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)!

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 

 

 

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

Crazy Tired!

This week has been pretty draining. We traveled in to Regina on Tuesday and had meetings most of the day on Wednesday. 2 things that just exhaust me. But it was a good time. I got to see Brother and Sister T and Pres Walton from the Wascana ward. I also got to stay the night Tues at the old apartment! Elder Call is still serving in Wascana, so we had a good time laughing about our past transfers together.

 

The meeting with Pres and Sis Thomas was great. They're really excellent people. I can just tell they care so much about us. Anyways, like I said it was a great day. And to top it off, we had a great meeting with George in the evening. We met at the church, and we talked a bit about the Atonement. George has had a rough life, so he really just needs comfort. It was an amazing lesson as we were able to use the Book of Mormon to teach about the power of the Atonement. A member family, the Regnier's were also with us. They did a great job helping George see how the gospel can bless his life. He now has a baptismal date for October, and we are meeting with him again tonight. 

 

This week we found out that Matt and Mona are moving again. They'll be moving to Saskatoon. But they stopped by in Weyburn before they left. We met up and were able to say goodbye. I guess Matt found a better job, so they decided to move to where there's more people. Lampman's pretty small. It was weird to say goodbye for the second time.

 

Saskatchewan Sunset

Leaving Regina

Saskatchewan Prairie ( Looks Like Idaho)

Matt and Mona

Mancakes! yum

I've been asked a few questions about the branch here. The branch is amazing! They love the missionaries! The owner of our trailer park is a member. His name is Bart. He and his wife Missy give us food all the time. Super nice. The Regnier's live out of town in McTaggart. Their sons Nathan and Curtis play sports with us on Mondays. They have us over for dinner a bunch. They're crazy about missionary work. They'll help us with anything! It's just amazing. Most of the members live out of town. But they're all super great. It's a really strong branch. 

 

I have to say, I'm pulling a huge blank right now. I don't really have too much more to write. Sorry, I'll make up for it next week. Anyways, I sure love you all! Have a great week :)

 

Love,

Elder C. Lyons

August 20th 3rd Sunday in Weyburn

I can't believe that yesterday was my 3rd Sunday in Weyburn. This week flew by. And I'm pretty sure this week will go even faster. We have specialized training in Regina (which is like an informal zone conference with a lot of practice). And we also have a pretty good amount of lessons set up for next week.

 

So let's start with yesterday. We didn't see Matt and Mona at church cause they couldn't get gas until today. It's about an hour and half drive from Lampman to Weyburn... Yeah, and they're in our area. Anyways, long story short they couldn't make it,and we couldn't make it out to them. But we did have potluck after church cause we had some high council people and the stake president from Regina at our meeting. There was some great food.

 

After church we started tracting on the hill by the church. We met this man named George. He is an older man who has lost his wife, brother, and parents to cancer. Clearly, he has had a rough life. We testified of Christ and the Book of Mormon. We will be meeting with him at the church on Wednesday (it was a little noisy at his home cause his grand kid and family were running around). Very great man. At one point he asked, "so what do I gotta do? I ain't moving to Utah."

 

Then, let's see...Saturday was pretty neat. We were knocking on this door, and we were turning to leave when they pulled up in their big truck. I pretty much hate when that happens cause it can get super awkward. But Elder French played it off well. They opened the doors to get out, and he said, "looks like we've got great timing, caught you right on your way home." The guy laughed and opened right up. But...he wasn't interested. Then, all of sudden this guy with a killer accent just says, "what is the Book of Mormon. I've never heard of it before. I'm from South Africa. I'd like to hear more about it." Apparently, he was sleeping in the back seat when they pulled up. We talked to him for about 10 minutes, and he was just totally prepared. He just kept saying, "I believe it, I believe it." He even said, "I knew there was a reason I needed to talk to you." Unfortunately, he lives in Regina. But we look forward to hearing about him. We gave him the YSA elders info. He actually lives near where the YSA ward meets.

 

Pretty much the rest of the week has been a lot of walking. We've been really low on K's. And it was a little interesting because I caught a bit of the flu on Thursday and Friday. So I didn't eat much. And it was pretty hot, so I was a little out of it. But we found some great potential investigators. This one had a little 2 or 3 year old boy. He answered the door and all he said was, "wanna see my yo-yo?" Almost before we could answer he tore off in search of the thing. When he left, we could see the yo-yo sitting right next to where he was standing. He came truckin' back, picked up the yo-yo, and played it off like he had just found it in some far away place. He continued to show us all of his stuff while we were talking with his mom. Then he asked, "you wanna see my squirt guns?" "Sure, buddy!" He just looks at us with no emotion, "I don't got any." Funny little guy.

 

Well, this week is sort of a blur, so that's probably about all I've got. Hopefully that answers some questions. Mostly, we're starting from scratch, so we don't really have too many investigators that have met with us more than once or twice. There's about 2 or 3 from last transfer, but that's it.

 

I'm having a great time in Weyburn. It's an amazing place! I hope that all of you have a fantastic week. I love you all!     Elder Lyons

Trailer Life

So it's a little weird emailing again when it's only been half a week. So let's see, what happened. Okay, I think the biggest thing was Saturday. We went out to Kisby and Carlyle. I went on splits with Bro Brown and we went to Ocean Man ( a native reserve), and Elder French went with Bro Earle to Carlyle. We were working with some of the less active members in the branch. We were inviting them to church because once a month there is a meeting in Carlyle, which is significantly closer for some members than Weyburn. Well, Bro Brown and I started off, and we had about 3 possible appointments. They all fell through, so we had 4 hours and not many ideas of what we could do. Bro Brown made a bunch of phone calls, and we ended up meeting with his neighbor in Kisby. We taught about the Book of Mormon and invited her to church. It was pretty good, but I don't think that we'll be teaching her again cause she lives about 45 minutes from Weyburn. She's in our area, but we have limited K's.

