I hope you all had a fantastic Valentine's Day weekend!

I hope you all had a fantastic Valentine's Day weekend! Holidays are fun as a missionary because it gives us an excuse to make treats and visit people who normally don't let us in….it's amazing what people will do when you come holding a plate of freshly baked cookies ;) hahahah! 

My companion and I have been really focused on finding this week...we are determined to find new people to teach! Of course, we've been tracting quite a bit... but we're trying to be creative in our finding efforts. So we tried out some new techniques this week. We tried dancing on the corner with a Book of Mormon but that just caused people to honk at us...HA! Just kidding, we didn't do that! I pretended to...but no real hip shaking happened there. On the real, we set up a table at a little flea-market type place with bunches of books and pamphlets and pass along cards. We talked to a few people, but we went at a slow time of day. I'm sure it will be a hit when we go on a Saturday morning! Nonetheless, we had fun and talked to some interesting people. We also started a youth sports day at the church and the "ticket into the door" is a non-member or less-active friend. We tried it for the first time this weekend and it was a hit! We had 2 less active kids there and one non-member. We had a great time playing with all of them and afterward we taught a lesson to everyone there. I'm excited to see where things will go as we continue to do this! You gotta get creative as a missionary....it's definitely more fun! 

D, our investigator from Jamaica, finally came to church this week! And he LOVED it. In fact, he brought his friend with him and they both loved it so much that his friend is going to start taking the lessons! I loved seeing the ward members come introduce themselves and really take them under their wing. We turned around to talk to someone and when we looked back at D and his friend, a member had his arm around them and was taking them to Sunday school. That was awesome. Members play such a huge role in helping our investigators! D is super excited to be baptized. He's gonna be outta town for a while, so we're gonna have the missionaries teach him while he's gone...but he is so cute. I love seeing how excited he gets when he learns something new. Our bishop's wife has come to a few lessons with us and she mentioned how she's seen such a big change in him lately. He's truly feeling the spirit and growing in his faith! This is what the gospel is all about.

We got a massive dump of snow which ruined our p-day....we wanted to go hike “Garden of the Gods”...but it was still beautiful to look at in the snow. All of God's creations here are just so beautiful. It's easy to appreciate the beauty around us...especially here in Colorado. I run in the mornings and have a perfect view of Pike's Peak. "Purple Mountain’s majesty..." That's the truest statement. 

I love you all! Take care

xoxo

Sister Hoer

A morning run at the base of Pikes Peak. "Purple Mountain's Majesty..."

P-day at the "Garden of the Gods", balancing rock in the background.

A small glimpse of Manitou Springs, Colorado.

Making Valentine's Day treats.

Who could resist these treats from the Sister Missionaries?

Our "Free Books" stand at the flea market. Creative finding at it's best!!!

Our sports crew this week.

The gift of tongues is real. Or maybe I should call it the gift of sign...LOL

The gift of tongues is real. Or maybe I should call it the gift of sign...LOL. This week was crazy. Satan sure is good at putting roadblocks in your way when you're trying to do something righteous. Our deaf investigator, M, was baptized this weekend! That was a special experience. I am still just so amazed and stand in awe at how strong the spirit is even though we cannot communicate properly. It just goes to show how the spirit is a universal language. No matter who you are, it speaks the same. The week leading up to the baptism was crazy. Possibly one of the most stressful weeks of my mission. It was just one thing after the other! But thank goodness, the Lord is always there to help everything fall into place. 

We showed up for the baptism and no one was there. Needless to say, we were freaking out. Then  M strolls in with the man who is going to baptize him. He was still early, but 15 mins late haha! Then we had to try and communicate to get him into his baptismal clothing. He's so patient. He understood most of our gestures and smiled the whole time. So we got him all set and people slowly started to show up. But one person was missing....the interpreter! The show couldn't' go on without him. So we waited....and waited....and a half hour later he showed up! At least he came. So the baptism moved forward. And boy, it was wonderful. Deaf people are so expressive with their faces, so I loved seeing his expressions as he entered the water, and then as he came out. It was so cute. He was so happy and so excited! M has really turned his life around. I can't wait to see what he will accomplish now that he has his life centered on the gospel. His daughter was baptized last year and she said the opening prayer at the baptism. It was precious...she poured out her heart to Heavenly Father of how grateful she was that her father was getting baptized. I can't wait to get to heaven when M has his perfect ears and we can communicate properly. That's gonna be a glorious day. 

