Email: Departing Testimony

Hello Family,
Well sorry that this email is coming so late. We left first thing this morning to go and do something fun for P-Day. We went out to the Harts because down below their house they have these little water falls. We wanted to go see them but mostly we wanted to pan for gold. Apparently their is still a fair amount of gold in the hills around their place. We spent a good 4 hours just hiking around and panning for gold and stuff, it was a ton fun. They also made us lunch which was very, very nice of them. I really love that family, I am going to miss them so much.

So let me tell you a bit about our week, this email wont be super long because there wasn't a whole lot that went on. So the reason I didn't email last week was because I actually forgot my iPad at the
house so I wasn't able to email you, sorry about that. Anyways, we had quite a few good lessons and quite a few fall through. Things are going very well though and so I know everything will be ok.

Tuesday we started out by doing a lot of service. We helped this LAlady prune back a whole ton of her rose bushes. We literally cleared out a wall of them. It was a lot of hard work but I really enjoyed it. Actually before we did all that we had already spent 2 hours laying concrete for a car port. We were helping a man with the foundation part of it. That was fun because I havent been able to do a whole lot of work with concrete so it was a whole new experience. So anyways we
had a good lessons on Tuesday night with the montanez family. We went over the parable of the Good Samaritan.

On Wednesday we did more service. We kept with the construction side of things and actually helped a man in our ward, with Joe Hart, put up trusses for a barn. That was a blast once again I learned a lot of good new skills The rest of wednesday we basically just spent going around and trying to see people. We were able to have a few lessons here and there.

Thursday was a crazy day! We began by having our zone conference. I did quite a bit in it. Mom, you will be proud of this. I actually sang a solo of come thou fount, with an accompaniment from the piano and the violin. It was a really pretty song and I think I did ok. I also had to give my departing testimony in front of everyone. I spoke mainly of how I gained a testimony and just how much my mission has taught me. I spoke of humility and love and how pivotal they are in
the work. It was a really neat experience.

Friday we did more service in the morning. We cleared and hauled the rose bushes away from that ladies yard. We also did some planning and then had quite a few lessons that day. We were absolutely packed that day. We got to eat at the Harts and the Labordas that night. They feed us about once a week now. Once again, I love that family! Saturday we had a few lessons cancel so we helped the Labordas work on their house some more. We also got to lead their horses to a place which was pretty neat.

Then came Sunday, church was amazing. I think that has been one of the things I have learned the most out here, that is just how much i love going to church. Strange the things you are able to learn while you are on a mission. Anyways we had a few appointments and dinner and that was pretty much the day. Nothing too crazy or special. In most regards this was a pretty average week. Nothing to crazy happened, we stayed busy which was good so i loved that. Anyways I love you all. Next week I probably wont have much of email for you. You will probably just get a short little something. Well I hope you all have a great week. Good luck you two girls with Seminary graduation and also the dance revue. I love you all and hope all goes well.

Love Elder Payne

Email: Pro Table and Chair Putter Upper

Hello Family,
Well I sure hope that all of you are doing great! I cant believe just how fast this past week has gone. It really feels like the weeks are just flying by now. We are now entering the 6th and final week of the transfer. This honestly has been the fastest transfer that I have ever experienced. I think it is really because I have a good companion, the ward and work and going good, and I am happy. You know what they say time flies when you are having fun! Anyways so this week has once again been a good one. Like i said it went very fast but I really enjoyed it.

So it sounds as if things are still going really well back home. It sounds like dad you are really starting to have the heat out on with his time of year. It is funny I have talked with a few of the accountants out here and I have been asking them if they are getting ready for the busy season. Most of them just look at me and shrug their shoulders and say well as ready as I can be. I remember just how crazy this time of year gets for the family so just remember to take it one day at a time. It sounds like that basketball game was pretty intense! I would have loved to have been there for that one, I am just glad they finally got that monkey off there back and beat those guys.
That is really awesome that there are so many people that have served out here. It is really funny all of the little connections that can be made in one area. I will let you know if I need anything from
Charlotte but I right now I am doing well. I wasn't able to go and get a new pair of pants yet but I will soon. Well I hope I answered all of your questions, if I didn't just let me know. In also I almost forgot I went online and started looking into school again and my registration doesn't begin until like April 9th so I have a little time before things need to start happening. As it gets closer I will
let you know what more needs to be done.

