New Year's Evolutions: From Overthrowing the British to Monkeys... and Everything in Between

Let’s pretend that I am not 2 days late on this and let’s talk about New Year’s Resolutions. And how they last for about 3 weeks and by the beginning of February we are sitting on the couch, eating nachos, wondering where that perfect, thin, super social, genius of a person we all imagined just a few short weeks ago went. She ran away with your motivation. And left with nothing but frustration. But why? You were so pumped and full of inspiration! You may have even written your goals down, but now you are left in a state of agitation. 

Whoa… Let’s pause and look at some definitions:

Resolution: a firm decision to do or not to do something.

Revolution: a forcible overthrow of a government or social order in favor of a new system.

Evolution: the gradual development of something, esp. from a simple to a more complex form.

(All definitions were copied and pasted from google and therefore are strictly academic)

Now, you may be thinking, “What the heck is she thinking?” What can your New Year’s resolutions have to do with men in three cornered hat kicking out some snobby-tea-drinkin’ British. And monkeys. Particularly the kind of monkeys that magically transform into humans over time. There is a connection. Promise.

So, let’s look at your New Year’s resolutions. The holidays are over and you are trying now to gear up to go back to reality. If you are anything like me you have officially overeaten almost every day and, you know, one more cookie can’t be THAT bad. You reminisce over the year past and come to a startling realization… you are basically the same person you were 365 days ago. You jerk with a start and rush to the nearest piece of paper and hurriedly pound out your New Year’s resolutions. Exercise, healthy eating, getting good grades, being nicer to your kids, breaking that nasty habit. You are going to be perfect this year. You have found the solution. And as the ball drops in New York and you count down the last seconds of the old year, you are confident that this year, well, this year will be different.

Fast forward a few months to February. Remember you are sitting on the couch, pigging out, and wondering what went wrong. I’ll tell you. You wanted a revolution.

Remember a revolutions is a forcible overthrow of a government or social order in favor of a new system. No, you are not a colonial man poorly disguised as a Native American pouring tea into the harbor. But you are sick of the old you and want a new order, a new system. You feel the change in the air. Your inner government has got to go! Off with its head! (whoops, wrong revolution). You want results, and you want them now. Your mind has feed you all these images of instant heroic acts that will fill the pages of history books, and be admired for years to come. Well, I hate to break it to you. It ain’t gonna happen. You are going to lose steam. You’re going to hit your Valley Forge moment and give up. And that’s when you find yourself on the couch, once again.

What I am suggesting is we start New Year’s Evolutions. Now, I am not suggesting that we should all sprout and extra pair of legs or turn blue to blend with our environment. Leave biology behind and look at the definition again from a spiritual, practical point of view. Gradually (did you catch that word? It’s important) becoming a more complex version of a simple form. Right now we are in our simple form. “For ye are all the children of God.” (Galations 3:26)  We are children. We are evolving from a child to what God knows we can become. He see the evolution. The slow but steady progression to perfection. So how do we do all this evolving stuff? I don’t know. I’m still figuring it out, so if you get any brilliant ideas, let me know. But I am going to try something different this year. I thought of four main areas I want to improve in my life. Healthy living, spirituality, social experiences, and education. I came up with 12 different mini (and when I say mini, I mean mini) goals under each heading. One per month. Some are serious like, keep a gratitude journal. Some are silly. I’m going to run the dirty dash in September. And some are just plain fun. I’m going to learn how to take better pictures. My goal is to not be overwhelmed, and not to end up back on the couch.

But in the end I want to be more like my Savior next year. The scriptures say we will know Christ when he comes because “we will be like him.” (Moroni 7:48) This is not going to be a sudden, wake up one morning, “Oh, look I’m perfect! Wonder how that happened?” experience. It takes a while. Heck, a whole life time. And that is what God has given us, lots of new years to become like Him. 

Advice to the Average: From One Average to Another

If you've read the Book of Mormon or gone to any youth lesson about sexual purity you have heard about Helaman, The Prophet, and Corianton, The Rebel. But what about Shiblon... The Average? Ever heard of him? It's alright, he's not a main character in the Book of Mormon.  He is the second son of the great prophet Alma in the Book of Mormon, and served a mission the Zoromites. That's all we really know about him. But then his father, the great political leader, victorious army general, and the mouth piece of God, becomes old. And being a father he wanted to leave some last words of wisdom for his three sons, Helaman, Shiblon, and Corianton. Helaman, The Future Prophet, gets 2 chapters, 77 verses, and whole book later. Corianton, The Rebel, gets 4 chapters, 91 verses, and is cited in every lesson about chastity for the rest of eternity. Shiblon, The Average, gets 1 chapter, 15 verses, and forgotten. Are you sensing the injustice? Shiblon is a good person, served a faithful mission, and then is pushed to the side as neither The Future Prophet nor The Rebel, but The Average.

As I once again read through these chapters this week, I did what most of you probably do. I skimmed the chapter, because it was so short. But then something stopped me (Maybe because the next chapter was about sexual sin), and it told me, "Read it again." So I slowed down and re-read the chapter in depth and I learned something about being An Average. I served a faithful mission but never reached a record amount of baptisms, or trained right away. I only became a senior companion a year into my mission and most of my interviews with the mission president were good, but were 5 minutes long. Nothing spectacular. Grades in college? Average. Number of friends? Average. Except for my height, my whole life I've been nothing but average. I usually have to introduce myself three or four to someone before they even remember I exist. I invite myself to things and play the role of the third wheel quite often. Completely An Average. As I read this chapter again I sympathized with Shiblon. So I decided to look for advice to The Average. One Average to Another.

1. 'Inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land; and inasmuch as ye will not keep the commandments of God ye shall be cut off from his presence.' Basically keep the commandments of God. It doesn't matter if you are A Leader, A Average or A Rebel, when you keep the commandments, you are blessed.

2. 'Steadiness' Steadiness does not denote quickness or sporadic activity, but  consistently doing good and being right.

3. 'Faithfulness' Faith is an action word!

4. 'Look to the Lord your God' Trust Him. Trust that you can look to Him for answers and help. Trust that when He says you can, that you can.

5. 'Blessed is he that endureth to the end' Enduring to the end is steadfastly, faithfully keeping the commandments and knowing God will provide or your needs.

