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