 

But, anyways, we ended up knocking doors in Kisby to invite everyone to church. We only planned on being out for 30 minutes, and our 30 minutes were up. But I felt like we should knock one more door, so we did. We talked with this guy for a while, and he said he would like to go to church. It was pretty neat.

 

After that, we went to Lampman to meet with Matt and Mona. It was so weird. It was the most spirtual lesson I've had with them, though. It was amazing! Bro Earle came with us, and he invited them to church. They drove to Carlyle to go. And they want to go to Weyburn as well. It was good we were able to learn about some of their concerns. We also learned that they want to be baptized! It's just going to be rough meeting with them because they're so far away. We might have to meet via skype or something.

 

The branch here in Weyburn is great. It's pretty small, so I was asked to speak. They get pretty excited when there's someone new. I suspect that all missionaries are given the opportunity to speak. Anyways, the members are super strong. They are amazing at fellowshipping! I'm convinced that a branch is the best place to join the church. You can get to know everyone if you come to church once! ha ha..it's been great serving here. I've really enjoyed being with the Regnier's. They love missionaries. Bro Regnier comes to appointments with us, and his sons come and play sports with us on p-days. It's a lot of fun!

 

Oh! here's a neat story. We were tracting on Thursday, but then we left to go to an appointment. Afterwards, Elder French had the idea to go back to the street we were on before our appointment. It wasn't in our plans, but we decided to go back. About the 3rd door we knocked on, an old lady answered. We talked for a minute, and then her husband walked up. I admit, the thought may have crossed my mind that he was going to cut us off and send us on our way. But he smiled and said, "we're not doing anything important. Do you want to come in?" So we told him, no we're busy. No, of course we went in! I guess he had seen us when we were around earlier, and he felt neglected that we didn't stop by! ha ha. We taught them about the Book of Mormon and read in 3 Nephi. The Spirit was so strong! The man kept saying, "We're quite comfortable with our religion." Yet, he really wants to learn more. We'll see how they feel when they begin to meet with us and read the Book of Mormon daily.

 

OK, I think I covered it all. I hope all of you have a great week. I love you.

 

Love,

Elder C. Lyons

Miracles in Weyburn

Elder Lyons in front of Moose at Moose Jaw

Elder French and Elder Lyons

The Trailer

So I know everyone has a bunch of questions, but that will have to wait a second. I have to tell you about something amazing that happened last night. We were sitting in a lesson, and the phone kept vibrating in my pocket. I had to silence it like 4 times. I couldn't figure out what was so urgent. I look at the phone after the lesson, and we had a few missed calls from an unknown number and a new voicemail. We're in the car with the phone on speaker listening to this voicemail. It just says, "hey this is for Lyons, could you give us a call back. Thanks" Elder French was just confused. The look on his face was priceless. He had no clue who it could be. But I DID! I was just like, "no, that can't be Matt."  So I called them back. It was Matt and Mona from Prince Albert! They had moved to the Southeast corner of Saskatchewan a while ago. Elder Zohner told me they would be moving when I was in Regina. Somehow Matt and Mona talked with the missionaries while they were in Regina yesterday who referred them to the Weyburn elders cause THEY'RE IN MY NEW AREA! They must have been so surprised when they found out they had missionaries by their new home, and that it was me! It's just so crazy cause the one regret I had when I left PA was that I felt that I didn't do all I could to help the investigators I taught. Especially Matt and Mona. I get a second chance! They said they want to come to church in Weyburn, and go figure, we had planned to be in Estevan on Saturday which is really close to their home! Everything has just fallen into place. It's incredible to really see the Lord's hand in my mission! I love it! Not only does He care about the people, but He cares about me and about what I feel. The crazy thing is when I first heard about Matt and Mona moving, I was still in Regina. But I wondered, who's area is that? I'm sure it's in the CWM. It would great to get to teach them again.

Anyways, you probably want to know about Weyburn, Elder French, our amazing trailer, and the little branch here. So first things first, here is my new address: PO Box 1424

                          Weyburn, Sk S4H3X6

So I will send pictures of our trailer. A picture says a thousand words. And they're good words, too. It's amazing living in a trailer.

Ok, Elder French is from Raymond, AB. He is my first Canadian companion! He is a goof, and it's been great serving with him so far! He makes mancakes! Pancakes the size of the frying pan! haha...remind you of anyone? It's just been nothing but a good time finding and teaching with Elder French!

So Weyburn is a tiny little town with about 10,000 people. Most branch members have to drive about an hour to church. There's a lot of farms and some amazing homes. There's only one hill for miles, and of course on top of the hill is the church.

One of the investigators we have is the husband of a member. I guess the Griffin's just appeared at church last transfer, so Elder French started teaching them. Brother Griffin was the one that decided they should go to church. And on Sunday, we set a baptismal date with them for the first of September. Super solid! In the first week of investigating, Bro Griffin read the first 16 chapters of 1 Nephi!

We have been finding and teaching and setting up appointments more than I have for a while! It's incredible to see all these people who have been prepared by God. People are just coming from nowhere and landing in our teaching pool. People like Matt and Mona. Elder French just got an email from his family about someone they know in Weyburn that they would like us to teach. It's so amazing to see all these miracles literally just coming from nowhere.

The members are great. We spent most of the p-day playing sports with the Regnier's. We played tennis, soccer, Frisbee, ping pong, and volleyball. We ate dinner at their home. It was fantastic! Oh, and traveling to Moose Jaw was fun yesterday as well. It's just been crazy!

So if you haven't gathered it yet, this transfer is going to be amazing! I can't wait to be a part of all of these miracles! I hope that answered some questions. I love you all! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder C. Lyons