Winding Down in Seaside

September 22, 2011

Dear Family and Friends,

Yo family, a lot has happened in the last couple of days and I have got a lot to say about what has gone down. First off, I got your package and it was awesome!! I gave Elder S the “Jesus is My Boss” hat you sent me and he thought it was way cool. Thanks for the talks and the book you sent me, I will study them and let you know what I think.  That razor you sent me really is the Cadillac of all razors, I’ve never gotten a closer shave and it felt great!! Thanks for the hamper I’ve needed one for a while now. Well, you asked me about things I need and my white shirts are getting a little worn out but it’s all good, I think I can make them last another year. Thanks for the pens and I’ll put them to good use writing in my journals.  That is so cool that you got a call from Elder Woodman last week.  He and Sister W are my hero’s and I hope to be half as valiant to the Lord when I am 78 years old too.  We will all miss them as they are leaving next week to go back home, but Elder W's example and rants will be with me for the rest of my life!

Elder and Sister W!

 All right, so I will get down to business and let you know what has been going on with me. I’ve done some major pondering and finding out where I am as a missionary right now. There are a lot of things that have been revealed to me by the Spirit and hopefully this will all make sense when I get done writing this email. First off, I want to let you know what I felt inspired to do. One day after district meeting,  I decided to read the letter you sent me to some of the missionaries in my district.  It was the letter you sent me after reading my journal and giving me some advice. I felt like reading some of the parts in that letter would be of benefit to some of the missionaries since some of them are experiencing the same feelings of inadequacy I was having. After I got done reading the letter, my boy Elder J came up to me and asked if he could make a copy of the letter. Elder J is an awesome missionary and he is on his last transfer before he goes home.  I asked him why he wanted a copy and he replied to me that he had been praying about these feelings he had been having the night before and he felt like the letter I read was an answer to his prayers. He told me that he has always had feelings like this his whole mission and that the letter you wrote me completely explained where these feelings came from. So I thought it was pretty cool to have your letter answer someone else’s prayer that was also going through the same things I was too.

Anyway, I meditated on what you said and how I maybe am being too hard on myself.  I just want to give all I’ve got to the Lord but he doesn’t ask me to be perfect.  I have always prayed for the strength to understand and handle the situations I have been given out here, but the answers really sunk in as I had the opportunity to talk to my Heavenly Father in the Portland Temple yesterday.  In the temple I was able to tell Him exactly how I felt and ask him for His divine help. I came to an understanding that the adversary had been a big part of my trials that I have been facing as I have been worrying about things I have no power to control.  It was an amazing experience to speak to my Heavenly Father and fully trust that through the power of Jesus Christ, Satan in no means has any power or control over the way I feel. I have turned it all over to the Father and fully trust that He is and will take care of me. I know these feelings of inadequacy or despair come from the adversary. I used to think that these feelings meant I was doing something wrong and I needed to make a change because I wasn’t quite doing things just right but thanks to your letter and my relationship with the Lord, I have come to an understanding that the adversary was just trying to merk me and rob me of my peace. Since I have basically cast Satan's influence away from my thoughts and recognized where these feelings are coming from, I feel a lot different.  I am trying to stay centered in Christ and seek His Spirit as my constant companion regardless of what happens.

Now I’m not saying I was completely depressed or even depressed in any slightest degree, but I had a distorted and different way of thinking and looking at things. Now that I have acknowledged this I am way more relaxed and see things from a more eternal perspective. For example, when my companion decides to do something that wastes our time, I used to get upset and think about all the things we could have been doing instead. Now I sit back and read my scriptures and think it’s good that he’s out here to serve the Lord. So I received a totally different outlook and perspective since I have brought this to the Lord and asked for his help. I want to thank you for taking the time to help me understand that my efforts out here “are good enough”  and I’m only here to try my best. I can’t convert everyone with my testimony and now it makes greater sense what the prophet Alma was feeling when he desired to cry repentance to the people in Alma Chapter 29; 1-4. I have felt these feelings but now I have reached a sense of contentment that comes from knowing that I am giving it all I’ve got. I am grateful for these experiences I am having on my mission that have helped me to further understand the atonement of Jesus Christ and how the Savior is the key to helping me overcome these and any trials that will come during my life. I am grateful for the Savior, the great Mediator, the one I can go to that knows what I’m going through, and he can mold me and make me better than I ever was. I love you guys and sorry if this was preachy, but that’s just what’s going on out here and I love it!

