, but no real progress. Then the second transfer, the miracles came. We truly followed the spirit and started teaching S, our investigator. And the spirit has been working and teaching her for the past month or so. She has really changed and I can see the light growing within her. She has grown so much in her faith and deepened her desire to follow Jesus Christ. Even though we prayed and fasted for this 3 months ago, I know this is an answer to our prayers. We also know that miracles are a result of our faith. I told my companion before we fasted that we had to put ALL our faith and trust in the Lord and then do our part to work hard if we really wanted to see the blessings of our fast. In the end, it just goes to show that God loves every single one of us. And he WILL bless us.

Yesterday at church, we had another miracle. 2 people showed up at church that we did not recognize. A soon-to-be-missionary was giving her farewell talk, so there were a lot of visitors. But these 2 had no relation to the sister who was departing. They talked to the bishop after sacrament meeting, and the bishop introduced them to us. We'll call them D & A. The first thing that A said to us was "So how do I become a member of your church?" That is pretty much every missionary's dream come true! They explained how they've been going around to all the churches and D said he's heard that the Mormon religion is the closest to the most correct religion. We were stoked. So we set up an appointment to go teach them this week. The Lord knows best. He truly does put people in our path who are prepared. Sometimes it comes unexpectedly, but the miracles do come. I am excited to see how things go with our new friends!

Colorado is still beautiful. I love waking up every morning and looking at the big mountains right outside my window! Life couldn't be better.

Love you all!

xoxo

Sister Hoer

Last P-day our district went hiking! It looks all sunny and warm but it was freezing!

I took up the banjo.

We have a new band, the "Mormon & Sons".  We plan on replacing the "Mumford & Sons"!

We were out tracking and found this red tractor.

We know how to teach...with hot cocoa!

My companion from Samoa - has never seen snow before!

I've made the re-discovery this week that snowflakes are indeed shaped like snowflakes. I just can't believe it's cold enough that I can see the tiny details and beauty of these small, frozen snowflakes. Bu,t it's exciting because Sis. Elama - my companion from Samoa - has never seen snow before! I wish I had a video of when we woke up Tuesday morning and looked out the window to see snow. She got SO excited! More excited than a little kid on Christmas morning....it was precious! But, the snow sure is beautiful. Everything looks so clean and fresh when it has just snowed. And, I'm learning some important life skills....like how to drive in snow and how to dress so your knees don't go numb. The elders here have given me a little course on snow driving 101. So far, so good! I'm ready for Alaska!

One day this week, it was about 10 degrees all day. We decided to go tracting that day. And, on that day, I learned that you should always wear leggings under you skirt if it's 10 degress outside. I had my boots on but they only cover my shins. So by the time we got down one street, I couldn't feel my knees and they were bright red. Not the best idea...but these are the sacrifices I'm willing to make to find a soul to save! My companion and I had a good laugh at how we were two girls from hot places tracting in the snow. Ohhhh what fun. :)

We also had a mission conference this week from Elder Baxter, a general authority! Cool side note: He is from Scotland so his accent was wonderful. But, besides his accent, he had some powerful things to say. I took a lot away from our meeting of how I can be a better missionary and focus on helping others “develop FAITH in Jesus Christ”. In our mission, a lot of missionaries struggle with discouragement because they don't baptize. But that's not the point. The point is to be committed to the work and to help others develop faith in Jesus Christ. And if they truly do develop faith in Jesus Christ, the baptism will follow. But, until they have faith, we wont' be successful in helping them experience conversion. Elder Baxter also said some very touching words as a message from the first presidency of how much they love us. He greatly applauded us for coming on a mission and enduring what we go through. It sure ain't easy out here, but it is worth it by far. I am learning and growing and developing skills that will last a lifetime!

I hope you're all enjoying the season of being grateful. Because we have SO much to be grateful for. I was studying about the Jaredites and how they traveled across the sea in those barges...which doesn't sound all that pleasant. But, in chapter 6 of Ether it mentions how they “never did cease to thank the Lord their God”.  If only the world could have that same attitude of gratitude. Love you all!

xoxox

Sister Hoer

This is Sis Elama first snow fall!!!

