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.
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| 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.
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| 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
