Pictures Galore! (Sept-Oct)

The memory card is back and we have many pictures to share! Enjoy!

Pictures from 7/28/12-10/17/12

(with Hunter's captions)

Pioneer Day Celebration

 Creepy spiders I saw-

Awesome picture I made- 

 Somebody's cool dog-

 The Triple Burger- I ate a triple, then a double, then a single. Yes, I was very sick after.

 Pretty flower-

 Last P-day before transfers-

 Last time with Elder Woolley-

New companion, Elder Halle/ We got new chairs!-

Nathan and Renton, the two coolest kids in the ward-

My little trick I do-

 Ultimate Plan of Salvation chart-

 Brolympics (ward party)-

Nasty pie with almonds, olives, and prunes (he won the pie eating contest)

 Jousting, I was the overall champion- (with red helmet)

 Bouncy velcro wall-

 Sweet rifle-

 Monkey bread!

 Sister Funua-

 Announcement 18 year olds can now go on missions!

 Elder Rodriguez, Spanish Elder-

 Daddy Daves, Part II

 We are Awesome!

(Elder Halle)

 Last of the district-

Email: Prayer is such a blessing

Hello Family,
                 Well there has been a lot going on this past week. A lot of things changing and a lot of new things. So let me start with the least important and move up in importance. So first off I learned this past week that I like to eat both bell peppers and tomatoes. Now this may not come as that big of news to much but you all know how picky I am when it comes to food. Second, I got to teach my first lesson in  church on Sunday. It was kinda scary because I found out I had to teach it late Saturday night and didn't have much time to prepare for it. However i think it still turned out ok. The subject was Eternal marriage so something I didn't really know that much about but i still think i pulled it out. We also got a few more investigators this past week and so this coming week is going to be quite busy. So I saved the biggest news  for last. I found out just last night that I am going to be getting a new companion. Elder Woolley is being transferred somewhere and I am getting someone new. The Elders name is Elder Halle. I don't know too much about him. I do know that he has about 4 and a half months left. I got to talk to him just briefly  today and he sounds like a really nice guy. I will let you know more about him next week as I find out more myself. Pretty crazy that I am already on to my 2nd companion. I am a little nervous just not knowing what the other guy is like and whether or not we are going to get along. I am sure it will all turn out just fine though.
                 So it sounds like there has been a lot going on back at home too. I am so happy to here that things worked out well for Celestial. That is really great. I have been praying really hard for her that things would work out. I really hope that you all make her feel very welcome in our house. Where has she been sleeping? If you want just let her take my room. I would be more than happy to let her take mine. Just a little suggestion for the whole family and Celestial specifically. Sometimes we wonder why things are happening to us and why are these bad things constantly going on around me? Well I can tell you that everything happens for a reason. Our father in heaven will not make us endure more than we can endure. He is there to help us and if we allow him too, he will bare our burdens. Everything we go through has a purpose. Let the experiences we are having now turn into a lesson that we can use later in life. By doing that we are allowing ourselves to become better. Remember the "Good, better, Best" talk that was given a while ago. Well we have to become our best selves and by using these experiences we can do that.   I am so happy about the temple too. I really wish I could be there but it is better  that I be here than there. I am so happy for Linds and Rob as well. I sure hope all of the prayers that i have been sending up to heaven have been helping. I have started to learn just how important those earnest and sincere prayers are. Prayer is such a blessing and I know that it can help everyone one of us. I love you all so much,. Dont worry about the packages and letters too much, just as long as i am still getting your prayers. I love you all and I hope you all have a great week.
                                                                              Love Elder Payne

Email: 3 New Investigators!

