Hope's gentle light shines bright and true,
A beacon in darkness, guiding me to you.
A promise of better days to come,
Good blessings on their way, before too long.

May hope's sweet peace settle in my soul
And fill my heart with joy, making me whole.
For in the darkness, hope's light shines through,
Illuminating a brighter future, waiting for you.

"Hope for good things to come".
Elder Holland said that, and it really stuck with me.

I realized I have not been having Hope. I have been expecting the blessings/good days to come, but not in the right way. I was expecting it to come after I prayed or after a lesson. Elder Holland talked about it more when he said, "Quit looking into the past, the past is to be learned from, NOT lived in. Forgive and do what is harder, Forget and look to the future for the blessings that are yet to come".

I have been so focused on my past and what I left behind that I was not looking for the blessings that are yet to come, that have been promised to me for doing the work.
I have changed my focus and am now looking toward the future, when I will one day speak good Creole and teach, maybe even train a new missionary.

If I don't say something about biking my father would be upset. Haha
The weather is getting nicer, and all I think about is biking and racing. I realized how much biking is like missionary work. First and foremost, thank you, Dad, for preparing me, and I didn't even know it.

At the beginning of every season, I get excited to ride/race, so I jump on my bike expecting to have fun..... well the first weeks hurt so bad because my body or mind is not in biking mode, but after that time of pain and work, it gets a little easier. It does not go away. If I ever go for a ride and come home and say it was not hard, I had learned nothing. I should go ride farther, longer, harder.

The beginning is always the hardest part. Acting in faith, waking up early for church, starting a talk you have to write the night before, and so much more. But it always gets better. Your muscles always heal, but they can heal faster if you're following Christ and looking past the pain at the blessings that are yet to come, winning the races by riding faster, farther, and longer.

Have HOPE!!!! Hope that what you're doing is right and that the lord does promise blessings that he will give you.

You cannot drive a car looking in the rearview mirror; it's too dang small, you will crash over and over and over. Start looking forward to the open roads. (With no cops) 😉

I love you all and pray for you all individually often.

Stay strong, this world is so backwards

Challenge: Go smile at someone this week and drink some dlo (water)

Lapè soti (peace out)

Èlde Payne

I got transferred and found out I am officially Haitian Creole Eldè

Haitians are amazing! They are some of the best people you could ever meet. They are so kind. I was so happy to see how much joy they have when I came here.

I used to lay in my bed at night and say man life is hard, I have to work a job and go to school and clean the house......

Now, I learned young Elder Payne wasn't very smart or grateful, I was more grateful for things after my first lesson. I'll tell you what made me feel that way.

My first lesson with Mario, awesome guy, he has a deep accent which is super hard to understand. When we got to his house, he was sleeping on a beach towel on the floor. Looking at him, you would think he was starving. He said he just ate a lot of salad, but I don't know about that. Mario works 3 jobs, he always sleeps on the floor, and has no materials at home. You would think that with all the money he makes, he should be able to get a better meal and a bed. He sends most of the money back home to Haiti to keep his family alive. I will not go into depth about everything that is going on in Haiti and why so many Haitians are coming here.

Mario is so grateful that we came to talk to him; he is grateful for the sleep he finds, and he is grateful for the home he has.

Mario had more gratitude than I did, and I had so much more to be grateful for, so who am I to not have gratitude.

Don't take what you have for granted, and Remember who gave you what you have, and don't forget to thank him. (Jesus Christ)

Learning Haitian is hard, I wasn't even good at English. lol But I am trying my best and all the time in my lessons I sit and look at the mouth of who is talking, to try and learn how to say things and just agree with what my companion says.

I am serving a foreign mission, and Ohio is a foreign place by itself, but standing in a house on a wooden floor while they are sitting on the stairs is something I did not see coming when I opened my mission call to Ohio.

Now, I am convinced that I was supposed to go to Haiti, but it is too dangerous for missionaries, so he brought them here to Ohio.

I love you all, stay strong and stay oh so very grateful, and say thank you every day.

I invite you all to write down every night 3 things you are grateful for and to tell one person that you are grateful for something they do every day.

Shoot me an email if you can, and let me know how it goes. Let me know if you have seen a change in your happiness or in others.

I have done this myself, I have felt happierand  have seen more blessings from the Lord in my day. I promise you as you show more gratitude, the Lord will bless you with more to be thankful for. Funny how that works.

Give everyone at church on Sunday a high five, I miss you all, and thanks for the support.

I love you all so much!
mwen renmen nou tout anpil!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/RfDBYHhyPBpJ2T4a8

I am acting in faith by trusting that the Lord is putting me right where I need to be to help others and forget about myself. I am not as great as I like to think, without Christ and his sacrifice I would be stuck!
So grateful for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.


Thank you all so much for all the support. I apologize if I have not emailed you back yet but I will !!

DON'T FORGET TO minister to others.
I invite all of you to go and invite some random person to come to church. Just one person and don't just read this and not do it. Come on now we are all missionaries helping to build the Kingdom !!


Renmen nou tout
(Love you all)

Elder Payne
Eldè Payne

I think I am becoming a professional foosball player. We have some downtime here and there after study, so we have been filling it with foosball. It is fun, me and Elder Powell are always on a team, and we were going into the pro league, until the fateful day it all changed. We were playing just the other day and this other Elder was watching us play and decided to step in on the other team. Remember this name, Elder SOSA, that is definitely not how you spell it but close.

He was destroying us, it was sad our winning streak came to an abrupt end.

He became our Mister Miyagi, and he taught us the ways. While talking with him he told us that his dad used to play a lot and he grew up playing in a shed. His English was hard to understand but despite that, we grew to love him and his stories. He talked about being bullied because he was not the most athletic and would spend his time playing foosball. Pray for Elder SOSA we love him and with his guidance, we will become the best in the world.

We have talked a lot about Peter and I have come to love him. We focused on the story of when Christ came back from the dead and talked to Peter and asked 3 times do you love me.

I had my seminary teacher explain this story really well to me. He read the story in Hebrews and there are three different ways to say I love you.

The way Peter responds would translate more like I Love you Bro and the way Christ says I love you more means, I love you and trust you with all my heart. Way different.

If you read the story in Hebrews, Christ asks three times the first

• Peter do you Love me
• I Love you BRO/Dude
• no Peter you are not getting it, DO you Love me !!

*I love you, dude

The third time Christ asks he says, Peter your not understanding so I will come down to your understanding

• Peter do you Love me, bro
• You know I Love you
• Feed MY Sheep

You love me and trust me, so feed my sheep, and do my work, Cut down that Tree!!!

Peter ran into that Square just three days before and helped Christ carry the cross. We all need to have that faith, to run up in front of a crowd of people and carry that cross.

Yes, he went back to fishing. but we have talked about how a testimony alone will not be enough to carry you through these later days. People fall away from the church/go back to fishing because they only have a testimony. You need more than that.

Brothers and Sisters, you need to not just believe, but know what Christ did for you, so you can live. We need to walk in faith and trust the plan. Just because we did not get to do what we wanted does not mean we go back to our old ways. Understanding, and

trusting the Lord the way you put on a seatbelt.

We all get in a car and the first thing we do is put it on. The first thing we should do every morning is put on Christ, through prayer. You have full faith in the seatbelt to help you from getting hurt really bad. Christ is there, always there, not to stop you from getting hurt, but to make it more bearable.

1. Nephi 4:34  O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm

I Love you all. Hope you are excited about the SUPER BOWL !!!! Yes I did hear about it even in the MTC

Elder Payne 2.0 lol

I just wanted to send a quick update on how things are going with my mission prep. To be honest, it's been a bit tougher than I expected. Home MTC has been kind of depressing. I don't get to see many people besides my family, and it's starting to feel a little like I'm stuck in a routine that isn't changing much. I only leave the house for a few errands, like picking up Swig with Owen or going shopping with my mom, and that’s about it. I’ve been trying to keep busy by building Legos, but even that isn’t enough to keep my mind off feeling like I’m going a little crazy.

One of the hardest parts is that I feel like I’ve already gone through all the training I needed to do at home. It’s the same stuff over and over, and mentally I’ve kind of checked out. I really miss hanging out with friends, going out to get pizza, and just having some variety in my day. I know it's just a temporary phase, but it's been hard not to feel frustrated with the monotony.

That said, I know this is just a part of the process, and I’m trying my best to stick with it. I’m holding onto the hope that things will improve once I get to the Provo MTC. I know it'll be different there—more structured, more people, more opportunity for growth—and I’m really looking forward to that change. Right now, my feelings about the mission overall aren’t the best, but I also know that this is God’s will for me, not mine. So, I’m trying to focus on that and just keep going, even when it's hard. The way I think about it is like "cutting down a tree"—sometimes you just have to put your head down and keep chopping, even if it feels like it’s taking forever.

Thanks so much for your support and love. I’m doing my best, and I know things will get better as I move forward.

Elder Payne

Take this for example. When I was in Bastrop we would talk to everyone possible in the mega parking lot we would sometimes split up, still within sight and sound of each other but in order to reach more people, or something like that. So you were able to connect and talk to people just one on one then set up a time to teach, obviously with your companion. So our street approaches in Bastrop were very individualized due to you being able to follow through with whatever approach you decided to do.

I was reminded about the power of companionships this past week during a lesson with one of our friends. I absolutely love my companion, Elder Greene, and think he is an amazing teacher. But I don't think he realizes how good he really is! This sometimes leads me to fill in on what is next within our teaching. Now I've been starting to shut up and just let Elder Greene cook. (Let him do his thing.) If he struggles, even better. Better to learn now than later.

This last week we had a lesson, which we didn't really prepare for at all. Elder Greene and I talked about what our friend was struggling with and decided we wanted to focus on Jesus Christ's Atonement. That was about it. Obviously, the conversation went all over but for the most part, it was pretty good and we got to know more about our friend. During the conversation/lesson, I started dominating the conversation. Elder Greene then spoke and bore testimony as he was speaking and oh boy, wow, the spirit was strong. So at that moment, I told myself that I really needed to shut up and let Elder Greene bare powerful truth to our friend.

So as the lesson went on I really tried to just let Elder Greene go with whatever. What was a little funny was that he kept looking at me, and I just smiled and stared at him. I didn't stop talking completely but I noticed something with our friend. As Elder Greene spoke I could feel the spirit pretty strongly. Which in turn means our friend felt it and was invested in what Elder Greene was saying because the spirit was teaching him rather than anything Elder Greene or I would say.

I don't know exactly why but I could feel, in a way, that Elder Greene needed to be here to teach this particular friend. Many other people but this friend needed to hear Elder Greene's voice and testimony. I expressed this to Elder Greene in a not so straightforward way due to a few reasons but here is our conversation as we were driving back from the church to our apartment.

"Hmm, I don't really know what we can do for Alberto. Any thoughts Elder?"

silence

"I think you need to teach more when we are with him."

"Ok"

That was pretty much the extent of it. Talked a little bit about how I feel that our friend was really connected to what Elder Greene was saying because of the spirit that was present.

Humbled me a bit. Can't do this alone and Elder Greene has been a huge part in helping me realize that. (Thank you God for putting him here) Elder Greene also reminds me a lot of my younger brother.

Sometimes you won't be the best person in the room haha Missionaries, rely more on your companion and let them grow, and let yourself grow in the process. Thankful for companions.

For those of you who don't know, my brother, Jansen started his mission just this week! He will be heading to Ohio in about 3 weeks. He will leave on February 5th and I will come home on February 6th. A little devastating but as the song goes,

"We have been born, as Nephi of old,
To goodly parents who love the Lord.
We have been taught, and we understand,
That we must do as the Lord commands."

I have such a strong testimony of this principle. Even for something as small as missing my brother by a day. Everything will work out and be ok for those who trust God and follow His command.

Thank goodness for modern technology! It's not like I won't communicate with him. We were able to have a chat today and had a fun study together. He gave a talk at church and a lot of my buddies, who recently returned from their missions were able to attend. He outlined a principle in there that I wanted to underline in my letter today. Here are his words:

"My grandfather has taught me to just get the work done. During the summer I worked with my pop pop, with the side benefit that he would allow me to drive his extra vehicle. The work was never easy but I remember one day very well. We were cutting down trees in his yard and I asked why we had to get rid of this tree he looked at me and replied “Uh, I don’t know, but grandma told me to do it, she said it was ruining her view from the living room.” I laughed and then together we got the work done with only a few minor injuries.

As I think back on this moment, I realize God does the same thing with each of us. There is a tree I need you to cut (a work for us to do). You may ask Him but why? Why must I serve a mission? Why must I serve in nursery? Why must I minister to this individual? Or go to the temple so often? That’s because it is the Lord’s will and our Savior knows better the work that needs to be done and it is HIS work and not ours, not mine. So like many of you who so willingly serve others, I will go and serve others. Your examples are not lost on the younger generation, but they are seen, noted, and emulated. The side benefit to service is that often it is not just those we serve who are blessed, but the Lord knows it will build our faith, and increase our trust, confidence, and abilities. The Lord, who seeks to bless us, knows that serving others is the path towards those blessings."

We need to do as God asks. His will is better and greater than we will ever fully understand and know. We may catch glimpses of His will, in this life, as we listen to a Prophet's voice, actively study the scriptures, and constantly seek out His will through prayer.

There will be trees, from time to time, that will "ruin our view from the living room" and God will ask us to prune them up or cut them down. We may not see the full view completely but when that tree is down or pruned, we will sit in our living room looking at a more beautiful view than we ever thought were possible.

Maybe me missing my brother by one day is one of those trees. I may not know why it needs to happen, but it will happen and the view from my living room will be better because of it.

The weather has been chilly recently with some cold rain. Preparing me for the chilly weather back in Utah.

Look at all these fun photos and videos:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/WUYwsyauonMKVuc29

That's about it. See ya.

• Elder Payne

I wouldn't be mentioning this 6 week course if I didn't find some meaning or significance for it and, I'll be honest, I didn't think I would be mentioning it at all. Yet here we are.

I had low expectations for this planning course and good thing because it has exceeded those expectations! I went in knowing I needed some sort of plan for when I return home to Utah. So thank you My Plan for helping me accomplish that.

I thought it was going to be like one of those High School courses you just click through so that you can get it done. But boy, was I wrong! If I skip through and try to half-do it, I feel that I will be missing out on something important. The first course took me an hour to do and the second one 2 hours and counting. This course is really making me think about my future.

Pros: I'll actually have some sort of direction for my life

Cons: I don't like thinking far in advance. (I'll have to get used to it) and it takes so much time.

What I learned in the first course is something I think I have brought up in one of my letters before. It was focused on the power of remembrance. Remembering what God has done for me and the people that I have been able to be around. Whether that be missionaries, Friends, a brother or sister I met on the street, or a member that I served around.

The course was a great reminder to me of what I need to be focusing on. Let me share an experience with you:

About two weeks after Elder Greene and I became companions we had interviews with our mission president. Good ol' President Carter. The way the interview system works, you have about 15 "scheduled" minutes, which I would like to say rarely ever last just 15 minutes, to talk with President about anything. Something that is weighing you down, something you may be struggling with, joys and successes in the work, anything you want to mention to him. You or your companion go first and in our case we, I, decided that Elder Greene would be going first.

I wait patiently and talk with Sister Carter about life and what my plans are, I still don't know even with My Plan. Elder Greene and President are done and now it is my turn. I give President a big hug and we start chatting it up! He asks how he can help me and I tell him that I have been having a hard time finding joy in the work and getting back at the end of our day, looking back, knowing we got a lot done, following promptings, talking to people, but I wasn't feeling "accomplished."

He looks at me and starts to chuckle.

"I don't like the sound of that President!" As I start to nervously laugh alongside him.

"Oh, Elder Payne...Elder Greene was just telling me about a talk that you gave him to study."

"I did...? I think I've given him a few talks to listen to..."

We then go on to discuss a talk from Elder Eyring titled 'O Remember, Remember'

(https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2007/10/o-remember-remember?lang=eng)

In this talk, a significant question is posed that I had invited Elder Greene to ponder,

“Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?”

Or if I rephrased it just a bit, How have I seen the hand of God reaching out to me, or my family today? The concept is the same.

It felt like I was getting a smack on the face! How could I be so silly? Here I am giving advice to my companion that also could have been helping me. Facepalm moment fr

So President encouraged me to listen to that talk again and see how I could apply it.

I found this talk about halfway through my mission and it's been a staple to me but I did not remember and slowly forgot.

Since I was reminded of this talk by President and doing the My Plan course this talk was mentioned once again, I was able to reflect and figure out How I am going to be able to remember.

Constantly throughout the Book of Mormon, we are given the admonition to Remember. By names, by experience, by testimony. Find something in your life that will help you remember Jesus Christ and know you can overcome whatever you may be facing. Or, if you are not "facing" any big challenge in your life still find a way to remember your Savior.

It has helped me be more hopeful and full of gratitude every day!

Excited about what else My Plan has in store for me and how I can use it to help others.

This past week three new people joined the fold of God. (Probably a lot more than that, but the three that I know of)

Jason, Harish, and Tiernan all made the decision to be baptized this past week! What a great way to start the new year! The baptismal services were full of joy and the Spirit. After Jason, JJ, was baptized, he asked if he could go back in!

I could talk about the covenant of baptism and the amazing step it is but I really gotta get this letter out.

I'll leave with these thoughts on baptism:

Jesus Christ, as He is speaking to the people in Ancient America, teaches about the importance of baptism and offers an amazing promise to those who choose that course.

"20 Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.

21 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel, and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do;

22 "Therefore, if ye do these things blessed are ye, for ye shall be lifted up at the last day."

3 Nephi 27

He describes it as a commandment and by keeping the commandments there are blessings! More than I could even try and mention.

Jesus Christ lays out His gospel, Faith, Repent, be Baptized, be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, and continue to endure or stand "spotless before [him] at the last day" which requires constant growth and change.

Then He promises us that we "shall be lifted up at the last day"

Wow. Not might. Shall be lifted up.

Baptism, by His proper authority, is an essential step in God's plan for each of us on this earth. If you haven't been baptized, do it. If you have and haven't taken some time to remember that commitment that you made, take some time now.

No matter what, God isn't disappointed in you. He will take whatever challenge we may be facing, whether we put ourselves in a situation or if it was the choices of others, and use them for our benefit.

That's about it. See ya.

• Elder Payne

182

So far, we are mildly successful with trees. The Christmas tree in Round Rock, Pflugerville, Hutto, Georgetown, and Leander. With hopefully a few more to come.

As we have been finding all these wonderful Christmas Trees, we have been going to the signs for these places. Elder Greene can backflip, so part of what we want to do for Facebook is get him to do a flip in front of all these signs.

As we were looking for the Leander sign we started having to ask around. We ran into a group of ladies and asked them if they knew where the sign was. They didn't know and we started to walk away as one girl was still talking to us. She had a cross necklace on so we complimented it.

We talk for a minute and she asks us why we need to find the sign. We tell her about the backflip and Elder Greene decides to go for it and do one for her.

After some interesting choice of vocabulary and excitement, we got to talk with her a little bit more about the church. She expressed a rough situation that she is going through right now and we offered a scripture. As we shared we all knew that the Spirit was present in our conversation. Who knew that doing a backflip would be able to find someone to teach?

Fast and Testimony meeting was a couple of Sundays ago. (Just a couple...The beginning of this month) We had 4 friends that decided to come and enjoy the Sunday with us. Jason, Abraham, Nelson, and Tiernan. All wonderful people. As the meeting goes on, the congregation is invited to bare testimony if they feel so inclined.

Tiernen starts it off strong with a powerful testimony of Jesus Christ. I lean over to Abraham and ask if he wants to share his testimony. One quick thing to mention about Abraham, I knew him from about a year ago when Elder Iloa and I were in the Vista Ridge ward together. We had taught him together. Since we had built a bond and friendship I could push him a little bit.

Long story short, Abraham gets up to bare his testimony, then Nelson, then Jason. All 4 of our friends who were in attendance, 3 of which are on date for baptism, all got up to bare powerful testimony of Jesus Christ! This Sunday was a Sunday to remember. God had a hand in that meeting that day.

I have a strong feeling that God favors the Young Adult community. Although that isn't true, let me share with you a few experiences that have been happening in the Avery Ranch YSA Ward recently.

Between us and the Sister missionaries in the ward, we have a total of 7 people on date for baptism! How wild is that?!
Nelson, Harish, Dakotah, Tiernan, Jason, Alberto, and DJ. Please keep them in your prayers. We, as in the missionaries in the YSA, have been gifted all of these people by God. These people have been prepared for this moment to follow God and make a covenant with him. It has been crazy to see how God has been orchestrating his work in the world of Young Adults.

I just get to be here, throw my lawn chair on the grass, and watch it all take place. I couldn't be more grateful.

I don't have much else to say currently. The work continues to move on and it has been an absolute pleasure to be a part of it.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christ-Centered Christmas! Find JOY in serving others! Because that is what He did.

That's about it. See ya.

• Elder Payne

Breathing Heavily

"Whe- Where am I?"

We would often do this when we went to a place that we had been before with many memories or it would come up in our normal conversation. These past few weeks I have been living that "Flashback" moment.

As the title of this letter reads "And We're Back" should indicate that I have been somewhere before. And while I have now lived in the same two different apartments twice on my mission, this time it seems to be more significant.

When I first came back to Texas after my little six-week vacation getting surgery in Utah, (Update: I feel a lot better and there is little discomfort) I went into an area with an Elder who has now gone home. And I was only in that area for a short time. Six weeks to be exact. In that apartment, I really struggled. I moved out and went to Vista Ridge, where I met some of my best friends and started finding joy in the work. And to hear the news from President, at the end of my stay in Vista Ridge, over six months ago, that I would be going back to that apartment that I really struggled in, I was devastated and didn't want to go.

But then it ended up being a really good time.

I went down to Bastrop and started training my third trainee, Elder Whicker. We thought we were safe. We thought that we would avoid the Transfer Troll but to our surprise, we got a call from President Carter.

"Elder Payne, I have a new assignment for you this next transfer!"

My heart sank. I muted the call, as we were with other missionaries, and joked that he was going to "demote" me from Zone Leader to District Leader. After unmuting and telling him,

"Oh! Well, what could that be?"

He responded and told me that he wanted me to train again and that I would be opening an area.

"President-" I paused. "President, what? I don't get to stay with Elder Whicker?"

He responded in the affirmative and four days later I was to be transferred away with the news that I would be living in the Vista Ridge apartment. The place in my mission where I had made so many memories. The friends that I had made. And most importantly the greater testimony I had received of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and the divinity of Jesus Christ.

Opening an area, training in a YSA, and back to the same apartment. I didn't know how to feel. I was a little nervous. A little excited. However, I knew that this would probably be the last area that I would serve as a full-time missionary in Texas.

As I for mentioned, these past few weeks have been filled with emotion. When I arrived to the apartment after picking up my fourth trainee, Elder Greene, I was living that before mentioned "feeling" that Elder Allen and I would reenact. I was walking around that apartment looking at all the different rooms and objects, with many memories flooding my mind.

That first night, as I was drifting off to sleep, I was in silent meditation with my Father in Heaven. Wondering how I would be able to make it through the transfer with all these memories flowing through my head. A few answers came to me.

1. Don't spend time in the apartment

2. Turn to Him.

I have mentioned this last point before. But the specific direction I got was to spend some time on my knees. Prayer would be essential. I am still acting on these promptings so I don't have much to show yet but I am feeling way better.

A couple of Sundays ago, I was having a less-than-good day but also not a bad day.

Here is an excerpt from my journal that night that I thought I should share:

I have so many thoughts right now. I just listened to Elder Allen's homecoming talk and I'm bawling my eyes out. I really wonder sometimes if I am doing enough and what more can I do. I want to come home and be converted to Jesus Christ and His gospel. I don't want to be like one of these YSA kids that are immature. I'm worried. Am I truly converted unto the Lord? If so, what am I doing about it? I am getting a glimpse of what home life might be like and it is lowkey scary. There are really good people in the YSA. And there are some people on the fence. I don't want to go home and start being on the slippery slope. I want to be like Elder Allen, and my good friend Dylan Hansen (who I also listened to His talk today). I see that they know who Christ is. I don't know what more I can give to my mission to really show God that I love Him. That is why I want to be serving. It is because I love God. I feel like I've been thrown into the perfect environment to do that. I have to rely on God here. Opening an area, having little people to teach, training someone who has no clue what's going on and is relying on me to show him. I have nowhere else to turn but to Him and it has been a struggle. Not really seeing any "fruit". I just need to see why God needs me here. I have thought a lot about the areas I have been in and why I needed to be there.

Temple: Be trained by Elder Rice, learn how to be obedient and work hard, and meet so many other missionaries.

Vista Ridge: Help the youth. I had the wonderful opportunity of being able to become really good friends with the youth. At stake conference today, I was able to meet with a lot of people from that ward. The Benett family comes up to me and tells me that Josh is now on a mission! With tears in his mother's eyes, she explains the impact that I had on her son and the example that I was to him.

Heatherwilde: Help the youth. I got along really well with those young men. They are doing really good things to grow their relationship with Christ and I know that they will be impacted by our friendship and the lessons that we had together

Bastrop: Still trying to figure it out. I didn't really connect well with the ward. I really think I was there to meet certain missionaries and be a leader to them.

Avery Ranch YSAB: Figuring that out.

Now that you know every little thing going on in my head, I hope you can learn something from it. I have come to realize, through study, prayer, and my Patriarchal Blessing, that I may not see all of the little impacts that I have had on people until later. And I am ok with that.

Elder Greene and I have been having a blast in the YSA! So many good miracles as we focus on God's hand in our lives. There are so many miracles all around us and we just need to open our eyes and look for them. Be grateful for what you have and be grateful for whatever comes your way.

Also, check out this video that I was able to make:

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1DxFTQNsA2/

I was able to spend some time with Elder Iloa this past week. We had dinner together at Rosa's. It felt like I was reconnecting with an old friend.

On the day of transfers, I got to spend about 5 hours with Elder Allen and Elder Jones. We talked to people, ate, and visited old friends. My time with them was nothing short of adventurous. Felt like we were all living together again finding so much joy in the work.

As Elder Allen and I were talking we brought up how we felt the mission was heading (Not in a direction we like). We felt that missionaries had lost the meaning of serving a mission. And we came to the conclusion that we should serve because we love God. Not to find people, not to baptize people, not to have good numbers. But to love and serve God.

Obviously, we should have in our mind that, those latter things will come, as we Let God Prevail and do His will. Which is,
"To bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."
Moses 1:39

Now for those missionaries who are reading this right now who are in this mission or not, think about your commitment to God. Think about how much you love Him and focus on that.

Serve your mission because you love God and want to do what He wants you to do. Don't worry about the numbers and statistics, focus on your love for God and how well you are letting Him prevail in your life.

I love Him more than I can put into words let alone write down. My time here in Texas has helped me realize His hand in my everyday life.

Time keeps going faster and I have been loving the work. There is so much JOY!

The weather is finally starting to cool down! It has been quite chilly recently and I get to start wearing my sweaters.

Check out the photos:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/WUYwsyauonMKVuc29

And remember:

Let God Prevail

That's about it. See ya.

• Elder Payne

Elder Whicker and I have been having a wonderful time together here in Bastrop. Elder Whicker is from Heriman, UT and went to BYU for a year of schooling before he came out on his mission. I have never met anyone with a stronger testimony of the Atonement than Elder Whicker. He came into the mission field ready to go and put in some work.

He has been helping me stay on track and stay focused as a missionary while I still can. He has been a joy to be with and learn from.

It's sometimes weird to think, that we are just 20-year-olds choosing to be out here in Texas and continue to work and follow the council given. At the end of the day, it really just comes down to that. A choice. We choose to do what is right or not. Crazy that God trusts us.

If you think about how many people are in the world, eight billion +, and the fraction of those eight billion are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A very small fraction.
Now take that small fraction of members, how many of them are missionaries? An even smaller amount. Compared to the world we are already breaking a norm but to be a group of individuals in their "prime years of life" to CHOOSE to serve a mission is remarkable. And then God trusts us enough to let us follow through with that choice and calls us to the work through His modern day Prophet!

Now that's pretty cool. I have respect for anyone who has, is, or will serve a mission.

It is one thing to already choose to live a different lifestyle compared to the world but to choose to leave what "normalcy" you have and leave it behind is another thing.

I don't want to linger on just missions. The power to choose is an amazing gift that we have been given. I can wake up tomorrow and choose to stay in bed or get out. I can choose to eat or not to eat. Most, if not everything, in life happens from a choice. Free Agency.

Now this is a principle that I don't completely understand, so I won't pretend like I do, but what I do understand is that it has been provided to us to choose right over wrong. Or choose good over bad. Or choose to yield to God over the devil.

This concept has been on my mind recently. The ability to choose. I am by no means perfect and definitely don't always do the right thing but thankfully God knew that. He knew that I, Elder Payne, would choose to not obey Him one hundred percent of the time, but that doesn't mitigate His love or care for me. Yes, He may weep, because of His care for me to make the right decision, but He still leaves it up to me.

That's part of life. To let Him prevail and choose to follow Him. Do His will, for you, one hundred percent of the time. We constantly learn and grow as we work on making His will our will. At times it's not always easy but no one ever said it would be. When you choose to follow His will, or in other terms, Let God Prevail, your true character will start to show. He will reveal unto you the person you can become if you want to.

Again, I am FAR from perfect on this but it's been on my mind.

How can I better follow the direction He has for me?

What would the Master have me do now?

Am I listening to the promptings of the Spirit?

I'd invite you to think about that for yourself. How well are you doing at letting God prevail and "...be the most powerful influence in our lives, or not[?]"

(President Russell M. Nelson - Let God Prevail - October 2020)

You will feel the promptings come, I know I have. Then it is up to you to act.

If you are having trouble acting, pray for strength.

I'm not sure where this quote came from that I am about to absolutely mess up but it goes a little like this,

Every morning pray for the strength from God that you need and every night get down on your knees thanking Him for the strength He gave you. And repeat.

I've seen the most strength from God when I do this cycle. But, I have to mean it. Make Him the "most powerful influence" in your life.

Choose God because He chose you.

