Transfer Calls!

So first things first, we got transfer calls on Friday, and they're kicking me out already! I was so mad. The assistants called us, and when they gave me mine they told me that they needed my leadership. It's sad to hear that the mission is so desperate. I will be a zone leader in Saskatoon. But I will be companions with one of my former district leaders who I really love. I will be in the Wanuskewan Ward. It's the same ward as Kevin Willoughby I believe. So that will be pretty neat. It's a bitter sweet transfer call....mostly bitter. It's been sad saying some of the goodbyes. I said goodbye to the Palmer kids yesterday. I was about to cry.

 

Anyways, this week was really great. The Cypress hills are beautiful! It was so fun going out there last week. The Iwaasa's are the best. Turns out that Bro Iwaasa served his mission with Anthony Esplin's dad. Small world. Bro Iwaasa might be emailing you did get their info because they'll be heading south in a bit.

 

We had a pretty busy week. We got invited to eat supper with a less active member and her husband. Marvan and Craig are so funny. She's actually from Blackfoot. So we get along really well. I think we've had about 30 minute conversations about potatoes. It's the best. It was so great eating supper there. We had a very spiritual message with Marvan. She's a great lady.

 

We had exchanges with the zone leaders this week. It was so fun. I was with Elder Wilson. He is in my MTC group. It was great to be able to work together. We've been waiting for a while for that experience. He's a funny guy. We were laughing quite a bit. They had us do a teaching evaluation. It was an eye opener. I've got a ton more things to work on than I had thought. We've been working on teaching simply and focusing more on people as a result of that evaluation. It was very helpful.

 

On Saturday, we got to volunteer at one of Swift Current's biggest events. It was the summer wind scape kite festival. It was an amazing opportunity. There was a junk load of people. We were actually the greeters....well I was actually directing traffic, but Elder Shepherd got to talk with almost everyone that came to the thing. It was pretty fun. Tons of people were thanking us for volunteering and what not. Good experience....too bad they're kicking me out.

 

That's about all that I've got for now. I will send my SD card home next week when I get settled into Saskatoon. I've taken a ton of pictures here, but have never been allowed to send them with an email. I hope you enjoy them! Love ya!

 

Love,

Elder C. Lyons

6/17/13 Whoops! I blinked!

So this week was another quick one. We had some great experiences though. We've been working very hard to make sure that we are doing our best. We've learned a ton in the last month. It's been incredible. Pres Thomas came to breakfast with us last week, and he asked us if we thought we could split Swift. We said that we could. He called us Wednesday and asked us how we wanted to make the new boundaries. Yeah...that was crazy. So there's going to be 2 more missionaries here in the middle of nowhere. So we've been pretty stressed.

 

We went to Moose Jaw again this week. District meeting was good. It's interesting because all of the elders in our district are in almost the exact situation I was in a year ago. The challenges and trials they are going through are the same trials and challenges that I had. It makes it quite easy to relate to them. I just hope that I'm helping them. It was actually during exchanges while we got the call from Pres Thomas.

 

We had an investigator at church yesterday! Betty came to hear me speak...whatever gets her there. It was good. I think that she had a positive experience.

 

This week I got to know a member family a little better. The Iwaasa's have two boys. One on a mission and one at home. They are so great. They made us a seafood feast, and yesterday we had a ham. It was so good! They're going to be taking us somewhere today for a p day activity. It's called Cyprus hills. I'm not sure what it's all about. But I'll take my camera :)

 

That's all I've got for this week. I love you all!

 

Love,

Elder C. Lyons

 

ps. Mom, I got your letter. Thanks!

Running on Empty!

This week I have been the most tired I have probably been in my entire life! We did quite a bit of traveling this week. We went in to Regina to go to the temple as a zone and to have a zone meeting. So what happened was this: we drove in Tuesday evening to Regina (about a 2 1/2 hour drive). We woke up at 4 Wednesday morning and went to the 6 am temple session. We had a 3 hour meeting. Then we drove back. That was most likely the worst drive I have ever done in my life! Driving by braille is not fun!

