A Baptism and Mostly Legal!

     ALRIGHT, the best news this week is....(well actually the baptism coming up is the best news)   I'M LEGAL in Belgium again!!!! and I am ....almost legal in France!!!!  We spent 3 days getting it all figured out but it looks like it is finally almost over! This means we can work more effectively and not be distracted AND EXHAUSTED from all of the travelling!!

     This week was awesome!! Last P-Day we had a rendezvous with Phillipe and he is pretty much awesome. He is truly searching for truth and has been to tons of other religions searching for it. He liked the application of Joseph Smiths story to him, and how Joseph had searched a lot of religions also.  Ultimately Joseph found his answer through sincere prayer!! We committed him to finding out for himself if our message was true.  We should see him again sometime this week.

     We saw Francoise again, and holy cow it was intense. At first we thought we were going to lose her because she sent us a letter last week that basically said that she was touched by what we have shared with her but that it wasn't for her and she wanted to return the Book of Mormon to us. Me and Elder Reed felt like we needed to randomly stop by her place last Thursday, even though she normally should of been busy.  We had NO idea what we were going to say....all we knew was that we needed to go see her. So we headed up to her house and she was surprised to see us.  She asked us if we got her letter...we said.., "yeah, that's why were are here!" She let us in and we just discussed what she had been feeling and listened really carefully to everything she said. She had been on vacation and she met a nice catholic priest who had really touched her and she felt like she needed to return to her catholic roots and she would find the answers she needed. I still don't even remember all of what we said and everything we asked. Basically, we found out that she still did not find what she wanted with the priest and that the biggest question she has is, "what happens after this life, is death the end?"  We felt very strongly to testify that there is a life after this life, that God has prepared a special place for all of us.  This life is for us to prepare to merit this place.  Through the Book of Mormon we can find the answers to such questions, and by the example of Joseph Smiths story... we know that if the Book of Mormon is true, that God called him as a prophet, but more importantly he really did see our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. MEANING... they do truly live!!!!   MEANING... there is a life after death!!! She was touched, you could tell, and she really likes us. We left her with a chapter to read and pray about in the BOM and she said she'd like to see us next week!

     Then the most awesome of the awesomeness that went down this week is: that Sandrine had a very spiritual experience at church and Coralie  LOVES primary! They are very integrated already in the ward and we fixed a baptismal date for the 22nd of October!! WOO!! This week was kinda full of stuff and  next week is going to be even better!!   ((PS I sent a letter on Friday to home and today I will send one to Aunt Lili with a letter for (her of course) as well as Chris and Grandma!! No I did not get any packages yet.....sorry))

    So you wanted to know what our mission goals are....well they go like this:

                   1.  find three new amies every week

                   2.  teach twenty lessons a week

                   3.  have one baptism a month

     My favorite thing about Belgium is most definitely the people. I have been so blessed to be able to love and serve them. They have an interesting culture and they care a lot about their families.......they also make amazing food!!! Such as waffles and chocolate!

     I don't know if I can really pick a favorite companion........they have all touched me in different ways. I think that Elder Wood is by far the most loving and charitable man I have ever met.... Elder Crump was a fantastic leader and very very smart.....Elder Clawson and Elder Fortuna are very very hard workers and also were perfectly obedient.....Elder Kirkland was just awesome and I am still mad that I only got to serve with him for 4 weeks.  He was just an all around good person in every way and we taught very well together.....Elder Porter has a big heart and he is a fighter.  It's hard to get him down and he helps you become a better person, GREAT leader.......Elder Reed  is another all around good guy and it is hard to pick one thing he is good at because he has got a bit of everything!!

        SO ..I hope that answers some questions and I hope y'all get my letters soon!!! Love you lots

Elder Lyons

 

Everything is back to Normal!!

So!

