Transfers

I can't remember if I wrote about transfer calls being last week or not. Anyways, transfer calls came on Thursday evening. Elder French and I will both be staying! We were both surprised and excited. It's the first time that I will stay with a companion and in an area for more than 3 months. It's really nice cause at about 3 months I really start to love an area. And I won't have to leave it this time, ha ha! I can really see the potential of the Weyburn branch. Last week we opened up the overflow! It was really something to see!

 

This week started off really well. We met with Hedley and Brandy and talked about prayer. Both related that they thought that they had received answers to their prayers. We could really see them beginning to be happy. At the start of the lesson they were upset, but at the end they were hopeful.

 

We also met with another family on Thursday, Lorie and Shane. They have 2 kids, Mackenzie and Chase. We've had a difficult time setting appointments with them. So our plan for the lesson was to ask what their expectations were, and really why it was that they wanted to meet with us. It was a fantastic lesson! Shane mentioned that he just wants to gain a belief. He said that he felt happy when we met with them, and he even felt happy for a little while afterwards. But then the feeling went away. He then said, "I guess that's when I should read the book." We were then able to explain the Spirit and why it is that we invite them to read, pray, and come to church. We even talked about baptism as the way for us to keep the happy feelings they have with them always. They want to be baptized, but they just don't want to rush into it. So close. We will be meeting with them tonight.

 

Hedley and Brandy and also Lorie and Shane had all said that they would be at church, but on Saturday they all had something come up and couldn't make it. It was sad, but it's just a hiccup. We were able to meet with Hedley and Brandy yesterday. They had a really rough week. They both have a bunch of questions, so we decided to devote an entire lesson just to answering their questions. Basically we talked the whole time about one question, "why is life so hard?" It's really a question that I would be shocked if they weren't wondering about. I don't feel that we were really able to answer it. And I don't think it's possible for us to answer it. It's a question that we all have to answer ourselves in order for the answer to be both lasting and satisfying. It's just hard to see someone suffering and not be able to tell them exactly why they are suffering. Only God knows. So we encouraged them to read the Book of Mormon together and pray together. I know it will help.

 

Next week is the Calgary temple dedication, so our regular church meetings are cancelled. They're cancelled province wide actually. So that should be interesting. It will be broadcast to Regina, so hopefully we get to go. I think it would be really neat.

 

I don't think that I have anything else other than that we will have a lesson at the Regnier's tonight with an investigating family in McTaggart. The Regnier's are a really strong family, so it should be a powerful lesson. Last lesson was good, so I'm looking forward to it.

 

I don't have anything else. I hope everyone has a great week. Love you all!

 

Love,

Elder C. Lyons

Crazy Insane Miracles

Well, this week is just one of those weeks that makes me wonder how in the world I am still sane! So much has happened. As I mentioned last email, I was a little sick. Well, that little turned to a lot more, until I just couldn't go anymore! On Thursday, we were working, and I just couldn't focus for the life of me. So at lunch I took a nap. I then decided it would be beneficial if I took an extra 30 minutes or so to rest. Four hours later, I woke up. Yeah...It was terrible. I really couldn't function, but after the nap, I started feeling better. So needless to say, there were a few curve balls this week!

 

We did so much this week! We met with Hedley and Brandy on Wednesday night. They said they weren't sure if they wanted to come to church. So we set up a church tour on Saturday, so that they could feel like not everything was new and strange. It went well. We even had some of the Regnier's there to help us teach about some of the aspects of church. We met later that night because they informed us that they wanted to ask us some questions. Basically, Brandy was terribly worried about her daughter Sam. Rightly so because I had never seen the girl sit still! She is just full of energy! We assured her that it would be fine.