Last, last week I was able to go on an exchange with my bud Elder Sharp! We served around each other about a year ago now and have seen each other at other meetings since then and have built this amazing friendship that I couldn't be more grateful for. Throughout the entire day, we had some pretty, for a lack of a better word, 'real' talks.

I've been able to talk to Elder Sharp in a way that I don't feel comfortable with anyone else. We both just chatted it away and had an amazing day full of great lessons, unplanned service opportunities, and laughter.

Get you an Elder Sharp in your life.

During this exchange, there were four of us missionaries in the Bastrop area and the members who signed up to feed us dinner were down to have us all over. W Members
(We planned to start at 6:30. Keep that in mind)

Elder Sharp and I had a few visits and lessons that we needed to do in the small little town of Smithville, TX, which is about 20 minutes away from our church building in Bastrop.

We visit a family that has been going through a hard time recently and love it when we come over. They immediately connected with Elder Sharp and we ended up talking to them for a while. We got to their home at 5:30 and told them that we couldn't be there for long because we needed to be at an appointment at 6:00.

Long story short, we are there until 6:20...

Earlier in the day, around 8:30 am, Elder Sharp and I met up with the Lockhart sisters to get some Spanish copies of the Book of Mormon and to also get some pamphlets that a member wanted. He lives in Smithville and we told him that we would be over in his area that day. So we planned to stop by this Brother.

Noticing that it was 6:20 we rushed on over to this brother's house. I look at Elder Sharp and say, Ok, we are dropping these off and then booking it over to the member's house for dinner. As we get out of the car I can see smoke waving through the air.

As we approach we see our Brother cooking up on a grill. At that moment I knew we weren't going to be in and out of there. After talking to him for a minute and talking to the other Elders we eventually make it out with a case of grilled chicken, sausage, and corn tortillas.

Trust me...we tried saying no. We tried.

We talked to our members and ended up getting there at 7. We ended up having a wonderful time and sharing a good message that we planned on the way over.

Like I said before, get yourself an Elder Sharp in your life.

We have a friend that we just recently started teaching whose name is Oscar. I won't divulge everything about him but to say the least, he is pretty cool!

We met him in the former mentioned parking lot that I have talked about before and come to find out, other missionaries gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon but didn't get a number or anything. So this time we got his number, set up a time to talk, and invited him to church.

Lesson goes through, he comes to church and loves it, then we find out some sad, sad news...

He is going to boot camp!

Devastating. (But not the end)

We talk and try to get all the details of when he will be back. He says he brought his Book of Mormon with him and will be reading it and then we text a final goodbye to our homie. And we got to be a little bummed out.

We wake up the next morning to a text from Oscar explaining that he found out that each Sunday he will have his phone for 4 hours and we can call him during that time! Yay yay yay

So Sunday rolls around and we call, he asks us if he can call us back in a few minutes and we say of course! 10 minutes. 20 minutes. 35 minutes. 2 hours. Nothing from Oscar. We sent a text explaining how we were a little sad we couldn't talk. Later that day, he messages us and says that he will be being sent back for some time and wants to meet!

What?!

I know he doesn't see it yet, but that is a miracle. God has something in store for him and I think it has something to do with meeting with us and coming to church, and water.

Amazing miracles all around. God is so good!

The weather is still warm but it has been windy. Not a nice cool wind. A warm disgusting wind. Prayers that it will cool down soon.

Look at these pictures and video

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WUYwsyauonMKVuc29

That's about it. See ya.

• Elder Payne

"If I can make someone smile in a day then I have done my job." - Judy

One day Judy was on her phone just minding her own business while looking through her Facebook. When suddenly an ad appears saying;

"Jesus said, "Learn of me... and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Sign up below to receive three lessons from missionaries to increase faith in Christ!"

So without skipping a beat, she signed up. She recognized that she was looking for a greater sense of rest in her life due to the challenges and trials that she has been through. Upon sending her information, two Elders recived a notification on their phone.

Judy has had a wonderful but challenge filled life that she could tell you all about for probably multiple days. Through her meeting with the missionaries and coming to church she was excited to start a new journey, a new path, a new life by accepting Jesus Christ into her life more fully through being baptized into His church.

She could tell you, it wasn't an easy road. She knew that Satan would be trying to throw her off the straight and narrow but she wasn't going to let that happen.

"For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so... righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad."

(2 Nephi 2:11)

We had shared this scripture with her and she would often bring it up more than I think she realized. Judy understood a pretty important principle that I think a lot of us just forget at times. She understood how to 'Endure to the End'.

Like I said, her path to follow the Savior and His example of being baptized wasn't an easy one. She has recognized the hand of the Lord guiding her throughout her everyday life and also noticed the small tricks that Satan would often try and deceive her with.

But nonetheless, just as Nephi, a Book of Mormon Prophet, she knew in whom she has trusted.

"...nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted. My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep."

She has recognized God in her life and decided not to listen to all the evil around her but to trust in God and His plan. She would constantly tell us all the things that were going wrong but would always end with, "but I have faith and know that God will provide!"

Judy was originally going to be baptized in November but after some inspired direction from the stake president we decided to move it closer. And she agreed and was prepared to be baptized on October 13th, 2024.

I had the wonderful opportunity to stand in the waters of baptism with Judy and preform the baptismal ordinance. What a special and sacred opportunity that was. Often times when I meet with people, the Spirit will whisper to me, "Imagine them in white." Or "Imagine standing with them in the waters of baptism."

Once I have, there is a different, stronger, love that comes over me for the person standing or sitting in front of me. It grants me with a greater hope that one day they will be able to receive the blessings of covenants.

It has also put into perspective the importance of the work that I am actually doing. And the importance for all of us to be doing this work. If we know that it is true, wouldn't we want to take this to someone else. We are on the Earth, found the fullness of the Gospel, now need to bring others into the fold.

Do not be scared to share the Gospel. Worst they could say is no.

As we go about our week, we get in contact with this man who once lived in Amarillo, TX and moved down here closer to Bastrop. We were able to visit with him. Come to find out, as we were talking on the phone, he is a member and was baptized in Amarillo but moved down here nine months prior and hasn't been able to get in contact with the church. We set up a time to meet with him in person, checking where he lives, thinking he only lived 15-20 minutes away, we came to find out he lives an hour away.

We were lucky enough to take time to go visit him and other people that live all the way out in the small town of Schulenburg, TX in the U S of A.

Upon our arrival we realize that the address we had for his place of residence couldn't be right. We were led to City Hall of Schulenburg. No that wasn't the right place, with a little bit of panic and hope we called our friend. He gave us the correct address and we found our way.

We met the sweetest man I have ever met with in my life. Come to find out he hadn't had contact with the church for over 9 months! He missed the people and the feeling of going to church. We then chatted it up for a bit and left him with a new Book of Mormon.

He grabbed it out of my hands and held it close to his heart and said thank you.

He had been touched and ultimately changed by the contents of that book. It was powerful to witness. The Book of Mormon really does change lives. It changed his. It's changed mine. And so many more.

It contains a testimony of Jesus Christ that will leave you holding it close to your heart and saying "Thank you"

It was hard to leave knowing we wouldn't see him for awhile. Living an hour away from the church makes things a little difficult. We had met a man who knew that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has the fullness of the Gospel. He has had a wonderful life and has done a lot of searching and final found what he was looking for. The spirit was strong and his testimony is pure.

It's moments like those that keep you going. It's moments like those that keep you enduring the heat, the unkind comments, the discouragement, the long days with appointments falling through. It's moments like those that are worth it.

Thankfully this won't be our last time seeing him. We have an older couple in the ward that lives in Schulenburg and come to church almost every week. Only times they don't, is when they are out of town. So, they said they could give our new found brother a ride to church.

God is good.

I don't have much else to say. I feel like I have finally figured it out and its coming to an end. The work continues on and there are miracles to be seen!

"...behold, our work is not finished..."
(Alma 14:13)

The weather is slowly getting cooler. Might be sweater weather pretty soon...

Look at the photos:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/WUYwsyauonMKVuc29

That's about it. See ya.

• Elder Payne

On each preparation day, we have been able to go fishing at our members farm. He has two main ponds to fish from and we have seen great success each time, almost each time, that we have gone. Which has been every Monday.

This morning we went pretty early to go fishing. Earlier than I want to admit, but we saw some success. I was able to catch five fish, different five from the first time, with the help of Elder Jenkins and Sister Padgett. Elder Jenkins ran the show and showed us the way. We were catching these little tiny frogs and using them as bait. From using this method we were trying to catch a smaller fish in order to catch Big Bass (Stay tuned).

Sister Padgett was wrangling all the little frogs for us to put on the hook. We caught some small fish from this but they weren't small enough. Eventually, we caught a Bluegill. Which, according to Elder Jenkins, Bluegill are "Bass candy"

So with patience, many dead frogs, and some more patience, we caught the biggest Bass that we have ever pulled outta that pond. (Thanks Elder Jenkins and Sister Padgett for the team effort)

With the end of this transfer, Elder Jenkins is getting transferred away to, I would say bigger and better things, but nothing can be bigger and better than Biggity Bastrop. So you know what that means, most likely, we probably won't go fishing as much... We had our fun. Many memories to remember at those ponds.

Special thanks to Brother Farmers for letting us use his property and go fishing, oh so frequently.

The youth in the entire Kyle stake had an activity this past weekend. A Rodeo. Not a full out Rodeo Rodeo but it had some pretty fun activities.

Elder Jenkins and I were lucky enough to be able to attend. He is in the Cedar Creek ward here in Bastrop and I am in the Bastrop ward. So we thought, well to support both wards, let's divide and conquer. Now before you start questioning, "Oh why didn't the other Elders get to go?", I have an answer. The location for the event was about an hour away and we needed some missionaries to stay in order to have lessons and dinner with members in Bastrop.

They didn't mind, so again, lucky for Elder Jenkins and I, we had a blast at this youth Rodeo.

One of the activities/events was The Hog Hoedown! You were in a team of two and had to grab this little wild hog, bag it, and touch the barrel. The Lockhart sisters, whom were in attendance, talked about having us as the missionaries tackle those hogs. So once the official event was over, the Branch President of Lockhart asked if anyone would want to see the missionaries wrestle some pigs.

Oh boy, did we ever! Long story short, it was pretty much Elders VS Sisters. Who could catch it faster? The true test. Elder Jenkins and I went first and we had that hog in our arms within 2 seconds! We thought we had it in the bag, but unfortunately, it didn't go all the way in. We spent the next 13 seconds getting that stupid pig in the bag.

Now we thought that was pretty fast. We got prideful and claimed there would be no way that the Sisters could beat that time... They got it in 7 seconds. Absolutely ridiculous!! They just got lucky.

It was a good time.

Yesterday was Fast and Testimony meeting for our congregation here in Bastrop. Last week we had a friend and his family come to church. He told us that he wanted to speak next Sunday! Lucky for him! We told him that he would be able to speak next Sunday and share a testimony of the Savior and how he has changed him.

As we were sitting in the back of the chapel he was explaining that he was pretty nervous and didn't know if he should go up. I told him that I would go with him and we could share our testimonies. He agreed and so when it got quiet next we got up and walked on up to the front.

I gave a short testimony on Jesus Christ and then turned it on over to our friend. He did wonderfully! He was honest and open but knew he had been changing and wanted to share with the members. We had quite a few people come up afterward and thank him and greet him!

He was so excited and anxious. We helped him understand that it was the Spirit inviting him to share his thoughts. I do not doubt that he will be a force for good now, and then be an even greater force when he is baptized.

This past week we had the wonderful opportunity to have a mission tour. You may be wondering, now what does that entail? This is when the General Authority over our mission comes to check in and see how things are going.

We got lucky to have two General Authorities come last week! Elder Alonso and Elder Cavacanche. Elder Alonso told a small group of us what the mission tour is actually for. He said "This mission tour is for them. Points to President and Sister Carter This isn't for you. This is for them. This meeting is just the cherry on top."

He then goes on to explain how he is here to support President and Sister Carter and if they are ok then he knows that we will be left in good hands. Nonetheless, I felt God's love and testimony through some of His servants.

I was supposed to get this email out last week but here we are. Another week has passed.

This past weekend we had the wonderful opportunity to hear from God's messengers on the Earth today, His Prophets and Apostles. I wish I could share all of the inspiration and revelation that I was able to receive from these inspired men and women. Yet, what I can share is that we have miracles round about us every day. And if I am to endure to the end, then these coming years will be some of the best. In summary, I want to share a few lines from one of my favorite songs which was sung this weekend:

"And angels are coming to visit the earth."

"The veil o’er the earth is beginning to burst."

"And Ephraim be crowned with his blessing in Zion,
As Jesus descends with his chariot of fire!"

(The Spirit of God)

Now is the time of miracles. Now is the time to prepare. Now is the time to make discipleship a priority.

God is real. His son, Jesus Christ, lived, died, and rose from the grave. All for us, His children, to return to Him if we remain faithful to the commandments that He has set in place for us to follow. In a coming day, He will come to rule over us as King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and as your advocate with the Father.

The weather is starting to cool down a tad. Though it is still very hot. Maybe in the coming weeks, we will see some change.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WUYwsyauonMKVuc29

That's about it. See ya.

• Elder Kohl Payne

There aren't a lot of parks here in Bastrop to talk to people at. We have a park called Fisherman's Park, which is located on the Colorado River. (Not THE Colorado River but the Colorado River. Who would name a river in Central Texas the Colorado when we already have one? I'll have to look into the history) It has a nice path along the river but, as of just recently, it has been super hot so not many people are out and about. Not even the bugs want to be outside.

We have seen people floating down in kayaks! It reminds me of going down to Provo River back home in Utah. We would gather a few of our family members, grandparents, cousins, brothers, and sisters, then travel on down. Stay tuned. Elder Goodin and I may go down the Colorado one Pday.

Not to worry, about not to many people being out and about in parks, missionaries whom have been here prior to my time have found a place called, The Parking Lots. These parking lots consist of the lots for Lowes, 5 Below, Best Buy, Hobby Lobby, TJMAX, Old Navy and so much more.

It is a little bit surprising how people will just let you talk to them in a parking lot or while they are sitting in their car. As well, it is surprising how many people won't let you talk to them while in the parking lot or in their car. It is also surprising the amount of people whom have tried to run us over.

That last one hasn't happened and I would be very ok and grateful if it didn't.

A lot of the times the second lessons with people we meet at the parking lot don't tend to go through. Or maybe, I just don't have enough faith.

I have been thinking about, How can I help people progress? How can I help people keep their commitments? How can I help people catch the vision of the Gospel?

I really want to see people experience the JOY in their lives that will come from following the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know it is a little selfish but these people's lives can change so much if they just choose to listen.

What I have started to see being helpful and successful is stating our purpose as missionaries as soon as possible. I tend to tell people that we are here to help them improve their relationship with God through specific steps. Such as, Faith in Jesus Christ, Repentance, Baptism, The Gift of the Holy Ghost and Endure to the End.

It has been quite productive. I noticed, here in this area, it really helps us reap instead of just sowing. That's the goal. Isn't it? We as missionaries are supposed to help people come closer to Jesus Christ by inviting them to change.

Or as President Nelson has told us,

"I wonder, to whom will we be led when we plead to find those who are willing to let God prevail in their lives?"

(President Russell M. Nelson 'Let God Prevail' October 2020)

That is what I have been doing and God has been delivering. It has been an absolute blessing to show people what more God has for them as they follow the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There are people everywhere who are ready to "let God prevail in their lives".

We currently have 4 people who are preparing for baptism. I think part of that is due to the lovingly bold invitations that we have been extending as we state our purpose and help them realize that we aren't just here to help them feel the spirit in their life but that we are here to help them have The Holy Ghost with them all the time! Not just part of the time.

God does answer prayers and I couldn't be more grateful.

The other week when I couldn't write as much as I wanted to, this is what happened...

The Gonzales Elders came over to our apartment at 4 in the morning. We told them the night before to "make sure that you wake us up when you arrive." When they arrived, they did not wake us up. Elder Bloomfield was pretty tired from driving and decided to take a nap on our couch. And so did his companion. We eventually wake up and go to the farm to go fishin'. Upon arrival at the farm, Elder Bloomfield was telling us that he wasn't feeling the best. We told him to keep us updated on how he is feeling.

Long story short, about 5 hours later, we are on the side of the road for an hour and a half as he is bent over on the side of the road throwing up everything that he possibly could. Which was nothing. We eventually take him to an Urgent Care and he gets an IV. We think he was just really dehydrated. Which doesn't make all that much sense, because he has been drinking plenty of water.

Anywho... That took our preparation day. Good experience. He is fine now and has been kickin' it.

I don't have much else to say. There have been so many miracles that God has been allowing us to be able to see. It has been a blessing. This transfer has been a pretty interesting one. It has been challenging but everything will be ok in the long run. I have done a lot of counseling with God and lets just say things will get better.

The weather is still pretty warm. Hopefully, it will start to cool off pretty soon.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WUYwsyauonMKVuc29

That's about it. See ya.

-Elder Payne

We have had a blessed opportunity to go fishing the past two preparation days. One of our members has a big ranch with a few ponds full of fish. Elder Jenkins, a missionary whom I live with, is probably one of the most redneck people I know. So of course he knows how to fish. He has taught me everything I know!

I'm pretty sure this was my first time ever going REAL fishing! I guess I had beginner's luck. Caught 5 of those bad-boy bass. I attribute my luck to the following:

1. My Bass Pro Hat that was left in the apartment by Elder Iloa

And

1. Elder Jenkins coaching me with all his wisdom and knowledge

It was fun! (Pictures to come)

But yes. The work moves on. There will be more information to come next week about how it has been progressing here in Bastrop, TX.

I have been studying a lot in detail with my Book of Mormon study and it has been amazing. The Spirit has impressed upon me so many special experiences as I have been studying.

So go read the Book of Mormon and also this talk from General Conference in April: It is Wisdom in the Lord That We Should Have the Book of Mormon

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2024/04/56pace?lang=eng

Look at the photos:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/WUYwsyauonMKVuc29

That's about it. See ya.

• Elder Payne

I'm not exactly sure what they do, but I know that they have people dress up like Pioneers and walk around. Something like that.

The reason we went was to help them move some heavy rock's. We went on a day when it wasn't open to the public so we would be able to get the work done that we needed to.

Like I mentioned we were lifting heavy rocks. Why? We were placing these rocks around a fenced in cage that previously had turkeys in it. Unfortunately, there were coyotes getting in by digging underneath and dare I say...gobbled them up...

It was a really good time. Took me back to a few summers ago when I would haul woodchips around my Grandpas property in the mountains. Hot day. Sweat dripping. And lifting more than I probably should.

We have been meeting with a man who made a request to meet with us and learn more about our church. There are a few things that I would like to mention about this individual.

When we first talked to him he said that he was seeing a lot of negative talk about our church online. So he wanted to actually talk to people from the church. Hence, why we are now talking to him!

He came to church and had a some questions. Afterwards we were able to meet with him and share what we call the Restoration. It took a minute to get into our teaching and discussion about the Restoration but when we did, it was really something special.

When we talked about the First Vision of Joseph Smith, as always, there was a strong presence of the Holy Spirit. We knew that he felt it, because we did. He is learning a lot and it has been amazing to be apart of his journey.

During these past weeks, Elder Allen and I have been visiting a lot of members to see if they have moved or what the deal is. We went to go visit a particular member and were confronted with someone who apparently wasn't the member we were looking for.

We had an interesting conversation where he was asking us if we knew Jesus. To which we responded, yes. He then asked if we had seen Him and that he has and could introduce us to Him.

Sounded very enticing...

We shared with this man part of our beliefs and how we knew that the Book of Mormon is true. We shared our stories of how we came to know the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and how we knew who Jesus Christ is. He respected our testimonies and said that he couldn't go against what we have felt by the spirit.

At the end of our conversation we asked if we could leave with a prayer. He agreed and offered to pray. He asked us if there was any healing or anything that we needed prayed for. I mentioned my hernia surgery and how it still hurt every now and again. He asked me where it was and I gestured to the general area. Elder Allen mentioned a person.

Then he starts to pray.

He started with Elder Allen by grabbing his shoulder and praying. He then moved over towards me. (Yes I had my eyes somewhat open) I was standing with my arms in front of me hanging down and holding my hands together. He reaches through my arms and places his hand right where I had gestured before. I didn't know what to do... I moved my arms out and then behind my back.

Needless to say, it was pretty awkward but once the prayer ended and Elder Allen and I got into the car we busted out laughing!!

A Sunday or two ago we joined the youth in the Sunday School class. (The youth of the Church are straight up the best) I don't even completely remember what was being said. One of the youth, we will call him Drake, rose his hand and was about to share a thought but then said never mind. A few minutes later Drake rose his hand again and said something that put some things into perspective for me.

For some context, we took Drake out with us for a lesson. We texted him and he said that he could come. The lesson didn't end up going through but we talked with him for a little bit and then parted ways.

So the next day, on Sunday, he shared the following experience.

Drake told us that the other day that he was in his room (now I don't want to put words in his mouth) and felt like a lot of bad, negative emotion was around him and he just wanted it to go away and didn't want to keep having those feelings. He said a prayer asking Heavenly Father to help take away these feelings and whatever else he was going through at the moment.

5 minutes later the missionaries texted him asking to come join them on a lesson. I don't know all of how this helped him but he shared that he knew that God was looking out for him.

When I look back at it, when we invited him to join us it was definitely an impression from the Lord.

Transfers were this past week. The dynamic duo of Elder Allen and I were split up. Another transfer together and we probably would have either,

1. Figured out how to time travel
   Or
2. Driven each other mad

(2nd option is more likely)

It is a little sad to not be together anymore and be out of the Heatherwilde Ward, but it was bound to happen eventually. We told our Bishop on Saturday that it was more than likely that I was leaving. Later he came up to me and asked if I could give a short testimony/talk on Sunday. For the very first time, in my service as a missionary, I spoke at church!

Bishop Rundquist asked me to take just 2-5 minutes and share about how the Heatherwilde area has made an impact on me. How it has changed me. It was a good idea by him because it made me reflect and think about all of the progress that I have made.

After the meeting ended, Brother Bob Watson came up to me, firmly shook my hand, and with a slight tear in his eyes said,

"You and your companion are some of the best missionaries this ward has ever had. And you will be missed."

I gave him a hug and thanked him.

A lot of the time we may never know the impact we can and will have on people. I was fortunate enough to see a few while in Heatherwilde, but also throughout my missionary service.

Well, where am I now?

President said to me a week before transfers,

With his eyebrows going up and down "I got a good idea of where to send you!"

Oh brother...

But, it all turned out to be ok!

I got sent south! Bastrop! President Carter calls it the "Drop." It has been an adventure and an absolute blast. It is weird not having a whole bunch of tech work to do. There is a lot of work to do down here and it is only going to get more and more busy.

The church building is a tad smaller than a "normal" building. And this area is HUGE! We are trying to find a way to be able to get to all the smaller towns that are within the area that have people in them that were found in town or that have made referrals to meet with us. It will be great.

Advice of the week: Listen to your parents.

It rained twice this past week. Rain. In the Texas Summer. In August. Shocker to say the least. Hopefully it will start cooling off pretty soon :)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WUYwsyauonMKVuc29

That's about it. See ya.

• Elder Payne

As I started writing this last Monday, everything was going great. I wasn't able to finish my email this last week so I started writing some more thoughts down Monday night and Tuesday Morning.

Tuesday night rolls around and I go to write. I can't find the draft that I was originally writing on. (So this is how Joseph Smith felt when he lost those pages lol) Though disappointing, everything will be ok.

Why? Because there was a greater purpose behind this email than I originally thought. As I went about this week, there were greater testaments to what I am going to talk about today. I will further explain. I think God needed me to pay attention to this topic, so it was on the front of my mind and will be for I hope a while.

In regards to my previous thoughts, pray that the words that I had written down will come back to my memory as if it were the first time.

Let's see how this goes.

I have been thinking a good deal about the time that I have spent here in Texas. All of the Sister missionaries that I started my mission with are all home now. (Sisters serve 18 months compared to the 24 that Elders serve. Don't ask me why...Cause I have the same question lol)

I have started, what some would like to call, "The Downhill Slope" in the last 6 months. Although a little sad that this journey is coming to an end, I still have 6 months and that won't slow me down!

With all my thoughts racing around of what I have been able to accomplish while here in Texas, I have been thinking, I don’t want to become stagnant with where I am. Spiritually. Physically. Emotionally. I want to try and keep improving and 'Endure to the End'.

I have seen missionaries get to a point in their service where they start to get relaxed with where they are. Primarily spiritually but physically and emotionally can apply. I didn't want to fall into this trap of, "I know what I need to do in order to get me by" or "I've been out for said amount of time, I know what I'm doing." Although pretty extreme I didn't want to become complacent.

I decided to take this dedication and determination to my Mission President and see what council he could give me to help me not "slack off." or be complacent. I was doing what I knew to be right, but I wanted to see what he would say to help me not be relaxed with where I am.

He knew exactly where to go;

"Elder Payne, you're a biker, right?"

"Yes, President."

"Do you remember the talk by Michael A. Dunn, 'One Percent Better'?"

"Of course President! My family watches the Tour De France every year!"

"Well, Elder Payne, that's the key. Find something you can always improve on every day, even if it is just 'One Percent Better'"

That direction that he gave has stuck with me ever since. If you want to improve you have to take the steps necessary to do so. You can't just look at yourself in the mirror one day and tell yourself, 'I should lose weight', then don't do anything about it. You have to put in the required effort to lose the weight. The same applies to the spiritual and emotional.

President Russel M. Nelson, the current Prophet of God on the Earth today, while speaking to the world at the April 2021 General Conference of the Church addressed us with this concept:

"Your mountains may be loneliness, doubt, illness, or other personal problems. Your mountains will vary and yet the answer to each of your challenges is to increase your faith. That takes work. Lazy learners and lax disciples will always struggle to muster even a particle of faith.

"To do anything well requires effort. Becoming a true disciple of Jesus Christ is no exception. Increasing your faith and trust in Him takes effort."

('Christ Is Risen; Faith in Him Will Move Mountains' April 2021)

Although he is mentioning our spiritual state I believe that the others still apply from above. "To do anything well requires effort." In regards to my spiritual well-being this is where I am. I want to push with all my might till the end and constantly be trying to improve.

With this "downhill slope," it gives me more opportunities to push myself and grow. Think about a bike race, when you are head to head with your competitor in the last sprint to the finish are you going to just stop pedaling and coast into the finish? Absolutely not! You are going to drop those gears and hammer it to the line.

It is, at times, hard to improve and become the person that God wants you to become. Yet, I am willing to try daily to follow His will and do what He wants me to do. It takes effort and I'm willing to put that effort in. Mainly spiritually but physically and emotionally as well.

With me being willing, it has taught me a lot. And I think it has taught me the most valuable thing that I have learned while serving my full-time mission here in Texas. And I would go as far as to say it is the reason that I needed to serve a mission.

I needed to learn how to rely on God and turn to Him.

And the way I needed to serve.

Obviously to help guide people to Christ. Obviously to talk to people day in and day out to help them better understand Jesus Christ and His gospel. Obviously to help people make and keep covenants.

But I needed to learn how to trust God.

I would often turn to Earthly or temporal solutions for my temporal problems. You think that would do the trick, right? Nope. God wanted me to learn to turn to Celestial solutions for my temporal problems. In the stressful moments, in the moments when life was full of despair when I thought that there was no way I was going to get out of the situation that I was in, I would once again, turn to the world for solace. Yet, wouldn't find the full relief that I was searching for.

I was being taught over and over again that I need not turn to the world but rather to turn to God and rely on His plan for me. And learn, "...that all these things shall give thee experience and shall be for thy good."
(Doctrine and Covenants 122:7)

It wasn't until I had all the other ways "out" of my problems stripped from me and thrown into a spirit-filled environment, that I learned how to seek and rely on God rather than man.

I couldn't rely on my parent's wisdom or protection.
I couldn't rely on my friends and being able to talk to them to "rant."
I couldn't shut the world out and turn to technology.

I can now say that, I get to not rely on... or turn to...

I get to rely on God.

During a time in my mission when I was tasked with a few different responsibilities, I was feeling overwhelmed and really didn't know what to do. I decided to email my trainer to see what advice he would have for me and help me find answers to my questions. Thankfully, he didn't answer. Once I realized that I probably wasn't going to receive an answer from him, I prayed and asked the Lord for direction even greater than I had prior.

I received this council from the Lord through the Holy Spirit,

"Turn to Me."

I needed this reminder a few more times throughout the time I have spent here in Texas. And I will probably need it a few more times throughout the rest of my life.

I would not be the same person that I am today if I didn't learn to rely on Him.

I have been ever so grateful for my time in Texas and I am excited to continue to improve just 'One Percent Better' (Elder Michael A. Dunn - October 2021) and 'Let God Prevail' (President Russell M. Nelson - October 2020) in my life every single day.

God is real and Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World. He has become personable to me. The Book of Mormon testifies of Him and is a very powerful witness of His love for all mankind.

I wanted to speak more about what has happened this week and weeks prior, but that will come next week, I suppose.

That's about it. See ya.

• Elder Payne

I love my assignment in the tech side of missionary work, as I have stated before, but oh boy, there is a different kind of joy that is found in, finding and teaching.

My assignment, as of right now, has been a blast and has been something I never thought I would be doing.

These past few weeks we have been focusing on making some really good videos for the Facebook page. I am grateful for this skill that I have been able to develop and I hope to use it throughout the rest of my life.

I would not have such a love for making videos and using online efforts to share the gospel if I was not in the position that I am in currently.

But, as I stated prior, there is a different, more rewarding type of joy that comes from focusing on the people that are right around us.

I have seen that as I have been here in Pflugerville, and past areas that I have had the pleasure to serve in.

It all comes down to, I feel as though I could be doing more for the people around me than I am currently doing.

Which is absolutely 100% true.

It has been difficult to focus on the needs of the people around us as we have been putting a greater focus and emphasis on the list of tasks that we need to get done with the tech assignment.

I may be using that as an excuse and put tech in front of the people and area which we are over, but to that point, there is a lot that we have to get done.

