Friday, December 27, 2013

The Worst and the Best of the Mission!

I cannot put words to the week I have had. It is more than safe to say this past week has been the toughest week of my ENTIRE life. Everyone decides they want to be sick the week before Christmas....I will never understand that. I have also been sick this week and had a headache for 4 days but I am feeling much better. My cell phone has been constantly glued to my face and multiple people sent to clinics. The clinics in Guayaquil tend to be very reliable however making appointments outside of Guayaquil and finding specialist takes some time and about a million phone calls. Everybody at the new insurance company knows me by name because we have had so many sick missionaries lately and I have called at least 2 times every day. Wednesday we had 5 missionaries in clinics for multiple reasons, a gallbladder removed, and wisdom teeth removed.  I spent a good several hours on the phone with Aetna, missionaries, and Clinics. I cried my eyes out at the end of the day. This week we also had 18 new missionaries arrive from different MTCs and only 2 new Hermanas. President called me Friday morning and told me I was going to be a trainer....I thought I misunderstood him but the assistants called me and told me that Hermana Smith, one of the new Hermanas was going to be my new companion. I got that nausea feeling in my stomach and thought that President must have lost his marbles because my Spanish is far from fluent and I am stressing so much with my responsibilities for nursing. He explained to me that it is only for a week or so until after the holidays when he can focus more on changes for the Hermanas. Yesterday was the best day of my mission. Never have I felt the help of the Lord so much in my life all at once. Words were just flowing from my mouth and promptings of what to say and do kept coming to mind. No doubt in my mind that this is the Lord´s work and that he is literally carrying me through these days.

I love the Lord, in him my soul delights!


Feliz Navidad!

Temple!!!

Yesterday I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the temple here in Guayaquil. Words cannot express how much of a blessing that was for me. So many questions answered, reminded of many truths, and so many feelings put to peace. Serving a mission is by far the hardest and most stressful thing I have ever done. Some days when I feel like I cannot handle another day, I wonder how Heavenly Father could call me to this work when I am so far from being adequate to fulfill my calling-- the Lord always ALWAYS lifts me up. There is no way I could do this work on my own, absolutely no way. To feel and literally see the Lord´s help in this work really is something marvelous and a wonder. I can feel the increased closeness to my Father in Heaven as I am learning more and more how to lean on him. I understand more of his love for all of his children as I see changes in lives through ¨small and simple things.

Con Amor,

Hermana Lyman


La Enferma

Work, Work, Work.

This week has been crazy busy with trying to manage time between investigators and los enfermos. Today alone I have had 5 people call for sore throats and congestion along with a few yesterday. It seems to be the illness of the week along with anything and everything else. Also 2 missionaries got bit by dogs and one of them this is the 3rd time he has called me for this. With the new insurance company I have to call them first when wanting to send a missionary to receive medical care, they then contact the facility to confirm they will except payment, then the insurance company calls me back to give me the okay. We discovered this week that my cell phone plan will not allow me to make international calls. Aetna, the insurance company, is based in Florida. This has been such a headache because I have had to call the elders in the office to call Aetna from a land line and relaying information. By Monday my new cell phone plan should be in effect. Also trying to contact clinics outside of Guayaquil is nearly impossible. Their numbers are constantly changing so we find about 10 different numbers for each facility online and hope one of them is correct--It has been hit or miss. There is one clinic in Manta that I had to send an Elder to just to ask them for their number. Hopefully Aetna will be able to get in contact with them so we can get a contract there. There have been a few lessons this week where I have been on the phone the whole time trying to coordinate appointments and dealing with the new insurance. It has been nice to be in a trio so that when this does happen my companions can teach and I can manage the nursing problems without impeding the mission work. Now that I am in a trio with the other 2 hermanas that we share a ward with we have been working two sectors--La Florida 1 y 2. They have a pretty large sector in Miduvi which is all government housing so we spend a lot of time trying to catch buses to work in both sectors. Leaning on the Lord everyday to give me strength. I love and miss everyone!

Con Amor,

Hermana Lyman

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Thanksgiving Week!

This week has been a little crazy and stressful with everything going on. Lots of people getting sick and needing appointments etc. I actually got a pretty bad headache the last two days and intermittent waves of nausea but I have been taking ibuprofen and drinking tons of water which has seemed to almost kill the headache completely. Tomorrow we are switching to Aetna the new insurance company so I´m sure getting use to the new system will cause some stress but hopefully by January I will be a costumed to everything.

Looks like everyone is having a fun Thanksgiving Holiday! I would kill for some thanksgiving food, especially pumpkin pie. Ryan´s Razor looks like tons of fun and a lot of mud. Today I helped a lady in our ward decorate her Christmas garland in her house and it made me a little homesick. Wish I could help Mom decorate the garland on the mantle again this year but you will just have to send me lots of pictures!

Today we have two baptisms that we are really excited about. One is the mother of our convert Rafael. Rafael is going to baptize her which is going to be so neat to see. Two of our converts Rafael and Richard are both attending mission prep after church and Oswaldo and his family are so excited to go to the temple in a year.

Con Amor,
Hermana Lyman

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Ecuador.... Only Nurse!

Ecuador.

Now that my wonderful trainer has left me here alone and with a cell phone that NEVER stops ringing life has picked up quite a bit. Hermana Williams went back home Monday morning so last weekend we visited some of her converts which was neat. I can definitely feel the added weight and stress but am adjusting well. Most of the medications have different brand names so I have been constantly researching medications. I have several different packets that Area Medical Doctors have made with different medications for different problems to cut down on the number of clinic visits. These have been a great resource for me. Now I want to go to nurse practitioner school when I get back because I am LOVING it but at the same time stressed out of my mind!

My Spanish is far from fluent but this week I have been able to speak so much better and understand a lot more. This was my biggest fear that I would not be able to understand sick people that only speak Spanish but the Lord has strengthened me so much and I am able to understand most of what is being said. How great is his power and I know there is no way I could handle this calling without his strength. This week has been such a testimony builder for me that I am understanding phone calls that before I could not. I am so blessed. I am actually in a trio right now with the other two Hermanas that are my roommates. Hermana Blas and Hermana Aramayo that only speak Spanish so this will help me learn the language better as well. President Dennis told me he is searching for a new companion for me so maybe by Tuesday I will have a companion.

