Blessed to be Here

 

Okay so this is my first week in the Dallas 9th ward, and I'm in the north half of the area (there's another set of missionaries that cover the south part). I won't explain much here, but this email will have a totally different tone from the last one. Here's some updates on what's happened this week:

On Wednesday, we went to meet with a Congolese couple that had been trying to meet with the missionaries, but hadn't been able to communicate too well because they only speak French. Their names are Zawadi and Endani, and they have 2 little kids. So we showed up, and I started talking to them, and long story short, in thay first lesson, they asked to be baptized and join the church. Their baptismal date is set for the 2nd of January. We've taught them another lesson and they've gone to church three times. We're meeting with them multiple times this week, it's so awesome.

Next, we called someone that we hadn't been able to get in contact with before, and we were able to set up a time to meet with them. On Saturday we showed up, and we had a lesson with Blessing (the person we called), and her husband, Boniface. They're from Nigeria, and I haven't seen very many people as humble as them. It was so heartwarming to talk with them. We taught them the restoration, and on Sunday, they went to church with their son. We're meeting with them on Saturday again. 

And then, here's the craziest thing. We got a call on Saturday night from President Farley, and he relayed me this information from the Dallas temple president about some people he met:

"They are a young couple from the Ivory Coast. They were introduced to the gospel there and want to join. They looked up the church online and drove or walked to the temple from their apartment and ran into a sister from Brazil there who also spoke French (how interesting) who was there for the distribution center. As Julie and I were leaving the temple, we ran into all 3 of them. They were asking how to contact the missionaries and I took down their contact information."

President Kendrick - Dallas Temple

Then President Farley says, "and guess what. They live right next to your area, so I'm going to give you permission to teach them."

I can't explain the wonder or joy that I felt when I found that out. What are the odds that that happens at the temple, and that my area is right by where they live? It makes me so happy. I've cried a couple times while thinking about that miracle and I'm doing so now, but it's just so incredible. 

Their names are Jude and Inès Tibé. They're from Niangon, which was in my mission in Côte d'ivoire. They came to church on Sunday. It was such a joy to talk to them and to see someone from that country again. It has my heart, and I'm so so grateful that I get to experience a little bit of that again here in Texas.

We've had so many miracles and wonderful experiences throughout the week, they're just a little overshadowed by those ones I mentioned earlier. We taught a guy from Cameroon today, and he's going to pray about the Book of Mormon. We're helping reactivate a Hindu woman, as well as many other interactions and lessons and service opportunities we've found. And it's just been one week.

I'm so blessed to be here.

Anyways, some other stuff. My companion's name is Elder Call, and he's from Lehi, Utah. He's originally called to serve in some mission in Taiwan, but he's been here for about 3 months. We get along really well, and we're both learning Mandarin right now, so that's fun (yeah I'm still learning it). I haven't really met the other missionaries here yet, but they seem cool. Another miracle, everyone in our district is quarantined but us, so we're able to continue working. 

I loved my last ward, the missionaries, and the people there, but it was really hard to be there. There wasn't much work happening, and it was easy to lose hope and motivation. I did my best to be obedient, serve the Lord, and help others, but it overall seemed like my time and efforts were wasted. I survived and did okay, but it definitely wasn't easy. Coming here to Dallas has been an enormous blessing and a much needed change. I do feel like I'm receiving a lot more than I deserve; it just makes me all the more grateful for being here. Here's a scripture that I've been thinking about all throughout this week:

"For verily I say unto you, blessed is he that keepeth my commandments, whether in life or in death; and he that is faithful in tribulation, the reward of the same is greater in the kingdom of heaven.

Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation.

For after much tribulation come the blessings" (D&C 58:2-4).

I honestly never expected to come here and see this many miracles. I never could have imagined that I would see someone from Côte d'ivoire, much less be able to teach them and have them be legitimately interested. It's incredible, and I really hope it isn't over yet. I'm so excited. 

I'm sorry I didn't share something about Christmas, or really even talk about it at all, I’m just so excited to work here. I love you all so much. Have a great week!

