A stormy hello to everyone!
Well we had some fun tornado-ish weather this weekend which I Had the opportunity to do lots of biking and walking in. I'll share one such adventure with ya'll, briefly.
Saturday, I found myself on exchanges with a Spanish speaking elder in my district here in McKinney. We got a call in the morning requesting our presence at a baptism in Allen (a city about 8 miles away). We could find no one to give us a ride there so we set out on bike early in the afternoon to get there on time. It had been lightly showering off and on throughout the day but the weather was pleasant for the most part. As we got about a few miles into the ride, it began pouring harder and harder and we found ourselves in the middle of a fast moving storm. I hadn't had the chance to buy a rain jacket yet so I was just in a white shirt (an occurence that is more common than I'd like to admit). The weather wasn't cold so it made little difference. Wet is wet regardless of what you're wearing and we literally couldn't get any wetter. About 3/4 of the way to our destination we stopped in a small parking structure to check for any missed calls regarding our location. We then recieved a message informing us that we were no longer needed at the baptism. Well I wasn't about to ride all that way for nothing and it just so happens that the city we were riding to has some outlet stores. I figured now was as good a time as any to buy that jacket. So 16 miles later through dumping rain, hail, tornado alarms, and waves of roadwater from passing cars that nearly knocked us off our bikes once or twice, I ended up with a sweet deal on a sweet jacked and an exciting mission story. As bad as it might sound, it was actually tons of fun. Hopefully I didn't just freak anyone out too much with that story... If it's any consolation, we prayed before we left and when we stopped to check the phone... Also neither of us ever felt unsafe throughout the experience so all was well.
At any rate, the exchange went great overall. I got to have yet another dinner and a few lessons where I didn't totally understand what was being said all the time, but it was fun. I committed one of their bilingual investigators to baptism at the end of the night and we set a date with her right then. This was the second time I had been given the opportunity to teach her so it was a cool experience.
Meanwhile, in the bat-cave --I mean, my area... Our week didn't go quite as well as planned. We watched in horror as one by one, each of our full week of appointments punched except for Steve and his wife Vicki. I'm not entirely sure how that lesson went, as we were on splits with memebers that evening and I was not present. I'm told however, that it went very well. They commited to read the Book of Mormon consistently. They are taking simple but correct steps in the right direction. Elder Clayton and I are regrouping and trying again with our investigators and families this week so hopefully things go better this week. There was some disappointment associated with so many appointments falling through at the last moment but as I've said before, I find it hard to get discouraged. As I come to know the Savior better each day, and how to make better use of His atonement, the small letdowns become easier and easier to handle regardless of how they might sting initially.
Thank you all so much for your words, prayers, and thoughts on my behalf. I feel your support and love each day as I continue to pray for all of you as well. I can't wait to hear more about how everyone is doing and the exciting things that are happening in each of your lives. I love you all! Until next time; be good, stay safe, and keep the faith!
Love,
Elder Michael P. Lyman
Texas Dallas Mission
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