I busted my ankle. I'll just get to the point. We were playing basketball on Friday and during the game I jumped for the ball and on the way down I rolled my ankle and partially tore a tendon on my left ankle. There is a doctor in the Kenosha ward who inspected it and he told me that I will need to wear a brace for 3 months, but overall he said that it isn't all too bad. So, President and Sister Cutler rebuked me and asked all the parental questions and I had to assure them that I was going to be fine. Which I am!

Final Ceremonial Tie Burning

Ssshhhh -- might be a tie that my  mom sent me.

My last week: It just doesn't even feel like the end of a mission. It doesn't feel like two years. It doesn't feel like I'm going home. It feels like I'm just getting transferred to a new area to be honest. Church was amazing; it was very sad saying goodbye to the members of the Kenosha ward. Thank goodness for Facebook.

I have loved my mission and I have loved serving under President and Sister Cutler. I love the mighty U.P, I love Sun Prairie, I love Appleton, I love Oshkosh, and I love Kenosha. Yes it was hard, but opposition has only blessed me with a living and prospering testimony. I am grateful for the people who I have had the privilege of serving and teaching the restored Gospel to. I know that our Father in Heaven loves us all, and He sent His son Jesus Christ to atone for us. It is his gospel that we teach and live, and through it we may gain salvation.

See you soon.

Love,
Elder Luymes

What a wanna-be; never gonna beat In-N-Out!

Have Usain Bolt T-shirt, will travel.
Compliments of a Kenosha member.

We biked more than 150 miles this week! Now I know that if you compare that to a bike race or somebody who does 50 milers every other day then 150 miles is nothing. However, when you take into consideration that our goal is to teach lessons, and talk to people and that we have to stay within a specified area of Kenosha, biking over 150 miles is pretty dang impressive.

Looking for Usain Bolt at Lake Michigan.

So without further delay, Elder Norton and I will be releasing an Album named: Miles to Ride

We will be featuring many wonderful songs such as:
"Bicycle" by Queen
"Pioneer Children Sang as They Biked and Biked and Biked" by the Kenosha Ward Primary
"I Biked So Long and Got So Far, But in the End" by Linkin Park
"I Can't Bike" by Lil Wayne
"I Hope They Call Me on a Bike" by the missionaries of the Milwaukee South Stake and
"Misty Bike" by the Hobbits, from The Hobbit
We will continue working on our music video, and it will shortly be released at bicycle stores near you.

In truth, I'm having fun. Biking has gotten my legs in great shape and it expels any extra energy that I might have at the end of the day. I have also been sleeping really well. We had many amazing lessons this week. We met a woman who is a professional figure skater and even competed in the U.S Olympic trials before she had an injury. This same woman has also performed for Disney on ice and Snoopy on ice. I jumped for joy when I told her that I was from LA and that my family faithfully watches the Snoopy on ice show every Christmas Eve. Sure enough, she has been performing for the company for many, many years. So there is no doubt that my entire Luymes family and I have seen this investigator perform. It was super cool. Her boyfriend is also getting drafted to the LA Clippers in the next season or two. Who knew famous people could come from Wisconsin—of course The Great Houdini was born and raised in Appleton WI, and my apartment was only one block away from where he lived. Sweet!

The weather has been decent, but the bugs have been unrelenting. A couple of times the humidity was unbearable and so I'm sure I sweated out all the weight that I might have gained here in Kenosha. The last time I weighed myself I came in at 177 lbs. This is simply not good enough. My goal was to finish my mission 10 pounds heavier than I started my mission that would mean coming home weighting 180. Why can't I gain weight, while others can't lose it? Life just isn't fair.

That's all folks. See yah in some 10 days.

Love,

Yours truly, Elder Norton (S Jordan, UT), Elder Muir (Springfield, UT)
Elder Santos (Phoenix, AZ), Sis Ormsby (UT), Sis Askerlund (UT)

Elder Luymes

Colonial Klink, I found Hogan, but I know nothing of the heroes!

 

The Book of Mormon Musical in Milwaukee

 

For the past 2 weeks, missionaries in the Milwaukee zones have been contacting theater-goers attending The Book of Mormon musical, offering them the real Book of Mormon. They were able to give out a total of 1,861 copies!  The following article about our missionaries was published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on May 28^th .