For starters we began the week Tuesday morning with our zone conference. We had three of the zones with us, those being Roseville, Citrus Heights, and of course us. There were around 55 missionaries there. We were actually the host zone leaders, which sounds cool but it really just means we set up and took down tables and chairs and stuff. I have realized something lately. The main thing that the church trains us men to do is take down and set up chairs. Think about it when we are deacons one of the most common things we do is set up chairs and tables, by the time you leave on a mission you are a stinking pro at it! haha There is the priesthood in action right there
my friends! haha ;) Anyways so the meeting started at about 9 in the morning and ended at about a quarter to 4. So yes it was a very long meeting. We did have a break for lunch of course. It was a really good zone meeting though. They basically went over making sure that we are all focusing on the importance of missionary work. There was a lot of different training and teaching and different people that spoke to us. We had a few safety presentations for us. In fact there was an Elder out here that actually got hit by a car about like August or Septemberish. He was riding his bike and went through an intersection when the light was red and got nailed by a car. He is doing fine now
but he showed us al pictures from when it happened and just stressed to us all the importance of wearing helmets and following the laws. So overall it was a pretty good meeting. Of course it was a lot of sitting and studying but i survived.

I am sure you are all wondering about how the teaching is going and about the few new investigators that we picked up the week previous so I will fill you in on them. So the two boys that I know from Van Maren, Chris and Nick, both had to cancel their appointment with us. We were both pretty sad about that but we will reschedule soon with them. Actually we had a lot of cancelled appointments now that I think more about it. We had a few cancel almost everyday, but hey thats ok because we were ready and willing to teach them and I think that shows The Lord a lot. I have found that, that is a big part of this work is your attitude. Are you ready and willing to go out there and teach when you receive the opportunity or are you going to shrink from it. I am really trying to prepare myself more and more because I have been out for a while and when you have been out for a while there is the tendency to think, "oh i got this I have this all figures out." Well
that is usually not the case because when you develop that attitude The Lord will show just how much you actually do not know everything and how much you do need to rely on him.

Anyways I wont bore you anymore with my mindless ramblings. So something interesting that happened today is we received a new bishop in the singles ward. The past one got called to be the stake patriarch, so they had to call a new one. He seems like a really nice guy and I am excited to get to know him.

Well thats about all that I have for you all this week. I am sure this following week will bring plenty of adventures for me to report on next Monday, and hey by next Monday I will be able to tell you
whether or not Elder Harman and I are staying together. So until next Monday I bid you all Adieu.
Love Elder Hunter Payne

Email: Filled 2 rows of the chapel with investigators!

Hello there family,
Well I sure hope that you all had a great week. I know out here it has definitely been a great week for us. I will keep my email relatively short but I will make it informative. We started out the week,as you know, by going to mt Shasta for p day. Tuesday we had our zone meeting and also had a couple of really good lessons with some of our investigators. That was fun because that is the meeting that my companion and I get to teach once a week. We had a great meeting with everyone. We talked about the goals in this upcoming year
and also about increasing our faith and vision. We have been trying to do a lot of finding recently because a lot of the people we have been working with have gotten baptized. I don't know what you guys think but I think that is a pretty good problem to have.

On Thursday we had exchanges with the APs , it was great because I got to go down to Rocklin again. I really enjoyed being down around 2 of my past areas again. While down there we attended the Rocklin zone meeting. I really enjoyed that because one of the zone leaders down there is one of my really good friends form up here in Redding.