This week I had a phone conference for Aetna training, the churches new insurance, which will be effective December 1st. We now have to contact Aetna first and give them the information and what clinic or doctor we want to use to get approval then we can send the missionary. Also it is only with doctors and clinics that have signed contracts with Aetna which as of today we only have 2 clinics in Guayaquil because they are still in the process of adding more doctors.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Con Amor,

Hermana Lyman

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Short But Definitely Sweet!

Hola!

Thanks so much for the e-mails! Not much new to write about this week. My companion leaves Monday morning to go back home so I should get a new companion Sunday. I´m not sure if she will speak English but in all honesty I hope she doesn´t. We don´t speak Spanish ever unless we are teaching a lesson or in studies. I have progressed in the language just not as fast as I´d like. If I get a Spanish only speaker then I know I will pick it up in no time. I´m probably going to be really stressed for the next few weeks to adjust to everything. Also I will be the only nurse which means I now have all the responsibilities for that. Also we are changing insurance companies starting Dec 1st so I´ll be doing some training for that. 

We have 2 baptisms of a married couple 25 years old tonight. I still have a lot of progressing to do as a missionary but I would have to say my understanding of the importance of the gospel teachings has a whole new meaning now that I have witnessed how it changes lives. These people that pray for the first time and have prayers answered through the spirit and to physically see the change in families and homes is such a blessing. I am most thankful for the restoration of the church. I am so proud to be a member. Everything good comes from the church, it changes lives. I am also speaking in sacrament tomorrow over missionary work so I´m a little bit nervous but at least it is an easy topic! We haven´t made the video yet they keep pushing it back.

Love and miss everyone!

Hermana Lyman

Hola!

So today is our p-day instead of tomorrow. Our schedule seems to be crazy lately because a lot of things have been happening on Saturdays so we´ve been having to change our p-days every now and then to Fridays. Tomorrow our ward council is being filmed as well as our pan de guineo activity. For the last two weeks we have had a general authority at our meetings and having extra meetings in preparation for the film. Our ward has had a lot of growth and for this are making a film for South American wards to show as an example. Last night the general authority actually told us that it might not be filmed until next Saturday so I might have p-day on Friday again this upcoming week.

This week has been pretty crazy with making appointments and getting medicines for sick missionaries. President and Hermana Dennis have been in Peru all week for a training conference. We have to get approval for any appointment we make and sometimes for medications that we send out. With them being out of the country it has been hard to communicate in a timely manner. Also yesterday President´s daughter got sick at school so we had to go pick her up and take her to the mission home. We are excited for them to get back! This week I also went to a doctor appointment with a Hermana to meet a doctor and to see some clinics and a hospital in the southern part of Guayaquil. Before Hermana Williams leaves we might take a hospital-clinic day so I can be familiar with the locations and facilities. 

This past Sunday our converts, Rafael blessed the sacrament and is talking about serving a mission in a year and Oswaldo received the priesthood. It was such a great thing to witness! They both are so great and Oswaldo and his family have been so blessed and are so happy. His wife and son have two chairs set up in their living room waiting for us every time we have an appointment with them. They are excited to go to the temple in a year to be sealed as a family for time and all eternity and I should be able to attend!

Love and Miss Everyone,


Hermana Lyman

Birthday P-Day!

11/2/13

Thank you so much everyone for the birthday wishes, love, and support!
 
I am so lucky that my birthday is on PDAY! This morning my other roommates came into my room early in the morning and woke me up singing "Happy Birthday" in English with their Latina accents holding a huge cake! So apparently it is a tradition in Ecuador to bite the cake after you make a wish....they neglected to tell me that it is also tradition to slam the person's face into the cake while doing so!!! So here I am taking a bite out of the side of the cake and my face getting slammed into the side while screaming! I ended up with icing all over my face and hair and Hermana Blas got it on video so it is pretty funny to watch. The assistants to the Mission President also called me and sang me "Happy Birthday" in a nice remix between Spanish and English (they are both from Columbia.)   It was so sweet and a great start to the day.

So I got my package in the mail 3 days ago but I was good and waited until today to open it. I Started with the picture album and It was so nice to see photos of everyone and when I got to the end of the pictures with Dad, Mom, Tanner, Ryan, Brannon, and Bryce with families they had baptized on their missions I started crying as soon as I saw Dad and Mom's pictures in Chile and Japan and I was pretty much weeping by the end of it. That has been the BEST gift EVER and means so much to me.  I am so grateful for the wonderful example my family is to me. I have put a photo of my first baptism next to them to finish the album. Mom that was such a meaningful gift and I will cherish it forever.  Also thank you for the gifts! It was a lot of fun to open them all!

Today we went to the Park of Iguanas downtown which has some really pretty buildings.  The park was pretty despite the fact that I am not a huge fan of IGUANAS!  But it was neat to see them and as long as they weren't running at me I was good. Little kids were picking them up and such....crazy!  Today Ecuador is celebrating the day of the dead and I am celebrating the day of my birth! Just a fun fact for today. Also some people celebrate Halloween but we really only saw a few people dressed up.

Yesterday 23 new missionaries arrived so we were at the Mission Home pretty much all day. We did preventative teaching and handing out care kits of medications the missionaries won't have access to in Ecuador without a prescription including Tylenol and ibuprofen. It is so weird to me that we can't buy those without a prescription but you can buy antibiotics and pretty much anything else. The new missionary orientation is actually pretty fun the office elders always do skits which are WAY entertaining! My companion leaves on the 18th to go back home to South Carolina and I am going to miss her so much!

I am so incredibly blessed!

Con Amor,
Hermana Lyman

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Settling In!


Dear Family and Friends,

Once again thank you so much for the letters, photos, and videos! It really makes my week and I love seeing and hearing how everyone is doing! So I am quite jealous to hear about the weather getting cooler. I would love to be able to even put on a cardigan for that matter. I forgot that fall and winter even exist so thanks for the reminder! I actually had a dream last night that Hermana Williams and I were proselyting in snow. How likely is it to snow at the equator? This makes me wonder if it has ever snowed in Ecuador outside of the Andes of course. It has actually been slightly cooler here at night getting down to what feels like the low 80´s with a nice cool breeze. Everyone has been wearing long sleeves and some even jackets at night time which is CRAZY! It is still warm! People have even been asking us why we aren't wearing long sleeves the few nights it has been cooler than the normal blasting heat.

