Hi,
Sorry about last week i wrote to Alison instead and that took most of my one hour email time.
Hmm I always sit down at the computer thinking i have lots to say. It seems though as soon as i start typing i blank and forget everything i was planning on writing. I'm going to brainstorm before my next email but for the moment you'll just have to put up with my possible rambling. Cool stuff happened this week i promise!
I'll start with the best thing that happened. We had a BAPTISM!!! His name is Ronnie. Ronnie has lived in Bicknill his whole life. He has never been interested in the church until a few months ago. we met him and taught him the lessons and he agreed to baptism the first time we taught him. He was definitely prepared. It was neat cause at his baptism people came up to us and would say things like "we have been waiting for this for years" and "he needed this 20 years ago." We couldn't believe it cause he was prepared and was so ready. His journey took awhile but the important thing is that it happend. He finally was ready to take that first step.
Yesterday was interesting. Loa stake covers all of wayne county that includes about 6 wards and a branch. Yesterday we got to visit the small branch of Ticaboo. It right ion the edge of lake powell which is a big tourist location. This branch in the winter has about 5 to 11 people and in the summer it's a full house. There was 11 people there yesterday including Elder Lora and me and the people who took us. It was cool it reminded me of Alison's mission farewell in Banff. Ticaboo is a 2 hour drive but it was awesome to visit a small branch. We got to bless sacrament i miss doing that.
Alright sorry if this letter was boring but i'm having fun i promise
143 Family
The Church is true
Elder Ian Dyer
ps there is a nonmember sitting at the computer beside me... wish me luck haha
Monday, January 24, 2011
small branch and a baptism
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
4 months... yes i had to count
Hi!
First of holy crap!!! It's been 4 months already how did that happen? I guess that means i only have to reach 4 months 5 more times. that's really not a whole lot of time... better not waste it.
Alright this week had some ups and downs. I'll start with the downs
Number 1 downer We found to kids to start teaching Sky and Ty they are 11 and 12 years old. They were super awesome and they wanted to get Baptized. We were so excited cause they are pretty cool kids. Sounds good so far but here is where it kind of goes downhill. They're parents are divorced. The mom lives here in wayne county and the father lives in St George. They go to they're Dad's every weekend and they wanted him to baptize them. The mom called and asked him if he would do that. The problem is he said they've already been baptized. The mom had no idea and the dad made the kids promise not to tell. Sky and Ty have already been baptized and it really hurt the mom that she wasn't there. That was super frustrating.
Number 2 downer. We talked to our mission president and Cal cannot get baptized for a few months... I was ready to cry cause we'll be gone and i love that family so much. He is okay though he still has his testimony and he says he can wait. He took it really well and Cal is amazing.
Number 3 downer. The last pictures Mom sent... those t shirts are going to follow me around till the end of time!!!
Okay but there is always some positives. One of the biggest is just how much i love this area. the work a lot of times is slow but we have some pretty awesome people to teach. The members are pretty great to. Elder Lora and me started taking piano lessons and that has been fun so far. We can read music and are getting not to bad at piano. I was wondering if Mom or Dad could send me my old learn piano book and the flashcards. that would help a ton.
Being out here though this past for months my testimony has grow so much. This work is so important i'm so grateful to be part of it.
This church is true 143 family
Elder Ian Dyer
First of holy crap!!! It's been 4 months already how did that happen? I guess that means i only have to reach 4 months 5 more times. that's really not a whole lot of time... better not waste it.
Alright this week had some ups and downs. I'll start with the downs
Number 1 downer We found to kids to start teaching Sky and Ty they are 11 and 12 years old. They were super awesome and they wanted to get Baptized. We were so excited cause they are pretty cool kids. Sounds good so far but here is where it kind of goes downhill. They're parents are divorced. The mom lives here in wayne county and the father lives in St George. They go to they're Dad's every weekend and they wanted him to baptize them. The mom called and asked him if he would do that. The problem is he said they've already been baptized. The mom had no idea and the dad made the kids promise not to tell. Sky and Ty have already been baptized and it really hurt the mom that she wasn't there. That was super frustrating.