On the other had, It has definitely been an excuse. Let me explain.

A few months ago, Sister Carter, our mission presidents wife, gave a training about our strengths. In this training she detailed how we all have different abilities/strengths that help us effectively share the gospel and help fulfil our purpose and calling as missionaries.

But,

With those strengths that make us unique in sharing the gospel, there is a flip side to them. Almost like a coin.

To each coin there are two sides. The front and the back, the back and the front, heads and tails, the face and the eagle, whatever it may be these coins have two sides.

We all have multiple coins and often we show the best side of them, our strengths. To each coin there is a weakness. The flipside. Often with these strengths they can hurt us at times.

I'll share a personal example.

I have often gotten this compliment from other missionaries or by word of mouth from others, "Elder Payne is really enthusiastic and just keeps going! I want to know how he is just so energized all the time!"

Now with this I do not mean to boast in myself. Because with this strength that I have been given it has a flipside. I am often not as patient as I should be and will even say something that could hurt someone else because I am so passionate about whatever the situation may be.

My companion had to call me out on this a month ago as we were talking and counseling on how we could improve.

At first, it hurt a little but he is right. I do loose my patience in situations when I may think something isn't going the way it should be.

Due to my companion, being as loving as he is, helping me recognize this I have been more aware of how I act in situations. It has been a really good learning experience for me.

That loss of patience comes from my enthusiastic, upbeat attitude and can be used against me.

That is what Satan wants. He wants us to use our strengths, as good as they are, to be used for evil. He will work in us to make it seem that we are doing what is important but really it isn't helping a lick.

So how does this relate to our area?

My companion and I have been blessed to be in this area due to our talents in social media. The flip side, we might focus more on that rather than what is really important.

To invite others to come unto Christ.

That is what I have been called to do. In this area I am assigned to tech but it has been getting the better of me and sometimes takes priority over the area.

To help combat this, I really want to more fully focus on the needs and desires of the individual people here in Pflugerville.

I have already seen miracles and I know there are more to come but I need to start working for them.

I want to experience that joy that I have felt before as I have, found, taught, and testified to the many children of God that are around me.

That's why its been tough recently. I haven't had as many opportunities to testify about Jesus Christ! The whole entire reason I am out here. But fear not, I have some goals and plans to help the work move forward in this part of the Lord's vineyard.

None the less with our craziness with tech, God has still been blessing us and helping us out. During second hour of church on Sunday, Elder Allen and I were in Sunday school with the youth, when we had one of the local leaders peek in the door, pointed at us, and then waved us to follow him.

Confused, Elder Allen and I get up and follow him out. Elder Allen was about to leave his bag but then I grabbed it right before and handed it to him.

We get into the hallway and see another one of the members in the ward. The local leader looks at us and says;

"We just had someone walk into the building and say that they were looking for a church. Are you ready?"

To which Elder Allen and I look at each other, nod, and reply;

"Oh yeahh."

We met this man and had a really good discussion with him. Explaining about our church and what makes us unique. Needless to say we will be meeting with him next week, he will be coming to church, and we gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon to read!

Like I said, God is helping us out.

Transfers are coming up this week. That means all the responsibilities that we have are going to be pretty crazy for about a week.

It won't stop me from fulfilling my purpose though!

Transfers are this next week! We will be getting a whole big batch of new missionaries.

Elder Allen and I are going to be together for another 6 weeks! We get to hype up the mission to a greater level of Facebook work!

There are good things to come and I am excited.

The weather keeps getting hotter, although we have gotten a bit of rain the past few days due to the tropical storm or hurricane ,Beryl.

The work must go on.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WUYwsyauonMKVuc29

^^Look at all these photos^^

That's about it. See ya.

• Elder Payne

This week was eventful! I could most likely say that about every week but this week particularly.

Last last week:

1. Referrals! #FacebookWorks
2. NBA Young Boys Cousin
3. “My name’s Mater… Like ‘Tuh-mater’ but without the ‘tuh’! What’s your name?"

My four main points of conversation will be as mentioned above. There may be a few things in between but that is the basic outline.

What is a referral? A referral is when someone has put in their information (name, phone number, address) to meet with missionaries for said thing. It might be from an ad on Facebook, this is the usual case, or they find the website themselves and put their information in.

On Facebook, the mission, puts up ads about coming to church, prayer, reading scripture, growing your relationship with God, etc... and people who may see these ads can fill out their information and we will contact them.

Now, as you can imagine, there could be some weird interactions due to many factors, but the majority of them are pretty good! And in this area, in Heatherwilde, we have been getting a lot of people reaching out to us.

It has been such a blessing. I was thinking about it this way the other day...

Here in Heatherwilde, Elder Allen and I, as I've stated before, are the social media leaders in the mission. So our priorities are mixed between our area and the work that we must get done, with this amazing assignment that we have.

We still go out and talk to people, we still have gospel discussions with people, and we still do "normal" missionary things. We just have responsibilities added on top of all of that so it eats into some of the time that we would have to be out and about talking to people.

Due to this, I feel as though God is helping us out. He has seen Elder Allen and I and the effort and diligence that we have put in throughout our time here in Texas and the time we have been together and has been guiding people to us.

I couldn't be more grateful! We have been really blessed with the work that we have been doing here. God is helping us as we help Him in this great and marvelous work.

With these referrals, we have been able to talk to a lot of cool people!

Such as NBA YoungBoys cousin. Now we are still trying to figure out if this is actually the case but it seems pretty real. If you don't know who NBA YoungBoy is, he is a music artist who raps. And lives in Utah!

Long story short, and with second second second hand information, NBA YoungBoy was meeting with missionaries (Apparently). So this referral, whom we will call Marlin, told us that he met the missionaries when NBA YB was meeting with them. Marlin then told us that he felt that he should reach out to us.

So there we were! Talking to NBA YBs cousin in Pflugerville, Texas. Who woulda thought? The unique and interesting things that happen to us as missionaries.

If you don't know who Mater is I would strongly encourage you to have a childhood and watch Disney Pixar 'Cars'. It will not disappoint.

Mater is a tow truck...

We got towed. I wish it was by Mater but no it was by a tow truck driver who probably has a family and he or she decided to wreak havoc on two missionaries who are just trying to do their best. With Sarcasm, He was definitely singling us out.

There's not much other to explain than that.

We were very blessed in the process. God is good and looking out for us.

So instead of sending two emails, I'm just going to talk about this last week as well as the week prior to last week as you already, hopefully, read above.

This last week:
5. Leaving the Mission...
6. Member Friends

In the Texas Austin Mission, we have boundaries that we are not to leave, as do all missions. We were a little shocked when we found out that we would be able to go beyond our boundaries to the San Antonio Temple.

As I mentioned last email, President Carter talked to the General Authority over our area and asked if the missionaries here in the TAM (Texas Austin Mission) could go to the temple every 3 months!

We had some pretty STRICT instructions with this opportunity that we have been given.

"You go to the temple, and back."

There was absolutely no stopping in San Antonio for any reason. We get gas before we go. We get food before or after the trip. We wait till back in the boundaries of our mission before you even consider stopping.

We were obedient and did as instructed. On our way back an Elder that we were driving with knew of a poke bowl place that was right inside the boundaries. It was the perfect place to go to after an amazing temple session.

Let's rewind a bit, shall we? I haven't talked about the most important part of the temple. The actual temple itself.

We arrived about 40 minutes early and as soon as we were on the temple grounds it was as if that was the only place on earth that was still. I could only think to myself the song that had been in my head since I was a kid;

I love to see the temple.
I’m going there someday
To feel the Holy Spirit,
To listen and to pray.
For the temple is a house of God,
A place of love and beauty.
I’ll prepare myself while I am young;
This is my sacred duty.

I love to see the temple.
I’ll go inside someday.
I’ll covenant with my Father;
I’ll promise to obey.
For the temple is a holy place
Where we are sealed together.
As a child of God, I’ve learned this truth:
A family is forever.

We took a few pictures with my camera and walked around before we went in for our session. It was a beautiful place to be.

The artwork on the inside was something unique. I haven't looked much into the artwork of temples but I will now be doing so. Every time.

I am excited to go back in 3 months.

Every Friday we have an opportunity to go to a food bank and hand out food. Recently there has been this group of teenagers that we have been serving with. It just happens that they know so many members! We have been talking to one of them and he is reading the Book of Mormon!

We are planning on going to Texas Roadhouse with him and the member friends. This Saturday we are going to have a church tour with him as well!

Having member friends is the best! We have been telling our members to keep tabs on our new friend and continue to help him understand what he is reading!

God is in the details and is blessing Elder Allen and me 100-fold. I would not be able to do this without Him. It has been a new challenge and blessing to learn to rely on God.

I am doing well. Getting hotter every day. Some days are a little cooler than others and we can roll the windows down on the car.

God is good.

That's about it. See ya.

• Elder Payne

This transfer, thus far has been nothing but an adventure! Elder Allen, My teaching companion, and I have been doing a lot of work regarding our Facebook pages.

I don't think I have written an email since this transfer started. So here we go!

If you remember Elder Allen, we lived together when I was serving in Cedar Park, TX in the Vista Ridge area. We had a grand old time and here we are, a transfer later, working together in a companionship.

While we lived in the same apartment, we got along and so when we found out that we were going to be working together, I was jumping for joy!

Our mission has different Facebook pages that post Christ-centered content to help us find people to teach and ultimately help them find the joy that comes from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We have also been doing quite a lot of work with the members of our congregation that we are assigned over, the Heatherwilde congregation in the Pflugerville area. We are both pretty new to this area so we are trying to get to know everyone and gain a stronger connection with the members in the area.

Along with that, we have been doing a lot to help the people we are currently working with. We have been getting quite a few people reaching out to us to hear a message on whatever they may need! It has been such a blessing. Essentially with all the work that we do with our assignment working on the Facebook pages, God is still preparing people and working on them. He has a plan for everyone and we just need to trust that.

I want to go a little in-depth about these three things that we are focusing on.

First, our assignment as the Mission social media specialist.
These past few weeks have been a rollercoaster trying to figure a few things out on what steps we want to take as we try to further the outreach of the pages. We have a few things in the works but it has been a learning experience trying to figure out how it will be executed correctly. (If there is such a way to do it "Correctly")

Our mission currently has 4 Facebook pages that the missionaries use to, as I said before, help us find people to teach. These pages cover a certain geographical area. North, Central, South, and Spanish (which covers the entire mission). Our plan is to shrink that into only two pages! One English and one Spanish.

We hope this will help with the quality of the posts that we are making as missionaries. It is exciting and we hope that it will all be able to work out.

Second, as a zone, a small group of missionaries in an assigned area, we want to work with our members and help them stay strong in their faith in Jesus Christ. With this Elder Allen and I coined the term, "Get them home!"

This last week was a whole lot of Elder Allen and I stopping by members and getting to know them.

We have an older population in our congregation and it was super fun to get to know a few this week and hear their stories and testimony. We would share a short message with them and see if there was anything we could do for them.

We shared a lot about the Book of Mormon and talked about how they were converted. They all bore sweet and powerful testimonies of Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon.

There is a power that comes from reading and applying the words of scripture in our lives. It was uplifting to be in these members' homes and listen to how it has impacted their lives.

We have some good potential with these families that may not be as active or have part-member families.

And more to come!

Third, we have a few friends of ours who are coming to church and are excited in learning more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and growing their relationship with God. With the help of the Lord, Elder Allen and I have been doing our very best to be able to help them.

Recently, I think I have come to the realization that I really couldn't do any of this amazing work without the Lord and His help moving me along or preparing people to meet us.

It's been a huge testimony builder to think how much God really trusts us. Me. 18-26-year-olds who are in a pretty prevalent time in their lives. God is pretty reliant on the young adults of the church and must trust us to do something right. Just goes to show that we really couldn't do this work without Him.

I'm probably circling in my thought process, but you get the jist.

We got some pretty amazing news this past week. Our mission President announced this past week that we will have the opportunity to attend the temple in San Antonio! This is a pretty big deal and an amazing blessing that we get to be able to enjoy! If you don't know completely why it is a blessed opportunity, email me, and I would love to tell you why!

(I'll explain a bit of the importance of this right now)

Along with this opportunity, our district, which is an even smaller group of missionaries compared to the zone, is studying the five covenants that we make in the temple.

• The Law of Obedience
• The Law of Sacrifice
• The Law of The Gospel
• The Law of Chastity
• The Law of Consecration

I have been learning a lot and have been really preparing myself for the time I am going to be able to spend remembering those covenants in the temple and focusing on my relationship with God and Jesus Christ.

I studied a talk this week by Elder Ulisses Soares

(Covenant Confidence through Jesus Christ https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2024/04/16soares?lang=eng)

I don't have much time left today, but I had a good time reading and studying this talk. I would explain but you should read it and figure out what God needs you to learn.

My thoughts would probably be boring anyway. I wouldn't be able to say it better than Elder Soares does. Just know that we can have trust and confidence in God and Jesus Christ because we have built a strong relationship with Them and have done what is necessary to see the safety that comes from having that relationship with Them.

I am going to try and be better at writing weekly and sharing my thoughts and experiences about my time here in Texas.

I know it's not much but I hope you enjoyed it. It's been a minute and I sure hope to start writing more.

I have gotten back in the habit of writing in my journal daily so I am grateful for that.

The weather just keeps getting hotter and there isn't much to do about it.

Jesus loves you

That's about it. See ya.

• Elder Payne

The training itself isn't something worth talking about here but it has been helping missionaries be more productive and focused on their online efforts to share the gospel of Jesus Christ on Facebook.

With this adventure, it has taken me back to past areas that I have been in and areas that I have never been in before and probably wouldn't have had the opportunity to see while serving here in Texas.

This past week we went to Waco, TX to visit the districts up there. What an adventure that was! As we were driving we were caught in a pretty nasty thunderstorm on the way there and while coming back which made the drive that much more exciting.

I thought I would share an experience that I take to be pretty profound as we were driving to Mexia [MA-Hey-uh] (Which is a little bit further than Waco).

Cruising in the car going 82mph, while the speed limit was 75. Yes, I am admitting to breaking the law, but what do you expect from me? (For those that know, know) Our car has a device on it that prohibits us from going too fast over the speed limit. So I was running it at the max.

"The rains came down and the floods came up" as we continued to drive. I got this distinct impression from the spirit that told me to slow down. I started to rationalize saying to myself, "I've been going this speed on cruise control for the past hour. Why slow down now?" I continued to fight against this thought for about 5 minutes.

I eventually gave in and tuned the cruise down to 70. After about 20 minutes I felt that it was safe to turn the speed back up.

Now I do not know what would have happened if I kept going the same speed or if anything would have happened. I just had confidence in listening to the spirit in this moment.

It wasn't a huge experience but it helped me realize the importance of listening to the spirit in the bad or good moments.

It (The Spirit) does a good job at that. We just gotta listen for it.

I was able to attend a baptismal service for a good friend of mine from my past area in Cedar Park, TX.

He made me change my thinking pretty significantly on how I view my interactions with people wanting to learn more about the Gospel.

I have been blessed with having the opportunity to help people change their lives and grow closer to Christ. Obviously, Christ is the one that will change their life but we can all be vessels for God to share that news with someone else.

This friend of mine has thanked me time and time again for the impact that I have had on his life and my heart is full of love and humbleness as I have been contemplating the words that I have mentioned before.

We never know the impact that we may have. But your decision to serve or not to serve can affect the lives of others. My decision to serve has been such a wonderful one as I have been able to witness people changing their lives and the joy that they experience is something insurmountable!

I think Doctrine & Covenants says it best;

"And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

"And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!"
D&C 18:15-16

May we rejoice together and continue to labor and help others receive this same joy of the Gospel that we have been able to receive in our own lives.

With this baptismal service, I was able to see a lot of members of the congregation out in Cedar Park, TX. The importance of good relationships has never hit me harder than it did then.

My dad has always said that, "in the business world relationships matter." This goes way outside of just the business world though.

As I met with some of these members it was such an amazing experience to see them and to catch up on what has happened since I last saw them. The cool thing about making relationships with people is that they won't just last till the end of this life. But they will last until eternity!

(Thanks Dad)

I don't know if I have mentioned this in an update yet or not so here goes nothing.

My Sister, Sierra, has recently gotten engaged and will be married in September! Who woulda thought!? Haha I'm playing.
From what I know about Josh and Sierra, they seem very happy together and just mesh so well! My family loves him and my sister does too and that is all I need.

I'm excited for them and the huge step and chapter that this will be.

Making a covenant, such as a temple marriage/sealing, is something that will keep us safe in a world that is becoming pretty scary. As long as we uphold our part of the promise.

God is so good and is truly in your life. We just need to pay attention. :)

Life is moving on here in Pflugerville, TX. The weather is warming up quite a bit and the bugs are coming out.

Hopefully, it won't get too hot this year, but from the temperatures last year, that's probably unlikely.

That's about it. See ya.

• Elder Payne

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WUYwsyauonMKVuc29
^^^Click this link to see more of my photos from my time here in Texas

1. Sunday
2. Monday

I have grown to love Monday for some pretty obvious reasons.
Preparation Day, which means; shopping, talking to family, sports, email, and other various activities. Great time to relax and get ready for the week. Greater than all of that, Sunday really gets me hyped and ready to go for the week.

Like I said, I haven't always liked the beginning of the week. I would dread going to church and having to get up to go to school on Monday.

Thankfully, my mindset has changed. I am very grateful for the opportunity I have to be able to take time on Sunday to focus on my Savior and get ready for the day to come.

My thoughts are specifically turned towards the Doctrine of Christ.
Faith
Repentance
Baptism
The Gift of The Holy Ghost
and Enduring to the End

Each Sunday we have the opportunity to partake of the sacrament and continue in this prosses of the Doctrine of Christ. I like to think of the list above as a repetitive cycle.

We are always going to mess up (Sin). Its inevitable. It is part of our fallen nature as humans with an imperfect body and natural man desires. Thankfully, Christ came to the earth to be able to help us practice how to use and develop self control, so we can become perfect (Eventually). This is what is call the Atonement.

But what does 'Atonement' mean?

In simple terms it is a "Compensation for a wrong". In regards to a religious context this is Christs suffering for us. For you.

Jesus Christ's Atoning sacrifice is combined of His suffering in the Garden Gethsemane and on the cross at Calvary, His death, and His Resurrection.

With his suffering, He took upon Him all of your pains, sins, sorrows, and death. Therefore making it possible to be able to return to Him and our Father in Heaven to have eternal life.

As we use this process that I described earlier, (The Doctrine of Christ) we are utilizing the Atonement.

I wanted to highlight the repentance part of this process. And the sacrament is a huge part of this.

Yesterday was a unique experience as I partook of the sacrament. We had one of our friends come to church a little late so he walked in the back and was sitting alone. We get up and walk back to sit with him. We get into a good conversation about repentance and how the sacrament is a part of it. We were whispering during the song before the sacrament was passed around and then during. He asked a unique question where I was able to express my testimony and love for Jesus Christ.

He said, along the lines of, If we come to church each week and repent then go back doing the same things we did before coming to church, wouldn't He (Christ) get tired of saving us over and over again?

To put it simple, no. He would not. I was able to express thoughts, such as the ones above, about the Atonement.

We are always going to mess up. It would be impossible for us not to. In the Book of Mormon we read about this in Ether 12.

Moroni, is feeling a bit overwhelmed with the task he has to complete. Write in the records and keep them safe. In this, he expresses how our human bodies are the weakness that God gives us so that we remain humble and will turn to Him.
(Ether 12 [23-29])

His hand is going to be extended towards us, all we have to do is grab.

As I explained this to our friend at first I was a little disappointed that I wouldn't be able to have a usual sacrament experience and do some reflecting for myself.

But I did something even better. I was able to reflect by sharing with someone else why I love the process of repentance and turning toward Christ each and every week.

I sure do look forward to Sundays. It is a fresh start, which I am definitely in need of. I am not perfect but I know that through Christ I can eventually get there. (Not on this earth lol) BUT I can sure try my best.

Pardon the rant but it is something that is important to me.

Jesus Christ will support you! Just grab His hand.

There is not much this week that I have an update on. It's been pretty rainy and just getting hotter and hotter.

The work is moving on and we have some cool people that we are working with.

Thank you

That's about it. See ya.

-Elder Payne

??Tekis BABY ??

1045 new items · Album by Kohl Payne

Google Photos

Elder Jones and I were working well together. Always trying to help each other be better and improve. We both had our own skills and talents and would fill in where the other would fall short. (Mainly Elder Jones filling in for me falling.) I knew that I would probably be leaving at the end of this transfer but I still had one final shot at making an attempt to stay in Vista Ridge.

Interviews with President...

Our interviews were the week before transfers and none of the planning for transfers would have been done yet, so I had the opportunity to sway him to the side of letting me stay in Vista Ridge for yet another transfer. (Transfer #5)

As I have my interview with him we start talking about how long I have been in the area. This is roughly how that conversation went:

Pres: "Elder Payne! It's so good to see you!"

EP: "You to Pres!"

Pres: With a somewhat concerned/questioning look on his face "So how long have you been in Vista Ridge now? It's been 4 transfer's right?"

EP: "I haven't been here long enough President! The work is just getting started. I still got work to do here!"

Pres: "Well, good thing Elder Jones will be here to take it over!"

Devastation.

A shot and a miss.

A few days later we called president and asked him a question due to a situation that came up and towards the end of the conversation he said;

"Well, Elder's it was a good thing you called me...Elder Payne, I have a new assignment for you this next transfer. Are you ready?"

...

I knew exactly what it was for, and I was in fact not ready... I am now over Facebook for the entire mission... So there are both pros and cons with this new assignment. It won't be worth going into detail on all of them but I am getting more and more excited to focus my efforts on doing the Lord's work on Facebook.

The sad part, this area has some work to do to keep it alive... It will be a fun thing to try and balance.

I am back in Pflugerville but in a different ward. Heatherwilde. So if you remember when I first came back out to Texas after my 6 week "vacation" (lol) I whitewashed (Two missionaries go into an area where the other missionaries are leaving. So you basically don't know anything. Fun.), into Pflugerville and then after one transfer there I was able to go to Vista Ridge and have just a blast and a half over there.

So now I'm back in the same apartment I lived in. And it's not the best apartment... But it gets the job done, I guess.

Flashback to a few weeks ago while in Vista Ridge, there was a pretty spectacular event that happened. The Austin area was able to be in part of the total blackout zone for the eclipse! The park that we went to was packed full of people staring up into the sky, wearing eclipse glasses.

Once the full blackout happened, the crowd was cheering! Seems as if the whole world was congratulating the sun and the moon for doing the thing that we said it was going to do. It was like when people cheer when the plane lands. Same kinda vibe.

It was pretty cool though! I was able to be with my grandparents and all the Elders in the apartment, E. Jones, E. Aldea, and E. Allen. We then went to a good BBQ place and then showed Grandma and Pop around the temple grounds.

Saying bye to the apartment crew was hard but rumor has it that Elder Allen could possibly be my companion text transfer... The decision for the "Tech Elder" role was between me and him apparently. So they might put him in next transfer. We shall see. Facebook work would go crazy!

That's pretty much the update...

A cool experience that my friend Conner McBride had that he didn't tell me about until I just heard his farewell talk, So in my first 6 months in my time here in Texas I message my friend Conner, whom was still at home and tell him, Hey, have you ever thought about leaving on your mission sooner? We talked and blah blah.

Then just this past Sunday he gives his farewell talk. In it, he tells of an experience that he had. He had been doing some thinking about many different things and then decided to pray and see if he should leave on his mission sooner. (Super brief summary) He said that not even 10 minutes later I had messaged him those same exact words that he said in his prayer.

"What are your thoughts about going on a mission sooner rather than later?"

Just fetchin crazy. God does hear and answer our prayers. Go say a prayer.

Photos + Funny videos
https://photos.app.goo.gl/WUYwsyauonMKVuc29

That's about it. See ya.

• Elder Payne

I have been thinking about all the changes and progress a full-time mission experience will give you if you let it.

These past two weeks have been making me want to just keep improving more and more. I have an amazing companion who I look up to a lot and he inspires me to try and do better every day.

I love how the Plan of Salvation is a never-ending improvement plan. Especially while here on earth. This is the time we have to make it the best life that we can, so why not choose to follow Jesus Christ the best we can because He will bring us eternal happiness.

I came to a point in my two-year experience, where I could have remained where I was and not try to improve in my knowledge and spirituality. Or remain humble, and recognize that I don't know everything and continue to try and learn, grow, and improve to come closer to my Father in Heaven, through Jesus Christ.

I am still trying to learn how to stay humble and recognize that I don't know as much as I think I do. I have been praying recently to find more ways to improve and have a desire to continue to change and it has been coming to me.

This life we have been given is too short to try and get on with just the bare minimum. I love that I can always try to do better and challenge myself and know that I am just racing the race against myself. There is no one in this life that I will be compared to. It all depends on how well I did and if I let that desire to improve work in me and let me improve.

I love what President Russel M. Nelson says about Thinking Celestial. As I have been reading my scriptures, I have been finding so many that relate to "Think Celestial." I won't even be actively looking for the relationship between the scriptures I am reading and this mindset of thinking, it will just come to me as I read. It is pretty cool.

There is a lot to say about mindset and how it plays a huge part in our lives and the way we go about them. I won't go into super big detail about it but just being positive can change everything. I contribute a lot of my happiness to thinking about Jesus Christ and asking myself, How would He think in this moment? (Thinking Celestial)

Yes, it might be overused but it came from a Prophet of God and I am going to use it as much as I can because he knows what's up.

A little about our friends right now. We have 3 people from Facebook that we are actively meeting with. It's pretty awesome! The way that God just works on people is so awesome. There are no coincidences. I don't care what you say, but I believe that God is working on everyone and He has a plan for everyone and the interactions that we have with people could just be another one of those interactions that those people need that God has been working on and been refining to eventually accept the Gospel into their life.

While I was on an exchange, with a missionary, who is serving down in Pflugerville, the whole theme of the day (what it seemed like to us) was that a lot of the people that we had talked to had already had some experience with missionaries before.

It was a pretty neat experience and reminded me that our efforts don't always go to waste. Just as I said before God is preparing different circumstances in people's lives for them to fully receive the Gospel.

We talked to this nice older couple who had been through quite a lot and he had an amazing story. He told us that the missionaries used to come by when he was younger and lived elsewhere and would love for us to come by. As we were talking about the Book of Mormon, she looked at it and said, "I have one of those books!" She told us that she was just thinking the other day that she needed to get it out of her boxes of books. (No coincidences)

Fast forward a week

I was supposed to get this out last week

This week as a mission we have a goal of teaching 1000 new people. It is our Easter gift back to Jesus Christ. I am pretty excited to exercise my faith and effort to be able to contribute to this goal.

It will take missionaries to open their mouths and talk to people and be OK with rejection because the people who are humble and willing will be there soon enough.

Elder Jones and I were able to go mountain biking with the youth in the ward. I am not lying when I say that we were probably the most experienced there ? but it was fun to help and train the youth and leaders. We have been wanting to go biking for a while but I didn't have a mountain bike so I was able to use an extra one that a member of the congregation was kind enough to let me use. It was a tender blessing to be able to go out into nature and ride a bike. The whole rest of the day went so much better. We felt a little sore but other than that, oh man, we felt good.

During my studies this past week I was starting the Book of Mormon over and specifically looking for the answer to the question, 'Is there a God?' I have been marking all the verses that stand out to me about there being a God who knows us and understands us.

The easy answer to this question is yes, but I am finding the scripture that best supports the claim. Finding how people knew there was a God, What we can do to know if there is a God, and diving deep into the reality of God being in our lives. It has been awesome.

I don't have much more to say. If you have any questions, talk to my mom.

That's about it. See ya.

• Elder Payne

We will keep this email a little short this week so that I can start getting into the groove of writing, again. It has been a few weeks since my last update. Every time preparation day rolls around I feel my motivation to write just diminishes. I have so much throughout the week that happens, where I would love to just share it all, but then all the build-up is gone and I never get around to doing it. I am going to start trying to write when I first get up.

We shall see what happens this next week...

The Vista Ridge area is a unique one. Now, I'm sure any missionary could say that about the individual area that they serve in. I thought I would just elaborate more on why this area in Cedar Park, TX is unique.

When you think of Texas you probably think of Cowboys and tumbleweeds. While this is true for some parts of Texas, it isn't so true for Cedar Park. The diversity is pretty wide here. That in turn brings in a wide amount of different religious beliefs.

When we try to share something about what we do as missionaries and the unique message that we share with the Book of Mormon, and someone isn't too interested because they have their own belief, we turn in on them and try to get to know more about what they believe in. Once we can get a good background of who these people are it is easier to take the doctrine of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and relate to these people on a common level.

It has been nice to learn more about people and the history of what they believe. It is a new type of love for the people that is deeper than just a base level. Once we can recognize where people are coming from and why they understand topics a certain way, it is easier to be able to talk and people open up that way.

Being able to communicate and talk about struggles or differences of opinion can go a long way. This goes with companions, friends, family, strangers, anyone.

These past few weeks have been a big realization of this principle for me. The power of just getting to know people and understand them is amazing. I have been able to see myself be less judgemental of everyone and lead with love in every interaction as the Savior would.

We never know what people are going through, so having an open, and loving heart is what the Savior would do and it lets people trust you because they recognize deep down that this is what Jesus Christ would do.

The people and culture may be vastly different but we are all sons and daughters of a loving and caring God.

I have been able to see how much the members care for these people as well. Each time we bring someone new to church, they are always willing to say hi and introduce themselves.

One member in particular stands out to me. She has such a deep love for everyone, no matter what walk in life you are taking.

We had one of our new friends come to church one of these past weeks. She came in a little late and we had just thought that she might not come. My companion leans over to me and says,
"I think [Our friend] is here".

He had never met this friend, due to us being with other missionaries at the time. I congratulated him and told him,
"Good job for looking out", he immediately tells me that it wasn't by his own doing but that the spirit had told him to look over and he knew it was her.

We ended up sitting by her for the rest of the first hour of our church service. Once the meeting ended our member came up to us and our friend, immediately took her in and "stole" our friend!