By the way, Elder W said thanks for the letter. He really enjoyed it!! Also, I’m going back to a Spanish area with Elder W in 2 weeks; we have transfers after General Conference. It is going to be crazy because the whole coast is getting switched around. The Elders above us in Astoria are getting transferred because ones going home. Elder J in Tillamook is going home and Elder W and I are out of here. It’s going to be a crazy transfer meeting. Thanks again for the package. I’ve changed the format in my journal to just reflect on Tender Mercies, Hard Things, Dreams and Fun Things.  It’s a little bit more difficult to write in put it takes less time and I have more time to focus on other things. By the way, I’m about to finish the Book of Mormon in Spanish and I only have 12 pages left. I know the Book of Mormon is true and if you want to perfect your Spanish Dad, read it out loud. 

Love you guys and send me some questions next time so I can answer them.

Peace,

Elder Payne

Photo's from Seaside, Oregon!

Peaches and Carrots?

September 13, 2011

Dear Family,

Dang DAD, you are the new Rant King!!!!!!!! That was an awesome 10 page letter ha-ha. I only had time enough on the computer to get like 1/4 of the way through the letter but it was great. I felt the spirit testify to me that the words you sent me were true and I now have  a lot of things I need to bring in front of the Lord.  Now that I have someone outside looking in and some good advice I know I can further improve. Thanks for taking the time out of your day to help me out. I love being a missionary and I’m learning so many things.

When we walked into the library today we were greeted by the library guy who works here with a," Hey DUDES!!!!" He’s a pretty cool guy and always gives us an extra 10 minutes on the computers if we run out of the hour we have.  I will study all the things you said and go unto the Lord in prayer to help me know what I must do to further lose myself in his service. Thanks again and I hoped you liked the Journal. I hope you liked the pictures too and I’ll send some more soon.  I am looking forward to the package you mentioned in your letter!  It is always great to get packages from home! Oh, I forgot a few weeks ago, tell Brother M I was bummed I did not get to see him after the Mt. Hood to Seaside race, He is the Man!

Today, my companion and I have an interview with President M. I’m pretty excited because President M is the man. He always answers the phone by saying, “President M or President M here" ha-ha. I’ll tell you how it goes in my next letter. Well, a lot happened last week and things are going great out here. I feel so privileged to be out here and to have the opportunity to share the gospel with all those we come in contact with. I’ll let you know some really cool experiences I had last week, both the spiritual and the funny.

Elder S, President M and Elder Payne

First I’ll start with the funny and how I was on an exchange with Elder W. When Elder W and I were on an exchange, this last week and it was like working with your best friend. We would wake up in the mornings and then say, " Elder today’s gonna be awesome." It didn’t seem like work when we were out proselyting; it just seemed like rolling around with your best friend and sharing the gospel. This kid is like the long lost brother I never had and we had some funny times. We were driving to an appointment and this skunk ran in front of us on the road. My only reaction was to honk at it and as soon as I did, the skunk juiced us! His stink just barely missed the car as I swerved out of its path.

Elder W!

We then played this tracting game where your companion says a word right before the person opens the door and you have to try and say it during the conversation. Well, a shout out to Georgia,  I told Elder W to use the word “Peaches” and it was pretty funny; we got into a conversation with this guy from Mexico that was washing his car. We got into talking about authority and how authority was found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The guy wasn’t really having it so Elder Weyburn said," Listen Sir, we’re not just a bunch of Peaches here, we know what we’re talking about." It was then my turn and Elder W  gave me the word “Carrot”. I was a little nervous cause I didn’t know how I was going to use it in a conversation but the lady that opened the door set me up for it perfectly. She opened the door and after introducing ourselves we went to go shake her hand. She denied me as she had oil on her hands from cooking. I then looked at my hand and said to her," Your right maam, you probably don’t want to shake these carrot fingers anyway." She laughed and said, " Yeah I have carrot fingers too ha-ha." We thought it was pretty funny and had some good times while tracting which can get pretty rough sometimes. Well, I just wanted to let you know that Elder W is the man and he’s coming up to BYUI after the mission most likely and we want to room together in the future. I know that’s in a while but wanted you to know that out here on the mission, I’m meeting a ton of Elders that are cool and we will be lifelong friends.