6. Develop Christ-like Attributes. 'At the beginning of His mortal ministry, Jesus Christ walked along the shore of the sea of Galilee and called out to two fishermen, Peter and Andrew. "Follow me." He said, "and I will make you fishers of men" The Lord has also called you to His work, and He invites you to follow Him. The incitation to follow Christ is an invitation to follow His example and to become like Him.' (PMG How Do I Develop Christlike Attributes)

7. 'For I know that thou wast in bonds... now  thou knowest that the Lord did deliver thee' Remember God will deliver you out of any bondage.... because He is with you, and He loves you.

8. 'That ye may learn wisdom.' Learn from The Leaders and The Rebels. Learn wisdom from others.

9. 'Be diligent and temperate in all things.' Ok, ok, to be honest the first thing that popped into my head when I read this was, 'Now, girl! Don't go crazy!' in a southern accent. But it's true! Know you don't have to be perfect right this moment. It's a process. Diligently be temperate.

10. 'Bridle your passions.' Although there is a great lesson to be learned here when it come to the law of chastity, I'm not thinking about it that way this time around. We all have passions and loves! And it's a good thing. This has been so clear this year to me, that if we are all passionate about one thing, we'll have it all covered! Just take me and my roommates. Between the six of us we are going to help people with special needs, troubled teenagers, the homeless, people with bodily limitations, the environment, and kids that hate math! Whoa! Talk about passion! Bridle it towards something good and worthwhile.

11. 'Do not say: O God, I thank thee that we are better than our brethren.'  Don't think you are better than someone just because their sins and their faults are different than yours.

12. And the final, 'And may the Lord bless your soul, and receive you at the last day into his kingdom, to sit down in peace.' Not so average after all, eh?

This counsel and these blessing apply to all Averages out there. So the next time you are feeling overlooked, underappreciated, just plain average, just remember you are in good company. God sees you. God uses your personal strengths, and to God you are never just average.

"This is the paradox of man: compared to God, man is nothing, yet we are everything to God."
                                    - President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

PS There are many more I did not cover I suggest reading Alma 38 and visiting lds.org

It's the end of the world as we know it...

Or my world is coming to a shattering halt. I think I'm dying. Just sent my last email to President Stucki, washed my clothes by hand for the last time, went to market market for the last time, and the list goes on and on. Tragic....

But on to better and happier things! 

Janet and Nixy got baptized this week! Only one tantrum was thrown and only one fire alarm was pulled. I consider that a success! But let's back up and start at the beginning. We told them to be there at 9 so we could take pictures and start on time. They got there at 9:50. We hurried and got them dressed. But all of the suits' zippers were broken and not fitting. We finally found two that fit. and then the 6 and 7 year old came out of the baptismal fount. Whaaaa....? The 6 year old decided he wanted to go swimming. we was soaking we up to his knees. Then the tantrum was thrown, when he realized nixy and grandma were "going swimming' and he wasn't. Then he didn't want to stay for pictures. So we decided to take them without him. That was not ok, so he was a little beast and stood backwards in the pictures. But it made me laugh. They were finally baptized and Janet gave a beautiful testimony, about the light that has come back into her life because of the gospel and because of the people she know through the church. When I asked the RS president if she could get some VTs, she said they were already assigned and informed! Sweet! But then on the way out, the 6 year old decided to kick the divider, elevator, and pulled the fire alarm before anyone could stop him. Oh, dear! 

Then on Sunday, I told them to be there at 9 again, so they would actually make it on time for the confirmation. They squeaked in right in at 10:10, but Nixy was wearing a brand new white shirt and tie with black pants and shoes! He was so Pogi! And so proud of himself. He came and sat right by us. He doesn't like competing with his brothers. He was wearing the CTR ring we gave him. Janet also had a nice new dress that had sleeves. We Never said a word to her about that, she picked that up just by watching other members. Irish, her sister, is right on track to be baptized on the 6. Super exciting!

We went to Gospel Principles class and we had no teacher. I was talking to  Irish when I looked up and saw both of the Elders and Sister Thompson with their fingers on their noses. Curses! Well, it just meant that I had to teach a lesson about the sabbath day with no preparations  Good thing I teach about that everyday and live it every sunday! 

Thursday/Friday I was on splits with the new training sisters (they are kind of like the female zone leaders) Sister Hunt is one of them, but of course we were not companions. Sad day. But at least I got to see her again, before I left! :) I am also glade that will never be one of my jobs. They turned them in to monster robot things. Scary! Good thing it was my first and last experience. Sister Thompson had been complaining of a headache all week, and when I got back she had a fever of 103. Well, we got some tylenol in her and put her to bed. Well, it hasn't gone away so we finally texted sister stucki. It's official she has Dengue fever. We have only gone out to go to the baptism, church (which we weren't suppose to) and right now. And we are going to go home right now, and she is going to crash! So, I've kinda been stuck in the house for a really long time, by myself. Took a lot of naps, started to pack, cleaned the house, took some more naps. And then when the other sisters got home, I talked them to death. 

So that's really all. Do you realize this is my last email? Strange. Add it to the list of my lasts. The next time we talk it will be in reals. Strange. Really strange.  I really still feel like I will be doing this the rest of my life. Strange.

Still love you all! 

Sister Lyons (Another one of my lasts) 

New email and pics!

This week's been great!

Tuesday we taught our really astig investigator, Janet, and her family. I feel like she is the member present, because teaching her is like teaching a recent convert. She reads all of her assignments and understands them so well. She basically teaches herself. Her sister Irish, is pretty much awesome, too, but is pretty much like and normal investigator. She was kind of down on tuesday and asked why when she was just getting close to God all of these trials started to appear. We gave her the story in Mosiah to read about alma and his people being put into bondage, (more on that later!) We taught Janet's grandson the Plan of Salvation in under 5 minutes, cause that kid will not sit still! Whooo!

Wednesday, did not go as planned because we were told that the new Elders were coming and we had to go pick them up and then take them around the area. Yeah.... since we worked in their area for about a day.... we were a lot of help. But at least we showed them 3 investigators 2 recent converts and the bishop's house. After that, they were on their own. One of the Elders in actually assigned in India but his visa has run out so he has to come here until it comes back. He can't speak and Tagalog and people here thought he couldn't speak English either (because His companion keeps telling them that he is from India.) It's great! So we just showed them around. 