Elder Lyman

 

Quarantine

This transfer has been good so far. We've spent a lot of time with Elder Feser and Elder Hedman (he's a TDWM missionary from somewhere in the SL valley and is in training), and the sisters, Hermana Johnson (she was serving in Guatemala) and Hermana Steveson (she's from Washington State). Everything was going great until an Elder in our district got caught up in Rona season. Yep, he tested positive for Covid19. So, for two weeks, our whole district locked down and put into quarantine.

Quarantine was the worst haha. We did our best to do what we could, but no one was really down for zoom lessons, and we had already called through our area book multiple times. All I'll say is that I had a lot of time to think and study. Although those 2 weeks seem like a fever dream, I can't remember much sadly. I mostly remember extreme boredom. It's all good though, because when we finally got out, it was so refreshing. Elder Cardwell and I may or may not have treated ourselves to lots of food and treats once we left haha. 

I don't have any updates for interested people or the ward, not much has happened since last time I emailed.

 

The district ran a 5K after quarantine. Elder Lyman was surprised to find that he wasn't much slower than when ran cross country and practiced every day.

 

Honestly, being here has really made me wonder what my purpose is here. Every day is virtually the same. We do the same things, walk the same 4 streets, meet the same members, and get the same reactions from everyone we meet. I'm not trying to complain at all, I'm just saying that being here has given me time to think.

From my perspective, there seems to be 0 progress, from day to day, week to week, and even month to month. It doesn't seen like we are making a difference. We get an occasional compliment from our bishop, or a member here or there, but for the most part, it seems like we don't have any impact. I know that's not true, the Lord is working through us in ways we probably will never see, but to us nothing seems to be happening. It's honestly really hard doing that from day to day haha.

I'm not depressed or upset or anything like that, don't worry. It's just hard because I want to give so much more to the members here and help people come unto Christ, and we really struggle to find ways to do that here.

Really quick, do you know those big buckets at waterparks that slowly fill up then dump down everywhere? My zone leader compared that to our work here. Each time we put forth effort, be obedient, pray and fast, and do our best to help others come unto Christ, it adds drops to that bucket. We can't see it adding it, or how much is in the bucket, but eventually all that will add up and something will come of it. That analogy has helped me out.

I don't know what the Lord has in store for me or where I fit into His plan, but I'm trusting that my efforts here are worthwhile for someone. It's definitely been hard, but I'm still enjoying representing my Savior Jesus Christ and learning more of Him. I'm so grateful for the special opportunity I have to grow closer to Him as I study and serve. I feel like there's few other places that do so as much as on a mission. For that, I'm so grateful.

I'll probably send another email next pday with transfers, and I'll probably put more positive stuff in there haha sorry, I'm really tired right now. I promise that I'm going well and that I am enjoying the work, it's just difficult, as missions always are.

I'm grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ and for the miracle of His birth, life, and resurrection. He is our Mediator and loves us more than we will ever understand. He is always there ready to help us. I love Him, and I hope that yall will try to bring more of Christ into your lives this Christmas season :)

Love y'all

Elder Lyman

 

 

During quarantine Elder Lyman went through the kitchen cupboards and reorganized them. Behind the plastic bags he found a fondu set. So he and his companion made fondu.

Obedience

Yo what is UP FAMILY AND FRIENDS! It's been another great transfer(apologies) here in the Flower Mound 3rd ward! Transfers came and everything's still the same for me. Elder Cardwell and I still get along really well, and being district leader is honestly pretty cool. 

I've absolutely loved being in this district. I've never felt more unified or more like a group of good friends than this district. It's been a great time, but most of them are leaving with transfers. We've gone fishing, eaten some spicy peppers, played lava monster, beat labyrinth (not quite), and lots of other things that I can't recall right now.

We've done a ton of service recently. One of the members here has some hookups, and so we've done a lot of work with Salvation Army and KFMB, as well as random chutes that the residents of Flower Mound come up with for us. It's been really fun (quick sidenote. getting glued tile up with just a hammer and a chisel is pretty terrible).

Not too many updates on our people here. We finally got back in contact with Rochelle and Thomas Spear, and we're hopefully gonna start doing lessons again soon. Our other couple people we interact with are flakey and don't seem too interested, but we're going to keep at it :)

Missionary work in our ward seems like it's going to take a turn for the better. Our new ward mission leader is Brother Lybbert. He has a plan for the ward and is bringing fire to the table. I'm actually really excited to be staying here to see what work we can do here with the members! It should be really cool. I'll keep you posted (hopefully not transferly, but we'll see).

