Silver Linings

To be honest, this was one of the most challenging weeks of my mission. Elder Kuhre and I ended up getting pretty sick early last week. We weren't sleeping well, and we were just completely wiped! And to top it off, we had several of our appointments fall through this week. I feel like I've become an optimist over the course of my mission, so I've been trying very hard to keep my head up....It's just been extremely difficult.

But I would like to share a few of the silver linings of this week. We have several young missionaries in this zone, and as zone leaders we have the privilege of going on exchanges with many of them. This week, I got to go on exchanges with Elder Leishman. He is from Calgary. And he reminds me a lot of myself at the start of my mission. He's very quite, and it's intimidating for him to talk with people. So, we talked a lot during our exchange. He is so pure! He has nothing but a pure desire to do what's right! During comp studies, we were practicing, and he taught like a pro! It was amazing. He just about brought tears to my eyes! And I've been at this a while! It was great to talk with him and serve with him for a day.

Another sort of crazy thing happened this week. A less active member named, Robert, and his family moved into our area. I don't know if any of you remember Rob from PA, but it's the same Rob. It was so crazy when we walked though the door to teach him. He saw me and was all, "what the? you're here?" He is just full of desire as ever. He asked us to teach him about repentance, so he can stop doing stupid things! His family wants to get more involved as well. Yet another second chance for me on my mission. Very grateful for it, too :)

Other than that, I had the most amazing Mexican food I've ever had! The Martinez family (bet ya can't guess where they're from) cooked us some amazing taco things. So good! We ate them with guacamole and salsa that was to die for! It had been ages since I had eaten decent Mexican food. There were tears.

Other than that we've just been dealing with stress the best that we can. Hopefully we can make this week better than the last! Love ya all! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder C. Lyons

Here is my address before I forget. People have been asking for it: 205- 103 Reindeer Rd

                                                                                                          Saskatoon, Sk S7K 4W8

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

Still Alive!

This week was crazy. We had to plan for our Zone Training Meeting on Wednesday, which was actually pretty difficult to do. But we pulled it off. The assistants were there (no pressure, it's just my first ZTM). But they said that we did a really good job. I thought I was going to pass out! But, I'm still alive!

Honestly, this week is a bit of a blur. Ha ha, I don't remember much at all. But we did have an interesting lesson with an assistant pastor. I seem to be teaching a few pastors and stuff lately. It's pretty interesting. But, anyways, we had a good discussion with Kurt. He's really open minded, so it's nice. 

I went on exchanges this week with an elder that was in my first district when I was in PA. It was really weird. He goes home soon. I'll be the only one left! But it was a good exchange. I enjoy talking with him. He's a really good guy, and he does good work.

This last weekend was pretty good. Sunday was a bit rough. We had a few families committed to church, but they did not come. It's always going to be the worst feeling for me. But it's a new week, and we're excited to get things going stronger for us. It's zone conference this week, so we have a little bit of planning to do for that. We'll see how it goes. It should be much easier than ZTM. That's about all that I can think of right now. I love you all! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder C. Lyons

This is Nuts!

I'm not sure if I'm ever going to get my feet underneath me! If you have ever seen the comic Calvin and Hobbs...yeah the one where he's running in the rain. That's exactly how I feel right now. We've got a thousand and one things going on right now, and I just might have a handle on one of them. It's just crazy, but it's crazy fun.

 

Early last week, we had a solid lesson with a couple that we barely started teaching. Rob met with missionaries back in Calgary, so he pretty well knows what we're going to say before we say it. But both Rob and Samantha have really been open, and they just get that they need to pray to know if the Restoration really did happen. It's been grand teaching them.

 

We've had a bunch of crazy meetings this week. One was on Wednesday with the Stake President and the other Stoon zone leaders. We were discussing the needs of the stake as far as missionary work goes and coordinating our efforts. It was a really great meeting. Pres Robertson is all over it! Another meeting we had was on Friday. It was a Missionary Leadership Council meeting. Yeah...really neat actually. But we had to drive to Regina on Thurs evening (about a 2 or 2 1/2 hr drive). Then we left by van Friday morning at 6:30 to go to a little place called Moosomin ( about a 2- 2 1/2 hr drive). Then we had the meeting about Pres Thomas vision and instruction for the mission. Yeah...now it's our responsibility to pass all the info on. (Sort of a hefty responsibility, eh?) But then we had to drive all the way back to Stoon. Saturday morning was rough!

 

We had a great lesson on Saturday. We went to meet with this guy from Nigeria named, Dipson and his roommates. But they weren't there, so Elder Kuhre called them and texted them. Then, we saw Dipson pull up to the house. He was in Regina (remember that 2 or 2 1/2 hour drive?), but he wanted to meet with us. So he came back. It was a great lesson, and his prayer was powerful. So great!

 

Then on Sunday, we were actually waiting for Dipson. He said he would be late. But he didn't show. But because we were in the foyer, we were able to greet this stranger who walked into the church. He came to Sunday school and had a junk load of questions. But unfortunately, he's not too interested at this time. But it was neat to be in the place that we needed to be!

 

I love you all! Thanks for all of your support! This gospel is true, and I'm so thankful for the blessings it brings into my life! Have a wonderful week!

 

Love,

Elder C. Lyons

What?!

I'm very tired. This transfer traveling has been insane. We didn't leave Regina until pretty late on Thursday, so we didn't get to stoon until about 11....yeah this weekend has been rough. But I got to see a bunch of my missionary friends, so it was good.

It was weird saying goodbye to everyone in Swift so soon. It was actually pretty much the worst. I think I wrote how some of the Palmer kids said goodbye to me at church. I about cried! You're not makin' this easy kids! But it was good. We had a bunch of last meals with members, so they sent us off full.

We've mostly been trying to settle in a little bit, and we've been trying to get everything organized. This weekend has been a little rough because I've been half asleep. But we've hopefully finished all the running around so we can go ahead and settle down. That's the thing that I don't like about leadership. I just want to be a regular missionary and do work! But there's other things in store for me....man. The ward seems pretty great. A lot of people are gone for the holiday weekend. But hopefully I'll get to know everyone soon. 

I'm afraid I don't really have anything interesting to report. Besides that I love Elder Kuhre, and I can't wait to get to work and find some people to baptize. It should be a good transfer. Love ya all! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder C. Lyons

PS. I'll be sending my SD card home with all the pics at swift. I have a bunch to send. Love ya! 

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!