 

Sunday morning, Elder French and I were waiting by the door for Hedley and Brandy and their 2 daughters, Kia and Sam. We had been praying that all would go well, and that Sam would be able to be reverent. As we were waiting, Bro Brown walks in and says, "I think you have some friends outside." We walked out, and I see Sam holding hands and skipping with little Sarah Brown! Sarah arrived at the same time as Hedley and company, she saw Kia and Sam, and she just walked up and said, "Hi! My name is Sarah! wanna be friends!" Sarah and Sam sat together and I have never seen the 2 of them more still in reverent! It was a miracle! It really softened up Hedley and Brandy. They had a great experience. When they got home Kia asked, "Can we go to church?" Brandy told her, "yeah, next Sunday." It is just exciting to see how they are progressing despite all opposition.

 

Yes, opposition. So we also had an investigator at church who behaved himself a little unruly. OK, a lot unruly. It was ridiculous. Our gospel principles class was pretty interesting! We had to meet with Hedley and Brandy last evening to do some damage control. But it is no small miracle that all is well! It was just frustrating that it had to happen on their first Sunday when all was just falling into place.

 

Elder French also had a bit of an interesting week. I was sick, he was just in a bad stretch of luck. He has been studying humility. Ha ha...just yesterday, as we were leaving the Regnier's after supper, he kicked a can of paint down the stairs. Hahaha..I'm a terrible companion. Anyways, green paint was everywhere, no one knows why the paint was there, and it's alright cause they're planning on replacing the carpet. Then, we finally get back to our trailer. We finish planning and all we had to do. He sits in his chair, leans back, and takes a deep breath...Crash! His chair breaks through an air vent, and he tumbles backward! Humility has a funny way of sneaking up on you, eh?

 

Well, I think I've done enough damage for one day. I love you all. Good luck at districts! Tear it up! I love you all, my prayers are with you. Have a great week!

 

Love,

Elder C. Lyons

Canadian Thanksgiving!

Wow, so yeah, yesterday or not even yesterday, Monday was Thanksgiving. We weren't sure last week what would be going on, so that's why I couldn't clue you in. But we did travel up to Regina on Sunday night. (I stayed in the Wascana apt. which is still weird to go back to). And then on Monday morning we drove up to Saskatoon. We had a zone wide p-day/ Thanksgiving celebration! We played dodge ball, Indian football, and of course ate a bunch of food. I was done for because we ate a ton at the Regnier's on Sunday. Ha ha, we even had a huge tie trade. I picked up some pretty decent ties. It was a lot of fun. I'll be sending pictures. We drove back to Regina on Monday, and left from Regina on Tuesday morning to go to district meeting in Moose Jaw. Yeah, I'm exhausted! And I've caught a cold, so the rest of the week should be interesting. By the way it's really weird to have Thanksgiving before Halloween. But it is much colder up here. We actually woke up to a little snow on Tuesday and today.

 

I did get the package last Tuesday. Thank you so much. It's so great!  The assistants and zone leaders came and picked us up and took us to district meeting. Then we came back to Weyburn to blitz the area. We found a really neat family that are friends with the Regnier's. Laura lee and  her son Cory. She really wanted to watch conference, but she was out of town for the weekend. We had a great lesson with them. Curtis Regnier was really great at sharing his testimony. He's invited Cory to several activities and is no doubt a huge part of the reason that they've begun investigating.

 

We also had an incredible lesson with James and Becky on Thursday. James is amazing! He's read everything from the Introduction to 1 Nephi 4. He and his family would have been at conference, but he got called into work and was basically there all weekend out of cell service. So he missed all of our reminder calls and didn't get our messages. Oh well. But anyways, that was an amazing lesson. I have never felt the spirit so strongly during a first vision recite than during that lesson! It was just incredible. We met with James last night, Becky was gone. He really likes the Book of Mormon and is now committed to pray about it. We helped him resolve his concerns, and he would be at church. But they are going to be in Saskatoon for a wedding. Curse being busy!

 

We also finally met with Hedly and his wife Brandy. They're both troopers. They've been through so much. For that reason, they have some doubts. It will most likely be a slow, steady effort with them. But they definitely trust us. They are actually worried that we are going to leave. Ha ha...I guess that's happened to them before. They really started to like some missionaries, then they got transferred and the new elders were not very nice. We told them to get baptized before we left, just to make sure it would work out. No..ha ha...we reassured them that we would make sure that whoever came to visit them would be kind and would have nothing but their best interest at heart. I really love their family, and can't wait to see them truly feel God's love.