Other than that, I'm not sure I have any updates. It's been really hard to stay focused and keep motivation, but it's been getting better. Israel still has to be gathered, and that means I have work to do.

One scripture that has stood out to me recently is Mosiah 5:8. This verse is talking about how the Nephites had made a covenant with God to serve Him. As I was studying it, this section stuck out to me:

"...all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives."

After I read that, I kinda sat back and thought huh. I've committed to being obedient for my whole life. For a second, that realization seemed a bit overwhelming, because I do my best to be as Christlike as I can, but if course, I'm not perfect.

Then I remembered a quote from someone that went something like "Obedience is the law of a free man" or something close to that. It made me realize, or more like remember, that commandments are there to ultimately make us happy. Even though keeping them may be difficult and possibly an unachievable task, in the end, they are there for our happiness. 

So, in other words, the covenant to be obedient for our entire life is really just a commitment to have more happiness and freedom. It's just so cool to see that everything that Heavenly Father does is always for our good, and to help us be as happy as we can be.

It's been a while since I've shared my testimony, so I'll share a bit here.

It hasn't been the easiest being here. There have been moments where being here has been really hard. But, the thing that often keeps me going is the reason why I'm here. Every day is a day worth living because Christ lives. He lived for us, died for us, and was resurrected. That fact alone is a reason to always be happy. We can be saved and live with our families again! What a wonderful blessing to have. I testify that Christ lives and loves us. He is our Savior and Redeemer, and is able to help us with whatever need we have. He will never leave us comfortless :)

Love y'all, until next time!

Elder Lyman 

Reminder of Vridi

Hey guys, it's been a while. Sorry I haven't kept up with weekly emails like I did in Côte d'Ivoire. I'll try to explain how this last transfer has been!

So, I'm training. My comp is Elder Cardwell. 6'4, loves fishing. From Tampa, Florida. Was supposed to head to Adelaide Australia, but he's here for his reassignment. He's awesome. We've had an awesome transfer together. We are over the Flower Mound 3rd ward. I used to have the 2nd ward as well, but it was split when Elder Cardwell got here. We shared our 1 bedroom apartment with the FM2 elders (Elder Feser and Elder Church*) for most of the transfer. Absolutely love those guys.

Being district leader here hasn't been nearly as stressful as it was in Vridi. It does help to have it in English.

The District

 

We've done a lot of service for an organization called the KFMB (keep flower mound beautiful) We usually do a bit of landscaping at parks or at public places. We did a big recycling drive on Saturday.

One day when we were walking to our apartment we saw that our upstairs neighbors had boxes on their balcony, and we figured they were moving. We went and knocked to see if they needed help. Long story short, we helped a family from Jerusalem pack their Uhaul. It was just the husband (Akram) trying to move couches and appliances by himself. We packed his Uhaul in no time. He bought us some Chickfila, and that was the last we saw him. It was a cool act of service.  

Fun fact... I'm learning Chinese.

All our investigators from before are either in other areas now or haven't responded to any phone calls. So anyone I previously mentioned isn't talking with us anymore. We don't know why they ignore us, but pretty much everyone we call and/or text never pick up.

Sometimes we try and be outside for a little exposure and let people know were out there, hoping that someone will want to come and talk to us. It's interesting, because whenever we say hi, people try to ignore us as best they can. A lot of the time, we'll be walking down the sidewalk and someone approaching from the other way sees us and either turns around or turns and walks down another street. It's weird how consistently people avoid us.

I've had a little luck on Facebook. Some people message and ask questions because they see that I'm a missionary. Others try and bash because they are atheist or are Muslim. A couple of accounts that have messaged me have been thot bots•. We're still trying our best to accomplish the Lord's work. When there's a will, there's a way. We just need to be patient and find the way.

I hope this doesn't come off as negative or anything. I'm still loving it. I absolutely love the members in the ward as well as the other missionaries here. It's just, the work is a bit hard right now. 