Things are going great on the coast and as usual the work continues forward. C, who has a baptismal date for the 24 of September was at church and had a good time. I think he will be ready and from his example his family most likely will reactivate. We were not able to teach S which was a bummer and we are hoping that she is doing okay. She has a baptismal date as well and we will see where that goes. D A is doing great and progressing really well. He has some issues but is the man and said a prayer in our last lesson. His brother who is a member is really proud of him as he is improving so much. The missionary work is going great in our area as the members are participating more in lessons and helping us out. The High Priests and Elders have already filled up about a month’s worth of going on Splits and that is going to help us out a ton too.  They key to success in missionary work really is when the members help out and trust you enough to refer their family and friends.

I have a little tender mercy experience that happened yesterday. Well it was S’s birthday yesterday and he wanted us to come over and share a spiritual thought for his birthday. This kid is awesome and I really love him. He has a desire to serve the Lord and loves coming out with us to teach the gospel. Yeah, he is facing some trials but we are here for him 100% of the way.

My companionship is going great. Of course it has its up and downs and we aren’t always singing, but after receiving your good advice Dad, I have been able to look at the ups and downs from a totally new perspective. I’m so glad that Elder S and I are companions and I have this opportunity to love him and learn from him as he is a great Elder.

You know often you can have a fun time and a spiritual experience at the same time.  We were driving down the road and saw these elderly people out working in their yard. Without a word between us, we both knew we just had to stop and ask them if they needed help even though we had an appointment in 15 minutes. We jumped out of the car, took some shovels and went to work on their yard working and digging as fast as we could. As we were working, they were saying thank you the whole time and we said it was all good.  We probably did what they could do in an hour done in just a few minutes and it felt great to help out quickly and then take off. They probably never even knew that we were Mormon missionaries’ at all ha-ha.  I have learned that you can serve others, serve the Lord and have a great time doing it, it’s all in keeping the right perspective!

Love,

Elder Payne

Another Journal Bites the Dust!

September 6, 2011

Dear Family and Friends,

Man family, I love you guys. Thanks for the letter you wrote me mom and dad, I really appreciated you filling me in and it sounds like everyone’s doing pretty well. By the way, I have good news on the journal and pics, I have one day left to write and I will be sending the journal and the pictures in the mail tomorrow. This journal is packed with 5 months of everyday entries, I still haven’t missed a day and I’m going for another year, I hope I can do it.  Anyway, I’m loving life and being a missionary, I’m on an exchange with my boy Elder W right now. This missionary is like my best friend and we have decided we are going to rock out at BYU Idaho after our missions and room together. This kid is like my brother and he is a beast. We have been talking some smack back and forth and he has wanted to wrestle me so last night we had a little match and it was crazy. We will still be boys after but you know how it goes, it gets a little heated when too friends square up. Elder W is 6'5 and weighs 240. This kid is a solid animal, like a  freight train but he will hug anyone. Cool thing is we just got a new ward mission leader last Sunday. Brother T got released and they called Brother R to be the new ward mission leader. Brother R is the wrestling coach at Seaside high school and he used to wrestle at BYU before the program shut down. He was like a 3 time state champion and he placed in nationals or something. Anyway, we are going to talk to him and ask him to open up the mats on one P-day so Elder W and I can go at it. I have gone this long without wrestling on my mission, but you know how it is, it’s just ingrained in my DNA now and I have got to wrestle either sooner or later. I’ll let you know how that goes and it will probably be pretty funny.   

I love it here in Seaside and the coast and things are going great out here. It was a week of miracles and changes. Through the spirit we have been able to help people make changes in their lives and there is no better feeling. We have been teaching a lot of less active members and we are seeing them progress week by week. We tracked into this one sister that hasn’t been to church in like 10 years. Well, after helping her realize that this is the Church of Jesus Christ, she made the commitment to come back to church and was there last Sunday. One of the members picked her up and she looked like she had a great time in Relief Society. Another Sister  told us when we first started teaching her, that she did not want to change, but she has been changing so much as she has taken the challenge to read in the Book of Mormon. She comes to church and you can see her countenance shine every time you see her. S, an investigator we found a while ago has accepted a baptismal invitation for the 16 of October and made it to church last Sunday. She is so awesome and I know that she wants to change her life. C, the son of a less active member has a baptismal date for the 24 of September. He is progressing pretty well and was at church last Sunday. Work is going great out here and even though it seems like there are always setbacks but as we continue to work hard, the setbacks don’t matter and they are hard to remember.