Thursday we taught chance about Priesthood. (he is the one that was baptized, hopefully you will get that picture and he is also the one that is wearing our name tags. We had him teach us one day) That kid really wants to be a prophet some day. He kept asking how to become one. He pulled out his dad's Ipad and started looking up all the pictures of the 12 apostles and prophets. It was great! We taught Janet again the Word of Wisdom. She had stopped coffee right when she read the Pamphlet we left her. She was like, this makes perfect sense! Yep, yep it does.

Friday was a lot of walking but then we taught Janet and her sister Irish and her friend Flor. It was crazy! They are all in their late 40s and love to sit and chat... over each other! I felt like I wanted to just put on my duster and join the club. (The orange thing I am wearing is one of my (many) dusters) 

Saturday, taught Chance again about service. He told us that he wanted to go on a mission although in the eyes of a 10 year old, that's like dying for 2 years! But I think he figured if he wanted to be a prophet, he'd have to go on a mission. Then at the end of the lesson he refused to pray. So Sister Thompson, Juvy (the girl working with us) and his brother, and I, all just sat there with out arms folded and eyes closed. He was still being stubborn and would say thinks like, "I can wait all night!" But then he finally broke down and prayed AND he apologized in the prayer for making us sit there for  minutes. So cute! Then we went to another recent convert family, the Pasilan, and we woke up the three kids. The 3 year old woke up and smiled at us right away! When his mom said he could go back to sleep he said, "Not now!" and came over to shake our hands! The 17 year old boy eventually forgave us an smiled at us. The 14 year old girl sat in the corner with her hair in front of her face and wouldn't even look at us! It was classic. I remember what it fells like to be a teenager! Then we had dinner at Jeff's house. He is an almost 30

Sunday was great! Irish came to church with Janet and loved it! We taught them both afterwards and Irish said that no one else had been able to answer her question about the trials, but us!

Wakie Caterpillars :)

Happy Easter Fam!

I hope the Easter Bunny found you all just fine, kc he found me! I got my box last Tuesday. Thanks for the new Easter dress and ALL the candy, that has been officially all consumed as of yesterday... That's what you get when for girls live in one apartment and 4 hungry Elders live one floor up. (they can come down in about .00000005 seconds after you tell them there is food)

You asked some questions, So here's some answers. My ward is called Makati 1 (soon to be Boni 8) The biggest landmark is probably Kalayaan st. It is a really big street we have to cross everyday. Our area consists of Guadalupe Nuevo and Pinagkaisahan (yeah, that took me awhile to get down) It is probably not the Stake President in my Stake, because I am not really in Manila. Makati is it's own city. It's confusing. There is Metro Manila, which is all of the big cities here, but then there is just a Manila, which is where the capital is. Easter, doesn't really exist here, oh, but Holy Week does. Everything shuts down one Wednesday, and everyone sits around singing songs to Jesus... really loudly.  Which is not that different then every other night, when they sit around and do videoke. Just different topic, but the red horse intake is about the same. Then on Friday, no one takes a bath. And the city looks like a ghost town. On Saturday they have all these parades (that are really long and makes it hard to get places and I always feel slightly guilty, because the white hand book says to avoid that kind of stuff... whoops!) But they all have really pretty white flowers and dresses. Then on Sunday, all the stores open up again, and everyone goes back to work.

Now of my week...

Monday: We had FHE with one of my favorite families, the Fajardos (i will try and send a picture) The Elders were in charge of games. We played mind games... I they loved they we didn't know them. And they would always try and make us loose. Those little stinkers! :)

Tuesday: Package day!

Wednesday: Sister Thopmson and I walked and walked until 5 and still did not find anyone at home. We both got a little sun burnt. But then after that we had some really good lessons.

Thursday:I'm pretty sure something happened. Wednesdays and Thursdays are always a little blurry...

Friday:Was another day of walking. We were trying to contact the last few less actives and former investigators. It was late and most everyone that we had been to, had moved. I was about ready to get up, but out of desperation, we went to the last name on the list. He was there as was his wife (who is not a member). They told us that just earlier that week they were feeling God had forgotten them. They have had really hard lives but they were so open and grateful that we came. I was just grateful, we hadn't given up.Oh, and Elder Morales also transferred. It was a sad day. :( So we all had to take pictures. He is the one making the screaming face. You can't tell what he really looks like, but it is my favorite of all of us.

Saturday: was a good busy day, with lots of good lessons

Sunday  Ryan came to church! He is a returned missionary and a great person, but he has just made some mistakes in his life that make his a little shy to come to church. Two week ago he committed to come to church, but fell asleep, because his work is from 6pm to 6am and our church is at 10. He felt really bad that he wasn't able to come, but he committed to come this week. We taught him on Monday and on Friday night planning Sister Thompson and I both felt that we needed to visit him again on Saturday, to keep his commitment fresh in his mind. Our appointment before him went a little long, so when we got to his house he was leaving for work, but we were just able to make contact with him and remind him. On Sunday his whole family walked in, but him. But as we were singing the opening hymn, he walked in! He told us that he hadn't gone to sleep just to make sure he could make it to sacrament. He looked so tried but so happy. He is the really tall on in the back of the picture with lots of people. That was our FHE.

Oh, the other picture is a green Caterpillar and me! It was the biggest one I have ever seen. So I had to pick it up and take a picture with it. I haven't changed that much. :) But I still love you all!

Love you more then green things and wakie pictures (means silly)!
Sister Lyons

I found a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup!!

Eat all of these chocolate eggs for me! It is weird to think that this is the second Easter I have been here for. Strange. I am going through Cadberry eggs withdraws ... wait is that even what they're called? You know, the ones that we always chow down on, and they now have at Christmas? Anyways, THOSE ONES! But is is all right I live in the city, which means I found a Reese Pieces Peanut Butter cup that when I saw it, screamed, grabbed it (without looking at the price) and promptly bought it. Oh, was it good! A year in the province does things to you. 

Monday was great. After we chatted :) we went to dinner at this ladies house that lives in a boarding house. When we were done we asked if we could share and if her friends/other borders would be willing to listen. She was nervous, but she invited them and 3 of them listened and it was really good! At first I was a little concerned, cause they kinda acted like they didn't want to be there, but when we started they got serious and actually listened and asked questions and excepted a return appointment.