My companion, Hermana Williams, was originally the nurse of the Guayaquil South mission but after they made the new West mission they sent her to the West. The President of the South Mission is actually a doctor so they sent her to the West. So I have been in my mission the entire time. Hermana Williams leaves to go home in a month, November 18th I believe. She has mixed emotions about it but for the most part she is not wanting to leave. I am going to be very sad as well when she leaves. She has been a great trainer and we get along great. I am surprised at how similar my companions have been. President Dennis talked with us yesterday about how things are going and what he is planning for when Hermana Williams leaves. He said he is thinking about putting me with someone who is bilingual so if I need someone to translate my companion will be able to help out. This will be nice since I am far from being fluent. But he told me I can always call him if I can´t understand etc. President Dennis is awesome! He is constantly making jokes and his wife is so sweet. I have actually been taking almost all of the phone calls from sick missionaries this week and have been able to communicate pretty well with the Spanish speakers. Just hope the stress does not overwhelm me when my companion leaves.

This week we ordered more medications for the new missionaries that will arrive next week, reinforcements for some of the zones in the mission, and the people that are going home. When missionaries go home we give them ¨La Bomba¨ or the bomb which consists of Albendazole and Tinidazol. This is just to kill any and everything that they could have gotten while in Ecuador such as a parasite or bacterial infection.

Last Sunday was quite an eventful day! Saturday night we went to the church to fill up the baptismal font for Rafael´s baptism that was planned for 8 am, an hour before church starts. Two of the young guys that always go out proselyting with us covered the drain to the font with a plastic bag and a large rock on top. The font was taking such a long time to fill up that we actually started hauling buckets of water from a spicket and dumping it unto the font. It took us two hours to fill the font! The next morning we showed up to the church and the water had completely drained over night. Apparently the drain hadn´t been covered correctly. So we turned on the water to fill the font 15 minutes before the baptism was suppose to start and once again began hauling buckets of water to fill the font! Rafael´s baptism started 15 minutes before church started and we ended up being late to sacrament meeting! Everyone was stressed but it ended up working out! I think we need to get a more effective top for the drain, but a plastic bag and rock is what the ward has always used. We have another baptism tomorrow morning before church so we are going to show up extra early to make sure the font will be filled in time since we can´t trust it to stay filled over night!

Last night the ward had a talent show which was actually a lot of fun! I got to see some Ecuadorian dancing and a lot of guitar playing and singing. The ward goes all out for their activities!

And the cat problems continue!

Love and Miss everyone,
Hermana Lyman

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Ecuador Updates

Sent Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Hola!!!

Wish I could write more today but I just don´t have that much time....ever! This week was better. We had 2 people that were suppose to get baptized this Saturday but wont be able to until next Saturday. We also have another baptism planned for the 26 of October. He is GOLDEN!!! He is 30, married with one kid and so willing to follow commandments and progress. Our first lesson with him we taught him keeping the Sabbath day holy and he said then and there he would stop working on Sundays. We are very excited about him. The other 2 ladies that I told you about last week we ended up dropping as investigators because they can´t progress. It is very sad because they both want to be baptized but their men wont marry them. That is actually one of the biggest problems here, nobody is> married!!! Last night right before we returned home to the apartment we knocked on one last door. It was my turn to pick a house and I am SUPER excited about her.  It was late so we just invited her to church and set an appointment for today so I am excited to teach her. Something about her seems right and my companion as well is excited. I am out of time...wish I had more.

Con Amor,
Hermana Lyman


Sent Friday, October 18, 2013
Hola!

So our P-Day is a day early because tomorrow is a ward activity where we deliver banana bread to a sector in efforts to receive referrals. President Dennis allowed us to have our P-Day today on Friday instead. I am reading the Book of Mormon and Preach my Gospel in Spanish which is actually going very well. I have found that speaking is more of an issue for me at this time. I am beginning to understand a lot more of what is being said! The ward is so awesome. We always have members wanting to got out proselyting with us and always have at least one member with us for every lesson. We have 3 great investigators at this time who all have baptismal dates. Rafael, 21, is getting baptized this Sunday. He has progressed so MUCH these past few weeks. Oswaldo and Milton are so GOLDEN! Everything we teach them they understand and recognize as truth. Oswaldo´s wife is a member but has been inactive for years. She is now reactivating and their family is just beaming and so happy! Milton is actually the bishop´s brother. We saw him sitting alone in sacrament meeting on Sunday and by the end of Church he told us, I am getting baptized in two weeks and I know this is the true church, being here makes me feel like a new person. We gave him a reading assignment in the Book of Mormon and he told us he read it 3 times to understand it. Can all of our Investigators follow suit? He also is getting married sometime within the next 2 weeks so he can be baptized. How faithful these men are! The difference in the countenances of these investigators has been such a blessing to be a part of. They are so eager to follow the commandments of the Lord and change their lives. It gives me such joy to teach someone to pray and hear them talking with their Heavenly Father for the first time in prayer.

Last week we went to the airport with President to pick up a new sister and we met the President of the south mission. I had actually met his daughter in the CCM in Mexico City. He is actually a doctor from Arizona and still working some for the practice he was at as far as managing etc. He gave us his number in case a question arises that we need medical help with. Dr. Piepgrass, the area medical adviser, lives in Bogotá, Colombia so we can only call him from our office phone. We are only in the office 3 times a week so this will be a wonderful source for us in Guayaquil for us. This week we had an Elder who had to get his wisdom teeth removed and he had some issues with payment but the Dentist has a lot of trust with the Church and went ahead and did they surgery. A lot of the doctors and dentists here have a lot of trust with the Church. They get plenty of business from all the sick missionaries and of course always get payed.

This morning we did a lot of cleaning before our land-lord came. The people that live on the floor below us have a cat and no litter-box. The cat has decided to use our balcony as it´s personal restroom. We cleaned up several piles of #2 and when I say several it was in the teens. This is the cat that got into the apartment one night and used the bathroom in the living room and got into the kitchen trash. We have covered the base of the bars that the cat comes through that separate the balcony from the stair case but he still gets through. The elders that lived here before had pizza boxes at the base of the bars but nothing is stopping Smokey the cat (we have named him.) If anyone has any suggestions on how to resolve this cat problem I would be more than happy to hear them, we are desperate. The land-lord came to fix the hot water in the apartment but was only able to fix it in the bathroom of Hermana Aramayo and Hermana Blas. I might be using their shower from now on because our water is FREEZING. Hermana Aramayo is from Bolivia and worked in a salon with her mom before the mish. She gave me a pedicure and manicure this morning! She did a great job and I have missed this luxury.