Mission life is wonderful. I really don't' know if I ever wanna come home! Never have I ever been so happy or felt such pure joy. That scripture in D&C 18:15-16 is true. The ways the gospel can bring happiness cannot be found anywhere else. 

Things are rockin here in sunny Colorado. We've enjoyed some absolutely beautiful weather. This state has stolen my heart. Mostly because I am shocked at the beauty of the earth. I wish you could all be here to see what my eyes see everyday...the gorgeous rocky mountains capped with snow....the amazing sunrises....the big trees bare for winter...the little lakes and ponds all around.....the rolling hills....gosh. How could it get any better? 

I love you all. Hope you have a fantastic week! 

xoxo

Sister Hoer

Happy Valentine's Day!

Look at these cuties.

Gotta have ice cream every once in a while.

The new me~ a true Coloradoian~granola, hippie type...LOL!

Baptism!

Go be obedient!

Hello world. It truly is a privilege to be here on a mission serving the Lord. Every day I am just amazed at how His love is evident in all the world around us. These people here are absolute gems. I am growing to love them so much and I'm so happy to be serving them here in Fountain! 

And, this might be the funniest group of people I've ever been around. We have some comedians in this area! It's just a blast to talk to them and get to know their fun personalities. I think the people I've met on my mission have been one of the best things yet. I've met some amazing people who have really had an impact on me. There are good people all around us. We need these strong ones to keep the world going! 

We are still working with M, our deaf investigator. He's so close to his baptism! We taught him all about the commandments this past week and he was so humble and willing to be obedient to everything we committed him to do. He said he likes to drink coffee....but when we told him he had to stop drinking coffee to be baptized he said "I promise I will never drink it again." Then a few minutes later he says "Wait...I have an idea. So how about I just eat chocolate every time I want coffee? Is that allowed?" He is so precious. He truly wants to be obedient to all that our Heavenly Father has asked us to do. I can't wait to see him get baptized. It's gonna be a cool service with all the sign language. His sweet spirit radiates from him and I've learned a lot from his humility and desire to do exactly what the Lord wants him to do.

This reminds me of an article I read today. It was a conference talk from a few years ago, but the apostle (I can't remember who...oops...) was speaking about how Christ was the perfect example of obedience. Everything He did in his life was in order to be obedient to His Father. We should all have that desire to have exact obedience to the Father. That's another thing I have learned on my mission...exact obedience. Not only examples of how to be obedient, but I also see every day on my mission how exact obedience brings blessings. The same is true for all of us! Heavenly Father is just waiting to bless us if we will obey His will.

Go be obedient! 

Love you all.

xoxo

Sister Hoer

We LOVE Culver's frozen yogurt!

We took a little road trip, Yeah!

My old district came from Canon City for p-day. We went to the trampoline place. It was a blast!

I am so excited that Sis. Koval is in my Fountain, CO district.

I love my new companion, Sis. Marler.

ONE YEAR #1

Don't forget to LAUGH! ~"Come what may, and LOVE it!"

This week was a good one! The main message I have to share from this week is that life is meant to be enjoyed. Laugh! Because life is so much more fun when you can learn to laugh. One of my favorite talks is "come what may, and love it" by Joseph B. Wirthlin...one of the pieces of advice he gave is that when life throws something at you that makes you want to scowl, just laugh. And boy does that make a world of a difference! This week, my companion and I shared so many good laughs with so many good people. At one point, I was brought to tears in laughter at dinner. And looking back, I have only smiles for this week. Lots of things did go wrong and it wasn't the most ideal week, but we laughed our way through it. So enjoy the little things. Laugh just because, and never forget to stop and smell the roses. 

We have been teaching M, our deaf investigator, and let me tell ya...that is the experience of a lifetime. It is so amazing how strong the spirit is when we teach him regardless of our language barrier. We have interpreters that come to all our lessons or else there's no way we could teach him. But I've actually picked up quite a bit of sign language! Anyways, M is so humble. Since I can't talk to him directly, I really have to pay attention to the spirit and try and pick up on his spirit and the "vibes" that we get from him. I don't think I've ever met a more humble man. He wants nothing more than to be closer to his savior. He is so excited and so ready to be baptized. His children were actually baptized recently and he has seen the change and the spirit in them. What a great example they were to him. We had a lesson yesterday with M and we planned out his baptism. It was so cute how excited he was! I think it's going to be a really neat baptismal service. I just can't even put into words the spirit that we feel. Our RS president joined us for the lesson yesterday and she was brought to tears at the spirit that was there and how powerful it was. When I got to this area, he had only been taught one lesson. But when I went to continue teaching, I felt such a great spirit and it just felt right to set a date for baptism. And the Lord sure does provide! Things are falling into place perfectly.

