Upcoming Baptisms!

Sister Tyler and Sister Reeder were studying

at the mission office one morning and decided

to take over the Assistant to the President's desk

and be the mission's first “Sister AP”s haha :)

This week we have the great opportunity to help two amazing people to baptism! Sherry and Candice have been working so hard these past few months and weeks to prepare for baptism this upcoming Saturday and confirmation this upcoming Sunday. They are so excited and Candice is really getting into the activity days on Wednesday nights too. I am truly so excited for them and all the doors that are opening for them.

We also had a good week in helping a less active sister in the ward (Sister Constantine). She has been fighting to quit smoking for a long time now. So, we are working with her to stop smoking and she is doing fairly well. We got to clean her apartment a ton to get out the smoky smell that has been stuck on her walls for years. And now she is even finding a better friend group to help uplift her and support her in her efforts.

The Bishop's family saw the Sister missionaries

and some of the senior office missionaries

at Panera and kindly sent us a picture!! :)

But, I think the greatest miracle this week, is when we went over to her apartment Sunday morning before church. She had said every day the week before that she really wanted to finally come to church for the first time in over a year. But, when we came to pick her up with her visiting teacher, she answered the door and had just gotten out of bed and hadn't slept well or anything (Satan was trying so hard to stop her from coming). She said she couldn't come because she wasn't ready, but we told her that her we and her visiting teacher really wanted her to come to church with us. Then, she gave me a look that goes with the thought "I'm done letting Satan stop me from doing what I truly want to do." So she went and got ready with a very determined look continuing on her face :). It was just yesterday that Sister Constantine came to church for the first time in over a year, and she absolutely loved it :).

Miracles are happening every day in Bedford, and it is the best thing ever :)

Sincerely, Sister Tyler

Progression, Change, Happiness

Sister Tyler accidentally crossing

over the mission boundaries! haha ;)

I feel so out of shape when it comes to writing blog posts/emails home haha :)

These past few weeks have been crazy, so I'll do my best to update on what's happened :). After the first week of the transfer we've been able to find a new investigator who is so sweet and fun to talk to. She is from Germany and is interested in learning about God. It was been fun to begin getting to know her and what she believes in regards to who God is, and it seems we will be keeping the lessons we have with her very simple as we establish ideas of who god is and who Christ is both in general and in our relationship with them :). I'm very excited to continue teaching her.

Then we have been working more closely with a less active member in our ward who has struggled with an addiction to smoking for a good majority of her life. So, she has decided to finally quit smoking and we are doing a stop smoking program with her that has been given to missionaries to use, and if done correctly, the person who is quitting smoking will be a nonsmoker in 7 days. It is an amazing program that we can't wait to start with her.

Sister Tyler and Sister Boyce

in Merrimack, NH

We also have been working more closely with our investigator Sherry. She started investigating again with us back in November and she is now preparing for her baptism in the next couple of weeks! We are so excited to help her continue in Christ's gospel and she is also working with us and her granddaughter so that her granddaughter may be baptized as well! We continue to pray things run smoothly for her progression towards baptism, and we are so excited as she is loving every bit of the Spirit she feels as she pushes towards this goal for baptism and then activity in the church :).

I also had the opportunity to go on exchange this past week with our new Sister Training Leader Sister Boyce! She and I came out together so it was so fun to go out with her here in Bedford while Sister Reeder went with Sister Burton (my second companion in the field) in Canterbury. Funny story, we went out to find a less active member that the Bishop wanted us to meet. There was one point when I had to turn around to go back somewhere, so I turned onto a street that was called something like "Freedom Circle" because I thought it would be easy to turn around in—and I wouldn't need to worry about accidentally going outside the mission boundaries (because we were on the edge at that point). But, when we got to the circle part we found that the two houses at the end of the circle were actually in the next town over! (how weird is that?) So there are two houses outside our mission boundaries (not just our ward/area boundaries, but it is in the Boston Massachusetts Mission!) This means that the other mission can't get to them either because the only way to get to them is through our mission... Very strange how New England is set up haha :) But Sister Boyce and I took some fun pictures to take advantage of accidentally going outside the mission border :)

Life continues to be great and fun here in Bedford. I hope everyone enjoyed Valentines day!

Love, Sister Tyler

EVERY Valentine's Day Katy

makes a heart shaped cake

...this year it has a name tag :)

This is the chapel in Exeter, NH

during last week's snowstorms.

Beautiful, but scary!!

And an inspirational quote!

2/2/15 and 2/9/15

How does a mom and dad

get a same day message to

a missionary stuck in the snow??

