Happy RS Birthday

Hello All

So. Transfers. I know y'all are way excited to hear about it. Here's what happened. I'm not training, but I think that worked out for the better. Well... It definitely did. I have an INCREDIBLE new companion who's name is Sis Costley and she's from Phoenix, AR. The only way I can describe her is if you took me and Randi, and put us together. Then you'd get Sis Costley. Basically that means she's the coolest person ever and loves to do just as many random things that I like to do. Man.. We've already decided that we're going to tear it up this transfer and it's gonna be the best one ever. We're an awesome team. And we've only been together since Wednesday. hahaha... I found out that she' lived in Calgary for a the Winter semester of '07. Which means that she moved out of Calgary around the time I moved to Banff. We missed eachother by only a few days! She can't remember what the name of her Single's ward was, but she said it was in the Calgary West Stake... Which was my Banff Stake. haha.. Small world. She lived there to do an internship with Global news to finish off her Broadcasting degree from BYU-Idaho. Pretty cool man... She lived with "Joe Sports" and his family. Since I'm not from Calgary though, I have no idea who Joe Sports is. All I know is that he was the Sports broadcaster for Global and he died around the time she was living there...sad.. But yeah.. Such crazy connections!!! 

Also... Sister Costley was transferred here from Germantown, TN so I had to wait 8 hours at the mission office for her to get to Arkansas... It was a long wait.. But Sis Davis was waiting with me because her companion came from Tennessee too. So Sis Davis and I had 8 hours to catch up! haha. It was great!!! She's been serving in Cabot for the last 7 months so she was updating me on all the stuff that's happened there. She told me something that really meant a lot to me. Remember the Kassner family that I was teaching there?? Well... Basically when we were teaching them, the told us that they weren't interested and they had joined another Church... Then Cabot was closed and I was transferred to Maumelle, and I find out later that the whole Kassner family got baptized! So I was really excited about that, but still kinda frustrated because I was bitter about my experience in Cabot... But Sis Davis told me something I never knew. That day that the Kassner family told us they weren't interested, Sis Blake and I were heartbroken and cried on their couch... But I guess Bro Kassner tells everyone that if it hadn't have been for us reacting that way, they never would have understood the importance of the gospel. So that was what got them to really be serious about it later on. So now here they are in Cabot, prolly one of the most missionary minded families ever, and Sis Kassner is pregnant again!!! WOOT!!! By the time the baby is born, they will have already gone to the temple to be sealed so this family will be born under the covenant. So awesome.. So I learned that my time in Cabot really wasn't a waste. I did some good.

So. That's the exciting news of the week. Things here in Hot Springs are going really well. We have a lot of work to do. Seriously.. This place has done a complete turn around and with Sis Costley and I together, we're only gonna make it better. haha... I'm loving the missionary life right now. This is incredible. The Church really is true and I'm happy!!! WOOT!!!!!!!

Keep it real eh. haha... 

-Sister Dyer

OH THE SUSPENSE!!!!!

Okay... So last week I dont know what I was thinking and I forgot to tell you the most important thing that happened all week!!!!!!! Yeesh... I was mad at myself...

So... Once or twice a year the mission has a General Authority come to the mission to train us and whatnot. So we had one of these the week before last. It's always a huge deal about who comes because it's always from the 1st or 2nd quorum of the seventy. We were honored this time to have Elder Richard G. Hinckley come to visit our mission and talk to us about how we're doing and it was amazing!!!! He talked to us for the whole morning, and told us some really great stories about when he was a Mission President and how his mission was one of the ones being used to test out Preach My Gospel. And he told us a few stories about his life and he mentioned "his father" every once and a while. It blew my mind to think that his father was a Prophet.. but not just A Prophet... but MY Prophet. I've claimed Gordon B. Hinckley as my own. haha.. But that's because he was the Prophet all throughout my youth and when I really gained a testimony of a living Prophet today, President Hinckley was the one! Oh man... It was wonderful. Afterwards, we had a lunch at the Church for all the missionaries, so all of us Sisters gathered together at one table as always to eat together, and Elder Hinckley and his wife came up to our table and they sat with us, so we had an opportunity to have a real conversation with him too. It was amazing. Elder Hinckley is a great man, and I'm am SOOO thankful to have been able to be strengthened by his counsel and testimony. Being a missionary is wonderful. It has great benefits.

So... That's what I forgot to tell you last week. Now this week.

