Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Mount Hood to Seaside and the Race is on!

Dear Family and Friends, 

Things are going good out here and the first week of the transfers went by extremely slow for some reason. This week I learned a ton and it was pretty intense. Well, I was able to finally get all the pictures from my camera transferred to my memory card so you will get some photos in the near future. I still have about 18 days left in my journal to fill up until I send it home. I will send home some OPM shirts with the hard disk drive and whatever else I feel you would like.

So this week was so crazy it is going to be hard to explain what happened. This weekend was called the Hood to Coast race where runners from all over the country run from Mount Hood to Seaside in 2 days. So the population of Seaside grew to about 40,000 people in 2 days and it was crazy!!!!!! I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to ditch the car and go street contacting. It was a pretty interesting experience and I don’t think I have ever been denied more in my life. Of course we met some really cool people, but most people only had one thing on their minds and that was to party because they finally made it to Seaside after a long run. So we street contacted and shared the gospel message and met a lot of different people from all over the country. The good thing about that experience that I will never forget is that I will never be afraid to take no for an answer. It shook all the doubt and fear of approaching someone as we approached huge crowds of runners and people that didn’t want anything to do with our message. Now I feel like knocking on a door or contacting anyone on the street is a cake walk. So I learned something cool and we got to watch fireworks that night from our apartment as everyone was partying on the beach celebrating because of the end of the race.

Well, I’ll give you an Elder W quote which had everyone laughing as he ranted at district meeting. Believe me when I say ranting is not a derogatory thing but the ability to rant is a talent that is acquired after many years of experience and public speaking.  Elder W will usually sit down as he gives us a little piece of his mind but when he stands up and gets up from his seat, you know he means business. Well the quote of the week comes from when we were talking about leadership and how the key is to follow up. Well Elder W got up and said as we watched with anticipation," Tell em that’s just how the cow ate the cabbage and if they don’t like it we can “go toe to toe”!  I think he was saying to just tell people the way it is and if they don’t accept it then you can discuss it further, but man I would love to see Elder W go toe to toe with someone. Even though he is 78 years old, I bet he’s got a powerful right hand; we call him the Italian Stallion!!!!! He and Sister W are such an inspiration to all of us!

Sunday was a really cool day as it was our time to go to Stake Conference and we got a ride with the Assistant Ward Mission leader and he is the man. We rode up to Stake Conference together and on the way there we stopped at this fish hatchery and checked out some of the fish, like Cabazon. You guys probably think that’s pretty weak or lame but I thought it was cool to see all the big fish swimming in a giant font.

Right now I’m on an exchange with my boy Elder P and we are working hard. We are also bringing our boy B M with us. B just got back from his mission like 2 weeks ago and he says he wants to go back so bad. I want to be like him when it’s my time to head home and never  want to go. He is really tight and we are teaching some lessons today and he is telling us stories about his mission and it’s funny that we all experience the same thing no matter where we go. He served in Colorado and he faced the same trials we are facing right now in our area.

We had a pretty cool experience the other day that strengthened my testimony about standing up for what you believe in. Well we were tracting the other day and we ran into this Hispanic guy named Miguel. He is the friend of some of the members out here and is a really cool guy. Well we decided to go see him and see if he was interested in learning more about the gospel. So we walked up to him and he was just chillen in his back yard with his girlfriend. We go and ask him if he would like to hear a message that we are sharing about our Savior. He quickly responded with, no I’m Catholic, I’m good. Well we felt that his interest level wasn’t to high so we didn’t insist too much more but just kept talking to him. As we talked he reached down and grabbed his beer and said, you guys want one? At that moment we could have just sad no thanks, but we took it as a teaching opportunity even though he said he wasn’t interested. We explained why we didn’t drink and how the word of wisdom and the gospel could help us to avoid those things. His face lit up and he said, dang guys, I’ve been trying to stop drinking but it’s hard, if you can help me stop drinking, I’m interested in your message. I thought that was a pretty cool experience because we could have just left it alone but we decided to explain and testify and now my boy M has the potential to quit drinking and listen to our message about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.  Chyeah!!!!!!

