Monday, July 29, 2013

Email: Happy Monday!

Well hello to you all
                    It was so good to here from you all and be able to hear a little about what has been going on back home. It sounds like everyone has been extremely busy with parties and trips and other crazy things so I am sure many of you are exhausted. I guess it is getting to be that part of the summer when you need to start fitting in all of those extra vacations, just make sure you don't wear yourselves out too much. Thank you all so very much for all of the pictures that you sent me, it is always good to see all of your faces. Per request of Staci i need to answer a question for her. I would love for you to print off pics and send them to me because it would be a lot easier for me to get good prints of them, thank you. I am glad that the fireworks went over so well, that is great. Ya, you better expect next years show to be the biggest ever.
                       so let me tell you a bit of how my week went. Compared to most weeks this has been a relatively slow week. ha ha only because we didn't have a million and one things to get done just a million. This coming week is going to be insane! i don't quite know how to put this but it is by far going to be the busiest week of my mission. We have 2 baptismal services to schedule this week, then we also have a meeting on Friday that is for the mission leadership (Zone Leaders) that goes pretty much all day, and we also have a huge stake meeting on Sunday that we have to prepare for. On top of those few things we have to meet with all of our investigators and do many other things. So if you wouldn't mind praying for me, especially that we will be able to accomplish it all that would be wonderful! We are continuing to a lot of miracles happen though so of course I am not complaining and being busy is definitely a huge blessing. things around here are just exploding and I love it. We are getting close to the end of the transfer and i am pretty sure Elder McMurray is leaving. It will be sad to see him go but I know that i have learned a lot from him. I don't know if you heard about the Elder that died in Guatemala in  a car wreck, but that was actually one of Elder McMurrays close friends back home. So please also keep him in your prayers.
                             I am sure you are wondering why i am emailing to late as well. Well that is because for P-day today we did something a little out of the ordinary. We decide to go do an awesome hike. There are so many beautiful hikes and mountains around here that it is crazy. We hiked up to this place called Whiskeytown falls. It was only like a 2 mile hike but it was amazing. i will include some pictures at the end.
                         I want to send a HUGE shout out to the girl that is a play this evening. Yes i am talking about the magnificent and talented Hannah Rose Payne! I want to wish you good luck, and you know like they say "break a leg" but not really at least not like Drake almost did but in the way that means you are going to awesome in the play. :) I hope everything goes well and know that i will be praying for you.
                       Well everyone i love you all so much and once again i will close my email with a "I love you" and a " Cant wait to hear from yall" Hope all goes well this week.

Love Elder Payne

Monday, July 22, 2013

Email: Crazy, Busy Week!

Hello to my wonderful family,
                    So did I mention last week that this was going to be a busy week, why yes I believe I did. Well that definitely came to pass. Holy smokes let me tell you this past week has been insane! It has been so stressful and yet at the same time there have been so many amazing things that have happened.
                    Let us start at the beginning of the week. How about Tuesday? So Tuesday we had interviews with President Weston. They went really well. He didn't have to much to say to me in fact it only took like five minutes. I think a big part of it was that I told him in my last interview before this that I just want to be one of those missionaries that he doesn't have to worry about. That he knows that I am always doing what I am supposed to do and being diligent. We talked a little about me being a zone leader and how I was liking that. We talked about the work a little bit, so ya it went well. So after that the miracles really started to happen. We had a lesson with Nike one of our investigators in the singles branch and we committed her to quit smoking and then right after that we committed her to be baptized. She accepted both so we are currently working with her on that. Well then later that evening we had a lesson with Dean and Tracey, and before I go on I am just going to tell you that they could really use your prayers. Anyways so we have been working with them for a long time now. Especially with Dean because he is trying to quit smoking and it has been really hard for him and that is the only thing holding them back from being baptized. Well we committed him right then and there to quit smoking and for both of them to be baptized. I then asked him for his cigarettes, it was extremely hard for him but he gave them to us. So for all three people we are working towards the 3rd of August for baptism. After that we went on exchanges the Assistants to the President. Well let me tell you that was an interesting day. I was with one of the assistants who is known as one of those missionaries that likes to brown noes President. Anyways it was a pretty good day. Apart from him partially offending one of the members of our ward.
                         Well the rest of the week was pretty great but stressful none the less. On Friday we had to do a ton of reports so yes mom there are a few things different about being zone leader. I feel like I am adjusting pretty well to all of the new work load though. So then came the craziest day yet, Saturday. So in the morning we had to drive about an hour and a half South to a baptism in a place called Chico. Someone that Elder McMurray taught about a year ago was getting baptized and he asked McMurray to come baptize him. So that was an amazing thing getting to see someone that went through so much get baptized. Then later on , on Saturday we had another baptism, this one was for Mitch who was an investigator in our ward. It went so well, he was just absolutely glowing. I love seeing someone who is so prepared get to enter into the waters of baptism. That is something that I have really seen out here so far. That there really are people that are so ready to be baptized. I love being able to feel the spirit in those lessons. I know for a fact that the lord is mindful of his children, he knows what we need and he loves us all so much. I also know that repentance is such a real thing. Repentance is available for everyone, no matter what we have done as long as we come with that truly repentant heart the Lord will forgive us.
                        So Sunday Mitch received the Holy Ghost. One of the members of the Ward was able to give him that. He told us that he just felt so much of a difference now. Well like I said there was a ton of stress this week but it was so worth it. It is a great feeling at the end of the day when you are able to lay your head down on the pillow and know you put in a hard days work. Well I love you all so much. Good luck to all of you especially Hannah and Katelyn. I know that you have a ton of stuff going on and just know that I am praying for you all. I love you and hope you all have a great week.

