So this week has been pretty crazy. Last Monday I got to drive into Moose Jaw, which would have been more of an enjoyable experience if I could see more than about 15 feet in front of the car. We were driving in the evening, and it was super foggy! It had also warmed up a little, so the roads were a little messy. Let's just say that it was a bit of a white knuckle drive! And I like to think that I'm a pretty laid back guy. But that's enough of that, I don't want to stress Mom out :)

 

We actually got to stay over an extra night in Moose Jaw because there was a pretty serious snow storm going on. Travel was not recommended on the highway back to Weyburn. We made it from Swift Current to Moose Jaw alright, but it was really bad at times. So we made an executive decision to stay in Moose Jaw. The District meeting in Swift was good, but it was a huge sacrifice of time (2 days) for a 2 hour long meeting!

 

Oh well, we made it back to Weyburn on Wednesday morning. Brandy was pretty worried about us, so we had to text her when we made it back safe. We taught them that evening, and it went really well. Hedley and Brandy told us more of their concerns, and we are now going to be better able to help them progress and prepare for baptism. We taught about tithing, and they like the idea and are willing to pay tithing. So that was really good.

 

This week was a bit rough with investigators being sick or busy, but we were able to find some new investigators. We were able to teach a single mom and her son. It was really good. We shared about the Book of Mormon and both of them committed right away to reading it. It was great! They really understand why we're there. It's should be really great teaching them. They are all about family! Their names are Melanie and Dustin.

 

Something interesting that also happened this week was that we were invited to have supper with an inactive family that has basically told the branch that they aren't coming back. So...yeah, I was interested to see how it would go. They allowed us to share a thought and everything. It was good. They seemed to enjoy it for the most part. They were both very friendly and everything. I was impressed. I sort of expected them to be counting the minutes until we left. But I guess I was wrong. Their daughter is active and is preparing to go on a mission, so that probably makes the difference.

 

I don't really have any other updates. I'm racking my brain, but it was a bit of a slower week like I said. Hopefully we don't get caught in Regina tomorrow. We have a meeting there, and we have good amount of appointments this week that I don't really want to miss! It should be good.

 

That's great for Natalie. I hope you had a great B-day Natter's! I love ya lots!

 

I love you all! Have a great week!

 

Love,

Elder C. Lyons

 

Good ole Weyburn!

So this week has been another interesting one. We are currently continuing to brainstorm creative finding ideas. Which is actually pretty difficult when all I've been encouraged to do in the past is tract. It's just different. It seems to be working pretty well, however. Before Elder French left, I had the idea about volunteering at the Salvation Army, so last week Elder Christensen and I went to see what we could do. I had my qualms about volunteering there because, well, they are a church. But I've knocked on the pastor's door about 3 times, and he seemed like a really friendly guy. And we also went with the branch to do the food drive in October. The branch knows several of the people, and they're basically the only consistent volunteers for the drive. So I talked myself into it. And it actually went really well. When I walked in, he recognized me, and they were actually just wondering how they were going to do one of their projects before we walked in. We volunteered, and he's going to give us a call when they're ready. And the branch is willing to help out, too. So it should work out pretty well.

 

Let's see, we also were able to get back in contact with some of our investigators. We have about 3 families that we are now currently working with. It's so much fun to be working with families. Weyburn is definitely the most I've ever worked with families. However, this Sunday there was some freezing rain which prevented some of our investigators from coming, and others had high fevers. Yeah....sort of one of those weeks. But we just have to keep doing everything that we can.

 

We've set up some appointments with new investigators, so there should be some progress going on with finding. Something that we have the branch's support with is holding a Book of Mormon Study class. We feel it will really help our investigators understand the Book of Mormon and strengthen their testimonies of it. And it's an opportunity to get to know members, and even a chance for members to invite nonmember friends. Some other things that we are contemplating starting are a ping pong night and a missionary prep class. We have a ping pong table at the church, and several of the members enjoy playing. It's something fun that members can invite friends to. And with the class, I think it would help out the branch because they are unable to have young men's and young women's activities regularly, so we could help give them an activity they could do regularly. We need to discuss these ideas with the branch, but we'll see what we can do.