Monday, September 3, 2012



Hello Family,
                How is everyone doing this week? I sure hope everything is going well. So I have officially been out on my mission for 3 whole months. How crazy is that? It seems like it has been a long time, but when I look back at all of the things I have learned and all of the things I have experienced I realize that it has been absolutely flying by. I would have to say one of the biggest things that I have learned in those three months is how much I have to rely on my Heavenly Father. If it were not for my Father in Heaven I would have quit long ago, but with his help I know I can do all things. One scripture that really helps to exemplify how I really feel about it and has become one of my favorite is Alma 26:11-12. Check it out I think you will really like it.
                       So this week we have once again been doing a lot of finding, and guess what? We are finally seeing some success. We picked up 3 new investigators in this last week alone. It was so fantastic. One is a man named Ben. He is in his late 20's or early 30's were not really sure. Hopefully he is over 30 or we will have to pass him off to the singles ward Elders.So the other 2 are a Mother and son. They are Pun Jabi. Which is like Indian.(There are a lot of Indians and Russian people here kinda strange) Anyways we have a lesson with them tonight and we are hoping that we can pick up the rest of the family as investigators as well. So be praying for them please. We have been doing a lot of work with Less active families as well. One came to church for the first time in like 3 months yesterday to. It was great. Another lady is trying to go to the temple so we are going to start teaching her the lessons soon. So hopefully things start to work out there. It is really weird transfers are in a week and Elder Woolley has a chance of leaving because he has already been here for 6 months. So that could be interesting getting a new companion. Other than that everything is going really well here. It is so much fun going out everyday and doing this work.
                      So mom to answer your question I did get your package and I loved the contents. There was a lot of random stuff but it was great. The cookies didnt last very long I think there are like 3 left. They are just to good. I also loved the banana bread as well. Elder Woolley doesnt like banana bread so I don't have to share that with him.I really loved that email from Big D. I am so happy that he got to have an experience like that. It must have been so great. I also sent a letter off for the family last Friday so hopefully it should be coming soon. Can you find out Whit's address down at college for me so I can write her. Thank you. Well I love you all so very much and thank you for the prayers and the blessings that you send my way they are definitely being felt I love you all!
                                                                  Love Elder Payne

Email: Knocking Doors

Monday, July 27, 2012

Hello Everyone,
                     Well this past week has been an interesting one. It started out really well and then kind of dropped off at the end. First I will tell you about  Alyssa and how things went with her. So I told you about the great lesson we had with her on Sunday. So we had another great one on Monday night and then again on Thursday night. She is finally finding the drive to learn more and learn for herself. We have been mostly reading through the Book of Mormon with her. It has been so great to see her faith growing. SO Thursday we invited her to come to a baptism that was going on Saturday. We had planned with her to have a lesson about an hour before and then attend the baptism with her. In the lesson we were going to invite her to be baptized. Well when we went to pick her up. Guess what? she wasn't home. Well that was probably one of the most disappointing moments of my mission thus far. I think it hit so hard because things have been progressing so well with her. As far as finding new investigators we have been unsuccessful in finding anyone yet. That is definitely not from lack of trying. We have been knocking so many doors and talking to so many people with little to no success, but we keep going. I can feel the spirit whispering to me just keep going. So that is what I do I just keep going.   However good news some of the other elders in our zone are finally starting to see some success. So the prayers are definitely helping.
                Last Thursday was awesome. We had a half-mission conference. Elder Cardon of the 70 came and spoke to us. It was such a great experience because both Elder Cardon and President Weston spoke. It was fantastic. I learned a lot about sacrifice and really focusing on what I am doing here.I was so happy I was able to go to that and really gave me a boost for the day.
                 Mom I really liked the package you sent me there was a lot of random stuff in there but it was great. I especially loved the banana bread. It tasted absolutely delicious. So keep that coming. As far as things with my bike. I actually broke a spoke on it, so I am going to have to get that fixed sometime. It probably wont be for a little while because it isn't to bad right now and I can deal with it for now. Anyways some new shirts wouldn't be bad either. As you can imagine with how sweaty i am they get kinda nasty. haha Well I love you all so much and I hope you all had fun at the fair. I miss you a lot.
                                                                             Love Elder Payne

Email: Chilly 85 degrees!