 

Theater-goers headed into the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts this week don't quite know what to make of the Mormons doling out copies of the Book of Mormon outside "The Book of Mormon."

Some eagerly accept. Others look away and laugh. Some offer a curt "no thank you," and keep on moving.

"A lot of people think we're part of the cast," said Elder Ryan Haueter, 20, of Utah, whose soft, boyish face defies the honorific bestowed on missionaries in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

They are not, in fact, part of the cast. Haueter and his white-shirted friends are Mormon missionaries who see the uproariously blasphemous Tony Award-winning musical as an opportunity to spark discussions about their faith.

"I think the play is great," said 21-year-old Zac Hadlock of New Mexico, as he handed out books, and cards with the LDS mobile apps, outside the Marcus Center on Wednesday night. "Whether it's accurate or inaccurate, people have questions. And it's a great chance for us to tell them what they want to know about the church and about us."

The touring production of "Book of Mormon," by the folks who brought us "South Park" and "Avenue Q," winds up a two-week engagement at the Marcus Center this weekend.

The missionaries have given out so many books — 1,300 in the first week alone, Hadlock said — that they were offering mostly app cards by Wednesday.

None of the young men owned up to seeing the show. They live a Spartan existence as missionaries — no movies, no concerts, no news media — during what is usually a two-year stint.

Except for the few hours set aside for prayer, study and meals, they are out until 9 most nights, knocking on doors in a quest for converts to Joseph Smith's uniquely American faith.

But they know enough about the show from snippets they've seen or heard, and the questions on the minds of theater-goers — "So, what's up with those 'magic' underwear and 'eternal marriage?'" — to know it's an outrageous, often vulgar sendup of Mormon theology and the angst and struggles of earnest young believers like them.

They don't appear to take offense. Though some theater-goers clearly do on their behalf.

"We hear it every day, so it's nothing new to us," said Haueter. "It's American to make parodies of things. And it's from the creators of 'South Park.' So, what do you expect?"

 

The Parable of the White Shirts

1. There once were seven white shirts. Collard, buttoned down, and long sleeved.

2. These white shirts embarked on a journey together along with two short sleeved, buttoned down, collared shirts.
3. These faithful shirts labored with all diligence, obeying the master and worked in the vineyard of da U.P and Wisconsin.
4. Their countenance once shined as white but the adversary and his filth came upon the white shirts.
5. In the 17th month of their journey there was one white shirt that passed, and moved to the waste bucket.
6. And the others wept.
7. And in the 18th month, three more white shirts passed, and moved to the waste bucket.
8. And the remaining long sleeved, buttoned down, collard white shirts that remained made a pact.
9. Their testimonies burned bright as they continued to labor with all diligence, obeying the master in the vineyard.
10. In the 21st month of their journey, another passed, and moved to the waste bucket.
11. And the two that remained wept.
12. In the 23rd month, one long sleeved, buttoned down, collared shirt gave up the ghost, and it too was moved to the waste bucket.
13. And one long sleeved, buttoned down, collared shirt remained, and it felt lonely.
14. And the short sleeve shirts remain and they have no problems.
15. Amen.
(Just in case anyone is curious these were Jos A. Banks, wrinkle resistant, trim fit, Travelers shirts. Apparently they don't hold up to the wear and tear of missionary work but Ted loves them for the office - go figure.)

The lesson to be learned from this most fantastic parable is that one of my shirts ripped yesterday after church. I only have one more long sleeved shirt (that started the mission) I do have 5 shirts, because I had to buy some replacements in Oshkosh. This shirt is the lone survivor and the winner of the White Shirt Hunger Games. Who thinks my last shirt will survive two and a half weeks? Its current condition is in good standings, I would give it a 75% survival rating. What are your guesses?

The only way I can describe this week is as follows: biking! We biked to the north, to the south, to the west and to the east. We biked all over tarnation. When the sun shined, we biked more and when it rained we biked less, but still biked.

