June 18, 2012
Dear family,
Well things are going amazing out here and we are seeing a lot of success. The picking season has started and we just got back from the strawberry fields. That is some tough work and it took me about 2 hours to fill up 4 buckets, that’s only like 4 dollars or something like that. Anyway there are some people out here that can pick super fast it’s ridiculous. We went with our boy G and some members of the church. It was pretty sweet and we got to take a bucket home with us so I now have a ton of strawberries to put in my breakfast oatmeal right now, CHYEAH!!!! I just had to pick my own strawberries and they were free! I go to the store to buy some and it costs like 3 bucks and that blows my mind!!!!!!! Anyway it was pretty fun and we will head out there again sometime as that’s a good place to find new investigators.
Last week was pretty sweet. Elder W is the man and he already came pre-trained. He’s down to work super hard and has a great testimony. We don’t speak English at all since we both want to improve our Spanish. He’s a great guy and I’m glad that I have the opportunity to work with him. The missionary work is going great here and the branch is really helping out. We had 8 investigators at church yesterday and mostly all of them are ready to be baptized we just want to help them to receive testimonies and be able to understand the answer to their prayers through the Holy Ghost. There are always obstacles put I know that I just need to exercise more faith in the Savior Jesus Christ and he will help me to know what I must do to help these people.
We had the chance to go to a concert with some members and investigators on Friday. We went to the Portland Oregon Choir starring Jennifer Oaks Baker and it was sweet. I got to see a lot of my old companions from the mission too as they had all gone there to watch the concert with their investigators. It was pretty cool to sit back and enjoy the nice violin music provided by the Grammy nominated violinist.
We went to an Adult Center to do service on Friday and that was pretty fun. We served everybody roast beef and potatoes and “los ancianos” were pretty pumped about that. They were celebrating father’s day as well so they had a tie competition. Everyone was rocking ties and even the ladies. Elder W and I decided to enter into the contest for who had the classiest tie but we got beat out by an old lady in a wheel chair. I thought I was going to win because I had a nice tie clip and everything but it seems like they were playing favorites ha-ha, just like high school in there. No big deal because we had fun and everyone clapped for us because they thought our ties were cool ha-ha. Can you just imagine that, a room full of old people clapping for two elders because they were wearing nice ties? I’m not going to lie, I felt pretty cool even though I was one of the youngest guys there ha-ha.
Well this week has been awesome and to be honest a huge blur full of training meetings and activities, but all in all it was a great blessing. I’ve learned a ton from my new companion as he tries to iron my shirt every morning. He is a great example and I think I’m going to learn more from him than he will from me. I’m grateful for this opportunity to train and help out the district. I can’t do it by myself and I know that I’m going to have to rely on the Lord more and less in the arm of the flesh ( el brazo de la carne). I’m pumped and excited for this week and ready to share the gospel with all those that will listen. I love you guys and I hope you have a good week, keep me in your prayers!
Love,
Elder Payne
