Elder Pounds and I had a pretty good week. It went by pretty fast actually and we got a lot done, some things we were hoping to accomplish didn't happen and others we did so we had both the positives and the negatives throughout the week. It happens.

Since we got dropped by four of our top investigators we are finding that we now have more time than what we are used to. The good thing is, is that we have things that we can do to fill those hours, but either way, we are going to be finding for the next couple weeks. Street contacting is proving to be a bust because nobody seems to be outside when we are. But as soon as we go to an appointment or we have a service activity there seems to be a mass movement of pedestrians that walk by in the distance, just out of our contacting range.

This past week we did a lot of service. Since the weather has finally warmed up enough for spring/summer projects to start, we have helped the members and some of our investigators with these projects. For one family we did two hours of moving dirt, plants, and cutting dead branches off trees so that we could pull up a tarp that had been buried 5 years ago. We still have lots of work to do with them. Another family we did some gardening, pulling weeds, raking old leaves, and planting bulbs. I'm not to certain that we did a good job on the bulbs but I do hope that they end up good enough for the mother - gulp! For this same family we also spent two hours helping them split logs and stacking them. It was really fun, quiet, and personal. We each had earplugs and were at our own stations. So it gave me time to just silently work and do my stacking. We did our usual volunteer service at the Sun Prairie museum and Elder Pounds and I are going to start volunteering at the community center hopefully this week. Total, I think we did about 8-9 hours of service.

This week was Stake Conference. The Saturday Session was focused on member missionary work and it was awesome. The talks were well prepared and brought a very special spirit to the meeting. They had the missionaries of the whole stake there so it was kind of like a small reunion for the missionaries. It was lots of fun seeing some familiar faces. As for the work, the stake has been making a big push to get the members more involved in talking to people about the church and to help the missionaries. At the Sunday session, a recent convert from the Sun Prairie ward had been asked to come up to the stand and share here conversion story. As she was up their talking about her story, I'll be honest and say that we (a group of missionaries, myself included) were confused as to why she was up there, what was the purpose of her sharing her story? But then she did something super bold. As she was baring her testimony she said to everyone (loose quote) "if there are any of you here who are not members of the church, than you need to be baptized because this church is true!" As she said that, a rush filled up the whole room as the spirit bore a powerful witness to what she was saying. I leaned over to Elder Pounds and said something along the lines of "that's why she's up there". It was breath taking.

 

Scripture for the week: D&C 33:6

6 And even so will I gather mine elect from the four quarters of the earth, even as many as will believe in me, and hearken unto my voice.

Thank you all for your prayers, letters, love, and all that you do to share the gospel. Have a fantastic week.

Elder Luymes

 

Hello again. Wasn't this an amazing week!? Transfers, M’s Baptism, Pinewood Derby, Easter. A fun filled and spiritually gigantic week, I am so grateful for all of these wonderful experiences and the many things that I have learned because of the Easter weekend. On Friday 4/18/14 I received three Christmas cards that were sent to the Manistique, Michigan apartment after I had already left. I'm really hoping that we all know by now that I haven't been living there since December and to help those who might be confused, here is my current mailing address:

Elder Andrew Luymes

529 Seminole Way
DeForest, WI 53532

DeForest is one word not two and the DeForest post office is a bit picky about what they deliver so please pay attention to detail to make it easier for them. Thank you J

This week is the start of a new transfer. Elder Pounds and I will continue to be working together seeing as he's still being trained. DeForest is a wonderful area to be serving in and the Sun Prairie ward is excellent. At the conclusion of this new transfer I will have served in DeForest for 6 months and will be one week shy of my one year mark. Transfer day is June 4th. I'm excited to be here with Elder Pounds. He is a great missionary and I'm very happy to be with him. I have high hopes for this new transfer and Elder Pounds and I are ready to make some amazing things happen. With the guidance of the Holy Ghost and God's blessings, we will continue to touch the hearts of the people and share Gods love to all who live here in DeForest.

On Saturday the 19th, Elder Pounds and I had one of our investigators step into the baptismal font and make that important step towards Exaltation. M is a 9 year old that my previous companion (Elder Ferney) and I had been working with since late January/early February. He comes from a part member less active family. So working with his family has been awesome to say the least. We were able to rejoice with them as we reactivated the mother, then we worked with M and now he's baptized and confirmed. M's grandpa did the actual performing of the both ordinances, but Elder Pounds and I were able to take part in the confirmation. Everything went well and M was a bit of a goofball after the baptism since he was with two of his cousins who are all very close in size and age. It was so much fun, and I'm so excited for the family as they continue to show great signs of spiritual improvement and progress.

