Email: Thanksgiving and Temple!

 Dear everyone,

                      Well I hope you were all able to have a very Happy Thanksgiving. I heard that there were quite a few places that you were all going so I am sure it was very busy but very great.
So for Thanksgiving we woke up and then went and played flag football for a couple of hours. It was an absolute blast! It was really muddy but I didn't mind it just added to the fun. It was really cool come to find out we had been playing with Mrs. Udy's brother or brother-in-law I can't remember. It was funny so later on in the week we went and visited her. She said she was going to be sending those pictures to you so hopefully she did. After we played football we went and had a zone breakfast. We also played a bunch of basketball. After all of that was done we went to dinner around 4. They had a lot of really great food. The best by far was they got a banana cream pie for me. After dinner we just went back to the church and played some more basketball and some card games. That was basically our Thanksgiving day.

Then definitely the best part of the week was when we got to go to the temple. Oh man that was so amazing! We went early Saturday morning and took pictures before our session. It was absolutely packed in there. It was by far the most spiritual experiences I have had at the temple so far. I just absolutely love the temple, the spirit is always so strong there.

Oh I also got your package that you sent me. Thank you so much for that. It really meant a lot to get that. I especially loved the cookies. Make sure and keep those coming my way. Isn't it crazy that this is the last week of the transfer already! By the next time I email I will know what is going on that way. Elder Newcomb thinks that he is being transferred so we will see what happens. Well I love you all and I miss you a bunch.

Love Elder Payne

Hey sorry I hope you don't take this the wrong way and I want to say this in as nice a way as possible but when you guys are coming our to visit Linds and Rob could you like just not mention it to me because it makes me kinda really homesick knowing you guys are passing like 15 minutes away from me. Thanks a ton I hope your trip to San Fran went well. Love you all.

Visiting Mrs Udy and family (his Middle School Math teacher)

Thanksgiving dinner! 

 Sacramento Temple-





Picture from a Member

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

Email: Honey's Baptism

Dear Family,

Well this past week has absolutely flown by. I swear I was just barely sending you an email. This past week has been really great actually. There has been a lot going on. It has been great we have been meeting with Hailey every day. We feel that with her current situation she really needs the daily contact. We have actually found out a lot more about her situation at home. It is a lot of stuff that for legal reasons we, as missionaries, cannot get involved. I'm sorry but I cant really tell you because it is private and sensitive stuff. Just know that she is doing great! She is learning and growing every time we meet with her. It amazes me she is already wanting to teach stuff to other people.It is really neat to see someone want to learn so much. it is interesting because she does want to learn so much so quickly. We kind of have to tell her to slow down a little. She has to get the basics down before she can dig into some of the deeper stuff. In our reading with her we came across 2nd Nephi 28:30 "For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have."

It applied really well to her situation and I really think it will help her. Keep praying for her. She is really one that needs the support. It was really cool, Elder Newcomb had an extra set of really nice leather bound scriptures, so we had Sister Nielson take them and have her name put on them and we gave them to her. She was so excited to get them. She loves them so much she doesn't even want to use them in fear she will mess them up. She is such a sweet person and has such a sweet spirit, i really hope things work out for her.

So the other big main point of this week was Honey Greenshield's baptism. It was so awesome getting to go and see someone that I had taught be baptized. So Saturday afternoon we headed down to Citrus Heights to meet up with the other Elders. We had someone from our ward in Lincoln drop us off in C-Heights. It was really great because I got to see Elder Halle again as well. So we all met up and headed to her Baptism. It was an amazing experience. She was so happy and was just absolutely glowing. Her husband Will was just as excited if not more. Side note he has some medical issues he has to work out before he gets baptized. Anyways it was really great because Honey asked both Elder Halle and myself to participate in the baptismal service. She asked us both to be witnesses. I was so happy to see her making such important steps in her personal progression. That was definitely one of the most spiritual experiences of my life. i don't think I have ever seen somebody that happy and that sure in what they were doing, it was just fantastic. (Oh yeah in her picture, she had a tumor removed from her brain and it caused partial paralysis in a side of her face.) I was just so grateful that I was able to be a part of her life, even though it might have been in a small way, I am still grateful.