I know I felt a lot of gratitude in that moment for our members. Especially those who are ready and looking for opportunities to welcome someone in with the love that Christ would give to them.

We have another one of our friends who just recently moved here from Africa. He was telling us about how much he loves Jesus Christ and wants to follow him the best that he can.

During our meeting with him, he asked, what seemed out of the blue, the requirements for becoming a member. We talked to him about baptism and how it would be following the example of Jesus Christ. We decided to extend the invitation to him to be baptized and he said it would be something that he would like to do but that he wants to learn more first before he fully commits. He told us that he needs his English to be more established and that he loves how our church is represented online and thinks that it would be a great fit for him.

He then says the words, "I am ready". Once he said this in a little bit of broken English, the spirit filled the room of the church building that we were in.

I feel as though I have been struggling to feel the spirit recently so having our friend say that he is ready and wants to follow Jesus Christ the best he can with the confirming witness of the Holy Spirit being there with us was a powerful experience that built my realization of the Spirit.

I have noticed that as I was in the beginning of my time here in Texas, I had all of these strong distinct spiritual experiences, such as the one that I had just mentioned. These experiences grew my testimony and have helped me follow the spirit ever since. I have grown more accustomed to the guiding and enabling power that God grants unto us with the Holy Ghost. I felt that I must have been doing something wrong to not be having these "powerful" experiences all the time. The reality is, I'm living in those experiences daily.

The more we have the Holy Ghost with us and have sacred experiences the more accustomed, I feel, that we get with the Holy Spirit being present in our lives. Once we choose to act on a propmting, a feeling, or an experience with the spirit and promise to continue to follow that throughout our lives God will then in turn start to trust us more and more as we follow his guidance that he is granting unto us through the Holy Spirit.

I hope that came across in the way I attended it. I feel like Nephi when he says,

"..neither am I mighty in writing, like unto speaking; for when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men."
2 Nephi 33:1

And even then I don't think I speak very well ?

My current companion, Elder Rowe, got his VISA and will be heading to Peru this Thursday the 7th. It is weird how fast this one transfer has gone by with him. He has been able to learn and grow very quickly which is awesome to see as a companion.

I am jealous that the people of Peru get to be with him and hear his amazing testimony of Jesus Christ and can't wait to continue to see him learn and grow while he is there!

While I was just reading back through my email, I was reminded of the important role that prayer can and will play in every aspect of our lives.

One of my favorite scriptures recently comes from 3 Nephi 19,

 "And Jesus said unto them: Pray on; nevertheless they did not cease to pray." 

Or in other words, Keep calm and pray on.

The people at this time in 3 Nephi 19 were living righteously.

(I mean they just saw Jesus multiple times and they all got to be able to witness of his divinity by feeling the prints of the nails in his hands and feet)

15 And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.
16 And when they had all gone forth and had witnessed for themselves, they did cry out with one accord, saying:
17 Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus and did worship him.

3 Nephi 11
^^For context

Even during one of the best, probably the best moment of their life they didn't stop praying. I love the thought of "Pray on". We may be going through hard times or good times but we should never stop praying. I don't know if it's a new view that I have on prayer now, but I feel as though I have recognized myself being more meaningful and humble in my communication with Heavenly Father. It has been so cool to have.

I don't really have much else to say. I have been practicing my ukulele again. I never knew how much relaxation or a destresser playing my ukulele was until I started playing it again. It's the small things :)

I should be getting back on track writing again.

I am going to start filming some more videos for FB and possibly just some fun random skits.

Our friends are doing good! We have quite a few that are coming to church regularly which is great!

We have a pet squirrel that comes and visits us on our balcony

It's been feeling nice out here recently. The temperature is starting to turn up, we love the heat... :)

That's about it. See ya.

• Elder Payne

Picture in your mind a large football field. In the far corner of the stands, as high up as you can go, there is the start of a string. That string is pulled tight, from the highest furthest point in the stand all the way to the adjacent side. This string hovers above all the rows and rows of seats, the span of the large football field, and to the other side.

The distance between the two ends is pretty far.

As you look at the string from your seat in the stands, or from your place on the field, or in the special VIP booth, you notice something hanging from this string. Upon further inspection, you make out this object to be a piece of white printer paper with a hole in the middle of it to accommodate the string passing on through.

Now that you have this image in your mind, think about the width of the paper. How small it is when compared to the length of the string. The paper is but a brief moment on the string's journey to the other side of the stadium.

If we take the width of the piece of paper and think about our life here on earth how relatable are the two?

Think about the string as eternity, spanning from end to end of the football field. Now the string does end but it's the symbolism that matters. Our life here on earth is but a brief moment compared to the everlasting life that we will have after this one.

With that knowledge, it begs this question,

How are we spending it?

Are we taking each moment in our life and embracing the opportunities that come in our path?
Are we giving it our all?

I've been pondering a lot about this recently and asking myself, am I giving it my all and truly trying to make the best out of each opportunity that arises?

New opportunities have been arising each and every day and I don't know if I am making the most out of it.

One of my goals this year and the start of this new transfer is to;

1. Follow Spiritual Promptings
   And
2. Remember the blessings that I have seen in my life and remember the good faith-promoting experiences that I have had.

The hymnal 'Count Your Many Blessings' comes to mind for that last point.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/music/library/hymns/count-your-blessings?lang=eng&showFlash=true

The whole song is just a great reminder that God is with us in everything. He has strengthened me through the big and small challenges in my life.

Verse 2 slaps,

"Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings; ev'ry doubt will fly,
And you will be singing as the days go by"

I feel as though (especially recently) that the cross seems heavy that I've been called to bear. A lot is going on and it's kinda crazy if I'm going to be completely honest.

But I start to count my many many blessings and I do start to sing as the days go by.

I hope that these two goals will help me make the most out of the situations that have been presented to me.

And then continue to make the most out of the situations and opportunities that will arise in the future.

These past 4 weeks there has been a lot of change!

I was able to send Elder Iloa off! He is headed down to Bastrop. Now I don't know much about that area but I have heard that it is a good one!

I will miss being able to work with him and being able to laugh and talk together about anything and everything.

I buzzed my head! Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not the best decision that I have made. For the work we do on Facebook, every week the area of missionaries over a Facebook page get together over a zoom call and do what we call a Facebook Blitz where we just grind out FB and send in emojis to a chat that we have.

Elder Iloa and I were in charge of making this all happen so to encourage the missionaries I told them that I would shave my head if we got a certain number of emojis.

So, we got our goal...

Hey, the missionaries were hyped and thats all I can ask for :)

I made it another rotation around the sun. I don't think my mom expected me to make it this far, but we made it!

One year older and wiser too
Happy Birthday
Clap
To you!!

I have been doing a lot of thinking back due to another birthday but also due to the time that I have been here in Texas on my full-time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

It ties into the visual I explained at the beginning of my email. The time that we have goes by way faster than we think it will. When compared to eternity it is such a small moment in time, but some of the most important.

I expect this next year to go even quicker than this past one has and hope to be able to seize the moment and get the most out of the opportunities that arise.

I am excited to see what is in store.

I have a new companion! Elder Rowe just arrived from the MTC (Missionary Training Center) this Friday the 26th of January. He is originally assigned to Peru but will be here in Texas a short time due to VISA issues.

Good news! He just got his VISA and will be flying to Peru in 6 weeks. So he won't have much time here in Texas.

While I was waiting for Elder Rowe to arrive to the field, I was with another Elder down on the UT campus! It was quite a trip! The way you do missionary work down on the actual campus is WAY different than anything that I have been used to before.

There are just so many people, so you are just talking to one right after another. It is always, go, go, go! It took me awhile to get into the flow of things but it worked out after I got over the feeling of, "This is weird." and just embraced the awkwardness. It would be more awkward if I just stood there.

All the people there are around my age so that was strange as well, but super fun. The YSA ward is super fun and they have some really good members that are wanting to help move the work forward. (Props to returned missionaries)

While I was in the Downtown Austin area I was able to live with an Elder that I hadn't seen in a long time. (Imagine that in a low gruff voice)

ELDER STEVENS!! Oh boy. It was really good to see him and be able to live with him this past week. We talked a lot and were able to make food together again like we did when we were rooming together in Temple, Texas.

I've been really enjoying all the experiences that I have been having here in Texas. It is truly a blessing to be able to see people change and give their lives to Christ and trust in God.

We have a friend, that Elder Iloa and I taught the majority of the lessons to, who is getting baptized this week!

It was special to be able to be a part of his journey and see him accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

As we walk, drive, and bike around this area in Cedar Park, it feels almost surreal to think that there will soon be a Temple here. Right here! This place will have a House of the Lord. I look at the space where it will lay someday and just imagine what it will look like. All there is now is a church building and some trees so it is fun to imagine what the top of the Temple might look like with the surrounding church building, trees, and homes.

All I can continue to say is, don't take the time that you have for granted. Go and make the most out of the situation that you are in.

Find JOY in the journey :)

Check out all my photos:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/WUYwsyauonMKVuc29

Thank you for your support and prayers

That's about it. See ya.

• Elder Payne

I was planning on writing a whole poem but then I couldn't figure out good enough words to use. Maybe I'll get some inspiration and put it in at the end of the email.

There has been a whole lot that has happened in the past two weeks. Not to mention Christmas and New Year's just add to the list!

I will make an attempt to speak quickly about my Christmas experience.

I know I talked about the Nativity Walk in a past email but that is where the true Christmas experience started for me. That event put into perspective for me the true meaning of Christmas and helped me grow my individual relationship with Jesus Christ.

The time that I was able to spend on the Savior in this unique setting of a set apart missionary is an experience that is different than any other. You aren't focused on the presents under the tree, you aren't trying to go hit the slopes every day, you aren't worried about what you may or may not get, you are focused on Jesus Christ and His amazing grace, love, mercy, and light.

We can always be focused on the savior during the Christmas holiday but life gets busy and as a full-time missionary, life is pretty busy, but busy of Jesus. haha It helped me have a new take on the Savior's birth that I hope to take with me forever.

I had a wonderful full circle moment this past week which just grew my love for the good that others do but most importantly the good that Jesus Christ does for us.

With our mission, we have a group chat where we send in a short story and pictures of individuals who get baptized.

I got home after a long day and noticed that we had received a message from this group chat. This is the message that was there:

Meet Jeff! He is the newest member of the Church in the Pflugerville Ward. He met with
missionaries a few months ago at a park. He recognized them and decided to go talk to them after his workout set. But before he
finished, the Elders got up and went and talked to him. He met with the Elders to listen to the message of the Restoration of the Gospel and agreed with everything that was taught. Same with the following messages. He met with the ward and made many friends and loved the way the Church is operated. He read the Book of Mormon and gained a witness of its Divinity and Truth by the Witness of the Holy Ghost. He says that this was something he had been thinking about for nearly 10 years. He was baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints yesterday and received one of the greatest gifts ever promised on Christmas Eve. We are so excited to help him see what the future holds for him as a member of the Lords True Church.

I couldn't help but to just start crying real man tears as I was reading this. Elder Williams and I were the two Elders who first talked to him. You never know where your efforts will go. I was only able to meet Jeff once. That very first time, then he was always super busy and didn't have time to meet. Then I eventually left Plugerville. It was so awesome to see, like I said before, you never know where your efforts will go.

There has been a lot happening, as I mentioned before. Good, bad, such is life. I let myself get into a pretty bad hole, that I am still getting out of. I won't go into detail but there were a few things that helped me out a ton. Two things in particular.

1. My dad and his wonderful council
2. My good friend Dylan and his email

I messaged my dad telling him everything that was up and he told me something that I wasn't really expecting and something that I didn't really want to hear hahah It helped me refocus my thoughts on Jesus Christ and His role in this plan that he has for us.

I was reading Elder Hansen's email and this line stuck out to me;

"Why would I want to do anything less than my best? Why wouldn't I want to treat people with the respect they deserve? That desire to do better is difficult to describe. It's not guilt. Rather, it is inspiration. The Spirit does a good job giving you that if you let it.

"Are you listening for it?"

These two things together, like I said helped me focus on Jesus Christ and His divine role. I decided to follow the Spirit and listen for the inspiration that God was trying to give to me, I just was hardening my heart and wasn't accepting his help in my life.

I then had a really good study where I focused on remembering. Rather than focusing on all the bad or sad or discouraging times, we should remember what the Lord has done for us, for me.

I listened to a talk from President Eyring from a 2007 October conference titled, 'O Remember, Remember' and he stated this question regarding how he looks back on his day, "Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?"

I decided to take this question into my journaling. How have I seen the hand of God reaching out to me today? As I have been more focused on the good rather than the bad I have been in a way better mood. Crazy, Right!? Who woulda thought?!

No matter how big or small the event was I still felt God's love for me in all of it.

Helaman 5 is a really good chapter from the Book of Mormon that talks all about remembering all the good that God has done. Highly recommend.

Last of all, the New Year! 2024. Couldn't end without saying something. The start of this year means something absolutely WILD to me...

I only have a year left here in Texas.

Time flies while you are having fun.

Or better

Time flies while you are serving the Lord with all your heart, might, mind, and strength.

Let's see where this year takes us, shall we?

That's about it. See ya.

• Elder Payne

Elder Iloa says as he checks his phone while we were out recording some videos for our Facebook page.

"Well, give him a call back!"
I responded to him.

Now getting a call from our mission President isn't always a big issue, but this time was different. You see, transfers were coming up and it was the Saturday before. President gives some missionaries calls on the Saturday before to give them leadership assignments or ask them to train. So as we were calling President back, we were all speculating on what it could be for.
Elder Iloa and I were with Sister Goodman and Sister Jordan recording Sister Goodman's introduction video for her Facebook page and then we were making some other videos that Elder Iloa and I like to call Meet The Missionaries, that we have in the works. Anyway, since President had called Elder Iloa and I, we all knew that the call was for me.
We thought I could either train again or be called to be the new district leader. President answers and does his good ol' heart-warming hello. Then proceeds to say,
"Elder Payne, I got an assignment for ya. Are you ready?"

"Uh, Sure President. . ."

"Heh, heh, heh... We'd like you to serve as a Zone Leader this transfer."

We were all in shock! Dah gum Zone Leader. Crazy. That happened and I had to attend some meetings to learn how to ZL. ZL 101. My key responsibilities are to make sure the Zone is doing alright and that the morale is high. Amongst some other things, I'm excited to serve in this new role and learn from other missionaries that I get to serve with even closer now!

I think I have said this before, but the hardest part about making all this FIRE content for our Facebook account is all the editing! The filming part is easy! We just pick a pretty place, hook up the person with a lav, and press the "record" button on the camera.

The editing is so fun and rewarding though when we get it just the PERFECT way. We have 2 complete so far and are trying to grind out the others. It is like when you make some bomb food, that you cook up and you Chef Boyardee the crap outa it. It's rewarding. Just like when you film a video and edit it. It feels super rewarding.

I have had this newfound love for editing. I don't know where it came from but I feel like I am pretty good at it. Not the best but the two videos that we have done have been GAS!!

I definitely feel the hand of the Lord amplifying our work here. With making this content but also just finding and having lessons.

I have been pretty lazy on my finding efforts recently and have been writing my thoughts in my journal about it.

I have been slowly getting better and better at talking to everyone and gaining my confidence back. Believe it or not, but if you don't keep up talking to strangers on a constant basis, it gets to you. You feel as though you aren't good enough to talk to them, or that you won't know what to say.

Elder Wilson and I talked about this on our exchange and we just said that we need to send it.

Doc. + Cov. 66:6
"inasmuch as you can send, send"

Sometimes you just gotta do it and know that the Lord is there to support you. We had some cool experiences as we took this to mind during our exchange.

We decided to have faith as we approached every single person and we were able to share a lot of Christmas messages with people and invite them to our Christmas sacrament service. It was super nice and I felt pretty accomplished at the end of the day compared to other days. I think having spiritual experiences with these people that we talk to helps us as much as it helps them.

I think missionaries get into this mindset of find, find, find, without the spiritual aspect of the journey. It is easy to share a scripture, throw a principal in, get a phone number, and set up a return appointment. But how much do we actually want to get to know this person that we are talking to. We need to be more intentional about the relationships that we have.

This goes for all of us. From my good friend Conner Rice;
"There are people that we meet every day that we only put in a half-hearted effort to get to know them and then once we get to know them, it becomes easy to try and multitask when we are spending time with them."

I think of this in a missionary way first. We, as missionaries, come across all sorts of different people on the daily, but what are we thinking about when we are first approaching them and how are we doing it? Are we doing it in a way to be invested in their life and help them or just to check a box to get another find?

We can be like Ammon where he served the king and the fellow-servants. Then when the servants were in fear of being slain he had an increased love from them.

"Now they wept because of the fear of being slain. Now when Ammon saw this his heart was swollen within him with joy; for, said he, I will show forth my power unto these my fellow-servants, or the power which is in me, in restoring  these flocks unto the king, that I may win the hearts of these my fellow-servants, that I may lead them to believe in my words."
Alma 17:29

We could be like Abinadi who stood before the king because he had gone into the land of his enemies because he was asked to by God and who was bold and courageous in the words that he said to the king and his priests.

V3. Touch me not, for God shall smite you if ye lay your hands upon me, for I have not delivered the message which the Lord sent me to deliver; neither have I told you that which ye requested that I should tell; therefore, God will not suffer that I shall be destroyed at this time.
V6. And he spake with power and authority from God; and he continued his words, saying:
V7. Ye see that ye have not power to slay me, therefor I finish my message.
Mosiah 13

We could be like the Sons of Mosiah who diligently searched the scriptures to know the word of God so that they could proclaim it to the people and as they were faithful they did rejoice with Alma to know that they were still 'brethren in the Lord'

V.2 Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel first appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; year, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God.
V3. But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God.
Alma 17

Not only that, they were courageous and trusted in God. V. 12-13

We can be like Jesus Christ. The ultimate example for us to follow. He invited one by one to come unto him and receive a further witness that He is the Son of God and that He was slain for the sins of the world.

V. 14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth and have been slain for the sins of the world.
V. 15 And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel wither their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.

Second way that I think about it is just in a "normal life'' way. You who are reading this right now. How many people do you spend time with and involve yourself in their life? Get to know THEM.

If you are a member of this faith, how well do you know your assigned ministering families or individuals? How can you take these stories of these people and use them to be more intentional about the way you interact with them and love them?

Those of you that may not be of my faith. You can still take this council to be more intentional about the relationships that you have with people. Friends, family, co-workers, people in your classes at school, people on your social media.

We can all be a little more intentional with the people that we know. Help them feel the love of Jesus Christ by getting to know them and serving them. Especially now during this wonderful Christmas season!

We met this cool guy named Mariano this past week! He has a pretty crazy story about how we were able to meet him.

He had met with some missionaries over Facebook and went to their chapel a couple of times, but he just moved away from that area and moved into the area that Elder Iloa and I cover.

One morning, Elder Iloa and I were going to help our member with some yard work. We usually go every Friday and help but right before we were about to head out... He texted us and canceled for today. This member has a small house that he rents out. We then got the information for Mariano and saw that he lived in that house!

So we called our member and he said that we wouldn't be able to come over today and we said that it was ok we were just wondering if you "happened" to know our Mariano. He said that he just moved in!

We have been in good contact with Mariano and he pulled up to our Christmas party! It was super good for the members to see someone new as well! We love Mariano! Please pray for him.

There are many things that have happened in my time here in Texas. And I wouldn't change it for anything in the world. I could write about all of them, but pictures tell a thousand words...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WUYwsyauonMKVuc29

I love the Book of Mormon, I love Jesus Christ.

That's about it. See ya.

Elder Payne

Silent night! Holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight!
Glories stream from heaven afar;
Heav’nly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ, the Savior, is born!
Christ, the Savior, is born!

Silent night! Holy night!
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from thy holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth;
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.

What a good song to get stuck in your head as you are helping set up the nativity story.
The members here in the Round Rock area have something they call the "Nativity Walk". It is a small trail located in the trees behind the church building. Soon to be where the Austin, Texas Temple will be located.

During the walk you go through 7 storyline events of the Saviors birth.

1. Caesar Augustus, and his decree to tax everyone or something like that
2. The Shepard's seeing the angel
3. Samuel in the Book of Mormon and the signs of the Saviors birth
4. The Wisemen
5. Guards blocking you before entering into the city
6. The Inn
7. The Manger

Elder 'Iloa and I had the privilege of helping set up. I was singing Silent Night the entire time which was nice for 2 reasons.

First, it made me focus my thoughts and actions on Jesus Christ throughout the 2 days that the event took place

Second, at the end of the first night, all the missionaries in the area had the opportunity to be the last group to walk through. We would walk through the different scenes and after the actors/members finished, they joined our group and we all arived at the manger scene together. We had time to sit there and reflect about Jesus Christs birth. Brother Glazier stood up and he kinda closed the night. We sung Silent Night as a group and then closed the with a prayer.

The first night was pretty special due to a football game going on right across the street. Even though the "Great and Spacious Building" was calling, the spirit of the Christmas season was still stronger than ever. It was almost impossible to not feel the spirit testify of Jesus Christ and his birth.

I love Jesus so much.

Elder 'Iloa bore his testimony during church for fast Sunday. We were sitting towards the back on the front row of the metal chairs. I noticed that he was getting a bit wrestles in his seat. Moving around and adjusting his position. He then stands up, says "Screw it." and walks to the front.

Now if you know Elder 'Iloa this was all very different for him. But he got up there and bore an amazing testimony of what his experience with the Church has been. All I could say when he came back to sit down was, thank you.

I won't be able to do it justice, but he told us that he is proud to be a member of Jesus Christs church and that we should all be proud members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

So with that, to all the members that may or may not be reading this at this time, I will ask you to be confident in who you are as a son or daughter of God in His restored church on the earth today.

I don't know if Elder 'Iloa will ever read this but I am so thankful for him and his testimony. I have been able to see him grow and strengthen his testimony more now than ever before and I am so grateful to be apart of his journey. He is making amazing steps and will become a WAY better missionary than I will ever be able to become. He has amazing experience's in his life that will help change the lives of others.

All in all, God works wonders in all of our lives. We just have to look. :)

A few highlights of the week:

• We had the cleanest apartment in the entire ZONE
• Light the World for the Christmas season has begun! They dropped a banger video from NYC
• Our friend John is so close but just doesn't want to admit it
• I ate a half gallon tub of ice cream in one night...
• Chick Fil A
• Seanster Stego Saurus

It was a good uplifting week. The Nativity Walk grew my testimony of Jesus Christ and I can say with surety, I know Jesus is the Savior of the world. I know that as you turn towards him you will find ever lasting happiness.

Jesus Loves you!

That's about it. See ya.

• Elder Payne

Elder 'Iloa has a lot of random music on his phone that we have been going through, trying to clear it up a bit. One song that came on just hit me.
Homeward Bound. If you haven't heard this song I would highly recommend to give it a listen. When my grandpa passed away my siblings, and a few cousins sung this song at his funeral. So when it came on it was one of those weird nostalgic feelings, but in a good way.

I have been so hyped on doing missionary work online. We found some good information on how to further the work using Facebook and the very limited tools that we as full-time missionaries have.

We did some filming this last week for an idea that we have. We interviewed a few missionaries and asked them some questions about their life. And OH BOY!! I am so excited! It looks super good!! The only annoying thing is that we don't have the right tools to edit very fast or in a quality way. . .

The other day our church computer in the clerks office crashed as we just tried to open a Google tab. Then just yesterday, it took us an hour to download a video that we just added the sound on to it and nothing else. AN HOUR!! But its ok. The Lord is going to magnify our efforts as we put in the work and try to do the best that we can!

For some of the videos that I want to make it requires WAY more talent than I have so, I am going to be able to work with some other missionaries and friends to help put together some quality content! I am so hyped!

We have been so blessed while trying to execute all of our ideas. We have had a lot of ups and downs, emotionally and spiritually. Trying to work with what we have is kinda difficult. But like I said before the Lord will magnify our effort.

Sometimes we don't know how we are going to get the right lighting or something super silly like that, but it has all worked out for good.

I was able to go on and exchange with Elder Stevens this week! Yes, good ol' Elder Stevens from Temple! We had a really good time with each other. It was nice to catch up and see how to help each other out. We had dinner with a newly married couple and they told us their stories of joining the church. It is so cool how much God is actively involved in our lives even more than we will ever know. I know that God is looking out for every single one of us. I don't know how he does it but he does.

We have stopped playing Uno every night and instead we have been playing this game called The Crew or Happy little dinosaurs. We played over 100 games of Uno in the first 2 weeks of the transfer. That is kinda crazy if you think about it!

We put our friend Abraham on date this past week. Well he kinda did it himself. Please pray for him, that he will continue to be ready to be baptized and receive all those blessings!

If you see any cool videos that would be super to make, please send them to me. I am not a very creative person so I need all the inspiration that I can get! hahaha

Love you!

More photos:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/WUYwsyauonMKVuc29

That's about it. See ya.

- Elder Payne

I have loved being companions with Elder 'Iloa. He is a very outgoing, and kind individual. We get along well and have been brainstorming many ideas on how we can start using Facebook more and more to help people learn about who Jesus Christ is through the Book of Mormon.

We are putting my camera to good use and have been starting to make a 'Weekly Verse', where Elder 'Iloa will share a scripture from the Book of Mormon and we will edit it a bit, then post it online! We are both pretty excited about it and faithful that it will reach the people that it needs to reach!

Having a nice camera to film videos on is so nice! We have lots of ideas that are in the works but the only really hard thing is that we don't have a good place to edit the videos in an easy way. It takes crazy long on the phone and I am just not a big fan of tryin' to use a small phone screen to edit things. It is tough. But we are making it through, one step at a time.

If you have any ideas of videos that we could make to post on Facebook, that will help uplift people and make them interested in learning more, please shoot me an email. All ideas are appreciated!

kohl.payne@missionary.org or Kohl Payne on Facebook

The main reason we are pushing so hard on Facebook right now is due to our area. It is a pretty "hard" area. People aren't as receptive to listening to you as they are in other areas. So what better way to reach someone than through using technology. Everyone is always on their phones so if we could get a good outreach on Facebook, oh boy! It would be awesome!

Elder 'Iloa and I are pretty excited to be filming different things. Like I said before, if you have some ideas, please, let me know. I am also going to try and organize a big group project and make a post on Facebook, but I can't spoil what that might be! ;) I am pretty dang excited for it though! Especially if it works out.

I have been feeling a bit discouraged here and there. I have been losing some of my good habits. The biggest one is that I have been slipping up really hard on writing in my journal. Not just because I don't feel like it, or because I'm lazy, it's because every night when we get back to the apartment we play Uno with the other Elders.

Uno goes HARD! We have a scoreboard and it is really competitive. We have fun though! And I know, I will try to do better at my journal writing. Journal before Uno is a new goal that I am trying to focus on this week.

Something cool about the church building that I attend is that the new Austin, Temple will be right next to our church building! I have my fingers crossed that I will be here for the ground breaking but who knows when that will be? I am excited nonetheless!

I had this pretty wild dream a bit ago. It made me really think about the time that we have as missionaries is pretty limited. I took it as a sign from God that I needed to recommit myself to the work and see the blessings that God has in store for me to see and be a part of.

Not much else has happened. Elder 'Iloa and I are trying to get into the groove of things and start finding those people who are ready. It does take some time, but we will not give up!

Thats about it. See Ya.

- Elder Kohl Payne

That perspective is starting to change a little which is nice. Though I do want to seem good in the eyes of others, I have realized that this email is more for me than anyone else. It is here to help me look back on the week that I have had to express my thoughts, concerns, and remarks.

The truth is that the work isn't perfect. Believe it or not, missionaries do get discouraged and get down every now and then. A missionary would be lying if they said that they have never felt down at some point in their mission experience. This could be manifested in many different ways, but if we let the discouragement stay, then it will hinder the work. The work that we are doing, sharing the gospel with others and helping them implement it into their own lives, is very much applicable to us! We can use the atonement just as much as anyone else can. We invite people, as members of Jesus Christ's church, to partake in the joy that is of the Savior's atonement. How quick are we to partake in it for ourselves and understand that His sacrifice is for you? That Jesus Christ felt YOUR pains, YOUR sorrows, YOUR temptations, YOUR hardships, YOUR loss, YOUR sadness.

"And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people."And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities "Now the spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless, the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me." (Alma 7:11-13)

That was a super long soapbox just to say that we can turn to Jesus in all that we do. He knows what we have gone through and the discouragement can go away as quickly as you would like if you turn to and yoke yourself to Christ.

I don't know if that made any sense but I hope my point was able to come across the right way. I have been discouraged but Jesus has strengthened me through those troubling times, and I know he can and will do it again if I am willing.

To continue off of this thought and to get into some of the week's events, let me share an experience that my companion, Elder Williams, and I had this past week.

Dark and early on Tuesday morning, we had to make about a 40 minute trip to a doctor's office. A ton of unfortunate events were about to occur that we did not plan for.

We left right on time and were going to make it just a few minutes early to the appointment. We are about 10 minutes into our travel when we receive a call from the Elders that we live with. We had accidentally locked them out of the apartment. We swing around and unlock the door. At this point Elder Williams and I were feeling a bit mad at ourselves and at the situation.

Listening to 'Think Celestial' by President Nelson, we started to make the trip back to the doctor's office. We get about 2 minutes away from the office when they call us and tell us that we need to reschedule the appointment because they don't let you in after 15 minutes. I bet you could guess how defeated we must have felt. But we heeded President Nelson's advice and looked at the bigger picture. We decided to focus our thoughts and actions in an eternal way rather than stay in a worldly state of mind. We then proceeded to have a wonderful day! We looked at the positive rather than all the negative.

That has been a big focus of mine recently. While I was home my dad was listening to this audiobook called something like, Gap vs. Gain. It was all about how if we look at what we are missing, the gap, then how can we improve and be happy. If we focus on the gain and what is going well then we will be more happy and continually improve.

I think about the classic 1 Nephi story of Nephi and his brothers Laman and Lemuel. Laman and Lemuel were being negative and didn't see the bigger picture of why they had to leave Jerusalem. While Nephi might not have known at first why they needed to leave, but he inquired of the Lord,

"I did cry unto the Lord, and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers." (1 Nephi 16).

