Crank it up a Notch!

It seems like this week sped right on by twice as fast as last week! It was a crazy week up here. At the start of the week, we went out to Moose Jaw for exchanges. It was a good time. I got to see some of the elders that were in my district a few transfers ago. It was a good time. I was with the district leader for the day. He's into creative finding, so it was good to see what he did. I'm sort of a simple man, so I'm partial to tracting and street contacting mostly. But what he did was good, and I can see it producing great results. Plus I just like Moose Jaw. It's a great town. With a name like Moose Jaw it's gotta be great!

After we got back, I was pretty exhausted. This week was a little slow as far as lessons go. Our investigators were busy for one reason or another. Ha ha, but I do have a pretty funny story, though. There's this Filipino family that has 2 kids that will be baptized this Saturday. There names are Ruby and Rachel. They have a son named Ryan, but he's not ready to be baptized. So we've been trying to meet with him. We stopped by to talk with him...and he was gone. But we were talking with the mom, Lolita and her 2 girls. They asked where Elder Wilson was from. He told them he was from St. George, and that it was basically a desert. Then Rachel just looked at him and said, "Wait you're from a desert? Than why are you white?" Ha ha, kids are the best.

We were able to teach a family that lives out of town though. That was super neat. They are from Kenya, and they are friends with a family in our ward. So they expressed some interest. It was great, they asked a ton of good questions. And they have 3 of the cutest most well behaved kids over. It was great to teach them, AND.. they want to learn more. So we'll be teaching them again soon. Their names are Ayan and Malak.

We decided to do a temple grounds tour on Sat. I can't remember if I told you this already or not. Anyways, we had quite a few people just walk up just because they saw the sign. It was incredible to see the interest that there is in the temple. I would predict that it's going to help us out tons with missionary work. It was exciting!

This week was also stake conference. It was really good. We had a general authority come and speak. He spoke all about missionary work. It was great. And I got to see some families from old areas. Including the Regnier's from Weyburn. It made my month! I was so excited to see them. We talked for a while. It was the best.

That's about all I've got, I'm afraid. But I sure love you all! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder C. Lyons

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

Craziness!

I'm pretty sure this was one of the most insane weeks of my life. So do your best to follow this. OK, so back in Stoon we still had a Zone Training meeting to plan and present for on Tuesday. Which I was feeling terrible for, but I feel it actually went quite well. Our focus as a mission right now is to better teach and find with the Spirit. Sounds like a big "duh!" but for some reason we're just not getting it. And it's quite difficult to master in all actuality. We're a young mission, and we NEED to master some skills that will allow us to better follow the Spirit. So we focused on listening. Our portion and practice were very good, and I learned a lot.

Then, it was packing, and I drove to Regina on Wednesday!!!!!! I was so excited!!! I love it here so much. It's crazy. I've actually spent a year in the Regina zone, so clearly it's the best zone. Anyways, I saw a ton of former companions. Elder Shepherd was one of them. We served in Swift. We cried tears of joy when we saw each other again....not really....but it was close. He's going to Winnipeg to serve with my boy Elder Burnett. Then I saw Elder French as he was getting ready to go home....sad day. We reminisced for a long, long time. It was super sad to see him go for good.

So now I'm with Elder Wilson, and life is good. It just got even busier, though. I don't think I've ever had more phone calls in my life! It's ridiculous. I might as well forget my aspirations to be a doctor and just become a receptionist!....seriously. But it's good. We've got good missionaries in this zone. I'm telling ya, some of the missionaries that are coming out right now have to be the strongest I have ever seen! It's amazing to be a part of it.

Well, I don't really have any mind blowing experiences for this weekend. I gave a talk on Sunday. I got up to speak, and I was handed a note that informed me that I had twice as much time than I had prepared for. Let's just say I'm glad there was a good circulation of air in the chapel. Yeah, I just about pooed my britches. Seriously though, I felt like I should've prepared more, and I didn't. So it was all my bad. It was good to see many familiar faces. It made it super easy to transition. I love this ward! It's great to be back.

I thank you all for writing, and I hope that you have a great week. Love ya!

Love,

Elder C. Lyons

Transfer Calls Again!

 this week was insane. We got our transfer calls this week. I'm going to be going back to Regina to serve in the Wascana ward again. I will be zone leader with Elder Wilson. I'm really excited. I love the Wascana ward, and Elder Wilson came out at the same time as me. We had some good times in the MTC. It's going to be super fun. And I get to go Swift on exchanges! Yeah! I'm looking forward to it. I will be travelling down there on Wednesday.

This week was pretty good as far as teaching goes. We were able to teach Rob from PA a couple of times. He's doing really well. He really wants to be better and become active. It's a great experience to teach someone with that much desire. We were also able to teach this family from Nigeria for the first time. They're super great. They both want to learn how they can have the Holy Ghost with them all the time. Yeah, we can help ya with that! Binga and his family are super great. Elder Kuhre will have a good time teaching them in the future. It's a little sad that I won't be able to teach them. We had to try very hard to finally set an appointment with them.

We helped a less active family we've been working with to load up their granite counter tops in their truck. I don't think I've ever lifted anything heavier! I was getting teased like crazy by the Thomson's too. Just because I'm small....seriously. 

Well, mostly I've just been trying to not die this week. I've been pretty sick this transfer. Hopefully, I'll be getting better soon. But we keep on working, so it's all good. 

I love you all. Thanks for you emails and pics. Have a great week!

Love,

Elder C. Lyons