 

It sounds like there has been a lot going on back home. It is definitely that time of year and things will continue to be crazy. I am really glad that the move went well with Linds and Rob. The pictures you sent me of that were great. I really hope they like where they are. It looks like a beautifl area, and it sounds like the people are really great as well. I cant believe how far along staci is. Also it is hard to believe how big the baby is as well. It sounds like she has been growing fast.Tell Tyler good luck with the rest of school coming up. Katey i sure hope everything is going well for you. I sent the family a letter and I mentioned a little bit about you and your situation. Dont worry I will be sending you a better and longer one soon. Last but not least Hannah I am sorry you were so upset. It sounds like you have got a good new friend that is awesome. I am really happy for you . It is so important to have good friends.

So about the Book of Mormon challenge, I am glad you all liked the idea. I have a paper I need to send you that can help mark your progress. I will get it to you. Linds maybe you could do something on the blog that helps mark the progress. Im not sure if you can do that but just let me know. Well I think that is pretty much all I have for you. I love you all. Have a great week.

 

Love Elder Payne

 

And, here's a picture that was texted to my mom from a member sometime last week. It's of Elder Payne and his comp at a Birthday party at the church. 

 

Email: 6 month BOM challenge

Hello to everyone,
                    Well I hope everyone is finding some time to rest after this past week. It sounded like things were pretty crazy everywhere. I saw on Lindsay's blog that you all made it alright and didn't have the usual mishap of some kind that accompanies big moves in our family. How is the new house looking? Are you enjoying the beautiful Northern California weather? I really hope everything is going well for you. Staci have there been any new updates with the baby? How big is she now? How did the bears do this past weekend? I heard they were playing to see if they would go to play at Rice-Eccles stadium so hopefully they won. Thank you very much as well for the package you sent me. I baked the cake and it ended up looking pretty cool.
                     Well now that I got most of my questions out of the way let me fill you in on what has been going on here in Cali. This past week has been a very tiring one. We were out a ton and were able to teach quite a few lessons. I'm not sure if i told you about Hailey Duncan so if i did i will just retell you about her. So Hailey is a 14 year old girl who they started teaching only about a week before I got here. She is really smart and loves learning about the Gospel. She really wants to be baptized as well. Unfortunately her parents are extremely against her getting baptized. Her father is an extreme alcoholic who is drunk every day by noon. Her mom is just super anti-Mormon and wants nothing to do with her daughter.it is just such a hard situation and I feel just terrible for her. she has such a tender heart and has probably cried 9 or 10 times during lessons. Right now we are just reading through the Book of Mormon. If she cant get permission from her parents to be baptized she has to wait until she is 18. So we just keep working with her as much as we can. She actually wants to meet with us like every single day! Its really great because she is one that really needs daily contact. The man we had a baptismal date with actually dropped us so we are no longer teaching him right now. It sucks but hopefully he will realize how much this gospel can help him. We set two more baptismal dates on Friday for December 8th. A husband and wife named Juanita and Mario. They are really searching for the truth and we are trying to help them find it. Some of you might be wondering how Halloween went. It was alright. It sucked because we had to be in by 6 because they don't want any of us getting in trouble. Those are just kind of the main updates of this week. We have a few more people that we are teaching but they aren't as mentionable as the ones I put down. This area is really great and i am really happy to be here. Oh also another thing that i found out that is really cool. Honey Greenshield is getting baptized this coming Saturday. Elder Halle told me and I was so excited. I immediately called my mission president to get permission to go to it. He told me I could so i am really excited to go watch her be baptized this coming Saturday. I will make sure and let you know how it goes. So that is the update from this week. Things are going really well and i am really happy here.
                                          Something I have been thinking about doing. I want to do a 6 month Book of Mormon challenge. On the build up from 6 months to a year for me being out here. It would be about 1 chapter a day for 6 months. Starting on the 30th of November. It would end about the 30th of May.(my year mark) Let me know what you think. I think it might be kind of fun to do. Just let me know what you think about it. I hope you all have a great week. I love you all very much.

                                                                                              Love Elder Payne

I hope you like the pictures!

