*MEGA LONG EMAIL ALERT*

Okay so due to my consistency of writing very infrequent email updates, and the many free hours that I had while flying, this email is going to be very long.
It is not for the faint of heart.
I will include checkpoints for those who will need a mental breather before they continue.
You have been warned.

TRANSFERS
So, transfers came. I didn't expect any changes to happen, but they did. Elder Call was transferred to the Flower Mound 2nd ward, and I found out I was training, which was surprising, because I was expecting to be launching over to Côte d'Ivoire soon. We received our trainees and my new comp was Elder Sanders, from Delta, Utah. 

Elder Lyman and Elder Sanders

 

Get this, he is originally assigned to the Côte d'Ivoire Abidjan East mission. Crazy stuff. He's awesome, and I really enjoyed serving with him. We spoke French some, but he was fresh from the home MTC, so I didn't push for too much French.

Here's a fun experience we had.

In probably our 2nd week together, we had a day where we planned to go up to the corner of our area and contact some people, make some calls, and hopefully someone would answer and want to meet. Fun fact, we didn't have bikes. So we walked to the top of our area, called nearby people, and knocked in some cases. No one was home or wanted to meet. When we were done contacting, we had gotten really hungry, so we decided to walk to the nearest restaurant. Well, Google maps had us walk for half an hour along the freeway against a giant wall that helped direct the already below freezing air right into our faces. Two guys, originally assigned to and who packed clothes to prepare for Africa, walking along the freeway with this bitter, bitter cold wind absolutely freezing their faces off. It wasn't fun. Finally we got to WhataBurger and had lunch, then walked back home. Overall, we walked for a little over 10 miles that day. So so fun. When we got back to the apartment, we tried to do studies, but we were so exhausted that we kinda crashed haha.


TEXAS SNOWMAGEDDON
Maybe y’all have seen it on the news, maybe not, but if someone mentions the Texas snowmageddon or something like that and about how terrible it was, they're not making it up.

Thankfully, my apartment had water and electricity throughout the whole weather warning. But much of the rest of Texas wasn't as lucky. On the 12th, we went shopping in the evening to get ready for the storm, and on Saturday we got news that church was cancelled. On Sunday, we got 2, maybe 3 inches of snow. So not too bad. Elder Sanders and I thought it would melt really quick and we'd be back out working soon. But, around 10 that Sunday, some of the other elders in the district showed up at our apartment (they walked). When they woke up, their apartment was 50°. They had no power at all. So, they stayed with us that night. The next day the temperature was around 5°. Not fun. We stayed inside the whole day. The next day, we checked the other elders’ apartment, and brought back more food and stuff to help them be comfortable, because their power was still out. We also had 2 more elders show up who's power was out as well. So, we had 6 elders in a small 1 bed 1 bath apartment for a couple days. It wasn't too bad, I got to make ramen for them, so that was fun. After Thursday, we were able to get the other elders back to their apartments with power and water. Overall, it wasn't too bad, our apartment was just cramped and we were basically quarantined for about a week. 

Everyone else didn't do too hot though. Most people had their power go out, and they didn't have anywhere to go. So they were just stuck in their home or apartment, layering up and trying to deal with it. Then, water was shut off due to major pipes freezing and bursting, so even if you had power, you may not have been able to use water. Also, stores were closed, and when they opened up, people bought absolutely everything. Most food was nowhere to be found. And that's if you were able to make it to the store. Partially melted snow froze into thin sheets of ice, which many cars wrecked on. A couple people that we were in contact with in our area said that it was a living nightmare for them.

During the winter chaos, Elder Sanders and I became a trio. Elder Scorup came and became our companion. He's from Orem Utah, and is originally assigned to Montréal Canada.

TIBÉ'S BAPTISM
This may be the highlight of my time serving stateside. The whole experience with Tibé and Inès has been incredible. From receiving the news about how they were found at the temple, to teaching them, to the baptism, I've never met anyone who's more prepared or ready for the gospel, or anyone who's more dope haha. I've come to really love them.

Their baptism was the first baptism that I've heard of that didn't have any complications. Everyone showed up on time, and it went smoothly. Inès was kind of scared of the water (many of the people in Côte d’Ivoire are), and was a little surprised after she came back up haha. After I baptized Tibé, I asked him how he felt. He said "Je me sens bien, je suis né de Dieu." Just a little cool experience there. 