Tuesday was district meeting. Our whole district all lives in the same apartment complex, so we did more laughing then anything. And it is so hard to practice with them all seriously like. It's like trying to teach your little brother. Then we went to this less active man that we had never met before. He had a stroke in 2003 and has not been able to walk or talk since then. He is the only member in his family so he can't really come to church. We asked if we could share with him and his family, and they said yes. Because he can listen and he understands. We asked him if we had a Book of Mormon and he reached right to this bag right by his bed and pulled out 2 copies. When Sister Thompson and I looked at them we almost started to cry, because they were all marked up with notes and everything. We asked him if he read everyday and he shook his head yes. Here is this man that has not been able to go to church in more then 10 years, but he reads his Book of Mormon everyday. It was amazing! We shared about the Resurrection it was perfect!

On Wednesday we taught Ryan Fajardo, who is a less active return missionary. He made a dumb mistake after his mission and just feels guilty about it. He calls himself the Lamanite and is such a punk. He never really listened to the Elders but every time we go there, he always stays and listens and he even showed us some of his mission pics. We taught about the Atonement using the pit story in Sister Burtons take. It was great. I love teaching the Atonement that way, cause it makes sense. And I secretly love teaching punks :)

Thursday....yeah, about that.

Friday also happened. We taught a recent convert family about the temples, because they are really close to their one year mark, and are super active! I love stories like that. The missionaries found them when she was doing her laundry. It's stories like that, that just want to make me talk to everyone. Then we went to dinner at the stake president's house as a zone. Which was fun. But the trip home was a lot funnier. I wish I could just record our Elders, they say the funniest things, but it's how they say it. And then half of the time it is in Tagalog. Oh, well, if wishes were fishes....

Saturday was a day of walking.

Sunday! We had our first investigator at church! We had one and the Elders didn't have any. That tell you a little about the city. But we were super excited about our 1! She is great and was super excited and nervous. She said she would come back next week too! :) Sister Thompson and I gave talks. She stressed about it all week and I pulled my typical self and procrastinated until I was sitting up in the front listing to the prelude music. But no one ever knew.... :) But Sister Thompson almost throw up because she was so nervous. Then we sang "I'll go where you want me to go dear Lord." And she burst into tears. The poor little elders in the congregation looked so concerned. But they were cute about it and didn't say anything to her afterwards. Then we ate dinner at a newlywed couples house. Ewww! Ewww... But the food was good.

And then today.... Went to Market Market, eat pizza, and shopped in an American sized store. With way to much American food in it for me. Then we came back here to email you! And later on we are going to ask the Elders to teach us how to throw these cool Filipino tops that we bought. It is going to be great!  

Times up! But I still love you!

Love you more then thunder and lightning at night!

Sister Lyons

Release Date: July 3!

... and family and friends are all excited about it... but Danielle doesn't want to talk about it. We're afraid my parents may not be able to get her to come back to the United States. Cross your fingers...

Here is her most recent email :)

We walk a lot. and a lot of people have moved. But we still have a laughing attach EVERYDAY! Sister Thompson is hilarious. And so are the Elders that live a floor above us. There are 4 of them and 4 of us and we're like a big family. Except all the boys are Pinoy and all the girls are Canas or Fijian. It makes for a great jumble of language. Which makes us laugh even harder.

Sister Thompson is amazing, but is going through american withdrawls right now (she is handling really well) Just buy her a Kitkat and she can handle anything. Including eating pig skin, taro, and nose bleeding in Tagalog. She doesn't really nose bleed. It is just a joke among the Pinoys that if you make them speak in english, it is so hard for them that their noes starts to bleed. Nagnonosesbleed sila! She's doing awesome though, and I totally remember being in her shoes.

The ward loves us. They have a dinner calendar and every one of the dinner appointments was very specific that it was just for the Sisters. Needless to say the Elders were a little bummed. And someone made a public announcement that they needed to give the Sisters referrals. The Elders just don't get it! But it makes us smile.

Then we did some more walking.

And then got lost. And walked up and down the same street about 50 times. The city is a little bit different then the Provence, but I love the challenge. This zone is actually really struggling and is the lowest baptizing in the mission, but our area is going to baptize, someday! We just have to find them first!

I think I told you this before, but I am pretty sure Chad is the the 12 week training program. Like I am 100% sure. We were studying, and i was like, hey... I know that kid. He married my sister! Strange.

Mara is as adorable as ever! I love seeing her pictures! I found the picture that Jen and Kevin gave me of her when I left. Oh, man has she changed! Kevin should be very worried about her in about 15 years. I love getting all of your letters. Now that I only live about 3 minutes away from the mission office, I actually get them more often. There are benefits here. :)

Sister Hunt sent me a Palawan bag and real pearls! (Dad you might want to give mom a limit on the pearls she can buy, because they are real, and they are cheap)

We went to Market Market again to day. That place is the size of a small (ok not that small) city. I feel really our of place there, even though there are more Joe's there. But I don't belong to them anymore. They are all a little weird.

I once again have used all my time and English up. But I still can say this...

Mahal kita! (if you type that into google translater it might say love see, but it means I love you!)

Love you more then American things!
Sister Lyons

Pictures!

Baby Jesus is HUGE...

Bagong Taon na! Be excited. It means that blow horns and
fireworks/crackers have been going off for the last 24 hours and will
just continuously get louder and louder until 4 in the morning. Hence
the 6pm curfew later on.

But before I get into that I would just like to mention that Dad used
the phrases "I played with dolls" and "man cave" in the same sentence.
Oh, things have changed this year.... Isn't weird to think that we
haven't seen each other in a whole year? All of 2012? Crazy eh? It is
so exciting to hear about Kaitlynn, she'll be awesome! It is sad to
hear about Susan and June but it is good dad has been able to talk to
them and that grandpa is able to go up to visit.

So I am sure you all want to know about my Christmas. We opened
presents and then I talked to you and then we ate spaghetti for
breakfast at the Gonzoles. After which we taught a lesson to Ian (he
is one of the pictures I sent home) about the law of chastity. Let's
just say we are going to have to review that next time... Christmas
morning is not the best time to teach about something so abstract to a
12 year old boy. But he's cute. He is our next baptism. He is the
Nephew of the Gonzoles. His father is not a member but is not really
part of his life, so Ian really lives with them and is like their son.
We're excited for him! Then we went and studied and then ate a really
good BIG Christmas lunch at the Glori's. And then rolled out the door
to one appointment, before we had to roll to another dinner
appointment at the other Glori's. The second Glori's have 7 girls and
their family is such like ours. They have 7 different conversations
going but they all know what is going on, while the dad sneaks into
the other room to watch basketball. :)

Wednesday was our temple day and p-day. The temple has a beautiful
nativity that is HUGE! Baby Jesus is like my size. so you can only
imagine how big Joseph is. One of the temple workers is from our
branch, so that was fun seeing him.