The work is really picking up in this area! And the members are on the ball. They help us SO much with our teaching and finding people to teach. There is a good number of part member families in the ward that we are working with and the home teachers are so excited to be involved. Member missionary work is the best way to go.

I hope you all have a great week and don't forget to LAUGH! 

Love you all,

xoxo

Sister Hoer

We got DUMPED with snow. We couldn't drive so we took our shovels and hit the streets!

Sorry~Can not figure out how to flip this one!
"Look at all those clean sidewalks behind Sis. Hoer!"  ~One Proud Mom

Making first tracks in this snow storm.

My new area is Fountain, Colorado!

Fountain, Colorado! I've come to my new area and I'm loving it so far. We are about 10 minutes from Fort Carson so we have a lot of young military families in the ward. But that is actually a party and a half. Some of these families are literally just a few years older than me! It's like having friends again, haha! Fountain is definitely suburbia though. Sometimes I miss those rural roads of Canon, but I KNOW the Lord has put me here for a reason. I do not doubt that one bit. The spirit has told me time and time again that this is where I need to be...I couldn't tell you exactly why just yet. But I'm confident that the Lord has a plan.

So the work here is different, but it's hoppin. We are actually teaching 2 deaf people right now! It's interesting...I've actually picked up a bit of sign language. But we have interpreters come to all our lessons. It's amazing how humble these people are. Communicating is definitely different but even with the sign language the spirit is so strong. So M&A are our deaf investigators. They were living together but recently separated so now we can really move forward with baptism! We had a lesson with M a few days ago and he committed to be baptized the beginning of February! So if all goes as planned he will be baptized in just a few weeks. A also wants to be baptized but she wants to go through the lessons once more and speak with bishop before she sets a date. I wish you all could meet them because they are spectacular people. I can feel their sweet spirits and their love every time we see them.

There is also a lot of work with part member families here! That's the majority of our investigators. I'm still getting acquainted with the area and the people we're teaching, but I'm excited. Good things are happening! 

And the cherry on top is that my companion is SO COOL. She just finished training so she's still pretty new to the mission but I think we were long lost best friends. It's only been a week and we get along as if we've been friends forever! Once again, the Lord does have a plan and our mission president is so inspired. She's a hard worker so I know we will see some great things happen this transfer!

Change can be hard, but it's also the time for us to grow. I have felt so much strength through prayer and through the atonement as I go through this change… and that strength is available to any single one of us. The atonement is real.

I love you all!

Xoxo

Sister Hoer

Last Pictures with Sis. Elama

New companion and New area

The all American city of Fountain, Colorado!

Yeehaw! I have turned into a cowgirl down here in Canon City.

Yeehaw! I have turned into a cowgirl down here in Canon. This week we went to visit a man in the ward and he took us out and taught us how to rope. It was so much fun! I could definitely rope some cattle now. Ha ha ha, if we ever have to catch and kill our food...I'm your gal! 

This week was nothing out of the ordinary. Just teaching, testifying, and helping others come closer to Christ. I did find out that I would be getting transferred tomorrow! Transfers are always exciting but a bit sad at the same time. I've really grown to love these people here...they've become like family to me! And to leave them is definitely sad. But they are my eternal friends. We will all have a party in heaven! And the cool thing is that Heavenly Father knows what He's doing. He knows where I need to be and who I need to be with. My dear companion, Sis Elama...we've had so many good times together. I don't wanna leave her! But I truly feel blessed to have served with her and have learned so much from her. 

Transfers always get me thinking about how awesome it is to serve a mission. It truly is a privilege. In Relief Society yesterday, the teacher asked us what we've sacrificed to come on a mission. At the beginning of my mission, I would have rattled off a long list. But when she asked me yesterday, I thought about it and how it isn't much of a sacrifice in my eyes anymore. It is a privilege...a blessing.... the opportunity of a lifetime. The things I've learned, the experiences I've had, and the person I've become far outweigh any "sacrifice" that I might have made to come here. Everyone. Go on a mission. Hahaha but really. It is the best decision I've ever made. The church is true and we get to go share that good news with everyone we can!

I love you all and hope you've had a wonderful week.

xoxox

Sister Hoer

We are leaning how to rope.

This is the cowboy that taught us how to rope.

One of my investigators. 

A family we spent time with.

Sis. Elama and I. 

SAMOA! It started to snow right after we took this pictures!