 

    First the good news!  The legality nightmare is basically over!!!  I have been very blessed and lets just say that God was very merciful to me. Normally it takes 2 weeks to get a new passport...however the guy in the embassy pulled some strings for me because he likes missionaries.  He got it for me the very day I came in.   To this day I still don't know how I fixed another rendezvous with the prefecture in France ,before my visa expires and without a visa at all, because you can't recover those after they are stolen.   Apparently my copies were enough!!!! In summary, after a long 2 weeks of running back and forth across the border and avoiding the nasty "fete de wallonie"  (PS if you remember the carnival in Dunkerque......it was kinda like that) we get to start real work again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

 

 

    We have actually had...(well, if recovering my identity was not a big enough miracle) two super awesome miracles!!!   The first one was that we found a new investigator in the midst of all of this .....crap that we were dealing with! We were headed to a mission leader apointment and this random guy asks us (in english) who we were and where we were from. He didn't understand or know Idaho very well so.... I changed the conversation to French to explain to him where it was.  He was super surprised that we actually spoke French. Turns out this man, named Michel, has had some rough experiences, and used to be a bit ..rough.  One day he got sick of doing all of these bad things like drugs or what not and started studying religions....loads of different ones.  Overall his favorite part was Jesus Christ, and you could tell that he had made a lot of progress in his life!! We taught him a few principles of the apostacy and what Christ did while he was on the earth and the need for prophets and he just loved it!! We have a rendezvous with him at the church this Wednesday!! We also finnally have a rendezvous with Phillipe today and another one with Andrés this Wednesday!!!!! We have got a lot of work to do and a lot of new people to teach so it should be exciting!!

 

    The last miracle happened yesterday!! SANDRINE TOOK CORALIE TO CHURCH!!!! and she really enjoyed it!!! We have seen them progress so much since we found them and Coralie is super pumped to be baptized. This week we are going to finalize all of the plans for her to be baptized in mid October.  I don't really know if I can find words to describe how happy I am for them, and how much they have progressed!!  They are happier and you can see it!! Totally makes up for all of the last few crazy days, bar none!!  IT is amazing to see what the gospel can do in a persons life. Miracles have not ceased and they take place everywhere, even when we feel like everything is goin down the pooper !!

 

I am glad to hear everything is going so well at home.  I am sorry that Meagan pulled her hammy ....thats lame ...I am also sorry that Chris's rommies are.....strange.  Soon you'll be on a mission and you will meet even stranger peeps!!! hehehe .....I am probably not helping....but seriously your not socially akward and I'm sure your rocking it up at the Y....

    Well I loves ya tons and I am excited to send yall some letters this week.  I have literrally hsd no time to do anything the past few weeks  because I was traveling everywhere!!!

P.S. I have everything I need, and yes I recieved my money!!! Thanks Grandpa, you are the best!!!

 

Love Elder Lyons

And the moral of the story is.... Don't let your bag out of sight!

O.K. everyone,  I don't usually do this, but this e-mail needs a little explaining.  Last Thursday Elder Lyons was on the train on his way to do his legality when his bag was stolen.  All of his personal documents were in the bag.  Definitely an "OH, crap" moment. The mission home called to tell me what had happened and my first thought when I heard who was on the line was, he's had a pancreatitis attack and is in the hospital.  I was greatly relieved to know it was just a stolen bag.  Although the paper work is a pain, I am glad it is possible to get it all taken care of while he is there. The lesson he learned, NEVER LET YOUR HANDS OFF YOUR BAG WHILE ON A CROWDED TRAIN!!

    On a more positive note, for you family and friends who have not heard, Chris has been called to serve in the Winnipeg, Canada mission.  He reports Jan. 25th.  He is very excited.  Love ya all, Cyndie

    Well... This e-mail is not going to be the longest of e-mails.  Basically, the sum up of the week is:   I have been running back and forth  between France and Belgium trying to figure out how to solve the problem of having my "identity stolen. "    Long story short, is that missionary work unfortunately took a little bit of a stand still.   Not having a phone also makes things complicated.  We somehow managed to fix a meeting at the US embassy in Brussels this Wednesday after calling them and making personal visits and everything.....(very time consuming btw) and after all the hassle to finally get in they tell me that I have to fix an appointment online.  I can't do it by phone or in person (beings we were already there!)    If you couldn't tell, I was a little frustrated.  I am not to worried and I think everything will work out, but the thing that bothers me the most is how much time it takes away from working!!!!!!

     I am super happy to hear that Chris is soon to be going on his mish!!! Canada! Well that's kinda like France heehee! Man that will be super tight!

