Elder Chandler Hyer

Elder Chandler Hyer
Elder Chandler Hyer

Monday, July 27, 2015

My last week in Washington

It's a little hard to believe but my last week in Washington is finally here. I feel like I'm ending one mission and starting another..

This last week has been so busy.  Tuesday we had an exchange with the AP's (Assistant's to the President) and that was really fun.  The AP's are both really cool.  Then two days later we did an exchange with the 5th ward elders and so I spent the day with Elder Seegmiller, and that was pretty fun too.

Portuguese study has gotten a lot better since I've found out I got my Visa.  I've realized that I let my Portuguese skills slip away and so I'm looking forward to a refresher in the Sao Paulo MTC before I'm thrown into my new area in Brasilia.

This week a few miracles happened.

Curt ( the one who wanted to read the whole Bible before being baptized) told us he wanted to get baptized as soon as possible, I think he just realized the importance of it and so we are having his baptism on Saturday.  He is such a neat guy and I'm so excited to finally see him make that covenant.  He has such a strong desire to do what's right and it's just really exciting.

Candace finally got her marriage license and is getting married and baptized this Thursday.  And perhaps even a greater miracle is that we started teaching her 9 year old son Josiah this week.  Now Josiah barely knew the concept of God and had only heard the name of Jesus Christ, and teaching him is such a joy.  He is such a sweet kid who is amazed at the concept of prayer.  He wants to get baptized and we are hoping to baptize him on the same day as Candace which would be awesome.

Natasha is also still on date for baptism on Friday this week.  She has the light of Christ shining so brightly within her.  You can see her taking comfort from what we are teaching her and what she has been learning as she comes to church.  She has made some mistakes in her life and more than anything wants those mistakes and sins to be washed away through repentance and baptism.

This week has been great!  This area is having a lot of success right now and it's going to be nice to be able to have a few really wonderful people baptized this upcoming week before I leave.

I don't know what else to say besides I love you all so much, and I love it here in Washington, but I'm sure I'll also grow to love Brazil as I serve the rest of my mission there.  I have no idea what to expect (I've heard so many crazy stories from people I don't even know what is true and isn't true).  But I'm excited! That's it for this week Bye!

Elder Hyer

Monday, July 20, 2015

Wa-Tac Week 10

VISA!!!!

Hello everyone this is Elder Hyer emailing you out of Lacey, Washington, but soon to be emailing you out of Brazil!!

Yep, this week I found out that I got my Visa. On Thursday we had zone conference, where we basically receive a bunch of training and it's really spiritual. During one of the meetings President Blatter called me outside and told me the news that I received my Visa. The first words that came out of my mouth was "Oh no" because usually once you get the Visa they send you out of there as soon as possible, like in a couple days. But I was then told that I will not be leaving this area until August 4th, the last day of the transfer, which couldn't be better. I will then be spending two weeks in the Brazil MTC in São Paulo to refresh my Portuguese skills and then I will finally be in Brasilia!


Needless to say I am really excited. But there has been some other really neat things that occurred this week as well,

For one, Curt, an investigator of ours is finally on date for the 25th of July. He is such a good guy and I am so excited to see him enter the waters of baptism. He strives so hard to live worthily and he reads the scriptures more than just about anyone I know (other than maybe missionaries :) ). But his change of heart is a blessing and I'm excited.

Sister Church has chosen a date for her marriage and baptism so that will be happening in a few weeks.

Yesterday during Gospel Principles class in church there was a lady there that we had never met before, and at the beginning of the class when the teacher asked if anybody had any questions this week, she raised her hand and said "I want to be baptized, how do I do that?" Naturally we were pretty shocked and at the end we set up an appointment to teach her that evening and she is now excitedly on date for baptism on July 31st!!! That just doesn't happen everyday.

I was also able to go see Erick's baptism this week, he was an investigator that we were working with in my last area and so that was really cool to see.




Heavenly Father is amazing, he has given me so many blessings and opportunities for me to learn and to have joy. I love being a missionary so much. I'm so excited to go to Brazil, but I still have work to do here. I love you all so much and I look forward to emailing next week!

Elder Hyer

Monday, July 13, 2015

Wa-Tac Week 9

Wow this week has been so amazing I don't know where to start, so I'll just start on Monday.

Monday we knocked into this girl named Katelyn. She came from around the house doing yardwork and basically asked us for a pamphlet and we scheduled an appointment for Wednesday. When we went back for the appointment she invited us to her backyard where the pamphlet was sitting on the table opened, highlighted and underlined with every question in the back answered (that never ever happens). So we taught her about the Restoration of the gospel and she was really interested, we went back two days later with some members from the ward and taught her the Plan of Salvation. During the lesson we asked her that as she came to know the truthfulness of what we are teaching her if she would be baptized, and she said that she would! She is one of those perfect investigators that you don't find very often, she came to church this Sunday and everything went great. I’m so excited to continue teaching her and I'll keep you updated on how it goes.