I will add a really cool interaction that I had though. I was on exchanges with Elder Smith, and we were walking to his apartment complex clubhouse to use the wifi because the sim card wasn't working. On the way I saw a man on the phone wearing a Côte d'Ivoire shirt. I got so excited and wanted to talk to him, but he was on the phone, so we kept walking past. We were in the computer lab there, and I wished I could've gone out and talked to him. A minute or two later, he came into the computer lab. Miracles. I was able to talk to him for around 10 minutes. It reminded me of Vridi. We talked in french about Côte d'Ivoire, his family, and lots of other things. We exchanged numbers, and he left. Miracles haven't ceased. I was really happy for a while after that happened.

No idea what scripture to share with this email, but one thing that I've really liked recently is President Nelson's invitation video about Hear Him before last conference. It's a wonderful video, and it gets me excited for this upcoming conference. Y'all should prepare for it with questions and prayer, because it's gonna be awesome. 

Until next email?

Elder Lyman

*Elder Feser was gonna be my comp, but then the morning of transfers we got our trainees instead. Elder Feser is from Layton UT, and was serving in the Rosario Argentina mission. He has the same amount of time as me. He's training Elder Church. He's from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was also supposed to go to Australia.

Elder Cardwell's parents were able to come to Dallas to take him through the temple. Elder Lyman was able to accompany them, and was elated to have been able to do so. 

They took Elder Lyman and Cardwell to lunch before flying back home.

 

Pray continually

Okay so, a bit has happened since the last email I sent home. This transfer has absolutely flown by. I love my area, my comp, the members & investigators here, and honestly just the opportunity to be here in the Lord's service. The past month and a half has been a blast. I know it might seem weird that I'm loving the mission, when my circumstances are taken into account. We live in a more difficult area, 50% of the few planned lessons and meetings that we have with people fall through, and on top of that, it's all digital. I love it anyways. Here's some info on our investigators:

We have someone on date for baptism! I know it seems kind of out of the blue, but Mariah is an investigator of ours that has been really flakey, so I didn't count her in last weeks email I think. But out of the blue, she came to church. After church, she said "hey I've chosen the church for me." The next day we taught her the Doctrine of Christ, and she wanted to be baptized. There may be some family stuff to work around, but for now, her baptism is scheduled for the 29th! It should be awesome

We also taught another lesson this week to Rochelle (another person that I think I've only touched lightly on if at all). She just got married go her husband, who's been a fairly inactive member, but wants to become active again. They want to progress towards temple marriage, which is honestly incredible. She wants to be baptized, but first we need to help her grow a testimony. She's such a sweetheart. I'll keep y'all posted on her!

We've been trying to contact Gwen, but she's never picked up. Hopefully we'll be able to meet with her this week

We've kept working with Beaumont, just reading the Book of Mormon with him and being his friends. He's been through heck. It's so cool to see how he's so happy and positive and nice despite the dark hole he was in just a couple months ago.

Danielle is another inactive member that we've been working with. She's been through heck as well. We taught a lesson with her where she cried. It's amazing to feel the Holy Ghost working through you to help others and touch their hearts. 

I have such a genuine love for the people here. I'm not sure where it came from, but I just love them so much. I wasn't planning on using this as my scripture for the week, but it just came to my head, so here ya go.

"For I pray continually for them by day, and mine eyes water my pillow by night, because of them; and I cry unto my God in faith, and I know that he will hear my cry" (2 Nephi 33:3).

I honestly love these people so much. There are nights where we come back to the apartment and I just feel like crying, knowing what they go through, what they've had to deal with in their lives. I wish I could help them in any way I can. I've shed many tears for these people. But, I'll keep working, keep doing my best to help them see the goodness in life and in the gospel, and come unto Christ, and find joy and peace. I know that even though the work is different, it hasn't stopped. Why would I be here if God has stopped the work? I've been commanded to serve, and with that commandment, I have the assurance that I can accomplish that. There's people to help, hearts to soften, and lives to change. The mission is still dope. 

Love y'all

-Elder Lyman

  

Transfers happened and Elder Lyman has a new companion, Elder Cardwell from Tampa, FL.

Somehow this happened...  we don’t know the story behind the photo.

blessed

Well well well. I apologize for not writing for the past couple weeks. I hope I'll be able to go over everything that's happened.

