Email Numero Tres!

Hey Fam!!!

We´re already at email number three....

Time has flown by soooooo fast! especially this week,

So, I seem to be aquiring some flak for not responding to all of my emails... So I would like to apologize for not responding. An hour is literally not enough time to respond to everyone. But! I will do my very best to get y´all in my shout outs every week.

So to start with, Thank you family, Grandma Grace, and Aunt LeeAnn for the sweet nuggets of love this week!!! I love reading all of them so much and I miss you all. One of these days Imma probably start to cry because of the kindness it is that you send me all of the mail!!! So gretchie, please dont stop sending me jokes, I need the little pick me ups! Goob, Your crazy awesome trick for your email was super cool. Please teach me how to do that!!! Syd, Lyfe is a little rough to be honest but Im sure it´s not as bad as your cheeks are probably feeling. Mom, thanks for the pics of the Gammed out party! im so glad it went well! Dad, thanks for the update of Gretchie´s driving status. I hope you didn´t get as nervous as that time I was trying to drive the Jetta. Thank you LeeAnn for the update on the Farm! I bet that was a blast. Thanks Grandma Grace for the cool story about Katy! That touched my heart! I hope she stays friendly with the sister missionaries!

Now, on this week’s edition of the CCM email I´m gonna highlight some hazards as well as some of the good things at the CCM:

Let’s start with hazards,

1. Disease.

This week has marked the beginning of a nasty epidemic of the stomach flu mixed with something else. If you really want to know what a couple of my CCM friends have been feelin, there´s a scripture for you but it´s pretty graphic so don´t check it unless you really want to know. It´s Jeremiah 4:19.  Fortunately for me, I have a super awesome immune system curtesy of my dad´s job, Thank you Father! I am so grateful to have missed that sick bus cuz it hasn´t been pretty for those who got on. We had 30 percent out of 400 of the missionaries down and out for the count for a while so I am beyond grateful for the fact that I stayed healthy.

My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

--Jeramiah 4:19 

2. Cement things

So this one is a little bizarre but these cement grass things almost break my ankles every time I walk through them. They are spaced weird and the grass in between sinks super low so la lucha es real every time I go by them. A picture will be provided so you can see what I mean.

3. El Comedor

This is both a hazard and a blessing depending on the day of the week and the food they are serving. For example, bean and mashed potato burritos I would consider a hazard as one of my choices for breakfast on a morning this week. It´s just not super appetizing to me. But they also have some wicked awesome salsas that make pretty much everything edible so I can´t really complain too much.

4. Random Statues

This needs little to no explanation when you see the pic.

And now how about some blessings!

1. Wall Decor!

Mission maps are some of the coolest things and I get to see that my mission is actually the smallest out of the 7 missions in Mexico City. But! It will be awesome! Also, they have the coolest pictures hanging on the walls here! Like one of the 12 disciples smiling and walking with Christ. I just love them!

2. The Auditorium

So there are two things about the auditorium that I love. One is the super comfy chairs. They are a blessing in and of themselves. Secondly, we watch movies and listen to really cool speakers there! We watched Meet the Mormons this week and I actually kind of enjoyed it. Also, I have never fallen asleep in those chairs whereas the rest of my district has. Those silly ducks.

3. Discussion time after devotionals.

This is one of my favorite times because it’s basically just a round table/ open testimony meeting and I love it.

4. Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage

I started this book today and i really really really love it! It’s so awesome and interesting and filled with things I didn´t know before. I am literally 22 pages in after probably 2 hours of studying and reading and I just can´t get enough! it´s sooooo good! I want to read more books by this guy after the mission because I am just so in love with the deep doctrine and the way he puts the information on the page. let´s just say, It’s a beautiful read.