In other good news sister Church fasted and prayed about asking her "husband" about getting legally married (because she was nervous) and he was supportive! So they should be getting married soon and then she will be baptized! That was so exciting.

Our other investigators are doing great as well and just in general this week we have been blessed with so much success it's really amazing. Last week was kind of hard with the hot weather and what not but it's interesting that after we endure the trail of our faith we then see the blessings and receive the reward for all of the hard work that we do.

It's funny how God knows exactly what will put us out of our comfort zone and it's up to us to rise to the occasion so that we can grow, I have learned so much about the gospel since being on a mission, I feel like I didn't even know what we believe until now, it's weird.

We have been blessed with so much success lately that at this point I'm praying that my Visa doesn't come in until after this transfer, specifically until these people we are working with get baptized. We have some really solid amazing investigators, I'm especially excited for Katelyn, it's not very often you see someone so willing to read the book of Mormon and the pamphlets and everything else it's just amazing. I love being a missionary.

The email is a little short this week, unfortunately I'm running out of time, but I love you all so much! Miracles do happen! And the Gospel of Jesus Christ is so amazing!

Love you all,
Elder Hyer

P.S. (from Dad) I just checked Chandler’s visa status and it has been processed and authorized. He should find out tonight or tomorrow and be off to Brazil probably this week!!!

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Wa-Tac Week 8

Hey everyone, this week has been sooo much fun. I'm 19 everybody!! Woohoo! And I would like to thank everyone for all of the amazing presents I got, like I'm talking a billion cookies, letters, delicious foods, ties, some other great stuff, and just to brag my sister Lindsay sent me the coolest drawing in the world cause she is awesome!


My birthday was pretty sweet, besides the packages I went on an exchange with the Elders from the 4th ward and set up tents and moved wood for 3 hour for a local campground, it was fun... Other than that we basically just did normal stuff, oh and my birthday was also hot, but that was every day this week.

This week has probably been the hottest week of my life, I don't even think it gets this hot in Brazil, I mean seriously it's been so extremely hot. Fortunately there are these trees with little plums all over the place so I've eaten probably 50 - 60 of those this week, which was pretty nice. I’m not exactly sure those made up for the heat but it made it a little bit better.

I live right next to train tracks, and that means that trains pass by our house all the time, loud noises every 30 minutes or so... so that's a little annoying but on the bright side it doesn't wake me up so who cares right?

As far as investigators go we have sister Church who is awesome, she has been coming to church every week and is just an awesome lady, her only hang up is that she is not married to her "husband" and she is working up the courage to do that so keep her in your prayers.

Shawn and Jessie are both friends and Jessie in particular is really interested, Shawn is a little more hesitant and he got put in jail for a few days this week and has to go to court. It's been a hard week for him, but there are consequences to our actions, and hopefully he will allow himself to grow from this experience.

This week has been rough on finding new investigators, the problem with this weather in Washington is that because it rarely gets hot here none of the houses have AC which means when a heat wave like this hits everybody is basically just miserable whether they are inside or not and it's not exactly the best environment for teaching, so hopefully it will cool down soon.

That's it for this week. I love you all and again thank you so much for everything it was a great week.

Love,
Elder Hyer

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

WA-TAC Week 7


Hey everybody,

This week has been a lot of fun. As I mentioned last week I've been transferred to the Lacey 1st and 2nd Ward serving with some more zone leaders, Elder Short and Elder Ivie, and it has 

been a blast.
Elder Short has been out 23 months so he finishes this transfer which is kind of sad but he's still staying focused and there's a lot that I can learn from him. He is from West Valley Utah. He's a really cool guy. Elder Ivie has been serving for about 9 months or so and is also just a good missionary and a fun person. He is from St. George Utah. We have a lot of fun.

We have some great investigators here, namely Shawn and Jessie who are two really cool guys who have been reading the Book of Mormon and have been coming to church, they are both trying to quit smoking which can be hard, There is also Sam who is in the army and is just about perfect, he is also reading, really is looking for truth and works as hard as he can to come to church even if its straight from work, I really like him. There is also a sister Church who is working on getting married to her husband so that she can be baptized, she is also great.


One day this week we were driving along and we felt this thump against the side of our car, and we thought we saw a bird, so we turned around and saw this bird frozen in the position shown in the
picture. The bird
literally flew into our car and then sat in that position on the sidewalk, with it's beak open. We took a picture and went to an appointment. After the appointment we came back and it was still there! in the same position! It was literally sitting there for like 30 min. I hope it was just stunned and eventually recovered, but it was way weird.

I think that's about it for this week, I am still getting to know the area. I love you all and I'm loving it here in Lacey! I have been really lucky to have great companions so far and like I said, I'm really loving it.
Bye!

Elder Hyer

Our mission leader in Silverdale 1st ward and some of his family, he is a great mission leader.