My first week in the Maine trap!

Sister Spangler and I doing

 weekly planning at the church

 (we found some blankets because

 it was soooo colddddd) 

So this is what Maine is like, the Atlantic Ocean on my right, and a small town/village on my left. Haha  It has been so fun getting to know this area after a crazy change of transfer plans! On Monday night we are settling down for bed because we got a call from the assistants earlier in the day that transfer meeting would be postponed until Wednesday because the new missionaries had their flight delayed. So, we weren't stressed about being packed by that night since we had an extra day. But then, at 10pm, our Zone leaders gave us a call and gave us our new travel plans. Apparently we needed to now drop off Sister Daughety with the Manchester Sister at 5:30AM Tuesday morning and be at the church at 5:45AM so we could ride in “Moose” (a big mission-owned van) to our new area! o.O  So, we were a bit sad when we realized we didn't get to say goodbye to everyone we wanted to, but we were all excited to get to our new areas and have an adventurous morning.

That is when I got to Sanford, Maine, and was greeted by my new companion Sister Spangler (who is so amazing)! We are having a great time being Sister Training Leaders together, especially when this is only her second transfer as an STL and she is still learning what we do as STLs :). Besides that the area has been fun getting to know.

A really cool old mill

 (a member lives here)

A cool tracting story from this week is we were just inviting some people to learn when one man opened his door and we invited him to learn, but then he proceeded to explain to us why our church was wrong and his church was right. It was mostly a lot of anti that Satan has gotten him with because he kept saying that he found different sources on the internet that say this and that. We did our best not to get upset or try to correct him because that never works. So, instead we testified our hearts out and explained what we know to be true because we've prayed and found it all out for ourselves. By the end of the conversation we were all friends, he showed us some lyrics to a Christian song he wrote, and we gave him a “Because He Lives” card and he said he'd check it out. The Lord works through love, not anger, I've definitely gained a testimony of that this week.

The work is amazing!

~Sister Tyler

 

My Last Week in the Amazing Area of Bedford!

My collection of photos over time

in my mission (especially Bedford)

I finally got the news that I am being transferred. It is so bittersweet because I'm excited to go new places and experience new things, but I really love the people here. I know I will come back to visit someday :)

With it being my last week, we really had a good and productive time. There were a couple of days we had to take it easy because some of us weren't feeling well, but overall we did a lot.

We started the week with Zone meeting where we got to do a funny skit/role play of how NOT to do steps 10 and 11 in weekly planning (because a lot of missionaries are just brushing over those steps when they are really important: #10: Set goals and make plans to find new investigators. And #11: Plan how to work with the ward council). So, we knew in advance we were doing it and brought some supplies, but we didn't want to plan in advance so it was funnier. We had Sister Duncan and I focusing on the steps just by reading the first line and then saying random things like "maybe we could get five new investigators, I don't know how, but faith will make it work out, right?" and in the background Sister Daughety was jokingly not paying attention by making a paper football and launching it and making a touchdown sign with her arms! =D Everyone was laughing, but when the zone leaders asked (after the skit) if that is sometimes how it actually goes during weekly planning a lot of people said yes. So, with all the fun, we've really learned new ways to better work with members through our own planning and efforts.

Sisters Daughety, Duncan, Tyler

Later in the week we found a new investigator and a potential new investigator family! We were driving to go and contact a potential named Dwayne when I felt like we should quickly stop by and invite a former investigator that lived by where we were driving. So we parked near the house and knocked on the door. No one answered, but as we started to walk away she pulled up in the driveway! We helped her bring some groceries in and she invited us in to talk about some questions she had about the Plan of Salvation. It was truly an amazing experience, and by the time we finished our lesson with her we didn't have time to visit Dwayne, but the feeling we had the night before to visit Dwayne may have just been Heavenly Father guiding us to a certain spot so He could see if we would listen to a spiritual prompting. I am so grateful for experiences like that.

Us with Sister Dubois

We finished our final week with an amazing day at church and visiting some members and our investigators to say goodbye. I am so grateful to have served here and I pray the area continues to progress the way that it has this transfer. There is so much in store for the rest of my mission and such a small amount of time to fit it all in! :) It is going to be a great next few months.

Sincerely, Sister Tyler

We love texting the President here in Bedford haha

(Hope the Boston mission doesn't find this) ;)

A hair cut and a fun companion exchange

A small lighthouse we found

in a river by where we were tracting :)

I feel like the weeks really do go by faster each day. I get worried that this may be my last week in Bedford since transfer calls are on Saturday. But who knows, maybe I'll be surprised again by staying and training. haha But besides that nervousness, it has been a great week.

Thank you Sister Merrell!

I decided earlier in the week to finally get a hair cut, so I chopped off a good amount and I feel like I've lost 3 lbs! haha Really though it is so fun to try something new and get re-energized from something so simple.