Email: New Area/New Companion/New Address

Elder Payne's New Address:

174 S. O Street #73

Lincoln, CA 95648

Dear Family,
                    Well hello everyone. I hope this email finds everyone doing great. Things have been awesome here in my new area. I am really loving the work that is going on. There is so much more going on here than my last area. It is a refreshing change of pace to actually have people that want to be taught. We currently have about 5 or 6 really solid investigators currently. I explained Hailey in pretty good detail in my letter that you should be getting. We met her everyday last week and it looks like we will be doing the same this week.  We also have a man named Dennis. We actually invited him to be baptized last Friday and he accepted. It was pretty awesome and a great lesson. He has a baptismal date for the 1st of December. We are both really excited for him. I haven't met to many of the other investigators because we haven't had lessons with them since I got here. We should be having lessons with them in the coming week. I really love the area. It actually reminds me a little bit of home. It has a bit of inner city but it is only like 2 minutes to get out into the country. The place is prettier and smells a lot better than Citrus Heights. haha I have really been enjoying my new companion as well. He is a lot different than Elder Halle. It is great because he really likes to work hard so it fits me. With Elder Halle I was doing most of the pushing, because he is so close to going home. So I really enjoy that. He is from Las Vegas and has been out 20 months. So I get another old missionary. It is awesome because this coming week we have a lot of lessons set up. So it should be a great week. It is crazy that Halloween is this week! it has come up pretty fast. We have to be in by 6 that night so unfortunately no Trick-or-treating for us. We will probably end up getting tons of candy from members though so don't worry about that. Well I apologize that this is a really short email but I gotta run. I hope everything goes well for you all in this coming week. Especially with the big move coming up. I love you all. Happy Halloween.
                               
 Love Elder Payne

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: Transferred to Lincoln!

Hello to you all,

                 So wow things are changing quickly. I am being transferred! As you can imagine this came as a huge shock to both Elder Halle and myself. We both thought that we would be staying for sure. When we got the transfer call Sunday night we both could not believe what we heard. I definitely was not very happy that I was being moved. It seemed like just when the work in this area was finally picking up that is when I get booted out of here. I am mostly just upset because things were going so well here. Elder Halle and myself were getting along really well. Like I said we were finally starting to get some good work going, and overall I just love this area so much. The ward members, the area itself, and my companion especially. I guess that is why they needed to move though because the mission is supposed to be a learning experience and if things are too comfortable then it is a lot harder to learn really important lessons.

                   The place I am being transferred to is called Lincoln. It is only like 15 minutes away from where I currently am. I kind of hoping that I would be moved further up north where there is less city, but I have heard really good things about Lincoln.  That is actually where Elder Halle was last at. He really enjoyed it there. My new companions name is Elder Newcomb. He has been out for about 19 to 20 months. I have been told that he is a really nice guy. I sure hope that we get along as well as Elder Halle and I did.

                    This past week has been a pretty good week. We had a few lessons with some people. One lesson with Kaylea that went well. She is going to be baptized in November. Something really cool happened yesterday. My district leader called me up last night. He told me that he ran into Honey greenshields husband, will. He started talking with them about Elder Halle and I. Will told them that he was so grateful for the things that we had done for them. For all of the time and effort that we had taken in helping them come to the Gospel. He went on saying that his life is so different now and he just feels happier as well as Honey his wife. So what Elder Ellsworth was trying to tell me by giving me that call was that I really have made a difference in somebodies life here. I may not really feel like it because I haven't had any baptisms yet but there is just one example of the people that I was able to help. I was really grateful for that call that he gave me. It made me feel so much better about the time that I have spent here. It helped me realize that I really did make a difference. It was so great to hear that and made me feel good to know that I really did help.

                    I was really sad to have to say goodbye to so many people that I have come to know and love. I never thought I could become as attached to this area as I have. I really have come to respect and love all of the members of this ward. I truly believe that these people that I have served around are people that I will have a bond of friendship with for the rest of my life. They really did take me in and help me feel so welcome here and for that I am eternally grateful. Well my next email will be from my new area so wish me luck. I will be telling you all about my new area and comp. I love you all and hope you all have a great week.

Love Elder Payne

Email: How great will be your joy...