The Tibés

 

 

I honestly love them so much. Their kindness, humility, and faith have repeatedly touched my heart. I'm so grateful that the Lord blessed me with being able to help. Because honestly, none of that was me. The Lord put me here, prepared them and sent them to the temple to meet the temple president, and supported me so that I could teach even with my really rusty French. Their whole conversion process was 100% divine inspiration and intervention. I'm just happy that I was able to contribute what little I could, and play a part in Heavenly Father's plan. It's such a blessing to be here serving, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

COVID SHENANIGANS
The date of my departure kept getting closer and closer. Eventually I received a temporary visa online, as well as an itinerary. Everything was going according to plan. On Tuesday, I went to the mission office to do my scheduled pcr covid test and ship it. So, I followed the instructions as best I could. I did the test, registered it online, shipped it, and tracked it, while refreshing the page often to see when my results came back. No big deal, everything went smoothly. But then, Wednesday night, I got an email saying that it was registered improperly online. I quickly fixed that problem, and was notified that my sample would be processed first thing Thursday morning. Thursday morning came, and I still hadn't received my results. Tick tock went the clock, and we made the decision to go do a rapid test nearby, hoping that would permit me to travel. We drove to a nearby urgent care, explained the situation, and got the test. It was originally going to cost around $200, but when I explained the situation, the price became $10. I don’t know if the man helping me discounted it, or graciously paid for the majority of the test, but either way, that man is a saint. Even though I didn't end up needing the antigen test in the end, it was still a wonderful reminder of the goodness of people.

After we did the test, we started driving to the airport. (Also, this entire morning, my phone was open to the webpage where my pcr lab test would show up. I was refreshing it every 30 seconds) I called the church travel agency department, and the lady on the phone told me that the antigen test isn't accepted for my travel. But, when she checked my account for the pcr test, it was there. Hallelujah. The entire morning my heart felt icy hot. Refresh... no test results. Refresh... no test results. I was a little bit stressed, but mostly I kept praying for hope and patience, willing to accept whatever the Lord's will for me was. And guess what, we made it. Even though I didn't have a printed copy, security accepted an electronic one, and I made it through.

I just want to say again how grateful I am for that man that did the rapid test for me. He was so kind.

And now, I'm currently on my way back to le Côte d'Ivoire. I never ever imagined that it would open back up while I was on my mission, but surprisingly it did. I've been kind of wrestling with this since I received news that I could be going back. The moment I got that email, memories of walking in the heat, warring against cockroach hordes and rat gangs, getting sick and being unable to leave, trying to help disobedient/contentious missionaries, and so many more came flooding back, reminding me of how trying and tough that period of time was. At first, I was not excited to go back.

But as time has progressed, and I've thought about it more, I have become excited to go back. Spending time with the Tibé's has definitely helped, just reminding me of the good things of being over there. I've also accepted that if the Lord wants me there, He will provide a way, and if not, He won't. I actually did really love the 7 months that I got to serve there. Despite all the negative, I loved it. There's two reasons why that is, why I'm choosing to go back, and why I'm now excited to return. The first of which is because my love for God grew. I learned so much about Him and became much closer to Him than before. I love Him so much, and if He needs me to serve in Côte d'Ivoire, I will happily and willingly go. Even though it's gonna really suck sometimes, I'll go. I love Him so much. The second reason is because I also developed a lot of love for the people there. Despite horrible circumstances and situations, the people there still find ways to serve, love, and find joy. I loved serving them when I was over there, and I look forward to it again. Those two things make going back completely worth it, no matter what.

Missionary work is the greatest thing on the planet. I wouldn't trade what I'm doing for anything. God does live; He loves you. Jesus Christ did love and sacrifice Himself for us, so that we could live again. Joseph Smith did restore the gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth again.

I love yall so much. I have no idea what happens from here on out, but I'll send emails more frequently I hope.
À la prochaine

Elder Lyman

Elder Lyman arrived in Côte d'Ivoire close to 9pm after 26 hours of travel, and only 2 hours of sleep.

 

 The elders had interviews and meetings the next morning and then met their new companions and headed to their new areas.

yes. he looks tired, but happy.

We received an email from the mission president notifying us of the area Elder Lyman is now serving in. We looked up the weather... 90º during the day and a low of 78º at night, with 89% humidity. The apartments don't have A/C, but very few people in the country have ever experienced that luxury. (He will probably never again complain about sleeping outside at Lake Powell when it's 75º at night.) Elder Lyman will adapt, as he did before, and enjoy his time living in and serving the people of Côte d'Ivoire.

Elder Lyman with Bonebo Jean-Luc Oulai

This is a photo a friend forwarded me. Elder Lyman is with the ward missionary of his current area, Koweit 1 in Yopougon. This man, Bonebo Jean-Luc Oulai, took the photo and sent it to the friend saying that he is so excited to have American missionaries back. We are excited as well.