Email: I have kept the faith

Hello family,
Well I do not have much to write because soon enough I can just tell you everything in person. I do have one thing to say though, which pretty much sums up all of what I have to say. Please look up 2 Timothy 4:7.

I love you and May God bless you all.

Love, Elder Hunter Payne

2 Timothy 4:7

"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."

Email: 18 month mark!

Hello to you all,
                      Well I sure hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving. From what mom emailed me it sounds like it was a very interesting one for sure. At least you had one good one earlier on in the week. Also I just have to tell you I cant believe that you all went and did the Black Friday thing. I thought you had to be insane to do that. Anyways this past week was pretty great! We were able to see a lot of really good things despite it being the Holidays. Earlier in the week nothing to crazy happened, just pretty much the normal stuff. The normal stuff being we went around a lot trying to visit people but unfortunately a lot of them weren't home. We also spent a large portion of the week compiling reports for our big stake meeting on Sunday. So I'm sure you are wondering what it is we did on Thanksgiving, I know that you do know a little bit already. Sis Schaub and you are in pretty good contact. So in the morning we just kind of bummed around a bit. Did a few things then we went to dinner at 2, well I guess it was more like lunch, but anyways that was a lot of fun. I ate a ton of food! They definitely fed us very well. They had the greatest array of pies I have ever seen. There was everything from pumpkin to cherry to apple, and a few in between, and of course they had my favorite, a homemade banana cream pie! It was pretty darn amazing. Anyways they have this really fun tradition where they do this candy advent calender for the countdown to Christmas. It apparently is a tradition that has been going on in their family for like 25 years. So after that dinner we headed to our second dinner at 5. This one was quite interesting, because it was with a bunch of people from a local church. So I will explain a little better. There is a girl that attends the singles branch with us and she lives with a bunch of girls who go to this place called Bethel. It is this big mega church that is quite strange. They have this college where they teach people how to heal people and stuff. Anyways we went to a thanksgiving dinner with a bunch of them because a lot of them have never had thanksgiving because they are from out of the country. We were able to meet people from all over the world. Over all it was a pretty awesome thanksgiving and one I will never forget. Saturday was an interesting day. That was the day I hit 18 months. It is so weird to think that I have been out for that long. I really hope these last 6 months go as well as the first 18. I am really trying my best to be as good as I can and just be better for all those around me. I want to make these last 6 months very memorable. Oh and of course on Saturday I did my burning of something, so this time I got to burn a  pair of pants. It was pretty great. On Sunday Will Lockwood was confirmed which was fantastic, we also talked to his wife and she wants to get baptized with her boys now. It will be amazing because now Will can baptize all three of them. So things are still going great. Well just a reminder transfers are coming up soon. Next week to be exact so be careful sending things towards the end of the week. I love you all and hope everything is still going great!

Love Elder Payne

Burning pants for 18 months out!

Email: Investigator Feels the Spirit

Hello there family,
                         How is the always busy and crazy Payne clan doing? It sounds like there is finally actually a chance for things to slow down, at least maybe a little bit. I am glad that last week went smoothly for all of you. I know that the last week is a lot of times the most stressful time of the year. I cant believe that dads car got broken into. That is crazy. You guys might be a little to trusting of our neighborhood. It is sad to see the evil of the world even creeping into our little area of the world.
                        Well let me tell you a little bit about my week. This past week has been a pretty decent week. We had Zone conference on Wednesday here in Rocklin. We got together with one other zone. I didn't have too many buddies in that zone but I was able to see a few guys. A lot of the zone conference was based on not shrinking. He based that part off of a talk given by Elder Bednar. I will send that talk to you.Anyways then we went over a lot about Repentance and how best to teach it. It was a very powerful meeting where I learned a lot.
                         On Friday I went on exchanges with an Elder in my district. His name is elder Edwards. He is a great guy. It has been heating up a lot here so Friday and Saturday were both just blazing hot. So during basically that whole exchange we were doing our best to stay cool. I forgot to tell you that on Thursday night I did burn a shirt. I sent you guys my memory card in the mail so you will get to see that. It was pretty awesome. Anyways the exchange went really well. We talked to some less active guy in there ward and he is a California highway patrolman so we got to talk about guns a lot which was  great.
                          So Friday E. Hyde and the other elder he was with taught Kris the Plan of Salvation lesson. He apparently was just ecstatic about it and was loving that Plan that we have. He wanted to meet again with us which was great. We met again the next day so on Saturday. We went over the Gospel of Jesus Christ and covered a lot about Repentance and how we can be cleansed from sin through Christ. He was about in tears at some parts of the lesson. Then after the lesson I asked him if he felt like he knew that this church was true and if he needed to get baptized. He responded that yes he did and that he really felt it when we asked him to be baptized. When he said that it felt like an electric shock when from the top of my head all the way through my body and out the tips of my toes. It was such a neat experience and to feel the spirit that strong at that moment was such a confirmation to me that he truly is prepared. He came to church again on Sunday and he brought fast offerings and he was even parInvticipating in class. He is such an amazing individual and he truly has a testimony of all of this.
                      I just wanted to tell you all thank you so much for the package you sent me. It is so crazy that I already hit my year. I really feel like I have grown so much and that I still have a lot of growth to come. I am still trying to work hard and fulfill my duty out here. I love you all so much and I am so grateful for you all. May God continue to watch over you and protect you.