Hello to everyone back home and those suckers on a cruise ship somewhere in the Caribbean,
                     Well I apologize for the size of the email last week. I didn't have to much time so I had to write quick. So this past week has actually been a pretty good one. We had a lot of up and a lot of downs. I did learn a ton though and that, I believe is the biggest thing. Anyways so let me begin with the downs of the week.
                    We officially handed Honey and her Husband off to the Sacramento missionaries. It was a sad, sad day but it had to be done. We were able to talk with Honey and her husband as well as deliver a large print Book of Mormon to her. They were both just very grateful for the service that we had provided them as well as the time we took to help them learn more. I have been talking a lot about them both in my Presidents letters that I send each week. We actually had Presidents interviews earlier today. He told me that there are going to be some leadership opportunities coming up soon for me. That was pretty crazy to hear. President told me that I should count them as baptisms, because I was part of their conversion process. It was awesome because he told both Elder Halle and myself that if and when they get baptized we will be able to attend. That was such great news to hear. Dad shared with me some great incite, and sent me some things that were exactly what I needed to hear. I was very grateful for what he sent and it helped me to understand so much.
               " If Honey does join the church, you can still take pride in knowing you helped "bring" her into the gospel, and you were part of it.
               "And if it so be that ye should labor all your days…and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father! And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!” (Doctrine & Covenants Section 18, verses 10, 15, and 16.)"
                 So more of the ups of the week. We picked up a new investigator. His name is Gary. He is an awesome guy that we actually have a lesson with later on today. I just really hope the things that we teach him will stick because I know that is can really bless his life. Things with Kaylee are still going great as well. She is a very smart little girl so she is able to understand so much that we teach her. We have just been going over the commandments with her. She has maybe one or two lessons left. So that is pretty exciting as well. Other than that this past week has been a pretty ordinary week, nothing to crazy or unusual that has gone on. Ok I guess there were a few interesting things that happened. So we were on exchanges last Wednesday, I was with our District leader in my ward. At the beginning of the day we had set a goal to stop every single person we could at bus stops. So we are going around doing this. We had just crossed a street when I noticed a lady sitting at a bus stop. So before I passed her I slammed on my brakes to talk to her. Well the other Elder was behind me and didn't notice that I had come to and abrupt halt, so he looked up just in the nic of time to barely swerve passed me. I just continued on talking to her while he had to gather himself and come back around. We thought it was pretty hilarious because we just about ate it right in the middle of the busiest street in my area. So later on down the same road we were riding next to each other, he was in the gutter and I was on the sidewalk. All of a sudden a bus pulls up right next to us and starts to merge right into where he was. So he had to come right up onto the sidewalk to avoid getting hit. unfortunately that is exactly where I was. Also I couldn't get over any further because there was a bench blocking my way. We were so close his handlebars overlapped mine and I could feel his hands touch mine, ,all of this while still riding at about 15 MPH. Pretty fun stuff . Luckily we didn't collide and we ended up being OK. Anyways so that is a little bit of my week.
                    It sounds like things are going well back home. I  cant believe that Linds Rob and Drake are really getting ready to move out. It just doesn't seem real to me. I really hope things go well in the move. Also Staci I am so excited for you. I loved seeing the 3D pictures of the baby. I just cant believe there is really a baby inside you. ha ha How are you feeling about things? Nervous?Excited? A little of both? You are going to be such a great mother and I am so excited for you. Katey I got your letter thank you so much. I sent my reply back to you yesterday, so you should be getting it soon. And last of all but definitely not least Hannah thank you so much for the brownies. They are delicious. My companion was even saying how amazing they were. So thank you so much for doing that. You are getting to be a pretty amazing cook. Also mom and dad I hope you are having fun out on the cruise. I am extremely jealous because that is the ship that I wanted to go on like a year ago. Anyways things are great. Thank you so much for all of the support. I know you are all doing so much to help me out and I thank you for that. I love you all so much.

Love Elder Payne

Letter from a Member

Monday, October 14th, Mom received this email from a member. What an awesome surprise and so great to hear how Hunter is doing from someone else's perspective!

