Email: Arrived in Oroville

Good morning,
        Well I sure hope this past week has been a good one for you all. Things here have been pretty crazy as I am sure you can imagine. It was actually a pretty long week for me. It seems like the first week in the new area is always a long one. We spent most of the week just going around and trying to get to know the area. This is a pretty big area so there is a lot to cover.

  Last Monday was a pretty crazy day. We spent most of the day just running around and trying to say goodbye to a few people. I obviously didn't have a whole lot of people to say goodbye to because I wasn't there very long. There was one family that I got pretty close to, the Brown family. They are actually moving out to Utah in April so I told the one guy that we had been working with there, that we would have to go do some stuff together when I got home. His name is Cody and he isa nice guy. Currently a little Less active but he is coming back. Anyways that is pretty much what my P-day consisted of. Oh also a lot of packing. You know you never realize how much stuff you have until you have to pack it.

   Then came Tuesday, and that was an extremely long day. I started by actually going and getting some pants! So yes I did get pants finally. I knew that there wouldn't be very many places in Oroville to buy pants so I went and got some there. It was nice I got two nice pairs for only like 35 bucks. Anyways my ward mission leader down in Antelope. He is a really nice guy and good company on the drive up. Anyways when I got here we hurried and threw all my stuff into the apartment and had to go meet up with some other Elders. It was and extremely long and busy day.  I went back and unpacked and got all settled in later that day. The rest of the week was spent meeting people and getting to know the area. I have really been focusing on staying positive and trying to understand why I am here and what it is I need to do. I really feel there is a lot I have to do here and so hopefully I can get it all accomplished in the time I have left.

   So the area I am serving in is actually really nice. It reminds me some of like Logan but a lot more ghetto and a lot more poor. This time of year it is really green and pretty. All of the people are super nice and humble. So it is sort of like a combination of Logan and Redding and South Ogden. haha Anyways my comp is a pretty good kid. You can tell he is very young and has a lot to learn still. He has only been out for 5 months or so, so he is still unsure of his teaching and things of that nature so I am doing my best to help him out. He is from Bountiful Utah so just another Utah boy. Anyways I am getting used to the fact that I am here and this is hopefully where I
am going to finish here.

     We are teaching a few good people so hopefully we can get them to baptism soon.  I will definitely be letting you know more about all of those people. Well I love you all very much and I am grateful that I have such a great support system back home. It definitely makes things so much easier for me. I am glad that you are all doing well and that Savannah is doing ok as well. Thank you for all of the updates, know that I love you all very much. Have a great day.

Love, Elder Payne