Friday was the ward Christmas party, which was so fun! It was outside
and so many people came! If only we could get that many to come to
sacrament meeting... But it was great there were games and everyone
played, and each auxiliary had a dance performance. The primary did
Gondom style (that is really big here, I don't know if you even know
what that is. But it is some Korean pop song that everyone dances to)

Saturday was temple trip. We brought Ian and Leamar (leamar is a
former born again missionary, but really got interested in the church
when his sister joined the church. He is so prepared) It was great and
spiritual as it always is.

Sunday we didn't work cause Sister Hunt was sick, but the branch took
good care of us and brought meds, food and the priesthood. So we are
all good now. We just had distict meeting eairlier and are just going
to go home and rest. No work today, doctors (and presidents) orders!
So we are going to make pop corn, do face masks, listen to Primary
songs and maybe just maybe update the area book. And try and get come
sleep... hopefully.

I love you all! Hope this new year is a great as the last!

Loves,
Sister Lyons

Lehi was married to Santa Claus...

So this week I get to use the WHOLE hour just for you! Yeah! And hopefully I won't run out of things to say cause I have 2 week to tell you about.

But lets get business out of the way.... My Phone Call HOME! So what's the time difference again? If I call you Christmas morning here is that too late for you? Or when should I try and call? Cause I think I can use the Couples phone (which is free!) but there will be a lot of us so I think there is a scheduled. Just remind me of the time difference. Excited ako!

And the Thank you's!

Kevin- I love the pics of Mara and the house, I can't wait (ok I really can) to see them in real life

Deb- My mom told me you gave me money for Christmas, Marami Salamat po! I am really grateful and will put it to good use! :) 

Paul- Thank you for your note, but I still have a very loooooooong time left to go! I hope you have a great Christmas!

Rachel- Ummmmmm..... I would really like to thank you for the pictures.... that I hope will be here next week. But I still Loves you tons! 

And the apologies, I still can't send pictures. :( Sad day. Later on I will see how much a card reader costs. 

We have had so many investigators come to church this last couple of weeks! 8! That's a lot for me before the last two weeks the highest I ever seen is 6! And the was a miracle! We won't be having any baptisms in December but we will hopefully have a bunch in January! 

So the funny stories for this last two weeks...

We are teaching this really cute family, the Lagat's, they are less active and two of their kids haven't been baptized yet. They have ten kids all under the age of 16 and one grandchild. So it's a zoo! But we love them! But every lesson we have to make EXTREMELY interactive or we lose them all. So we were teaching about the Book of Mormon so we took a map so they could see where the Bible come from and when Nephi traveled. They thought it was epic. But when Clyde, the little boy, saw America, we all lost it because he was like, "hey, that's were Captain America lives!" Yes, that would be the thoughts of a nine year old. Then we asked the question, who was the wife of Lehi? Nothing... ok, it starts with an 's'  Then cute little Judea, "Santa Clause?" Yes Santa Clause is married to Lehi. and Christmas is coming and that is all a 8 year old girl can think of! We love it there, it is always so fun, but we never know what is going to come out of their mouths! 

The second story... We were teaching another kid, Eric James, who is 12 and who's whole family are members but him, but less active. Just to explain him, he took my camera and took a picture of himself acting all cool. When his whole family comes to church, he doesn't, cause he is just a little independent punk. He has 9 brothers and sisters and is ADHA. So our lessons there are also interactive. One time we were teaching and he was super distracted, and I butchered a pronunciation of a word, so simpre he totally started making fun of me. And being the punk that I am, decided to switch to teaching in English. Two can play that game. :) He busted up laughing! He didn't understand anything. (cause I was saying really big words) I asked him a question in English and told him to answer in English. It was so funny to hear what he thought English sounded like to him. It is like when we 'try' to sound Chinese. So now, every time he is out of control we threaten him with English. Very effective.  And last time we taught about Sabbath Day and set things on fire. Needless to say, he came to church finally! So yes, mom, it's not just the Elders that are pyros. 

Now for the Spiritual stuff...

I love the Plan of Salvation! We were trying to teach the Plan of Salvation to a family. They aren't members but the wife and the daughter are interested but the father is kinda combative and just wanted to bible bash with us. It was just so sad to see how little people really know about God's plan for us, when it is all so clear, even in the Bible. He couldn't except that we lived before this world. To him we just come from dust and will go back to dust. It just made me realize how much I have taken for granted the knowledge that we are more then dust and that we really did live before this life, and this life now isn't just some accident. And that their is more to come. At every little point in the lesson he would tell us we were wrong, although he could not support it with the Bible. When we said Jesus created the world, it was almost more then he could bear. We finally told him that we were not here to Bible bash or debate. That we did not come here to prove him wrong, so we would like the same from him. I really thought he would leave. (cause I was kinda bold.... yes I am even stubborn in Tagalog) but he didn't he sat down and actually listened and we were actually able to teach him. The next couple of days Sister Hunt and I really studied the Plan of Salvation. It's all there in the Bible, even that Christ created the world. Shocker! But it is even that much clearer in the Book of Mormon and the Pearl of Great Price. Sister Hunt and I have been just really talking lately how much the Gospel makes sense. How much knowledge we have always taken for granted because we have been members our whole lives. It's just been another testimony to me about the importance of missionary work, because people really don't know. I love being a missionary! I can't believe I have been doing it for a whole year! Gahhh! 

My Nanay, Sister Stonick, goes home next week. Weird. I am now one of the old sister missionaries. Most of the missionaries now in the field will go home after me. I still feel super new and can't believe I am hitting my year mark. Days feel like week, and weeks feel like days. 

I get to go to the temple the day after Christmas! (that is if I don't transfer, but I'm pretty sure we are both staying, but then again, I though I was set in Carmona.) 