So, I´ll finish off this week with some of the thoughts I´ve had this week. I ´ve been very grateful for my health and for my opportunity to be here. I am so lucky to get to serve the Lord. Another is that I discovered something for myself this week. During one of our testimony /discussion meetings I was pondering about all the rules I have to be obedient to when something hit me like a giant wave. Christ submitted his will to the Father under a supreme act of love and charity for all of us. Being exactly obedient to what our Heavenly and Earthly parents tell us to do is an act of love for them. Your agency is yours to do what you please with but choosing to be obedient is a beautiful expression of love that nobody but you can give. I just love knowing that by choosing to follow Jesus Christ I am showing my love for him and how grateful I am to the Father for this chance at eternal Life that he has given me. I love the Lord and I love this work! Being a representative of Jesus Christ, my incredible Big Brother is the most amazing opportunity I could ask for! I love the gospel and I can´t wait to share it with others!

´Til Next week!

Love, Hermana Hyer

Segundo Email

Hey Fam!
Thanks again for being super awesome and emailing me! Some crazy stuff seems to be going down while I´ve been gone. So, first off, I´m super grateful I didn´t take the Jetta to college now because it totally would have died on me.

And now for some answers to questions, I get to go to the gym every day except Saturday because we do service and Sunday because it is Sunday. Thursday is a choice because it´s not scheduled so we have just played frisbee and volleyball and stuff for like three hours. Let me just say, that is one of the highlights of my week. Sitting for 16 hours a day learning spanish, the gospel, teaching kind of investigators, eating and planning for the next day really makes a usually active gal like me go a little bit nuts. I only get to read and write emails for one hour a week on P-day. The rest of the time I am not allowed on the internet for anything. Also, Gretchie, please don´t kill the Rabbit ;)

Hermana Zierenburg, Elder Miller & I are going to the same mission!!!

Instead of going though everything in the week like scheduling and whatnot, Today will be about some of the observations/events I´ve made/had while I´ve been here.

1. The Lord is sooo very mindful of every one of His children and it is amazing. I am so blessed to be here every single day and learn so many different things. One example of how the Lord has blessed me was Saturday. So Saturday was a slump day for everyone in our district. We were all so stressed about everything that we had to do and the very little time we have to do it and the language is hard for some and sitting forever is boring, yada yada yada. So we had this stress management class and it helped a little bit and then we went to TALL. It started to rain and none of us really liked it and then it poured. Remember the rain in Florida that one trip? Just like that. And it was awesome! Hermana Zierenberg and I ran through the rain to dinner and had a grand ole time jumping in the puddles. Let´s just say that everyone was much happier after the rain and it was awesome. The Lord knows what I need!

2. So, a word about Mexico City, The City itself is beautiful! Today we got to go outside the wall and it was awesome. We went to immigration and got our visas a little more squared away. It was a long crammed bus ride but the scenery was worth every second of it. They had some beautiful architecture and we kind of drove past a protest with banners and flags and tons of people marching. It was really cool! But, Mexico City is not the cleanest place in the world. Lots of weird smells were smelt while driving and I hope I´ll just get used to those when the time comes.

A cool statue from downtown D.F.

My district!

3. Food is good. I would say ´´Nuff said´´´but that isn´t exactly true. We have these awesome meals pretty much every day and they have this amazing salsa to put on everything and it´s different every day. I love it. Also, sometimes the food is questionable as to if it is truly edible or not so we put what we have deemed ´Magic Sauce´ It´s really called Valentina and tastes kind of like the red tabasco sauce but it´s truly magic on those meals that you may or may not want to eat.

4. The weather is unpredictable. It rains some nights and others it doesnt but overall the temperature doesnt stray from a plesent 70 high and 50 low. It´s gorgeous here and I love it!

5. Hermana Zierenberg ow have another job besides being missionaries. We are Sister Training Leaders too! Which basically just means we watch out for the needs of the sisters in our zone and make sure everyone is all right. It´s pretty easy so it´s not a burden. In fact, I enjoy it. Helping people is sooooo great!!!

So lastly, I just want to leave you all with something I learned this week is that this Gospel is truly about change and giving your heart to God. I had an experience while writing a talk that I might give in Sacrament meeting and it was about the Restoration of the Gospel. I was reading the words that Joseph Smith records that the Savior says to him and something struck me. Out of all the things that He could have said, it was that the people draw near to Him with their lips and keep their hearts from Him. It was then and another experience that I had this week is that the Lord really wants our hearts. Beautiful words are nothing without a sincere conviction in our soul about what we are saying and what we are willing to do for Him. Now I know that I want to give my heart to the Lord in every way possible and be molded into what he wants me to be because He is the gardener in this vineyard and not I. I know that as we give up our sometimes selfish desires to change to be the charitable people the Lord wants us to be we will be incredibly blessed!