Well family I just wanted to let you guys know how much I love you and how much I love this gospel. I’m a little upset that my hump day is coming up because time is going too fast. I feel like I could have given more but I gave it all I’ve got. I’m glad I have another year to dedicate my life to fully serving the Lord and I’m grateful for this amazing opportunity I have to lose myself. It reminds me of the parable that Jesus Christ told his disciples of the unprofitable servant. I know the opportunity I have to serve the Lord is precious and I will never be able to say, okay I did this, I’m done. I will be able to say, I did this, what else I can do, how else may I serve. I know that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God as it brings peace and joy to my heart. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and he restored the Church of Jesus Christ to the Earth. I’m grateful to wear Jesus Christ’s name and know that Jesus is my Savior. I know his atonement is real and have been able to use its healings powers. I know that this is the work of the Master and I am his servant. Thanks for raising me and keeping me in line and helping me receive this testimony for myself.

Love,

Elder Payne

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Six More Weeks in Seaside!

Dear Family and Friends,

Thanks for sending me the picture of Abuelito, he looks like a G. He is always rockin the suit in his pictures, now that’s a man with style ha-ha. He seemed like a pretty sweet guy and I can’t wait to meet him after this life. I was so sorry to hear about Aunt J’s loss and will keep her family in my prayers.  Please give the family a big hug for me and I will write as soon as I can.   My boy W has been doing well. He is facing some challenges with family trials and we are trying to help him out the best we can and get him ready for his mission. He is a really an awesome guy and we are hoping to take him out with us more since he is really helpful with our investigators. What I’ve learned out here is people just need someone to talk to sometimes and you’ve got to listen to what’s going on. There are always hard times in people’s lives and the spirit can direct us how to help people handle their trials. 

Things have been going great here in Seaside. I was glad to answer some of your questions so you know a little more about what’s going on over here in Seaside. If you have some more questions let me know and I’ll try to answer them. Well I’m about done with my journal, about 12 more days left till it’s complete and let me tell you about the pictures. Well the computers here at the library are to slow to convert all the pictures to the hard drive so I can’t do it. I’ll have to think of something so I can get you guys some pictures going.

That’s really awesome that you and Mom both got set apart as missionaries and will be serving in the Spanish Branch in the Stake so now when I get back, we can all talk to each other in Spanish. Being with a native Spanish speaking companion from Mexico has really helped my Spanish to improve even though I’m still serving in English. I only talk to Elder S in Spanish now so it is really helping me a lot. So I got news about transfers. Yesterday was transfer meetings and I am staying in Seaside for another 6 weeks until the next transfer call. I know that I still have an important work to do here in Seaside so I am excited to have these following weeks to work. I am with Elder S again and I’m excited.  We have hit a few bumps in the road in our companionship and I can understand as I’m probably not the ideal roommate or companion but nothing that being humble and compromising can’t fix!!  I will continue to strive to make the companionship work so we can both have a good time serving the Master.  Chyeah!

Yesterday was so awesome because the whole mission came together and we had an apostle of the Lord come speak to us!!  Elders P and Elder C from the 70 came to speak to us. It was an awesome experience and we brought W with us so he could enjoy it as well. I learned so much from the counsel they gave and it was truly an honor to hear the voice of the Lords servants. I also got to see all my boys from the Spanish side of the mission and it was a great reunion. I have been in English so long it was good to see the family and catch up on old times. I saw my boy Elder W and his voice was deeper than ever. I love that guy and I learned so much from him, it was good to see my Pops too, Elder H. Anyway, it was an awesome experience yesterday and it feels good to know that I still have work to accomplish here in Seaside, I’m not done yet!