To start. I am so blessed to be here right now. My area, my comp, my apartment, really anything that could be a blessing, is. My comp, Elder Wolfgramm and I get along really well. Elder Rowley and Elder Layden are a companionship that usually give us rides to places when we need to go far. They're really cool as well, and I guess I played Elder Rowley in soccer a couple times (he played for Delta). I love all the missionaries here.

I feel like I can't express enough gratitude for the members here. The love and selflessness that they have is incredible. One day we told them that we didn't have bikes, and that same day we had 5 or more offers to give us bikes. The 3rd ward hadn't been feeding us, but when they found that out, within a couple days they had people signed up to feed us into August. I love the big meals, but my favorite one was when an old couple gave us a little bit of beef stroganoff and some canned pinto beans. They don't really have much, so it was even more touching that they would give what they did have to us. Their kindness towards us and each other is amazing.

One member family in particular that I love is the Lybbert family. They feed us each Monday, and we love going over there. That family is very spiritual and also very funny. They're also some of the strongest members I know. Sister Lybbert has been fighting cancer for 10 years. Frequent trips to the hospital, health restrictions, and medications have been their normal routine for around a decade. I don't know how they all keep such a positive attitude, but they do. 

Okay now I'll go back to Shawntelle who I talked about in my last email. We had another lesson with her this past week and she's so sweet and loving. She shared with us her concerns for her family and how she might have stomach cancer. We taught her about what happens after this life, and I think it helped her a lot. It's so hard to teach her because her data is pretty terrible, but it's okay, I think she understands us. Hopefully we will be able to get her to church this Sunday.

We got a referral from some missionaries in South Dakota? North Dakota? Middle Dakota. Wherever Mount Rushmore is. I guess that the missionaries met this guy named Isaac there, and talked about the Book of Mormon. He's living in my area right now, so they referred him to us! He's honestly so cool. He's going to try to read from the Book of Mormon every day, so we'll see where that goes!

Last but not least, Beaumont. Beaumont was a really inactive member, but came to church one day and wants to fix things up. We went to dinner with him on Saturday, and he shared some of his life experiences with us. It wasn't pretty, he's been through so much. It was actually really surprising to see how positive and friendly he was, despite his trials. I have such a genuine love for him. Elder Wolfgramm and I are hoping to prepare him for a mission.

Here's my scripture for the week:

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matt 5:16).

This is one of my all time favorite scriptures. We can make such a huge difference in the lives of others. No matter what we say or do, any positivity that we share makes a difference.

Sorry, I'm kinda tired and my thoughts are all jumbled, so hopefully this email makes sense haha. I love y'all, have a good week!

Elder Lyman

*I may or may not have biffed it the first time we took the bikes out.

Service project at the flower mound the city gets its name from.

Fishing on PDay, hoping to catch a Gar.

Back At It

This week here in Dallas has been great! Arriving here went very smoothly. Just driving to my apartment and looking out the window, I've already fallen in love with this place. My companion's name is Elder Wolfgramm. He's from Pleasant Grove, and he's super cool. He was serving in Paraguay for about 8 months until Corona hit, and has been serving in this area for about a month. Also, he reminds me of Shawn Spencer from psych. Super cool guy, I'm excited to work with him.

Our area is honestly awesome. We're the missionaries for the Flower Mound 2nd and 3rd wards, and the members I've met here are honestly the coolest people ever. I can't express to you how nice and loving they've been to us. One member family that's especially cool is the Becks. They're wonderful. Somehow they found out it was my birthday and they made me a cake on the first day of being here. I'm not quite sure how they did it, but it was awesome.

The apartment we are in is the best in the mission so I've been told. It's awesome (everything here is awesome so I hope you don't get sick of me saying that word haha). It's hotter here than Côte d'Ivoire was, so AC is such a blessing. This place is way different from Africa, but I love it.