 

The rest of the week was pretty interesting because we were so tired. But it was a good one none the less. On Tuesday, we went to stop by a former investigator, and well, a pretty common occurrence, the guy had moved. But we talked with the young guy who answered the door, and we set an appointment to come teach him on Thursday. It was a really great lesson. Hayden is just searching for a relationship with God. He was so excited to learn how to pray. It was so great...even though we were sleep teaching. Unfortunately he has a bit of opposition in his family. Hopefully he can come out on top.

 

I made chocolate chip cookies last Monday, and we gave them to a few people. We gave them to our investigator, Betty, and she really liked it. Then we gave them to a family in the branch to thank them for inviting a nonmember into their home to be taught. They have 3 little girls, and they were just going nuts when they saw the cookies. It was so funny Sister Steed just looked at them and said, "it's okay to get excited, but don't get crazy." I think that's some good advice for 3 other little girls I know :)

 

This weekend was pretty good. We ate supper at the branch president's home again. It was so good. The Palmer's are just so funny. Elder Shepherd and I have ties that look like Slytherin and Griffindor colors. Clearly I'm Malfoy, but we didn't know who Elder Shepherd was. Apparently they watched Harry Potter, and they say he's Sheamus (no idea how to spell that). It's so funny. We're recruiting members to be on our teams. One of the Palmer boys, Diego, is on Griffindor, and he wore his Griffindor tie to church. It was so funny. We wore our ties to a branch breakfast on Saturday. So funny.

 

Other than that it's been a pretty slow week. Investigators have been sick/busy. But this week should be great! Love you all! Have a great week!

 

Love,

Elder C. Lyons

June, so soon?

This week has just flown by! I can't believe that it's already June! I just love it here in Swift so much! It's been an amazing past few weeks.

 

Last Monday, I decided to show Elder Shepherd what deep fried mars bars were like. So I made some. They were so good :) The thing is, we ate them about an hour and a half before we were going to eat supper at a member's home....yeah, we weren't hungry for supper. But they had a BBQ, and so we ate so much! I thought I was going to explode! Elder Shepherd and I were hysterical. He was like, "if that's not a sin it should be....I just want to die." It just reminded me of Wascana ward, so I was OK. Ha ha, just makes me think that I should work on my foresight a bit.

 

We had some really good teaching appointments this week. It's been really fun. Elder Shepherd tells me we're finding and teaching more than he ever has here in Swift. So it's good to know the area's doing well. We just want to keep it up. So this week we taught a few first lessons, but just didn't set any return appointments....yet. We are close to finding some new investigators, so we should find quite a bit this week. We also taught a lady who Elder Shepherd taught before I came. Her name is Betty. It was one of the best lessons of my entire mission! I didn't really get to teach much. I felt like I wanted to talk several times throughout the lesson, but it was hard to know when I could insert my comments because I didn't know her well enough. At one point in the lesson, she expressed that she has a hard time feeling like her prayers are answered. She asked me to say the closing prayer, so I did. At the end of the prayer, I looked up and she was crying. Apparently I prayed for help for things she needed that her husband doesn't even know about. I thought it was just a normal prayer, but it was a huge testimony builder to me that Heavenly Father knows us and that we are His hands in this work. I know she felt the Spirit, and it was amazing!

 

Yesterday, we taught a Korean lady in a member's home. Sister Steed invited her to English Class, to church, and to learn more from us. It was really great! There was a language barrier, but it was neat because she asked how she could feel close to God every day. The Spirit was there, but it was definitely one of the more challenging lessons I've taught. The Steed's are really great. They have 3 of the cutest little girls in the world! It was great to be in their home!

 

That's about all that I've got for this week. I love you all! Have a great week!

 

Love,

Elder C. Lyons