I love you all and can´t wait to write you next week!

Hermana Hyer

Primero Email!!!

So the moment you´ve all been waiting for,
Day one! I got to my terminal and what did I see? A whole throng of missionaries waiting for me! It was one of the happiest things because they distracted me from missing you guys too much. However, we waited for like 2 hours to get on the plane and I was just dying!!! You all know Im not all that patient so la lucha fue real. I got to sit by two really nice sisters and a couple of Elders and it was fun. We talked and talked and when we ran out of things to say and then I journaled. Fast forward 2 hours when we land and go through immigration and customs. Their customs were super chill. I pushed a button and if it was green they wouldnt check the bag and if it was red, they search through the whole thing. I was good. Then we got to play the waiting game again... see the pattern here? It was a long, long day. We finally got to CCM (spanish for MTC) and got shoved into a room for rules and our badges!!! My name tag is sooo awesome!!! I can´t believe I´m a missionary! even still. It just hasn´t fully soaked in yet. So, I got a companion and her name is Hermana Zierenberg. Let me just tell you that the Lord is totally mindful of his children because she is the perfect companion. She and I compliment each other so well it´s not even funny. So we had dinner and!!! I saw Liza Birkenshaw here! She left yesterday but she was here!!! Anyways, so we had dinner and then got put into our casas and met our roommates. There are 4 of us to a room. And the craziest part is that the two nice sisters I talked to on the plane are my roommates! Their names are Hermana Kamalu and Hermana March. They are super awesome. So we unpacked and then went to bed. Let´s just say, I miss my bed at home. This one has absolutely no give to it at all so sleeping was pretty hard. It turned out alright though.

Day 2. We wake up, shower and go to our classroom to meet our district. There are 8 of us but we are the only Hermanas. The others are Elder Miller & Elder Clement, Elder Anton & Elder Beeson, and Elder Fowler & Elder Alford. Our teacher´s name is Hermano Palma and he is awesome. He´s about 3 inches shorter than me and is super funny and kind to all of us. We got talking and he told me as well as a couple of other Elders that we have to ask permission to speak Ingles. Thats was pretty cool for me to see how much of the language I already have in my brain but I still have a long ways to go. Next was a welcome meeting where they told us lots and lots of rules. We went back to our classrooms and had a guided tour. It´s super pretty here. Like, beautiful. The mountains are gorgeous and the weather stays around 50s to 70s. It´s awesome. So the next meeting was a dress code meeting where they told us about how everything we brought is wrong... Yeah, I have to wear a lot more sweaters than I previously thought. However, exact obedience brings blessings so that is what I have decided to do. Then we had a representation on how not to teach and then we kind of taught a fake investigator. We the had a meeting with the President about, you guessed it, more rules! Then we had a meeting with the Branch presidency which ended up only being the second counselor because the others were at work but it was still awesome. I played the piano for Sweet Hour of Prayer which we sang in Spanish. We then learned that Elder Miller is our district leader which is something I´m not surprised about becuse he´s got it together.  We then went back to the casa and went to bed.

Day 3. So the mornings are all the same. Wake up, shower, eat breakfast but today we had a Visa meeting. Our visas are only for 6 months so we had to apply for new ones. We had mug shots taken and then signed a bunch of papers. We studied and then we learned that we were teaching an investigator in Spanish.... AAAAHHHH!!!!!! That was so scary! Translating thoughts from english to spanish was really hard!!! And that´s basically the highlights of that day.

Day4. The usual for the morning and lectures and things throughout the day . We taught Laura again and it wasnt quite as hard this time. I did learn today that the Lord was mindful of me with puting me in this district because we all get along so well. It´s awesome!!!