Love Elder Payne

Link to Elder Bednar's talk that Elder Payne refers to- http://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/ces-devotionals/2013/01/that-we-might-not-shrink-d-c-19-18?lang=eng

Email: Baptism of Keriann and Tyler

Hello to my great family,
                                  How have you all been doing this past week. It sounds like things there are crazy as ever. I hope you all are at least finding sometime to sleep in all of your busy schedules. I know there are a ton of the families out here that are going crazy this time of year and I just kind of chuckle to myself and think ya I remember what that was like back home.
                                    So just a little update on how I am doing. I am officially feeling a ton better. I thought I had kicked on Wednesday because I was feeling much better and we were able to go out and work some more and get some things done. Then on Thursday we went on exchanges and something hit me again Thursday. I woke up and I was really sick again. Mainly just my stomach. The worst part was having to go and teach District meeting. I was able to work through it and we ended up having a pretty good meeting. Later on that day I was feeling much better and we were still able to go out.  I think I am completely recovered from my little spell of whatever it was that hit me now. Hopefully I scared it off because i definitely do not want that coming back again. It was not fun at all.
                                      As you all know we had a baptism on Saturday, that went absolutely amazing. There was so much support from the ward and I am sure that Keriann and Tyler both felt so welcome there. We were able to get a lot of the young women from the ward to come and help with the program. I think that is great because they will both really be able to feel just how much they are cared for. Elder Hyde was able to baptize Tyler and i got the opportunity to baptize Keriann. When they both came up out of the water they just seemed ecstatic. After I was talking to Tyler and he just kept telling me that was so great, and that was so fun, and i loved that. ha ha He is such a great kid. Then on Sunday I got to confirm Tyler and Elder Hyde confirmed Keriann. So we just switched. That went great as well and the spirit was very strong there. They are going to do so well and I know that their family will be very blessed for all that they did.
                                    Now a little bit about Kris. Mom you asked why we don't meet at his house. So that is because the lady that he is renting from is extremely anti-Mormon. He is scared that she might get kicked out if she knew that he was interested in the church. He is still doing great as well. We met again last Friday and he committed to be baptized on the 22nd of June. We covered, in our lesson, the rest of the Restoration lesson that we did not cover last time. He once again loved the concept of the Priesthood and that we have Apostles and Prophets on the Earth today. He came to church with us on Sunday and there were some great messages that were given. There was a lot on missionary work and finding answers for ourselves There were also some that were about conversion. It was such a great time for him to be there. He is also wanting to meet with us more!
                                       i just wanted to write quickly on my year mark. Wow isn't it crazy that i have been out a whole year! For me it has just flown by. I just finished the Book of Mormon from the challenge that we did. It just struck me when I finished oh man this is the goal I have been working for, for so long. It was so amazing to look back and see just how far I have come in what seems at times like an extremely short amount of time. I only pray and hope that I will continue to grow and learn as much I have in these past 12 months. Thank you for supporting me so well and I ask that you will continue to help me over these next 12.
                                    Well that is about our week. There wasn't too much that has been going on, mainly because I was sick. I love you all and I am so grateful for all of the support and love that you have sent my way. I hope you all had a great memorial day weekend and good luck with the rest of you week.

Love Elder Payne
                   

Email: Easter & Video: Missionary Work & The Atonement

Well oh my goodness it has been a crazy week! I forgot to tell you in my last weeks email that this week is transfer week. So I will start out by telling you what the results of the transfer call is. So I found out that I am training again! How crazy is that, I just barely got done training and I am doing it again. I cant believe how soon they are having me train again. I am pretty excited to train again the only problem is that this area doesn't have to much work going on. So that only leaves room for improvement. I am very excited to find out who I am training and really help out the beginning of someones mission.
       
So this past week we got to go to the temple! I was so grateful that I was able to go and partake of the blessings of the temple. It is truly such an amazing place where the veil is so this. I was able to go with quite a few of my really close friends around here. We went Thursday and did the 12o'clock session. Did you guys know how amazing the temple is? It is so great there. I just absolutely love that place.