Also on Saturday the 19th, was the Sun Prairie wards 5th annual Pinewood Derby races. A majority of the ward was there and we had about 35 cars. Dinner was provided so the three missionary companionships took part in the food and in the racing. Each companionship made a car. I had a great night and so much fun being with the members and talking, enjoying the evening. The winners were determined by the cars average time of 4 races, and they randomly paired up cars so that each car raced four times against four different competitors. We can thank one of the Young Men in the ward who developed the software himself for the race and to keep times and races organized. We had zero problems! Sadly the DeForest car was not in the top three overall, however we did win 3 of our four races. Of the three missionary cars, the DeForest car won! Hurray! After the "gravity" cars were done racing the ward had an "unlimited class" This is where there are no weight restrictions, or fans are attached on the car with batteries that can take anywhere from 15 seconds to a whole minute to charge. We had one car that looked like a semi compared to an average pinewood derby. Inside was a very large battery that powered an electric motor that then powered the wheels. This car flew down the track in 1.69 seconds. The second fasted car with a super fan attached to it ran a time of 1.96. This motored car was impressive until it fell off the track on its second run and kind of fell apart. It was a great night and we had many cool cars that were impressive at sight.

Notice the cheese wedge with mice coming out...this is Wisconsin.

Easter was spectacular too. The sacrament service speakers were more than what I was expecting. Not only was it really cool being able to participate in the confirmation but the atmosphere of the service was touching to the heart. There is true cause to rejoice at the Atonement. I am so grateful for the Savior and his consuming love. I am touched by his sacrifice for me, his guidance in my life and the overwhelming blessing of the Holy Ghost. Elder Pounds and I were blessed to have been able to teach an investigator about the Atonement on Saturday morning. In that lesson we told him that the Atonement is the most powerful and most important doctrine that could ever be taught. As we shared scriptures and shared our testimonies of the Atonement I was personally filled with the spirit and was so happy for the Savior and what he did for me in the garden and on the cross. The members took good care of us that night.

There is no scripture for the week, but I do have a video that I would very strongly encourage all to watch as well as my Mormon.org profile.

http://easter.mormon.org

http://www.mormon.org/me/CJCH/AndrewLuymes

Thank you all so much for your prayers, I am so grateful for them and for you J

Happy Easter

Elder Luymes

                                                                              April 14, 2014

We had a pretty good week here in DeForest. It was filled with a lot of different things and we had some great miracles happen. We did two exchanges this week, one with the Beaver Dam Elders, and the other with the Sun Prairie Elders. These two exchanges filled up our week well and a lot was accomplished because of it.

I have to start off with the sad news. On Tuesday morning we were driving to the church building to go to District Meeting. As we were driving through the farm land and going over the dozen blind hills we were enjoying the beautiful day, all was well. I crested a hill, saw a squirrel, and couldn't react fast enough to brake or steer away (it’s a 1 lane road on a blind hill, so swerving wasn't an option.) The poor squirrel took a little trip with the front left tire, around the wheel well and back down on the road, flat, and dead. The squirrel made an impressive noise as my companion and I went from calm and peaceful to all out shock as we took in what had just happened in the blink of an eye. This was my first roadkill in my entire history of driving. Remember when I was in da U.P and a deer jumped in front of our truck as we were driving to church, good thing we missed the deer. But the squirrel had no hope. It made for an interesting day.

But now I'm being haunted by a squirrel spirit. On the same day that I killed the squirrel, an albino squirrel appears on our neighbor’s property. This white furred squirrel looks so cool (I would send a picture but sadly my camera took a fall this week and it died. So I need to get a new camera. Why is my email all about squirrels and death?) We talked to a member about the squirrel and they told us that DeForest has four albino squirrels and all four hang out in very distinct spots, not near each other but separated, they are territorial. J  The Squirrel spirit is out to get me, repent ye repent!!! Alma 34:33-35

Guess what! DeForest has a baptism on Saturday the 19th. His name is M and he's 9 years old. He is from a part member/less active family. What makes this story so amazing and successful is that we first reactivated the family, and then began teaching M and now we get to enjoy the fruit of our labor as we get to see M get baptized on Saturday. He is so cool and loves video games, cheese and goofing off. Teaching a 9 year old can be a bit difficult because of a short attention span, but he also impresses us because he soaks up the gospel really well, he currently is on 2 Nephi. It was also interesting teaching him the Law of Chastity that was different, and fun! At our last lesson with M, we asked him if he felt like the Book of Mormon was true. His reply was "well of course it’s true!" Dang right it is! The Book of Mormon is true, the Prophet Joseph Smith is a true prophet of God, and this Church is absolutely 100% true! M knows it, and to see him get baptized is proof that he knows is and wants to act upon it. Amen.