I love Sister Hunt! We are always laughing about something. I can't remember if I told you this but she is from Australia, but her parents are Samoan. So her accent is super cool! And she has see a real kangaroo in real life! We are already planning my trip to visit her. Now just for the money part....

 I have yet to have a companion from the same country. Canadian, American, New Zealander/Tongan, Filipino, Pakistani, Australian/Samoan. Cool huh?  I wonder where my next  companion will be from? 

Well, I hope that was a long enough letter to satisfy all of your wishes and desires! But I want to make sure that you know that I love you tons! ALL OF YOU! And I can't wait to talk to you all in real life... or at least over the phone. Can you believe it's been 6 months since we last talked? Crazy! It went by so fast! 

Love you all! 

Sister Lyons

It's not like I'm in another country or something...

Magandang Hapon po galing sa Naic.....

Waaaaaa?

That's right... this email finds me back in Naic. Kinda. Earlier Sister Asif went home and our transfer day isn't until thrusday, so am temporarily here in Naic (Trece to be exact, so not the same as my first area, but I am super duper close!) Ah Nako! I just want to go visit every one I know and love here, but I can't so I won't.

So this week consisted of a lot of packing, tears, saying goodbye's, and marami marami dinner appointments! I am so full! Yesterday we had three dinners. And they all want to feed you more then your stomach can possibly hold... and then times that by three.

But we also had lots and lots of good experiences.

First Tatay Ernesto. A long long time ago, we gave him a pamphlet, almost in passing. And we forgot where he lived so we really never thought to go back to him. One day, we were walking and we got a text. And I have this inability to text and walk at the same time. So we stopped. Right in front of his house. He saw us and said, "Sister's! Come inside! It's hot and I read your pamphlet." He then asked if he could ask us some questions about it. Sure, why not. :) He was a pastor before and left his ministry, because he felt people served to get money and recognition. So the fact that we have lay (is that right?) was very appealing to him. He had so many good doctrinal questions about the Godhead, people seeing God, and even that we lived before this life. He knows that Bible like the back of his hand. He sure keeps us on our toes, when it come to knowing our Bible. But luckily I had had the impression to start reading the New Testament again, and we were able to answer all of his questions.  We gave him a Book of Mormon. And his basically begged us to come back. When we had come back he read all the way to Alma. I loved it! But once again he had so many questions! All we did for 2 hours was answer his questions. But he wouldn't except what we said unless we could prove it with the Bible and the Book of Mormon. He even told us, "The Book of Mormon is the same as the Bible. Everything that is in the Bible is in the Book of Mormon!" Highlight of this story (so far!) is he came to church yesterday, and accepted a baptismal date. But in December pa! KC he want's to know know before he gets baptized. So if you have any references about how Jesus Christ becomes the Father, that would be helpful. He understands that they are three seperate beings so that concept of Christ becoming our Father because of the Atonement. Just the scripture in Alma 11 (I think, the one where Amulek and Zeezorom are taking) is really thowing him. We tried to explain about the atonement, but it is just not making sense to him. So if you have any brilliant ideas, that would be awesome!   

Do you remember the Bayugo family? They are the less active family we found in Langkiwa? We basically ran right into Nanay and they were so excited to get a Book of Mormon? Well, they come to church yesterday and they walked. It is a 20minute Jeepny ride to the entrence of Langkiwa and then a 10 minute walk to their house. They didn't have any money but they really wanted to come to church. Nanay is super old and has a had time walking and seeing, sister is 7 months pregnant, and they had a 4 year old and a 9 year old with them. Talk about sacrifice. They got up so early they didn't have time to eat before they come. By the time they got to church they we tired, hot, and hungry, but they were happy!  It is so touching to see what people sacrifice.

I don't know if I told you about kim. But she is a referral from a member, and is super interested. She always reads all of her assignment twice to make sure she really understands them. It was her birthday on Tuesday, and she invited us over. (all they do here on birthday's is eat... I think I am in the right place) We had district meeting that day, and one set appointment, so we said we would come but that we would be late. Well, district meeting went super long! So we were late to our set appointment, and thus super duper late to kim's house. All of the other guess had left, but she had saved us some food. It was fun just to talk to her while we ate. And then her husband came home. He has never listened to us. The first time he wouldn't even come in the house when we were there. So we were kinda nervous when he showed up, as was Kim. But he was super nice, and just started eating and talking to us as well. After awhile he just started asking questions about our religion, and you know what? All of his questions followed lesson one. We taught him a whole lesson without him even knowing. Sneaking! But Kim was super excited, so hopefully they will come to church next week!

I still want pictures! I have no idea what this wedding looks like. I am going to imagine that it is super ugly until you show me otherwise. I don't even know what the bride and groom look like! I haven't even been invited! What is this? It's not like I'm in another county or something. :)

Love you more then getting up at 4 in the morning... wait that's not very much love...

I love you more then wedding pictures.... that's better!

Sister Lyons

Just trying to find out where I am...

Just kidding! I haven't gotten lost once AND I have managed to get us where we need to, using jeepneys. So proud of myself! And I felt proud of myself now that people are asking ME if my companion speaks tagalog instead of the other way around. Yep, that's right my companion is not a native Fillipina. She's from... Pakistan! Cool huh? But don't worry she is fluent in Tagalog, because she is going home in october. So I probably will be the one to kill her off. Not literally, just a figure of speech here in the mish. Her name is sister Asif. She's my tallest companion yet and calls what I eat for breakfast every morning oatmilk. I think it's cute so I'm not going to correct her! :) We speak Tagalog all day long. Last night I was super tired so I switched into English. Sister Asfi said, "I've never heard you speak english and I wondered what you sounded like." I sound funny, that's how I sound, so I witched back into Tagalog and found it was a lot easier. I'm getting less and less blank stares when I teach and I'm giving less and less blank stares. So now that my bragging session is done, I probably won't be able to speak coherent Tagalog ever again. That's just how it goes doesn't it. 