The Book of Mormon musical came to Milwaukee. The Elders and Sisters in the city area have been proselyting near the theater for two straight weeks. Attached is an article of the Elders and Sisters doing WORK at the theater. I was not a part of this because Kenosha is too far from Milwaukee. I did however proselyte at the theater in Appleton when the musical came to town. That was very fun.

Looking forward to a reunion with my puppy!

Thank you all so much,

Elder Luymes

 

You know it’s bad when your fellow missionaries are emailing you and calling you by your first name and asking if you’re "trunky"? Trunky is a word we use for a missionary whose mind is at home and not on the Lords work. Am I trunky? Only when I have to plan my return trip home such as how am I going to get all my stuff home and what am I going to do for the summer, and saying goodbye to people. Essentially I am only trunky when I get bombarded with the question by my fellow missionaries. To some I tell them to ask my companion, because he is the one who would know best if my mind is here or there.

Service project with E. Norton (L) and E. Brand (R). We helped a member
clean out storage lockers that she rents to students.

Our Memorial Day included some fantastic weather. It rained in the morning but then the skies opened up to some warm sun and the humidity. Riding the bikes was wonderful until.... Elder Norton's new bike broke. Two weeks ago we had the tire get punctured, but yesterday his entire peddle decided to fall off. Once again, we were stranded in the furthest possible area from our apartment and not a member for miles around to help us. We did a jimmy rig fix so that Elder Norton could get his bike to the closest member’s home, but they weren't home. So we chilled on their lawn chairs while we called a bunch of members until one was able to come and help us. Hurray for Bro. Boston!!! Elder Norton rode 300 meters and it broke again!!! Does this make us sound pathetic now? The car gets taken away, buss stations closed, bikes get stolen, and then bikes break twice, all sorts of transportation troubles. I'm not convinced that we will ever have a smooth week of transportation ever. Something has to go wrong!

This week is packed for us fortunately. Monday was Memorial Day so we had regular proselyting. Today is P-Day. In the evening we will be disk golfing with the Priests in the Ward - Fun! Tomorrow is my last Zone Conference. That will take up nearly all of our day, and then we have three appointments in the evening to fill up our entire Wednesday. Thursday we have a service project and our weekly planning session. This week will go by quick.

Pday Lunch!

That's about all I have. Scripture for the week: Jacob 4:12

 12 And now, beloved, marvel not that I tell you these things; for why not speak of the atonement of Christ, and attain to a perfect knowledge of him, as to attain to the knowledge of a resurrection and the world to come?

Thank you, love,

Elder Luymes

Every week I write down the topic of my emails as "weekly update" but often times I find myself laughing as I have an image of Colonial Klink from Hogan’s Heroes coming out of his office yelling to Sargent Schultz "Report! Report!" Can you imagine Colonial Klink yelling at me asking for my weekly report of my mission. I can kind of picture my mom thinking "where is it, where is the report?" She's anxious kind of  like Klink is to get the report. LOL it’s a funny thought. Hogan’s Heroes is a great show, I'll need to watch more when I get home.

We had a couple great surprises this week. It was nothing like the disaster and chaos like the week before. On Tuesday I went on exchanges with Elder Santos. He is an Elder that just got transferred to the Ward. He is from Phoenix Arizona and has been out on his mission for 14 months. On Wednesday we were biking to an appointment that we had out East by the lake. On the ride out there [Pause: I should mention that Elder Norton got a new bike on Monday from a member] continuing with Wednesday, we were biking to the appointment and Elder Santos was behind me about 20-30 feet and all of a sudden I hear him yell out "is my tire flat?" I slowed down and to our misfortune his tire was very low. We checked it out and pulled out a small piece of wood that was no longer than an inch long. This tiny piece of wood hit the jackpot. It penetrated all the way through the tire tread (mountain bike tires) and it penetrated the air tube and blew out his tire in a second. What a lucky piece of wood. We walked to the closest bike shop and fixed the tire, then continued biking to our appointment. It worked out well; we weren't thrown off the schedule too much. It made for a good laugh actually.

Kenosha is the home of Americas oldest operating Velodrome (bike racing on a track). It is in our area, and Elder Norton and I pass by it all the time. So we took a quick minute and raced around the track. It is so much fun.

