8/19/13 Hittin' the Pavement!

This week we have worked so hard. It's been so much fun! We've really seen our hard work pay off this week with many successes....so the order of this email will not make sense, but I'm going to relate some of the great things going on in Regina.

First off, we had a great week for lessons with our investigators. We were able to teach a young man named Yanshao Tan. He is from China (bet ya couldn't guess), and he's the best. His Canadian name is Jack. So with Jack, we're really trying to help him recognize the Spirit. Faith and the godhead are completely new to him, so we are really trying to help him have experiences that will build his faith. He has a strong desire, and he came to church yesterday. He loves church, so he's on the right path!

We were also able to help Kim and her son Cruz come to church this week. They are in the same boat as Jack in a lot of ways. We are really working with them to help them have spiritual experiences. A few doors up from them is a part member family we are working with, Nicole and James and their kids, Felicity and Lexa. They are a great family! We helped mow their lawn this week. I say we, but it was mostly Elder Wilson and Brother Hammon. We got bombarded with phone calls, so I was on the phone just about the entire time.....yeah, I hated it. It's literally insane how many phone calls we get. We actually have to turn our phone off sometimes just so we can breathe! Don't tell anyone, though. Anyways, we had a short lesson with Nicole and James, and they're already committed to come to church Sunday. Nicole is not a member, but she wants structure in her life so badly. And James is a member, so he knows that the structure is in the gospel and the church. Ta da! So they are both in it together.

And last but not least, we met with a man named Darcy. He is best friends with a returning less-active member named Reo. She and her brother Cody are excellent help for Darcy. He was the one that contacted the missionaries. He actually just sent a text and told us that he wanted to be baptized. He's had difficulty meeting in the past because he lives out of town, but he's committed to meeting now. And he's preparing to be baptized! So we're excited about that.

Let's see...we've also had some amazing service opportunities. One was actually at the temple. We had a meeting with the temple presidency, and we discussed how we can make the temple grounds more available to the public. So we are working on inviting others to come to the temple grounds and feel the Spirit that is there. We are even helping with the gardening to make the grounds neat and orderly. We are inviting investigators and less-active members to serve with us as well. So it's going to be an excellent opportunity for us. Another opportunity we have done this week is something called fruit for thought. It's a group that receives permission from fruit tree owners throughout the city to pick all the fruit they do not use. Then, they donate it in some form (preserves, baked goods, etc.) to those in need. Pretty good idea. The first day we went, it was really good. We were able to talk with a ton of people, and they were kind and asked us questions. Now it's mostly women that come, so we might be turning this one over to the sisters. It was good while it lasted, ha ha. We'll see how much we can still stay involved.

And now.....I'm pulling a huge blank. There's a lot going on here, and it's an exciting time to be serving. I love you all, and thank you for you love and support. Have a great week. I love you!

Love,

Elder C. Lyons