Transfers

I can't remember if I wrote about transfer calls being last week or not. Anyways, transfer calls came on Thursday evening. Elder French and I will both be staying! We were both surprised and excited. It's the first time that I will stay with a companion and in an area for more than 3 months. It's really nice cause at about 3 months I really start to love an area. And I won't have to leave it this time, ha ha! I can really see the potential of the Weyburn branch. Last week we opened up the overflow! It was really something to see!

 

This week started off really well. We met with Hedley and Brandy and talked about prayer. Both related that they thought that they had received answers to their prayers. We could really see them beginning to be happy. At the start of the lesson they were upset, but at the end they were hopeful.

 

We also met with another family on Thursday, Lorie and Shane. They have 2 kids, Mackenzie and Chase. We've had a difficult time setting appointments with them. So our plan for the lesson was to ask what their expectations were, and really why it was that they wanted to meet with us. It was a fantastic lesson! Shane mentioned that he just wants to gain a belief. He said that he felt happy when we met with them, and he even felt happy for a little while afterwards. But then the feeling went away. He then said, "I guess that's when I should read the book." We were then able to explain the Spirit and why it is that we invite them to read, pray, and come to church. We even talked about baptism as the way for us to keep the happy feelings they have with them always. They want to be baptized, but they just don't want to rush into it. So close. We will be meeting with them tonight.

 

Hedley and Brandy and also Lorie and Shane had all said that they would be at church, but on Saturday they all had something come up and couldn't make it. It was sad, but it's just a hiccup. We were able to meet with Hedley and Brandy yesterday. They had a really rough week. They both have a bunch of questions, so we decided to devote an entire lesson just to answering their questions. Basically we talked the whole time about one question, "why is life so hard?" It's really a question that I would be shocked if they weren't wondering about. I don't feel that we were really able to answer it. And I don't think it's possible for us to answer it. It's a question that we all have to answer ourselves in order for the answer to be both lasting and satisfying. It's just hard to see someone suffering and not be able to tell them exactly why they are suffering. Only God knows. So we encouraged them to read the Book of Mormon together and pray together. I know it will help.

 

Next week is the Calgary temple dedication, so our regular church meetings are cancelled. They're cancelled province wide actually. So that should be interesting. It will be broadcast to Regina, so hopefully we get to go. I think it would be really neat.

 

I don't think that I have anything else other than that we will have a lesson at the Regnier's tonight with an investigating family in McTaggart. The Regnier's are a really strong family, so it should be a powerful lesson. Last lesson was good, so I'm looking forward to it.

 

I don't have anything else. I hope everyone has a great week. Love you all!

 

Love,

Elder C. Lyons

Crazy Insane Miracles

Well, this week is just one of those weeks that makes me wonder how in the world I am still sane! So much has happened. As I mentioned last email, I was a little sick. Well, that little turned to a lot more, until I just couldn't go anymore! On Thursday, we were working, and I just couldn't focus for the life of me. So at lunch I took a nap. I then decided it would be beneficial if I took an extra 30 minutes or so to rest. Four hours later, I woke up. Yeah...It was terrible. I really couldn't function, but after the nap, I started feeling better. So needless to say, there were a few curve balls this week!

 

We did so much this week! We met with Hedley and Brandy on Wednesday night. They said they weren't sure if they wanted to come to church. So we set up a church tour on Saturday, so that they could feel like not everything was new and strange. It went well. We even had some of the Regnier's there to help us teach about some of the aspects of church. We met later that night because they informed us that they wanted to ask us some questions. Basically, Brandy was terribly worried about her daughter Sam. Rightly so because I had never seen the girl sit still! She is just full of energy! We assured her that it would be fine.

 

Sunday morning, Elder French and I were waiting by the door for Hedley and Brandy and their 2 daughters, Kia and Sam. We had been praying that all would go well, and that Sam would be able to be reverent. As we were waiting, Bro Brown walks in and says, "I think you have some friends outside." We walked out, and I see Sam holding hands and skipping with little Sarah Brown! Sarah arrived at the same time as Hedley and company, she saw Kia and Sam, and she just walked up and said, "Hi! My name is Sarah! wanna be friends!" Sarah and Sam sat together and I have never seen the 2 of them more still in reverent! It was a miracle! It really softened up Hedley and Brandy. They had a great experience. When they got home Kia asked, "Can we go to church?" Brandy told her, "yeah, next Sunday." It is just exciting to see how they are progressing despite all opposition.