I will try and get some pictures of the city soon. It is not safe for me to carry my camera around so I have to be careful.

Con Amor,
Hermana Lyman

Monday, October 7, 2013

The Work Continues

Hola!
Well 2 months have already past and I'm beginning to think this is all I've ever known. lol I´m still struggling with Spanish and it is hard not to get down about it. Even though I am getting used to things here, I am beginning to miss American food! One interesting thing about our apartment is that there are square holes in the walls that are open to the outside without windows... only metal bar things. This means that birds and even a cat got into our apartment one time and used the bathroom all over the living room! It's crazy that there is always bird feathers and dust all over the apt. We also don't have washing machines so I have been washing all of my clothes by hand. Things are going well though just wish I could speak SPANISH!!! We are having difficulty with people not being married here. We have 2 investigators that are so sweet, but one is pregnant with her 6th child and her spouse doesn't know if he wants to get married to her, and the
other is a 14 year old with a baby and its the same story. It is so sad because they are so eager to be baptized. The people here are very humble and accepting of the gospel. We are praying for these two so we will see what happens. 

This week we celebrated Sarah, the Mission President´s daughter, 15th birthday. She is such a sweet girl and very mature for her age. I wish I could send more pictures however we use public computers that we pay to use and my companion said that her camera card got a virus one time so I´m scared to try. However I only have a few pictures from Ecuador from our first baptism. It is not safe here to carry around a camera or anything of value. 

Love and miss everyone,
Hermana Lyman

Packages cant be over 4 pounds or I have to pay $80 or so to get them from the post office.
Hermana Trissa Michelle Lyman
Ecuador Guayaquil West Mission
Casilla De Correo 09-04-206
Guayaquil, Guayas Ecuador

Monday, September 30, 2013

Week 3 in Ecuador!

Hola!

This week has flown by unlike the first two weeks. Ecuador is beginning to feel like a reality and part of my life. I am beginning to love the people and the city more and more. The ward is great and shows us so much support. Our bishop is all about missionary work and even goes out with us tracting sometimes. Our baptism last week went very well. My companion and I actually sang a duet at his baptism which I would have NEVER done in the states. We sing all the time here and I actually enjoy it very much. He also asked me to give the closing prayer in English. Richard is a 19 year old who is attending school and working. We are the 2nd set of missionaries that he has gone through and he has progressed so much! He wants to learn English so badly and I have actually been teaching him these last two weeks. He now knows how to pray and bear his testimony in English. Today we have another baptism of an 11 year old boy Leyton.

This week we had a 2 day conference for the 17 new missionaries that arrived from the CCM in Mexico and in Colombia. My companion and I did preventative teaching and handed out first-aid kits and teaching charts that we had made. We have already had 5 of those missionaries call us with gastro-intestinal problems and sickness from the altitude changes etc. Due to the change of health insurance for the Church, we are having to have a list of Doctors, Clinics, Imaging, and Laboratories that we plan to use in the Guayaquil West mission for the insurance company by Sunday. If we do not have the Doctor or Clinic listed, we cannot receive insurance coverage for the future. Hermana Williams and I spent several hours yesterday going to various doctor offices and clinics in Guayaquil. Then we had to document all this information into the Church medical program, eMed log. It was neat to see the different offices and clinics and meet several doctors. It was a lot of stress due to the time constraint.

Wish I had more time, but we have a lot to do today!

With love,
Hermana Lyman

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Second Week in Ecuador!

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Dear Family and Friends,
 
Let me first start by thanking everyone for the much love and support!! I love getting e-mails and updates from home! I don't have much time this week to e-mail but know that I will reply ASAP. This week has been better than the first, I'm adjusting to the drastic change well. I can now pick out several words that people say to me instead of none! Everyone tells me not to stress that the language will come but it is so hard for me not to worry! I don't like not being able to understand what is being said or convey my feelings completely. It is definitely a humbling experience. I feel like my personality is fading! I can't interact as much, might be a good thing. Ha ha! But all is well and my Spanish is getting better. 
All of the boys in the ward call me Hermione from Harry Potter, it is quite funny! The ward is so great and actually just split so now there are 2 wards. There is no air conditioning in the chapel so I about died during sacrament meeting. I think the days just keep getting hotter and hotter. It doesn't help that our Mamita cooks us hot meals for lunch. We arrive around noon; she feeds us hot soup and then meat, rice, beans and vegetables. So we are sitting there sweating cats and dogs and she serves us hot soup. I want to DIE every time we eat with a member. Half the plate is rice....and it is offensive not to eat everything. My companion tells me that pretty much everyone here gets a rice baby (a nice round belly from all the rice.) I refuse to fall into the same fate! We have started running every morning and I’ve been doing some exercises in the apartment. Thank gosh we only eat with members 4 times a week. This morning we actually got lost running and ran for a good 40 minutes trying to find our way back! The city is fun to run through.
Hermana Williams and I have started making bags of common medications such as Tylenol, ibuprofen, Pepto-Bismol, decongestants, Nyquil, thermometers etc. for the missionaries in the mission. They are not selling it over the counter here in Ecuador at this time so it is way annoying that we have to order these common medications through the pharmacy etc. They are not selling ibuprofen due to dengue fever and Tylenol for the flu. Some days our phone rings NON-STOP! There have been a lot of sick missionaries this week and we have to make appointments for them, try and track down medical records, surgeons etc. We actually met the Area Medical Advisor this week, Dr. Piepgrass. He is living in Bogota, Colombia and is over several missions in Ecuador and Colombia. We also met the guy above him for the Region he is living in Lima, Peru. They both were so helpful and helped clear up questions. I feel comfortable calling them for things I might need in the future. They also informed us that the church is changing insurance coverage and companies for the missionaries so I will have to do some training for that in the near future. There will be 22 new missionaries from the CCM in Mexico arriving this week so we will actually do some preventative teaching at the conference for the new missionaries. I am actually attending that as a new missionary since I arrived 2 weeks before everyone else so it’s kind of funny that I will be teaching at a conference that is for me.  It will be nice to see some familiar faces from the CCM!
Wish I had more time to write!
Con Amor,
Hermana Lyman

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Ecuador!!!