Doing missionary work is kinda hard in quarantine, but we've had some experiences already! We've had a lot of rejection, a couple arguments, but a few good interactions. One that we had was with a homeless guy. We are allowed a little bit of time to be outside each day, so on Sunday, we were walking around outside and saw this guy. He looked homeless, so we started talking to him. We asked him what his name was, and he said "it's not nice to call people names." Then he totally went off on how he gave up the name and how we don't exist and that the future exists before anything and how we had to choose the path of righteousness or the path of privledge... yeah it was interesting. We tried to engage him in gospel topics, but he would turn it into his theories of who knows what. But anyways, that was fun. 

One fun experience we had was teaching a guy from India! The sister missionaries sent us a referral for him, so we called him on zoom. His name is Joshua Luther, and he speaks a little english. We taught him a little bit about Christ, and I really felt the spirit. I'm not quite sure what he got out of it, but hopefully he felt the spirit too. We'll see what happens with him.

Another cool thing that happened was with this lady named Chantelle. We send out random facebook messages each day, hoping that people will respond, and she did! She was actually really interested to hear what we had to say, so we called her on zoom. We actually taught her about our purpose here on earth and it was really cool. She wants to keep learning and eventually come to church! So cool. I'll update y'all on what happens with her.

Anyways, this week has been great! Here's the scripture for this week:

"Now we see that Ammon could not be slain, for the Lord had said unto Mosiah, his father: I will spare him, and it shall be unto him according to thy faith—therefore, Mosiah trusted him unto the Lord" (Alma 19:23).

I didn't think too much about this scripture when I read it before, but this time I really thought about it. Mosiah must have had to have a lot of faith. I wondered what it would've been like for him. Sending your sons to a land that, from the previous verses, seems like the last place any Nephite wants to be. But, the cool thing about the verse was that his sons' protection was dependent on Mosiah's faith in God. In the other verses, instead of Ammon getting hurt only a little bit, or the Lamanite trying to kill him missing with the sword, he just falls over dead. Instantly. Think about how much faith Mosiah had for that to happen. I don't know about you, but in the moment I was kinda blown away. It made me think, we can and should rely on the Lord for our protection. He is willing to bless us, it's just dependent on our faith.

Welp, this week has been great, I cant wait to see what the next one will bring! Despite the differences here and the quarantine factor, I love it already! See you guys next week! 

-Elder Lyman

Au Revoir, Côte d'Ivoire

This past week and a half has been the craziest time period on my mission so far. Everything was normal for most of last week. As in, the work was progressing, we were teaching spiritual lessons, and influencing the lives of others. On Wednesday, we received a text from our zone leaders that we needed to make a reserve of food for our apartment. Elder Diaz and I made a considerable reserve of rice, spaghetti, canned foods, and other non-perishable items. We bought overall 45 kilos of rice, and untold cans of sardines (it was the only protein we could find...). We were  prepared for anything. Then, Thursday night, we get a call from President and Soeur Lewis, saying that we needed to pack our bags and get ready to go home. It seemed unreal, but we prepared our luggage, cleaned the apartment, and got ready to leave at a minute's notice.

On Saturday morning at 5:00, we woke up and left to the mission home. A large group of americans and I then went to the airport to board our plane. Our flight schedule was quite interesting. We were scheduled to fly from Ivory Coast, to Ethiopia, to South Africa, to London, to New York. It was an astounding flight plan that laid ahead of us, with a 16 hour layover in South Africa. Overall, it was a 3 day trip. It seemed crazy, but hey, it was a way home. But, in the airport, right before we checked our bags, we received word that South Africa had just closed their borders. Somewhat defeated, we returned to our apartments.

The next day and a half was spent staying at the Vridi apartment, talking to the other elders there, and waiting for further instruction. The only orders we had were to wait in the apartment and that possibly a flight would be possible on Monday or Tuesday. Sunday night, I made curry with rice and chicken. Right after we finished eating, the assistants called us, saying to come to bureau immediately. We did what they said and left as quickly as possible. Thankfully, this time, we boarded the plane and were off. Unfortunately, we left an unfinished pot full of curry in the apartment. I hope someone goes there soon and deals with it so we don't feed the rats.