 

Yes, opposition. So we also had an investigator at church who behaved himself a little unruly. OK, a lot unruly. It was ridiculous. Our gospel principles class was pretty interesting! We had to meet with Hedley and Brandy last evening to do some damage control. But it is no small miracle that all is well! It was just frustrating that it had to happen on their first Sunday when all was just falling into place.

 

Elder French also had a bit of an interesting week. I was sick, he was just in a bad stretch of luck. He has been studying humility. Ha ha...just yesterday, as we were leaving the Regnier's after supper, he kicked a can of paint down the stairs. Hahaha..I'm a terrible companion. Anyways, green paint was everywhere, no one knows why the paint was there, and it's alright cause they're planning on replacing the carpet. Then, we finally get back to our trailer. We finish planning and all we had to do. He sits in his chair, leans back, and takes a deep breath...Crash! His chair breaks through an air vent, and he tumbles backward! Humility has a funny way of sneaking up on you, eh?

 

Well, I think I've done enough damage for one day. I love you all. Good luck at districts! Tear it up! I love you all, my prayers are with you. Have a great week!

 

Love,

Elder C. Lyons

Canadian Thanksgiving!

Wow, so yeah, yesterday or not even yesterday, Monday was Thanksgiving. We weren't sure last week what would be going on, so that's why I couldn't clue you in. But we did travel up to Regina on Sunday night. (I stayed in the Wascana apt. which is still weird to go back to). And then on Monday morning we drove up to Saskatoon. We had a zone wide p-day/ Thanksgiving celebration! We played dodge ball, Indian football, and of course ate a bunch of food. I was done for because we ate a ton at the Regnier's on Sunday. Ha ha, we even had a huge tie trade. I picked up some pretty decent ties. It was a lot of fun. I'll be sending pictures. We drove back to Regina on Monday, and left from Regina on Tuesday morning to go to district meeting in Moose Jaw. Yeah, I'm exhausted! And I've caught a cold, so the rest of the week should be interesting. By the way it's really weird to have Thanksgiving before Halloween. But it is much colder up here. We actually woke up to a little snow on Tuesday and today.

 

I did get the package last Tuesday. Thank you so much. It's so great!  The assistants and zone leaders came and picked us up and took us to district meeting. Then we came back to Weyburn to blitz the area. We found a really neat family that are friends with the Regnier's. Laura lee and  her son Cory. She really wanted to watch conference, but she was out of town for the weekend. We had a great lesson with them. Curtis Regnier was really great at sharing his testimony. He's invited Cory to several activities and is no doubt a huge part of the reason that they've begun investigating.

 

We also had an incredible lesson with James and Becky on Thursday. James is amazing! He's read everything from the Introduction to 1 Nephi 4. He and his family would have been at conference, but he got called into work and was basically there all weekend out of cell service. So he missed all of our reminder calls and didn't get our messages. Oh well. But anyways, that was an amazing lesson. I have never felt the spirit so strongly during a first vision recite than during that lesson! It was just incredible. We met with James last night, Becky was gone. He really likes the Book of Mormon and is now committed to pray about it. We helped him resolve his concerns, and he would be at church. But they are going to be in Saskatoon for a wedding. Curse being busy!

 

We also finally met with Hedly and his wife Brandy. They're both troopers. They've been through so much. For that reason, they have some doubts. It will most likely be a slow, steady effort with them. But they definitely trust us. They are actually worried that we are going to leave. Ha ha...I guess that's happened to them before. They really started to like some missionaries, then they got transferred and the new elders were not very nice. We told them to get baptized before we left, just to make sure it would work out. No..ha ha...we reassured them that we would make sure that whoever came to visit them would be kind and would have nothing but their best interest at heart. I really love their family, and can't wait to see them truly feel God's love.

 

The next big thing that happened was that Greg came to conference. He bought us pizza after the Saturday session. He's really great. He's a recent convert that went less active. He just randomly called us on Monday (last Monday). He's now meeting with us and wants to pass and bless the sacrament. He is huge! Just a big teddy bear, though. It's great to see how much happier he is. I saw him for about 30 seconds last transfer. He didn't want anything at all to do with us, and he just looked mean! But he's a happy guy now. He calls us every day.

