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

Transfers!

Alright this week was insane! First off it was Pres. Thomas's first transfer calls. I'm actually getting transferred to Weyburn. I will be with Elder French. Weyburn was just reopened this transfer, so it should be interesting. I was completely surprised that I'm getting transferred, but it should be great. I get to live in a trailer!

Okay, what happened this week? All start with the temple on Wednesday. It was a really good trip. We had all 10 of the missionaries, or 11 actually, there in the session. Pretty much the whole attendance was missionaries! The ward members there were really impressed by how many missionaries there were at the temple. Oh, man! I had pictures of us outside the temple, but I forgot my camera. Oh, well.

On Thursday and Friday we helped Sis Lappa in our ward paint her fence. It was a ton of fun cause we don't really get too many opportunities for service. By the way, I'm still as awful at painting as I was when we painted Bishop's ceiling. Luckily, I didn't make as big of a mess. So we didn't finish on Thursday cause we had another appointment with Carol. The appointment went really well. We finished the Plan of Salvation, and talked about baptism. It was really neat because our fellowship, Bro Mason, is a convert and he works at the temple, so he was able to answer her questions. She said that she had already been baptized...twice. Bro Mason just said, "Me, too!" We were then able to talk about priesthood authority. At the end of the lesson she just said, "I know that you people are good cause you've answered all of my questions. Before I had doubts about you, but now I can have you sit at my table and I have no doubts." It was incredible. We've really seen hope come into her life. When we first met her she was really at the end of her rope. The only thing is that was my last lesson with her. It is a little frustrating that we get an investigator like Carol, and then I have to leave! But I know there's more people out there like her, so it's OK.

On Saturday, we went to the Svenson's for dinner. Their family is so funny. They have 5 kids under 7 or 8 years old. The youngest daughter, Hezia, came out and ran up to us when we pulled in. I told her I liked her dress. I didn't think she heard me cause she bee-lined it back to the house, but at dinner she just says, "Mommy, HE likes my dress." I think she is 3. She's adorable. During dinner she also randomly says, "Mommy, I don't even know what his sisters' names are." She's just a doll. She and her older sister Hannah told us that their little brother likes balls and what sounded like "boards". Elder Call and I were like, "what?" And they repeated, "boards". "What?" They just kept saying it with their eyes getting bigger and they were just laughing at us. Finally, Sis Svenson said, "birds." "Oh!" So funny. Oh, Sis Svenson knows Bro Hill in Pocatello. They grew up in the same town in Alberta. Small world.

Let's see, Sunday was pretty good. We ate at the Noblet's. They're from France, so they were really excited to talk about France when I asked. I think they talked about cheese for at least 20 minutes. Pres Noblet is the stake president. They are a great family as well.

Well, today I will be saying a few goodbyes cause I leave for Weyburn tomorrow afternoon. I will be saying goodbye to Kerry this evening. And Elder Call and I are getting companionship unity ties! wooo! I don't think I was supposed to email about anything else....Oh! we met with Cole again. He was an investigator we found. We set a return appointment with him, but it's tomorrow evening. He really just wants to know that God is there. It's been neat to teach him the little I have. Should be an interesting week. I sure love you all! Have a great week!

Love,
Elder C. Lyons

Zone Conference

So on Tuesday, we had surprise exchanges with our district leader, Elder Ronald. Elder Ronald and I were tracting, and he asked me how often I made phone calls. Apparently not enough cause we stopped tracting to make some. We didn't set up any appointments, so we continued tracting. We tracted into a Filipino lady. She answered, and I started the approach. She was acting almost like she didn't understand us, but then another guy walked up to the door. They started whispering to each other, and then she turned to us, "Come in." Elder Ronald and I didn't hesitate at all we were so stoked. I guess the guy, Aly, met missionaries in the Philippines. His cousin, Irma, actually lives in the house, and I guess it was a miracle we got them both there at the same time cause they are both super busy! They were very receptive, and we set an appointment with them for tomorrow!

On Wednesday, we traveled to Saskatoon for zone conference. Zone conference was on Thursday morning. It was incredible! President and Sister Thomas are amazing! We had a testimony meeting at the end, it was incredible to hear all the testimonies of the missionaries in our zone. It was a great experience. I'll write about it in a letter.