Well I wanted to share my testimony with you about fast offerings. I remember back in the day at the Shallowford Ward how Bishop N said if you pay your fast offerings, the Lord will take care of you. If you pay a generous fast offering, the Lord will never let you starve.  I can testify of that since being here in Seaside I haven’t gone one day without a dinner and I haven’t had to buy groceries for like a month. I have been able to survive on leftovers for breakfast and lunch until we eat dinner again!! It is an amazing blessing because whatever money I have left at the end of the month, I just give it back to the church in fast offerings. I have learned from this experience and I know that the Lord will bless those who pay fast offerings. I have made a commitment to pay my fast offerings for the rest of my life.

Last Saturday we had a Ward Temple day and that was so awesome. Elder S and I were able to give an outside tour of the  Portland Oregon temple and it was a great experience. The temple is so beautiful and amazing and I would like to get married there one day but we will see what my wife has to say about that too. Anyway, we gave a tour and were able to explain to everyone what the symbols and all the markings on the temple and temple grounds meant. I never knew that the temple on the outside was so symbolic but the way its constructed and built have things to do with the gospel. You guys definitely need to come check it out with me, maybe at the very end of my mission but we will talk about that later.



I had a funny experience with a young man in the Ward the other day; he is the kid that just moved here and is starting to get active in the church again. He always comes out with us and loves to share the gospel. Well, he has been having some smoking problems and is addicted to cigarettes. One day we picked him up to go to an appointment and I saw him smoking in the corner. He didn’t know we saw him but we honked the horn and he came out of the corner of his apartments and I got out of the car. I played it cool and was like," O snap, what’s that smell. He was like I don't know what does it smell like? I asked him, you been smoking Bro? He denied it and said of course not. Then I was like come on Brosef I just saw you, don’t tell me that Buddy. He replied oh okay, only one. I then said, Bro, come on buddy, don’t give me that. He then said, oh come on man, alright 5. I was like, you’re the man, but we can’t help you conquer this addiction unless your honest with us Buddy. Then he said okay and admitted that he would tell us the truth from then on. We told him he could definitely overcome his addiction if he relies on the Savior and is accountable for his actions. So every night he calls us and tells us how many cigarettes he smoked. He is down to 3 a day, I’m proud of my boy and I know that with the Lord’s help he can conquer this habit!

Well that’s about all that happened this week, I love serving the Lord!

Love,

Elder Payne

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Questions and Answers in Seaside

August 16, 2011

Dear family and friends,

I’m loving life so much out here and I love the people here with all my heart. The members are the best and I’m trying to do my best to get people ready for baptism but it seems that there is always opposition. I’m not upset or sad, it’s just hard to know what else I can do sometimes to help people we find to understand the importance of the gospel. I’m on an exchange with Elder W right now and this Missionary is my long lost brother!!! I love this Elder and you will probably hear a lot more about him as my mission goes on. 

I have tried to answer the questions you asked in your letter in the following paragraphs.   What kind of car are you guys driving? 2009 Toyota Corolla!  What cities are in your district? Astoria, Warrington, Gearhart, Cannon Beach, Rockaway, Tillamook, Seaside, Jewel, Neah-kah-nie and a ton of other cities.  How many Elders are in your mission and break it down for us in English and Spanish? There are about 220 missionaries right now in the OPM and about 36 of them are Spanish speaking.  Elder S is from Mexico City, was he called to serve in English or Spanish?  Funny but Elder S who speaks Spanish as his first language was called to serve in English, it just so happens that he was put with me, a Spanish speaking Elder, whose first language is English.  The Lord works in mysterious ways sometimes.  Elder S is helping me get ready to go back to the Spanish side in a few weeks. Are there any Spanish areas on the coast or are they all English speaking? Every area on the coast is English speaking except for Tillamook and there just happens to  be Spanish speaking missionaries in Nea kan ni and Seaside doing their required six months of English service.  I know we are trying to get a Spanish Branch started out on the coast but the problem is it’s all tourist stuff so the Hispanics work on the weekends and can’t make it to church on Sunday. Wouldn’t it be great if everyone kept the Sabbath day holy and didn’t work? 