 

Ha ha..we helped Bro Regnier tear down his deck. It was ridiculous. It was really rotted. It was vinyl on top of wood. At one point, we were taking all the screws out of the vinyl boards, so we could take them off. I missed one screw, so I went back to get it. It was one of the last 3 boards, and Elder French was standing on them about to take them off. I told him he wouldnt' be able to cause I forgot a screw. He just said, "what are you talking about?" All snotty like. Then, there was this cracking sound, all of a sudden the deck was collapsing. He had to abandon ship before she sank. It was so funny! Ha, that's what you get! Good times!

 

How about the missionary announcement?! I wish it was in effect before I came out. Then I wouldn't be coming back to BYU to face the terrible grades I left behind. Yikes! I think it's great for the sisters too. Just a little different. That's the age I came out at! I think there will be a big flood of sisters though. Which is definitely a good thing. Sisters are just good missionaries.

 

Well conference was great. I'm excited to get back to work. And hopefully the basement situation gets worked out. That's no fun. I love you all, and I hope you have a great week.

 

Love,

Elder C. Lyons

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What the?

So first off it feels like I just barely emailed, but at the same time a ton has happened. So don't worry I won't be sending a one liner.

 

Well, the last few days have been eventful. Like I emailed last week, we've been doing a bunch of traveling. My eyes have really been opened to how much the branch is actually spread out! Some members have to drive over an hour just to get to church. It's crazy! That has really been the major challenge in coordinating not only missionary work but just about anything really. However, we have discussed some great ideas for how we can unite the branch. I'm excited! It's going to be great. So on the topic of visiting members, we were able to visit a few families this week. One that was fun to get to know was the Lim's and the Kim's. They are from Korea. Sister Kim is staying with the Lim's, and I believe she is waiting for her husband to come. (Not really sure on that one. Communication is a bit spotty at times.) Anyways, we had authentic Korean food! It is fantastic! I tried eating with chopsticks, but I got embarrassed. Plus it couldn't get the job done quick enough. They are just a great family. They all came out to see us off when we left. It was hilarious, I waved and said, "bye!" They were all in a perfect line, and they all waved and said, "bye!" at the same time. It was priceless. I wish I could have taken a picture. Let's see, we also visited the Brown's this week. They are a young family that live in Kisbey (about an hour from Weyburn). Their kids are great. Their oldest is in kindergarten. Her name is Sarah, and she told us a story at dinner about a time she ate a WHOLE box of oreos even though they had just bought them. She told us that when she had to go to the bathroom, she barfed all over herself! It was not possible for me to hold back a laugh on that one. I think it was mostly the presentation that made that one. Good times.

 

That paragraph is huge, so I will start a new one. I've really been able to realize how great this branch is this week. There are just some stellar families here. I've loved being able to get to know them all a little bit better. We also were able to do some service when we visited the Tiefenbach's. We helped them build and put up some walls for their shed. I really couldn't have realized how much I would learn about manual labor on my mission. I'm pretty sure the branch has conspired to learn me a little from the time they found out I was a city boy. At least it feels that way. Just because I had no idea what on earth a sump pump was. I'm pretty sure that Brother Regnier has some more projects for us, too. We'll see what I learn this time.

 

Well, now that I've taken you down that side road, let's talk about investigators. Okay, we did have some more lessons fall through. But we did reschedule with many of them. So it will work out. I think I wrote about how we were able to finally have a meeting with Laurie and Shane. They're still a little hard to get a hold of, but at least we've started meeting with them again. And we did see their daughter at the salvation army food drive on Saturday. That was fun by the way. A lot like the one in Pocatello, but on a much smaller scale of course. Let's see...other than that we will be making some phone calls to set up lessons.

 

So, ha, we actually had to move trailers this weekend. We actually had a scare there for 2 weeks that we weren't going to be able to stay in Weyburn. But we got the trailer that were in now, which is still sort of a temporary thing. I don't really know what exactly is going to happen. That's why I haven't written about housing. But maybe that explains why I have sounded a little stressed lately! But, all is well.

 

Sunday we taught the joint relief society, priesthood meeting. We taught about missionary work. It was really good. We're trying to help the members broaden their horizons a little and increase their vision of missionary work in Weyburn. We spent a substantial amount of time preparing the lesson, and I think that it payed off. Hopefully, anyways.

 

Let's see, last but not least, we saw the northern lights yesterday! We were traveling back from Kisbey, and I spotted them! It was actually Elder French's first time seeing them. It's weird, they sorta start out looking like a cloud or something. Then they get more and more defined until they're spread all the way across the sky. It's amazing!

 

Well, that's all I got. I sure love you all! Have a great week!

 

Love,

Elder C. Lyons