Love Elder Payne

Monday, July 15, 2013

Email: Some Manual Labor

Hi everyone how are you all doing this week?
                    So first off I must apologize for something I accidentally omitted from my email last week. Mom called me to repentance for not doing the following and I am grateful for that. So let me tell one particular person I am so sosososososososososososososososo sorry that I forgot to tell you Happy Birthday last week. I am also sososososososososososo sorry that my card took so long to get there. I hope you at least liked it. Elder McMurray and I put a lot of thought into it. We actually were trying to decide what to do for your birthday for about 2 weeks before hand and couldn't decide on it until we finally found that card. So I hope even though it was a little late you still enjoyed it.
                   So a little about my past week. It has been a pretty good week. There actually isn't really that much to report on because even though it was a great week it was still a pretty average week. I know that isn't exactly what you want to hear but that is really about it. I was able to take over the area for the first time this past Thursday. It was a lot of fun even though I was a little nervous about it. We had quite a few good solid lessons with a few of the less active people in the ward. I guess one of the most interesting things that happened this past week was on Saturday. I was on exchanges in the Weaverville ward which is like an hour and a half west of Redding which is way up in the boonies. We had a big huge service project going on for this less active family. We had to build a wheelchair ramp into their house for their father who had been really sick. We had to build it across this big about 5 foot gap. Well lets just say it took quite a while. We started at about 8 and didn't finish up until 3:30. It was a lot of fun actually getting to do a little manual labor, the only problem was my neck and face has not seen too much sun lately well not until Saturday at least and let me tell you they saw all of the sun they could handle. After all those hours I looked at my neck and it was absolutely fried. I unfortunately wasn't too smart and forgot to wear sunblock. Way to go Elder Payne! haha Anyways like I said earlier it was a good week and this coming week is going to be even better. There is a lot going on. On Tuesday we have Presidents interviews, then Wednesday we have AP exchanges, then Saturday is our investigators baptism. So don't worry next Monday there will be a lot to report on .
                     I guess I better answer a few questions, I am in the Redding 5th ward and Shasta YSA branch and they are both great. Anyways I love you all so much and mom and dad I hope you both have a wonderful anniversary I love you both and happy 30 years together.