Number 2 downer. We talked to our mission president and Cal cannot get baptized for a few months... I was ready to cry cause we'll be gone and i love that family so much. He is okay though he still has his testimony and he says he can wait. He took it really well and Cal is amazing.
Number 3 downer. The last pictures Mom sent... those t shirts are going to follow me around till the end of time!!!
Okay but there is always some positives. One of the biggest is just how much i love this area. the work a lot of times is slow but we have some pretty awesome people to teach. The members are pretty great to. Elder Lora and me started taking piano lessons and that has been fun so far. We can read music and are getting not to bad at piano. I was wondering if Mom or Dad could send me my old learn piano book and the flashcards. that would help a ton.
Being out here though this past for months my testimony has grow so much. This work is so important i'm so grateful to be part of it.
This church is true 143 family
Elder Ian Dyer
 |
| This is what he means about those shirts following him around. A woman he worked with made them with the help of Mom sending her pictures of Ian growing up. The pictures were put on shirts, and now they show up at random times much to Ian's dismay. You will also notice what Mom and Dad call "Little Ian". The Elders that live in my parents basement made Little Ian for them for Christmas. They like him a lot, and has been to every family member's home. |
Monday, January 3, 2011
new year
HI
Well it's a new year not a big deal. Being a missionary new years is still an excuse to have a party with the other Elders. To celebrate Mission president said we could watch toy story 3. Our district met up in Monroe to watch it. I was the only one there who had seen it except for one other Elder. It was great to watch it again though and there was a lot of pizza so that makes everything pretty stellar.
Christmas was fun we saw some families, played a lot of apples to apples, and ate tonnes! the best part was talking to the Family though. It's funny to think that i've been away from my family for 4 months and am separated by 1300 miles but picking up the phone and talking to you guys it really didn't feel like i'd left at all. I know that will be the same 20 months from now to. I liked that. It really doesn't matter how long someone is away from there family cause no matter what.... well at least in my case we'll always be family. Thanks for the Love and Support.
So my Family complained to me on Christmas that my emails aren't specific enough for them and that they want stories. I can't think of any though. Most days are just the same. We wake up study teach lessons and eat. i don't have any crazy ridiculous missionary stories to tell yet. I really can't think of any and now i just feel like a boring missionary... thanks family. Teaching lessons and seeing the Gospel change and bless lives has been the most exciting part of this whole experience so far.
We talked so much on Christmas and not much has changed since we talked so i really don't know what to write at the moment. Haha sorry guys. I guess i'll pray for a more exciting week to tell everyone about next monday.
The Church is True
Elder Ian Dyer
Ps the pinata that Elder Blake and Elder Brown made was awesome. It made me laugh and the Tripletts got longboards... Awesome! tell them to wear helmets when attempting large hills or else Clarke will get certain celebrities like the soup nazi to tell them to wear one.
Well it's a new year not a big deal. Being a missionary new years is still an excuse to have a party with the other Elders. To celebrate Mission president said we could watch toy story 3. Our district met up in Monroe to watch it. I was the only one there who had seen it except for one other Elder. It was great to watch it again though and there was a lot of pizza so that makes everything pretty stellar.
Christmas was fun we saw some families, played a lot of apples to apples, and ate tonnes! the best part was talking to the Family though. It's funny to think that i've been away from my family for 4 months and am separated by 1300 miles but picking up the phone and talking to you guys it really didn't feel like i'd left at all. I know that will be the same 20 months from now to. I liked that. It really doesn't matter how long someone is away from there family cause no matter what.... well at least in my case we'll always be family. Thanks for the Love and Support.
So my Family complained to me on Christmas that my emails aren't specific enough for them and that they want stories. I can't think of any though. Most days are just the same. We wake up study teach lessons and eat. i don't have any crazy ridiculous missionary stories to tell yet. I really can't think of any and now i just feel like a boring missionary... thanks family. Teaching lessons and seeing the Gospel change and bless lives has been the most exciting part of this whole experience so far.
We talked so much on Christmas and not much has changed since we talked so i really don't know what to write at the moment. Haha sorry guys. I guess i'll pray for a more exciting week to tell everyone about next monday.