...we sent her some flowers! ;)

Sister Tyler's mom here: SNOW! SNOW! SNOW! Sister Tyler is experiencing a TON of snowfall this winter. Due to the New England snowstorms she wasn't able to make it to internet connection last week, so we got a good old fashioned handwritten letter! ;) haha

However, we actually heard from her via email this week and it was a FUN surprise! We have a very thoughtful ward member to thank for that—but even then there wasn't enough time for a blog post. Sister Tyler promises an update next week.....if there's no snow to stop her! :) (or a Federal holiday closing the library)

In summary the past two weeks consisted of transfers, getting a new missionary to train and getting a surprise 3^rd companion! Sister Tyler was able to be with the new missionary for a week or so, but then this new sister needed to go home for a family emergency. In her handwritten letter Sister Tyler wrote: “I'm just going to miss her.” The surprise 3^rd companion actually was Sister Reeder who had joined the “Trio” earlier in January (thus making the “Quad”)(see pictures). She's recovering from some knee surgery so there is not a lot of trudging through the snow! They also both continue to help in the Mission Office.

Nevertheless, we did receive pictures—Enjoy! Feel free to write Sister Tyler a POSTAL letter...who knows when she'll be able to get access to email! I think she'd appreciate it... :)

Sister Katy Tyler

2 Bedford Farms Dr. Suite 208

Bedford, NH 03110

The “Quad”

(before transfers on 1/27/15)

The “new” Trio!

Trio t-shirts

Temperature in Bedford

From a webcam in Manchester, NH

Going from 4 to 2 sisters

My (most recent) district

Sisters (l-r): (ward member), Craig, Harper,

Danner, Cannell, Reeder, and me

Elders: Butters (co-DL), Hansen (ZL),

Erekson (ZL), and Lynn (co-DL)

Crazy things are happening in the mission, and in Bedford alone! We got our transfer calls this past Saturday and it was the last calls we ever expected!!

Facial masks and Ben&Jerry's ice cream

(how they recovered after transfer calls!)

[Shelli here]: I had to add this one

--it was too cute to pass up!

This was us cleaning out the black hole

we had in our closet – haha

President Stoker called when we were driving home, and the first thing he says is that Sister Danner is being transferred and will serve as senior companion. Then, he told Sister Cannell that she is being transferred and will serve as junior companion (and we later found out that she will be shotgunning an elder's area somewhere). Then! he told Sister Reeder that she is being transferred! and will serve as junior companion! Then he got to me... He said "Sister Tyler, you will remain in Bedford and be receiving a new missionary and serve as a trainer!" o.O :) 

I'm super excited, but oh my gosh! We all thought I was leaving since I've already been here for 3 transfers and we all thought for sure Sister Reeder was staying because she was supposed to be an office missionary when she got emergency transferred here two weeks ago. It is just so crazy. Also, now with the storm coming up, President had to postpone transfers and we don't know when transfer meeting will actually happen. So, hopefully transfers will happen sometime this week and it will be just me emailing with my new missionary next week.

I took inventory of everything and

we all helped clear it out and clean it up

Besides that craziness, this was a great week. We got two new investigators when we stopped by a couple we have met with a few times before and they said they were actually kind of interested in learning more, especially the wife (we left her a Restoration pamphlet and she carries it with her everywhere so she can read it whenever she can). They are both so sweet and truly just want to know the truth and know if we can actually have a personal relationship with God. I can't wait to continue teaching them.

The work is a marvelous one. And although the storm is big, I look forward to seeing the beautiful snow :)

Sincerely, Sister Tyler

Serving Sister Laura

Riding "The Moose" to Zone Conference!

This week just flew by and I feel like I'm in a whole new transfer with a new companion :). It was a lot of fun this week with multiple companionships because we end up planning a lot of different days in one day each night. It sounds a bit crazy, but it is so fulfilling. We are getting so much work done, too, since we have another set of sisters working during similar times to the original set. I think the best part about the quad is how everyone is just getting their minds blown when they find out we aren't two separate companionships :). It was especially fun during zone conference when we got to go and feel so spiritually uplifted with our topic being "recognizing the spirit". While there we just felt spiritually filled and we got to spread the news about our new Quad :)

"Sister Laura" and her famous hugs :)

Also during the week we got to help a member in our ward (that we work with regularly) move into a nursing home. Her name is Sister Laura (she prefers to go by her first name ;)) and she is the best! She always brightens up our day and I seriously can't go a week without visiting her! We were really scared when we got the news that she had to go to the hospital when she got sick, but now she is being taken care of in a nursing home, and she is happy and healthy again :) It was such a great opportunity to help her through the whole process and help clean up her apartment when she left.