My companionship is going great. I love my comp and we work super hard and we never take any breaks. I love the kid and I know that the speed we are going at now is pretty fast and I hope he is comfortable with it. I have usually seen that the speed that I try to run at makes my comps feel a little uncomfortable because I’m always on the move. I don’t want to waste a minute as the time is going by so fast and I don’t want to regret any time messing around.  Do you think I should slow down? Should I slow down so they can be more comfortable? I don’t know if that question makes sense but let me know what you think.

 I have a funny story for you before I head out, I haven’t really given you to many spiritual experiences but I had a ton this week, it’s just that I wanted to tell you about the funny things that have been happening out here and how much I love being in the service of the Master. Well the other night we got robbed by a guy with a machete. Listen don’t get worried, it turns out pretty funny.  One night we went up to Astoria to get some materials from the Elders that are serving in the area above us. The Elders live on this dark street in the middle of a long road going on for a while. I know that’s a bad explanation but I’m just trying to set the mood. Anyway, we get out of our car and it’s like pitch black and we see Elder P chillen in front of the house they live in. I said, hey Elder P, what are you doing out here alone and he replied, it’s just hot in there, I’m getting some fresh air. All of a sudden, we hear this voice that says, “HEY, Give me your wallets." I turn around and there is this guy wearing a dark hoodie pointing a machete at my face. I looked over to Elder P and he just takes off running. Elder S and I are just standing there as the man demands our wallets pointing the machete at us. I couldn’t believe we were getting robbed by a machete and after we didn’t say anything and just stood there. The guy took of his hood and it was just Elder P’s companion, Elder H. He got me pretty good and I thought it was pretty funny.

Peace out and I love you guys so much,

Elder Payne

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

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

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

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

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

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

Crazy times in Seaside!

July 20, 2011

Dear Family and Friends,

Man things have been pretty hectic this week but I’ve loved every minute of it.  Sorry I didn't write you yesterday but I got tied up. My new companion ran away but it's all good now because the Police found him and he is back! Chyeah! Things are going great and my comp is back and ready to roll, remember no unhallowed hand G!!! Anyway, a lot has happened this week and you probably want to know why my companion ran away so I’ll tell you a little more about that later in the letter. First, I have to tell you about the awesome things that are happening out here in Seaside.

First I wanted to thank you for the package with the awesome ties you sent me in the mail. I realized last week that I had been rocking the nastiest looking ties in the mission and it was time for me to step it up (Ponte Trucha).  I know it's cool to buy things for really cheap at the Goodwill but you have got to draw the line when your ties look like they were made out of orange couch material from the 1970’s.  Thanks for the shoes too, I’m wearing them as we speak and they are really comfy. I’m keeping a high shine on my shoes just like I promised too.  Sure, if you want to send me out a hat that say s “Jesus is my Boss” that would be sweet and I can wear it on P-day and maybe someone will ask about it?  I told you about the new OPM tee shirts I designed and now the whole district out here on the coast are wearing the OPM tee shirts and they are spreading around the mission.  They are pretty cool and I think I might give one to our new President to wear too.  Thanks for dropping me some cash and I hope I’m not spending too much money out here. Let me know if I need to hold off on the expenditures, it’s just that I want to try to help everyone that I see that is in need.  Just some cool news is that the Apostle Richard G. Scott is speaking at our Stake conference coming up and so is President Morby,  I am so excited as it will no doubt be pretty sweet.