So the rest of the week went pretty well. It was crazy hitting my 10 month mark. I am in double digits now, how crazy is that? It doesn't seem like I have been out nearly that long. Wasn't it just yesterday that I hit 6 months now I am closing in on a year.

So we were able to have a few pretty good lessons this week. Our ward council has been having us visit and teach a lot of Less active members. It has been pretty neat just getting to teach again. We had one strange lesson again this week. We were teaching this guy the Restoration and it was going really well and he was taking it in, then we started talking about Joseph Smith and Prophets and he just freaked out and ran inside, because we were having the lesson outside. It was kind of weird just the way he took off and wouldn't talk to us anymore. Well that is about the most of the week. Like I said we have been visiting a lot of Less Active members.

Easter was OK we have church until 3:30 so we didn't really have much time to do much. Dinner was OK but it was pretty much like any other day. The talks in Sacrament meeting were pretty amazing. One lady talked about taking the sting out of death, it was absolutely amazing. We also got to paint eggs with the McGhies which was a lot of fun.
       
Thank you for all of the pictures, everyone seems to be doing great. Great job Kate on making cheer again, that is so exciting. Keep up the good work. It kind of sounds like I need to come back there and liven up the Holidays a little bit. ha ha I am glad everything is going so well. I miss you all very much, but I am grateful that I am able to be out here serving the lord.

Well someone showed me this amazing quote and video and I really think you will enjoy. There is a quote by Jeffrey R. Holland that I think you guys will really like. It says,"Missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation was never easy. We are the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, this is the truth! He is our Great eternal head. Why would we think, why would we ever believe that is would be easy for us when it was never easy for Him!"

The video is absolutely riveting. Please check it out, please share. It really helps me to feel the true meaning of the Easter holiday. It is only through Jesus Christ that we can receive our everlasting Salvation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6FKiNVbw3Y

If you can watch that video without feeling the spirit resonating from it you are deceived and not truly prepared to feel the spirit in your life. I don't mean to be overbearing only bold! We must tell people and help them to find the way, to know the truth, to feel the light of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I love you all and I am so very grateful for the great blessing I have of having you in my life. Good luck in this coming week and may God bless you continually.

With Love Elder Payne

Email: Most Wonderful Day on My Mission

Dear Family,
                  Well this past week has been crazy and extremely busy but amazing as well. This past Saturday I had probably one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I was able to step down into a baptismal font and assist someone in one of the most important saving ordinances that we can perform. I had the opportunity to baptize a young man named Tyler. His sister, Hailey, was able to do the same as well. That was the most wonderful day that I have had out on my mission so far, to not only witness it but to be able to participate in it.  It was such a beautiful and sacred experience. Then Sunday I was able to do one of the confirmations. I was able to confirm Hailey a member of the church and give her the gift of the Holy Ghost. That was extremely nerve racking. I was really quite nervous going into it, but right before the confirmations i said a little prayer for comfort and counsel and every little nerve and fear just washed away. Wow it just amazes me how much our Heavenly Father loves us. He wants to assist us, all we have to do is ask Him. Something kind of funny but kind of bad at the same time, I accidentally locked my knees during the blessing. So while i was speaking all of a sudden I started to get light headed. I just kind of figured it was the spirit effecting me really, really strong. haha Then I realized what I was doing and unlocked them. It definitely made giving the rest of the blessing much easier. So I guess on a less great note, Rodney dropped his baptismal date again. What is even worse is he has been attending a few other churches, so we are going to take a step back with him and reassess where he is at. However i do have more good news. We have started teaching a mother and daughter who are like 74 and 45 and they have been taking everything in very well. We should be able to set a baptismal date with them very soon. They both are just so happy all the time. I love teaching them because of the truths we are able to bring to them. The mother has suffered a lot of hardships in her life, so I know that the things we can teach her specifically concerning the Plan of Salvation can be such a comfort in her life. 
                       So we got our transfer calls yesterday and I am staying put. There wasn't too much change in my zone, a few guys that I am really close to are heading places. Like Elder McMurray is heading clear up to the top of the mission. It kinda sucks because me and him got to be pretty close. Oh also we found out recently that this coming transfer is only 5 weeks long, so that  means I come home a week earlier than previously planned. That's pretty crazy right? Also at the end of this coming transfer we are getting 31 new missionaries. That will be a huge bump in missionaries! I am very excited for all of the new guys coming out, they will give a huge boost to the work. 
                      Well I want to give a huge birthday shout out to Lindsay so HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  I hope you have a wonderful B-day and I really hope you get my card. Make sure and do something fun/relaxing for your birthday. Well I hope everything is going well for everyone back home. Things are great out here. I love you all and 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