Monday, August 20, 2012


Hello to everyone,
                     Well this week was definitely one of the most interesting weeks so far. It was a ton better than the week previous. I dont know if it was just my mindset or if it really was better haha. So lets start at last Monday. After P-day activity Elder Woolley headed back to apartment. When we walked inside it was surprisingly hot inside. When we looked at the thermostat it read 90 degrees inside. Well it wasnt lying. It was absolutely blazing in there.We did everything we could think of to fix it but we couldn't get it working.  Luckily we didnt have to spend much time in there because we had a dinner appointment.  When we returned it was just as hot in there. We kept trying stuff to fix it but nothing worked. Plus the front office was closed by this time so there was nobody we could call. So we just endured it. Through opening windows and turning on fans, we got it down to a chilly 85 inside. It was a very interesting night to say the least. We probably only got about 4 hours of sleep that night. We decided that next morning just to go study at  the church to just so we could get out of the heat for a bit. We went to the front office later that day to get somebody to come fix it. Luckily it was a quick fix. All they had to do was change out something and it worked perfectly. So everything turned out just fine there. Some other stuff that was kinda interesting was , we were visiting Alfred and his mother was there. i guess they saw my bike tire and didn't think it was acceptable for me to be riding on. In all fairness it was just a little bald. So we got a text from him the next day saying that they had a surprise for me. We went over and they had bought me two brand new tires for my bike. It was pretty awesome, and I thought it was pretty funny that they were so concerned with my tire. I think the biggest news from this week came just last night. We had a lesson with Alyssa on Adam and Eve. We were reading in 2 Nephi chapter 2. Things just were not making sense to her. So finally she was just like can we just start at the beginning and go from there. We explained more about what is in the Book of Mormon and what it is about. Then we started into 1st Nephi. We read through it explaining stuff along the way and by the time we got through the chapter it was time for us to go. She was just like "No you cant go now this is finally making sense to me." Wow hearing that just completely blew our minds. Elder Woolley has been trying to get her to read and help her understand the Book of Mormon for about 5 months, and finally last night it just clicked. She told us we have to come back today too. We are so excited because things are finally progressing with her.
                    It sounds like things are going pretty well back home. i wish I could be there for the temple open house and dedication. I hope all goes well there make sure and let me know how it goes. Hopefully things turn out okay with Celestial. I will be praying for her. Have Derek and Tevan gone out into the field yet? if they have can you get me their addresses. Well i love you all so much and hope everyone has a great week.
                                                                                  Love Elder Payne
P.S. Staci I am so happy that things are going so well with the baby. I hope you start feeling better soon.

Video Letters

Our family has recently discovered that Hunter isn't a huge fan of writing letters. :) Instead, he found out that he can send videos home! We recently received his memory card for his camera and found several video letters. We won't complain! It's great to see him!

For some reason, I can't get these videos embedded into the post. So you are going to have to go to the website to view them. Sorry for the inconvenience!
Here are the links-

Video Letter on 7/20/12

Video Letter on 7/22/12

Video Letter on 7/24/12

Pictures in Citrus Heights!

Hunter just sent us home his memory card with some fun pictures and videos! It's fun to see him being his goofy self! Looks like he is doing great!

Pictures from 6/30/12-7/24/12

2 Great Danes-

Just chillin' (in apartment)-

 

Contact Jenga with Alfred. I think I have told you about him. Mexican mafia, has one leg-

No caption with this photo, but it must be a picture of his or his companion's tire- look at that worn out tread!

 A falcon in a tree

 Scripture Power (it's real!)-

 I was bored with Skittles-

Video of Elder Payne & Elder Woolley telling about their flat tire experience-

http://youtu.be/BfbQbfsLqkw

Metal that was in bike tire-

 Harry Potter wands- 

 Our zone (sorry we are fuzzy)

Sweet!

The ice cream challenge (at Leatherby's)- and yes, I did eat all of it! In under 15 minutes.

Elder Gillen (he leaves this next week)-

Our district-

Really funny (came from that little book you gave me)

(For all those who aren't writing him! haha kidding)