 

The next big thing that happened was that Greg came to conference. He bought us pizza after the Saturday session. He's really great. He's a recent convert that went less active. He just randomly called us on Monday (last Monday). He's now meeting with us and wants to pass and bless the sacrament. He is huge! Just a big teddy bear, though. It's great to see how much happier he is. I saw him for about 30 seconds last transfer. He didn't want anything at all to do with us, and he just looked mean! But he's a happy guy now. He calls us every day.

 

Ha ha..we helped Bro Regnier tear down his deck. It was ridiculous. It was really rotted. It was vinyl on top of wood. At one point, we were taking all the screws out of the vinyl boards, so we could take them off. I missed one screw, so I went back to get it. It was one of the last 3 boards, and Elder French was standing on them about to take them off. I told him he wouldnt' be able to cause I forgot a screw. He just said, "what are you talking about?" All snotty like. Then, there was this cracking sound, all of a sudden the deck was collapsing. He had to abandon ship before she sank. It was so funny! Ha, that's what you get! Good times!

 

How about the missionary announcement?! I wish it was in effect before I came out. Then I wouldn't be coming back to BYU to face the terrible grades I left behind. Yikes! I think it's great for the sisters too. Just a little different. That's the age I came out at! I think there will be a big flood of sisters though. Which is definitely a good thing. Sisters are just good missionaries.

 

Well conference was great. I'm excited to get back to work. And hopefully the basement situation gets worked out. That's no fun. I love you all, and I hope you have a great week.

 

Love,

Elder C. Lyons

---

What the?

So first off it feels like I just barely emailed, but at the same time a ton has happened. So don't worry I won't be sending a one liner.

 

Well, the last few days have been eventful. Like I emailed last week, we've been doing a bunch of traveling. My eyes have really been opened to how much the branch is actually spread out! Some members have to drive over an hour just to get to church. It's crazy! That has really been the major challenge in coordinating not only missionary work but just about anything really. However, we have discussed some great ideas for how we can unite the branch. I'm excited! It's going to be great. So on the topic of visiting members, we were able to visit a few families this week. One that was fun to get to know was the Lim's and the Kim's. They are from Korea. Sister Kim is staying with the Lim's, and I believe she is waiting for her husband to come. (Not really sure on that one. Communication is a bit spotty at times.) Anyways, we had authentic Korean food! It is fantastic! I tried eating with chopsticks, but I got embarrassed. Plus it couldn't get the job done quick enough. They are just a great family. They all came out to see us off when we left. It was hilarious, I waved and said, "bye!" They were all in a perfect line, and they all waved and said, "bye!" at the same time. It was priceless. I wish I could have taken a picture. Let's see, we also visited the Brown's this week. They are a young family that live in Kisbey (about an hour from Weyburn). Their kids are great. Their oldest is in kindergarten. Her name is Sarah, and she told us a story at dinner about a time she ate a WHOLE box of oreos even though they had just bought them. She told us that when she had to go to the bathroom, she barfed all over herself! It was not possible for me to hold back a laugh on that one. I think it was mostly the presentation that made that one. Good times.

 

That paragraph is huge, so I will start a new one. I've really been able to realize how great this branch is this week. There are just some stellar families here. I've loved being able to get to know them all a little bit better. We also were able to do some service when we visited the Tiefenbach's. We helped them build and put up some walls for their shed. I really couldn't have realized how much I would learn about manual labor on my mission. I'm pretty sure the branch has conspired to learn me a little from the time they found out I was a city boy. At least it feels that way. Just because I had no idea what on earth a sump pump was. I'm pretty sure that Brother Regnier has some more projects for us, too. We'll see what I learn this time.

