April 23, 2012
Dear Family,
We have had another amazing week in the promised land of Molalla. Finally the summer has come and the weather is awesome. It’s like 84 degrees outside and I’m pretty pumped for this summer. I got some good news that will help me for the rest of my future to man up and trust in the Lord more. I stopped taking my ADD medicine as I went for a check up to see how it was affecting my heart and the Doctor told me I needed to stop immediately. I asked him if there was any other medicine or alternatives that I could use to help me focus better and he just told me to except the fact that it was going to be harder in life for me to concentrate. Almost all of the ADD medicines are stimulants and they seem to be messing my heart up so I stopped taking them. It’s all good because I prayed about it and I know with the Lords help he will help me to achieve my goals and do what I need to do in the future. I liked it because the Doctor I saw was a guy from Argentina and he spoke to me in Castellano. Anyway I thought it was a pretty cool experience and I was only on the medicine for like 2 months. It helped me out but it’s not worth jacking my heart up or getting a heart attack.
Well, other than that this week has been awesome!!!! The members are doing a great job of being missionaries and they are all inviting their friends and families to the activities. We went to the temple with a group of members and went to go see the new visitor’s center that they just built. That is a great missionary tool and the spirit was so strong there. I love this place as the members are so Christ-like and willing to help out in any way they can. One of the Hermanas bought a new house that needs a ton of remodeling done. All the Hermanos got together on Saturday and we replaced her roof. It was awesome as everyone had some experience working with construction or carpentry or you name it so it all came together pretty well. At first I was a little scared up on the roof there because I didn’t want to fall but after a little while I got the hang out it!!!!!
We had a great Sunday as well and the lord is truly blessing this area. It’s like a big family here and because the Branch is in the beginning stages of growth, everyone is willing to do extra work. We had the baptism of M R, G's brother, yesterday and it was awesome. A ton of people showed up and it was a great experience. Everything ran really smooth and after the baptism everyone went to the R’s house to eat Carne asada, my favorite!!!!!!! It was a great time for us to meet all of their family and friends and we were able to teach a lesson to some of the youth there about building their foundation upon the rock which is Jesus Christ, Heleman 5:12. After that lesson, I went outside to the backyard to talk to some of the adults that were platicando (chatting). I sat down next to this one guy that was the father of the kids we just shared a message with. We ended up talking about the church and how we could follow our savior Jesus Christ. In the middle of our conversation he stopped and said, hey I talked to you a long time ago in Megafoods in Woodburn didn’t I, pero en Castellano. I sat back for a minute and then realized that I had talked to him in Megafoods, our supermarket in my last area like 3 months ago while I was serving with Elder B. I remembered that we had just started talking in the fruit aisle and then I invited him to learn more but he told me he lived in another town so I just gave him our card. Then 3 months later I was chilling with him in G's backyard talking to him about the gospel. I didn’t notice until then but the guy was G’s uncle and was pretty close with their family. I knew this wasn’t coincidence so I invited him to be baptized when he knew what we taught was true. He accepted the invitation and said we could come by later in the week to share a message about Jesus Christ. It was pretty interesting to see how the Lord works in mysterious ways and I’m just glad to be serving in a place not to far from Woodburn so I could have this experience ha-ha. I know that the Lord prepares people to hear the gospel and we will help this guy and his family the best we can to come unto Christ.
Well, I love being a missionary and it kind of stinks to think that it’s almost over. I don’t think about it to much to be honest so it’s all good. I know my birthday is coming up on May 1st and I don’t really need anything. I need another journal but I can buy that here at Deseret book. I need some more ink for my Bill Blass pens so if you could buy me some more that would be cool. I also need some more razors as I ran out of the Gillette Fusion Cadillac of all razors you got me. Other than that I’m all good, you can think of other things if you want but I think that’s all, thanks for asking!!!!!! Chyeah!!!! I really just want Carne Asada for my birthday and I have already dropped the hint about that to some of the Hermanas so I hope my wish comes true!
Well guys the missionary work is on fire here. We haven’t reached our goal of baptizing 50 people but through heavenly fathers blessings we have been able to have a baptismal service every week this month. Yesterday, little M R was baptized and it was a great experience for the whole family. A lot of investigators showed up and D, a mother of 5 boys was there. After the baptism, the kids ran up to me and asked if they could be baptized as well. I was pretty pumped about it and we will have to work with the mom a little bit more before we can baptize her kids. We are seeing miracles as people are inviting their friends and family to church and the church attendance is growing every week. I am so grateful for heavenly father answering our prayers and even though we weren’t able to baptize 50 this month, I know that it is still an achievable goal. We will continue with this goal and I know through a lot of hard work, prayer, fasting and faith in the Savior Jesus Christ, we will be able to bring those that have been prepared into the fold of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful to witness the many miracles that happen every day and more importantly to have gained a complete knowledge that Christ lives, that he is my Savior, that this is his work and I have been called to bring this message to others.
My companionship is going awesome. Elder T is a great missionary and I know he is a hard worker. He helps me when I need to get pumped when I get down and we have the exact same goals in mind, to invite others unto Christ through baptism. We aren’t perfect and I know I need to work on a lot of things but we are doing great.
I have a great Mission President and am grateful for his example. We just had one of the best Zone conferences I have been to on my mission. We got so pumped up to work harder and get the area book into good shape. We learned about the importance of a name from Heleman 5. That’s helped me to further think about who I represent and how it is a great privilege to wear the Lords nametag for 2 years!
Well I love you guys so much and I hope you have a great week. I love being a missionary and I’m so grateful to be here in Oregon serving the Master. I know this church is true and that Jose Smith fue un profeta. I’m grateful to be a Latter-day Saint! Chyeah!
Love,
Elder Payne