Think Positive!

Can we take a quick moment here and talk about that Texas vs BYU game? Now I wasn't able to watch it but I heard some things. WHAT THE HECK!? 35 - 6! Like, come on now. Really, letting me down. E. Williams and I were sitting in a Chipotle after the game doing some Facebook work. There was a man wearing a Texas shirt, so we asked him how the game went. Very sad for us.

On Saturday we had a very wonderful day! The Lord seriously blessed Elder Williams and I 100 fold. I was doing some thinking while I was getting ready for the day pondering these questions: Why am I so excited for the day today? What is different about today than any other? How can I make every day like this? Even now I am still trying to figure out how and why. The answer may not come while I am on my mission or ever but I just hope and pray that I can feel this way about the work every single day.

After ending the day, during my 9-10:30 time, I was trying to think of why it was such a good day compared to other days and I came up with this simple math equation.

Faith, in Jesus Christ + Work / Effort = Miracles / Blessings

Pretty neat, right? I came up with it myself. I could dive into the three main points of the equation but it is pretty self-explanatory, I think. This particular day we were willing to do all that was required of us, because of our faith in Jesus Christ, which propelled us forward to do the work. Thus, we saw many blessings. We didn't really think about it until the end of the day but all the amazing miracles we saw were from us just doing what we thought was "normal". Talking to everyone, visiting old records, getting gas in our car, pretty normal things that we do, and because of it, we gained a reward. Those miracles. "...I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God."Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever."(Alma 25:11-12)

It has been raining pretty heavy this week. On, then off, then on again. The temp is starting to drop which I was excited about until the temperature actually started to drop down. It is currently 43 degrees here in Pflugerville, Texas. Which I would say is pretty cold. I don't know how I ever worked at a ski resort or did winter sports, because I am freezing. I have been wearing my long-sleeve white shirts and my jacket, but it doesn't seem to be doing the trick. I will have to, Improvise, Adapt, Overcome, my way through this winter season.

The one thing that the cooler temps have been reminding me of is Christmas. I know it isn't even Halloween or Thanksgiving yet, but can you just imagine it? The Christmas season! Right around the corner! We almost had the opportunity the other day to go through a haunted house! We were visiting one of our members and they were building a "Yard Haunt", that's what he called it, but his friend across the way had a carnival-style haunted house that our member almost took us in. We waited for a tad while the friend was fixing some things but we had to get going! It was pretty unfortunate! I would have loved to go through his haunted house but we had other things to do!

Elder Williams and I were made responders for a Facebook page in the Austin area that runs "ads". The mission is trying to wipe the page out, but ads keep getting put on it so they needed people to respond to the comments and likes. So we message everyone who reacted to a post on the page and reach out to them about whatever the post is about. We have been seeing so many cool miracles on Facebook recently! It is crazy how God will help these posts reach certain people when they need it the most!

We met this guy named Adrian from it. He is super cool! We just responded to his simple comment of "Amen" one day and within an hour he had already messaged us back and we had a phone call lesson with him, and put him on date to be baptized. It was pretty cool how it worked out because Elder Williams had reached out to him on his personal profile and we had called Adrian from Elder Williams's account. So Adrian didn't even really know I was there. As Elder Williams was talking to him I got a really strong prompting to just tell Elder Williams to extend a baptismal date. He is now meeting with missionaries closer to him in Austin and told his wife about the Book of Mormon and it was a pretty amazing experience! The Lord is preparing people all over! We just need to have the faith to find them. Facebook works :)

Transfers are tomorrow. I have been back in the field for 6 weeks now. It feels like I never left at some points, which I am very grateful for! These past 6 weeks have taught me a whole lot. Patience, Love, Humility, and a greater love for my Savior, Jesus Christ. I love all the people that I have been able to meet while serving in Pflugerville. My time here is coming to a close though. I got some pretty crazy transfer news that honestly shocked Elder Williams and me.

I will be going to Vista Ridge, and finishing an Elder's training. Not just any Elder though. Elder Giuffra got a train gain his last transfer before he goes home, and now that he is, his companion will only be one transfer being trained. So I will be going to finish his training! How exciting is that?! Elder 'Iloa is his name. I don't know much about him at the moment but I am very excited to get to know him and work alongside him.

There’s surely somewhere a lowly place. In earth’s harvest fields so wide. Where I may labor through life’s short day. For Jesus, the Crucified. So trusting my all to thy tender care, And knowing thou lovest me, I’ll do thy will with a heart sincere: I’ll be what you want me to be.
I’ll go where you want me to go, dear Lord, Over mountain or plain or sea; I’ll say what you want me to say, dear Lord; I’ll be what you want me to be. (Hymn 270: I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go)

I have many more experiences and events that I would love to share but this email is getting mighty in writing already. So, I will spare you and let you go about your day.

Please know that you are loved. Jesus Christ is always there beside you, carrying you through the hard days in your life!

Jesus loves you!

That's about it. See ya.

-Elder Kohl Payne

Zone Conference though. I got to see Elder Stevens, Elder Giuffra, Elder Miles, and Sister Goodmann! It was so awesome! When I saw Elder Stevens, it was so awesome!! Imagine this: I brought muffins to Zone Conference and I was throwing my tin away because they were all gone. As I am walking down the hallway I see Sister Goodmann and I say, "What is this?!" Then out of nowhere Elder Stevens appears from behind the small group of missionaries walking down the hall and yells, "ELDER PAYNE!" He starts running towards me. I start yelling some sort of jumbled words along the lines of, Elder Stevens and it's so good to see you. Something like that. He then reaches me and we collide. His water bottle smacked me in the head and his thumb was jammed by my body. We hugged and had a really good happy moment. Then we sat next to each other during the meeting and lunch. Got to catch up. It was so nice!

It has been quite an interesting time being back here in Texas, but I am loving every single minute of it. (Almost) Here are a few crazy or fun things that have happened:
I made muffins

Got a Quran

Got to pass the sacrament

Put Elle and Jose on date for baptism

Exchanges with Elder Nacarato

Lesson with Cass!

Talked to a personal trainer out of his garage

Power went out

Let me talk really quickly about three of those amazing experiences.

Passing the sacrament

I haven't had the opportunity to pass the sacrament in quite some time. While at church yesterday the deacons came up to Elder Williams and I asking if one of us could help. Elder Williams was giving a talk so I decided to help. It was a fantastic experience. I don't know how it happened but I felt a greater connection and love for my savior Jesus Christ. It was a super simple act of passing the sacrament and helping others renew their covenant, that made me realize something. The spirit hit me so hard during the song and while passing. That experience built my testimony of Jesus Christ and his atonement.

Jose and Elle

We had a super good lesson with them this last week. The way that the spirit enters the room when you testify of the truth that the people are needing is such an amazing and sacred experience. We talked about many different things in this discussion, but when we talked about temples and families being together forever, everyone felt the spirit in that house. We all knew that on that day, in that minute, what we were talking about was true! Because the spirit of God confirmed the truth of it to all of us.

Cass

Oh boy! So let me tell you about Cass for a minute. She is so freaking cool! She wanted to have Bible studies and learn more, so that's what we'll be doing while sprinkling some principles from the lessons in there. But on this last lesson, I was on exchanges with Elder Nacarrato, we were going to talk about the story of Ruth and then relate it to our life here on earth and the trials we go through, somehow and in someway the spirit directed our conversation to talk about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She has a strong desire to serve a mission and do what she sees us doing. We talked about baptism and how we have the power from God to perform a baptism and make it good in the eyes of God. We were bold with her and it was so awesome. She was able to come to church yesterday and she loved it!

Not a lot, but seeing some awesome miracles as I go forth.

Jesus loves you!

That's about it. See ya!

- Elder Payne

Let's start with one of my absolute favorites; Jose and Elle! I absolutely love this family! The missionaries that were in this area before Elder Williams and I got here were teaching and meeting with Elle pretty consistently. She has been going through some hard times and meeting with the missionaries has seemed to be helping her. Jose, Elle's husband, wasn't actively being taught by the missionaries, yet. Once Elder Williams and I met them we experienced such an overwhelming love for them. We met with Jose this past week and shared with him some topics about the Restoration and other things here and there. He was really interested and was asking so many GOOD questions. We were able to leave him with a Book of Mormon and invited him to read a chapter. We also invited them to watch General Conference this weekend. We were going to watch the Sunday morning session with them but they ended up getting sick and didn't want us to get anything. After conference was over we asked them what they thought and Jose told us that he loved it! He only watched Sunday afternoon but I think that it was perfect. He told us that he was reading the Book of Mormon while watching. He has a few questions for us so we will be going over on Thursday to talk to him. It has been so uplifting to see him be so open to our messages that we have to share. Elle has been pretty busy with work but we are hoping to see her soon as well!

Now for a just as cool miracle! My boy Nelson! Let's get into all the good information on Nelson. So Elder Williams and I are walking back to our car that is parked a bit of a distance away in this neighborhood. We come accross Nelson watering his plants and ask him if he needs any help. He says that he doesn't but we then just start talking to him about his garden and different topics that come up. It was a pretty good conversation that we had with him. We then share with him some of our beliefs and he in turn shares with us some things that his church does. We hand him a Book of Mormon and invite him to read it.

We didn't set a return appointment and didn't get his number. So this past Sunday we decided to stop by again. Thankfully, he was home! We then sat on his porch for quite some time and shared a really awesome conversation. Many back and forth on what his church does and the line of "authority". He was super open to learning more because he knew that if he didn't look into everything then he might miss out on what is true. It was an amazing experience and we knew that he had been prepared by God. An open heart and humbled mind. We will be meeting with him next Sunday to follow up on his Book of Mormon reading.

These experiences alone have helped me grow so much while being back out on my mission. It has had it's ups and downs but I would like to say that I have a pretty optimistic attitude towards the work and looking forward in faith.

One of the downs that I had this week was being attacked by a swarm of wasps! Now just imagine this: Elder Williams and I walking towards a bench to sit down while we are on a call with our zone. *Slow motion* I start to sit down on this bench. I am so close to sitting down and then *STING* A wasp stings me in the back of the neck. I freak out and start running away. As I get up from my almost sitting down position I see a massive swarm of wasps around this bench and around me. I am in the midst of this family of wasps. I fortunately survive and get away with only the one sting. Just know that on our map the bench is now a crossed out area, and we will not be going back there.

I have been loving every second of me being back out on the mission. I have had doubts here and there but I have been told to doubt my doubts before I doubt my faith. I have been working hard to do that this week. Many doubts and many things that have made me question my testimony but as I go out everyday and see countless miracles it just testifies that being out here is where I need to be. The want will come and grow as I continue to trust in the Lord.

Thank you all for the support! I can't wait to update y'all next week!

That's about it. See ya.

- Elder Kohl Payne

Shady's back, tell a friend

Guess who's back, Guess who's back

Yes it is I! The One, The Only, (pause for dramatic effect) Elder Kohl Keith Payne!

*Crowd cheering and going absolutely wild*

6 weeks have passed on by. Some of the most fun yet depressing weeks of my life. We could either skip on by leaving out all the fun details or we could expound a little bit about my time at home and my week before I left. I kinda want to expound a bit, but I will try and keep it under control.

The week leading up to my sad unfortunate return to Utah was a pretty good one at that. We had one final District Council that was pretty dang fire and took lots of pictures. (You can see at the end some of them or join the google photos album to see all of them) Elder Giuffra and I worked hard but took it slow at times. I had one final day at T-Valley to help serve the people. Elder Giuffra and I got Chipotle the night I left. I mentioned that I had never had it before so he said that we were going. After our visits that we had we went to Chipotle and started grubbin.

I finished packing as the T2 Elders came over, Elder Stevens and Raban. We packed all my stuff in the car and drove down to Pflugerville so that I could spend the night in the AP apartment. Took some more pictures with Elder Giuffra, Stevens, and Raban. It was a hard goodbye. I love those Elders a lot.

Got settled in for the night and then woke up at 4am to get ready and then head off to the airport with the APs. Then  I flew home to my beloved family waiting for me. It was a nice tender moment. All the other missionaries around the world that had gone home that day had already been picked up. So it was pretty sweet to just have my parents, siblings, and whatever bystanders that were just watching us.

Now as you would probably expect, it was very weird being home. But the one thing that got me the most was the stoplights. In Texas they are all horizontal but in Utah they are all vertical! I don't know why this tripped me out so much but it did.

Now being home was super nice and awesome and all that jazz, but I felt absolutely worthless. I could not really do much. It was always so Go, Go, Go to just  n o t h i n g .  I was able to go to the Temple a few times which was super nice.

The surgery. . .Cool miracles happened with this so listen up.

So everything went pretty dang well. I got home on a Thursday and had an appointment with the surgeon for the following Tuesday. When we found out what time I would be getting home we were able to move my appointment with the surgeon to the day I got home! How cool is that!? So we meet with Doc and he looks at all the information and checks for a hernia and said that I do in fact have a herina. He then starts to talk to his assistant on when he could do the surgery and his assistant says, "Well, the earliest you have would be in September."

Doc says, "That's not going to work, we gotta do it sooner."

He sets it up for next Tuesday! The day I was originally going to have the appointment to set up a surgery date. Miracle number 2!! That soon for a surgery!? That is crazy!

Surgery went great. All I remember was being so tired. I kept falling asleep while sitting in the recovery room and whenever someone would come in the door, I would say with a loud voice "Welcome" or "Welcome in" I would be out, eyes closed not a single thought in my head, then door creeking open, "WELCOME IN". Before I was allowed to leave they told me that I had to do 2 things, use the bathroom and take a small walk. Took a nice little stroll around the hospital going 1/2 mph with a really nice lady.

Surgery complete!

All I had to do now was recover. Which I think went pretty swimmingly if you ask me. The first week was me just being a vegetable but then after I learned how to get up out of my bed and up from sitting down on my own, no one could stop me! My brother and I started going on some pretty fun adventures together. We went all over. Had some pretty fun hikes and found an amazing food place that I can't wait to go back to. Overall a solid 8/10 recovery. I had my follow up appointment with the surgeon and he gave me the all clear. So about a week and a half later I was outta there! Flying back to Texas! Saying bye to my family this time was a little bit harder I think. But it was good. I landed and President Carter picked me up.

I came back on a Monday so it was a Pday for everyone which was a little odd. As President Carter was driving me back from the airport we talked about my transfer news. He asked me if I had gotten an email and I told him that I had not. He said that I should have. So he told me where I would be going and who my companion would be. I was going to be in the Pflugerville area with Elder Logan Williams!! Not my MTC comp Williams but the one that I lived with when I first came into the mission! It was pretty neat to hear! The APs were in the Pflugerville area but then President Carter decided to move them away. That means Elder Williams and I are going into this thing blind. It has been super awesome though! But for the rest of the day I hung out with a district that isn't in my zone. We went bowling and got Tacobell.

This week getting to know the area has been pretty wild! Tuesday we picked Elder Williams up from transfers and what a wonderful day that was. Let me tell you an amazing story! So I hop out of the car and start walking to the group of Elders on the other side of the church parking lot. I'm walking past the doors to the church building and they swing wide open with Elder Giuffra yelling "ELDER PAYNE!!" He runs down the stairs and I run towards him and we embrace each other in our arms. It was like a scene out of a movie. We talk and get caught up on how things have been. It was really awesome to see him. He will be training a new missionary for his last transfer. Whitewash train. (whitewash means neither Elder coming to that area knows anything about it)

Elder Williams and I have had a great first week in this new area. It has been fun trying to figure everything out, making plans, working together, meeting members, meeting friends, and the untapped potential that is in this area! We have done a lot of knocking doors and visiting members and trying to meet our friends. We have a few friends that just love the church and have such an amazing love for Jesus! We hope to watch conference with a few of them this week!

Meeting the ward this past Sunday was a bit stressful trying to memorize everyone's names but it was so fun as well. We have a wonderful ward that loves missionary work and wants to be involved in our lives and our work as the missionaries in their ward. It is AWESOME!! We are still trying to figure out the best way to utilize all the tools that we have but when we do we will see endless miracles!

That's pretty much the update of the life of Elder Kohl Keith Payne. It has been wild being back in the mission field but it has also been so good. I have been able to change my mindset a bit. Being home opened my eyes to a lot of different things. The one I think is most important is that I hated the way I acted while I was home. While I was out for the 6 months before I went home the one thing I wanted most was to see a change in myself. I was changing and growing but when I got home I fell off the deep end. I started getting really lazy and focusing on things that weren't helping me with that change. And I don't want to go home that way again. I am going to work hard and make that change permanent. I am very excited to serve the people here in Texas and am ready to go.

Thank you all for reading this zoinka long email. It is a lot but I hope you enjoyed.

Thank you for sticking with me during this crazy time.

Please enjoy these pictures below, but if you want to see even more, you should join my google photos album :)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/WUYwsyauonMKVuc29

Love you all!

That's about it. See ya.

- Elder Kohl Payne

Regrets, I've had a few
But then again too few to mention
I did what I had to do
I saw it through without exemption
I planned each charted course
Each careful step along the byway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way

Yes, there were times I'm sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all, when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out
I faced it all and I stood tall and did it my way

My Way by Frank Sinatra

I had a very insightful week.

Let's start with the biggest amount of information. Shall we?

About 2 weeks ago now, I started experiencing some uneasy discomfort in my abdomen. I was pushing through because I thought it would just go away. It in fact did not get better but only kept getting worse. After finally being brave enough to face the doctor and all the appointments that I had to go through, I got some pretty devastating news. I have to get surgery. Now with this, there were many different options of things to do but the best is to go home, get it all taken care of, and then come back out stronger than ever! So that is what will be happening.

This Thursday I will be flying back to Utah to get surgery, recover, get strong, then fly back to Texas! Yes, I am pretty nervous, I am not going to lie. I do not know what this new chapter entails but it will be one giant step for me and the Lord. I am excited to see how this trial will help me grow in the long run. There are still many unknowns but hey, that's ok. I am still leading in faith and counseling with God on what to do. Don't worry about me, I will be ok! I am excited to see my family and get this surgery done and over with!

ANYWAY!! We finally decided to go to the dry cleaners this past week. It was actually a pretty dang good deal. They said they would have it done by tomorrow afternoon. We picked them up the next day and it was pretty cheap from what I know. I really don't know anything about dry cleaning but it seemed like a fair price!

I have two Lego sets that I have gotten this past week. I got a Batmobile and then the Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R from Fast and Furious. Yes, I will be taking them home. It was fun to build. Now they just look cool sitting on my shelf.

I was able to go on my last exchange with Elder Hoffmann this week. Mini exchange while the ZL's were at their meeting for more than half the day. We were able to do a few different things. We went to Green's one last time with the Temple 2 Elders and then I had a doctor's appointment—pretty solid day. Oh, and we went to T-Valley! My favorite service project to do each week.

I made some baller pancakes this week! Oh, they were so so good! I had blueberries and chocolate in them then topped them off with bananas and syrup! Now, were they healthy? Not at all. But it was a one-time thing. Just so worth it though.

We had dinner with the Bryan's this week and we went to a hibachi place. It was Elder Giuffra's first time going to a hibachi place. There was so much food! I got sushi of course and some salmon as the main dish. Elder Giuffra got two types of meat and finished it so fast. Brother Bryan was putting some of his food on Elder Giuffra's plate so that he could eat it. Haha It was a good night and I am very grateful for all the members in the Temple ward!

Elder Stevens and I went on our final exchange this week. It was kinda sad. We had a really solid exchange. We had a lesson with a referral that they got who requested a free Bible. So we brought it to her and read Matthew 3 and talked about baptism. We showed her the Bible video of Christ's baptism and she loved it. We then asked her if she would like to be baptized. She said yes!! It was a pretty baller lesson! She is super ready and they are in a good area.

We went to Cracker Barrel with one of their new members of about 8-9 months. It was my first time going. It was pretty fire. Would I go back? Yes.

I have been able to pack some of my stuff up. I am actually surprised with all the room I have in my suitcases! The first two are pretty packed but my biggest one is still pretty empty and I don't have that much left to pack.

It has been a pretty crazy week. I am excited about this new chapter but also pretty dang nervous about what will come. I am grateful for all the support and will continue to give updates every once in a while.

That's about it. See ya.

- Elder Kohl Payne

Do you remember the one guy that had a massive change and told us he wanted to get baptized? His name is Brian. He is such a wonderful guy and just a great person. We had been meeting with him every single day since last Sunday. So for this entire week, we had been meeting with him and trying to get him ready to enter the waters of baptism. Unfortunately, one night he came across some anti and his view of the church has completely changed. It was a pretty tough conversation that we had with him. He doesn't want anything to do with us anymore and doesn't want us to even reach out every once in a while. I think we ended things on a pretty high note. He still loves the people that Elder Giuffra and I are. We tried to talk about the anti he got ahold of but he just kept saying that we weren't going to convince him, and we said that we weren't trying to. It's a pretty sad situation and he hopes he will come around someday. We know he felt the spirit which is a really good step. I guess that he wasn't fully ready at this moment in time, or we just screwed up pretty badly. I don't know. We wished him the best as he continues his journey in life. If you can please say a quick prayer for him to continue in the progress that he has made. Thank you!

Pretty tough. We were in our feels this entire Sunday. It was a really good sacrament meeting! It helped me stay focused and reminded me to keep praying even when the storms come. Because during the meeting, I'm going to be pretty honest here, I was starting to doubt a lot of things. My testimony was weakening and I was starting to doubt. But then the first speaker got up to give his talk. This youth gave the simplest talk but one that will stick with me forever.

He started to describe a tornado and storm that was coming toward his house one night. He and his siblings were frightened while his parents were going outside to see how cool the storm was. They were watching the news on the TV and were told that they should probably take cover from the storm that was about to come. The family then got together on their knees and prayed for safety from the storm. They then hunkered down and continued to pray. The storm eventually passed and they were ok. A very simple story but one that we can all pull from. The spirit was speaking to me so strongly during this talk and told me that these storms, trials, afflictions, and tribulations, will come. But we can pray them through. It was a super simple message that just hit me really strong. Now I am still working on praying through the storm but I know it is going to be alright. Somehow, someway, God will provide a way.

There is a member that we have been hanging out with on P-days. He is pretty dang cool! We go over to his house to play games and just talk. Last Monday we were helping him with his game Mutual (The LDS dating app lol) and playing Risk. It has been such a blast being able to connect with him. He is going through some hard times, and I am glad that we can be here for him. We are trying to get the ward to get him some ministering Brothers. I honestly don't know where they are at with that but we have been trying since Elder Rice left. So. . . yeah.

After playing Risk we then went and played a quick game of Lazer Tag with just the Elders! It was super fun! It brought me back to my days working at Provo Beach. Elder Giuffra, Elder Raban, Elder Stevens, and I had such a blast with just one game of Lazer Tag. It was a free for all game which kind of made it better. Now I am a little disappointed with myself. . . I didn't get first but I did get second. It still really doesn't matter that much though, as Dave Earnhardt said, "Second place is the first loser." So I just lost and am the biggest loser. Double ouch.

We went to a pretty good BBQ place with our members one night called Backyard Barbeque. Elder Giuffra got his massive baked potato that had brisket on it and looked super good but HOLY COW a lot of food. This man was grubbin and devoured that thing in probably 6-10 minutes. It was pretty crazy. As we were leaving we got some toothpicks to help get some BBQ out of our teeth. We go on with our night and I still have this toothpick about an hour later. We were parked at a gas station due to a Zoom meeting that we had. I had wedged the toothpick between two parts on the steering wheel so when the meeting was done I could go back to using my toothpick. Well, time passes and I forgot about this toothpick. We finish the meeting and are about to drive away when I stab myself with the dah gum toothpick that I had forgotten about. . . Right into the palm of my hand. I take it out and go on with the week. I still have a mark but there is no pain so we chillin.
This past Friday Elder Giuffra tried to get his driver's license. There was a lot of prep work coming up to this moment but apparently not enough. We get to the place, check-in, and then wait for about 15-20 minutes. They call him back and we get told he can't get one. He needs proof of residency, which is kinda hard to get when you are a missionary. He could have gotten a Texas ID but not a license. Kinda silly. He also has to do a driver's education course. It was a lot. So we may try again later. Who knows. He goes home soon anyway.

Elder Giuffra and I have been listening to a pretty good podcast on marriage. Here is the youtube link in case you are interested:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiAtFxzaNXk

Now you might be thinking, wouldn't this make us trunky? NO! It gives us the motivation to keep going! You just need to listen to it and you will understand haha

This week has been a little tough but Elder Giuffra and I are excited to finish this transfer out strong and see many miracles as we continue to put forth our faith!
I have been really enjoying reading the Book of Mormon! I am at Alma 8. Not super far but we chillin. I have been loving marking it up and finding things that stand out to me.  My New Testament reading didn't really get anywhere. I honestly might start listening to it in the car or while I am getting ready for the day.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WUYwsyauonMKVuc29

^^^Join the Google Photo album to see all the photos from the mission!^^^
Hope you are doing well and following the Lord. God loves you!

That's about it. See ya.

- Elder Kohl Payne

This week has actually been so wild! I almost don't feel like writing about it, but I will. May not be in much detail but I will.

Elder Giuffra and I keep seeing many mighty miracles and it is awesome! We had a friend completely stop

doing the things that are keeping him from being baptized and wants to shoot for the 5th of August. It is a big step so please pray for him. He needs strength and comfort. He is super cool and has a strong desire to push through the temptations of the world. It has been a super fast change for him so it is a struggle but he can do it! We got two referrals online, who actually are interested. One we put on date and started having lessons with her and her son. The other one we are meeting with tonight. It will be pretty dang awesome! A few friends were able to come to church, which was great. Until the one, we were sitting next to got up and walked out during the sacrament song. Elder Giuffra and I looked at each other gave a nod and got up to go see if he was alright. We had a pretty lengthy discussion in the hall of the Church. Due to this Elder Giuffra and I didn't partake of the sacrament. We called the Mission President and he said that we could do it in our apartment. So Elder Giuffra and I held a small short sacrament meeting at 8:30 pm on Sunday night. It was pretty chill!

We have 2 people on date for baptism right now. The one from above on August 5th. And then the referral with the son! It is pretty cool. Helping them prepare for that step is awesome to be a part of. Step by step and day by day I get to see them grow their personal relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ.

This week I was able to spend a day up in Waco with Elder Hoffmann. Elder Giuffra and Elder Dummar (The zone leaders) went up to the most northern part of the mission. Which was about an hour from Waco. Elder Hoffmann and I had a wonderful day. BUT, The Wizz Pig. The last time I was up in Waco was with a different Elder when Elder Rice was still here. I think it was my first transfer. He hyped up this place called Wizzbangs so much. I forget why we didn't eat there, but I told him next time I am up in Waco I will go. Elder Hoffmann knew about this so we had to go. This is a warning to all. . . They have this burger called the WizzPig. It has bacon and it seems pretty good. Then basically animal-style fries from In N Out. So with this combo, oh boy. There is a layer of oil or something. It was an actual heart attack on a plate. I felt so horrible after. That feeling was the Wizz Pig himself fighting in my stomach for his life. And I wasn't going to let him win. He was stirring up conflict within me. The blood, sweat, and tears were all present in this fight with good vs evil. It seemed as if there was no hope. But alas I prevailed!

I got a sick hat from Waco as well. It was in the apartment up there so I took it.

I was writing a letter to my brother this week and I got the itch to go mountain biking so bad! Now I know I could go "Biking" but no. First, Texas has no mountains and second, it is hot. I'm not going to torture myself like that. haha If I happen to go mountain biking right now, it would be so terrible. I would go 5 minutes and probably want to go home! It just seems so fun right now.

We had Zone Conference this week! I love President and Sister Carter. They are two amazing people and have wonderful things to say. They fed us some really bangin food! It was like Taco/Nacho salad. Ah, It was amazing!

We went to Canes after District Council one day to celebrate Elder Raban's Birthday! I haven't been in a long while and it was amazing! They are doing some deal with Post Malone, and because of whatever deal they have, Posty has these limited edition cups! OOooOoooo AaaAAAAAaahhhHHHHhhHHHhhh Yes, I got one.

Not a super detailed email this week. Just have low energy and  I got things to get done! I am at Mosiah 28 on my reading. I have started reading the New Testament as well. Chapter 15 of Matthew. Got so much to study and do!

- Elder Kohl Payne

Starting of with my favorite:

Remember one of the miracles from last week? Where we had the prompting to ask someone to be baptized? Well, he stopped responding to us for a hot minute so one day we just decided to go by and visit him. It wasn't in the schedule but we were in the neighborhood and said to ourselves, "Let's go visit him." So, we did. We pull up and knock on the door. A kid answers. We ask if his mom is home. We had talked to the mom on the phone beforehand which was kinda nice. She told us to hold for a minute. Next thing we know, they are inviting us inside! We met the mother and father of our friend. We had a good study. . . The dad is a little hesitant on having his son meet with us, due to different things that he has heard, seen, and read. They told us about a video they watched and Elder Giuffra and I couldn't help but laugh. We have seen the video before and it is apparently what Mormons believe in. It's hilarious. Anyway, we had to clarify a few things. The father was very nice but just concerned. So we finally said to all three of them that they don't have to take our word for anything we say. We don't want them to. The only one who can give you the knowledge you are searching for is the man upstairs. They completely agreed. So we invited them to read the Book of Mormon and ask God if it is true. We set up a time to meet with them on Saturday morning. We text them throughout the week and find out that only the dad will be able to come. We were a bit nervous at first because we thought he was just going to dog on us without letting us barely speak. Saturday morning rolls around and we have a study at the church. Wow. It was amazing. It was seriously a different person that we were talking to. He told us that as he was doing more and more studying, he realized that there is a lot of misinformation on our church. It was super cool to see the complete change of heart that he had! The member we had in on the lesson was so clutch! He was awesome! We invited him to come to church and he CAME! He was a little late but THAT'S A-OK! HE CAME!! It was so cool to see him there. We had a lot of members come up and talk to him. He also stayed for 2nd hour. It was so awesome. We will be meeting with him on Saturday again! I am so excited.