What is the most profound thing you have learned so far on your mission? Wow, that’s a really good question; I’m going to have to ponder on that one for a while. The only thing that comes to mind right now is that I’m nothing and I’m just the Lords vessel and his tool. I didn’t come out here to gain any recognition or be remembered, it’s just my time to serve and the only thing I’m here to do is lose my will and find the Lords. So I guess that’s the most important thing I’ve learned and my number one goal. Do you set goals for baptisms each month in your mission or just lessons and placing Books of Mormon? We set goals at the beginning of each month for lessons, baptisms and anything that consists of the key indicators. 

Who has been your favorite Elder and who have you learned the most about being an awesome missionary? Elder R helped shape my mission and really helped me to know what I was doing out here. My Pops or trainer, Elder H taught me how to man up and started me out right. Elder W helped me and taught me how to love. Elder G taught me how to be 100% obedient even to the little rules like having a comb over and not chewing gum. Elder A taught me how to look at life from the best perspective and not to get down on yourself for other peoples actions or use of their agency. Elder W has helped me to have someone to relate to 100 percent and talk about what we need to do to improve and kill the natural man. Elder W taught me to be a work horse and never give up. Elder J taught me to feel the spirit and be guided on what to say and ask. Elder S has taught me not to judge and to humble myself. I’ve learned so much from every Elder and it’s amazing to see how everyone has had such a huge impact in my life. Every missionary has their own style. I’ve been able to learn from each of their different personalities and take the best part. If I had to pick one missionary that has had the biggest impact on my mission so far, it would be my boy Elder R. He taught me more things than I can count but most importantly he taught me how to serve the Lord with all my heart. 

What are you planning to do differently your second year than you did your first?  I’m planning to set specific goals like reading the entire mission library in Spanish, do 35 pull ups in a row, I’m up to 30, and try to kill the natural man. I plan to do everything in my power and with the Lord’s help to overcome pride and anger and thoughts that are not in line with my Savior. It is my goal to completely give myself to the Lord even more. But as for specific goals to write down, I’ll get back to you on that.  What do you enjoy most about being an Elder and servant of the Lord Jesus Christ? Having the Spirit as my companion and the complete joy that comes from knowing that this is the gospel of Jesus Christ and there is nothing more meaningful I could be doing at this time of my life. 

I hope I answered your questions but let me know if you have more next week.

 I have a pretty funny story to share. We have been taking a less active member of the ward with us to a bunch of lessons.  He is a great kid but he is a little different. He had cancer a couple of years ago so he’s got the mind of a 12 year old and he is about 19 now.  I love this kid and he is awesome. Right now he’s got just  two things on his mind. A mission and becoming an Eagle Scout. We gave him a ride home after church and while we were driving home he shouted up to us from the back seat and said, “hey guys I wrote a song about Scouts." I then said, “well lets here it”. He began to sing the song and it goes like this, “SCOUTS, it’s a beautiful thing, SCOUTS; I love it more than anything! SCOUTS!!! It’s better than you can believe, SCOUTS!!!! It was truly a classic and a good song to hear.  It was a nice change from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir we have been listening to for the past week ha-ha.




Peace out!

Love to all,

Nathan

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Good Times in Seaside!


August 9, 2011

Dear Family and Friends,

Good news, we have two Apostles of the Lord coming to the mission, Elder Richard G. Scott and Elder L. Tom Perry. I’m super excited, and to hear both of these Apostles we have to travel to the Washington Kennewick Mission area so I’ll probably be able to see my boy Elder HARDY, Chyeah! We have been writing each other our whole missions and sharing the crazy experiences we have been having. If I see my Boy Hardy, it’s going to be crazy! I really miss the kid and all of my boys from the Shallowford Ward.