I hope all is going well outside the New Hampshire Manchester Mission :)

Love, Sister Tyler

A Quad?!

So, this week we felt that three Sister missionaries in a companionship wasn't enough. And President Stoker must have agreed, so he gave us a fourth missionary! Haha :)

Sister Reeder just joined us this past week so that she can work in the mission office for a bit, and it has given each of us the opportunity to be an office missionary with her every third day. We really are a foursome companionship since we rotate companions, not just two companions. :)

It is also super fun that Sister Reeder joined us because she is finishing up the “12 week Training” this transfer (this is the training program that missionaries go through during their first two transfers) which means we all get to take turns doing the “12 week Training” again. :) It has seriously been such a party getting to know one another and making use of having an extra companionship by having two schedules each day and accomplishing a lot more than usual.

“The Quad”

**also note how she signed her blog today! :D

We've also decided that since there is four of us, we are a Quad (like the scriptures/standard works) – [I am the Old Testament (since I've been there the longest), Sister Reeder is the New Testament (since she is the newest), Sister Danner is the Book of Mormon (since she confirms truths I share), and Sister Cannell is the Doctrine and Covenants (since she has added extra revelation)].

Something else that was fun was that we had exchanges with our Sister Training Leader, Sister Burton (my old companion!). She came here to replace Sister Danner, but Sister Reeder, Cannell, and I stayed in Bedford. We decided it would be best to make two companionships by having Sister Reeder and I go out together and Sister Burton and Cannell go out together. It was tons of fun, but we made sure we had all of our meals at the same time so that we'd still see everyone in our giant companionship haha :).

Those are the main highlights of the week, and I really look forward to this next week with Zone Conference coming up :).

Sincerely,

The Old Testament

Dinner with the Stokers

This was a really good week with a lot of progression for myself and our investigators.

We had a mostly regular week, but this past weekend we had a baptism for one of the Bedford Elder's investigators. We are so grateful she took all the necessary steps to baptism and that she is excited and happy to be a new member of God's church. It was also a great opportunity for us to bring a couple of our investigators to. It was such a special experience to invite them to the baptism and have them come out of curiosity to what it is like and wanting to understand more about coming closer to God in this way. It was definitely a spirit filled, special experience.

Then, we had church the next day where the Elder's investigator was confirmed in Sacrament meeting and it was again a special experience when everyone could feel a change in the atmosphere as the spirit filled the room, and it just continued to grow as we had our fast and testimony meeting.

I think I also especially loved church this week because we got to have President and Sister Stoker join us. And, after church, they asked if we had a dinner appointment that night, to which we said no, so they invited us over! It was so fun to be at the mission home and having dinner with them after a spirit filled fast Sunday. I especially loved how after dinner we got to take down the Christmas decorations we helped put up after Thanksgiving :).

I also just want to say I love the new year so far and I know that everyone can set goals and follow through with them to become better and help improve everyone's life with those simple things we can change.

Happy New Year!

~Sister Tyler

Christmas Time :D

This past week was absolutely wonderful with another new investigator, Christmas, and awesome service.

For Christmas Eve we got to have a zone meeting where we learned about how to improve on extending commitments and how to best help those we work with in their progression, then we watched It's a Wonderful Life (because it is a tradition of the Stoker's to watch that every Christmas Eve :) ).

Skyping with family :)

Then we got to have dinner with the Relief Society President and her family. It was so much fun getting to know them,. especially her daughters because one is deciding to serve a mission and another is in the communications department at BYU. It was great to start our Christmas off with some families in the ward.

Sisters Danner, Tyler and Cannell

Then, on Christmas day, we got to have brunch with the Bishop and his family and there I met his son who served in the DC South Mission (Spanish speaking) his name is Elder Earnshaw, and he remembers our ward a bit while he served in the Little River ward as well as some people in the McLean Stake (i.e. Alvarez, Ogden, etc.). He also remembers the youth conference dance celebration we were preparing for when he was finishing up his mission. Which is really cool. After all of that, I would have to say my favorite part of the day was Skyping home to my family. I definitely miss my family, and was nervous that Skyping would make me trunky (homesick) but in the end it gave me some extra energy and motivation to continue strong in the work :).

Christmas Eve sleepover

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed discovering the gift that God has given us all. I love Christmas, and will always remember the one Christmas I spent away from home on my mission. I love serving the Lord, and having this time to serve Him during His birth time has made everything so much more special and significant. I know the Lord loves each of us, and because of His willingness to come to earth and sacrifice so much for us, we have the possibility of experiencing joy forever with our loved ones someday.