Transfers... Well... I'm staying in Hot Springs. Sis Kiser is not. I think that's a pretty weird change considering that I've been here longer, but I'm okay with it. Hot Springs has grown on me, and I'm excited to continue teaching Betty as well as a few other investigators that we're working with closely. So we wont find out who I'm getting or where Sis Kiser is going until Wednesday, but I have an idea... Sis Rothe is going home on Tuesday, meaning that Sis Davis is companionless in Cabot. So my thought is that Sis Kiser will go to Cabot to be with Sis Davis and I'll be getting another greenie!!! That's what I THINK is gonna happen, but we'll see how accurate that is. I'll let you know next week. I really love training though, and I think that would be one of the best ways to end my mission. So. That's transfers. Keep sending mail to Hot Springs everyone!!! (HINT HINT HINT!!!!)

Oh and just some clarification. There are actually 10 Sisters in the mission and 5 areas. 3 in Arkansas and 2 in the Memphis area. So I've been in all the Arkansas areas already... Which is perfect. I'm in the ARKANSAS mission, so I'd like to stay in ARKANSAS... haha... But speaking of Memphis... The Temple. Even though I haven't gone to the Memphis temple yet, Pres Drewes always takes the missionaries to the temple the day before they go home. So I'll at least be able to go once on my mission.

And Dad. Elder Brawley is back! We saw eachother at our Zone Conference and he said he thinks his cousin ate at my parents home... So I told him the rumor was true. haha. But Elder Brawley is doing a lot better.


So.. that's the news I have this week. Everything is peachy... And hot.... freaking 80 degrees.. That's so wrong.... I'm wearing tshirts in March... haha... Enjoy the snow for me okay?? I HEART CANADA!!!! hahahaha...

THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Sister Dyer

FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FAMILY!!!!!! YOU'RE ALL GETTING BROKEN AT THE SAME
TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.... but when I
got the letters from Mom and Dad explaining the situation with Grandma
Olive and her new pacemaker, and Grandma Dyer with her opposite heart
problem, and Uncle Dave with his torn Achilles Tendon... I did more
laughing than anything. But I think thats because BOT mom and dad were
joking about it too!!! Here's Dad telling me all about how Grandpa said
that Grandma needed a pacemaker and once the diagnosis was given, how
grandpa was all proud and all they needed now was an "installer"... My
family has the WEIRDEST sense of humor ever!!! I love it!! haha.. So
thank you for that because it helps me freak out less...

Also... So Uncle Dave... I'm apparently a year ahead of myself because I
thought you turned 50 last year.. WOOPS!! Oh man... Sometimes I'm right
and sometimes I'm wrong... This time I was wrong. But I still know how
old my Dad is, so I get credit for that right?! haha.. 

But I'm glad to hear that everybody is doing better and that nobody is
dead. That's happy news.

Also. Question! How in the world did Jeremy Mo end up in Australia
baptizing a girl he's gonna marry??? I'm so confused... hahaha.. But
clarification would be appreciated.

Now. On to me. This week we didn't have a car... So... We had a LOT of
planning and organizing we needed to do this last week, so we spent a
lot of time doing that... We spent too much time in our apartment,
because I was getting stir crazy... But all the stuff we did is gonna
help us be more productive this week... Hey... This week is the last
week of the transfer. If I get transferred I'll find out on Sunday
night, but you wont know until 8 days after that where I ended up. All I
can tell you next Monday is if I'm getting moved or not. So. Just the
heads up. So yeah. We did a lot of planning this week. Sis Kiser is a
lot more organized than me so.. I was learning a lot about planning, but
I was also struggling with being patient. I've always been a "lets just
go and do it" type of person, but she's just the opposite. She's been a
goal setter her whole life. But I think we're finally starting to be
able to sort of understand eachother and balance out. That's happy. One
thing that I've learned on my mission. Goal setting is okay. It's what
grown ups are supposed to do. haha..

Oh and hey. We set a baptismal date with Betty this week! That was
exciting. She agreed to it, but it totally took me off guard. But after
discussing what had just happened with Sis Kiser, we concluded that she
knows its true in her head, but she doesn't know in her heart yet. So
that's our goal. We're gonna leave her with commitments to do what she
needs to do to know it in her heart. And hopefully at the end of the
month, on the 28th, she'll be baptized! WOOT! The trick is... getting
her husband's permission... haha.. He's not our biggest fan.. But we'll
deal with that later... haha.. Oh man.. I love missionary work. The
devil tries so hard to work against us, but it doesn't work. We've got
more power. We've got the spirit. :)

So... That's the exciting news of this week. Hope everyone enjoyed their
week, and that everything is great. Stay warm in the great white north,
and I'll try to keep up with the weather here. It's so confusing
sometimes... hahaha... 

LOVE Y'ALL!!! 

THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Sister Dyer

Woot!!! Li-berry is open!!!

So exciting news!.... Well... Kind of... 


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*suspense*..................


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hahaha... okay... 