I have to tell you about some really cool experiences I have been having out here. First I’m going to tell you about the Woodman’s, the senior missionaries that serve in our district. Elder Woodman and Sister Woodman are so cool and Elder Woodman is a hard core G. He doesn’t take anything from anybody and he means business. He is about 78 years old and has got the heart of a lion. Well, he had to give the training and practice at district meeting this week and it was awesome. Every district meeting he just stands up and gives us a piece of his mind and talks for about 10 minutes straight, just ranting and flowing like there is no tomorrow. It is the coolest thing to see as he has such passion and doesn’t play around. Well, this week he had to give the training and practice so that means he had an entire hour and a half to go on and give us a piece of his mind. When the district meeting started, everyone had their tape recorders out ready to press record as soon as he began. I got mine extra close to the stand so I could record every word clear and sound!!! He always has these awesome quotes that we all write down and he had some really good ones this district meeting too. Again, he doesn’t play and he gets to the point so just image this old G, talking at the top of his lunges and saying these quotes. “The gospels like a monkey on your back, and you’ve got to give it to other people so they can have it on their backs!!!"  “When the gospel is on your back and you don’t keep your commitments, it becomes a gorilla, mountain gorilla, silver back, 800 pounds!" “You don’t want to be driving around, listening to bebop music being a you know what. "Trust...but verify!!!!!!" If people don’t want to listen to the gospel, then just “Kick em in to the curb,  burn em in the parking lot, and then do there temple work later.!" I know he was just kidding but he is so fun.  He’s pretty hard core but he is so amusing and an inspiration to all of us young Elders. He is still going strong and trying to proclaim the gospel at 78 years old and I give Elder Woodman props. He told me the other day, “Elder Payne, if you worked for me, I would fire you 3 times, but then I would hire you back!!!!!!!!!!!" Chyeah!

I had another awesome experience that really testified to me that I am a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ and I have been given the power and authority to preach his word. So one day we were teaching a lady whose husband is a less active member that doesn't want anything to do with the church. He said it would be cool if we taught his wife because he didn’t care anymore.  We went to go teach her and the lesson was going great. The spirit was strong but all of the sudden the guy walks in the room and tells us to get out of his house! He yelled, “You guys are nothing but used cars salesmen and your trying to sell my wife your stuff!"' I was okay with him calling me that once but then he proceeded to hate on other precepts of the gospel and act unreasonable. We heard him out and apologized if he felt that way about the church. But he continued to call us used car salesmen and that’s when I couldn’t take it anymore, I got up out of my seat and said," I’m not a used cars salesmen sir; I am a disciple of Jesus Christ!! He was quiet for a little while and the mood in the room changed and I knew that I had the power and authority to proclaim that. We then shook hands and headed out as we could see he was closed minded but it was a pretty interesting experience because I did not fear or even question why I was there. I knew my purpose and I knew who sent me to fulfill it and I did my best to represent the Lord in the situation. It was intense and I’m glad to have receive the knowledge from the Spirit that I am a servant of the Master.

Last Sunday we had fast and testimony meeting and it was super spiritual. I was able to bare my testimony during testimony meeting and I began to ball like a little baby. I have never done that before but it just hit me super hard that I am in the service of the Lord and this is His restored gospel. I have always known that, but it just seems like the more time I’m out here, the more I feel like I am understanding the atonement of Jesus Christ and trying to give it my all to serve him. We were also able to further involve the Ward with missionary work. We went to the young men’s and young women’s and challenged them to give a Book of Mormon away to one of their friends. We gave them an example on how to do it and almost half of them have been able to do it so far. I know how important the Book of Mormon is and I know it can change lives as it is another sacred scripture of our savior Jesus Christ.

Any funny experiences this week? Well, on the exchange with Elder Peterson, we didn’t have any milk at the apartment because we are cutting back on the money we spend so we both ate cereal with water. It wasn’t too bad and it was good to know we were saving some money!

Well everyone, things are going great and my companion Elder Sanchez is a G. Let me know how everything is going and I’ll write you next week. 

Love and peace,

Elder Payne




Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Speaking Slang in Seaside!