So the biggest thing I wanted to tell you about was Sunday. At church we probably had one of the best days at church that we have ever had. We literally filled up the first two rows of the chapel with recent converts and investigators, on top of that we had all kinds of recent converts throughout the chapel. It was such a.
Spiritual meeting and really helped me to take in the last few weeks. This coming week is the very last week of the transfer. I have been in this area for a very long time so I figure I have a good chance of leaving. If I do get transferred I will be very sad because I have really come to love the people here and all this area has to offer. So with it being so close to transfers be careful sending mail. I don't want to end up getting transferred and have all my mail end up int he wrong spot so just a heads up.

Well I love you and hope you all have a wonderful week. Be safe wherever you are. And be for I end I want to send a big birthday shout out to Lindsay. Happy birthday! I hope your birthday is as wonderful as you are. Well I love you and hope all goes well in this next week.

Love elder payne.

Email: I'm Famous!

Hello  family,
                      Well it sounds like you all are just wrapping up a crazy, hectic week back home. Pretty much that just sounds like a normal holiday week back at the Payne household. I am sure that this coming week is going to be just as crazy and insane as ever, but then again it wouldn't be the holidays without it right?! So before I go on with what happened this past week I will answer a few of the questions that were asked. So first off with the packages, I have only received the one so far, that one being the package with the sweaters and some goodies. I am still waiting for the other two to come. Hopefully nobody has stolen them because I don't exactly live in the safest part of town. I will keep my eye out for them though. Second question was about Christmas and what will be going on there. So currently we have 2 places lined up to go, the one is in the morning to skype and have breakfast. That will be at a family called the Dunns. We will most likely skype starting at sometime between 8:30 and 9 our time, so like 9:30-10:00 your time. That is the plan at least or right now. I will be sure to fill you in more for next week. I most likely wont have much of a time constraint, just however much time we need to talk with everyone.  After that we will be going to a really fun family in the ward named the Crosbys for dinner and games and stuff. So it should be a really fun Christmas day.
                           Alright so about my week. Let me tell you how that all went. This has been such a crazy week for me as well but very great at the same time. So starting out on Monday evening after I had already emailed you something amazing happened. So  we met with a young man that we have been working with for a while, his mother and sister were the ones that I got to baptize the weekend before.  Anyways we met with him just briefly because the sister missionaries mentioned that we needed to go over there and see him. We just sat down and started talking with him and his friend Dylan,( Dylan got baptized a few weeks ago), and he said "Dom dotn you have something to tell the Elders?" Then Dom proceeded to tell us that he wanted to get baptized. This was such amazing news because week or two previously Dom had told us that he didn't want to get baptized because of issues with his father. However over the past few weeks he has had a change of heart. What an amazing thing that has happened in that house. So far there have been 4 people get baptized that are living in that house. Talk about a house full of miracles! So we then started preparations for him to get baptized Saturday. Let me tell you i have gotten really good at throwing together a baptismal service. You give us a week and we will give you a great service that is filled with the spirit! Anyways lets continue through the week.
Then Tuesday we had our transfer day. That was a crazy day for us. It was just filled with running people around and getting people where they needed to be, one of the perks of being a zone leader is you are pretty much a free taxi service for missionaries.
Thursday was a great day for us we had our zone meeting which was a lot of fun. That is the meeting that my comp. and I get to teach once a month. After that we had a few lessons as well as Dom's baptismal interview. We also talked with the Lockwood family, the ones that are going to be baptized by their dad, and they told us that they are going to have to push their date back to January 3rd. There is just a lot of stuff going on at there house. They are almost as busy as our family is.
Saturday came as a very busy day for us. We had the baptism for Dom, which went amazing. It was a pretty small service but went very great! I love having baptisms, the spirit is always so strong at services like that. So that evening we had a great opportunity. This will explain the subject line a little better. The Redding Zone had the opportunity to sing on Redding channel 9 news. They had a special Christmas presentation and we got to sing a bunch of Christmas songs. I absolutely loved it. The whole thing was pretty mediocre but I enjoyed singing and stuff. Anyways as you see we had a great week. The weather has been so nice here. All of the snow is gone and it is in like the 60's everyday. I am still loving this place. Well I love you all so very much and hope you all have a great week.