We have been meeting with our super cool friend Terrell! Well we technically have only met in person for a lesson once. After she came to church on Sunday last week she invited us over for dinner on Thursday. We marked it off on the calendar and were excited to go! Elder Giuffra and I made a whole day out of it. We went out to the very corner of our area. A place named Rosebud. It was fun! We had a couple of records for people who lived out there. We visited them all. Some fake addresses, some people not even answering. It was wild. We did talk to a few people who were a little interested. We then drove over t0 Terrell's home. We got to meet her husband Chris and one of their daughters. It was a really fun time. We just talked, had dinner, and showed the Ask of God video. It was super cool. We wished we had more time to talk to them but it was 8:30 and we had to get going. They are an awesome family and have so much potential. We tried to stop by Greens as we were heading up to Rosebud. So we walk on in and tell them what we are there for. They ran out of kolaches!! It was ridiculous!!

We had interviews with President Carter this week! It was so so awesome! Both President and Sister Carter came. Sister Carter would talk to us while the other was doing their interview. They are both so awesome.

I was able to watch the Restoration movie for the first time! It was pretty dang good. If you want to watch it I would highly recommend it. Just find it in the gospel library under the Film section.

Had a banger exchange with Elder Raban. We had a good day. Put one of their friends on date for baptism. We had a service from 7pm to 9:40pm. It went way longer than we were planning on. . . It was so wild. It was fun though! All 4 Elders were there and we made it a blast! We did get back to the apartment pretty dang late though.

I made a really good Facebook story for the stake missionary Facebook page! I can share it here so you all have the pleasure of seeing it.

We caught a lizard that we found in our apartment. We named him Joseph Smith. We didn't have the means to take care of him anymore though, so we had to set him free. It was a tender moment. He will be better off in the wilderness of Texas!

I'm chillin! Enjoying the mission and have been seeing many miracles!

I love Jesus and I know he loves me!

That's about it. See ya.

- Elder Kohl Payne

We had a really good week, full of blessings, miracles, and some pretty scary situations. We will go over the blessings, miracles, and all the good things. Might touch briefly on the scary/sad.

Let's start our journey on Monday night, shall we?

Monday night Elder Giuffra and I went out, beatin the streets. Ya know, the typical missionary things. We went to visit some of our friends who we had planned to go visit. Well, the pretty common thing happened where none of them answered. We felt inspired that we had to be in that area for a reason. So, we then said a prayer to see what direction God had for us and what we should do. Elder Giuffra got a picture of a white truck. We were then on the hunt! We were searching for any house with a white truck. We immediately saw one and walked on over. Knock, no answer. This pattern continued for a while. We would see a white truck, knock, no answer, and then see another white truck. We were on a mission to find the person we were supposed to find because of their white truck. We talked to a few people on the way who weren't interested. But it was all for the greater good. We see a white truck. The only one that we could see at that point from the journey we went on. We knock. There was no answer. We started to knock again, and BOOM, the door opened! We start talking to this man, and he says that he knew who we were and was actually interested in talking to us. One of his best friends is a 'Mormon' and he had a few questions for us. So we grab his digits and tell him that we would be in contact with him! Pretty darn cool! We had a good chat with him later in the week and we said that his friend is a 'Super Mormon'. Meaning, he knew his stuff. They are planning on going to the Temple that is going to be built in Austin for the open house! He is a horseshoer and works a lot! But we gave him a Book of Mormon and he said he would be really interested in reading it and learning more. Miracles abound every day baby!

We got a referral and had a lesson over the phone with him on Monday night. And, we put him on date! We had the thought and prompting to ask him and so we did! Now this goes out to all the missionaries out there. If you are in a lesson and get the thought or prompting to ask somebody to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized, do it. "Just do it!" That is what we are out here to do! We got nothing to lose. I know, I know. You might think, "Oh, it's ToOOooO sOooOoN." And to that, I say pish posh. Follow through with your promptings and you will see miracles. You will. Anywho! He told us to talk to his mom and she sounds super sweet and they seem like they are a really nice family!

We had an epic church tour with our friend Richard! He promised us that he would try his best to read from the Book of Mormon. The member that we invited for the lesson works at the military base nearby, same with our boy Richard! It was awesome! They were able to talk about that and gain that connection! The members in the Temple 1st ward are so clutch! That leads to my next story!

We invited our sweet sweet friend Terrell to church on Sunday. Background information on this sweet lady. We were calling some old referrals and we started talking to her. We have been having really great studies with her over the phone because she lives super far away. We set up a time to go to her church on Saturday. So this past Saturday we went to her church and it was super cool. A really really different experience from going to the other church where it was like a rock concert. It was more reverent and calm. The building was interesting. The "chapel" part was in the very middle with no windows letting in any natural light. It was kinda smaller than I would have thought. Everyone there was super super sweet and nice. Anyway! We did a church swap with her. So we went with her on Saturday and she came with us on Sunday!

Elder Giuffra and I are at the church an hour and a half early for a meeting that we had. The meeting is starting to go over just a tad. Nothing out of the blue. We hear a knock on the door, open it and Brother Tate asks if he can take us, with a bit of an urgency on his face. He tells us that Terrell was there and that she was pretty hesitant in coming in. But he noticed and then caught her before she was about to leave. The biggest thank you to Brother Tate. He followed through with a prompting to reach out to this lady who looked like she was lost and was going to walk out. We got to her and gave her a hug. She was super happy to see us and we were super happy to see her! Our members instantly started reaching out to her and getting to know her. She sat with one of the older couples in our ward and we sat right in front of them. There was a baller musical number by one of the Young Men in the ward. He is a wizard with the violin! He played "If You Could Hie to Kolob" Dah gum! It was beautiful! I am such a crybaby when it comes to songs. Dad, I still blame you. The talks were awesome. It was 3 youths and then Brother Tate talking about the time they spent at Nauvoo. It was awesome. Straight up bars from every single one who gave a talk and bore testimony. We know Terrell definitely felt the spirit and we definitely did as well. The closing song was "I Know That My Redeemer Lives". I just can't sing this song without crying. I love this song so much! I saw a few other people crying so I wasn't the only one ok! It was so nice having Terrell with us that Sunday though. She said that she will be coming next week. We set up a time to have dinner with her on Thursday. We are going to drive out to her farm and just have a great time. She told us that she didn't know what Nauvoo was, so we will have to fill her in. Hahahah We might just watch the Restoration movie with her. She is awesome though!

I was able to go in a Trio Exchange with the Temple 2nd Elders. Elder Stevens and Elder Raban. I love these Elders so much! They are amazing and are doing such good work! We had a really good day! Crazy day full of giving blessings, and member referrals.

Let's start with the blessings that we gave. I love that we are able to give blessings to people. It is such an amazing experience that I think we may take for granted sometimes. But today we definitely did not take these blessings for granted. We gave 4 blessings. 2 members and 2 non-members. I was asked to give 3 of the 4. They all looked right at me and asked me to do it. I don't have words for how good these blessings were. Not because I gave them but just because of the spirit that filled the room with every single blessing. To add to the experience, one of the members and non-members were in the same house and are both going through pretty similar trials in their life right now. Elder Stevens told me afterward that though they were going through similar things the blessings were still very individualized and personal and different. How crazy is the spirit! I couldn't tell you anything I said in that blessing because it did not come from me. It came straight from the Holy Ghost. It was awesome! To add the cherry on top, the non-member was super interested and was in my area! She took the Book of Mormon and said she is ready to find the truth. DAH GUM! It was so awesome. We shared the Ask of God video. This is Joseph Smith's first vision and she was asking so many questions and it was just awesome. She is so ready!

There are way more cool things but those were the highlights. I hope you enjoyed :)

We had an EPIC 4th of July party with the Member in the Temple 2nd ward that knew Elder Giuffra from his first area. The one we went to for his birthday! It was awesome! My favorite thing is all the pictures from it!

We tried to watch some fireworks from the balcony but there wasn't anything close and it was pretty lame. But Elder Stevens and I were singing and we were goofing off. It was a good 4th of July. Elder Giuffra was jokingly saying that he can't wish people a Happy 4th because it wasn't coming from his heart. Haha, It was a fun fun day! We also had District Council on the 4th because we couldn't do it any other time during the week. Of course, we took some pictures! Happy 4th to you all.

On Monday we played Risk with our member, Kramer! He is so much fun! We then went bowling with the District and with Kramer. Such a fun time!

I went on a Mini Exchange with Elder Hoffmann due to MLC. So Elder Hoffmann and I hung out for half the day. It was fun! We went to lunch with our Temple 2nd buddies. Also, we found out that Elder Hoffmann wrote a song! He is a musical prodigy! It's a banger!

The Temple 2nd Elders pranked us this past week. . . Watch this video and you will see.

Yeah. They still have a key to our apartment. We need to get them back but I don't know what to do. We can't get into their apartment. But if you have any ideas. . . Let me know :)

We had some pretty scary things happen this week. Things that just didn't have the spirit there and I knew that we were being protected. I could feel that Elder Giuffra and I were full of the spirit but the environment was not a place we should have been in. So we got out. There was one point in one of these experiences where I was praying under my breath and Elder Giuffra was reading the Book of Mormon so that we could keep the spirit with us and be protected. It was pretty scary. The Devil is real, and he is out for us. Not saying this to try and be scary but as a warning. Get on the straight and narrow and stay there. Yes, it will be hard but we do not want to be wandering off into the mist of darkness. We do not know what is out there.

Overall a really solid week. We have another week of miracles ahead of us and I can't wait to send out another email.

I am grateful for all the support and I have a deep love for all of you! I am excited to keep changing and using the Atonement in my everyday life.

I am at Mosiah 14. I'm trying to grind haha It is a struggle but I am getting so much out of it and I am so happy! The Book of Mormon is awesome!

As for the title. . . in one of the odd experiences we had, a guy thought we were angels from heaven. I kinda wanna know what he was seeing. What we looked like from an outsider's perspective.

Join the Google Photo album to see all the photos:https://photos.app.goo.gl/WUYwsyauonMKVuc29

That's about it. See ya.
-Elder Kohl Payne

Something amazing happened this week! I was able to go on exchanges with Elder Stevens!! This is our first exchange together!! Now I could tell you how much of a blast we had but no words could describe the amount of fun we had together!

We were going to meet them at 8:30 am to start our exchange, but we got a call from them telling us that we would have to pick them up. . . They got towed! So we had to spend the first hour of the day dealing with that mess. Haha, It was the same place that Elder Rice and I had to go to in order to get our car back. So it was like deja vu for me except not at midnight. haha It was a silly start to the day.

We then went to one of the food banks that I started doing when I first came into the mission but then we asked if the other Elders could do it. It was nice to go back after being there for a lot of time!

The day consisted of lessons, blessings, and dinner. Our day was so wild! We weren't able to get a personal study in just because of how wild the day went! The blessings were so awesome though! We were able to meet one of the friends that the Belton Sisters are teaching. We blessed her home and we gave her a blessing as well. She is so sweet and I can't wait to see how she continues to progress! The Sisters told us afterward that the blessing we gave was exactly what she needed with the situation and things she is going through right now. It is always awesome to hear that because we didn't really know anything about this lady. It is just a testament to how God knows us and is truly looking out for each and every one of us. Even if it doesn't seem like it at times.

Elder Stevens and I had a really good review of the day. It was pretty powerful and the spirit was felt. Elder Stevens is a great role model and I am excited to continue to work alongside him in this great work!

Oh, I don't know if I mentioned this or not, but the Temple 2 Elders moved out of the apartment! Since the Morgan's Point Sisters moved into the Belton apartment there was an extra apartment just chillin. So the other Elders were told to move into it. So this past week they had to move into that place. It is so bad. . . I am honestly shocked at how bad it is! They are allowing missionaries to live in a really bad apartment. Not even by anything that missionaries have done to make it bad, it is just bad. When Elder Giuffra and I go into our apartment for the night it is so quiet! The nights are not the same without the other companionship. It is pretty sad :( But I am over it. The space is nice haha)

We had our last call with President and Sister Fox on Wednesday night. It was a really long call! Really good and needed though. They shared their testimonies with us and it was really sweet. I wrote down some of my favorite quotes that they said. I don't have the paper with me right now so I can't put them in this email. Maybe next week if I remember. They will definitely be missed!

Elder Giuffra and I had some time to spare during our companionship study one day. We were at the Black Rifle Coffee Company and played some chess. It was fun! He won. :I It was really embarrassing.

Elder Giuffra was able to see the Tesla light show for the first time. It was so fun to watch him and how excited he was! It is pretty cool that a car can do that. It is pretty sad that it can only be done to a Christmas song. For now. . .

We had our ward's 4th of July party on the 1st of July! It was a nice breakfast with pancakes and bacon and fruit and egg casseroles. Pretty fire! Not as hype as the Aspen 9th Ward 4th of July parties! Nothing will ever beat those! Nothing! We had a parade though, It was fun to watch the kids go around in circles in the church parking lot. Some may have fallen, and I may have laughed. . . But I have repented!

I am still trying to grind out the Ukulele here and there. It is just hard because we have so little time. We are so consecrated over here in the Temple, Texas area. (haha) I have a few different songs I am trying to learn right now. If you have any suggestions, please send them my way! I would love any input!

I was able to start building some Legos that my mother sent me forever ago! I got halfway done and it will probably be a while until I get the other half done haha

Overall a pretty solid week. I have been gaining more and more faith each and every day as I go out and talk to everyone that I can. It has been awesome to be out here. I am at Mosiah 8 with my Book of Mormon reading. Not far at all but we are getting there. Slowly but surely.

That's about it. See ya.

-Elder Kohl Payne

Elder Jake Porter and Elder Ryan Johansen.

First and foremost I just want to express my love and gratitude for these amazing Elders.

Jo, you have been with me from the beginning, and what a joy it has been to be serving alongside you. We have lived in the same apartment for 5ish months and it was a blast having you there. Have a blast going to school! Love you JO!!

Porter, I have loved having you as my DL and I wouldn't want it any other way. I loved the exchanges we went on and the example you were to me of a hard-working missionary. I can't wait to see you back in Utah and ball up. Love you!

We had our district council on Tuesday this week to have a final get-together and say farewell. It was a really good one. Elder Johansen did a really good training. A perfect way to end it off! Sister Hales played her violin and Elder Stevens played his guitar. Kinda like small musical numbers. Super cool! We took pictures, wrote in our Bye bye books, signed some flags that people had, and said goodbye. (ish)

Elder Porter and Elder Johansen went down to the mission home on Wednesday. I was able to get a final picture with Jo. My goodbye to Porter was from 50 feet away and we were just yelling at each other saying goodbye. It was rather sad. I'm not worried though! I will most definitely see them again.

As for everyone else, Sister Hales, Sister Weller, and Elder Miles, I was able to see them on Friday morning. We all balled up at the church one final time before they got transferred away. Great missionaries going to good places. As Elder Giuffra said, "There is no such thing as a dead area, just dead missionaries!" Bars lol. They will do great in their new areas and I am excited to hear all the cool adventures they will have.

We are getting a new missionary in the Belton/Morgan's Point area. Sister Goodman is training Sister Goodrich! Yeah, I know, how funny is that? The Good's

Random thought: This week feels like it has flown by so fast but as I am looking at my journal and seeing all the things that have happened it seems like some of the events happened so long ago.

Shout out to Elder Dozie and Elder Smith really quickly. These Elders are up in the Mexia area. (Muh-hey-uh) Don't ask me. I don't know why there is an X. I love these Elders so much! I drove them back from transfers when I was getting Elder Giuffra as my companion. They were such a blast. Elder Dozie got reassigned here for 2 transfers while waiting for his visa. Welp, he got it and he is in Peru! As they were driving down from their area to go to the mission office, they made a stop in Temple and we had lunch with them at Chick-Fil-A. It was a blast. We had a party! Elder Doize is going to kill it in Peru. Super excited to hear about his adventures over there! Elder Smith is staying in Mexia and is training a new Elder!

Also, Elder Porter gave me some of his pants before he left and they are pretty nice! Fit me nice and well. I will always have Porter with me haha

Shout out to Elder Sewsen and Elder Wolfgram. We pulled up to Buc-ee's during lunch to see them before they went down to transfers. We hung out for a bit and feasted on some brisket sandwiches. Good day, good day.

Time for some Funny and Sad news about the T2 Elders. Elder Stevens and Elder Raban (New DL) Funny News:

Elder Giuffra and I just got back from a service and are zoinked. We are starting our personal study after getting all showered and ready for the day. We get 40 or so minutes in and the T2 Elders are calling. We answer to see what's up. These goofballs locked their keys in the clerk's office at the church. We told them that we would finish our personal studies and then we would come save them. And that is what we did. We finished our Pstudy and rushed out the door to go save the T2 Elders! Zooming to the church, I think I hit a bird but I'm not sure. We got them the keys and saved the day.

Sad news:

They will be moving out of the apartment. . . My heart is broken. Since the Belton area was closed / they took the Elders out, the Morgan's Point Sisters are covering both. They moved into the Elder's old apartment so that leaves an apartment that is empty. President called us and asked if they could move in. . . It will now be really boring at night. That is where all the fun stuff happens! I don't know if I will be able to do it! We shall see!

Sister Bair, this next part is for you. Enjoy. Yes, I got my boots!! Finally! I actually have had them for a while but just have forgotten to say anything. We did a lot of service this week and I was able to wear them! Our member got this good photo of Elder Giuffra and me:

They are sick and you can expect me to wear them at my homecoming.

Elder Porter recorded his Homecoming talk and all I can say is, Dah Gummit Porter. You made me cry! His talk was very inspiring and I realized that I need the Lord to trust me more. How? Follow through with your impressions, and talk to everyone. As you follow through with these thoughts that are given to you by the Holy Ghost that is when you will gain trust with the Lord and see miracles and get the most out of your mission. From this talk, I am now excited to go out and share this joy that I have for the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We had a really good lesson with our friends. We did a church tour and the spirit was super strong. We invited her to be baptized and she said she has been thinking about it and wants to. We tried to pick a date but she was a little nervous and taken aback by that. But it's ok! God has his timing. Please pray for her, that she will feel ready and make the commitment. I am super excited to keep meeting with her.

Last P-day was so fun! Last time as a district, we balled up! Frfr. 6 games of Basketball, scored to 21.  We have the good guys and the bad guys. Good guy team: Elder Porter, Sister Hales, Sister Weller, Elder Johansen, and Me. Bad guy team: Elder Stevens, Elder Giuffra, Elder Miles, and Sister Goodman. What a super fun time playing basketball together. The good guys are the best of course lol

It has been quite a week. I have loved every bit of it! So happy for the things I have been able to experience this transfer and can't wait for what this new transfer holds for Elder Giuffra and me. We will make it a good one for sure!!

I probably have some more thoughts that I could add to this but nothing is coming to mind right now. So it's not inspired. I am having a really good time out here in Texas and I love seeing the change in myself and in others. Although I can't see it in myself all the time other missionaries and people point it out and it is awesome to see. It is still a little scary at times but it's been a blast and a half. I am excited to take what I have been taught in these past 5 or so months and use it all to become an even better missionary. I have been surrounded by good missionaries and have some more good ones around me right now.

Some cool things:

Elder Rice is training again! He is training in the Spanish area he was sent to but he also leaves at the end of this transfer! I have a mission brother now! A little Bro! lol

A NEW PREACH MY GOSPEL WAS DROPPED! This is better than the battle pass from Fortnite! It is so awesome! I am so excited to use this as a tool to become a better missionary and to further the work! It is so cool!

I am in Mosiah right now. I plan on getting to Alma by the end of this week! And plan on finishing it by the end of this transfer!

That's about it. See ya.

- Elder Kohl Payne

Let's start off with Sister Weller's birthday. First and foremost, happy happy birthday Sister Weller. Elder Giuffra and I were able to go to her birthday dinner. Why? Good question. The members they were having dinner with are from Chile. So, we had a banger dinner party with them. I was still really confused on what they were saying most of the time. I gotta learn some Spanish. (lol) It was fun regardless. They always have really good food and I am grateful we were invited. During the message that we shared, I was able to share my testimony in Spanish. Now it's not as impressive as you may think. Elder Giuffra taught me how to say "I love Jesus Christ" before we got there and I kept forgetting how to say it throughout the dinner so I had to keep asking him. But when my time rolled around, I nailed it! If you ask me now how to say it, I wouldn't be able to tell ya.

For Sister Weller's birthday, as a district, we went to HighFit. The Spanish Sisters have been asking us to go for the longest time so we decided that since it is a special occasion we would go. It was pretty dang fun. We woke up at 5, got ready, and drove over to the gym where it is held. The Stake President owns the gym so it is kinda nice. I may have been really uncoordinated with the movements to the songs but I did my best and had a good time.

It was also my good friend Elder Wyatt Tobler's birthday this past week! Happy Birthday Elder! I love you and am so proud of the decision you made to serve a mission and serve the people in Argentina. Keep up the good work and serve with all your heart!

We had a Chapel tour with one of our friends this week. He is a student pastor and is a pretty cool guy. The reason I mention this though is because we have had 2 studies prior to this one, but this was by far the best one ever. The first two were at Chick-fil-a and they were alright but the spirit at the Church building is like nothing else. The spirit was strong and we were bold. Now the ball is in his court.

If everyone would just test the Book of Mormon out and take the time to find their own opinion on the book things would be a lot easier. haha

This week we had to drop one of our friends that I have been teaching the entire time I have been here. It was really rough for me. He was doing really good and it is super devastating. I truely believe he will get there eventually.

We went up to Lott this week! We had the food run that we do every month. I love going up to Lott because I know we will be going to Greens afterwards. This time was a little different though. We went to a place called Miller's Deli. Now DAH GUM! Miller's Deli is a place to grub it up at. We hit Miller's, I got a nice club sandwich that was huge! I was super surprised at the size of this thing. I should have taken a picture of it but it was a good bang for the buck! Will definitely be going back. But that's not all. We stopped at Green's so we could grab some food to go. haha Had to get me some kolaches to eat later. It was super nice.

We had a few pretty nice interactions with some JW's Jehovah Witnesses this week. The first one gave us some powerade while we were walking by and then we played soccer with a huge group one night. It was super fun! Elder Giuffra and I got put on opposite teams, they knew he was good because they were able to see him play a bit while they were all warming up. A miracle happened though, they passed it to the white kid! I actually got to kick the ball a few times. hahah I think I was able to hold my ground a little bit. I was not good by any means but it was still fun. We got sweaty!

We helped with a Juneteenth festival. We helped set up a few things before the festival started. The lady gave us some shirts for helping out! It was pretty clutch! We didn't think we were going to get any then Elder Giuffra asked if we were going to get one or if we had to pay for them. She said we had to pay for them. A few minutes later, she said, "Y'all want shirts?" We said of course! So we all got some pretty sick shirts. haha.

We got transfer news this Sunday! I will be staying here in Temple. Another transfer with Elder Giuffra! I am excited and can't wait for the sacred experiences that we will continue to have. A lot of crazy switch up's happened though! The Belton Elders are leaving and the Morgan Point Sisters will be double covering. Not only that, the Sister staying in Morgan Point will be training. So a double cover train. Good luck Sister Goodman.

So in the apartment we will now have a Zone Leader and a District Leader. . . I better start being obedient now. hahah

Happy Fathers Day!! I love you dad! I miss you and am grateful for the example you are to me! Thank you for raising me right and cheering me on even in the toughest times. I love you!

I have been forgetting to give an update on my Book of Mormon reading. Well, I didn't finish by the 11th of June. I guess it wasn't inspired. I am still working on it, but I have so many other things I am studying as well. But slowly and surely I will get there.

I thank y'all for taking your time to read this. Be ready for next week. Hope you all are doing well!

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That's about it. See ya.

Elder Kohl Payne

What a great week! Elder Giuffra and I went all out for his birthday! Monday we went to Panda Express. (Elder Giuffra's favorite place ever apparently) It was so fun. Just the two of us, getting some PE at 10:30 in the morning. Nothing better than that. He also got quadruple Orange Chicken and he downed it in 10 minutes. I got half of what he got and he finished before me! Homie was grubbing hard!! I got a baller haircut! It was way shorter than I was expecting it to be but it is actually pretty dang nice! I keep seeing pictures of my long hair days and oh boy, short hair is so much nicer. I am debating if I will grow it out a little bit after I get back or not. Haven't decided yet. Who knows? It probably won't happen.

For our Zone we have a Facebook group chat. Elder Giuffra and I hype that thing up!! We send voice recordings all the time and try to get everyone to feel more faith filled so that we can reach our "DAH GUM GOALS!!" -Elder Giuffra. Anything from reading scriptures, making monkey noises, screaming into the microphone, or words of encouragement Elder Giuffra and I do it all!! We are the undesignated zone hype men.

Pretty cool thing that happened this week. We were trying to film introduction videos for our Facebook profiles. Just something to say who we are and what we do as missionaries. We were filming Elder Giuffra for quite some time and we weren't having it. It was too bright for the camera, or too dark, we would mess up. Just random minor inconveniences. So we knew that it wasn't inspired to happen at that moment. We saw a guy sitting down a little ways off, so as the good missionaries we are we went to talk to him. We had a really good conversation and we knew that was the reason we needed to come to this park. Turns out that he is a member and went on a mission to Argentina. He shared some pretty wild mission stories with us! It was cool to hear from him. He is in Texas doing summer sales right now and gave us some life advice for after the mission. We had a really nice talk with him. I won't go into detail but I think it is what all of us needed at that point in time.

Something that I have been getting accustomed to recently is having a lunch nap. Oh boy, these are so nice. Just get back to the apartment for lunch, untuck the shirt and snooze. Wake up in 40 minutes, get ready to go and then get on the grind. It's been pretty nice.

In District Council this week Elder Porter asked me to give a training on Preach My Gospel chapter 1. I was supposed to give it last week but, we got stuck in a service and ended up being 20 minutes late to DC. So we held off on my training until this past week. Good thing though. It went perfectly inline with the goals that we had set as a district. My goal for the day was to give my training with power and authority to hype up the district. And I want to be as humble as possible here but I think I did just that. Elder Steven's said that it was the best PMG training that someone has ever given on his mission. I think I was able to hype them up. So for this week we now have the Faith, Hope, and Charity to get 110 finds! We are excited!

I have been trying to work on following through with my promptings. I will sometimes get random promptings to pray or ask for a blessing. Best thing I can do is follow through with one of these things. The other day during lunch, I was about to snooze when my mind started wandering. I then got a really strong impression that I needed to pray right then and there. I don't know what it was for but I got on my knees and prayed. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to pray for, so I asked in my prayer, and all I can say is that the answer came. My mind started getting full of all these different things and It was a pretty cool experience.

This one is for all my missionary friends out there:

One random night we decided to call a really old referral that had been dropped a while ago. So this friend was no one that we knew. We called and there was no answer. A few minutes later this friend called back!! It was such an awesome, wild time. We read 3 Nephi 11 with them and they knew what it was about and they have a pretty good testimony of the Book of Mormon! Elder Giuffra and I were freaking out!! It was so awesome! So missionaries, contact some old grey referrals. They could be golden. . .

Had an awesome exchange this week with Elder Porter. It was my last one with him. Elder Porter will be heading home next week. It's been a great 2 transfers with District Leader Elder Porter. We had a wild exchange though. We were supposed to have this service project that was 20 or so minutes away, but then they texted us saying it wouldn't happen that day, our lessons were canceled, and the member dinner. So now our whole day was open. What did the Lord have in store for us? I don't know. We spent all day trying to find people, just door knocking really. The most door knocking I have ever done in my mission! Some pretty crazy things though. We saw a super poor cat that someone should just put out of its misery. This had no soul and I mean that. Talked to some pretty fun people. Trackting is where things get interesting!

On Elder Giuffra's actual Birthday, the day after the exchange, the Belton Elders came to our apartment at 6:30 to wake Elder Giuffra up. Elder Porter asked me to leave the door unlocked so that they could. So, I did! It was pretty funny! We all dog piled on his bed and then went to play Basketball at the church. We balled up! Elder Giuffra's birthday gave us some type of faith power. That day was awesome!! We didn't do a lot with having weekly planning being moved to Saturday, but we had the faith and we exercised it! A member in the Temple 2 ward fed us. She knew Elder Giuffra in his first area and had us over with the T2 Elders! It was super awesome! She stuffed us to the brim and then some! No joke. And it was all so so good. Elder Giuffra's Birthday was definitely a special one.

Overall a super duper week! I am running out of time to get this thing done and sent, so this is all. Hope you enjoy the pictures! Love you all!

Join my Google Photos album!^^^

That's about it. See ya.

-Elder Kohl Payne

Some Random thoughts:

We got a new car. We went from a Toyota Rav4 to a Chevy Equinox. Not sure if it is a downgrade or an upgrade yet, but it has been treating us well though. The Equinox is just really goofy looking.

During weekly planning we went to the gas station again and got more energy drinks. I told myself that I probably wouldn't but here we are. It will probably become a weekly thing.

I have been really wanting to buy legos. It's not ok. The temptation hits hard sometimes when we pass by the lego and hotwheel section of Walmart! Someday. .  
I've been looking through some old pictures of mine from before the mission. Just wow! The change, haha, I found a few good pictures of my brother and I. I have been really missing him this past week. We were such a duo! We did a few dance routines together at our cousins wedding and I was laughing at them. We have a few nice pictures together from just random times. My favorite one is when it was about 1am in DisneyWorld and we basically had the parks to ourselves. (We had a cool VIP pass or something I don't remember) When the night was ending we were strolling on down main street and taking pictures at every camera person possible. We were just goofin off and doing crazy photos. But nothing will compare to this one:

If you look to the right and see the lady she is looking at us and smiling. Then if you look to the left a guy is doing the same thing. Now in the back right I can't tell if that one girl is looking at us and smiling or not. But we were just being our normal selves. Jansen and I are such a goofy duo! I look forward to the day when we will have more lightsaber fights in the rain, make silly tiktok videos, and go on late night drives. It's gonna be sick!

Anyway, done with the reminiscing.

A song that has been stuck in my head this week has been the Five Nights at Freddy's song. It's been just chillin in the corner of my mind. Waiting for every possible moment to come to the center of the room.

I found out how to play it on the Ukulele :)

End of this week's session of Some Random Thoughts.