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Hola de Guayaquil!

I arrived here around 11:00 am this morning. Presidente Dennis and his wife picked me up from the airport and they are so sweet!  They took me out to eat at a Chinese restaurant here that was really nice. I also met their daughter Sara who is 15 and attending an American Academy in the city. The city is a lot different than I expected. I guess I thought it would look more like Mexico City, however it is a lot nicer.  It makes me excited for y'all to come pick me up. The mission office is way nice as well; it is in a new building right across from the temple. I have met my companion, she is 25, a nurse, and leaves in November. Hermana Williams is her name and she seems to be cool. However I miss Hermana Berrett :( It is so incredibly hot here and they say it is cool for Guayaquil. Feels like Houston in the middle of summer. The rest of the new missionaries actually arrive 2 weeks from now. There will be 22 new missionaries in my mission arriving. I am so incredibly TIRED!!! I was able to sleep on my flight to Bogota, Colombia which was 4 hours. I am looking forward to getting some sleep tonight. Presidente Dennis told me that they had 87 baptisms in my mission a few weeks ago but it usually is around 30. Well don't have much time left, but my P-days are now on Saturdays so I will write more then!

Con Amor,
Hermana Lyman

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Hola de Ecuador,
 
Saturdays will be my P-Days now because that is when the office has P-days which is nice. The few days I have been here have been quite different and well let’s just say a CULTURE SHOCK. The area of Guayaquil that I am in is called La Florida Norte. The people here are so sweet and open to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We already have a Baptism next Saturday and 3 more in the upcoming weeks. A few weekends ago the mission had 87 baptisms from what Presidente Dennis told me. All the women kiss our cheeks anytime you enter and leave a house or even at church, when someone walks through the door even if they don´t know you, they greet you with a kiss on the cheek before they pass.  

So far I have not seen a mosquito or any bugs....pure happiness there. However there is a serious bird, cat, and dog problem here. Our apartment is on the 3rd floor of an apartment building and there is a cat that will get on our balcony and use it as it´s personal liter box. Also there is this bird that perches itself on our window and makes the weirdest sound at 6 am. Some guys came to fix one of the showers in our apartment the other day and removed one of the bird´s next from our balcony. There were 2 baby birds that were big and ugly in the nest that he took home to EAT!!! How disgusting is that? He first put them on our floor in our apartment while he was cleaning out the balcony and while he was doing so the baby birds used the bathroom on our floor. They stink so badly. The little kids here like to play with the cats and kittens. They pick them up by their arms and swing them around and around. I feel so bad for the cats!  

We take the buses everywhere and it only costs 25 cents! I love that the currency here is American money but I am not use to using so many coins. We do not have warm water in our bathrooms so I am still getting use to the cold showers. There are 5 hermanas total in our apartment and they are all so sweet. My companion is from South Carolina and the other 3 Hermanas are from Bolivia and Colombia. It is so funny because I can barely communicate with them but they help me with my Spanish and I help them with their English. My companion is great, we get along well. She is also a nurse and training me in the office 3 times a week with medical records and documentation as well as the missionary life. I am nervous for her to leave in November. I'm trying my best to get the language down but it is so frustrating not being able to communicate much. In the lessons I pray and bare my testimony. I am able to follow what my companion is teaching however I have a hard time understanding the natives. They speak so fast and mumble. It doesn't help that my Spanish vocabulary is very limited. I am walking around with a hand-sized dictionary and doing as much language study as I can when there is a free minute or two. My companion is getting several calls a day with sick missionaries so it is quite a busy workload with proselyting and coordinating appointments and information to the missionaries and Hermana Dennis, the mission president´s wife.
 
The food here is pretty good, lots of bananas and rice. I am being extremely careful with things I eat and washing my hands and using hand sanitizer like crazy. I can't wait to be able to speak more and teach people.  So far things are going well just trying to keep the stress light which is very difficult at times.

Con Amor,
Hermana Lyman

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Terminal Semana in el CCM!

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Hola de el Ciudad de México!

This is my last week here in the CCM! I will receive my flight itinerary tomorrow so as of now I believe I will be flying out the 12th. Most of the missionaries leave the CCM around 1:30 am so it would not surprise me if I leave sometime around then as well. There are quite a few Hermanas that will be flying to Ecuador with me which will be nice. I am not looking forward to packing all of my things back up. Wish you were here to help me with that again Mom and Grandma. I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. However I can't wait to serve the Lord and the people of Ecuador.

Hermana Berrett and I played tennis a few times this week and I have decided I might want to take lessons when I get back or when I'm old and want to play tennis with all the ladies. She is really good and fun to play with! She also likes to golf so we joke and say we are going to live near each other so when we are old we can just go play sports when we aren't working at the hospital. The longer I'm here the more I am convinced that I want to do traveling nursing when I get back. A few months in Spain would be so ideal and I find myself thinking about it a lot. We will see! There are so many things I want to do when I get back. I feel like being here has made my perspective of life that much bigger. I have a desire to learn and progress in so many things. The gospel is so fulfilling and I am so happy here. I know that there is nowhere else I am supposed to be and I am so grateful for this opportunity. 

This week we also discovered that Hermano Brown, one of our instructors, is 4 months YOUNGER than me. I am older than my teacher....that is definitely a first! He is such a great instructor and Hermano Sagers, our other instructor, reminds me a lot of Tanner. They both are so great and teach so well.  It is actually pretty chilly in the mornings and nights here. It is the rainy season right now so it gets chilly when it rains as well. 

We do not have air conditioning because we really don't need it. We use to open the windows at night and we still slept with a blanket. It is getting too cool now to have our windows open at night. I am trying to enjoy the cool while I can because Guayaquil will be HOT all year long.  While cleaning last preparation day we found 2 cockroaches! I am surprised that there really aren't that many bugs around here. There are about a billion mosquitos everywhere but luckily they don't like me here. The soda here has a crazy amount of sugar in them because they have no regulations on how much can be in them. I can only drink half a soda. I love these chocolate chip cookies called Chokis here; they taste just like Chips Ahoy. The Cheetos here also have a nice spice on them. Dad you will be proud of me, I eat salsa every day on my tacos at lunch! They have a different kind of salsa every day sometimes hot sometimes mild. My favorite is a verde salsa with avocado but they are all good. My tolerance for spicy has gone up a few notches.