The Church is True
Elder Ian Dyer
Ps the pinata that Elder Blake and Elder Brown made was awesome. It made me laugh and the Tripletts got longboards... Awesome! tell them to wear helmets when attempting large hills or else Clarke will get certain celebrities like the soup nazi to tell them to wear one.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Most wonderful time of the year
Hello Family and Friends who peruse this blog,
Well it's less then a week till Christmas which is and forever will be the most wonderful time of the year. I thought as a missionary Christmas would be a little less materialistic and commercial as a normal Christmas spent at home. For the most part it's true but still you guys sent me a lot of stuff! I received a care package from Mom and Dad and another from Clarke and Cecilia. some highlights of each package was. Canada stuff: mittens, scarves, mini hockey sticks ect. lot's of Chocolate happy days cause i was dying for a mars bar. There were a few games to play Elder Lora and me are really addicted to monopoly deal. Mom sent her cookie recipe and i can't wait to make a batch. Just one question about that mom did you mean baking soda or baking powder cause you wrote down both?
I felt very loved by family thank you guys so much. The winner though for most amazing thing sent to me was Grandpa Dyers tags from the war... Thank you Dad that blew me away.
I love hearing from you guys so much. Clarke talked about Halo and how he's gonna school me when i get home. Guess again Clarke i'll always be the better halo player two years away won't stop me just you wait. Cecilia sent me a letter on a Hello Kitty stationary that made me laugh a lot. Today I got Dad's i hate Christmas talk. I read the first part to Elder Lora and he then asked if Dad was a J-Dub cause they are quite against Christmas. It was hilarious. Grandma Dyer sent me a letter to. I'm happy to hear you are all taking good care of her. it sounds like your doing well Grandma i think about you a ton. It's really nice to hear from you guys your letters give me lot's of strength. It's nice to know i have such good support back home.
This has been a great week Santa came to town and we got pictures i can't wait to send some of those pictures. Apparently being a missionary you automaticaly make the nice list says Santa. That took a load of my mind. It's been especially nice though to be able to focus on the true meaning of Christmas. It's been great talking in sacrament meetings and getting to speak about Jesus Christ at this time of the year. We went to a choir Cristmas concert last night with some of our investigators and really got to enjoy the spirit of Christmas with them. The Concert was amazing and Dad i wish you were there. The concert was entitled "I heard the bells." The Choir director explained the sad and meaningful origin of that Carol. They sang it beautifully to. Today while i was reading the I hate Christmas talk. Dad talks about Lockwells poem turned Dad's favorite Carol. I was taken back reading it cause it made me think about things that really mattered. Of course my main thought was my family. I'm especially thankful and blessed to have never been without a Merry Christmas cause i have such an a great amazing loving family. i can't ever thank Heavenly Father enough for you guys
I love this place. I'm spending Christmas with the Clarks this year and for the time being they are a good sub for the Dyer's. I can't wait to get a call from you on saturday. 11 O clock sharp cause i'm not the most patient person waiting for a phone call.
The Church is true
Merry Christmas
Elder Ian Dyer
Ps all i want for Christmas is some more investigators.
Well it's less then a week till Christmas which is and forever will be the most wonderful time of the year. I thought as a missionary Christmas would be a little less materialistic and commercial as a normal Christmas spent at home. For the most part it's true but still you guys sent me a lot of stuff! I received a care package from Mom and Dad and another from Clarke and Cecilia. some highlights of each package was. Canada stuff: mittens, scarves, mini hockey sticks ect. lot's of Chocolate happy days cause i was dying for a mars bar. There were a few games to play Elder Lora and me are really addicted to monopoly deal. Mom sent her cookie recipe and i can't wait to make a batch. Just one question about that mom did you mean baking soda or baking powder cause you wrote down both?
I felt very loved by family thank you guys so much. The winner though for most amazing thing sent to me was Grandpa Dyers tags from the war... Thank you Dad that blew me away.