 

Well, now that I've taken you down that side road, let's talk about investigators. Okay, we did have some more lessons fall through. But we did reschedule with many of them. So it will work out. I think I wrote about how we were able to finally have a meeting with Laurie and Shane. They're still a little hard to get a hold of, but at least we've started meeting with them again. And we did see their daughter at the salvation army food drive on Saturday. That was fun by the way. A lot like the one in Pocatello, but on a much smaller scale of course. Let's see...other than that we will be making some phone calls to set up lessons.

 

So, ha, we actually had to move trailers this weekend. We actually had a scare there for 2 weeks that we weren't going to be able to stay in Weyburn. But we got the trailer that were in now, which is still sort of a temporary thing. I don't really know what exactly is going to happen. That's why I haven't written about housing. But maybe that explains why I have sounded a little stressed lately! But, all is well.

 

Sunday we taught the joint relief society, priesthood meeting. We taught about missionary work. It was really good. We're trying to help the members broaden their horizons a little and increase their vision of missionary work in Weyburn. We spent a substantial amount of time preparing the lesson, and I think that it payed off. Hopefully, anyways.

 

Let's see, last but not least, we saw the northern lights yesterday! We were traveling back from Kisbey, and I spotted them! It was actually Elder French's first time seeing them. It's weird, they sorta start out looking like a cloud or something. Then they get more and more defined until they're spread all the way across the sky. It's amazing!

 

Well, that's all I got. I sure love you all! Have a great week!

 

Love,

Elder C. Lyons

Things Are Happening

So the library was closed on Monday, and we were traveling to Moose Jaw yesterday for district meeting. That's why I didn't have time to email until today.

 

Zone conference was amazing. Elder Zwick really just told it how it was! I think I may be missing some eyebrows because of the heat! It was crazy. He apologized several times because he said he is "passionate" about missionary work. Specifically working with members. We really focused on Ward Mission Plans. It hit me hard because our branch really doesn't have a plan. So for the past week or so we have been meeting with the branch president, the branch mission leader, and all the families in the branch to discuss a revision of the plan. It has been a lot of work! But suddenly now, we have all sorts of investigators to work with. It's really amazing that as soon as we made a greater effort to work with the branch, we've been blessed with several people to teach. We will be teaching combined Relief Society, Priesthood tomorrow, so hopefully we can present and brainstorm some great ideas.

 

Speaking of people to teach, we had a pretty great lesson with a family that I had never met with. They have either missed appointments or have been unavailable for about the past 2 months. But we finally got to meet with them. And it was incredible to see how willing they were to learn. Shane, the father seems a little hesitant, but his wife Laurie and his daughter Mackenzie are both very excited to pray and read. Mackenzie is only 12, but she had been reading and praying even when we were unable to meet. We're really excited to meet with them on Friday and continue to see their family progress.

 

Also, on last Wednesday we met with a couple we tracted into named Becky and James. They were really open and something that stood out to me was their love for their kids. They really want their kids to have positive lives through a belief in God. We taught and testified about the Book of Mormon, and they committed to read. We invited Becky to say the closing prayer, and in her prayer, she thanked Heavenly Father for the Book of Mormon. Needless to say, we are excited to teach them tomorrow.

 

We've set up several other potential appointments which has been really incredible for me to be a part of. A week ago, we were unable to find anyone who was interested, and even the investigators we had been working with were difficult to set appointments with. But I know that we have been blessed because we are working the way the Lord intends us to, with the members. I am convinced that we must work together in order for the Lord's work to progress. I know that there are great things in store for Weyburn!

 

Another incredible thing happened on Saturday. We tracted into a Filipino man who invited us in. We taught a little about the Book of Mormon and prophets. He is really interested in learning more because his brother joined the church in the Philippines. He said he wants to talk to him about it before we meet again, so he can have more questions to ask. He also invited his housemate to come and talk with us. We look forward to meeting with both of them again. 

 

So clearly there has been plenty of things happening to keep us busy. We should be very busy again this week, and I'm really praying that we can inspire ourselves and the members to work together. I hope that all of you have a great week. Good luck in all that's going on! Love you!

 

Love,

Elder C. Lyons

 

 

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