I’ll tell you about our investigators and how they are doing. Well, we have 4 baptismal dates set for August and it is awesome. 5 investigators came to church Sunday and that was way awesome too. Richard came to church and has a baptismal date at the end of August. He is progressing well and trying to quit smoking. He showed up to church looking really good with his new pants and tie. Eric the 14 year old is doing great and has a date in August too. We talked to his mom and she is cool with it if he wants to come to church. We are going to try to teach her as well. Eric’s little brother Luis also came to church and even though he is only 9, he learned a lot. Maggie and Charlie came to church and that was an awesome experience. Maggie is Charlie's mom and now we are starting to teach her as well. Juliana has a date but she is progressing slowly as quitting smoking is getting more and more difficult. I hate to see her not progress just because of cigarettes but she has been smoking for 50 years straight. I know we will try our best to help her. Rigoberto is another investigator with a date and he is amazing. He is truly one of the Elect and we just need him to get Sundays off. All in all the work is going great and I can see that the Lord is blessing us and our area, what a stark difference from when I got here a few weeks ago. 

We have had some really spiritual experiences this week that have made an impact on me in my life. I told you last week that we met this less active sister from Mexico named Gloria and had been teaching her friend Rigoberto. Well we took him on a church tour last Saturday and showed him around the church. The spirit was there and it was a great tour. We showed him the baptismal font at the end and my main man Rigoberto was speechless. He said he felt really good and we asked him to be baptized in August and he accepted. Rigoberto is ready, the only challenge we have is my main man Rigo works on Sundays like all the Hispanics out here. We will have to find a way for him to get to church. I told you about my buddy Richard and how he rules. Well one day we were teaching him and talking about church and he pointed to my pants and said he felt bad because he didn’t own any pants other than his blue jeans. Well we went out and got my boy Richard some 34x34 nice slacks. We got him a pretty sweet tie and dropped it off at his house the day before Sunday. Man my boy Richard showed up to church looking like a new man. It was good to see how happy he was and he looked fresh with his new gear. I told you about Eric and he was able to come to church with his 9 year old brother Luis and they really liked it. The Lord is really blessing the people out here and I’m so glad to be a part of it. I have loved every single bit of my mission and sad to say the time is going by so fast.

Well you probably want to know about my companion. Well, after our first day together last week, we were able to have a heart to heart talk and he let me know that he has been suffering with some problems with depression on his mission. I have done everything in my power to help him out and have tried to make every day an enjoyable time but he can’t seem to cheer up. So he talked to Sister Morby and they set up a time for him to see the Doctor. Well this past Monday he saw the Doctor and we thought all was well. I woke up Tuesday morning at 6:15am as usual and my boy was gone. I was pretty shocked but I kept my cool and did what the white handbook told me to do in the situation. Call the mission president. I later hit the road in search of my companion and the police got involved. They later found him just chillen on the beach. When we reunited, I gave him a hug and he said he was feeling better. We then had to have the AP's come get us and we spent the day at the Doctor's and with the President. It was a pretty crazy day but I’m just glad that my companion and I are back in Seaside and he is feeling a lot better. I love this kid and I have only known him for a week, keep him in your prayers okay?

Anything funny happen this week?  I have to tell you a pretty sweet Mormon inside joke we had with the Elders in Astoria the other day. The Elders serving next to us in Astoria were invited to a bible study at another church by an investigator. They were texting him while we were driving to district meeting and the guy was trying to tell the missionaries where the church was located. Elder P asked what street it was on and the guy said it was the church on 15th street. I told Elder P to ask the guy if it was the “Great and Spacious building” on 15^th? ha-ha. So Elder P asked the guy if it was the Great and Spacious building on 15^th street. The guy texted back," Yeah, it's not to be mistaken with the small one on the corner." We thought it was pretty funny but maybe that might just be missionary humor ha-ha.

I had a really awesome spiritual experience this week. At Sacrament meeting the Bishop had all the young men in the Ward stand up and bare their testimonies on why they want to go on missions and how they are preparing. The Bishop’s son got up and said that I had been a major example to him and that brought tears to my eyes. Not in a weak way but in a way of happiness. Sometimes when you’re out here you think you’re not really affecting anyone or getting anything done. It was a good feeling.

Peace out!

Elder Payne

Welcome Elder Sanchez

July 12, 2011

Dear family and friends,

I have a bunch of awesome, awesome stories to tell you and the work is going amazing over here in Seaside. We are giving it all we’ve got and the Lord is blessing us in the Seaside area. I love serving out here and things are going great.  Yesterday we had transfers and I got a new companion. He is a G and a native Spanish speaker from Mexico. My new companions name is Elder Sanchez and he has been out on his mission for about 18 months. Now I can speak Spanish all the time, while serving in English, how awesome is that. It was an answer to prayer and this transfer will be pretty good as I can get ready for my next Spanish area in a few months.  We are going to start working with a lot of Hispanics that live here and try to get them coming to church! Who knows, maybe we can get a Spanish Branch going here in Seaside.

