Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Things Are Happening


So the library was closed on Monday, and we were traveling to Moose Jaw yesterday for district meeting. That's why I didn't have time to email until today.
 
Zone conference was amazing. Elder Zwick really just told it how it was! I think I may be missing some eyebrows because of the heat! It was crazy. He apologized several times because he said he is "passionate" about missionary work. Specifically working with members. We really focused on Ward Mission Plans. It hit me hard because our branch really doesn't have a plan. So for the past week or so we have been meeting with the branch president, the branch mission leader, and all the families in the branch to discuss a revision of the plan. It has been a lot of work! But suddenly now, we have all sorts of investigators to work with. It's really amazing that as soon as we made a greater effort to work with the branch, we've been blessed with several people to teach. We will be teaching combined Relief Society, Priesthood tomorrow, so hopefully we can present and brainstorm some great ideas.
 
Speaking of people to teach, we had a pretty great lesson with a family that I had never met with. They have either missed appointments or have been unavailable for about the past 2 months. But we finally got to meet with them. And it was incredible to see how willing they were to learn. Shane, the father seems a little hesitant, but his wife Laurie and his daughter Mackenzie are both very excited to pray and read. Mackenzie is only 12, but she had been reading and praying even when we were unable to meet. We're really excited to meet with them on Friday and continue to see their family progress.
 
Also, on last Wednesday we met with a couple we tracted into named Becky and James. They were really open and something that stood out to me was their love for their kids. They really want their kids to have positive lives through a belief in God. We taught and testified about the Book of Mormon, and they committed to read. We invited Becky to say the closing prayer, and in her prayer, she thanked Heavenly Father for the Book of Mormon. Needless to say, we are excited to teach them tomorrow.
 
We've set up several other potential appointments which has been really incredible for me to be a part of. A week ago, we were unable to find anyone who was interested, and even the investigators we had been working with were difficult to set appointments with. But I know that we have been blessed because we are working the way the Lord intends us to, with the members. I am convinced that we must work together in order for the Lord's work to progress. I know that there are great things in store for Weyburn!
 
Another incredible thing happened on Saturday. We tracted into a Filipino man who invited us in. We taught a little about the Book of Mormon and prophets. He is really interested in learning more because his brother joined the church in the Philippines. He said he wants to talk to him about it before we meet again, so he can have more questions to ask. He also invited his housemate to come and talk with us. We look forward to meeting with both of them again. 
 
So clearly there has been plenty of things happening to keep us busy. We should be very busy again this week, and I'm really praying that we can inspire ourselves and the members to work together. I hope that all of you have a great week. Good luck in all that's going on! Love you!
 
Love,
Elder C. Lyons
 
 

Monday, September 17, 2012

Zone Conference


So I don't have too much time because we will be leaving this afternoon for Saskatoon. But let's see if I can't remember all that has happened this week. At the start of this week, I was just exhausted. I think I may have been sick. When we were eating lunch and dinner, I wasn't even hungry (which is probably a good sign that I was sick.) All I wanted to do was sleep. But I go over it by the end of the week.
 
On Tuesday we actually got to go to this tiny place called Radville. Bro Regnier owns a house out there, and we were helping him dig some holes for like a pump or something. I guess it's to prevent flooding. I had never heard of it before. So for that reason, I was teased a little. I heard, "you're a greenie at this" a couple of times. But whatever I'm used to teasing. Elder French is way into landscaping so basically he's a mole. That just made me look like a fool in comparison, but I figured it out. It was fun to be able to give some service. We've been doing a bunch of service lately. We actually painted a less-active member's ceiling as well. That was pretty fun. He was a little shut off to us before, but he's really opened up and wants to meet with us. Funny how service does that to people. Anyways, his name is Dave. Not to be confused with the other Dave who came to church last week. Yeah...I'm starting to get them straight now that I've met them both.
 
Let's see....yesterday was pretty great. We went to Regina for stake conference. I saw a lot of familiar faces. Lots of friendly people. We actually drove up with a member named Spencer. I think I wrote about him. Anyways, he's so funny. I guess Elder French was zoning out pretty hard, so Spencer was teasing him about it. He asked us on the way back what we thought about when we had nothing else to think about. He just smiled and said to Elder French, "I know what you were thinking about today!" He then proceeded to act like a monkey banging cymbals together. I lost it. It was so great.
 
Yesterday, we also stopped by Hedly....no actually that was Saturday. So back track a little bit. Anyways, Hedly was working away on his house. That man never stops, but we talked with his wife for a while. We hadn't been able to get a hold of them. But when we were talking with Hedly he said that things are a whole lot happier. I just couldn't stop smiling after that. And he was willing to meet with us right then. He would have dropped everything, but we had an appointment we had to get to. But we will be meeting with them on Thursday.
 
I'm sure there's a bunch more that I could write about, but I forget everything as soon as I start typing. So, I'm saying I'm gonna wrap this up. I should know if I got the package soon, so I'll let you know next Monday. That sentence doesn't make any sense, but it doesn't matter because I love you all. I hope you have a great week.
 
Love,
Elder C. Lyons
PS. Good luck on Tuesday, Rachel! And tear it up at Bob Firman ya crazy (AKA Meagan)!