Hey Sheri,

The Elder's are over for dinner right now. They were playing a card game after dinner with my kids that your son taught them. We kinda had a weird dinner tonight. I asked the Elders last month what their favorite meals were. Your son said Poppy seed chicken. He described it pretty well, so I looked up a recipe on the internet that was pretty close to what he described and made it for them last time they came over. That was pretty good stuff! My kids really liked it too. This time was Elder Halle's favorite dinner night which is breakfast foods. It was a little messed up cuz we didn't have any milk to make buttermilk waffles out of so we had pancakes and cake dessert waffles. We also had this breakfast pizza thing. Anyways, I'm stuffed. I hope I didn't ruin these missionaries favorite meals. After having my cooking. Hee Hee. We are having them over again the Sunday before Halloween so we are having a fun meal that I will be more prepared for..

The missionaries sounded great today in Sacrament meeting. They helped sing a part in the Young Women Presentation. It really turned out awesome. Everyone in the ward loved it. I wonder when my son goes on a mission if he would actually get up and sing in church cuz he's not so much the singing type, but hopefully, especially because he thinks your son and Elder Halle are cool and they sang.

So I asked your son what I should tell you...my daughter just said to tell you that these missionaries are "hyper and annoying" hee hee. Your son just said to tell you that my son should marry Katelyn. Not so sure Katelyn would like that since she has a boyfriend....I think I will see if we can play a quick game of pit before they go home tonight.

I really appreciate the example these missionaries set for the youth of our ward!

Sandi Bryan

Pictures of Elder Payne & Elder Halle at the Bryan's Home-

Email: Conference

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

 

Dear Family,

 

Well let me start off by telling you that this past weekend has been absolutely amazing. Conference was such a fantastic experience, even more so out here in the mission field. To answer your question yes we got to watch all of conference. We were able to watch beginning at Saturday morning and got every bit of it all the way to Sunday afternoon. All of the missionaries in our zone came to the stake center and we all watched it together. I really loved the new perspective that I was able to gain on the things said. I think one of the biggest things, and I am sure dad talked about this, but it was in the priesthood session. Once again they talked about the mothers and wives to give more back rubs to their sons and husbands. Apparently it is isn't being done or I am sure they wouldn't keep commenting on it haha. I am just joking of course. Something really cool, between sessions Sunday afternoon they did the world report on the Brigham city temple and I saw mom singing in the choir. It was so cool I started to freak out! haha All of the other elders were just like what is going on? It was cool seeing mom on TV though. So a little bit about what is going on here. We met with Honey last week and had an excellent lesson with her. She is probably the most prepared person I have ever seen. She straight .up told that she knows that her life would have gone better if she was a Mormon. Well come to find out she doesn't live in our ward. She doesn't even live in our mission. It was so sad to find that out. I know that she is supposed to be there but things were so perfect and I could have had my first baptism. It really sucks but oh well there is nothing we can do about it. I guess just keep searching right. So that is what is going on with her. Things are going really great out here. I have been thinking about the family a lot lately. I miss you all very much and I am praying for you all everyday that things will continue to go well. I love you all and hope you have a good week. Love

 

Elder Payne

Email: Miracle Week!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Hello Family, friends and all you other people ha ha

 

Como se hace todo el mundo? Espero que todos ustedes estan haciendo muy bien! Bueno, si usted traduce esto usted ser?/span> capaz de ver que me han cambiado a un misionero de habla espanola. Loco eh! Puede usted creer que yo voy a estar hablando espaanoles y ahora que tengo que volver al MTC por un periodo adicional de 6 semanas de entrenamiento. Ok todo eso era en realidad completamente falsa. Me disculpo yo estaba teniendo un poco de diversion.

 