 Love Elder Payne

Email: Gratitude for the Book of Mormon & a Baptism

 Wow so this past week has absolutely just flown by. There has been a ton of stuff going on. We had a few big meetings and we also had a baptism! It was a really good week but also very busy.
                                 This past week we had a really great meeting with our whole zone. It was a great meeting where we got to cover a lot of material. We talked a lot about the Book of Mormon. Mainly a lot about what the BoM is, why we should use it , and how we should use it. We watched Elder Hollands talk where he talks about the BoM. It was such an amazing talk to watch. Every time I watch it I get chills. Just the way he testifies of the truthfulness of the BoM and how we  can gain a testimony of it. I personally am so grateful for the Book of Mormon. It has definitely made a huge difference for me out here. As I am sure many of you remember I had not read the Book of Mormon all the way through by myself before I came out. I struggled to read it and definitely struggled to get anything out of it, but now i am happy to say that has  changed. I have now read through it almost 5 times and wow what a difference it has made. I am able to see the way that the Book of Mormon can affect people. I can see the relevance of reading and studying from its pages. We also talked a lot about the power and authority of our calling. I love studying how it is the lord has called us to this work and has prepared us to be able to go out and teach to those around us. We read from John Ch.15 V.1-16 which is a lot about how the lord has allowed us to assist in this work. i love it!
                        So as I said we had a baptism this past Saturday. It was of a girl named Julia. For a long time it has really just been very off and on with her. At times it has been very difficult to meet with her and others not so much. Finally she just fully committed and put forth just a little more effort and then was able to get baptized. It was a wonderful meeting and the spirit was so strong there. I was very grateful that I was able to be apart of that ordinance by being a witness. I was so happy for her.
                           So the last thing i wanted to address was transfers. We had transfer calls again yesterday. This one was pretty nerve racking because we weren't quite sure what was going to happen. For all we knew either one of us could have been transferred, but neither of us did. Elder McMurray is staying here. He was very happy about that because if he had been transferred he would have only been there for 6 weeks. It is crazy though because he has been up here for 9 months already and by the end he will have been here for 10 and a half months. I am very happy that he is staying because he is a good comp and we get a long very well.
                          Well that is about it. It was a great week and all is well here. I love you all and I am very grateful for all of the wonderful support that you give me. I miss and love you all. Love Elder Payne