Day 5. Sunday number one. Sunday is awesome here. we have church and a devtional and we watch a movie and have a testimony meeting with our zone after the movie. It´s heaven. The Devotional was with Elder Holland and it was the coolest one ever. Heis just so powerful when he speaks. My favorite quote was, ´´Ýou come home wiht at least one convert, and it better be you!!!´´ How cool to think about is that? He´s so awesome.

Day 6. It felt like i had been there for two months but its only been about a week... Crazy right? So we have gym time and they have a free weight gym like we have at SVU so that´s what I did fro exercise today and it felt awesome. I love that we have time to have fun!!! So we taught Laura again and it was a little frustrating becuase we dont know spanish super well but that is a okay. we´ll get it. But Hermana Zierenberg is such a blessing!!! I just love her!

Day 7. Today was a struggle for me. I didn´t sleep well that night and it made literally everything harder. The mosquitos attacked me that night and so i woke up 5 times and didnt go back to sleep. A lesson I learned today is that the Spirit does not strive as well with you when you are tired. So, always get enough sleep!!! We had another Devtional today and it was by a seventy named Elder Netzahualcoyotl Salinas.... say that three times fast. It was awesome. He was just so ethusiastic when he spoke that you couldn´t help but be mesmerized by him. It was so awesome!! We had testimony meeting slash discussion as a group and I loved it!

Day8. Book of mormon Study with my class is the best thing ever. Everyone just has so many great insights and it is so fun! Today was the last day we taught Laura and we Committed her to baptism. That was probably the best moment ever!!! I also learned something very important and it is this: Beautiful words mean nothing without a powerful testimony and the presence of the Spirit. This is something I have been pondering for a while. I´ll let you know my insights when I get them.

And that brings us to P-day. I want to let you all know that I love you and that I know this church is true. although I miss you all, I know that is is where im supposed to be. I pray for you every night and I want you to know that a mission is worth every effort. Stay strong and I love you!!
Love,
Hermana Hyer

P.S. I forgot my cord for pictures.... So I´ll be figuring that out this week. Also, there is this awesome website that sends me mail in 1-2 days which I think is awesome! it´s mtcmexicocarepackage.com/free-letter.html I´d love to hear from you!!!

The Big Day

Today was the day. Sam woke up in Salt Lake City and is going to sleep in Mexico City. 

We dropped her off at the airport at 8:00 this morning. We saw lots of missionaries heading out to Mexico and Sam looked totally confident and ready to go. 

 100 pounds of gear

 One last group hug

On her way!

This is what we received at 6:00 tonight. Smiles all around for that!

Hey Mom and Dad and Gals!

Im here and safe. Its a little crazy. Dinner was great and im typing on a spanish keyboard..... Its different for sure. But, the important thing is that I am safe. Like, there are huge brick fences and barbed wire and all sorts of stuff to keep weirdos out. So dont worry!!! Mexico City is massive and crazy and people drive funny. Its the same and different at the same time. my P-day is thursday so I will write you more then!

Love, 

Hermana Hyer

Sister Samantha Hyer

17/08/2015 10B

Carretera Tenayuca-Chalmita #828

Colonia Zona Escolar, Gustavo A. Madero

07230 Mexico, Distrito Federal

Mexico

The estimated departure date for your missionary is August 17, 2015. The use of the

above address on all correspondence will greatly faciliate delivery to your missionary

at the MTC. Please don't send packages.

Almost ready to go

Sister Hyer is set to depart Wednesday morning at 10:00am. She is super excited to be on her way and is thrilled that she has so much love on the homefront backing her up.

Here is a little contact info for her:

samantha.hyer@myldsmail.net

If you would like to write a letter and send it through the church pouch mail service please do:

Write on one side of a single sheet of paper. Fold the paper in thirds (blank side showing, written side covered by folds), tape the long side of the page with 2 pieces of tape about one inch in from each end, but do not seal the ends. Write your name and return address in the top left corner and put a first class stamp in the top right corner. Sam's address goes in the middle:

Sister Samantha Jane Hyer

Mexico Mexico City South Mission

POB 30150

Salt Lake City UT 84130-0150

The pouch letters will be sent through the USPS to Church headquarters. Pouch mail leaves Church headquarters each Friday. If your letter arrives after the pouch has been sent it will be held and sent out the following week.