 

Another creative idea we tried was volunteering at the animal shelter. Ha ha, I'm convinced we could have sold tickets to watch us in there. We were asked to brush these cats. Ha ha, so I grabbed one out of its cage and so did Elder Christensen. His cat was hiding under the row of cages for about 30 minutes, and mine was going to town trying to bite my neck. Ha ha, I'm sure we just looked absurd because I wasn't sure if we were going to volunteer right then, so we didn't bring service clothes. Oh man, I'm sure they just thought of what would look the most ridiculous for 2 guys in shirts and ties to do. They found it! I haven't quite decided if we will go back there. Probably, but we'll just come more prepared.

 

Well, for an update with Hedley and Brandy, their trip to Loyd Minister sort of set them back a little. Hedley is now preparing for baptism on February 23rd. But he continues to be committed and to make great progress. They are still as funny as ever. They've started right off with teasing Elder Christensen. They've welcomed him right in. It's pretty funny. Hopefully, we'll be able to help them in any way we can to be prepared to be baptized.

 

Let's see, I don't really have much else, other than that it's pretty fun to be driving again. The Cruze is sort of a weird car. I'm not going to argue with it, though. It's much more manly than the Cobalt. It's pretty interesting driving in a Canada winter, but so far so safe! Thanks for all the emails. I love you all!

 

Love,

Elder C. Lyons

 

1-Sunrise in Weyburn

2-Comp chippin away at freezing rain

Life in Weyburn

So it's been pretty weird parting from Elder French. We were serving together for an eternity. The majority of the start of last week was spent packing, and for me it was spent cleaning. We met with Hedley and Brandy for Elder French's last time on Monday evening. It was pretty good. They're just so great. It's amazing to see how much they have come along in the past few months. Unfortunately, we have had to move his baptismal date back. But he still really wants to be baptized, and his new goal is the 23rd of February. We also went to the Tiefenbach's for one last time with Elder French. The Regnier's also joined us for supper. It was good to be able to spend some time with them. President Tiefenbach's a really funny guy. At one point during supper, Sister T asked him to toss something behind him on a table. He took it and just tossed it over his shoulder. Ha ha...it was just like a piece of tinfoil or something. So funny. Sister T didn't see it, but I did. And I just started laughing. So great.

 

Wednesday we had a few lessons, and then we were off to Regina. We met up with the other Saskatchewan elders that were getting transferred, and we stayed the night in Regina. Elder French left for Winnipeg on Thursday morning, and I spent the day with the Lewvan elders. It was pretty weird being in a tripan....and being in a city. I saw a few members and investigators that I met while I was in Regina, so it was good. Thursday night, the Manitoba elders made it to Regina, so I met up with Elder Christensen. We left Friday morning for Weyburn. I got to drive :) In a brand new car! Yeah it's a Chevy cruze, so I don't have to drive the girl car! It's pretty great to be able to drive. Just a little bit about Elder Christensen, turns out he's from the same town as Bart. A town in Alberta called Magrath. Elder Christensen's dad was Bart's vice principal in high school. Bart thought it was pretty funny. He said it was a good thing he wasn't too bad in high school, but he knows that office well. The branch is taking to Elder Christensen pretty well. Our investigators seem to be taking to him, too. Hedley and Brandy started right off with the teasing, so he's been initiated! He's been out a little bit longer than me. He likes sports and stuff, so we should fair alright. He's just been sick since Friday, so that puts a tamper on things. Hopefully he recovers soon.

 

This week Ashely walked to church again....and it was -40! She is really committed, but I'm a little worried about her safety. Hopefully she can become more familiar with the members, so she can be comfortable accepting a ride to church. She doesn't live to far away from the church but still.