Anyways this past week was a pretty good week. We saw quite a few miracles. The first one came when we were teaching Kaylee. So we were teaching the Plan of Salvation to her.( you may want to try and get a Preach My Gospel so that when I say a lesson you go see what is in that lesson.) Anyways it went very well and it was a lot of fun to teach. We got to use a lot of object lessons. Like to represent the different kingdoms of glory we used different amounts of light. Like we used a flashlight to represent the lowest kingdom then dim lights for the next and finally all of the lights in the room on to represent the celestial kingdom. That was a lot of fun then we also got to use the glove analogy to represent our spirits through out our lives. Then at the end of the lesson we..........wait for it..........committed her to baptism on October 27th! It was really awesome to get a firm baptismal commitment down. So now we just have to coordinate everything with the other missionaries in the Sac mission. The next miracle I saw this week came on exchanges. I went on exchanges with Elder Ashby. How cool? We got to talk a lot about our families and home towns because we have both been to each others towns a lot. So during that day we were able to each quite a few lessons. The most memorable by far was the lesson we had with a less active family. It was a very spirit lesson in which I shared D&C 121:7-8 She was very stressed and seemed like she was about to lose it at he first of the lesson, but as the spirit worked on her she was able to calm down and really listen to our message. After the lesson I felt prompted to ask her if she would like a blessing. She accepted so then I was able to give her a blessing. It was amazing! So this past Saturday we had the Bro-lympics. It was an Elders Quorum activity that was a lot of fun. We had various activities such as spitting contests, tug-of-wars, paintball shooting contests(I was the target!), pie eating(pmpkin pie with almonds olives and crushed prunes Blah), and jousting. It was a blast and I ended up winning the whole thing with 9 gold medals. For winning I got a big steak. Pretty great! Alright last miracle. So yesterday at church we got introduced to this lady. Her name is Honey. She told that she had met with missionaries about 17 years ago. they lost contact when they moved. Anyways she was watching TV when a Mitt Romney commercial came on. She just thought to herself "I think I will give the Mormons another shot" So she just showed up to church. That was so cool and such a blessing. She has had a lot of trails in her past and I know that this gospel can help her. Well the story goes on. We were shopping and came out of the store after we finished. Well guess who came walking up? Yep it was Honey with her husband right behind her. SO we got to talk to both of them. He told us that Honey had spoken very highly of us and our church. As we were leaving he told us "well you can expect us in church on Sunday! I can guarantee that it wasn't just a coincidence that we ran into each other today" That was such a miracle in my eyes. I know that these people are definitely prepared to hear the Gospel. Well I better wrap things up. I love you all so much. I loved all of the good news from back home(Staci and the baby, Katelyn and the dance and Hannah and school) and out here in Cali, ( Rob, Linds and the house) I love you all and keep the good news coming I hope you all have a fantastic week.

 

Love Elder Payne

Elder Payne and his new companion Elder Halle have quite a lot in common

 

Elder Payne in the pie eating contest 

 

Elder Payne won the "steak" with 9 gold medals in the "bro-lympics" in his ward!!

 

 

Email: Investigators

Hello to everyone,

Well I sure hope everyone is doing well this week. From the multiple letters and packages I got it sounds like everyone is doing great. I was able to read a little thing on the Brigham city temple dedication on LDS.org yesterday. That is so awesome. I am so glad that it went so well. From the letters and emails it sounds like the thing on Saturday went very well. That is so great. I bet that Katelyn and Hannah and all the girls had a blast. I really would have loved to have been able to be there for that. It is just so amazing that we have a temple so close to Tremonton now. I am so grateful for the fact that a temple is only about 15 minutes away.

 

So I have to tell you the past few days I got absolutely spoiled. I got multiple letters and packages from you all. It was pretty amazing to literally see the love and support that you are sending my way. Dad thank you so much for the words of encouragement that you sent me. It helped so much. Thank you for the updates as well. Mom and sisters thank you for the package you sent me with fresh shirts and candy and stuff, and thank you so much Lindsay for the package you sent me. I wont go into to much detail about it because I don't know if she has given mom and dad theirs. So linds I will send you a letter with my reaction to it. That was so thoughtful and I am sure it took up a lot of time. That is such exciting news to hear that Rob and Linds sold their house. Believe me when I say that I have been praying so hard that things would work out well for you all. I am glad to hear that it sold so quickly and at such a good price. I hope all goes well in the coming weeks while you are trying to find a new house. So Staci and Tyler have there been any other new updates concerning the baby? That is so awesome that she is starting to kick and you can feel her. Katey and Han I love you both very much and I hope things are going well for you. When is the homecoming dance? Make sure you send me pictures of it. Oh yeah and how is my truck doing? Are you keeping her clean? I hope so I really miss my truck haha anyways if you would it would be awesome if you would send me a picture of it.