     Well I am sorry but I really am exhausted.    I  have not slept hardly at all the past few nights due to all the travel.  I am going to have to stop here.  Know that I am super grateful for all that you have done for me.  I know that loads of you have sacrificed time and money so that I could be out here.  More importantly, your love gives me the energy and drive to keep on chugging even when I don't feel like it! Your awesome and I will do my best to send some letters soon!

 

Elder Lyons

Tired but Happy

I'M SO TIRED!! ( he he he)

 

    This week was just as packed as the last one and it was super awesome!! First of all, we had our last district meeting of last transfer.   We had two new members added to our district. The new couple missionaries, (the Oakelberries.....probably spelled that wrong,) got into Liège last week . Guess where they are from?  IDAHO, YES! They are farmers from Twin Falls and they sold everything to come out here...pretty intense! They asked me if I knew Steven street in good old Pocatello, because that is where their daughter lives.  I said ,"YEP".  They must be in ...I think it is the Parry's ward?  I should ask them what her name is again because we might know them!   Anyways, we taught a SUPER awesome lesson on the atonement and the need to incorporate this principle in every lesson. I felt inspired to teach this after planning.  I remembered a lesson given by Elder Holland at the MTC where he said one of the things the missionaries need to teach better is the atonement.  Sometimes they forget, with all of the other principles that they teach, or maybe they feel like the investigators get that one already.  The atonement should be, and is, the most important thing we should be teaching!!!  IT went VERY well!!! 

      Later that night we had rendezvous with Françoise and also Andrés. We taught the restoration of the gospel through Joseph Smith but focused, even more closely, this time on Jesus Christ and His atonement! The whole reason the restoration is important in the first place, is that it restored lost ordinances and principles of the gospel that help us understand Christ and His atonement more clearly!!! This was the focus of our lessons.  Especially with Françoise, who has been searching for truth for a while.  The spirit was super strong ,and we were able to discern by the spirit, what they needed and where each lesson needed to go!!!  It was sweet!!  We explained the history of Joseph Smith and how hard he was searching and related it to Françoise very well.  We explained how he searched everywhere for truth, loads of different religious sects, the scriptures, and he just was not quite getting it.  But, one day he was inspired after reading in the book of James to ask God what he should do.  What church he should join?, if any!   He did, he prayed and he saw our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  He was instructed to join none of the churches because all of them were corrupted.  Many came close to the truth, but had fallen short, due to an inheritance of apostasy after the all of the apostles and church leaders were killed and rejected.  The fullness of the gospel was to be restored.  Joseph was to prepare himself to be the prophet to restore the Church of Jesus Christ.  He was lead to an ancient volume of scriptures, that was preserved by God, that contained the fullness of His gospel, and Joseph translated them by the power of God!!!!   This story is incredible and there is no real physical proof that it is true....except the Book of Mormon. If we read this book and ponder it's teachings, and sincerely ask God, with faith, if it is true, He will reveal unto us that it is indeed true.  But why is that important?  This is what Andrés asked, us in reviewing this lesson. Well, if we receive an answer to our prayers that this book truly is the word of God ,and was translated by Joseph Smith,  that means that Joseph Smith really was called of God to be a prophet, and that He really saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. It means that God exists! It means that He does still talk to men on the earth and that He does have a church to help lead and teach us how to become better people and one day return to Him.  This church is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!!   Both Françoise and Andres agreed to read and ponder the Book of Mormon and to find out for themselves if it was true!!!

     Later this week we had another awesome rendezvous with Sandrine and Coralie. We taught again the story of the restoration, but this time we used images to describe the story! It was sweet! When we got to the images of Christ and taught how he died for our sins and all of our difficulties, Coralie was shocked and asked us," Why would they kill Jesus?"  Wow,  that was a powerful question.  The spirit was just incredible and we finally said we don't know, but he submitted to let them do so because of how much He loves us!!

    This week we are going to fix a baptismal date for her.  We have been so excited to see how much they have progressed!!   The last step is to get them to CHURCH!!!!

    Well loads of other stuff went on this week but I will be sending the details by letter!!!  I love you loads and I CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR WHERE CHRIS IS GOING ON HIS MISSION...CROSS YOUR FINGERS FOR PARIS FRANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Love y'all tons!!!

Elder Lyons