Scripture for the week: Alma 5:62

 62 I speak by way of command unto you that belong to the church; and unto those who do not belong to the church I speak by way of invitation, saying: Come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye also may be partakers of the fruit of the tree of life.

Thank you all, enjoy your week, enjoy your Easter, and enjoy yourself in celebrating the: Birth, Life, Death, and Resurrection of our Savior - Jesus Christ.

Elder Luymes

                                                                                                April 7, 2014

Aww snap! We were completely thrown off our schedule this week with all the stuff that went on. We did no tracting the whole week and met just enough people to somehow teach 9 lessons (I'm not sure how we accomplished that) It felt like we didn’t do any missionary work this whole week. Do you want to know why? Here's why:

Monday: P-day, we played basketball, did laundry, emailed, ate dinner at a member’s home and concluded our day.

Tuesday: We had a zone training meeting that took up half our day. When we got home we did a short study session, taught a scheduled lesson, attempted to visit a few people and eventually went home and ate dinner.

Wednesday: We had a District Meeting along with Mission President interviews. Because I'm District Leader I had to be interviewed last (so that President and I can gossip about the district, teehee, not really though) These interviews took up more time than we thought, so we had to forgo some plans, eventually did service at the Sun Prairie Museum and then ate dinner at a members home. Again, we visited with a few people but nothing planned, and then went home.

Thursday: We did our weekly planning session, met with one investigator, ate dinner, and then had a lesson with another investigator who should have already accepted the invitation to be baptized... come on man, just get dunked already!!! He's been meeting with the missionaries since 2009. Gotta love him though :)

Friday: Was our only normal day of missionary work. We had a few lessons, met with some potential investigators, did service at the Museum again, and then ate dinner on our own.

Saturday: We lived at the church building, watched all three Saturday sessions and had a back flip awesome BBQ with the Sun Prairie Ward Priesthood holders!!! Like a Boss, we ate meat, and no salads or green things were present. Just beautiful meat!

Sunday, we lived at the Church building some more, ate lunch with the ward. After the afternoon session we ate dinner with another member family and got fed more delicious meat. Needless to say, I have slept well these past two days :)

We really did do missionary work, and we didn't waste any time. But with General Conference and so many meetings we were just thrown off our rocker. We also had four lessons cancel on us throughout the week, two were because Wisconsin made it to the final four for the NCAA tournament (and lost by one point, that's what they get for not meeting with the Elders and coming to conference.)

General Conference was spectacular!!! I enjoyed the testimonies shared and was especially touched by the testimonies shared during the Saturday Morning Session. I loved Elder Stevenson's talk about the Winter Olympics and how this life is already the race. In so many ways our life like a...hurdle race (you know I was going there) we take off and before your know it, the first hurdle is already in front of us. If we trust our skills developed in practice, if we trust the Lord and his gospel, than we will defeat our hurdles of life. Each hurdle race has multiple hurdles set up specifically for us (our assigned lane). So too in life we find challenges set up just for us, but the Lord has provided a way for all of us to make it over the barrier. Gotta Love It!

Scripture for the week: Mosiah 15:7-9

7 Yea, even so he shall be led, crucified, and slain, the flesh becoming subject even unto death, the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father.

 8 And thus God breaketh the bands of death, having gained the victory over death; giving the Son power to make intercession for the children of men—

 9 Having ascended into heaven, having the bowels of mercy; being filled with compassion towards the children of men; standing betwixt them and justice; having broken the bands of death, taken upon himself their iniquity and their transgressions, having redeemed them, and satisfied the demands of justice.

Thank you all for your prayers, love, and faith.

Elder Luymes


"My name is Juan, I like the view from the Sun Prairie Museum, the Elders think they are funny by putting me in a high chair"

The mega-blister on the bottom of Elder Pounds' foot
because I've been working him so hard.

Proof that Spring has Sprung.  Mom says these are called Crocus
and they are the first flowers to bloom when snow melts.

Celebratory Mexican Coke (mission contraband) after
meeting with our eternal investigator aka "eterna-gator".

It probably doesn't come across, but this is my
favorite Sun Prairie sunset thus far on my mission.