 

So this past week was great we were able to me a few new people. We had a really great lesson with a little girl named Kaylee. She lives in the Sacramento mission but we have been given special permission to teach her here even though she will be baptized there. It is pretty awesome and it will be a great experience for me to be able to develop better teaching skill. So the next update is with Alyssa. Things are going very well there. We were not able to have a lesson with her because her cousin had a baby ans she has been taking care of that, but she did come to church. This is the second week she has come too. This is huge because previously she has never come to church. We also caught her talking to one of the Young Woman's leaders in hall. She was telling her that she wants to get more involved and starting coming to more activities and stuff. That was so great to hear. I know that as she puts more faith in the gospel and applies herself more she will be blessed. So a little more about my companion as requested by my mom. No he does not have an accent at all. He actually gets asked that a lot and it is funny because he is constantly just like " No I don't". and no I am not in the Roseville 3rd ward. That is in a different zone. I am in the Van Maren ward in the Citrus Heights zone. I do know the Elder Ashby you were talking about. He is actually in my district. It is awesome I get to see him 3 or 4 times a week. He is an awesome guy and I look forward to getting to know him better.

 

Well I love you all so much and love hearing from you all. Keep the letters and packages coming. I hope you all have a great week.

 

Love Elder Payne

Email: New Companion

Hello everyone,

 

Well let me start out by telling you that this past week has been great. I got my new companion last Tuesday and luckily he is a pretty awesome guy. His name is Elder Halle and he is from Missouri. He has been out for a while like I predicted. He has been out a little over 20 months, So this is most likely his last area. In the few days that we have had together we have gotten a long great. We dont exactly have the same interests but we still get along well. He came into this area with a ton of enthusiasm to work in this ward. That was fantastic to. Elder Woolley had been here for quite a while so he wasnt to excited to be here anymore. One of the best things is he does not look down on me at all. It is really nice to feel like an equal.

 

So for the past week I have basically been taking over the area. I have to do this because Elder Halle is new coming in and he has to learn the area and because I have been here the longest I know the area and people better. Things have been going great and we have suddenly been seeing a bit of success. We all of sudden went from just a few investigators to around 5 or 6 promising investigators.

 

We were able to take Alyssa and her friend to a baptism on Saturday. We were able to have a very spiritual lesson before as well. It was amazing because we went into the lesson not really knowing what to teach her and we jsut went with the spirit. We taught her a lot about the blessing that we receive through baptism and mainly receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was so great and so amazing to see her beginning to progress. After that we went to the baptism of a little boy in the ward. We eat dinner there quite a bit so herr asked me to speak at his baptism. I got to speak on the Holy Ghost. It was jsut a simple 5 minute talk but I was grateful for the oppurtunity I had to speak. So after the baptism we invited Alyssa and her friend to come to church the following day and amazingky they agreed. So we were able to bring them to church.

 

We also had a member bring one of her friends and we picked her up as a new investigator. Her name is Riley and she is about 14 she is quite interested in learning more. So I told her that we were the people that could help her. We set up a lesson for this coming Sunday. So that is a bit of what has been going on. It is amazing how quickly we have fallen into work. Iam very grateful for it and cant wait to see how some of it unfold.

 

So it sounds like this past week has been a little hectic. I hope everyone is doing well though. Hannah I hope you got my card that I sent you. It was sent with much thought ans consideration. That was so kind of you all to throw a big party for Celestial. I cant even imagine how much that probably meant to her. I am so excited for the temple dedication coming up. I am not sure if it is going to be broadcast out here but I will check and try to find out. I hope you all have a good time at the dedication service. Dad that was awesome that both uncle wayne and Aunt Becky got animals and that elk was insane! I couldnt believe my eyes when I saw that thing. Dont worry it only makes me a little homesick. You should send me some sagebrush so I can smell it and feel like I am up hunting. haha I hope everything is going well for you at work. That is really exciting that Katleyn got asked to homecoming I remember my homecoming and it was one of the funnest dances that I went to.

 

I would really like to do the book of mormon testimony thing yes. So just type and brief testimony and send it to me. Make sure it will fit in the front cover though. It will definitely help. Testimonies are very powerful and can change people lives. One last thing can you send the last memory card I sent home back to me please. I want to be able to send this one back to you and I need that one to do so. WEll I love you all very much. I have been definitely been feeling your prayers. Keep them coming. I love you all very much and thanks for the support.

                                                                             

Love Elder Payne

 

Story Time by Uncle Hunter

Uncle Hunter sent his nephew Drake home this awesome story!

We just had to share!

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