We had a really fun service project with a member that wasn't in our ward. We went with the Temple 2 missionaries and the member wasn't in their ward either. I guess he didn't want help from the sisters in his ward. It was fun though. We moved a ton of rock and dirt in wheelbarrows. It took us half the time that he thought. It was nice to get out and sweat for a service project and get a little dirty as well! He took us out to this really awesome place to eat. He said it was Greek food, but I'm not sure. (Dylan, you will have to come on over to Texas and test this place out.) It was some good good food though! We would go back in a heartbeat. We will plan on it for a P-day, but not today. We had a different adventure that Elder Giuffra and I partook in. But that is for next week.

The Spanish Sisters have a Chilean family in their branch. So they wanted to meet Elder Giuffra because he is from Chile. They invited us over for dinner and I have never felt more outta place in my life . . . Maybe I need to start learning some Spanish so I can fit in more.

ZONE CONFERENCE WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooOOOOooOooOooooOOOoOooo Last Zone Conference with President and Sister Fox. It was quite a time to remember. Elder Giuffra and I were at the church for a long time. We had to let the AP's in at 8:30 to set up. We ended up doing most of the work for them, haha It was fun though. We then left the church around 3:30. My boy Elder G gave a fire training for the zone. Him and the other ZL were doing this training and he hyped us up! My favorite quote that he said was, "There is no such thing as a dead area, only dead missionaries." Then told us we needed to do better. In a loving way. Super well done.

Gave some final hugs to President and Sister Fox before they get sent home at the end of this month. He has been a solid mission president. I am excited to meet President and Sister Carter. They are going to do amazing things for this mission.

I'm running out of thoughts, so I'll end with how the work is going in Temple, Texas.

It is definitely going for sure. We have a lot of people we are teaching, just none that are really progressing the way that would be super ideal. But that's ok. The Lord will meet us where we are. We are pressing forward with faith and seeing miracles in our daily work efforts. It sure isn't easy but it is Dah Gum Awesome when we find someone who is ready and searching for that change in their life. It's pretty cool. I am getting a little tired of being in Temple, but I know I will miss it so much when I am gone.

I forgot to put where I am at in my Book of Mormon reading. I got to Omni. Not as far as I would have hoped to be at this point but I have so many things I am studying during personal study right now. It's good though. I will get there.

Feel free to email me. Kohl.payne@missionary.org

Like I said before, I will read it, but it might take a minute to respond. Sorry.

Join the google photo collection to see all the fun things. https://photos.app.goo.gl/WUYwsyauonMKVuc29

and yeah.

That's about it.

See ya. -Elder Kohl Payne

LETS GO!

This week has been quite a good one. This past P-day after all the fun under the sun, we went with the Temple 2 Elders, Elder Johansen and Elder Stevens, to the hospital in their area to give a lady a blessing. The mission president reached out to them and asked them to go visit this lady. We were able to join them due to unforeseen circumstances that happened earlier that day. Let's just say, it was a pretty amazing experience. The nurses and such that were working at that time told us where she was and told us there was a man across the hall from her who was also LDS. We were able to give both of them blessings. The spirit was strong and I am so grateful we were able to be there at that time.

We had to dress up in these apron things to be able to go into one of the rooms. And of course we had to take a picture. We thought we looked pretty goofy.

As we were leaving we also saw the president of the United States of AMERICA!

Look at all of us. HAHA

Elder Wyatt Tobler made a google photos album with Elder Duncan Miller, Elder David Butler, and Me. If you didn't know, you can chat on google photo albums. And another if you didn't know, they were all called Spanish speaking. They talk on it in Spanish and I have no clue what they are saying. We do share some funny or cool pictures. It looks like they are having so much fun and I am so glad! I love my friends.

I have been having a really really strong craving for ice cream. It is never ending! I will even have ice cream and think I am set for a bit, but then the next day it is back. I am really debating if I will buy any or not. I probably won't. I will have self-control.

I had my first energy drink while out here on the mission this past week. I forgot how gross but amazing they were. We had weekly planning and decided to go to the gas station to get some snacks and energy drinks. I don't think I will get any more though. It wasn't worth it.

I had another exchange with Elder Hoffmann this week. The AP's went on with the two Zone Leaders. So we had to split the Temple 1 area. It was super fun! Elder Hoffmann and I had a wonderful time jamming out to all the youth albums. The youth albums are the things that are keeping me sane. I really miss music. The list that I have with all the songs just keeps getting longer and longer. I am sending them to my brother and he is making a mega playlist and oh boy, it is going to be long.

I got a few Texas Roadhouse gift cards from my sister and my grandma. (Thank you) Elder Giuffra and I had a great lunch time.

Not a very long email this week, just keeping it nice and sweet. I've been doing well. Yes, there are hard times but we get through it! The Lord is on my side and I wouldn't want it any other way. I hope you all are doing well, I am grateful for all that read my stories. Email me if you want to say hi. Sorry if I don't respond right way. Just know that I do read them. I promise! I have nothing better to do from 9pm-10:30pm.

Kohl.payne@missionary.org

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WUYwsyauonMKVuc29

Join the google photo album to see all the pictures from the mission thus far.

That's about it. See ya.

-Elder Kohl Payne

My boots had to be ordered and should be here in two weeks. So I hope that by next P-day I will have them to show you. They will be used for when we do service projects. They are better in the fields than my tennis shoes.

Please know I am doing well. I feel your prayers. Enjoy the photos and I will have more for you next week.

That's about it. See ya.

Elder Kohl Payne

After the glorious Greens trip, we went to the church and played the classic chair soccer, beat a piñata then, we officially said goodbye to Sister Bair before she drove down to the mission home. Got one final picture as a district:

What a good end to the transfer and what a good way to end.

I said that I would be getting boots last P-day. Well, I lied. I looked at some good ones, tried them on, and then decided that I will wait and ponder. BUT, today is the day, I will be getting them today. That is for sure. So, next monday, be ready!

On Elder Rice's last day in the Temple area we had 2 really cool things happen, that just made it an even better way to end his time here.

First

We had been stopping by this less-active family for awhile now. The minstering Brothers and Sisters have been having a hard time getting in and actually talking to them. We stopped by a little bit before General Conference and shared a message about General Conference coming up. We then texted them, and had pretty solid contact here and there. We then decided to stop by, on this last day. Right as we were about to drive away after an unsuccessful contact, a car pulled into the driveway! We talk to the dad and he said he had been thinking about getting his kid baptized. Wow. How cool is that!? We definitely needed to be there at that time.

Second

When I first got here on my mission, there was a couple that we were teaching. I had never met them and Elder Rice and I stopped by quite often. We went 12 weeks not having a successful contact with the couple. As we were driving home, we decided to stop by, because why not? We noticed that both the cars were there. We knock and they answer. They let us inside and we had a great impromptu lesson. They said they would start coming to church and all the good stuff! So thats pretty awesome!

Now for the event you have all been waiting for. . .

Transfers

Elder Rice and I had T-Valley in the morning, then he finished packing and we headed down to Pflugerville! We arrive and there are so many missionaries in the Church parking lot. It's crazy how there are so many more than who I see in my area. Said goodbye to Elder Rice, packed up Elder Giuffra's things in the car and headed back up to Temple. I've missed driving. It's been fun but also terrifying leading the area.

At night before we go to bed the apartment gets together and we plank. We do 1 minute, 1 minute, then 2 minutes. What made it better is that we started listening to a fireside devotional from the 80's about Witchcraft. It's pretty interesting. Somethings are a little "eehhh, I don't know about that one." but the beginning is good. Very good discussion while we plank. Lots of good insights about casting out demons and stuff like that. It's a pretty fun topic of conversation.

One night we went to a house of one of our members. I had never been to their house before but we just decided to stop by. We go knock on the door and they let us in. We had a really good talk with them and gave the wife a blessing. We are leaving the house and I notice something looking at me from the roof. I look up and see these eyes staring back at me. There was a dog just chillin on the roof! The member said something like, "Oh yeah he does that. You should see when the big dog gets up there." We were laughing and laughing! Homie was just chillin on the roof.
Now, I won't just leave y'all hanging. I got a picture of course.

Elder Giuffra and I were doing some contacts towards the end of the night and we saw a man working on his car in his garage. We go up to him and talk about the car. We then tell him who we are and what we do. We gave him a Book of Mormon and invited him to read it. All good stuff! After we hand him the Book of Mormon, his daughter runs inside, grabs something and runs out and gives it to us. We got a balloon animal! I think a Book of Mormon for a balloon animal is a fair trade!

Happy Mothers Day! I hope you told your moms how much you love them.

It's been a good week and we have a good week to come. Keep reading your scriptures and praying!

That's about it. See ya.
-Elder Kohl Payne

Elder Stevens' birthday was this week! HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM ALL OF US TO YOU WE WISH YOU A HAPPY BIRTHDAY SO WE CAN PARTY TO! HAY!

I am starting to write a song on the uke! Don't have lyrics but got a good tune going on. I like it.

We had a day where we basically just did service, for our members then we joined a few other missionaries and their wards and helped clean up 2 massive lawns.

Sister Bair is dying (going home) this transfer. As seen below:

RIP One of the best Spanish Sisters in T3

WE GOT TRANSFER NEWS THIS WEEK!! WOOOO

Elder Rice is going to a Spanish area to finish up his mission! HOW COOL IS THAT?! He was in one Spanish area prior, and then English ever since. So this is really awesome. I am super excited for him! I can't wait to see the amazing things he will do in Cedar Park.

My new Companion is Elder Guiffra. I have been told a few things about him. He is from Chile, went to PG High School for a year or so, called here as an English missionary, and is the trainer of my MTC companion. Some pretty cool things. I am really excited to meet him. I've been hearing really good things about him and I am hyped!

Yeah, not a lot this week. Just a short little update. I am doing really well! I started a study of the New Testament and its history. So that's going to be awesome! I didn't get very far in my Book of Mormon reading this week but hopefully this upcoming week will be better. I am only at 2 Nephi 26. So yeah. . . It's ok though! I've been busy studying other things!

I really hope you are all doing well! Make sure you read your scriptures!

Also if you can guess the song in my title, I will send you a personalized letter. No cheating though. (I will know )  :)

That's about it. See ya.
-Elder Kohl K. Payne

"I should tell you, brother. I got sent home...I need surgery so they sent me home."

Receiving this message broke my heart. It is not a message that I wanted to read on Tuesday morning right after P-day. I then checked on Facebook and saw that he was home. He wrote that he had been able to find peace in this time. I didn't know how to feel at this moment. I definitely didn't find any peace. I did my best throughout the rest of the day trying to forget it. I was on exchanges with Elder Tyler. We had a pretty trash day. I am going to be completely honest. That was probably the worst day on the mission so far. Elder Tyler was very helpful, encouraging, and always lifting me up, even when I was at my low. We had no lessons, no one answered the door when we went by, the Facebook finding was not going great, and just the tone of the day was off. We ended on a high note though. The very last person that we were going to talk to, answered the door. After all the missed contacts, he was the one we knew we were going to talk to. Though, he wasn't very interested in taking the missionary lessons again, we felt as though our prayer to Heavenly Father was answered. It was a super small victory that lightened up that day. We then went and celebrated by buying some frozen pizzas and ice cream. Went back to the Belton apartment, put them in the oven, turned on a Book of Mormon story video, and feasted. Elder Tyler and I were still able to have a fun day even if it wasn't the best day. The pictures we have can and will prove that. Now why do I tell you about this day? Not every day is sunshine and rainbows on the mission. Even though sometimes it may seem that way. I was able to find peace, just as my friend did. The next day was calming, despite how I felt the previous day. We all go through our ups and downs. Just make sure you always go back up. :)

Found a silly watermelon at Taylor's Valley:

It was raining pretty hard that night. I wrote a poem about it that I need to touch up a bit before I reveal it to the public haha. The storms are so nice to watch though!

ZONE CONFERENCE!!

This Zone Conference was a great one! We had 3 zones that got together in the Temple church building. So, we didn't have to drive far at all. Others had to drive an hour to an hour and a half. But we got lucky. Might not be so lucky next time haha. We helped the APs set up at 9-10 and we were there till 4ish Crazy long. They provided food. It was nice to meet other missionaries and get a lot of guidance from President Fox, the APs, the ZLs, and even other missionaries. I took a lot of good notes that I have actually been looking back on.

Tornado Warning Pictures

We got a tornado warning and watch and then a severe thunderstorm warning during weekly planning last Friday, as you can tell in the photo. We are safe and sound.

Below are pictures that the Spanish Sisters took of me while we had a service project and all the fun little things we found.

We found so many scorpions! It was pretty cool! I picked one up as you can see in the pictures. We found a baby snake. Found a big snake that someone accidentally killed with the Weed Wacker. (didn't include that photo, you're welcome) Super fun service that we got to be a part of.

Overall a good week. I have been seeing the hand of the Lord in every aspect of my mission life. It has been super cool to be a part of. I hope you all are still doing ok and reading your scripters and going to church. I got to 2 Nephi 25 this week. Not as far as I wanted to get but it is ok. My personal studies have been awesome.

Elder Rice will probably be transferred this next transfer. We will get news on Sunday. It is kinda crazy that I am almost out of training. Elder Rice has been the best and I couldn't have gotten a better trainer. He is very diligent in the work, always improving his knowledge, and wanting to grow. He has helped me start off the mission right by working hard and getting out of my comfort zone. It is going to be interesting to see who will be taking his place here in Temple, Texas.

Find out next week. . .

That's about it. See ya.

-Elder Kohl K. Payne

For Taylors Valley this week, Elder Rice and I got to bag potatoes. They were very very dirty, and so were really nasty. Dave, who is the guy in charge, asked us to take over for two very sweet old ladies, because he didn't want them to get hurt. So for about 1-2 hours, we bagged some nasty potatoes. It was quite nice though and we had a nice conversation on mentality and how it is important. Good stuff.

Now . . . For the highlight of the week . . . Drumroll please . . .

*Drumroll*

THE TRIO EXCHANGE!! Oh yeah. What a day this was. So let me tell ya how this all went down. Elder Rice and I are companions. The APs came up to go on exchanges. So Elder Rice went with Elder Zito (An AP). I went with the Temple 2 Elders, Elder Johansen, and Elder Stevens. BUT, those Elders had exchanges with the Belton Elders, Elder Tyler, and Elder Porter. So how it ended up was, Elder Tyler, Elder Johansen, and I were in the Temple 2 area. We called ourselves the Triforce! What a sick name. We had a really good day together. Laughing, working, and playing with animals. Lots of cool experiences happened on this exchange.

First, we went to the park that we went to on Pday to look for the top of Elder Tyler's watch face that he lost and thought it fell off. So we say a prayer to help us find it and to help us talk to this lady that was sitting down. We decide to go talk to this lady first. She wasn't very interested and you could tell. As we were talking to her, Elder Tyler starts walking, bends down, and picks up the top of his watch. How cool is that?! This was a pretty decent-sized park, and if we hadn't talked to this lady we probably wouldn't have found his watch face. It's cool how God works.
Next, we stopped by a member's house to help her out with a few things. In return, she gave us lettuce! haha As we were here her daughter came out to help a customer. For what? I was about to find out. The garage door opens up and there are just rows and rows of rats, mice, and all those little fellas. I'm pretty sure Remy was chillin' somewhere in this garage. Cooking up some good food for the members. You see, she sells rats and mice to people to feed to their snakes, or just for whatever reason they might want a rat or mouse. I got to hear a lot of random facts about rats, mice, and snakes that I didn't know before and that I couldn't tell you now.

I got to hold one of the snakes! As seen in the picture below:

Pretty fun. Elder Tyler is terrified of snakes! Once she said that she could go grab a snake for us to see, he turned around and started walking away. It was funny. I never knew how scared people could be of a snake. BUT!! HE DID IT! He was able to overcome his fear just a bit and touched the snake! Can we get a WOOHOO for Elder Tyler please?! It was awesome!

Last but not least, at dinner that evening with the member the question was asked, "What is the best thing about the mission and what is the worst thing about the mission?"

Elder Tyler and I speak at the same time.

Me: "Best thing is Elder Johansen!"

Elder Tyler: "Elder Johansen."

We start laughing and Elder Tyler says, "I never said he was the best thing." Which just makes me laugh more. It was one of those things where you would have had to be there. Ya know? Overall, a really good day with these two Elders. Great men and both have super strong testimonies.

I got some paint pens from one of the Spanish Sisters in the district. Why? Oh, let me tell ya. It's kinda upsetting. My dang hard copy of the Book of Mormon, the words on the front keep disappearing! They are fading away! It was so sad. But I put white letters. I think it looks pretty good. It's not perfect but that's what makes it better.

The thunderstorms are nice. There have been quite a bit lately.

We got to go up to Lott again this month. Do you know what that means? Greens! The best place ever. Something hits differently when you eat at Greens.

One day, as Elder Rice and I were walking out the door to go do some Comp study, I said that I feel like it is going to be a great day. About an hour later we come back to the apartment, and I feel like I am going to die. My allergies were going wild! I probably easily sneezed over 100 times in 30 minutes. It was ridiculous. But it was still a super solid day. We talked to a pastor and talked to someone who thought we waved them down in their car (when we just wanted to be friendly). It was really good.

I hit 3 months. It seems about that amount of time. Not complaining. It's been fun being a missionary. I love doing what I'm doing. It's been kinda hard sometimes to have the confidence to talk to everyone but it's awesome to see the outcome of my work. To all my other missionary friends, I love you. Can't wait to hear about all your crazy experiences!

Book of Mormon reading: I got to 2 Nephi 20. Pretty solid. I'm planning on getting to Jacob this week.

That's about it. See ya.

Elder Kohl Payne

Pdays are the goofiest days. I am so glad that we have them but I feel like we never get anything done. We do get a LOT done, yet it doesn't really feel like it. We clean, write emails, call home, play games with the district, eat, and then go back to work from 6-9. It just all goes by so fast that it doesn't seem like I have any time to do anything. I don't know. We played capture the flag. As fun, as it was, we will not be doing it again. For many reasons. The story I am about to tell you is going to involve the game that we were playing but it was not the main reason we would not be playing again.

Capture the flag is a game of strategy, endurance, and skill. Elder Rice, Sister Bair, Sister Weller, and I were on a team against Elder Porter, Elder Stevens, Sister Hales, and Sister Goodman. My team had already won round one and we decided to keep the game going by going on to round 2. As I was sneaking around the Church building, (we were outside of it) I got caught on the other team's side. I was right against the building next to the planter box and where all the bushes are. So it was a little harder for me to be spotted. Elder Porter and Sister Goodman trapped me so I couldn't go forward and I couldn't go backward. I made a run for it going toward Sister Goodman because that was my best chance of escape and I would be going deeper into enemy territory.
I didn't make it past Sister Goodman and she tags me out with quite some force where I get shoved into the side of the church almost falling over. Drip Drip Drip. Blood started falling to the ground. I take a moment to look at my hand where the dripping seemed to be coming from. Oh yes. I found the source.

I am OK! My hand has healed really well and is no longer super swollen. I will just end up with an epic scar in the end.

Now remember last time when I said something crazy or wild always happens on exchanges? Well, I can take that back. Elder Porter and I went on exchanges and really nothing interesting happened. All the lessons fell through.
Elder Porter and I had a really interesting, missionary meal though. Lime Chilli Shrimp Ramen, with some ham that they got from a member. I know your first reaction already. Don't hate on it ok! You haven't even had it! To end it all, we made some brownies that we ate. The best meal that I have had on my mission thus far! Nothing can compare. Nothing. It was like the scene from Ratatouille when Remy takes a bite of the cheese and strawberry and all the shapes and colors appear. Beautiful! That's all I gotta say about that. ?

We had interviews with President Fox this week. I love this man. He is so loving and has great wisdom. All I gotta say about this is you need to listen to the primary song 'If the Savior stood beside me'. It is a powerful thing to think about because it is true. He asked me if I would be able to train a new missionary. I told him I have all the right tools, I might not know how to use them to the best of my ability, but I can use them. It would be wild if I trained a new missionary coming out of the MTC. I am kinda nervous that I might. So don't wish it upon me. Thank you.

We helped one of the friends we are teaching with some yard work. It was kinda by accident. We were driving to a member's house for dinner and saw him working on someone's yard. We stopped and talked to him for a minute then went to the member's house. We were leaving and passed by where he was and he was still there. We stopped and ask if we can help, he says that he will be ok, y'all shouldn't get your clothes dirty. To that, we told him that we have a washing machine and it would be fine. We started helping clean up the backyard. It was snail heaven. I think I ended over 30 snail lives this day. Not on purpose. We would just step on them because they were everywhere. I am a snail killer.

Sunday was probably the best day of the week. We went to a church that one of our friends goes to. We went to a rock concert basically. It was really cool to see how this church did its worship services. There were a few moments where I had to chuckle a bit. Not because of what they were preaching or anything like that, just some silly moments. The bass player looked like a YouTuber that I have seen somewhere before. I had to look up his name so that is what I did. Lazarbeam. If you look up a picture of him, it looks exactly like the guy who was playing the bass guitar.
One of the ushers that we met turned to me during the worship service and says
"Do y'all have a band at your church?"
"We have a choir," I said.
I look back at this experience and just can't but give a small little chuckle. I should have just said that we don't. I was at a loss for words at the moment of the question. It really opened my eyes though to how different people worship God. Quite the experience and would absolutely love to go back.

I can not believe how fast things are going. I love the work I am doing and am glad that every night we go into the apartment, I feel satisfied with our day. Some days might not be as "successful" as others but all days that I have had feel satisfying. And I couldn't be more thankful.

I didn't get very far this week in my Book of Mormon reading. I am at 2 Nephi 7.

That's about it. See ya.

Elder Kohl Payne

We had a baptism this weekend! Our friend Carnell was baptized this past Saturday and confirmed as a member yesterday on Easter Sunday! How cool is that?! I was blessed with the opportunity to confirm him as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was a pretty powerful experience. And to top it all off we got to celebrate Christ's resurrection. Easter is so cool! Before the confirmation and blessing, I had a few thoughts that I wanted to say during his blessing. When the time came for me to give the blessing, all the previous thoughts had left my mind. I felt as if my mind was completely empty. I thought for a very brief moment and knew that whatever I was about to say wasn't coming from my thoughts. It would be coming from God. I was able to feel the love that God has for Carnell, through becoming friends and hearing his small but powerful testimony. This was a really good step for him and he will continue to do great things!

I went on a mini-exchange this week with Elder Hoffmann. He is pretty cool. I met him for the first time when I went up to Waco and went on exchanges with Elder Kartchner. When the whole couch fiasco went down. Elder Rice and Elder Jensen (The ZL's) went down to Austin for a meeting. So Elder Hoffmann and I spent half the day together. Now this exchange is a monumental one. Why? I got to drive. My first time driving on the mission wasn't as scary as I thought it was going to be. The truck that I was driving had a heated steering wheel, so on a rainy day, it was pretty dang nice to have, also heated seats. The Waco Elders have a nice truck. Apparently, it is not the favorite vehicle to drive. Elder Hoffmann and I went to an apartment building where we have someone we are teaching. We park and see a group of guys. I tell Elder Hoffmann, let's talk to them and then do the drop-by that we had for that time. We talked to this group and they were the best! Not super interested in our message but they were great. One of them asked if we could pray all together and we happily agreed. Who doesn't like prayers? Two of the men started praying at the same time. They were going at it. I could hardly understand what they were saying until 'In Jesus' name we pray, Amen' but it was a really cool experience! Just a good group of people that love Jesus, praying for two guys in white shirts, and a tie. Gave one of them a Book of Mormon. It was awesome!! Crazy things always happen on exchanges. Always.

This past two weeks since the transfer started have been super cool. The apartment is wild. Just switching one person can make all the difference. Elder Stevens and I got the guitar strings to fix the broken guitar. During our time putting them on, we broke one of the strings. It was a mess. But Elder Stevens was nice enough to use his backup strings to save the day. We only used one of the 6 so now there are just 5 strings that he has just in case. We are rockin out every night!

The members here in the Temple 1st ward are amazing! They are so willing to come to lessons and help us in every way that they can. The main message that we used for our member dinners this week was: We would share the Easter video from this year titled, John 3:17. You can find it on Gospel Library, the Church website, and Youtube. If you get a chance please watch this video. It is short but powerful. After the video, we would ask who can you share this Easter message with? And now that Easter is over, it doesn't work anymore. SIKE! OF COURSE, IT STILL WORKS. It still applies! We should always want to share Christ's resurrection and tell people and remind them of the sacrifice that He made for us. For you. He was sent here to complete us as it says in the video. Powerful, powerful stuff.

During Taylors Valley this week we changed things up. Because of the rain, they didn't want us to be running around in it. So they put all the stuff under a roof. I don't know what it is called but cars could drive right on through. Kinda like a drive through but we were outside. Kinda like the entrance to a hospital or hotel. Does that make any sense? I hope so. Anyway, I felt like I was working at an amusement park or something to that matter. Their cars would drive up, we would fill them with food, then they would drive away. Like a loading bay for Space Mountain or something like that. It sounds kinda silly, and it was, but it made the work all that more fun.

Had a really solid week. Time just keeps escaping me. I love being out here and sharing the Gospel. It has been hard but super rewarding!
For my reading of the Book of Mormon, I am at 2 Nephi 1. Planning on getting to chapter 15 by the end of this week. If you are following along cool, if not cool. I would love to hear what thoughts you might have. Insights. Comments. Anything. Let me know!!

That's About it. See ya.
-Elder Kohl Payne

I have gotten into this bad habit. Now this bad habit isn't really my fault but it also consists of my lack thereof for, hand-eye coordination. I think every P-day I have had here in the field, I have gotten hit in the eye. Usually the left one. Now I thought I was pretty alright with my hand-eye coordination. I caught a football once or twice in my childhood years so you think it should carry over into my young adult years. Apparently not. Honestly, I am surprised that I haven't gone blind yet. The Items that have got me in the eye consist of a Basketball, Football, Soccer Ball, and Tie.  Now keep in mind, some of these items were more than once. It's ok though. I am still able to fulfill my duty as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

This isn't really that important but thanks to my MTC friend, I was able to find a baller way to mark my scriptures! I have a hard copy of the Book of Mormon that will be my proselyting copy. In this copy, I am marking scriptures in relation to the lessons in Preach My Gospel, amongst other things. I made a key to what the markings mean and it's looking pretty cool!

My Mother sent me a German-to-English Book of Mormon. Each Verse is side by side. This book is pretty dang big. Is my German good enough to read this book? OH, definitely not! But I keep grinding on Duolingo and haven't lost my streak again. The Duolingo owl spared my life once but it doesn't mean that he will give me a second chance. Pray for me. . . Seriously though, this book is awesome! I have also been reading the Children's copy of the Book of Mormon. Ya know, the one with pictures? In the Gospel Library app, you can change the language so I change it to German and try to understand. Now you might be wondering, (and I think I've said this before) "Kohl, you are in Texas, and English speaking, why are you studying German?" And to that I say, I really don't know. Why not?

Elder Williams is gone and we got a new Elder in the apartment. The entire mood of the apartment has changed! Elder Stevens is pretty cool! He plays the Guitar. (Not the broken 4 string one) And He is really good. We know a lot of the same songs and get along pretty well. We did, however, wrestle last night. Sunday night wrestling match. I really don't know how we did it in such a small area with a hard floor, but it was super fun! I did eventually say "Uncle". I am not proud, and in fact very disappointed in myself but I was tired! I did put up a really good fight though. I wasn't going to give it to him that easily.

We are planning for Carnell's baptism!! WOOOOO I am so excited! I had basically been with him since the beginning. Elder Rice found him a little bit before I entered the mission field. Elder Rice and I have taught him together and to see the change and determination in him has been awesome!! We watched the Saturday Morning session with him and the Bryans (Members of the ward). The Bryans are awesome!! It was an amazing experience with conference this year. Carnell's baptism is going to be awesome and I can not wait to tell y'all all about it. It will be on the 8th. So THIS SATURDAY!! WOO JESUS IS SO GOOD

I'm going to end this email today with my testimony: This Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is the restored church. I know this is the restored Gospel, on the earth today. Restored by the Prophet Joseph Smith. Nothing is more true than this church and its teachings. The power that God can and will give us if we choose to follow Him is unbelievable! I have only seen a small percentage of his power to change people's lives. I know that as you keep your focus on the Savior, Jesus Christ you will be blessed. You will be! Hold on to the Rod of Iron as you make your way to the Tree of Life which 1 Nephi 8 talks about. DO NOT wander away. And if you have, do not worry, just like in Matthew 14:25-31, Jesus has his hand extended to YOU. I know that Heavenly Father knows you, and he loves you. He sent His son so that we don't have to walk alone and that when you do step out of the boat with that faith and start sinking, Jesus Christ will pick you right back up. In the holy name of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Last week's Book of Mormon reading:1 Nephi 1-10
That's about it. See ya.
Elder Kohl Payne

Friday:
This is Thursday Elder Payne buttin in beforehand. We have exchanges today, and I can't tell if I am excited or not. I get to ride my bike. (I was going to say I have to ride my bike, but I'm trying to be positive) It will be an interesting day. I am excited to write about it.
"I LIKE TO RIDE MY BICYCLE, I LIKE TO RIDE ME BIKE. I LIKE TO RIDE MY BICYCLE, I LIKE TO RIDE MY BIKE!!" Y'all know that song right? I hope you do. I got to ride my bike today. It was pretty fun! The Belton Elders are running REALLY low on miles so Elder Tyler and I had to bike. Yippie! I was scared at first but then I got pretty comfortable after a while. There isn't a lot of room for bikes on Texas roads but it turned out alright. I was worried for Elder Tyler. . . He was struggling. So much happened, He fell over twice and almost fell over 10 times. It was super funny to watch. I felt really bad as well because he is trying his best. I asked him if he was ok and every time he would say yes. So we just kept riding. The scary moment was when we were heading back to the apartment. We were going across an intersection and the lady in the car stopped for us and Elder Tyler started to go. I yell "WAIT!!" 3 Times! There was a car turning in. And he just kept on going. The driver saw him and stopped but Elder Tyler never saw this other car. I got to him and said you could have been hit! He simply says the lady waved me on. I had to tell him that there was another car!