Email: 2 Baptisms! And a McDonalds Stand-Off

Hello Family,
                  Holy Smokes where do I begin? This has been such an amazing week. We have seen a ton of miracles a ton of craziness and a ton of change. So I guess we will just start at the beginning. So Tuesday we began our day by doing a lot of running around, because we are the zone leaders we had to go and babysit a lot of missionaries because a lot were leaving. So we had to go out about 10 minutes North of where we live to pick up an Elder. Well come to find out that didn't happen he just ended up doing some other thing to get his new comp. Anyways back to the story, so we are heading back home to do some things and I was like man i would really like some McDonald's breakfast right now, and Elder McMurray was like ya me too. So we head to McDonald's. Well we pull into the parking lot and what do we find? Oh nothing much just a parking lot full of cop cars with their guns drawn and pointed at this car that was between us and them. So basically we were looking down the barrels of about 3 glocks, and of course the first words out of my mouth were, " oh man now we cant use the drive through!" ha ha ya no joke i am brilliant. So we wheel around and get out of there as quick as we can. We decided to park a ways away from the action and observe. Of course I snapped a few photos and I wont explain to much because i am pretty sure they speak for themselves. So after they get the guy in cuffs and start searching the car we go into the other side of McDonald's. It was awesome because while we were in there i got talking to a guy. He was super excited to learn that we were church people, so of course we picked him up as a new investigator.
                       So enough with that action, on Thursday we had our zone meeting. That is the one that Elder McMurray and I teach. We had a great time teaching it. We talked mainly about strengthening the faith of the missionaries and strengthening the faith of the members. It was great because we had out Ward Mission leader come in and talk about what missonary work is like from the members point of view. i thought it went very well and we all learned a lot. At the end we challenged everybody to go through and read Ether 12, because that is the whole theme of that chapter is faith. So of course that is my challenge to all of you. Go read Ether 12 and tell me what you think. Better yet tell Lindsay and she can put your responses on the blog.
                     Now we continue, Later that day we had the baptismal interview for Tracey and her son Demitris. They both did awesome and are so ready to be baptized. Continuing on through the week, we had a great lesson with Shane Toro. We went over the Restoration with him. It was so amazing when we were going over the lesson. We were talking about some things and I was explaining the Apostasy when i stopped and wanted to ask a few more questions to make sure he understood but he was just sitting on the edge of his seat and when i stopped he just blurted out, " Well then what happened?" It was so cool because I have never had an investigator that was that excited to hear the message of the Restoration. When we recited Joseph Smiths vision he was just about in tears. He told us that he got chills when it was being recited. What an amazing person. We explained that those feeling were form the Holy Ghost and they were confirmation that the message is true. We invited him to be baptized on the 31st of this month and he said he would pray about it!
                        Alright shall we continue with the miracles? i believe we shall! So Saturday we had one of the most amazing baptisms of my mission. Tracey and her son Demitris got baptized and what was even more amazing was that i got to baptize Demitris! What was also pretty neat was that because Tracey had brain surgery and isn't very strong I got to be in the water with them Tracey while Elder McMurray baptized her. It was such a neat experience. Then Sunday I got to confirm Demitris as well. It was amazing seeing someone as prepared as them both completing all of those ordinances. Later that night we visited them and I personally witnessed scripture being fulfilled.
2 Nephi 32:2-3  "Do ye not remember that I said unto you that after ye had received the Holy Ghost ye could speak with the tongue of angels? And now, how could ye speak with the tongue of angels save it were by the Holy Ghost?
 3 Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do."
                    So she usually has trouble speaking but she said a prayer that was absolutely amazing. I will stop there because this is a long post. Well I love you all and hope all is going well. Good luck to Lindsay this week because she definitely needs it. I love you all.

 Love Elder Payne

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: Getting transferred to Rocklin

Dear Family,

Well from reading all of your emails it sounds like the cat is out of the bag. Yes the news is true I am being transferred. I am going to a place that is only like 20 minutes away from where I am now. That part kind of sucks because I was really hoping I would go further North but oh well where I am going will still be great. I am going to Rocklin which is known as kind of the rich part of the mission. I am also going to be the District Leader there. That part is pretty nerve racking. I'm not really sure what to expect but I am really excited to find out what it is like. I was kind of surprised when I found out that I was going to be the District Leader, like I said I'm not sure what to expect but I am very happy that President Weston has put that much trust in me. I am going to be serving with an Elder named Elder Peek. I don't know too much about him yet but I will be sure to let you know. I do know that he is just getting done being trained. He came out with Elder Holbrook.

Speaking of Elder Holbrook he has been selected as a trainer. Every single person in the Lincoln District is training. That is absolutely amazing! There are so many new missionaries coming out that it is just phenomenal. I am sure we are going to see a huge jump in the amount of work being done. Something really neat coming up, I'm not sure if I have mentioned this or not, but we are actually having an Apostle come here. He is coming out on March 9th and is having a special meeting with our mission. No one knows who or why he is coming but it should be a pretty amazing experience.

So this past week was a strange one again. We started out just fine, we had a bit zone conference on Wednesday where three Zones met. That went just fine, but on the way back one of the Elders we drove there with started not feeling very good. He had a really bad stomach ache and some other bad stuff going on. Anyways when we got back we gave him a blessing and Elder Holbrook and I had to go to a lesson. During the lesson we got a call from them but we had to silence it because we were in a lesson. Anyways after we called them back like 3 or 4 times. When they answered the other Elder told us that the sick one had passed out had like a mini seizure and threw up everywhere, so he called an ambulance and they took him to the Hospital. The doctors thought he had appendicitis but fortunately for him it ended up being a lot more minor than they thought. He just had the flew on top of some intestinal inflammation and he was super dehydrated. So he was able to come back like a day later. We were all very worried but it all turned out fine. Unfortunately I was quite sick this week as well. I got hit by a horrible cold. It put me out of commission for a good two days. I am feeling much better now though and am back on my feet.

