Linz Austria Week 2

Dear Family,

Well . . . I'm just about settled into my new area of Linz Austria and I really do love it here!  It has taken some getting used too but I think that I am really going to enjoy my time here.  This week has consisted of nothing too out of the ordinary.  My friends keep asking me if I have had any bad food experiences and I had not . . . until this week.  Long story short, there is a "friend of the church" here and he invited us over to his house for lunch - which made me a little nervous.  When we showed up, things were not smelling too good.  We sat down and I could see him putting something onto our plates in the kitchen that looked like wet dirt.  When he brought it to us he said that we would be having blütworst or blood worst and it is exactly what it sounds like.  Sausage with blood in it.  Like its 80% blood!!  You will need to look it up and put a picture on the blog to fully understand it.  It was so gross!!  Then . . . he pulled some pickled fish fillets out of a jar and I will admit that I'm not very proud of what I did next.  That being said, I don't regret it at all!  I politely told him that I have a fish allergy (which is not true) and that I wish I could try it - but I couldn't.  So . . . he gave it all to my companion who was able to enjoy a "double portion"!!  Anyway . . . that is my gross food story.

We have found a lot of new investigators this week which has been nice!  The work is going really well here in Linz and the ward does a great job of supporting the missionaries.  Other that that it is really just same old same old!  I really love Linz and my mission as a whole!  This week is kind of crazy for me because I will hit my six month mark!  Time is really starting to fly by!  That being said it feels like it has been a while since I have seen all my loved ones.  I have learned more about myself these last six months than any other time in my whole life.  I have also learned more about our Savior Jesus Christ.  If there is one thing I know for sure it is that He is our Savior and His plan is perfect and he is the WAY THE TRUTH AND THE LIGHT!

I love you all and God bless you!

Shöne Woche,

Elder Lyman

Hello Linz! Week 1

Hallo from Linz Austria!

Well these first few days in Linz have been very . . . interesting!  It feels so strange to not be in Salzburg anymore!  It is weird be in a city that I don't know, with a new companion that I don't know and it's just the two of us.  It is going to take some getting used to.  I am used to living with an apartment full of missionaries.  

From what I have seen so far, Linz is a great city.  There are some cool old churches and stuff like that.  I didn't get to take very many pictures this week but I promise to take some next week.

The ward here in Linz is great.  It is the largest ward in Austria which will hopefully have some advantages.  The members of the local ward are very important to missionary work so I'm lucky to have another good one.  My companion and I are getting along great.  Elder Spencer is from . . .  Lehi Utah! He is really chill and easy to get a long with.  We are teaching a couple of people right now but I haven't met them yet.   Hopefully I will get the chance this week.  

I'll be honest that leaving my first golden area and trainer is really hard but I'm glad to be here in Linz for a new adventure!  Whenever the work is hard or I get discouraged I know that I can turn to the Lord for help!  That is always constant!  I love you all back home and hope to hear from you all soon!

Shöne Woche,

Elder Lyman

My new address is:

Elder Matthew Lyman
Hasner Strasse 36/6/21

Linz, Austria

Last Week in Salzburg!

Sometimes I wear lederhosen in my room . . . 

just for fun. 

Hello friends and family! 

I hope that everyone is doing well back home.  Let's start with the big news that I have!  On Saturday I got the transfer call and they said that I will need to pack my bags and head up to Linz Austria! WaHoo!!  So Linz is a pretty big town in the northern part of Austria.  It is not as big as Salzburg but thats ok!  I have actually been there once for a Stake Priesthood Meeting.  I am really excited to serve there! They have the biggest ward in Austria which will be great.  I will be working with my new companion named Elder Spencer.  He is from Lehi Utah!  Linz is in the same Zone that I'm in right now so I have actually met him before at Zone training.  He is a great guy and it will be great to work with him.  I will send lots of pictures home next week of the new area.