We traveled with the zone leaders. Elder McDaniel told me to give him a fiber one bar, so I did. I asked Elder Perkins if he wanted one, and he said he did. A while later when he took a bite, he pointed at it and said, "huh, bird seed?!" He started laughing uncontrollably. He was like, "this is bird food, man. Come on." When he had about one bite left, he was like, "this is actually pretty good." So funny.

I think that for sure the highlight of the week was our lesson with Carol on Friday. She doesn't have a phone, so we have to drop by to set up appointments. She said she was available at 5 and it was about 2. So we had to scramble to get fellowship, and we didn't really have a lesson plan. But we found fellowship 10 minutes before 5, so we were in the clear. We were going to teach the Restoration, but we started teaching and plans changed. We started teaching about the plan of salvation. It was a brief lesson, but maybe the most spiritual lesson I've ever been in. Every time Elder Call would begin to introduce a scripture, I was already turning to it. Without any communication from him. We both knew what scripture to share. It was amazing!

I think that's good for email. I can't really think of anything else. It was really a great week. Definitely built me up a whole lot! I love you all and hope that you have a great week (some of you a great week in France!)

Love,
Elder C. Lyons

Another Long Week

Chris modeling his new suit

Chris in his apartment in his new suit

So this week was also pretty long. We had a lot of lessons fall through which was really disappointing. Kinda at the peak of the poop, when a lesson on Saturday fell through, Elder Call and I were sitting in the truck wondering what on earth we were doing wrong. We talked for quite a while with little progress and not too many ideas. Then, the Zone Leaders called us and asked us what we were doing. We told them what was going on, and they told us to keep our heads up and keep trying. From the truck, I could see this family playing baseball at the park. I really had to go out of my way, but I told Elder Call, "Let's go talk to them." We walked over and started talking to them. We had a good conversation and got their phone number. I really hope we get to teach them. I haven't taught a family since I taught the Thomas's in Prince Albert.

Sunday, we planned to have a couple more lessons, but at the start, they were already falling through. It looked like we weren't going to hit our goals again. But then we tracted into another member and got invited in to teach. We keep finding less-active members it's ridiculous. We actually stopped by one we found last transfer, and it turns out her son is not a member. We talked to him for a minute, and we will be calling him to set up a time to meet. He had forgotten his mom was a member. As we were walking away he said, "Oh, yeah. My mom did grow up Mormon."

I got to go on exchanges with Elder Perkins on Thursday. He's a zone leader. And he's 6'2" 300 lbs. Yeah he's huge. So street contacting with him was fun! I think everyone he looks at becomes a potential! But we were trying to get into the Kramer building where the YSA ward meets, and we could get in; however we could not figure out how to keep the door unlocked. So Elder Perkins is on the outside trying to test it, and I would let him in when it didn't work. Finally he's all, "huh, maybe you got to be smarter than the door, eh? And I'm not." Then he just looks at me, hands me the keys, pulls me with one arm out the door, "Your turn." And shuts the door. Clearly, it was my turn. I couldn't do it either, but we got it figured out. I guess we were turning it the wrong way. But it was fun to teach the YSA investigators. Most of them are Chinese. It was a good experience.

I'm really trying to remember all that happened this week. I can't really think of anything else. Basically this week is going to fly by because we'll be in Saskatoon for 2 days for Zone Conference. I'm really excited for Zone Conference. I think it will be great. Hopefully, I don't have to talk like last zone conference. I'm pretty content with listening to people who know what they're doing.

I hope everyone has a great week. I love you!

Love,
Elder C. Lyons

Rough Week

So this week was pretty rough. On Friday, we only had one lesson. We had some lessons fall through, and we just couldn't find anyone to teach! So what that means is that we had full days of tracting. Which wasn't really bad. I feel like I've gotten better at finding. The only thing is we were just running into people who aren't interested. We went on exchanges with the ap's on Friday, and Elder Galbriath and I taught a lesson. But we still didn't even really find any potential investigators. The lesson we taught was crazy, though! The man was Muslim and from Pakistan. He had such a thick accent, it was extremely difficult to understand him! His name is Aziz. Maybe we'll see more of him, I don't really know. It's hard to say when you only catch about half of what the man said.