We were able to have one or two really good lessons this week. One was with the Plauts which went very well! They are coming along slowly but surely and with them I feel like it is only a matter of time. We also had a member just walk up to us in church yesterday and introduce us to someone who is interested in joining the church. That was such a shock and such a blessing. There is so much great work going on here and I am really going to miss this ward. There have been so many great people that I have met and been able to be around I really hope that my next ward will be able to match up with this one. I know that if i go in with the right attitude no matter what that ward can be a great one for me.

Well it sounds like everyone had a great Valentines day which was great. I had a great one as well. It wasn't anything too different. I got a lot of candy and I feel about 15 pounds heavier because of it haha. I cant believe that there is a possibility by the next time i email you guys that there could be a new addition to our family. That is crazy the time has absolutely flown by. Good luck Staci, I'm sure everything will go just great. Well everyone I love you very much and appreciate all of the support that you are sending me. I Love you all and have a great week.

Love Elder Payne

Email: Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello to everyone back home......and out here in California,

I hope that everyone is doing well this week. Hopefully things have slowed down a little bit since the past few weeks. It sounds like the move went well and everything has gotten unpacked and put away just fine. Also, Mom, I am SOOOO sorry I wasn't able to help you put up your Christmas decorations. I'm sure you know just how much I missed doing that. haha

So just a little bit about what has been going on out here. We have been really busy lately teaching people. It is really nice to actually have people wanting to learn about the Gospel. I'm sure you are wondering how the couple with the twins is doing. Well they are doing just great. We have taught them the whole restoration lesson and now we are moving on to the Plan of Salvation. He is definitely a big searcher of truth, which is fantastic because that makes our job a lot easier. They haven't been able to come to church yet because he is just starting out at a new job and is afraid to ask for Sundays off already, so I will continue to let you know how things are going there. Also we are hoping to be able to get them married pretty soon. We are working with the bishop to get that done. They are going to be a such a great asset to the ward and I know that the Gospel is going to bless their lives so much.

Hailey is still doing well. Pretty much same old, same old. We just continue to work with her and strengthen her faith. She is a very smart girl and has a lot of questions. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to teach someone like her. We were actually finally able to find her mom home. We just went over and talked to her a little bit and resolved any concerns she has. Unfortunately she is still very hard in her heart and is still not open at all to what her daughter is learning. It is so tough because we want to help them both but the mother just wont let us. So we are just going to keep trying and hope that things will work out.

This past week we had our Zone conference. We had the mission president and the AP's come and speak to us. We were there from 9 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon, so yes it was a very long meeting. It was absolutely amazing though and I learned so much. President Weston talked to us a lot about the importance of the Book of Mormon. He then challenged us to read the Book of Mormon in 90 days or less. So from Thursday to the 15th to February we will be reading the Book of Mormon. Which is awesome because we will be reading it as well, starting the 30th of this month.

So, you asked for a bit more info. So I just think, just to go at your own pace.If you go by pages it is about 3 pages a day. So that isn't to bad at all. I think it would be really cool if you all got like new paper back copies (they are only like $3) and marked anything referring to family and any Christlike attributes. I found this site that has a reading progress chart on it. Tell me if you like it or if you can think of any other way to track our progress. http://lds.about.com/od/ldsscriptures/a/scripturecharts.htm

So let me know if you like that one. If you can find one that you like better let me know we will use that.

Anyways so things have been going really well here. I'm excited for Thanksgiving coming up this week. I can't believe that it is already here. IT has come up really fast. We are going to a members house for it. It is also a full P-day so that means we can do pretty much anything. There is a pretty big tradition our here. All of the missionaries get together and have a big flag football game. It is called the Turkey bowl, because it is on thanksgiving. So as you can imagine I am really excited for that. Well I love you all and I hope you all have a great week.

Love, Elder Payne