After! :)

Then I got to go on another companion exchange in Canterbury with Sister McVey. She is such an amazing missionary and we really got along well. We didn't do much besides tract during our exchange, but we had a lot of time to talk and get to know each other. I think it was fun overall because I hadn't ever tracted in a “boonie” area before--boonie is another way of saying “rural,” or describing a place with a small amount of people (like very small compared to what I'm used to in D.C. haha). Even though it was something new and I had to get out of my comfort zone in treading the muddy, unpaved roads, it was a lot of fun and made me feel like I'd be able to serve in a boonie area someday if I had to (since I've only ever served in cities [Bedford and Burlington])!

Later in the week we also found a new investigator. With the warm weather we were able to go street contacting for a bit and we found a less active member who wasn't on our records. They gave us a vague description of where they lived but because I had been around that part of town a good amount I thought I knew what they were talking about. But, just to be sure, we decided to tract the street the next day to see if we could find their exact address so we could get to know them better and bring their records into the ward. While tracting we met this one man whose name is Jordan. He said he loved to study about religions and would really like to have an "Aha Jesus" moment where he feels like he can give up his addiction to smoking. We told him that we also teach a stop smoking program and shared our testimonies of the Atonement and how we can overcome things through Christ. We hopefully will meet with him again this week and be able to get to know him and his religious beliefs a bit better.

Overall Bedford is amazing and I can't wait for another great week!

Sincerely, Sister Tyler

District Pic in van

(picture thanks to Elder Dahlberg)

Easter Dinner w/President Stoker

(picture thanks to Elder Dahlberg)

Easter is Amazing

Just a few days have gone by since I've been to the temple and it already seems so long ago. It's amazing how you really do have to go often to continue to grow and develop your relationship with God in that way. And really, there are so many countless ways to develop a good relationship with God. The simplest way of gaining that relationship being through regular prayer, which is the first thing that I've strengthened my testimony on recently.

Sunday night I had a bad reaction to some food I had throughout the day. We had a meal appointment for every meal with a lot of food at each one and I did my best to not eat too much since my body can't handle large amounts of food, but there was no way to avoid eating more than I ever have in a 24 hour period. After returning home from our last meal appointment, it was about 8:30 at night and my body started to absolutely hate me :P. I will spare the gross details, but I will say I felt like my stomach acid was burning my insides. I was worried I'd have to have my companions take me to emergency care. But with a personal pleading prayer, help from the mission nurse over the phone, and a blessing from the Elders in my ward, I was able to get through the night and get some rest.

Now I am doing much better and continue to thank God in my prayers for helping me through such a scary and agonizing time. Two lessons were learned from this experience: First, I will never eat that much food ever again, and second, I will always pray and ask the Lord for help before anything else and thank Him immensely afterwards.

Manchester District dyeing Easter eggs

Another great experience from this weekend was getting to watch General Conference. Hearing all the talks from our wonderful church leaders also helped build my relationship with my Heavenly Father. Getting to hear so much about the family and how important it is to protect the family from being destroyed in the world today, I know where I stand as I do my best to help others understand more of the great joy that families bring. I wish everyone could know the happiness that comes when you have a family centered on the gospel of Jesus Christ.

If anyone wants to hear a talk from general conference or understand more about what our Heavenly Father believes about the family, you should check out this link:  April 2015 LDS General Conference

I know that this church is true, and that our prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, is inspired by God to help lead and guide His church.

Sincerely, Sister Tyler

Elder Wadsworth thought it would be funny

to have a golden egg. haha

Boston Temple Trip

Sister Katy Tyler at the Boston Massachusetts LDS Temple

Today I had the amazing opportunity to go to the Boston Temple. Temples truly are a House of the Lord. As soon as I touched the front door I felt an overwhelming sense of peace in my heart and a sense of belonging, like I was home. I have felt similar feelings before, like when I come home from college for a vacation, but nothing will ever match the wonderful feeling when you do the Lord's work, for both the dead and the living.

Sister Duncan and Sister Tyler

I think the most amazing part of the temple is just the peaceful feeling you feel. That peaceful feeling makes it so much easier to open up and talk to God in prayer so that one can completely open their heart and talk with God, not just to Him.

I will keep this short, but I want to share, above all else, that I know this gospel (the Gospel of Jesus Christ) is true. That God loves us as He is our Heavenly Father, and all He will ever ask of us is that we follow Him so He can bless us and someday have us return home to Him.

If anyone ever has a question or confusion in their mind or heart, all you need to do is kneel down, address our Father in Heaven, pour out the desires of your heart, and close it in Christ's name (doing that because it is through Christ we can communicate with our Heavenly Father).

The gospel is true.

Sincerely, Sister Tyler

A wonderful member sent this pic to us on Monday

(normally Sis. Tyler's P-day).

What a tender mercy to still connect that day!