 

I think that's about all I've got. I'm just glad that all of the traveling is finished for the near future. Traveling is really boring. It's better now that I get to drive, but I would still rather do other things. Well...I sure love ya. Have a fantastic week!

 

Love,

Elder C. Lyons

 

Hedley holding Kia, Brandy holding Sam

Gas station where they film a TV show in SK

Nacho!!

1-Hedley holding Kia, Brandy holding Sam

Transfers 1/14/13

So big news first, we got our transfer call on Thursday. I will be staying in Weyburn and welcoming Elder Christensen. Elder French is off to Celkirk, MB. I'm very excited to be staying in Weyburn. I will meet up with Elder Christensen most likely on Thursday. He has to come from Winnipeg. Hedley and Brandy have been gone this last week, but we will be meeting with them tonight. I'm glad that I get to stay for the baptism, but I'm also upset that Elder French doesn't get to stay for it, too. But we both expected that he was leaving. It will be pretty weird being with a new companion since we've been serving together for 6 months.

 

This week was a little slow. We had a zone training meeting on Tuesday that we were supposed to travel into Regina for, but the roads were bad. So we ended up just skyping in. Apparently we're supposed to be trying to get away from tracting being our primary source of finding. It's been a little difficult to do, but we're working on finding places to volunteer at and what not. We've really had to rack our brains though!

 

There was a couple of reasons that our week was a little slow. Because we had ZTM, we had most of our lessons scheduled for Wednesday after we would have gotten back from Regina. But I had the flu on Wednesday. It was really bad. I had to stay in the entire day, so we had to cancel and reschedule all of our lessons. I was really frustrated, but what to you do?

 

Snow Day!

All bundled Up!

Huge Reeses Cup! Mmm

Thursday, was a little better, but I was still pretty out of it. We did some service. We helped the Morrissette's paint. And we helped a less active member named Dave put up some drywall.

 

Friday was actually a snow day for us too. It really stunk because we were stuck inside basically all day. And we had just spent the day in the trailer on Wednesday! I was pretty mad. We tried to get out at one point, but there were so many drifts it was impossible. But we ended up helping another guy get out. He told us he was stuck for 3 hours. And he had a truck! Yeah, it was super windy, and it was white out conditions for most of the day.

 

Saturday night I got a phone call from Bart asking if I could give a talk on Sunday. He wasn't able to find another speaker to talk with Elder French. I was told when he asked Elder French that if they needed to fill time they could just call on me to bear my testimony, so needless to say I thought I had gotten off the hook. But he didn't give me a topic, so I just chose the easiest one for me: The Book of Mormon. I actually was able to take up 15 minutes. I was pretty happy of myself. And no one fell asleep either.

 

It was pretty neat, we went to see if Ashley and Peter were ready for church. We had planned to help push their car out. It had gotten stuck with all the snow. But it wouldn't even start. So Ashley and her 3 year old daughter walked to church! It was pretty cold out too. She's very dedicated!

 

I don't really have anything else. This morning we helped the Morrissette's pull out their old hardwood floor. It was pretty fun. We basically just did a bunch of service this week. Which is definitely good. Elder French is trying to get all the service in that he can, I think. But that's really all I've got for this week. I love you all! Hope you have a great week!

 

Love,

Elder C. Lyons

 

Pics 1-snow 2-half pound Reese's 3-all bundled up!

 

Great Year Already!!

New year's was pretty fun last week. We actually had 2 meal appointments. We went to the Regnier's at 5 and ate these South African taco things. It was a lot like Cafe Rio minus the heat (Canadians despise spicy). I really liked it because I've been missing Mexican food pretty badly. But I ate way too much. Then we went to the Abad's. They're a Filipino family in the branch. They had an absolute feast! I was so full! They even had like the whole fish with the eyes and the fins and the tail! It was Tilapia, so it was really good....well except for the first bite I took. I didn't know what to do, so I just cut into my piece and ate fins, scales, bones, and all. It wasn't fun. Sister Abad was practically in tears she was laughing so hard. Needless to say, I learned to go just for the white meat underneath all the scales and what not. After that it was much more enjoyable.