We have been working hard and tracting into a lot of people out here. One day we went and tracted some apartments that were mostly Hispanic residents. I knocked on a door and started talking to a lady named Gloria. After talking for a while she told me that she was a member of the Church from Mexico but hasn’t been to church since she moved here a year ago. I asked her if we could start teaching her and get her familiar with everything again since it’s been a while. We stopped by the next day and all sat down at her kitchen table. As soon as we started talking about the restoration, one of her friends came in the door. He told us he came to learn and wanted to know about God. I asked him about his religious background and he told me that he was raised Catholic but hasn’t gone since he was little. So I started to teach again about the restoration and I was using the pamphlet. I looked at the man and asked him if he could read the first paragraph of the first page. It was titled Our loving Heavenly Father. He started reading the paragraph very carefully, even reverently. When he was done he put the pamphlet on the table and sat back. I thought to myself, “What’s wrong?" I looked at him and he started to tear up and cry. Gloria started to tear up a little too and then I realized that this simple paragraph that I may have taken for granted meant a lot to these people. I testified that I knew our Savior lived and we invited him to be baptized. He said he would after he came to church. It was a pretty awesome experience and I can’t wait to teach him again, especially with Elder Sanchez there. But that was a cool experience and I know that the Lord helped us to find Gloria and her friend for a reason.

This guy named Richard came to church the other day and that was a really cool experience. Richard is about 50 and had a stroke a year ago. When we first knocked on his door, we couldn’t understand him at all, but we kept visiting him and asking him if we could do any service for him. Well we got into his home and started sharing spiritual thoughts with him. Now we can understand him really well and he is improving a lot. He told us last week that he was going to be baptized into the church years ago but never went through with it. Well we have started teaching him again and he wants to be baptized. He came to church and said he had a great time. I thought it was really cool because in the beginning we just wanted to serve him and help him out, now we have found out that he used to go to church in 1991 and he wants start coming back. I have seen how loving people is the best way you can help them to come to church or change their lives. There is no other way to help them make this big decision unless you love them. I love Richard, and I know that might be weird, but he’s my boy!

Any funny experiences that have happened this week? Well today is our P-day and we just got back from the Tillamook cheese factory. There were so many people there and everyone was eating cheese. I’m not that big into cheese but it seems like it’s a pretty big deal down here. When I walked into the factory, I could almost hear people chanting, " Cheese, Cheese, Cheese!" But that probably was just my imagination.

Anyway, life is good out here, Elder Sanchez is all moved in and loving the great ocean view. Our companionship unity is pretty strong and he’s like my Hispanic brother, things are good!  Mom,  I just realized the other day that I wear some of the ugliest ties in the OPM, so I need to step up my tie game. Maybe you can send me some ties out here that actually look kind of presentable. I sent you a couple home that I used to wear, just send me some back and that will be fine.

Peace out!

Love,

Elder Payne

What a 4th of July!

July 5, 2011

Dear family and friends,

Wow, this week was absolutely crazy. The 4th of July in Seaside was pretty intense and a lot of cool things happened. It was packed and people from all over the country have traveled here for vacation and to see the fireworks last night.

President Dyches left last week and he was a really awesome President and now it’s time to make our new our new President, Charles Morby and his wife feel welcome in the OPM. They are from Saint George, Utah and arrived here a couple days ago and we all have interviews with the President this coming Friday. We are going to have 5 minutes to tell him about ourselves so he can get to know us. He seems like a really awesome guy so far because he let us stay out until 12:00pm for the 4th of July yesterday and the latest I’ve stayed out so far on my mission has been like 9:30pm.  So that was pretty awesome and watching the fireworks was crazy. People were setting off their own illegal fireworks on the beach and it was packed. So it looked like a war zone and I have got some pretty good videos of it to send home later. I’ll tell you more about the 4th in a little bit.