Today we went to the temple again and it was such a wonderful experience. I love the all the workers in México they are so sweet and strong in the gospel. The temple is so beautiful and I am so glad we got to go again before we leave. My love for The Book of Mormon has grown so much! Every chapter, yea every verse is just so great. I have felt an increased closeness with Heavenly Father and can feel his love as I have read and prayed daily. I am a daughter of God! He loves me, he blesses me continuously. He wants me to be like him and enjoy a fullness of joy. This is why he sent me to earth. To learn, progress, obtain a physical body and have faith in him so I can return to live in his presence. Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer. Through him I can repent of my sins and follow in his footsteps. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. Our flesh is weak, but our souls willing to follow Christ. 

My challenge: Read 2 Nephi Ch 4 and read or sing the hymn "Be Still My Soul."
My favorite hymn with my favorite chapter.

Con Amor,
Hermana Lyman



Temple today!!! 




These are my 3 roommates, we are the only Hermanas in our district as well.  Hermana Berrett, my companion, is in the light pink and black polka dots



Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Getting Closer to Ecuador!

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Hola!!!
 
It has been yet another quick week that has passed in the CCM. The days seem to last forever and the weeks tend to fly by. Being here has made me feel so much of my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ's love for me. I love it so much here and can´t wait to get to Ecuador! Sorry this e-mail is going to be brief. 
 
This week we were asked to invite others to come into Christ. We decided to sing hymns to some of the workers here and it was so much fun! The 3 Hermanas in my district and I decided to knock on the Mission President's door ( his home is not far from our classroom) and we shared a scripture and sang him and his wife a hymn. We were nervous about it and not sure if they would mind so we said a prayer before and had a good feeling about it. They invited us into their home and talked to us for about 45 minutes. They are so sweet and it was nice to feel like we were in an actual home with people who loved us. The closest thing to Grandma and Grandpa! The spirit is so strong when we sing and I love singing in Spanish. Our district will be singing "God Be With You till We Meet Again." Next Sunday in sacrament since it will be our last. Not sure if we will be able to make it through the song without crying. 
 
This Sunday we had beef diaphragm which was actually AMAZING. Tasted a lot like a roast in a crock pot. Hermana Walton, one of my roommates was talking about brownies all week long and how wonderful it would be if we could some how get a brownie mix from Costco. We tried to get our instructor to get us some but he said he wouldn't be able to. However, this Sunday after church the Bishop's wife had brought us BROWNIES!!! We were so happy, although I enjoyed the cookies she brought better, it was so nice to see our Branch excited to have some American food. 
 
I actually met the Mission President's daughter of the Guayaquil South mission at a devotional yesterday! She was sitting next to me in the auditorium so it was nice to talk to her for awhile about Guayaquil etc. She told me the drivers there are so much worse than the ones in Mexico City which is hard to imagine and that it is very humid and HOT! No surprise there. It made me that much more excited to get to Ecuador. I feel like I'm ready, not my Spanish by any means, but I am so ready to get things started. I feel like the best way to get the language down is to be in the field. Glad it is no longer 9 weeks here, 6 is enough for me.
 
My current favorite verses, thought I would share!
 
 
34 O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm.
35 Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I ask not amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the rock of my righteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God. Amen.   

I miss everyone so much.
Con Amor,
Hermana Lyman

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Halfway Through the MTC!

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Hola,

It is crazy to think that I am now half way done with my time here at the CCM! Time has really picked up from the first week and it makes me sad to leave this place. This past week has been another incredible one. I am learning so much each week and growing more in love with this place and the people here. The days are starting to blend together and it´s hard to remember life before this. It rains everyday here, usually just a light drizzle, but enough for a daily usage of my umbrella. Trying to write in English is becoming harder because everything appears to be spelled wrong.... Spanish is messing with my English! The other night I dreamt that I was at the hospital and I was trying to explain where I was hurting in Spanish but I couldn't remember a word so the Doctor couldn't understand me. I was so upset in my dream that I woke up in the middle of the night. I guess dreaming in semi-Spanish is a good thing. It's quite funny because almost every night someone has a night mare and screams or is speaking Spanish in their sleep. I have learned that if everyone spoke Spanish like my instructor, that I would more or less understand what was being said, but when a native speaks it seems to sound like gibberish! Cannot wait for the day when I can understand despite the mumbling and insane rolling of the letter ¨R¨.
Sundays here are probably my favorite day. I love sacrament meetings and our branch presidency is made up of some of the best men. They are natives and so strong in the gospel. Their families attend and they have such a wonderful spirit. We also have 3 devotionals on Sunday which are always way good and I learn so much from them. We are still hoping that Elder Holland will figure out that it is necessary that he make an appearance at the new CCM for a devotional (fingers are crossed). It only makes sense, right? Haha! This Sunday was a little bit sad, Elder Dennis (mission president´s son) left for El Salvador. He was suppose to leave on Tuesday but his flight itinerary changed and he left 2 days early at 3 am! He was excited but nervous at the same time. He is going to be a great missionary and I just know I am going to love his parents! It is going to be hard to leave this place and the missionaries I have grown to love. At the same time I am eager and excited to be in Ecuador! It will definitely be a bitter-sweet thing. 
Today we went to the temple in the city and it was so BEAUTIFUL!!! It was such a great spiritual experience with my district and fun to see parts of the city on the drive. After the session my 3 roommates and I had to check out the bridal room which was so gorgeous. My future hubby better have a lot of groomsmen because I have added 3 more bridesmaids to my list. I LOVE these Hermanas so much! Drivers in Mexico City are CRAZY and traffic is awful!!! People are all over the place and cutting in front of buses etc. I hear Ecuador is just as bad though. There are tons of VW Beatles and of course I thought of you Miss Sara O´Dell. I have been very cautious of what I eat because there are a lot of missionaries here that are getting sick with gastrointestinal problems. 
The other day at lunch Hermana Romney sat at our table and of course I had to ask if she was related to Mitt. Mitt is her dad's cousin and she is actually from Dallas, Texas! She is quite the classy lady and super sweet. She did her last 3 years of high school in Mexico because her parents were actually mission presidents here. So she is pretty much fluent in Spanish meaning she will only be here 2 weeks. Hermana Berrett (mi companera) and I joke and call ourselves the Abuelas of the CCM. Everyone is 18 and 19! Mi compenera wore my placa de nombre (name tag) ayer and we didn't notice till halfway through the day. There is actually another Hermana Lyman here. During a devotional this week President Pratt announced that Hermana Lyman would be giving the opening prayer and that she was going to Alabama. I was scared for a second until I realized that the Alabama was not me! The rest of the day I had random elders telling me that they thought I was going to give the prayer or telling me I did a good job. Haha!