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WE FINISHED PAINTING BETTY'S
HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!! hahahahahahaha.... Oh man... That was the best thing ever!
almost 3 months later, and it's finally complete. Now we get to see how
much she really wants to learn because she said she can only concentrate
on one thing at a time. Now she's gonna concentrate on letting us teach
her because she's got nothing else on her mind. This will be
interesting. She's already been to Church 5 times.. but the problem is
that last time she told us she hates it... because it's boring... which
I think is lame. She's used to loud, guitar filled, preacher sweating,
type Baptist Churches... The way she describes her church is the way I
describe concerts... She enjoys them because they make her excited...
aka... they fill her with adrenalin.. We've already discussed all this
with her. We're very to the point. haha.. So she doesn't get that at our
church and she doesn't get how the Spirit is quiet and how you have to
be reverent to really hear what it's telling you. So.. This is our
quest... To help her understand what the Spirit REALLY feels like. 

Also. Dad asked if Whole Hog is my equivelant to Clarke's Betos...
Well.. Its a toss up.. because the Bagel place in Maumelle is forever
going to have a piece of my heart. hahaha... So... I have a couple
"Beto's".. haha..

And with the missionary credit card dealeo. Yes we get one. That is how
we get our funds for the month. It works out nicely. They refill it at
the beginning of each month. It's not very much, but it helps. I got my
replacement card in the mail this week though so we're back to normal.

Yeah... So that was mostly the highlight... Nothing too exciting to
report on. The Church is still true though. That's never gonna change. I
love y'all lots. WOOT!!!

-Sister Dyer

I'm LATE!!!

Oh man... Monday p-days have thrown us all out of whack. It makes
holiday day's really hard because the li-berry is closed... So today
since I didn't want to wait any longer to email, we came over to a
members home. So that's where I am right now. Thank you awesome members.
WOOT! But boo urns to President's day making the li-berry closed and
delaying my email time!!! Tomorrow we dont have any time to email
either, so that's another reason we're doing it tonight. Busy busy day
tomorrow!!

So. Now onto important stuff. Allison Bretzky is going to Taiwan!!!!!
WOOT!!!!! That's so awesome!!! But really scary.. That's across the
world... Kinda close to Burgess in Korea!!! Hey that's kinda neat. Oh
Sister Missionaries.. The world wouldn't be nearly as good without
them... haha...

And speaking of missionaries. Jonathan Harline was mentioned in my last
letter from Dad. So just an FYI. We've actually written eachother a few
letters and I got one from him not too long ago! He's a Branch President
in Albania somewhere.. He's incharge of all three members there.
hahaha... But it's still a big job. It's kinda cray to see how different
each area is for different missions. 

Also.. Another comment for Dad about a coming home BBQ for me. I'll have
you know that the BBQ you had for your birthday is NOT a Southern BBQ..
Go to www.wholehogcafe.com to see what a real southern BBQ is. We ate
lunch there today and it was delicious... Rediculously delicious. These
people know what they're doing! haha! So if you can figure out how to
replicate that for when I come home... be my guest!!! Southern BBQ needs
to be introduced to Canada!!!!!!

And guess what? My life as a missionary is never uneventful. We got a
call from the mission office secretary saying that someone hacked into
the JP Morgan bank system and as a result 82 missionary credit cards got
cut off... Mine being one of them. So this week... The home account has
been put to use. Just the heads up. 

Happy Valentine's Day too by the way. We had an awesome day. We made
cookies for some people and then we doorbell ditched some gifts to a
family in the ward. Pretty much hilarious. We tag teamed with the Elders
so they were voluteered to be the runners and they almost got caught.
SOOO funny... 

We had a couple investigators come to church this week too. That was
really exciting. One of them just kinda showed up! He works on a boat in
the gulf of Mexico for 2 months at a time and we didn't know he was back
home yet, until he called us the day before to ask when church was. He
loved it!! Unfortunately he's leaving again on Wednesday, but we're
gonna teach him again tomorrow. He reads a lot when he's away and we
call him every once and a while to see how he's doing and answer
questions. If he wasn't away so much, he'd prolly already be baptized..
But it's going how the Lord needs it to go I suppose..

Oh yeah. The pictures of Uncle Dave and Auntie Jo and the triplets!
Gavin's pink hair is AWESOME!!! It brought me back to the good ol days
of my pink hair phase... but that really didn't have a good cause behind
it. I just did it. hahahaha...

So yeah. No drive by shootings this week. Thank goodness. haha. We have
a busy week this week and I'm looking forward to it. I love y'all! Thank
you for your prayers and support. Things are blossoming here slowly. My
patience is being tested but what better way to grow it eh? hahaha... 
The Church is true though. Never forget it.

-Sister Dyer

Hey everyone.