 

I got the package from the Sorpold's on Tuesday. It was really great. So much candy! I am drowning in it! But thanks :) I loved the picture Natters. That was really good. I'm afraid I didn't describe the belt, so I don't even think the one you sent is mine. Sorry about that. Don't worry about it though. The CD is great. I'm sure the BYU CD is some where in Meagan's room though. I was almost positive about that....I might be crazy though.

 

We had some pretty good lessons this week. Our lesson with Hedley and Brandy was really scrambled though. They were both really worried because Brandy lost the keys to the truck they were borrowing from a friend. So we decided to go help them look for the keys on Saturday morning. We looked for a while, and it was pretty difficult with all the snow. Brandy was even looking through the trash. She didn't like that job very much, ha ha. Finally, E. French got on his hands and knees next to the mailbox and started sweeping through the snow. Then, he found them. Brandy was very excited! Hedley was also very thankful.

 

This week we also helped a man we met tracting move a bunch of snow. He has a raised front yard, so we were removing a bunch of the snow from his lawn in front of his house in order to prevent flooding...if that makes sense. Basically we just moved a whole ton of snow! It was actually pretty fun. The guy was a bit older, and after we finished, he invited us in for hot chocolate. I was actually super sweaty because it was a nice day, only about -15 C. But it was really great hot chocolate. And his wife made some amazing chocolate cake! She sent us home with some cookies and buns, too. It was fantastic. Really nice old couple.

 

Sunday was a really good day. We met with 2 Filipino investigators in the morning before church. Sam's brother is a member back in the Philippines. He had some really good questions. Dianna also was very interested. They both came to church. The Abad's were very excited. They spoke Tagalog a bunch. It was neat. Peter and Ashley also came to church. It was a full house! It was really great to see that many investigators at church. The branch was really excited. Bart was actually conducted, so he was the first to bear his testimony. He started to talk about the missionaries, and how he was grateful for the chance he had to talk with Mom in person. He said that my siblings may appreciate that they get my room (yep that's you Meagan), but he could tell that you all really missed me. He shared that it really just hit him that I'm some one's son, and he really appreciates your willingness to loan me to the branch. Everyone laughed at the part about the room, but Bart seemed really impressed with our family. I just love this branch so much! After church Sister Regnier stopped me to tell us good job. She told me that she's been coming to more teaching appointments lately than she had on her mission! It was funny, but it's really great to feel the love and support of the branch. This branch is really full of golden people!

 

Oh one last thing before I forget: after we found the keys, Hedley invited us in for some hot chocolate. Sam tried to give me one of her lip gloss things. Brandy asked if it was the one that actually smelled good. She took a sniff and said that it was. She told us that one of the things that Sam has smells...then she paused and said, "Well....it smells like butt, is what is smells like!" I laughed so hard...oh man! I want to stay in Weyburn forever...but transfer calls are this Friday, so we'll see what happens. I love you lots! Have a great week!

 

Love,

Elder C. Lyons

12/24/12 That was fast!!

Just so you don't worry about it, I sent Dad all the details about skype and what not. It should work out.

 

This week went by extremely fast! I can't believe that it's already Christmas tomorrow! Super weird. This week was pretty difficult to set up times to meet with people because the holidays were quickly approaching. But we did manage to meet with the old couple we tracted into this summer. They were doing well, but super busy. We taught the Restoration. It was a good lesson, but they were a little overwhelmed. We might be able to meet with them again in January, but they might be busy.

 

We were also able to meet with Ashley and Peter again. But I was exhausted because we went and helped Bro Regnier out in Radville again that same day. And I also have a cold, but it was still a pretty good lesson. We mostly just talked about the purpose of scripture study and prayer. It was good.