I am having the time of my life here and loving almost every minute of it! I LOVE IT HERE!!! I see Elder Lopez about every other day so that is always nice to have that connection to home! and his district LOVES him! All the elders hang around him, it makes me so happy to see! 
Our lessons are going well with our investigators! Nosotros tenemos dos commitments para bauptizmo! Nosotros estaba el primer en nuestro districo tener un commitment para bauptizmo! Translation: (We have two commitments for baptism! We were the first in our district to have a commitment for baptism!)

With Love,
Hermana Lyman


















Wednesday, August 14, 2013

2 Weeks Down... 76 Weeks to Go!

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Hola,

It feels like I have been here for 4 months, cant believe it has only been 2 weeks! Things are still going well, the spirit is so strong and I am learning a lot. I never knew just how hard missionary work was though. I'm sure I won't really get just how hard it is until I'm in Ecuador. Most of the missionaries here are amazing and truly special spirits!

Iggy (the stuffed TY beanie baby iguana that Sara gave me at the farewell) is quite popular in the MTC! So this past week he came up in class and I told the Elders one of my tall tales. I told them that I had brought my pet Iguana with me and the church let me bring him because he is trained to lead blind kids. And they BELIEVED me......oh dear so funny. 18 year old boys!!! Of course I told them the truth later that night and it just so happened to be that on his tag it said his birthday was 8-12-1997. So Iggy´s birthday was yesterday, so my district celebrated his birthday and all the elders were so funny and excited to meet him!!! It was so much fun. We ate dessert from the cafeteria and one of the elders bought him a future missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints missionary tag from the store here!!! It looks so cute on him!

This is Iggy the Iguana

At the Farewell party with Iggy

Hola,

This past week has gone by so FAST compared to the first week.  The days are meshing together and flying by so quickly now.  Classes have been going well and Spanish is coming along however I feel like there is so much I need to learn.  One of our lessons with Carlos went on for over an hour when it was only suppose to last 20 minutes.  He is very stubborn! We have another investigator this week named Rogelio who is very nice and responsive unlike Carlos haha.  The investigators are our teachers so it is pretty intimidating to teach your teacher! However it amazes me that we are able to teach discussions in Spanish without notes.  This past Sunday I was called up by the branch presidency to give a talk on the apostasy at the beginning of the meeting so I was glad I had just taught Carlos that lesson the week before and was able to do give a 10 minute talk in Spanish.  I was able to bear my testimony and feel so strongly of the spirit.  Hopefully I don’t get called up this Sunday to give a talk again, they call you out of the audience however I’m hoping I can relax this Sunday!  We had a televised devotional last night and Richard G. Scott of the 12 apostles spoke.  I was able to sit next to Elder Lopez so it was good to talk home with him.   It was such a great devotional and he focused a lot on prayer and our relationship with our father in heaven.  He blessed us with the gift of tongues if we have faith and are obedient.

I actually met my mission president´s son, Elder Dennis, who is going to El Salvador! He is a super cool guy and I talked to him at lunch one day about his parents so I just know I’m going to love them! He leaves in a week and it just so happened that a sister I talked to the first week I was here met him and remembered me! She ran into me the other day and said ¨Sister Lyman your mission president´s son is here! ¨ So my companion actually spotted him one day in the cafeteria and now I see him all the time!  He told me he has a 15 year old sister that is living in Ecuador with his parents right now and going to a private school down there.  He will attend BYU when he gets off the mission and said that the church is actually paying for his schooling until his parents get back from their mission.  How cool is that??

 My companion and I also went and talked to the MTC president, President Pratt yesterday and as soon as we introduced ourselves and told him we were nurse specialist he was so NICE!! He said you are the two going to Ecuador!!! I’ve been wanting to meet you two Hermanas!!! He talked to us about Ecuador for awhile (he lived there for 7 years, and some of his family) and thanked us for being here.  We met with him to get special permission to use the computers for the medical program we will be using in the field.  I have access to all the missionaries’ files in my mission and Hermana Berrett actually attended 2 day training at the Provo MTC prior to coming here for nursing.  She told me they called her and asked her if she could attend.  Wish they would have called me, I would have flown into Utah for the training but I guess they figured since she lived in Utah it would be easy for her to go.  Oh well Hermana Berrett is going to show me the ropes! We have also started meeting with the MTC doctor during our gym time in order to be trained by him.  He is so sweet and nice and I love meeting with him. He taught us where to numb a toe before removing part of the toenail since ingrown toenails are frequent problem with the Elders.  He said to look it up on YouTube if we forget or just send them to a podiatrist! He is such a funny guy and I’m looking forward to learning more from him.

 Love ya'll

Hermana Lyman

This was the building that I had my classes in the first week! Had to take a picture with it since its named after my great X4 grandfather!!


The Ecuadorian flag Sara bought for a penny hung up in our room.


 This is the rock wall and fence that cover the entire 90 acres!!! Pretty cool, huh?

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

First Email from the MTC in Mexico City!

Wednesday, August 7, 2013
 
HOLA!!!!!
 