I love hearing from you guys so much. Clarke talked about Halo and how he's gonna school me when i get home. Guess again Clarke i'll always be the better halo player two years away won't stop me just you wait. Cecilia sent me a letter on a Hello Kitty stationary that made me laugh a lot. Today I got Dad's i hate Christmas talk. I read the first part to Elder Lora and he then asked if Dad was a J-Dub cause they are quite against Christmas. It was hilarious. Grandma Dyer sent me a letter to. I'm happy to hear you are all taking good care of her. it sounds like your doing well Grandma i think about you a ton. It's really nice to hear from you guys your letters give me lot's of strength. It's nice to know i have such good support back home.
This has been a great week Santa came to town and we got pictures i can't wait to send some of those pictures. Apparently being a missionary you automaticaly make the nice list says Santa. That took a load of my mind. It's been especially nice though to be able to focus on the true meaning of Christmas. It's been great talking in sacrament meetings and getting to speak about Jesus Christ at this time of the year. We went to a choir Cristmas concert last night with some of our investigators and really got to enjoy the spirit of Christmas with them. The Concert was amazing and Dad i wish you were there. The concert was entitled "I heard the bells." The Choir director explained the sad and meaningful origin of that Carol. They sang it beautifully to. Today while i was reading the I hate Christmas talk. Dad talks about Lockwells poem turned Dad's favorite Carol. I was taken back reading it cause it made me think about things that really mattered. Of course my main thought was my family. I'm especially thankful and blessed to have never been without a Merry Christmas cause i have such an a great amazing loving family. i can't ever thank Heavenly Father enough for you guys
I love this place. I'm spending Christmas with the Clarks this year and for the time being they are a good sub for the Dyer's. I can't wait to get a call from you on saturday. 11 O clock sharp cause i'm not the most patient person waiting for a phone call.
The Church is true
Merry Christmas
Elder Ian Dyer
Ps all i want for Christmas is some more investigators.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Week 6
Hello Everyone,
Alright so i had to count and i figured out it's week 6... Where the heck did this transfer go! This is the last week of my second transfer. Transfers were supposed to be one the 22nd but president is keeping us in our areas till Christmas so everyone get's to stay where they are for Christmas. That's really good in my case cause i like Loa a lot! the Clarks were really excited that Elder Lora and me are staying. I know that They have been emailing mom though and i know there is some plotting against me going on. they recieved a pretty bad picture of me wearing a he man shirt and spock ears as a toddler. Just so everyone knows all the nerdieness i have is cause of my brother... i'm sure whatever happens i'll still love you mom.
Alison thanks for your letter telling me about the new walking dead series. I'm sure it's awesome cause the comics are amazing. Clarke has them all if you ever want to read them.
Yesterday i gave my first Christmas talk in Chrurch. i started by talking about Dad's i hate Christmas talk. that got quite a few laughs. Don't worry though Dad i then continued on to talk about what your talk really meant the true meaning of the season. I really like that talk dad. can you send it to me by any chance?
Alright so this week was my first convert baptism! Elder Lora got to teach most of the lessons all by himself but Susana understans english. I was able just to bear testimony at the end of every lesson but it's still nice to see how the Gospel touched her life and how happy she was to become of member of the Church. It's both of our first investigator who's been baptized.
Hmm sorry guys other then picking up some awesome new investigators and running into some Bible bashing J Dubs( Jehovas witnesses) i got nothing really to report. They wanted to argue but we were not up for it. It was kind of annoying cause they really were not polite. We just bore testimony and left
Well that's been my week more or less. the church is true.
Elder Ian Dyer
Weird i'm almost in my 3rd transfer. it doesn't feel real. I almost forgot one other cool thing Missionaries can do now. We can TEXT!!! haha it's awesome we get to text our investigators now
Alright so i had to count and i figured out it's week 6... Where the heck did this transfer go! This is the last week of my second transfer. Transfers were supposed to be one the 22nd but president is keeping us in our areas till Christmas so everyone get's to stay where they are for Christmas. That's really good in my case cause i like Loa a lot! the Clarks were really excited that Elder Lora and me are staying. I know that They have been emailing mom though and i know there is some plotting against me going on. they recieved a pretty bad picture of me wearing a he man shirt and spock ears as a toddler. Just so everyone knows all the nerdieness i have is cause of my brother... i'm sure whatever happens i'll still love you mom.