Dear Family and Friends,

As usual you know things are the best out here in Seaside. I have absolutely nothing to complain about as I forget about life and go to work for the Master. I just got an email from my boy Micah Probeyahn, my roommate at BYUI during the fall semester. I’m so pumped as he just emailed me from his missionary email account. At the beginning of my mission I wrote him and told him to go on a mission and he wasn’t too sure about going.  After 6 months of not hearing from him, my boy sends me an email saying, “YO BRAHHHHHHHH, it’s your boy and I’m in Los Angeles serving the Lord on his errand!!" That got me way pumped because I remember every night me and my boy Micah would have companionship prayers kneeling in our room before we went to bed. Now he is out here serving the Lord, Chyeah!!!!

Well I’m pretty excited about that and its sounds like everything is going great for you back at home. That’s cool that you have been teaching temple prep at the Cherokee Branch and are on the third lesson. Last Sunday we taught a temple prep lesson and it was a really cool experience as these people are getting ready to enter into the Lords house.

I’ll give you the scoop on every question you asked so you can see what’s going on out here; I also have almost finished my 3rd journal so I will be sending that home too. Anyway, first question how Elder Sanchez is, Elder Sanchez is A LATIN THUG and I love the guy. He is 24 and is the only member in his family other than his brother. He has 13 people in his family and he is really cool. He and I get along great and he is really trying to help me with my Spanish. We just made a deal with each other yesterday, no speaking English for a full week. That will be good for me as I will be returning to Spanish is no time! Elder Allred got transferred to Molalla which is a small town with 3 Wards in it. Compared with all the other companions I have had, Elder Sanchez and I are getting along great. I have gotten along well with all my companions, just some take more time to get to know. With Elder Sanchez, we were tight on the first day and are like long lost Latino brothers. He is teaching me Spanish and in turn he has asked me to teach him English slang. So we will be riding in the car and all of a sudden when I’m talking he will say, “Be quiet Bro, you wanna get merked!” in a Mexican accent. It’s awesome and it’s hilarious when he tries to speak slang because the Mexican accent works perfectly with it. Another one of his classic slang lines he likes to use, " Hey man, you wanna get Swiss cheesed up!!!????"  That means like if you get shot and you have holes in you like Swiss cheese. He always threatens me with that one but in a loving, companion kinda way. I feel that this is my last transfer in English and they will send me back to Spanish next transfer. There are 3 weeks left and we will see, but let the Lords will be done because I’m never really quite sure. 

We have some wonderful investigators now, but it is sad to say but Satan always seems to get a grip on the people that are getting ready for baptism. My boy Richard has fallen on some hard times as one day we stopped by to see how he was doing and he told us he started smoking again. We told him not to get himself too down but things like that happen. He didn’t want to talk and just shut the door on us. We haven’t heard from him since as he doesn’t answer the door but we are praying and hoping he will be alright. Juliana, the 73 year old lady we have been teaching is not progressing and we let her know we would not be able to keep teaching her if she is not committed to changing and she committed to keep the commitments we had been giving her. Rigoberto is awesome and is ready for baptism but the only problem is he works on Sunday. We will teach him more about faith and prayer and try to help him make it to church. Eric and his brother Luis continue to come to church and we are starting to teach their Mom and Dad. Charlie came to church and is ready to be baptized as well; we just need to get his Mom ready too.  

I had some pretty cool experiences last week and one was a tender mercy. We all went to go out to eat at after district meeting at a taco shop, about 10 missionaries in all. Well a member was there eating and I said hi to him.  Anyway, we went on with our own business and finally when we were finished eating and went to go pay for our food, the owner said that a guy already paid for all of it. So Brother Smith bought all 10 missionaries there lunch! We were super grateful and wanted to pay him back so we wrote him a thank you letter. It turns out that day he had just sold his truck that he had been trying to sell for about 2 months. Isn’t that awesome? The Lord works in mysterious ways.

Love,


Elder Payne




Monday, August 1, 2011

Silver Man!