I never thought I would be so excited to be able to email and receive emails! I have been looking forward to this for quite some time now! So much has happened this week and I apologize now for the novel I am about to write, but I have so much to tell and little time to do so. Please forgive the bad grammar and spelling, I am typing as fast as possible in order to express my feelings and share some of my experiences here. The keyboards here are quite different as well so I am still figuring out how to punctuate etc. First off, thank you so much for the emails. I can't express how much reading a simple email means to me and how much I look forward to it. I actually teared up because even though it has only been a week, it feels like a year. I would also love some photos if possible, I regret not bringing any so feel free to email or mail me some! I will start with the first couple of days here. They were extremely difficult for me. I wish I could express the feelings I experienced but I cannot put it into words. I was very discouraged and looking back can see that I needed to feel that way to rely completely on the Lord. Everything was very unorganized, Spanish class was not very structured just pure immersion of our instructor speaking Spanish to us. Not sure how Bryce did Russian, respect him so much for that! I had a hard time sleeping the first 2 nights because I had so much on my mind. We had our first lesson with Carlos, a fake investigator, on the 2nd day with no notes and our broken Spanish. I could not feel the spirit at all in our first lesson and with the Spanish I knew and few words I learned. Looking back on the lesson, it's a miracle that we were able to say one sentence let alone teach this guy about Christ and the gospel for 15 minutes. Carlos acted very uninterested in our lesson and said one word answers to our questions. I wanted to say so many things but did not have the words. When we get back to our house we smelled vomit and found that someone decided to come in our room to our bathroom and vomit all over the side, floor, and wall and then leave it for us to clean up. Who does that? Our room has finally aired out. I took a shower in an open room in our house and came out to find that my companion had cleaned the vomit in the bathroom because she knew how frustrated I was. Can I just say that I have the BEST companion ever! She also got pooped on by a bird the first night when we and other roommates went out to pick up cups in order to drink water from the large bottled water containers when this old man stops us, gives us a speech about not being out this late at night etc it was about 9:45 p.m. How embarrassing, I felt like I was in high school again. Come to find out the next day the old man is the MTC president, President Pratt. So this gives you a brief idea of how my first few days went. Do not worry, I am now having the time of my life and love everything about this place. To describe the MTC, we refer to it as CCM, it is so incredibly peaceful and beautiful. It is on 90 acres and has numerous casas and apartment style living. The rooms are nice, all newly remodeled with tile and nice bathrooms. Our house has 5 bedrooms and houses 20 girls. The CCM grounds are BEAUTIFUL!!! They mow and there are workers constantly cleaning, gardening, and fixing things. We have actually become friends with the gardener who is amazing, we can only understand half of what he says to us but he stops what he is doing when he sees my companion and I and talks. He told us he trims all the hedges, trees, and makes different designs with some of the trees because of his love for the missionaries. I about cried my eyes out right there, he is so sweet. The CCM is in a valley and the mountains surround just about every angle with bright multicolored houses up the mountain. It has been a school for 50 years and has such a wonderful spirit, almost like a holy place. We feel so far from the city yet it is completely surrounding us. The entire CCM in surrounded in a rock wall with a fence on top of that.  Surrounding the fences are large bushes so we can hear cars passing on busy highways, however we can not see them. We actually hear several rounds of gun shots at night which reminds us that the city is more than just a pretty view. I don't know how I got so blessed with the BEST companion in the world, Hermana Berrett, the BEST district, and the BEST instructor ever. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my companion! I want to find away for her to be in our family. I already joke with her that I  have 3 single, smart, handsome, sweet, and the best part... Texan brothers! She has a boyfriend but you never know, a year and a half is a long time! Just wishful thinking. Hermana Berrett is from Riverton Utah, 22 years old, just graduated nursing school from UVU and we are so much alike. She is cute and the one of the sweetest and loving persons that I've ever met. Of course behind Grandma! I love you grandma and grandpa and are think about yall! Gym time here is golden. Hermana Berrett and I play volleyball with a few elders that played some in high school or club volleyball so it gets pretty intense but we can hang with them! Hermana Berrett is pretty good and we have a BLAST!!! She played tennis in high school so when we find some rackets and tennis balls she is going to teach me! The other two girls in our room are great as well! We all get along, we all are clean, and we have a lot of fun. My district is amazing as well,  its the girls I room with and 8 elders. These elders are 18 years old and all so different. I have grown to love everyone of them! We have truly grown so much as a district in just one week and even our instructor, Hermano Brown says we are one of the best districts he has ever had. We are very open and have great spiritual experiences and at the same time have so much fun. I never thought that being so immersed in the gospel could be so much fun. There is so much love and happiness here and I am loving so much of it! Our lessons with Carlos are getting better and better and I can feel the spirit so strongly when we testify to him! Hermana Berrett is a power house at teaching! I love it! Hermano Brown, my instructor actually knew Daniel, Marilyn's husband on his mission! He said that Daniel facebooked him and asked if he knew me, so it is pretty crazy that he is my instructor! He is so passionate and funny! I'm never bored in class and he amplifies the spirit by 10 and makes me want to study study study! Wish I could write more but my time is limited. Know that I love and miss everyone so deeply.  I can't express just how much my family means to me! I pray for everyone individually and hope things are going well!  I am growing so much here in the gospel and my love of the church!!! How could ANYONE EVER doubt it. I love singing in Spanish and the language is coming pretty well. Will send pictures in another email! The CCM is growing every week. We had 118 new missionaries arrive yesterday and a lot of Spanish speakers today.  President Pratt informed us that we are now over 800 missionaries and will be receiving more that were suppose to attend the Argentina and Peru MTC on top of the 100 missionaries that are arrive every week. We are not able to have devotionals in the auditorium because we have outgrown it. We are now meeting in the gym. Not sure how many missionaries this place can hold but the influx is insane. President Pratt is actually an international lawyer for the church and has lived in South America for the last 35 years. He gave a devotional yesterday and talked quite a bit about the temple in Guayaquil Ecuador! He searched for many of the temple sites in South America and dealt a lot with president Hinckley so that was pretty cool. Also I forgot to tell y'all that my companion is going to Quito north mission!!! We fly out the same day so that will be nice! My p-days are Wednesdays. Ahhhhh so sorry to keep adding to this email but I'm waiting for my companion to finish and remembered that Elder Lopez is now the DISTRICT LEADER of his district! I've only seen him a few times but he seems to be doing well! so proud of that guy!

With love,
Hermana Lyman

P.S. The mission address here is:
Carr. Tenayuca-Chalmita No. 828
Col. Zona Escolar, Deleg. G.A. Madero
C.P. 07230, Mexico, D.F. Mexico