Supplies to help her "creative" side :)

I hope everyone gets a chance to consider the true meaning of Christmas each year, and also to look at themselves and think about how God would want them to be as we strive to set new goals this upcoming year.

Love, Sister Tyler



 

Opening one Christmas Eve gift

Sister Tyler with her future niece!

Five Sisters Proselyting

This week was definitely a unique one. On Tuesday Sister Danner and I got our new companion, Sister Cannell. She just left Burlington, VT (having replaced me) and was trained by Sister Burton. It is so fun to get to know her while she updates me on people I miss from my first area! haha :)

After getting our new companion, we also got a new investigator! We've stopped by her house a few times now to invite her to learn more, and each time she would say to stop by in about a week. But this time she let us in and we began teaching her. She is such a sweet person and she likes the idea of a loving Heavenly Father, so we hope to continue to build on that idea.

Sisters Danner, Cannell and Tyler

Then, on Friday, there was a big leadership missionary meeting, which meant that we got to have two sisters who are companions with a Sister Training Leader (but a regular sister like ourselves) join us for a few hours. So, Sister Gilles and Sister Danner went together to one members house for service while Sister Cannell, Sister Pankratz, and I went to help another member. While Sister Danner and Sister Gilles were helping the member they were with, Sister Danner passed out (which she has done before in her life, but this is the first time she has fainted on her mission). So, they called us and we immediately drove over to pick them up and get Sister Danner home to rest. I wish I was better at describing the situation, but it turned out to be really funny with all the different events that put it together :). Now, she is doing much better and the five of us had a wonderful day getting to know each other and doing the Lord's work.

BEDFORD DISTRICT

Back: Elders Quinn, Erekson, Hansen, Butters

Middle: Elders Chisholm, Lynn, Porter, Pace

Front: Sisters Harper, Craig, Danner, Cannell, Tyler

Something else that made this week awesome was that we taught Seminary this morning! The Bedford Ward youth who go to Bedford High school have Seminary (youth scripture study class) each morning before school, so we drove over there at 6am and taught a short Christmas lesson :). It was a lot of fun because we got to know the youth a bit more and talk about all the gifts that God and Christ have given us.

Well, I am very excited for Christmas and getting to Facetime home to see my family :) I hope everyone enjoys the special day to celebrate Christ's birth with their families.

Sincerely, Sister Tyler

**Shelli here: Katy quickly wrote this on a Christmas package before she mailed it out--

the same day she learned who was going to be their new companion.

It was such a fun surprise to find out before we normally would have.

Caroling with the Spirit

BEDFORD DISTRICT

Standing: Elders Lund, Harrington, Harper, Erekson, Vaughn, Hannig and Pace

In front (l-r): Sisters Tyler, Danner, Smedley and Craig

This was an amazing week and I can't wait to see what this next transfer has in store :).

After getting our weekly planning done and setting new goals for this upcoming transfer, we got to go and visit a less active sister that we found a couple months ago. She is so sweet and usually she gets nervous when talking about the gospel, but this time we shared with her Alma 32:28 and we showed her a mustard seed and explained how our faith in Christ is just like that seed, and once we nourish it and allow it to grow within us, it will become a huge tree. This is how you develop a testimony after all. Once you're given the seed (the Gospel) you have to nourish it (scripture study, church attendance, and prayer) and allow it to grow (acting on your faith in order to receive a witness of its truth) then it can become a big tree (a strong testimony of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ). It truly is amazing to me how the Lord doesn't expect us to have a tree as soon as we are given a seed. The Lord allows us to take our time and carefully tend to it in order to develop the faith we need to stand strong in the Gospel.

SURVIVED TRANSFERS!

Sister Tyler and Sister Danner get to spend

Christmas together!

We also had a great opportunity this week to go caroling with our ward mission leader, the elders, and our ward missionaries. It was such a spiritual experience because we got to stop by and surprise a bunch of our investigators/less-active members. Everyone we sang to said they were just overjoyed by this surprise and that we made their day so much brighter. It was amazing to have the spirit so strongly with us when all we were doing from the world's perspective is singing songs to people we know. But, I know that we had angels with us and that the spirit was able to testify to the people we sang to that Jesus Christ can be in their lives if they allow him in. I pray that everyone who heard those songs (including the neighbors of those we stopped by) were able to come just a bit closer to Christ through that experience.

The Christmas season truly is a great one :)

Sincerely, Sister Tyler

Santa meets the sister missionaries! ;)