Dear Family and Friends,

This week was the best week ever. I probably say that a lot but it truly was a really good week. I had some really awesome experiences and a lot of things happened. First I’ll let you know about the interview with President Morby. Well the first interview we had was a pretty good one; we just got to know each other pretty well. But due to the circumstances that have been happening lately I have gotten to know President Morby extremely well and he is the man. He calls me up some days and just asks me how things are going in the area and I think he trusts me. We actually spent some time with him on P-day yesterday and I gave him and his wife two of the newly designed OPM shirts. I’ll explain to you a little more about how awesome P-day was yesterday later in my letter. I will continue to pray for the family and I’m glad that everyone is doing well.

Wow the work is going great out here and I’m loving every minute of it as I get to share my testimony with everyone I come in contact with. The other day I had a really spiritual experience as we found out that one of the investigators we have told us that he is terminal. We only knocked on his door once and taught him a little but I feel like I knew Harvey pretty well. One day we went over to see how he was doing and he was in really bad shape. I knew that the power of the Priesthood could help him so we offered to give him a blessing. As we gave Harvey the blessing the spirit witnesses to me that Harvey was going to pass on soon. In the blessing we told him that the Lord would bless him with the strength to endure this trial. It was a really spiritual experience and a different experience as I have never received that witness while giving a blessing. Yet it was comforting to know that Harvey has lived a good life and will receive the gospel beyond the veil. After we gave the blessing, we sat there in silence until Harvey offered up his own prayer and the room was filled with the spirit.

Things are going amazing out here and there is no other place I would rather be. Sharing the gospel and testifying to people that God lives and his son Jesus Christ is the only way to Salvation is the most meaningful thing I could be doing. I know that this is Jesus Christ’s church and it is my only to desire to do the Lords will. I have been pretty excited today as a local member Hunter, an 18 year old that just got back from BYUI is spending the whole day with us today to get ready for his mission. He came over to the apartment last night and we ran him over the missionary schedule and nightly planning. He slept over and we all woke up in the morning and worked out and did all of our usual morning studies. Now we are about to take him through the whole day and show him what a missions really like. I wish I could have done that before my mission to further prepare but I’m glad for his desires to rock out with us. It is an awesome feeling to show someone new the ropes and help them get ready for their mission. I hope I get the chance to be a trainer one day as I bet training a missionary would be sweet. 

Well, let me tell you about P-day and how crazy it was to start off with. We called all the Elders in our district and told them to come to Seaside for P-day. So the Elders in Astoria and Neakanni came down and we decided to go get one of those six person bikes from a bike shop. One of the members owns it so we get to ride on the bikes for free. So we had 6 missionaries riding through downtown on a bike and it was crazy. We were waving to people and giving out compliments and people loved it. We cruised down the streets of downtown Seaside and saw a local street performer dancing and his name was Silver Man. It is a guy that spray paints his whole body silver and acts like a robot. Well as we all cruised by Silver Man we started laughing because we thought it was pretty funny. We weren’t making fun of him; we just thought it was funny because every time he moved his body it would make a robot noise like, ZZZZiiiii. Well as we rode by we kept laughing and didn’t pay any more attention to him and his dances moves. As we rode down the street, I heard Elder Sanchez yell, “its Silver Man!!!!!!!!!!!!" in a Mexican accent. Then everyone on the bike turned around and we saw Silver Man’s face as he was hanging on the back of our bike. He started making his robot noises and we all started screaming because it was like a movie scene from the Terminator!!!!!!!!!! It was pretty funny and he hopped on the bike with us after he gave us a good scare and we introduced ourselves to him. It was a pretty funny experience.





 After we got off the bike we went to go try on cowboy boots at a store in town and ran into Sister Morby. She told us that she and President Morby had come to check out Seaside for the day and it was such a surprise to see us. Well we took some pictures with them and then invited them to come over to see our apartment. All of us got home and we decided to grill up some BBQ chicken while we waited for President and Sister Morby to get there. Well they showed up to the apartment like 30 minutes later and took a look at our place and really liked it. I gave them both an OPM shirt and they said they really like them.


Love,

Elder Payne