Love Elder Payne


Monday, July 8, 2013

Email: Following the counsel of the Prophet

Hello to you all,
                     How are you all doing? I sure hope that you have all made it back home safely or if you are currently driving I hope you are driving safely. It sounds like your trip out here to California went really well. Of course you have the normal craziness that is included in a Payne trip anywhere. I cant believe everything that you all were able to fit into a week trip that is amazing. So I have to ask what was your favorite part of the whole thing? The elephant ride looked and sounded like it was a pretty fun part. I cant believe that Lind's Ipad got stolen that is crazy! Did they have that insured? I hope so, if not that is really, really sucky. I cant believe all of the dishonest people that there are out there. Just makes you realize you're not in Tremonton anymore, now are you Dorothy! haha
                 So this past week has been pretty crazy. We are seeing so many miracles up here in Redding that it is absolutely amazing. I think a huge part of the reason that we are seeing so many great miracles is because we are taking and following the counsel of the Prophet. We are really applying what we have learned about working through the members, and I can tell you that it is amazing the difference that it is making. The miracles are just crazy too, like this week we received about 5 referrals and most of them were for other Elders. We were able to pick up quite a few new investigators as well. Our days are being filled and the Lord is maximizing our time. For example this past Wednesday was not very full. We planned the night before and we were just planning on doing some finding and contacting Less Actives. Well next thing we know some one wanted to meet, then another, then another, then next thing you know we were completely booked throughout the whole day. One man called us up out of the blue and was like hey I have someone that wants to meet you right now. So we headed over and found out the he had given her a Book of Mormon and she had already read through the 12th chapter of 1st Nephi. She was extremely interested and excited to learn more. In our first meeting with her we committed her to be baptized and she accepted. That is definitely a miracle if you ask me. Also the ward is really starting to get behind us. The Bishop is fired up, the Ward Mission Leader is fired up, and so is the entire Ward council. It is such a blessing to have a great ward behind us. I want to tell you about a great lesson we had this past Saturday, We met with this Recent Convert from the singles branch that was having some trouble. She was feeling very alone and unloved. The initial feeling of excitement and fire from being baptize was starting to wear off. She was just having a real rough time. I shared with her D&C 121: 7-9. It was such an amazing feeling as she read that. In fact she could not make it all the way through before she burst into tears. She told us the next day that, that is exactly what she needed to hear. I was so grateful for the spirit at that moment and moving me to share that with her. I was then able to testify to her how the lord is here for us and how he cares very much for us but sometimes we have to go through trials to learn and grow.
                    Things with Elder McMurray are going great he is such a great companion and I am learning so much from him. He has been out about 20 months now. Things are all going well and all of your prayers are definitely being felt.
                  Well I love you all, I don't think you noticed that my address was in last weeks email so here it is again 2148 Placer st. Redding, CA 96001. I love you all and hope that all is going well. Keep up those prayers. I love you all.

 Love Elder Payne

Elder Payne and his new companion Elder McMurray
 Hot! Hot! HOT!

Monday, July 1, 2013

Email: Hello From Redding!

Well hello to all of the members of my marvelous and wonderful family.
I send my regards from Redding. Well I will tell you more about my area and all of the new stuff in a little bit.
          It sounds like you are all doing really good. I am glad that you all made it out to Cali safely. I am happy that I am finally more than two hours away from a member of my family. haha Hannah looks really really cute in her dress. She is going to do so well in her play. I cant wait to hear more about it. It was pretty funny i have to tell you, this is mostly for Katelyn. So I pulled up the pic of her and all of the cheerleaders that you sent me and next thing I know there are 5 other Elders hovering over my computer checking out that picture. It was pretty funny, I had too exit out pretty fast just to make sure that they are all staying focused. Anyways like I said everything out here is going great.
        Now what you are all waiting info on the new area. So we will start out with the negative stuff then move to the great stuff. So as you have heard yes it is extremely hot here. In fact it is so hot that at some points I fell like my shoes are melting. On Tuesday when I got here it was raining, so that was nice because it to ok the temp. down a bit. Then on Wednesday it started to really heat up. Unfortunately because of the rain it was really humid. Since then it has not come down from the 100's, in fact it has been over 110 most days.  The problem is as well that it does not cool down at nights. Last night at 9:00 it was still 93 degrees. It is a lot like St. George weather around here. Now to continue my little pity party the very best part, we do not have A/C in our apt. That makes for some fun times sleeping. Luckily at least we have a swamp cooler. It doesn't do much but at least it does something.
          OK enough with the negative stuff on to the great things. Elder McMurray is a freaking stud. I absolutely love being companions with him. We have been talking and we are sure this is just a sign that we need to be brother-in-laws now. So Katelyn you better start writing him more consistently so that our plans can work out. Anyways things are going great. Right now we are covering two different wards. The main one is the Redding 5th ward and the second one is the Shasta student branch. it is a lot of fun working with people my age and getting to know them. We actually split those wards with a set of Sister missionaries. it makes the work definitely very different but a lot of fun as well. We have a few really solid inv. right now. One family is the Windums, they are such a great family and one that is very prepared. The only thing holding them back right now is that the father smokes and he is really trying hard to quit. As soon as he quits they can get baptized. The other really good inv. we have is Mitch. He just committed to be baptized yesterday. He is going to be baptized on the 20th of July. i really love it here because of the trees and all of the mountains. It is really beautiful here. From where i am I can see a good portion of Mt. Shasta. You should look up pictures of it because it is a really pretty mountain.
        Well that is about it for now I love you all and hope all is well.

Love Elder Payne

P.S. My address is 2148 Placer Street Redding, CA 96001