So this week... Very interesting... but first things first!!!

Dad... So that little Captain Moroni action figure... Totally came from
me. hahahahaha... I randomly bought it one day and I kept it in my car
as a reminder to ME to be better and more faithful. Its kinda funny how
we think exactly the same. I'm glad it's giving you more missionary
opportunities. It's exciting to hear about them. hahaha... So funny how
everything comes full circle...

and also... HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love you
lots. You're the best old man EVER!!! haha...

Also... Random story... Forewarning... DONT FREAK OUT ON ME
PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!.... Well... The Elders were at an appointment... and
they left 10 mintues late.. They come back to their home only to find a
bunch of police there... Apparently 10 minutes before they got home,
which was when they were actually supposed to get home, there was a
drive by shooting in their parking lot... CRAZY!!!! the car that parks
next to them totally has this big ol bullet  hole in it. haha... Kinda
funny... but definitely terrifying. So... Pray extra hard that we'll be
safe. I'm pretty sure the Lord will make it happen though. He protected
the Elders pretty well.

This week has been full of a lot of drama though. The Bishop in his
efforts to revamp everything is going on override mode and trying to
redo everything the ward mission leader has set in place... So now that
the WML is out of town for 3 weeks, the Bishop is implementing
everything he wants to without letting the WML know.. so the mission
president and the stake president are trying to help him be more
realistic... It's quite interesting being caught in the middle of all
this... Definitely not recommended. But at the same time... Keeps things
interesting!! haha...

Yeah.. We had a lot of appointments fall through this week, but on the
same note, we found this awesome new investigator from a Part member
family. I'm excited to teach them because they have a brand new baby
girl. WOOT!!! haha...

But yeah... I dont really have much more updates... I love y'all and I'm
thankful for your prayers. I need them. Remember. The Church is true!!!

-Sister Dyer

Happy Groundhog Day

So... Groundhog day is kinda pointless when you dont get to find out
what happened... haha... But whatever.. It's not like I've really
experienced a winter here anyways. Crazy Arkansas NOT cold weather...
yeesh....

Anywho... So.. This week has been a pretty significant week in the ward.
It's pretty interesting because the ward seems to have done a complete
360 since I got here 3 months ago. I first got here, and felt totally
unwelcome and didn't really see much of a motive on anyone's part to do
missionary work, so I didn't really know how to handle that. But as I
continued to work and time progressed, the Bishop seemed to be
experiencing some pretty significant spiritual changes of heart. A
couple weeks ago he spoke in Sacrament meeting and told of how he had a
terrifying vision of the way the ward members were heading, and he said
he was shown through the spirit, who was in danger of not achieving
their full potential by reaching the Celestial Kingdom. So now he's gone
into this incredible "the ward's attitude has GOT to change NOW"
mentality and the Ward is responding to it so well. We as missionaries
are being given assignments that are helping the members of the ward be
strengthened, and recent converts are getting serious about preparing
for the temple and all in all, the whole ward is changing for the
better. I think a significant contribution was this new Tongan family
that moved in from California. They have 10 kids and the Dad is a former
Bishop. Our Bishop said he had been praying for a long time to be able
to know how to meet the needs of the members and he said that all his
concerns were answered with this one family. haha. They're a huge
strength to the Ward already. And it seems like within the last 3 or 4
weeks, the chapel has been busting at the seams because it's been so
full. It's so wonderful to see!!! The spirit is so strong in those
meetings and things are getting done, and all this has happened within
the past 3 months! I'm actually thankful that I've been able to see the
progress of this ward. It's helped me appreciate and love the members
here more and more. This is an exciting process, and I'm thankful for
the spiritual nature of the Bishop and what he is now doing to change
things so that they are the way they need to be.

Also, on Saturday there was a ward temple trip in which 20 or so members
of the ward all came together and made arrangements to be able to make
the trip to Memphis. Three of the members of our ward went through the
temple for the first time, and two of them, Bro and Sis Enriquez got
sealed. When I saw them yesterday at Church, they were GLOWING!!! They
were so full of love for each other and for the gospel, and it was a
pleasure to be able to see the Spirit so strong within them.. I feel
really close with the Enriquez's because they're been a huge support to
us. They've always been our go to people whenever we're in a pickle.
hahaha...

We're also teaching this less active couple that just got married last
Saturday, because they want so bad to be active and worthy. They're
definitely something else... they have their struggles and trials to
overcome, but their desire is sincere.

There are incredible things happening with the ward here. I'm so
thankful to be a part of it and to feel the support of the Lord in
bringing everything to pass. The Church is so true. Heavenly Father
provides ways for everything to be accomplished, and it is so apparent
in Hot Springs. 

Love y'all. Happy February.

-Sister Dyer