Alison thanks for your letter telling me about the new walking dead series. I'm sure it's awesome cause the comics are amazing. Clarke has them all if you ever want to read them.
Yesterday i gave my first Christmas talk in Chrurch. i started by talking about Dad's i hate Christmas talk. that got quite a few laughs. Don't worry though Dad i then continued on to talk about what your talk really meant the true meaning of the season. I really like that talk dad. can you send it to me by any chance?
Alright so this week was my first convert baptism! Elder Lora got to teach most of the lessons all by himself but Susana understans english. I was able just to bear testimony at the end of every lesson but it's still nice to see how the Gospel touched her life and how happy she was to become of member of the Church. It's both of our first investigator who's been baptized.
Hmm sorry guys other then picking up some awesome new investigators and running into some Bible bashing J Dubs( Jehovas witnesses) i got nothing really to report. They wanted to argue but we were not up for it. It was kind of annoying cause they really were not polite. We just bore testimony and left
Well that's been my week more or less. the church is true.
Elder Ian Dyer
Weird i'm almost in my 3rd transfer. it doesn't feel real. I almost forgot one other cool thing Missionaries can do now. We can TEXT!!! haha it's awesome we get to text our investigators now
Monday, December 6, 2010
week... I dunno what week it is
Hello Family,
This week was a lot more exciting then last week. Well I'm just gonna start typing and i'll see what comes out.
One of the families we teach the Mom is a nonmember and we've been teaching her and she wanted to be Baptized. Unfortunately she and her significant other are not married. That's cause she isn't exactly a legal citizen! Happy days though cause with the help of brother Van Orman they were able to get a marriage license. Apparently not every question needs to be asked to get one of those! anyways Elder Lora and me got to go to a wedding last Wednesday. it was really small but still awesome cause now she is gonna get baptized this Saturday!
Cal Clarke wasn't able to be Baptized this week hopefully in about a month he will be able to. His daughter just turned 8 and got baptized last Saturday. We went to that though and very last minute Brooklyn(Cal's Daughter) asked me to confirm her and give her the Holy Ghost AHHH!!! I did my very best to pretend i wasn't scared to do it cause i've never done it before. It went over fine though cause Heavenly Father Definitely took over. that was the most amazing baptizimal service ever though! such a strong spirit there. I love the Clarks! I can see how the gospel is infuencing there lives for the better and the changes they are making. I can't wait for Cal to get Baptized cause that will be epic!
Those are the two really cool things that happend. Some other cool stuff is
- I play hacky sack a lot and i got to 11 my goal today is 15
- cooked egg mcmuffins twice for Elder Lora and me
- got my ukulele strings!
- Bought the Prophet of the restoration dvd
- Ate lot's of food at the Clarks. Lisa cooks like mom. her lasagna last night tasted like yours mom! it was amazing
- The best thing though we found 3 more people to teach! We found one guy named Dave and he's the only Black guy in Wayne County and we teach him haha! He's 51 and from Philidelpia. He is super Golden
Anyways this has been a really great week testimony strengthing everyday.
The Church is true i love these people
143 Everyone
Elder Ian Dyer.
ps Mom sister Anderson emailed you! Her Family says 143 to. They had a picture on the wall and it was 143. I asked what it meant and it meant the same thing
This week was a lot more exciting then last week. Well I'm just gonna start typing and i'll see what comes out.
One of the families we teach the Mom is a nonmember and we've been teaching her and she wanted to be Baptized. Unfortunately she and her significant other are not married. That's cause she isn't exactly a legal citizen! Happy days though cause with the help of brother Van Orman they were able to get a marriage license. Apparently not every question needs to be asked to get one of those! anyways Elder Lora and me got to go to a wedding last Wednesday. it was really small but still awesome cause now she is gonna get baptized this Saturday!
Cal Clarke wasn't able to be Baptized this week hopefully in about a month he will be able to. His daughter just turned 8 and got baptized last Saturday. We went to that though and very last minute Brooklyn(Cal's Daughter) asked me to confirm her and give her the Holy Ghost AHHH!!! I did my very best to pretend i wasn't scared to do it cause i've never done it before. It went over fine though cause Heavenly Father Definitely took over. that was the most amazing baptizimal service ever though! such a strong spirit there. I love the Clarks! I can see how the gospel is infuencing there lives for the better and the changes they are making. I can't wait for Cal to get Baptized cause that will be epic!