We love the SNOW!

Ice cream is good even when its freezing!

Hot Cocoa... Yummy

Work hard. Play hard.

Work hard. Play hard. I read a talk by Jeffery R. Holland recently and that's pretty much what he said. He was speaking to missionaries and said "When you work, WORK. When you play, PLAY" But the same can be taken for life! Give every day your best shot…whatever you're doing, do you best! I've realized lately that my mission has taught me a work ethic that will last the rest of my life. The mission field is probably one of the only places where you can work day and night and give everything your best shot and not know what results you will get. Sometimes your results are not what you desired. But in the end, you can look back and say "I gave it my all. I did everything I could." Not knowing what's gonna happen in the end but still working nonetheless has taught me a lot. It's taught me to work hard because I know that's what I need to do....not because I want to baptize someone or because I want to impress my mission president. 

This week was a good one. We were so busy! I love being busy. Sometimes, it's overwhelming, but at the end of the day I feel good knowing I did something with my life today. Yesterday, church was awesome. Our investigator, S, came to church! She also brought her nieces along. But we've been teaching S for a couple weeks now. She is so solid. When we finished the restoration, we were about to wrap up and go to our dinner appointment but the spirit was like "NO sister Hoer, you're not done! Set a date for her baptism!" So, without second guessing, we set a date for S to be baptized at the end of this month. And she is super excited about it! In fact, she asked if we could teach her 3 times a week so she will be ready. We also took her to a baptism yesterday so she could see what it's like and feel the special spirit there. It was marvelous. I love how strong the spirit is when we teach her. More often than not, we walk out of a lesson with her and I think..wow...that wasn't me teaching! The spirit is doing it's job here and I'm just the mouth to audibly say His words. So yes, great things are happening and we are working hard! 

There was also a breath-taking sunset this week. The beauty of the Earth is so stunning! Every time I see something beautiful like that, it just makes me realize that THERE IS UNDOUBTEDLY A GOD. and He LOVES every single one of us so much. He knows I love sunsets, so He blesses me with a beautiful one on a day that I need it. The sad thing is that my little camera can't even capture the real beauty of the sunset. But it was wonderful. 

I love you all! Go spread the good word. 

xoxo

Sister Hoer

We got hot cocoa at our favorite little shop :)

Boom! Sunset!

I got to see Sis. Koval again!

Brrrr, Cooold nights are here!

I've hit my halfway point on my mission!

The fun is just beginning! I've done a lot of reflecting this week as I've hit my halfway point on my mission. It's just not fair how fast time goes by. But in our mission, we get to take a trip to the temple when we hit halfway! And oh, what a glorious day was that. I love the temple so much! And I missed going!!!

It was so special to be there with all the sisters who were in the MTC with me. We've all grown so much since we were together 9 months ago! And our mission president also came with us. He is such a great guy. It's amazing what a strong spirit he carries with him everywhere he goes. He is truly called of God to be our mission president here in Colorado Springs.

So naturally, I learned a LOT at the temple. But the biggest thing I took away was the simple truth that Heavenly Father is PERFECT. I was blown away at all the little tender mercies and things that happened in the temple...and only Heavenly Father could have made those happen. He knows me better than I know myself and He knew that day what I needed to see and hear. And as I went through the session, it was so amazing to me how perfect His plan is. It all makes sense! Heavenly Father thought of everything. And He's given us everything to return back to Him! He is so loving to provide us with His Son as our Savior. and the plan of salvation. I could go on and on but Heavenly Father is perfect. Being in His House this week was so special. It gave me a lot of motivation as well for my purpose as a missionary. The happiness I felt in the temple was beyond any happiness you can feel in the world. And that gave me such a stronger desire for all my brothers and sisters here in Canon City to feel that same happiness!

The church is true. The gospel is our plan. And Heavenly Father is perfect and loves us perfectly.

Everyone go to the temple! Cuz I probably won't be able to go for 9 more months...so GO!

Love you all,

xoxo

Sister Hoer

All of the Sister I came out of the Mission Traning Center with. (MTC)

My mission training center compaion.
Colorado Temple

Pumpkin Heads

My District