The reason the ap's were up in Regina is cause we got to meet Pres and Sis Thomas on Saturday. It was really great! They are really great people. They're both originally from Aberdeen, but they have been living in Alaska. I really like them! At the end of the meeting Pres Thomas said, "go baptize some people!" It was pretty great. I get to see them next week at zone conference, so that will be fun.

And...guess who's ward Pres and Sis Thomas chose to go to. Ours of course. And guess who had been asked Sat afternoon to give a talk. Me of course. So I got to give a talk with Pres and Sis Thomas there and the assistants and almost the zone leaders (but they didn't make it). Yeah, so that was kinda fun. Pres and Sis Thomas said it was good, so I guess it wasn't completely miserable.

It was kinda fun, we were eating at the Waugh's yesterday, and they were still getting dinner ready. I asked if I could help, and the next thing I know I'm grilling burgers! Usually when we ask people just say no. But I think Sis Waugh appreciated it cause she's pregnant, and Bro Waugh was working on a crib or something.

I know this is big news for our family: We played Frisbee today for p-day activity! It was a lot of fun! My team destroyed! I think that everyone thought since I was awful at all the other sports we played that I would be awful at ultimate. But guess what, I've pretty much got my masters in ultimate I've played it so much! No just kidding. I'm just miserable at basketball and stuff, so it was nice to play something that I kinda know how to play.

I can't really think of much else to write, so I hope everyone has a great week. Have fun at girls camp!

Love,
Elder C. Lyons

Happy Birthday, Meagan! You're old, that's pretty weird.

So this week has been kinda crazy. We're in the process of rebuilding our teaching pool because, well...Kerry's baptized, so she's no longer an investigator. (She was pretty much our only progressing investigator). Which means we've been doing a whole lot of tracting! We have also been walking all over the place cause we were out of k's. Yeah, I've been pretty much exhausted! On Thursday, we walked all the way across town, and I was pretty much sick and tired of moving! Elder Call had the bright idea to stop by a potential that was another 2 or 3 blocks away. I have to admit that I wasn't thrilled about the idea, but we're a companionship. So I went with it. Carol had never been home when we came by, but she was actually there! And she asked us to come back later that day! We brought a recent convert with us named Frank. It was the best 1st lesson I've ever had! She said that she'd give up everything to know and follow the truth! And Frank was amazing at answering her questions! Oh, by the way, he's only been a member for 6 months, and he's the ward executive secretary! He's the best!

Friday we had exchanges with Moose Jaw. We found a few new investigators and set up some appointments for this week. It was really a great day because it's been a LONG time since we've even found any potential investigators. So Elder Call and I are pretty excited about our week.

Haha...we were walking on Saturday and we got stopped by a drunk guy. He was hammered! Completely gone! He rapped to us and everything! It's funny, but I really feel for the guy. It reminded me of Prince Albert. That kinda stuff went down basically every day. So that was a good reminder :)

Yesterday was Canada Day. And it's nothing like the 4th. I thought there would be all sorts of crazy stuff happening, but there wasn't...it was just sorta dead when we were tracting. Either the party was some where else, or they don't have one. We did sing 'O Canada' and 'God save the Queen' in sacrament meeting, though. Don't worry I got the whole 1st verse of 'O Canada' memorized. Sis Paulson had us memorize it. I think we know it better than some of the Canadians! However, I guess Albertan people have a tradition of making rhubarb cake which sounds disgusting, but it's so good! We had some yesterday, it was amazing!

It was pretty funny, during some lady's testimony she said that she had a tough time in the past, that she was in a rough state. The guy sitting next to me leans over and whispers, "must've been Idaho." I was laughing so hard! He was like that the entire time. He leaned over and said, "if the gospel was really true they'd have comfy couches for old, fat people to sit on." I told him it was only good if I qualified. I'm fat, right?

Oh speaking of being fat, Elder Call and I are starting to go running. We gotta work off all the ice cream sandwiches and baptism blizzards we're going to have! Anyways, that's all I got. Have a great week. I love you!

Love,
Elder C. Lyons