Fighting Death!

So this week has been quite the mess. I was sick earlier last week with some sort of flu type thing. I finally caved when I was on exchanges and bought some....flu medicine. Let's just say that I was stretching during exercises; and well, my legs were still pretty tight, but my stool was loose. Ha ha....bad joke. I'm tired. Well, long story short, I got over it fairly quickly, but now I'm sick..again...with a cold. And Elder Kuhre's sick, too. I don't know what my immune system's doing, but it's probably nothing.

 

Despite being sick this week was pretty good. Exchanges were incredible! I was with a young missionary. He's been out 3 weeks, but it's like he's been out 3 years. He is on fire! It was so amazing. My plans for the day were terrible. Everything was falling through, but nothing got him down! He just kept it up, so....I fought through my sickness. And turns out we had a fairly productive day. It was great. Elder Simister is going to be a leader for sure.

 

Anyhow, this week got ahead of us quickly, and before we knew it, zone conference was the next day. So we had to plan for 2 portions to present. We were giving a much larger portion of the training than I ever remember any zone leaders giving. And to top it off we had in attendance: Pres and Sis Thomas, the assistants, and the stake president, Pres Robertson....no pressure. But for our first zone conference, I feel it went OK. It was really great to have interviews as well. I love Pres Thomas so much! He made a pretty funny joke during interviews. He said, "we are paying $57,000 for apartments per month in the mission right now. We are not even close to returning that in tithing funds received from the converts we baptize! It's down right embarrassing when you think about it!" He then went on to explain that clearly for our Heavenly Father hastening the work is for much more than convert baptisms. He wants us as missionaries to experience deeper conversions and become life long, devoted members. That really helped me a lot. Sometimes I don't feel like I'm having the success that I should be. But now, I can realize that this work is meant to help me, not to make me feel worse! I just love Pres and Sis Thomas. I had a good talk with Sis Thomas before my interview as well. Actually, when Pres Thomas came to get me he said, "Sis Thomas probably already interviewed you." She just smiled, "I did!" She's so great :)

 

As far as the work goes, it's starting to pick up. It was in a bit of a slump....and it still sorta is, but we're working on it! We've started working with a less-active member named Larry. He's a great guy. He's got a few challenges, but he's got a heart of gold. We'll be working with him to help him come back. Other than that, we just have a few potentials. We're really just want to find a family. Families are the best. Well....that's about it for this week. I love you all! Enjoy your vacation!

 

Love, Elder Lyons