Those are the two really cool things that happend. Some other cool stuff is
- I play hacky sack a lot and i got to 11 my goal today is 15
- cooked egg mcmuffins twice for Elder Lora and me
- got my ukulele strings!
- Bought the Prophet of the restoration dvd
- Ate lot's of food at the Clarks. Lisa cooks like mom. her lasagna last night tasted like yours mom! it was amazing
- The best thing though we found 3 more people to teach! We found one guy named Dave and he's the only Black guy in Wayne County and we teach him haha! He's 51 and from Philidelpia. He is super Golden
Anyways this has been a really great week testimony strengthing everyday.
The Church is true i love these people
143 Everyone
Elder Ian Dyer.
ps Mom sister Anderson emailed you! Her Family says 143 to. They had a picture on the wall and it was 143. I asked what it meant and it meant the same thing
Monday, November 29, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving from Loa Utah,
Finally we got Thanksgiving this past week. I missed Canadian Thanksgiving cause i really have no patience when it comes to turkey. The turkey sub last month in Huntington just didn't cut it and actually made me miss it more. However we ate at the Clarks this is the family where the dad is getting Baptized on Saturday. Oh man this family new how to cook a bird. the dessert was the best part though. Pumpkin pie, apple pie, and pumpkin cheesecake. It was heaven. We only had one dinner appointment to so we were able to fully commit to the Clarks for a Thanksgiving feast.
This was a pretty solid week. Elder Lora and i bought matching winter coats they look pretty snazy. We found some more people to teach and 2 of them are only spanish speakers so i need to learn me some spanish quick! We got a ket to the Church so we are getting up at 6:15 to fit in some early morning basketball. I miss sleep not gonna lie. Yesterday we found these cows that evryone here calls the oreo cows. they are black and white in the middle just like an oreo. Elder Lora was really excited. We speak just about every sunday in sacrament meeting to. It gets less frightening everytime.
Hmm what else have we done this week. Well we just got haircuts and this is defintely the shortest my hair has ever been but who cares i'm on a mission. I got the prophet of the restoration DVD in the mail todayit's funny what you get excited about on a mission a movie about Joseph Smith is one of those things.
This week though other then Thanksgiving was same old we just are doing our best to keep busy and keep teaching people. Things are going good here i like it.
Sorry this email wasn't more exciting hopefully I'll have some crazy stories next week
Church is true
Elder Ian Dyer
Finally we got Thanksgiving this past week. I missed Canadian Thanksgiving cause i really have no patience when it comes to turkey. The turkey sub last month in Huntington just didn't cut it and actually made me miss it more. However we ate at the Clarks this is the family where the dad is getting Baptized on Saturday. Oh man this family new how to cook a bird. the dessert was the best part though. Pumpkin pie, apple pie, and pumpkin cheesecake. It was heaven. We only had one dinner appointment to so we were able to fully commit to the Clarks for a Thanksgiving feast.
This was a pretty solid week. Elder Lora and i bought matching winter coats they look pretty snazy. We found some more people to teach and 2 of them are only spanish speakers so i need to learn me some spanish quick! We got a ket to the Church so we are getting up at 6:15 to fit in some early morning basketball. I miss sleep not gonna lie. Yesterday we found these cows that evryone here calls the oreo cows. they are black and white in the middle just like an oreo. Elder Lora was really excited. We speak just about every sunday in sacrament meeting to. It gets less frightening everytime.
Hmm what else have we done this week. Well we just got haircuts and this is defintely the shortest my hair has ever been but who cares i'm on a mission. I got the prophet of the restoration DVD in the mail todayit's funny what you get excited about on a mission a movie about Joseph Smith is one of those things.
This week though other then Thanksgiving was same old we just are doing our best to keep busy and keep teaching people. Things are going good here i like it.
Sorry this email wasn't more exciting hopefully I'll have some crazy stories next week
Church is true
Elder Ian Dyer
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