 

It was a slow week as far as lessons go. But we were able to contact a ton of missing investigators because they were actually home. That was a plus side of the holidays. Another plus is that in general everyone that we talked to was nicer, but for the most part, the answer we got from everyone was to try back in the new year. So not very productive.

 

Yesterday, we went out carolling with the Regnier's. It was really fun. We started out at the old folks' home because Sister Regnier's mom lives there. It was pretty funny, there was this group of people playing cards, and when we walked by, I asked how this old lady was doing. She looked at me and smiled and said, "I'm doing good, but this getting old business is no fun.... Don't do it!" Pretty funny old lady. We sang to some investigators and members in town. It was pretty good.

 

So...I don't want to say this is pointless, but we will be talking tomorrow. So that's about all I've got. Love ya! Merry Christmas!

 

Love,

Elder C. Lyons

 

PS. Before I forget, I actually thought of something you could send with Bart. I have like a BYU Men's chorus CD in my old room. That would be neat. Anyways, that is all.

Zone Conference

All of us in the apartment for Zone Conference

My Awesome Magnetic Birthday Stickers

So I've been terrible at sending pics, sorry Mom, so I made sure I sent some of zone conference and stuff.

 

This week was very busy. We've been running all over the place. We were leaving for Regina Thursday morning, so most of our appointments were early in the week. So the first half of the week was pretty full. We met with someone we found last week again. Her name is Ashley. Can't remember if I wrote about her. Anyways, we now have another family to teach because her fiancee (however you say that) has now joined into the teaching. Pretty interesting because they basically have zero religious background, so we have nothing to build off of. But it's a working progress. Ashley has been keeping commitments, so it will keep moving along as long as she does keep commitments.

 

Zone conference was really good. We had just a short bit of instruction, then it was all Christmas stuff. The instruction was interesting, though. Pres Thomas wants us to do more effective finding activities than tracting. He said that he almost wants to ban it completely. Pretty crazy. Tracting takes up quite a large chunk of my time, so I'd be a little lost at first if we banned it. But the Christmas stuff was really fun. We did a program for the senior couples and Pres Thomas. Sis Thomas led us in some Christmas songs, and we all read scriptures. It was ridiculous, the missionary in front of me in the choir seats was singing in his "opera voice". Nobody around him could keep composure enough to sing. It was so funny. But I'm honestly surprised Sis Thomas didn't smack him or something. She went for the "ignore it and it will go away" approach. Not effective. It was pretty great. Elder Perkins.... What a goof.

 

Thanks for the letters and stuff. It was really great. After we got the letters and ate lunch, we had a white elephant thing. I opened up my present and saw what I thought was cookie sheets. I opened the box, and there was chocolate. There was also a bunch of random things. I don't even know. Then I saw this letter addressed to Jared. That didn't seem right. I was like, "who's Jared?" Elder Perkins was all, "a guy that ate Subway and lost a bunch of weight." Turns out it was a package for one of the missionaries in my district. He thought it was just cookie sheets, so he wrapped it and brought it along. Apparently his mom had sent it from home. He let me keep all the stuff in it, besides the letter. And I got to open another gift. Works out for me. I got a whoopee cushion.

 

Elder Lyons in front of temple in Regina

So, when I was opening my b-day package, Sis Thomas was standing right there. Ha ha, I saw what I thought was toy story stickers. I pulled them out to look at them, when the pack of some more stickers caught my eye: Tangled? So I pulled them out and read the note. Ha ha...Sis Thomas was standing right there....oh, priceless.

 

The best part of zone conference was when we got to go to the temple as a zone. It was so good! I loved it. I sent some pictures of the temple. It's really pretty in the snow.

 

So...yeah. Still recovering from the travel and such, but it was a really neat experience. This week will probably zoom right by. We've got appointments set up for most of the week. Should be a great week. Thanks again for everything. Have a great week! I sure love ya!   Elder Lyons