So a little about the pictures. Yes, I know, I have now sent home 2 pictures of my feet. But we went tromping through a farmers field to find a less active family and it was actually much safer to take off our shoes and walk barefoot, because mud is actually a lot slippy-er then ice. Imagine that.  We also had to cross the bridge I am standing on. Yeah... that's a bridge. And you can't really tell from the picture but that is a very fast river underneath and a height that would make dad nervous. (A couple of weeks ago we went over a real bamboo swinging bridge, I can't believe I forgot to tell you that!) The 'I (heart) Manila' t-shirts are Sister Pacinio and I's companionship item. Cute huh? Oh, the picture from last week? The one where we are standing by the fence on a really steep hill? I climbed that. In a dress. With hurricane force winds. Looking for a less active. Boo-ya! Were they home? No. Aw-well... And the district photo? I just had to send it home because it makes me laugh! All of the Americans are about the same height and then there's the two Filipinos. Sister Pacinio and I laughed about that one for awhile. ;) 

So I don't know if you have heard on the news or anything, but last week half of the Philippines was in a state of calamity because of the Typhoon in Japan/China. 90% of metro Manila was flooded. All schools were cancelled and in Naic there is now a new island that didn't used to be there. BUT before mom freaks out... Carmona a is relatively high elevation and the drainage systems are pretty good. So we just had a lot of mud but no floods. But half of the Elders area was flooded so they we evacuated to the chapel. That was sad to see. And our Branch Presidency spent a whole night going to members houses to see if they were flooded and I mean the whole night. Many of the missionaries in the city were just doing community service and distributing goods to people. They weren't sure if we were going to be able to have transfer meeting, because of the floods. So they cancelled all of the extra stuff and told only the people that had to come to come. And we had it. God loves His missionaries. And He loves me, too and that is why I am here and not in the city. 

I wish I had some grand story to tell you but as always my mind always blanks when you give me a time limit. I have like 10 minutes more and can't think of what else to tell you but in about 20 minutes, I'll have like a billion things to say. Hummmm.... 

How are my fellow missionaries? Andrea, Ashley, Charlotte, Faith, and Emily? Have you heard anything from them? Being a missionary is great and I've decided 18 months is not long enough. Maybe 4 years would be a good amount. Sometimes p-days are too long. Every week I get excited for them but but by 2 or 3 I'm ready for them to be done. I have a new found love... jogging. Yes I love to run. I'm not even joking. I'm now the one that wants to keep running and running while my companion is way behind panting and saying she's done. Switch! But it's fun! 

I love you more then Reese PB cups (which I found today at the store... so of course I bought them) 

Sister Lyons

And the rains came down...

But don't worry the flood didn't come up!

It just been another great week here in Carmona. I love, love, love it! Let's start with Monday. So after I emailed you we had a zone activity at the Fornash house. It was really fun and the food was great! And I got your letters! It fun because the letters get here really late so I am still getting you reactions and comments about Naic, which is kinda fun to relive the memories. So next week is Jackie's baptism. And I am so excited. She is the 16 year old niece of the primary president, and has a HUGE desire to be baptized. We were there every day this week so get her ready for her interview, and everyday she would tell us how many days until her baptism. Her testimony is so strong and she says she wants to serve a mission. I told her that I will pray that she gets called to the new mission in Salt Lake. But then again Sister Pacino will be prayer for Jackie to go to her home mission. So we'll see who wins. But because there house is super close to ours, we always had it as our last appointment, and Sister Omendto always fed us. Yummy! It started to feel like home there. It's like we belong there. Later on tonight we are going there again, and we are bringing treats because they always give us food, so we thought we'd switch things around. Jackie had her baptism interview on Saturday and all is well! We are good for the 4th of August. I am so excited!

There is this couple, Harold and Lisa, that has been investigating the Church for over a year now, but they couldn't get baptized because they weren't married. They've been coming to church and paying tithing and everything. But then they went to  Lisa's provence so she could give birth to her baby, who is super cute! Well they are back now, and their paper are being processed for their marriage. They should be cleared to get a marriage licence by the August 3rd. And then they just have to wait for that part which could take anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks. It is actually super hard to get married here in the Philippines and really expensive and you cannot get a divorce. So most people just live together. But the point is they are super close and super excited. As are we! Sister Pacinio is a little sad because transfer day is Aug 8 and she has been here for 4 transfers, so she is probably not going to be here for their wedding or baptism. And once again I will be leading the area. I don't know where anything is... this could be fun. I just tell my companion that this is my first transfer here too... we'll she if she buys it.

One day (I really can't remember when... everything kinda turns into a blur after by the time monday rolls around) we went to go visit a less active sister who is coming back to church. She is super nice and always reads the Book of Mormon. But I have never seen her smile. It is so sad. She literally never smiles, which is really quite odd for Filipinos. She always has this look of pure exhaustion when we go there. But we went there unexpectedly, because both our plan and our back up plan fell through. Her sister-in-law was there because her and her husband are moving in with them. She is not a member but her husband (who is not on our records, because they moved from a different lugar) is a member but less active. She we taught them both and they both came to church on Sunday. And Sister Joanne seems really interested. This finding through less actives really works. Tell the Elders that are living in your basement, if they are lacking in the investigator area... visit less actives and they will find them. I wouldn't know how to do missionary work without this focus on Less active members.

We also found a new Less Active family through a recent convert. Rachel would love him. His name is Cyrus and is covered from head to toe in tattoos. And is such a punk. He really is like the boys she used to work with. Cause he is a softy at heart. :) Anyway, he just want everyone to be a member, so he told us that we should go with him to his friend JP. So we went. Come to find out his Grandpa had died and there was a sit in. So of course we had to go pay our respects and then they shoved us full of food, even they didn't know us. Well, a sit in is a really good place to talk to people about the Plan of Salvation, oh di ba? So the first Nanay we talked to asked us where our church was. So we told her. Her answer, "I used to be a member." We get that a lot. No Nanay you are still a member, can we come visit you? Yes. Sweet! Then when we went back to her house, come to find out it's been like 20 years since they went to church (once again in a different lugar) so half of their children aren't members. Thank you Cyrus!

The Paglinawan Family are recent converts. They are a cute young couple with two cute little girls. Sister Liza was baptized in October and Brother JoJo was just baptized in March. Anyway, Brother JoJo had someone at work who had a question about people that died without baptism. He said that they were damned. Brother told him he was wrong and bore his testimony about history and baptism for the dead (even though he hasn't been able to do baptism for the dead yet, himself). We were so proud! He want's to look for his family's name when they go back to their province. We said we would go with him to Binan to help him look up the names on the church site. He got really excited, and of course so were we. I've never taught anyone about Family History yet, so this will be fun!