That's cool that your Spanish is improving Dad, we will rock out in Chile one day and maybe we can go visit my boy Elder Rangel in Mexico too.  That’s cool that the UFC is taking off more, I met a guy out here that is trying to get me to join his Jujitsu club but I told him that I didn’t have any time ha-ha. He's a pretty cool guy and I might show up on a P-day and roll around on the mat for a little bit. I'm getting in better shape cause I’m working out with this isometric bar thing that works out your whole body.

Well let me just tell you a few things about what has happened this past week. The Seaside Ward was packed this Sunday with all the tourists and it was awesome. The whole building was full of members and I shared my testimony about how Mom came to this country from Chile 32 years ago and how it has been such a blessing that she came.  Isn’t it amazing how the actions of a few can impact the lives of so many people in a positive way?  Now I have the opportunity to help others come unto Christ just like the missionaries in Chile helped Mom’s family way back in 1967 and lives continue to change.  By the way, I took some money out of my new debit card because I just ordered the new OPM tee shirts I told you about and I’m selling them to the guys in my district at cost.   They look really awesome and I’ll send some home to you so you can rep the OPM.

We hit a road block with Juliana last week and it was pretty sad. We went to go visit her and she started smoking again. We understood it was difficult for her to quit after 55 years so we were sympathetic. Anyway, when I told her that we would have to move her baptismal date back a bit until she could quit smoking, she slammed the door on us and told us not to come back. It was sad but I had to be real with her. We will continue to pray for her and try to help her is she lets us come back again. Our other investigators seem to have been pretty busy as a result of the 4th of July so we didn’t really get many of them to progress to much this week. We did teach this new lady we found street contacting named Heather and invited her to be baptized. She accepted and then we found out that she lives in the other Elder’s area in Astoria. Well, we are all playing for the same team so I’m excited to see how she progresses up there. I love the work here and things are going great. We have hit a little slump but nothing faith in the Lord and hard work can't fix.

The 4th of July was pretty crazy because it was our P-day and we were asked not to tract because most of the people out here would be wasted. So we spent the night with members and it was way sweet. We had a Ward breakfast in the morning and then went to the Seaside Parade! There we saw some awesome floats including bubble man and Brother Symonds Hat float. After the Parade I met bubble man and asked to take a picture with him and he is some 60 year old  guy that is decked out in all tie dye clothes. He is a super hippy and he goes around town riding his bike blowing bubbles ha-ha. I got a picture with him and I will send it to you next week.  After that we went 4 wheeling on the beach with a member and then set up this huge bonfire for the night on the beach. After that we went to Bruce Smiths house where he played the Jimi Hendrix version of the Star Spangled banner. After that we went to the bonfire and watched the fireworks for the rest of the night. It was weird having pretty much the whole day free but I guess it was a well needed rest. This week was pretty cool and the members here are so awesome.

Any funny things happened this week? Well we went over to Brother Symonds house last week and he showed us a float he was making for the 4^th of July parade. It was a hat that can do 360 turns and rides up to like 40 miles an hour. It was pretty funny to see him riding around in a little hat that he made ha-ha.

Well I have got to go,

Love you guys,

Elder Payne

Going to the Prom?

June 28, 2011

Dear family and friends,

It’s good to hear back from you and everything is going good out here in Seaside! We are working hard and always sharing the gospel with anyone we come in contact with. It's funny to see people’s reactions when they see us on the road walking towards them. Some turn and walk the other way, others look down, but they know there is no way to escape, we are going to approach them ha-ha. I have got a pretty good experience about how last Saturday we went into the thick of Seaside and it was like going into battle, 2 against like 200 which I will relate later.  First let me fill you in on our investigators.  We have been able to meet a lot of awesome new people through tracting and found some great new investigators. Well German, our friend with the baptismal date ended up moving to Vancouver but we will send the missionaries to him so he can continue to learn. Juliana still has her baptismal date set for June 9th and it is looking good. She has not smoked or drank coffee for the last three days and I believe the power of God is helping her kick the habit after 55 years of smoking. She is progressing well and we will see what happens. We met this lady named Judy tracting and she is great. She was going to go to church but ended up having back pains. After church we went to her house and explained to her about the priesthood, we then gave her a blessing. Charlie is doing okay, we haven’t had contact in a while but we are teaching him and his mom tomorrow so we will see what happens. The work is going great and we are giving it all we’ve got.