On Friday Elder Norton and I had the privilege of going on exchanges with President Cutler. He texted us a few days before and asked if he could come out with us on Friday. How could we ever say no! President drove us around in his car (which was a nice day of rest for our legs); we had an amazing time together. We had two appointments while we were with him and we talked to three other people who we met. One guy we helped put a fridge into his car, then we struck up a conversation about religion. He had met with LDS Missionaries in the past but it had been a very long time. His views of the Bible were a bit skewed; he was convinced that the Bible taught more about King David than it did about Jesus Christ. You could tell that President Cutler was "rolling with the punches" with this guy. We gave him a Book of Mormon and he gave us his phone number. It is always great being with President Cutler, his knowledge and testimony are such a great inspiration. At the end of our exchange, President Cutler was answering one of Elder Norton’s questions and President made a joke about me going home. Ha! He is such a great guy!

I would estimate that we biked ~60-70 miles this week.

Scripture for the week: Alma 22:13

13 And Aaron did expound unto him the scriptures from the creation of Adam, laying the fall of man before him, and their carnal state and also the plan of redemption, which was prepared from the foundation of the world, through Christ, for all whosoever would believe on his name.

Thank you all, have a fantastic week!

Elder Luymes

Directions -- U.P. Style

This was a week to remember in the worst of ways. In the thick of it all it seemed as though the weight of Satan was going to squash Elder Norton and I. So much opposition, so much going against us it was ridiculous. By Sunday, so much had happened and we were clearly on the downward slope that all we could do was laugh and joke about it. It was a good week, a testimony week and one that I won’t forget for a very long time.

On Monday as you are aware of, we didn't really have a P-Day. Of the normal 8 hours that are given to us for emailing and shopping and sports, and all the other fun stuff. Instead we only had two hours to do all that. Monday morning got occupied with a service project that went twice as long as it was supposed to. Then we had a lunch appointment with the Sister missionaries and the Elders as well as a member. Then we had a lesson with one of our investigators. We only had one hour for emailing, followed by dinner and then 10 more minutes of emailing and then an appointment with another member. It was crazy and stressful.

Tuesday started out on the wrong foot. We got a call during studies from the vehicle coordinator for our mission. He was informing us that the mission was taking away our car (not because of the accident) but because the car was need elsewhere and we would now be full time walking, busing, and biking Elders. Our area is small enough where it is kind of manageable without a car, but this was the worst week in the world to get a call saying "you’re losing your car". We had three, four, or even five appointments back to back every day this week. Those appointments are all over town, some of them are 15 minute car rides, it would be impossible to try and bike that same distance in a time frame that would also allow you to have a solid lesson. We racked up the miles on Tuesday and drove to all the people that we knew would be hardest to visit once the car was gone.

Wednesday, the car went bye-bye. We had to turn it in to the body shop. When the car is finished I will need to sign the check on behalf of the church and then the car goes to the Kenosha Spanish Elders for good. From then on we walked. The senior couple did help us out though; they drove us to several appointment on Wednesday and Thursday. We didn't make all of our appointments however but it was a whole lot better than walking to them all. I am very grateful for the senior couple. Thursday was the best day of the week.

Friday, was supposed to be even better. But somebody decided to steal Elder Norton's bike. This left us with only walking. I didn't have the money yet to buy the bus passes so we walked all day Friday, missed a few appointments and just kind of was in a daze at how this week was falling apart. It was unreal!

Saturday, I finally got the money to buy a bus pass, we prepared for the day, hopeful as can be that this day was going to be the turnaround. And then... the bus station was closed. We can't buy bus passes, we can't ride the bus, and our entire day’s plans went down the drain. We just kept on walking, mile after mile. Eventually we did figure out a way to buy bus passes on Saturday but it still messed up the schedule a whole lot.

Sunday, nothing bad happened. A member has agreed to give us his bike; we got to Skype our family and see their smiling faces. We had a great dinner with a member family. Sunday was great. This new week should be a lot better. Hopefully less opposition, less drama with the car and bikes being stolen and bus stations being closed. It should be a good week. We hope!

Wall of Inspiration - Jesus Christ, Coach Green (aka You a Pony),
Adrienne (post wisdom teeth still on drugs).

Happy Mother’s Day, love you all,

Elder Luymes