The journey back home was luxurious. Most of us were spoiled with business class, which was amazing. My seat was able to convert into a bed, so I slept through the entire first flight and a quarter of the second. When I wasn't sleeping, I was either studying the Livre de Mormon, or eating the meals that they gave us. It was a really comfortable trip, and the idea that I was actually coming home seemed unreal, until the moment that I walked out of the Salt Lake airport and saw my family. It was a very sweet experience and I'm so happy to be with them again. It was bittersweet to leave the country I've grown to love, and I can feel a piece of my heart still beating over in Abidjan, but it was the Lord's will for me to leave, and it's a blessing to be with my family again.

Here's my last story from Côte d'Ivoire for my emails.

On Friday, Elder Diaz and I went and said goodbye to our amis and members before we left. Unfortunately, we weren't able to say goodbye to the Djehi family, but we were able to visit most everyone else. One of the most touching experiences I've had while we were there was with Sr Dorcas. Here's an excerpt of what I wrote in my journal:

"We saw Sr Dorcas there, always smiling, as usual, when we show up. Then, we told her that we were leaving. Her smile fell instantly, and she started to cry. We took photos with her, and then walked with her to a certain point in the road, as we had done many times before. She started talking, but then said she couldn't say anything really. She managed to get something out like "Because of you, I have hope in my life." Then she choked, moved a distance away, and started bawling. She said "pourquoi ça me fait du mal?" or in other words, why does it hurt so bad? After a minute or two, she came back, and said something like "I've seen many missionaries in my life, and they weren't anything special, but it's with you that I've began to change. It's because of you that my life has changed. I've started to pray, I've started to read the Book of Mormon and the Bible. I've felt myself grow closer to Christ. And now you're leaving, and I don't know what I'll do. I've told you how hard my life is. I don't have money, a job, a friend. Everyone mocks me because of my baby. I don't want to go back. Life is so hard, and that's why I'm thankful for you. You showed me the way. You saved me. I don't know if you'll remember me, little sr Dorcas in Africa. I hope you will. The only thing that I ask is please, please pray for me. That's all I ask. There's too many bad things and I need help." "

It was a heart wrenching experience. Elder Diaz and I were crying as she said that, and for many hours after. She's a single mom of 3 kids. Her third was a c-section. Her fourth probably will be, too. The father of her kids is abusive and uses the money for alcohol. She doesn't have a house or a job, and her family is verbally abusive. There are many other negative influences in her life, and it seems like all the odds are against her. But, through everything, she found the truth. She found Christ. The Lord worked through our hands to bless and change her life. The following day she called us multiple times, saying that she's found peace in us leaving and that she knows that the church is true, the Book of Mormon is also, and she could feel Christ's love in her life. It was an amazing process to look back and see how the Spirit worked in her heart and her life. It was one of the most saddening experiences to have to leave her and see her in that state, but comforting and joyous at the same time to see how the Lord had blessed her with a newfound testimony of the restored gospel. I know that she will have the Lord's help as she continues to learn and grow.

"And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!" (D&C 18:15) 

For me personally, I feel like if there was a single person out there in Côte d'Ivoire for me to touch with the gospel, it was her. This scripture is true; often we don't see the fruits of our labors until after the harvest. We taught her multiple times, and she seemed like the average investigator. But, after that experience, we realized that the Spirit had been working miracles in her heart and bringing the Light of Christ into her life. We didn't see it then, but now, having realized that, my joy is full. And now, seeing how much her life has changed, and the blessings that God has poured on her? It's brought me to tears multiple times, and even now, as I write this. Missionary work is true. There is no greater joy than to see God work through our hands and bring souls unto Christ. I haven't ever been happier than when I've been serving. I definitely would recommend missionary service to everyone. There are untold blessings and treasures that come from missionary work that you can't understand until you've lived in it. I know that it's true and that it's the best decision I've made in my life so far. Jesus Christ lives; He is our Savior. He loves us and will always do what's best for us. It has been a blessing to serve Him and be an instrument in His hands these past 7 months. I will be more than happy to serve Him wherever He needs me. I love you guys, have a good week!

-Elder Lyman

Abidjan from above

 

 

Saying goodbye to Elder Diaz

 

 

The Sandbox kids

 

 

Soeur Dorcas

 

 

A group of Rastafarians Elder Lyman and Elder Diaz taught.

 

 

Where people make Attieke

 

 

Saying goodbye to Soeur Linda

 

 

 

 

Soeur Lydie and her famille

 

 

Vridi2