Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Pictures from MTC and Prince Albert

Elder Lyons and Elder Weeks

BIG Banana at MTC

MTC Zone

Elder Zohner (trainer in Prince Albert)

Apartment in Prince Albert
Turns out it's a pain to email pictures! There's a few from the MTC.
Elder Weeks and I. And then some of the whole district with Brother
Boswell and Brother Wright (our teachers, ya know). Elder Zohner. And
our apartment kitchen.
PS. If there to big, you can hold Ctrl and - to shrink them as you view
It's good to hear that everyone had a great time this weekend. I'm
glad the performance went well. The decorations looked pretty fancy.

It's weird to think that outdoor track will be starting soon in Idaho
cause it's still pretty cold and snowy here. It's -12 C today. I was
pretty cold on Saturday when it was -15 C (which I guess is 5 F). But
I might have adjusted or something cause -12 feels great!

Yeah...Saturday was pretty rough. It was really cold and windy. I
think we talked to 4 people...total. And we tracted for a pretty long
time. I guess the whole district has been disappointed because no one
has found any new investigators. Elder Zohner said that PA averages
about 15 lessons a week, and we had 8. So it's been a tough week. But
it's weird cause I'm still happy. Like really happy. I feel like it's
gonna work out, and we're going to find people.

We had an incredible dinner appointment at the Halcro's yesterday.
Except we got lost on the way there. PA is kinda funny. There's the
actual city, and then there's like this wilderness/empty field with
houses every 2 or 3 miles. Yeah...it's the boonies. And a lot of
members live out there. It's like over the river and through the
woods. ha ha I bet there's a bunch of old people, too. Anyways...We
got there 30 minutes late, but they were okay with it. Sister Halcro
brought out potatoes and was like, "yay, Idaho!" I was pretty happy. I
guess she has relatives in Idaho. We talked about mountains for a
while. It's really weird to get used to. Saskatchewan is REALLY flat!
I was pumped when I saw PA had a hill! Flat is boring!

Alright, to answer some questions: yes there are tons of natives in
PA. Actually, about the second day I was here, I even wondered if
white people existed up here. Then we drove by a Taco Time. Ha ha,
found em! And just to let you know, it's impossible to take pictures
of the northern lights. I tried. No I am not cold. Grandma, I have
winter gear that the mission office gave me. However, I might get
better gear soon. LeAnn, what in the world is a violet crumbly? And,
yes Mom I got the greenie package. Thanks so much! It was great! We
made the Lego today!

Well, lately I've been really grateful for the Atonement. Turns out
that's the reason Mormons are happy. We're the only ones with the
priesthood authority, so we're the only ones that can access the
Atonement through baptism and repentance and more covenants. Every one
else just doesn't know that there's more. We can be happy people and
have happy families because of what Christ did for us. Every thing the
church does and the prophet counsels us to do leads us to repent and
use the Atonement. Literally every blessing we have comes from the
Atonement. Just think about it. I guarantee you'll tear up. That
knowledge is what keeps me chugging along. I know Christ has blessed me
and our family, so I know He will bless everyone. And I can help by
telling people the message of His gospel!

Alright, I think that's about all I can remember from the last week.
I'm gonna try and send some pictures. Most are from the MTC. The rest
will be in PA.

Love,
 Elder Christopher Lyons

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Prince Albert

Alright, so I wrote a nice long email and accidently deleted it. Don't
worry. I remember what I wrote.

So, it sounds like Jason's doing well. I don't know if I met his
companion, but I might recognize him if I saw him. (Which is not
really plausible).

These first few days have been crazy. The first day in PA, we ate at a
member's home. Brother McCallum was relentless. He teased me so much!
Mostly for being blonde. Then, we started giving a lesson, and he was
like, "You talk like an American. You sing when you talk." I just
kinda laughed while he said something to his wife in cree. Then, I
shared something else and he said, " you know you're a great guy, but
I don't know if I can trust a blonde." It was pretty funny.

We've actually been fed multiple times. Elder Zohner said  the members
aren't usually like this, so it must be me, haha. The members are
really great, but it's just a tiny ward. But we'll help with that!

I don't know, I have to be honest. Somedays, I don't always feel like
doing missionary work cause it's SO hard! But then I think about all
the blessings I've been given because of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
and those feelings are instantly gone. I want everyone to have the
blessings I have.

One thing I've really noticed this week is the difference you can feel
when you walk into a member's home. It's just that. It feels like
home. I know that is because they have centered their lives on Christ.
Other people don't have that feeling. And I'm so grateful that I've
grown up in a home that ALWAYS felt that way. Christ really can bless
every aspect of our lives if we let him.

We've had some great experiences tracting. All of our appointments
fell through yesterday. All of them. So, Elder Zohner was like, "I
kinda want to tract 4th." So I was like OK. It wasn't our back up
plan, but he knows what he's doing. We tracted through the cold and
snow and were lead to 2 or 3 potential investigators. Yay inspiration!
This is completely the Lord's work!

Oh, so I guess Elder Zohner ran XC at Hillcrest. He's good friends
with the Crofts, as in Tyler Crofts the crazy fast one. I thought that
was pretty interesting. He was stoked that we knew some of the same
peeps.