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Transfers


So I should probably get all of the big news over with first. I will be staying in Weyburn this transfer. Elder French will actually be staying, too. We both kind of figured that he would get transferred because he has been in Weyburn for a while. As far as I know most areas are staying close to the same. We're out in the middle of no where so we don't hear much. It was sort of a different transfer call because it was one of the assistants that called us. That was the first time that President hasn't been the one to call. But it will be nice to not have to adjust to any changes. We'll just be able to keep on working.
 
This week I've really just felt exhausted, so it has been sort of a blur. We've had a lot of lessons fall through, which makes me feel a little down. That probably goes without saying, but we've been working hard and keeping positive. A couple of really great things happened this week. We had planned to meet with Hedly on Thursday evening, but when we got there he was working on a house a couple houses down from where he lived. So, instead we just walked up and said, "we're here to help." His wife said that she wasn't going to let us help in our nice clothes. But we had planned to help out a less active member that morning, so we had our service clothes in the car. We were disappointed when that fell through in the morning, but we still had our clothes in the car. So we went and changed and helped him out. When we were working his wife asked, "did you really just come to help." We said that we came to help, but this wasn't necessarily the way we thought we would help out. Elder French said he was talking with Hedly, and he had been working on this job since 9:00 am. He was only halfway done. We helped him pretty much finish in about an hour and a half. Elder French when he was talking with Hedly mentioned that this wasn't the way we thought we would help him out, but we were glad that we could help. Hedly said that he thought it helped out both ways. Yeah, we're excited to meet with him in the future.
 
Another great thing that happened this week happened yesterday. A less active member we've been meeting with came to church. He came late, but he was there! It was...I don't want to say surprising, but I really don't have another word. He's been twice in the last 40 years. He's a really great guy, but he just has some concerns about church that we just don't fully understand. We're going to keep working with Dave, and hopefully we can help him understand the importance of coming to church.
 
Yesterday, we also had 2 meal appointments in one day. That hasn't happened since last transfer in Wascana. It was funny, we ate dinner at Bart and Missy's house. Missy's actually from Idaho Falls They live in the trailer park with us. They actually own the park. They live in the nicest trailer I've ever seen! Anyways, a couple of weeks ago a ward member told Elder French, myself, and Missy that it didn't matter where potatoes came from. We had a pretty good laugh about that. Bart thought it was funny she said that to 2 people from Idaho. Afterwards, we had another skype meeting thing. That's why we were there actually. It went OK. It's a little difficult over skype, but basically the mission is going to work on our studies and finding.
 
That's pretty much all that I've got for this week. I love you all and hope that you have a fantastic week!
 
Love,
Elder C. Lyons 
 
 

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

9/4 It's Not Back To School For Me!!


So it's crazy that it's already time for school again. Summers are really short here! They're only about 2 months. It seems like they just got off of school, now they're heading back. Poor kids. So count you blessings. I've also discovered that it usually snows and starts sticking before Halloween....yeah.
 
This week went by crazy fast. I'm really trying to think about what was this week and what wasn't. If that makes any sense at all. It's all a blur. At the start of this week, we went to Moose Jaw for district meeting. It was really great. First and only time this transfer that our whole district will be together for district meeting. Yeah, middle of nowhere district! We went on exchanges afterwards, and I ate a deep fried banana at lunch...my arteries are changed forever. I was with our district leader Elder Kuhre while on exchanges. He's only been out a transfer more than me. He came out with Elder Call, so it was a ton of fun! I really learned a lot.
 
On the way back into Weyburn, we traded ties with Nathan in McTaggart. He's moving to Saskatoon for university. It was great. Nathan is a super strong member and an even better missionary. It's been fun spending time with him.
 
On Thursday, we met with a man named Hedly. He has really been through the ringer! He's really had a tough time. He's even met with missionaries before, but he decided to meet with us again cause he just wants answers. We'll be meeting with him again soon, so it's going to be great seeing the hope start to come into his and his family's lives. 
 
On Sunday, there was a move-in into our branch. As you can imagine, that is a very exciting occurrence! His name is Spencer, and he is an RM. He served in Colorado, and even served close to the Hansen's. He is actually only up because it is his off track at BYU-I. He will be working to save up some money He's a super funny guy, and he actually spent most of the day with us on Sunday. He did mostly less-active work on his mission, so he was helping us contact some members. It was fun being able to talk about Idaho with someone. Ha ha...he asked me what the name of the city just outside of Pocatello was.."you know the one that starts with a 'C'?" I couldn't remember! Then it hit me...Chubbuck! Elder French just started laughing. "How'd you forget a name like that?" It was fun.
 
In other news, we found George.. sort of. He dropped off the face of the earth for a while. Turns out he moved out of the home he was at, so it makes sense that he was never home. But we tried calling his new number, and we haven't gotten a hold of him yet. But soon he will be completely found!...again.
 
This week looks pretty good. Except that transfer calls are this week. Hopefully there won't be any crazy changes. I really like Weyburn.
 
Well, I sure love you all and appreciate all that you do for me! I sent off some letters yesterday. It should be about a week and a half. If it comes sooner let me know... cause I put this airmail sticker on it. Apparently that makes it go faster...we'll see. Get well soon, and have a great week!
 
Love,
Elder C. Lyons