It rained again really hard yesterday, so Sister Pacinio and I were worried that there wouldn't be any people at church again. But there were so many! And we had 7 investigators at church. So cool!

You all sound so great, and I love you letters! Pictures! Send me more Pictures! Lots and Lots of them! That's my favorite part is the pictures. Salamat for all of the letters, they make me feel like I'm home, in a good way, don't you worry. Love you all! 

I love you all so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so much!
Mahal kita!
Sister Lyons

I'm in love....

With Carmona... don't worry. :) A little about the pictures I am sending you... The one with the food is the Cusile Family. They are both returned missionaries and newly married, and they feed us every week because they miss being missionaries and they say we are like their children. The other boy in the pictures is Jewel, he works with us almost everyday and is preparing his mission papers right now. The family with the 3 little boys, is my favorite family, the  Evangalista family I told you about last week. Aren't they the cutest? The two little girls are neighbors, and always tell me how beautiful I am and always touch me and my clothes. I love them all! And the duck. He belongs to a member (as does the little boy holding the duck).

So last Tuesday was Zone meeting and it was super good! The San Gab district only needs 30 more active Melchizedek (or how ever you spell that) Priesthood holders to become a stake! Malapit na! As a Zone we set the goal to have it happen before October. We are all so pumped. We are the smallest zone in the mission. There are only 5 companionships and most of us (including Sister Pacinio and me) are actually working two areas. So it's a lot of work for just a few of us but President Stucki has asked us to make it happen, so we are refocusing our efforts again on retaining and reactivating. It will be cool to see it happen too. The branches are excited.

On Friday we had interviews with President and Sister Stucki, which of course is always good. Poor Sister Stucki, though, so many missionaries are getting sick and some are even in the hospital. One Sister in our zone was out for three weeks and one of those weeks she spent in the Hospital.Her phone never stopped buzzing the whole time she was there. She looked tired. President always know just what to say to make me feel better about what I am doing and gets me excited to continue pushing on. They are both so good.

It was a week of a lot of first, too! I showered out of a bucket for the first time, because there was no, and I mean NO water pressure. I also showered with a butike. I pretty sure I spelled that wrong but it's pronounced boo-tee-key, and they are the noisy little lizards that lose their tails if you scare them. And they have a nasty habit of jumping off the ceiling and scurrying who knows which direction. So needless to say I showered with my glasses on and was ready to jump at a moments notice. Luckily he waited until I was done before he dropped right to the place I was standing not two minutes before. :)

It's rained for 3 days straight. No joke. Manila is flooding, but what else is new. It's always flooding. Some of the city missionaries weren't allowed to work some days this week because the rain was up to their hips. Luckily the rain is only to our ankles here, although it has come into some people's houses. But they are amazing. They just scoop it out and move on like nothing happened. And we go out everyday, armed with out umbrellas, rubber shoes, and scriptures covered in plastic. And come home soaking wet and have to put out everything (including our money) to dry.

Sunday attendance was pretty low, because of the rain. At 9, you had the missionaries and the Branch Presidency. At 9:10 the RS and Primary presidents rolled in. And by 9:15 the EQ showed up, and right after the sacrament the speakers squeaked in. We only had one investigator, which is super low for us. The branch president was a little discouraged as were we. but hopefully next week attendance will be back up again. One of the counselors had us over a couple weeks ago for a FHE and I was in charge of games, so we played Big Buddha. They loved it! I guess they play it all the time as a family now, and every time they see me they sing the song and do the actions. So if Big Buddha becomes the big thing in the Philippines, you will all now where it started. With me.

So I haven't gotten any letters recently. Not because you haven't been writing them, but because I no longer live right next door to the Zone Leaders, and they keep forgetting to bring them. But we are having a zone lunch later on today, and Sister Pacinio has threatened them repeatedly, so hopefully today I hear some news.

I love you all so so so so so much!

Hugs and Kisses from Carmona!

Sister Lyons  

Pictures :)

First Transfer...

Danielle has been moved... and yet she still finds herself stranded on a beautiful tropical island. How does that girl swing stuff like this?

This week's email and pictures:

From Carmona! That's right I am still in the Provence! Yippee! Sayan, walang apalaya dito, pero maraming magangang Mountains (wow you have no idea how long that took me to figure out how to spell that) and maraming rice fields. My companion is native. Her name is Sister Pacinio, and she is super cute! I love her and the area already. I love that everyone assumes I speak Tagalog. It's great! Because guess what? I can now answer back... most of the time. And it's language study 27/7. I am starting to think in taglish, because it is a lot easer then thinking in English and then translating. Wow! I am really struggling to write this email. I can't imagine not having any investigators, like Andrea. Here, they basically find you. Like this one experience. One day we were having many unplanned opportunities (we don't use the word punted any more) . At this one point both Sister Pacinio and I just stopped and started talking to the same person. While we were talking to her, her friend came up and started listing. Come to find out, she is a less active member and her family is active in her home town. She moved here a year ago and is married to a non-member. She asked us when we could come teach her husband. He eventually came out, too and started talking to us. And then a wife of a less active member we were on out way to visit walked down the street, and asked for a Book of Mormon. It was like one right after another! And because there were so many of them Sister Pacinio and I were talking to 2 different groups. That's right I gave a lesson on the side of the street, all by myself, in Tagalog, and the guy is willing to listen. My Tagalog has improved so much just over the last 3 days.

It was really hard to say goodbye to Naic. So many people fed us that last week. And Evelyn (the one that lives really close to us and was the one that always said hi to us?) gave me these really beautiful diamond earrings. Wendy said she would hide me. And I'm pretty sure I made a few Nanays cry. And I cried. I don't have anything else really to say so I just send you the last batch of Naic pictures. After this Carmona lang!

Loves you all so so so so so so so so so so so very much!
Sister Lyons  
A little more about the area. It is huge! Some of the members have to spend more the 200 pesos to get to church. That is a huge sacrifice, because most only make about 100 peso a day. But they come. It is still a branch, but alot smaller then Naic, people wise. But the members are amazing. They love to feed us and work with us. I am super duper excited about this transfer. I've been reading the Priesthood talks... there amazing! (yes we are just barely getting the conference issue) Keep sending pictures and letters and boxes (just kidding on that one!) But I still love you tons!

MORE PICTURES!!!!!