Alright, sorry if I didn't answer questions. I pretty much got
bombarded. I literally cannot remember all of the questions. I can
share some interesting things about Canada that I've learned. I've
seen lots of good looking candy at stores. I guess that they sell
cadbury eggs all year round. The ones I always got mixed up with robin
eggs. I love those. A member gave "us" some at church. She said "you
guys" can have them. I ate them.....so I might get fluffy. Oh, and I
guess it's a Reese and not a Reese's. And it's a washroom not a
restroom or a bathroom. One of the assistants at the mission office
asked if I needed to use the washroom. My initial response was, "no!
what good will that do? I don't wanna wash anything! I just gotta
pee!" And then I underment what he stood.

Well, I told you how incredible the northern lights are, so I think
that's about it. Meagan, good luck on your solo. I'm sure you'll rock
it. Dad, I'm glad you're not bored any more. And it's good you feel
blessed cause you really are blessed. It's taken some mission
experiences for me to realize how much we've really been blessed. Tell
all those crazy runners good job. I can't believe how crazy fast they
all are. I love you guys. I think I'll actually send this email and
not screw up. It's completely different than the other one, but, hey,
maybe it's better. You'll never know cause you didn't see the other
one. Haha. I love you!

                      Love,
                         Elder Christopher Lyons

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Prince Albert is Crazy!

Alright, this will be a short e-mail cause we're actually at a member's home right now. It's a holiday in Canada. Family day. It sounds nice to me, but I guess that means all the Internet places like libraries are closed.

    Well...I'm alive. The work is tough, but it seems like we're making good progress. Elder Zohner is great! He's almost exactly Jason's age, so that's been really good for me.

PA (Prince Albert) is really far north! Just to let you know how north, we saw the northern lights the other day! They're beautiful by the way!

    We stayed at the mission home the first night, and the president and his wife fed us. They also gave me a coat cause it's pretty cold. It's a warm winter here for Canadians, but it's pretty cold to me.

Alright, I've got to go. I hope everyone has a great week. I'll see if I can write a letter soon.

                                                            Love,
                                                                  Elder Chris Lyons
PS. thanks for all the packages. I got all of them. If you mail me anything make sure you include my first name in the address cause there's another Elder Lyons here.


Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Week Two in the MTC

It's sorta crazy that I've been in the MTC for 2 weeks already. I've gotten used to the food. I don't know what people's problems are with it. Like I said last week, I've had to drink Metamucil. Man, I love that stuff. It saved my life. :)
 
Anyways, we've grown really close as a district. We have a great time goofing off and being dumb, yelling at each other when we're playing volleyball, and all that good stuff. Sister Kunzler gets all sorts of goodies sent to her all the time, but surprisingly I haven't gained any weight. She's very generous by the way.
 
The district that moved in from last week is basically all from Canada. They're awesome. Elder Fox has met Cleighton. I thought that was pretty funny. Oh, Cleighton got his mission call. He's going to Montreal. It's pretty awesome!
 
I can't really remember what was said at the 50th anniversary devotional. I was really tired. It was exciting though. They pretty much talked about early missionaries and stuff. To be honest, everything I learn just kinda runs together. I can't differentiate the sources anymore.
 
Well...I've learned much and had a great time doing it. Thanks family. Keep pressing on, happy anniversary mom and dad, and congrats on the mission call Michael! (BTW sorry if that's not how you spell Michael. Oh and I got my district to say "I like tractors purdy good" ha ha). Have a good one!
 
                                                    Love,
                                                       Elder Lyons

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Wow!

Alright, first of all happy birthday Natalie! I hope you have an awesome day. I hope your party is fun. Yes Rachel I have seen Elder Parry. Pretty much made my whole day! The Polar bear was awesome Rach. And, OK, every one's full of it. I drank SO much OJ and all the stuff I was not even supposed to look at and I was CONSTIPATED. Yeah! I had to drink Metamucil like I was 80 years old or something.
 
Anyways, turns out a mission's really, really hard! Not for the reasons I thought it would be though. It's just hard to teach. I mean we have to teach complete strangers in a way that addresses their concerns and helps them know the gospel will help them. And most the time we're teaching complete strangers. SO hard. It's not enough to just love the people you teach. You have to  feel the the same way for them as Heavenly Father does. Not exactly easy.
 
However, a mission is awesome! When we teach correctly we know it's because we have been blessed with the Spirit. It's so awesome! It's beyond words incredible! Also, hanging with my district is awesome. My companion, Elder Weeks is from Ogden. We basically get along perfectly. We have a lot of fun! Lots of laughing so we don't cry. ha ha...but seriously. The other guys: Elder Wilson, Elder Rader, Elder Smout, and Elder Harpole. Elder Harpole reminds me of Lance Croft, not quite as awesome of course. And Elder Smout reminds of Ryan Castillo. He even kinda looks like him. Elder Wilson is hilarious. Him and Elder Weeks and I are all going to Canada. Elder Smout and Harpole are going to Provo. I've actually ran with Elder Wilson a little. There's one sister in our district going to Canada, Sister Kunzler, and the other's going to San Jose California, Sister Johnson. Don't worry I'll send some pictures if I can. You should be excited cause I took a picture of the biggest banana ever! It was literally like 2 lbs. It was as wide as the DVD remote in our classroom!
 
Oh and Lili if you want to send cookies it's OK, but you don't have to worry about it. Just surprise me. Love you. I'll write you a letter cause I'm about out of time.
 
I think I answered all the questions. Love all of you. Family, XC peoples, friends....whatever. I hope you guys have a great week.
 
Love,
   Elder Christopher Lyons