It’s good to hear that mom’s stitches were taken out and she is feeling good. That's really awesome that you got called to teach the temple prep classes in the Rama. If you want to practice your Spanish, just get the book of Mormon in Spanish and read it out loud. At first you don’t understand it but then after time it will make sense. I do all my studying in Spanish and don't read anything in English anymore, only when we are out teaching. Anyway, I will pray for you so you can learn it, then when I get back, we can go kick it in Chile with the natives.

Our new mission president is arriving today and the whole mission is going to have a 5 minute interview with him this Saturday so we can know what to do for transfers. I have a feeling I’m going back to Spanish soon, maybe one more transfer, but we will see.  My last interview with President Dyches was sweet. He called me in and we walked into this room where he was holding the interviews.  This was his last district meeting where he would be conducting interviews so I was one of the last missionaries to be interviewed by President Dyches before he goes home. Well we got in the room and we started with a prayer. He then asked to see my planner and agenda and I gave it to him. He searched the pages for a while and then said that it looked great, he didn’t have any suggestions for me. He then told me that I was exactly what the doctor order, The Heavenly Doctor, to help team up with my companion and get the area of Seaside really rolling again. I thought that analogy was funny as President Dyches is a doctor too.  We talked about his mission a little bit and I told him I had been documenting every day of my mission and haven’t missed a day yet. He smiled and said that I was way ahead of him. He then asked," Well, do you have any questions for me?" I knew this was my last chance to get that gem of knowledge from president Dyches before he took off, so I sat there for a while thinking. I finally asked him “What do you think I can improve on or do better?" I figured that he would bring out some good suggestions but he just stood up and walked to the door. He opened it while saying, “Nothing Elder Payne, you’re doing just great!" I was a little disappointed; I wanted him to bring on some straight up counsel or something juicy for me to work on, you know, like a suggestion that could improve my teaching skills but he just gave me a big hug and we walked out the door. It was a great interview and the spirit that he carries is pretty sweet, I hope that what I’ve said doesn’t make me seem arrogant or prideful, but that’s just how it went and it was a sweet experience I will always cherish.  President Dyches is the man!

Now let me tell you about how we went into the thick of Seaside to street contact. There is a place called the Prom which is a giant sidewalk right next to the beach. Everyone hangs out over there and it’s a perfect place to talk to people. Well I was on a blitz with Elder Peterson and we decided to go street contacting there. It started out rough and the first 50 people we talked to said no and one guy even used some profanities. But it was pretty funny because he was like dropping this profanity as he was walking up some stairs. Well as soon as the profanity left his mouth his foot missed a stair and fell flat on his face ha-ha. I felt bad but it was pretty funny. It was starting to get a little discouraging when we decided to contact this huge group of people that were chillen by a bench.  We said hello and they greeted us with a crazy accent. They were all from Romania and they were so excited to see us. They all surrounded us and started asking us why we were all dressed up. We told them we were sharing a message about Jesus Christ and they started to get so excited, some of them even started to dance around. They all listened intently as we told them about God's plan for them. We took out the Book of Mormon and they started cheering. We told them what it was about and they all wanted to read it. As we ended the conversation one of the old Romanian guys that had been quiet the whole time piped up and said," I have one question for you, who is God?" I thought very carefully, wanting to give him a good answer. I finally replied “He is our Father in Heaven”. When the words left my mouth they all started clapping and cheering. They were all so happy about the message we brought. One lady told us she was a minister at a church in Romania and she was going to read the Book of Mormon to her congregation and teach them about it. It was a pretty crazy experience and as we walked away from them they all shouted out to us," We will see you in Heaven!!!" They were so nice and made the experience of going to the Prom to street contact well worth it, Chyeah!!

Any funny stories, well I don’t know if this is funny but it was pretty cool. We saw these teenaged kids sitting on a couch drinking red bull and we decided to go contact them. Well it so happens that they all didn’t believe in God and I testified that I knew he existed and lived. They wanted to know how I knew and I told them through the power of the Holy Ghost. I challenged them to listen to our message and they accepted. Hopefully we will be going to teach them this week. It was cool because we just rolled up there to the couch and took a seat with them and then started talking about God.

I love being a missionary!

Love,

Elder Payne