Because I'm getting transferred and Elder Kingery is going home, the Salzburg two area is CLOSED! The Zone Leaders will start teaching our investigators which will be great because we know they will take good care of them.  We had our last lesson with a lot of them this week to say goodbye.  It was hard but I know that they are in good hands.  It will be a good test to see if they are really investigating the church for the right reasons or just hanging out with us because I'm extremely good looking and personable.  It will be good for them! (hehe)

My district also had a surprise birthday party for me on my birthday which was quit nice.  I will make sure to include pictures of the gang on my B-day!

This week will be one of goodbyes and packing.  It looks like this is GOODBYE SALZBURG!  Until zone conference in one month . . . . I am happy I will get to come back and visit.  I have loved it here!

Shöne Woche!!

Elder Lyman

Salzburg Austria Week 17

Dear Family,

Happy New Year everyone!!  We spent New Year's at our Bishops house which was really fun! They are a really great family!  It was even cooler because there daughter got set apart to leave on her mission the next day! It was really great to see that!  I was thinking a lot about how I felt when I left on my mission and it kind of put some things into perspective for me. Other than that we did not really do anything crazy. Just normal missionary work.

As far as missionary work in concerned, we are staying busy.  We actually found a new investigator this week in kind of a funny way.  Here is the story.  We were just going by to visit a former investigators of ours and when we got to his door found that his name was no longer on the building.  We were so bummed!  When we were just about to leave this guy walked up to us and said, "you are the Mormons right?" and we said "YES!!  We are the Mormons!"  He then said, "You are here for me right?" and we said "UH . . . YES!!"  So we went into his house and taught him the first lesson!  It was awesome!  It just proves to me that when you are doing what you are supposed to do, the Lord will put the people into your path who you need to teach!  We also are helping the Elders we live with right now teach a 17 year old girl who is getting baptized in two weeks!  That will be really cool! Pray that we can keep meeting with both of them!

Other than that, things are just normal mission life!  I will find out if I am staying in Salzburg or leaving this week.  I  hope I get to stay for a while longer but I think it may be time to move on.  I will let you all know! 

Much love,

Elder Lyman

Salzburg Austria Week 16

What a great week!  Celebrating Christmas in Salzburg was so much fun! We did a lot of really cool things and ate a lot of really amazing food! 

For Christmas Eve we spent most of the day with the Dengg Family in our ward.  They are great! We got on a train in Salzburg and went to the Chapel where Silent Night was written.  There was no room in the train beacuse there were so may people and we had to just stand on the outside platform the whole time.  I have never been so cold in my entire life!  Haha it was good though!  There was a big Christmas market there too which was really fun.  After that we went back to there house and had a big dinner then just played games all night!  

On Christmas day we opened all of our missionary presents from our families.  I think I have eaten my weight in chocolate this week which is not a good thing.  We then went to this super cool young couple in our ward for the afternoon.  We had a big lunch and played games and just chilled.  It was great!  After that we went to the Church and got to skype our families.  That was the best gift I could ever ask for!  It was so good to see my family! 

Austrians also celebrate the 26th here so we did the same thing that day too.  Went to a members house, ate food till we died, then played Phase Ten till we had to go home! It was a great couple of days.  

We did not get to do much missionary work this week because all our investigators were busy and could not meet with us. We are hoping to be able to meet with them this week. 

This was a fantastic week!  I really enjoyed my first Christmas on my mission!  It will definitely be one that I remember. I hope everyone back home had a great week as well. I love you all so dearly!

Elder Lyman

Salzburg Austria Week 15

Servus! 

I really can't believe it is Christmas this week!  The time is going by super quick in the mission field! In Austria they celebrate the 24th, 25th and the 26th!  It will be a great week!  We are going to be with members for all 3 days!  We have some really cool things planned.  We are going to visit the the Church where Silent Night was written!  Other than that it will be a pretty boring week I think.  All of our investigators can't meet just because they are so busy with Christmas stuff.  It is hard to do missionary work because if you knock on an Austrians door on Christmas they would probably punch you in the face.  They take Christmas serious over here.  I think the highlight of my week will be skyping my family!  That should be super fun!

Last p-day we went to the castle in Salzburg and took a tour.  I will send some of the pictures home. Today we are going on the Sound of Music tour as well so that should be super fun. 

I hope all of you have a amazing Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

Love,

Elder Lyman