The Members we had dinner with kept us for almost 2 and a half hours. . . they drove us so we were basically sitting ducks. Nothing we could really do. We told them when we had to be back to end the exchange and they kept us hostage for a bit. lol

Sunday:
Saturday and Sunday nothing special happened except TRANSFER NEWS!! WOOO Sunday was a really good day! We had a family come to church that we just invited. We haven't even taught them any of the lessons yet! The kids loved it and the dad said that they will be coming back. It was fast Sunday as well, the Sunday before General Conference! So Excited! This next week will be great!
Elder Rice and I are staying in the Temple 1 area. Elder Williams in my apartment is heading out. He will be missed. Elder Andrus is heading out as well. A lot of movement.

Elder Duncan Miller, a friend of mine, had his farewell talk today. I was able to listen to it. All my friends are doing such amazing things in their lives right now. I am so proud of every single one of them. I can't even see them or really talk to them but just from the different stories and things I read all of their testimonies are growing stronger and stronger each and every day. Keep up the good work y'all.
We had dinner with the Miller family (not my friends the Miller's from back home) I absolutely love the Millers! Had some burgers and salad and most importantly, Sunny D! Now I know Sunny D is nothing but sugar and there are no health benefits whatsoever but get me a nice cold glass of Sunny D in the morning, afternoon, or night and I will love you forever.
We stayed really busy this week. I tried to write out things every night but only got Wednesday and Thursday. Those are the only important days though. I will update y'all on the Book of Mormon reading next week and tell you where I am at. Start in 1 Nephi 1:1 though ;) Just in case you didn't know where it started. My goal is to get to Chapter 10 of 1 Nephi. Might be a little over, might be a little under. We shall see.
Email me if you have any comments, concerns, remarks, questions, exciting news, sad news, blues clues (lol), or just anything you would like to share. I love hearing updates from your lives. I will do my absolute bestest at responding next P-day but there are no promises. Email is always swamped with missionary things. kohl.payne@missionary.org Just DO NOT SPAM me please. I don't know if this is a good idea or not

Keeping it somewhat short this week
That's about it. See ya.

-Elder Kohl K. Payne

https://www.google.com/search?q=pump+up+song+writting+by+lds+missionary&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:26b81d21,vid:ynBI7kGuh_Q

That is the Pump Up Song link

Thursday:
EXCHANGE time. WOOOOOO This was kind of a different exchange. Elder Rice and I both were not in our area today. We both went up to Waco, I stayed there with Elder Kartchner, and Elder Rice and Elder Neilson drove further North. Elder Rice went to Mexia. Now that you have struggled with saying that word let me tell you how to pronounce it.  Muh-Hey-uh. Yeah, I know. Texas just keeps getting weirder and weirder.

Elder Kartchner and I had a wonderful day. I just don't know where to start. After our personal study in the morning we had to move the couches in their apartment in Waco out. The two couches had to be out by 3. They got this information last night, or early this morning, I don't quite remember. They were getting 2 new couches and a dining table with 4 chairs. How it will all fit, I don't know but it will work out. As we were trying to find a place to put them, after we shoved it in their truck and then our car, we went to 2 different places and they said they don't take couches. The 1st place referred us to the 2nd place and they were both full. We had nowhere to put it! We then went to Elder Kartchners chapel and put it in the dumpster there. Now, I don't know if we are allowed to do this, but we did it anyway. (so sorry if that wasn't allowed) The new couches would have had nowhere go if we kept them. How long do you think this activity took? 30 minutes probably right? . . . No . . . Almost 2 hours were spent cleaning the apartment to get the couches out and finding a new home for them. Everything worked out though. After getting the old couches taken care of we were finally able to do some comp study.
We went to a mall for comp study. This is pretty common for them to go to the mall in Waco. It was really weird walking in and walking through. It was the first scene of "real life" that I felt. The mall was great but just being there had a different feeling. Very strange and a little nice though. While at this mall two girls came up to us while we were sitting on a bench planning for our lessons later in the day. We talked to them and shared our views and the truth that we have. We find out that they are Baptist and go to Baylor. We shared a Book of Mormon with them and invited them to read it. It went pretty well I think.
We go back to the apartment for lunch and for the couches and table that will be coming in. We got the new table and couches. We got it all set up pretty nicely. It was really packed and tight but wasn't looking too bad. The chairs that came with the table were painted by the Sisters. Looking like something straight out of a Mexican restaurant. They all had different pictures on them, mountains, flowers, checkers, you know? Two of the Elders in the apartment wanted the chair with the mountains. So they started "fighting" The Elder who had the mountains currently was protecting it and Elder Kartchner was trying to get it. Elder Kartchner got out of the chair that he was in and the other Elder picks him up off the ground. Elder Kartchner has the mountain chair in hand and gets dropped back down right onto the chair. . . *SNAP* They Broke the chair within 10 minutes of having it. Boys!

We went to an apartment complex that they go to often and always have strange events happen. So of course it wasn't any surprise that we had a strange event happen as well. While we were about to leave, I told Elder Kartchner that we should go talk to these guys who were sitting in their car. Now you need to know that Elder Rice (my companion) is pretty bold and not afraid to approach people. I am starting to get better at this. We could tell that they were just out of it, if you know what I mean. It was a super fun conversation that was all over the place; about BYU, the skin color of Jesus, Joseph Smith, and a lot of swearing. NOT BY ELDER KARTCHNER AND I, just making that clear. There was a time when he was getting out of the car and we didn't know what he was going to do, he then gave us a hug. It was kinda sweet but super confusing. It was very random but a really good end to the night.
Then Elder Rice got back to Waco and we drove back down to Temple.

Friday:
HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY!! I woke up. Put on my green tie, green sweater, and green socks! I have a picture:
I was so excited. I really took this day to heart. Green all over. Ate my Lucky Charms. It's the small things ok?

Today was filled with meetings. I feel like we got nothing done. Elder Rice was in so many different meetings, busy, busy, busy. I would just chill, read, sleep, and eat. OH I also got my duolingo done during this time. (3 Days strong)
Elder Rice had to do a baptism interview for the Spanish sisters later in the evening. We arrived about 10 minutes early to the church, and the friend of the Spanish sisters pulled in right behind us. They told us that he was probably going to be late but he was in fact 10 minutes early. While they were doing the baptism interview, the Spanish sisters were interviewing me. Asking me all sorts of questions - about Elder Rice, girls, my life before the mission, and just crazy things.

Saturday:
Finished weekly planning. We never have time to do it all in one sitting. We finished it up and then had interviews with President Fox. I was so excited to talk to him, and for a good reason. I had a few questions that I asked him and ya know he answered them but not in the exact way I wanted him to answer them. He gave me counsel and helped me understand why I am here.
After the Interview with President Fox came some funny events.
During comp study we found a dandelion as we were walking. Elder Rice picks it out of the ground and I open my mouth as to suggest that he should put it in, in a joking manner. The speed this man had to shove his hand holding the dandy lion straight into my mouth could be compared to that of the flash. I do not recommend to eat one. Not the move. 0/10. Do not eat. I could still feel the weird fluffy things in my mouth for quite some time hahah It's a EeehHEEHhheeHehh feeling. Ya know?
We had dinner with some members in the ward. They are the best!! We had sloppy joes, curly fries, and apple juice. Meal of champions right there. What made this awesome was all the different animals/critters they have. We got to hold a chameleon, his name was Harrison. Can I just say, WOW!! Chameleons are so cool! Very interesting creatures. He would change color if he was scared and if he was happy. Just crazy cool. Held a snake named Bart. I was pretty scared at first but then Bart and I became homies. We shared a message with them and Bart was chillin on my arm and neck. Saw a black widow named Steve. Can't touch that one. Then the best for last, Cooper the dog. Nice beautiful golden retriever. Such a good boy, just wanting all the loves.

Sunday:
Sunday is Sunday. IT IS SO NICE!! Church is always so awesome! Sundays are the fun days. Not a lot happened but it is super nice to go to church and just relax, and get ready for the week to come. I do have a good story though. The Eggs. . .
Before church started Brother Billings came up to us and asked if we wanted any eggs, we said sure. He told us that they were on the top shelf of the fridge in the kitchen and to get them after church. We told him we would and went about the church day. Church ends and we have a lesson with one of our friends at the church. Right before we are starting Brother Billings tells us not to forget the eggs and that he moved them to the kitchen counter. We saw eggsactly (hehe) where he set them down. After the lesson we had to rush out to go to a dinner appointment not really thinking about the eggs. We were the last ones in the building. We swung back by the church later in the night because we remembered about the eggs. So we pull up, unlock the door, walk to the kitchen, and. . . no eggs. Not in the fridge and not on the counter. We call Brother Billings and ask him if he put them anywhere else. He said nope and that he will have to bring us some tomorrow. He also told us that his chickens have been eating a lot of bugs so the eggs are protein packed! Haha

Overall a solid week. I am starting to feel more and more like a missionary! I am loving Texas and the people here. It is a little goofy at times but that's what makes it really good. Jesus is pretty cool. I couldn't imagine my life without him in it. If you are ever in Temple, TX, come try to find me!
Enos 1:27
That's about it. See ya.
-Elder Kohl Payne

Tuesday:
First ZONE CONFERENCE, what a great experience. I love President and Sister Fox. They have such a good perspective on everything. The others that gave some training did great as well. I had a question that I was pondering the day before, and we talked about it during the conference. It was kinda funny. I was talking to Elder Rice and the other Elders in my apartment about my question/dilemma, and when the question came up Elder Rice and I just looked at each other. We were kinda surprised but I knew it was an answer to my prayer and my question that I had the previous day. God is pretty cool and aware of me for sure. Elder and Sister Barlow, the senior missionaries in the ward, drove Elder Rice and I up to Waco. They had snacks in the back of the car that they offered us. Of course we aren't going to say no, we are teenage boys. Sister Barlow told us there was so much junk food in the back. We looked in the back of the car, some pretty nice junk food. Popcorn, nuts, fruit leather, and more hahahah I got a good chuckle in. The Barlow's are so awesome!
I was able to get my Buc-ee's sticker on my water bottle today. It's looking pretty good. Elder Saline your water bottle ain't got nothing on me. I got the TAM sticker, Stand for truth sticker, and now the Texas Buc-ee's sticker. Better watch out. If any of you have stickers for me to add, send them my way.
Had a really good lesson with one of our friends. They have been really struggling. Elder Rice and I spoke with a lot of power and authority during this lesson today. It was awesome! We had some powerful impressions that we shared. They are trying to be better but it is hard. They need all the prayers they can get. Please pray for all the missionaries friends. If I have learned anything it's that they need the help that faith from others will bless them in so many ways.

Wednesday:
We need to address a problem that I have not yet addressed. One of many. . . Here it is: The Trains. Just like back home in Utah there is that familiar train horn sound. Now I love to hear the train horn every now and then, but right as we are going to be or early in the morning is not the time. The train conductors do it on purpose, I am almost guaranteed of it. Imagine this, you just finished getting ready for bed. Brushing your teeth, getting changed, saying a prayer, or whatnot. Then climb into your nice cool bed, shutting your eyes, and dreaming about sitting on the beach sipping out of a coconut, then all of the sudden, HONK HONK HONK!!! Not a very pleasurable sound, I don't think. Now every night this happens and every morning as well. Not mid morning, early morning when you are still sleeping. Now I have to be up at 6:30 every morning and thats pretty early. So even earlier than that is just so incredibly silly. The trains aren't close enough to be super disrupting during the day, but they are close enough to cause a major disruption during the dead of night. I might need to get me some ear plugs, that should do the trick.
Today there were a lot of helicopters flying around. I think I can still hear a few. I have no clue where they came from or what they are doing but you look up into the sky and "Oop, there's another one!" Completely random. Oh to be in one of those helicopters and drop copies of the Book of Mormon upon all the people. Get the work done. (haha) If only people would read them, that would be nice. My favorite thing is when we talk to people as they are passing by in a park and we say who we are, and then they are not really interested, but we ask to walk with them. The responses are really funny sometimes. When we do walk with them, we share a short message of the restoration and hand them a copy of The Book of Mormon. They sometimes get more interested, but we do our best. And that's all we can do, is invite.

Thursday:
The days just keep getting busier and busier. We were all over the place today. Thing is, tomorrow will be even crazier. We were supposed to have weekly planning done today, but what we planned for this morning was completely changed. Good thing all of our lessons cancelled today . . . right? WRONG. When someone cancels a lesson it sucks. All of our planning is thrown off. But it is ok. God has a reason for everything. He is leading us the way we need to go.

District council today was really good. We talked about a lot of good topics that I know I needed to hear. The main thing we discussed was Praying with Faith. This topic is a subheading in Preach My Gospel under Recognize the Spirit. It can be found on pages 99 - 102. Go check it out if you have the chance. We talked about praying to know what to pray for. Sound kinda silly I know, but it works. You can get that power and knowledge on what to say if you just ask. Say a prayer on what to pray for. It can be audible in the prayer or just quick and personal before you say a vocal prayer. I have seen it work a lot. I say a prayer every time before I give a blessing just to get in the right mindset and to be able to know what the lord would have me say/bless the person with. Try it, if you don't believe me, but you gotta have faith that it will work. When you pray, take time after you pray to listen to the spirit and what God would need you to hear at that moment. Write down thoughts or impressions after a prayer and then act on them. That way you will be able to know if they are truly from God or not. All good things come from God. Pretty powerful. Any who I could talk about prayer for a while but I got more things to say.
My soapbox for today is the amount of Dodge Chargers and Mustangs that are here is a silly amount. They aren't even cool cars! The people who get them just waste money on a dinky looking car. I know the people are really nice but come on. If you are going to get a "cool" car please don't ever get a Mustang or Dodge Charger. I plead with you. I have no personal beef with anyone who drives such a vehicle, it is just a silly option for a car. Again no personal dislike, just a dislike for the car.

Pretty solid day overall. People act like children. "Jesus Loves You!" Sis Hammer

Friday:
It was a magical day! We finished weekly planning and it went over by about an hour but we got it done which is important. Set some really good goals for this next week and I am so excited. We had two really cool experiences today so let me tell ya what happened. They were back to back so it is quite a story.
1st Elder Rice and I were heading to a house of a member to ask for some referrals. We pull up and Elder Rice notices someone outside of a neighboring house. We pray before we get out of the car and we go to talk to this lady before going to the members house. We start talking for a while and she said that she has a friend that she grew up with that is a member and she has always been interested. So we invited her to church, told her we could help her paint her house. (she was painting at the time) And she was so thankful!! We have a time planned to help do some work on her house. She said she will be coming to church one of these times and was just really happy. She told us she loves our church just because we are always looking for ways to help other people. It was so cool. She was really sweet as well. She has been through a lot the past week or so and just told us everything.
2nd As we were talking to the lady above her neighbor came out of her house with some cute dogs. I can tell she was kinda listening in on our conversation. We finish up at the sweet lady's house then turn to walk towards the members house, which is in the direction of the dog lady. We start talking to her and she was super nice and upbeat. We invited her to church as well and we have a lesson that we set up. She told us that she was looking for a new church. Absolutely perfect. How magical is that? AND they are neighbors so we can teach them together. We then went to the members house and they weren't home so that tells you why we felt prompted to go that way today. God works in crazy ways.
We didn't get home until 9:40 ish tonight. It was pretty crazy. One of our friends really needed our help. He has been having a ROUGH time, and we are trying to help him the best we can. We have to call the mission president if we are out past 9:30 so we called him, he didn't answer (lol) so just left a message and he texted us the next morning saying thanks for letting him know. It was a great day.

Saturday:
EXCHANGE DAY!! WOOOO I got to go on an exchange with the DL Elder Andrus. Now this man is so cool. We get along a little to well. If we were actual companions we would get nothing done. We would sing songs that would pop into our heads and it was really fun. He would talk about random stories from his mission so far and I would just listen. We got DR Pepper Shakes at Whataburger. Now I didn't really know what to expect when he said lets go get these. I was skeptical at first. And for a good reason. I can't even describe the taste or anything about it, other than it kind of tastes like a root beer float but with DP. Not very good. Would I get another one? Absolutely not. Never again.
I got a letter from one of my bestfriends in the MTC today. All the Elders in the apartment went wild as I was reading it. Just teasing me or what not. I also got a package from my family. Thanks y'all!! The Lucky Charms are delicious.
Elder Andrus and I talked to this guy at a random apartment building today. He wasn't very receptive of our message but we tried our best. That's all I am going to say about that. We tried really hard. He was just really cool and we would have loved to talk to him more. But it is alright. We invited and he has a choice to accept it or reject it, but we can't force that on him.
Overall very well done day. Elder Andrus is pretty cool

Sunday:
WOOOOOO!! I LOVE SUNDAY!!! One day of the week were we can just relax at church. So refreshing. It was a wonderful sabbath day today. The counselor that is conducting this month will be asking people to talk about their conversion story's. If we get our friends to come, it's game over! The two talks today were great. I know the friends we are teaching that were there felt the spirit and it helped them grow their faith in this restored gospel. Not much else happened today. Just did some drop by's, had dinner with a family, they have a really cute family, and just went home. Jesus loves you!

Alma 26:12Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in the land, for which we will praise his name forever.

Not a lot of pictures I know. I'm sorry. It is just hard, when I'm living in the moment.

Love y'all
-Elder Kohl Payne

Tuesday:

Not much happened today. We had all of our lessons fall through. No Bueno! Nein Gut! A few made sense such as getting sick, falling, and hurting their shoulder, and the lights to our house won't turn on. Lots of goofy things could happen.
We went disk golfing in the morning for our exercise time. (if you can call any form of golf "exercise") Stretching out his arm as he thinks of his strategy to best tackle this beast, Elder Rice lines up for the 9th hole throw. The whined up, the extend, the throw! WOOSH The disk goes flying through the air as Elder Rice and I watch in amazement. Heading straight for the hole the little disk was still going strong. The disk goes flying right by the cage and down to the river. Oh no, we rush over. There it was, the blue round disk sitting at the bottom of this small shallow creek. We try various methods to get it out. Using a stick only pushed it further away. So it was time, Elder Rice took off his shoes and socks and then went in. Retrieving the disk and feeling accomplished we decided to go home. As we should.
I think I talked about this a little bit in my last email but I lost my Duolingo streak. . . I am so disappointed in myself. I was 140 days strong then as soon as I get to Texas it just started getting super hard to find time to do it. You guys know what this means, right? Duolingo himself is after me. Don't give him any of my information. Please.

Wednesday:

MARCH FIRST!! WOOOO Lets gooooo!!! I can not believe that it is already March. Wasn't Christmas just yesterday? Wild how time goes so fast, yet so slow. Let me tell ya, it's goofy man. But you know what March brings? . . . MARCH MADNESS!!! Hold up, wait, you thought I was talking about basketball? NO SIR!! We are grinding out on getting referrals, on who we can teach, or who we can share the gospel with. This is probably my favorite thing to do. We ask members or members who are less active, who they think would benefit from our message. It helps us grow our relationship with the members and then with the friends that they think of. AND IT IS SO COOL!! We love members who like to share the gospel because that's what we are asked to do. Sharing the gospel isn't just for missionaries but for all of us as well. Love, share, invite. That's the goal! Say you love reading or some form of sport, if you truly really love that thing you are just naturally going to share it with others. Whether that be by telling them that it is something you do or by showing them that it is something you do. Then you may feel inclined to invite them to read that book or do that sporting event with you. Love, Share, and Invite is just a normal thing we do as humans. Now if we truly love the Gospel of Jesus Christ why should we hide it? SHARE IT!!
Anyway, that's my invitation to y'all. Find something that you can share with someone. Doesn't matter what it is. Gospel related or not, LSI.

Now about what happened today. Elder Rice and I had to go down to Austin for a trainer, trainee meeting. I got to see my friends from the MTC and those that I traveled with. It has only been 2 weeks but it feels like forever sometimes. Very good being able to talk to them and catch up. All of them have a gym in their apartments! Up here in Temple, it is one of the only places without a gym. Very unfortunate. We got basketball, running, and the occasional pushup, and situp routine in the morning. I know that when I do get an area with a gym I will be able to love it more because I have gone so long without one. We are thriving though. We were able to have lunch together and continue to catch up and hear the different stories that they have experienced so far. They are doing amazing and I can't wait to see them again soon.
We had Dinner at a member's house tonight. (the one that signed up 15 times) I absolutely love them. They are really nice and welcoming and I feel so comfortable whenever I am with them. We had tacos for dinner and OH BOY!! I love some good tacos! They gave us to-go boxes and gave us food for later. Also little cheesecakes. Elder Rice and I have lunch for the next couple of days.

There was a lot of driving today. 113 miles!! OUCH, The limited amount per month is 1000 so we are starting off this month strong!! It's ok though! We finally got my bike all built and ready to go. So we will be utilizing that while we can. I will be able to practice all my cool tricks. I can't have Jansen be a better biker than me by the time I get back. Gotta maintain my skill.

Thursday:

Oh YEAH! THURSDAY BABY! This week has been cruising by. Today was so solid! We had our weekly planning session. During this time we talk about the week to come and what we want to teach our friends and then set goals. We do companionship inventory and Set goals for each other/Invite one another to do something this next week to help improve or just something we feel like inviting them to do. Last week I invited Elder Rice to close the toilet seat after use! Just something as simple as that. Love weekly planning.

We put one of our friends ON DATE FOR BAPTISM! WOOOO CAN I GET A "WOOT WOOT"?! YES SIR!! It wasn't our plan to put him on date, it just happened. God led us in the direction that he wanted us to go. It was amazing. The power of the spirit is wonderful.

Tonight is when things got fun. Now this morning we heard all the rumors about the big storm that was to come. . . It was raining this morning but we didn't think much of it. We had our raincoats in the car ready to go just in case. The rain had died down late morning and it was a beautiful day. We were visiting one of our friends and we were just chatting outside. We could see lightning and the wind was picking up. It started sprinkling just a tad so we stepped under his garage covering. That's when things got wild! Drop after drop getting faster and faster. WOOO We love the rain!! We told our friend that we would let him go because it was getting pretty insane outside. We step out from under the covering and just an instant drench. Not a gradual thing. . . an instant soak! It was so fun! We had parked in the driveway of the friend that we were speaking to, and had to back out. If you didn't know, missionaries have a standard where the non driving companion has to help back the car. For many reasons this is a good rule and practice for situations, when you are in the pouring rain it makes for a really good time. I was chillin out in the rain for a good 1 to 2 minutes while backing Elder Rice out of the driveway. I was dripping when I got in the car, laughing the whole rest of the way back to the apartment.

We made nachos for dinner, with some questionable cheese. As we were eating we watched a silly video on Gospel Media, called The Phone Call. Now I have no clue why we are able to watch this but I highly recommend it. Take some time out of your day to watch this 24-minute masterpiece made by BYU. It changed my life. Though the ending isn't as good as I would have hoped for, I was able to get a good chuckle throughout this film. Now please, stop what you are doing (reading this email), and GO WATCH THE VIDEO!! You won't regret it. I promise. Pinky Promise at that.

Friday:

What a long, and rewarding day. We had such a great plan for today that didn't turn out quite how we thought it would. But that is ok because we know that this other path was where God needed us to go and for some good reasons.
It was a normal start to the day, workout, personal study, and companion study. Just the usual things. Got to the apartment for lunch, and I was able to get a small nap in. (That was needed for the day to come) Elder Rice, being Zone Leader and all, had a few calls to get on. We went to a park, sat on a bench, and participated in these meetings. I sat quietly waiting just looking at the park and what it had to offer. There was a nice pond with some ducks, geese, and turtles. I watched as they goofed around. The main big boy goose was doing his thing, Hjönk Hjönkin around. The ducks were in some little duck gangs or something. There were about 3 different groups of ducks that would waddle around together and pick on each other. It was hilarious to watch. The Goose is part of one of these gangs and the ducks just follow him around. Anywho that is what I was doing while waiting for Elder Rice to be done with his calls.
After we finished all the calls, we took some time to do language study. Now I wasn't called to speak a language but Elder Rice is a Spanish missionary so we decided to put aside some time for him. I did my Duolingo and then looked up the Book of Mormon in German. I could read one word from the very first verse, which was Nephi. Never have I been more confused in my life. Who knows, maybe I will learn to read it someday. Gotta get myself a German Book of Mormon.

Why am I telling you about language study, well let me tell ya. Our study got cut short by talking to this elderly man and then we had to leave to go do some drop bys. Just contacting some people we think we should go see. During this, we passed by a group and introduced ourselves. They said they didn't speak English. Well, this is perfect, Elder Rice drops their jaws by speaking fluent Spanish. Of course, I had no clue what was happening. But it sounded like a solid conversation. We got contact info from what I could tell. It's fun guessing what people are saying based on context clues.
Later we are in a McDonald's, just finishing up putting in contacts that we had. We started talking to this gentleman. (Sorry, Elder Rice started talking to this gentleman in Spanish) I just sat there for about 45 minutes as they talked about so many different things about religion. I won't go into full detail on what Elder Rice told me they talked about but some people just don't want to listen. . . We were laughing about it later though, saying well if that didn't count as getting your language study in I don't know what does.

We shared the Book of Mormon app quite a few times today. Did you guys know there was an app for it? It is different than your Gospel Library. It sucks not being able to hand out physical copies. But what can you do when you run out?
It is really awesome being able to share a short message of the restoration and bare testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. It is stressful at times but the feeling of sharing with others something I love is awesome.

Saturday:

Stake Conference has started. We had Elder Broc C. Haitt of the 70 attend. He is an amazing person. We had the opportunity to talk with him for a bit. One of our friends we are teaching was tricked into coming to the adult session by one of the members. The member said that they are going to dinner and a movie, which they did do, just not right away. Our friend talked to Elder Haitt for a solid amount of time. It was awesome to hear them have a conversation.

We had 2 lessons fall through today. For both lessons, we asked members to attend so it was awkward when they didn't answer the door and we just stand there with the member. I feel bad for the members because they are taking time out of their day to be here and it was just wasted because no one answered. We asked one of the members to come with us and drop by one of our friend's houses and he gladly agreed. As we arrived our friend was outside mowing, we talked to him and he invited us in. We had to have an impromptu lesson. It was fun but difficult. Having a member in the lesson with you always helps. He wanted to cook us some food but we had to get going.
As we were waiting for the other lesson, with a member, we had a random dude come up to us. Now I don't think I could tell you a single word he said. I picked out a few things, I'm pretty sure. He said something about "when are you taking the house?" and I told him that we aren't taking the house. We are missionaries sharing a message about Jesus Christ. He was holding two stuffed animals, a pack of cigarettes, and a bag of something. Very interesting experience and sad as well.

Sunday:

Stake Conference pt. 2! WOOOO Now I think this is the first time I have ever watched Stake Conference from a church building where it isn't being held. It was weird. We are so blessed in Utah to have all of our buildings close by. In Texas, we have to drive 40 minutes to the Stake Center. It is wild but a good time. Our friend that was tricked to go yesterday wanted to go today. So one of the members took him up to the Stake Center, and he loved it. He tried to see Elder Haitt again but he was really busy.
While waiting in the church before it started, we were greeting people coming in. This sweet old lady comes in and thanked us for holding the door. She then tells me how cute I am and that she would kiss me but she couldn't do that because she would get in trouble. I laughed and thanked her, it was pretty funny. It was weird having church in the morning instead of the afternoon. 10:00 Church is way different than 2:30.

That is how my week went. Let me know if you liked this format. It might be too long. Comment below on how I can improve. And don't forget to hit the like and subscribe! ?

That's about it. See ya.

-Elder Kohl Payne

We stay BUSY on P-days, so sorry my letters are short.

Here are some highlights:

. We saw a ghost dog. He appeared out of nowhere and then disappeared into the wind
. Baptism for the Belton Missionaries in our district
. I am a spike ball pro
. I lost my Duolingo streak :/
. Church is AWESOME!! You should all go!!
. Big Boy Cow (Picture)
. Finished all the Safety Zone Videos
. Had 2 exchanges this week
. The wind never stops
. I got a haircut! It is so short!
. Went to Magnolia (look it up, Chip and Joanna Gaines) Elder Rice was so happy to go haha)
. Deer are wild. Don't trust them. They are skinwalkers
. H E B! Everything you will ever need (the biggest store ever)
. I got a bath towel finally, I forgot mine at the MTC. I had been using my hand towel  
. Jesus Loves You!

I hope you all are doing well and continue to invite people to church. I have felt God's love for me and seen miracles this past week.

That's it for now. See ya.

Elder Kohl Payne
150

ZooWeeMAMA!! What a wild time it has been here in the craziness of Texas. So much has already happened so let me get started right away.

At the end of the day, last Tuesday, the MTC was blessed to have a devotional. It was a different experience than anything I've ever experienced. On every 2nd Tuesday of the month a General Authority comes to the MTC for a devotional. We were all speculating on who it could be. Two of the Texas bond missionaries help with ushering for the devotionals and other events, so they knew who it was. They were told specifically not to tell anyone. So they didn't. . . Kinda. As I would be talking to one of the Elders the other one would mouth who it was. So out of the corner of my eye, I read Holland. By this, I was very excited to be in THE ELDER HOLLAND's presence. He is a powerful man and speaks with such authority, that there is no way anyone can deny his words. The devotional is starting and they announce the speaker, Matthew Holland. I turn to the Texas Elders confused. Once Matthew Holland (who is in the Quorum of the Seventy) starts talking he makes it all clear. Elder Jeffery R. Holland had gotten ill so he asked his son to give his talk. In the 30+ years that Elder Holland has been speaking at the MTC he has never prepared a talk. He follows the spirit to know what he needs to say, absolutely crazy! This time he felt inspired to write a talk. So when he got ill he was able to then asked his son to share his address with the Elders and Sisters of the MTC. It was amazing! The experience was amazing!!

My last night at the MTC was good. Elder Hoops and I walked around the whole building just talking to all we could. We got to the fourth floor and talked to The Wet Witch and one of The Bean Wizards and the rest of their room. They have been at the MTC far too long and still have several weeks to go. They have probably seen about 4 different groups of missionaries come into the MTC and leave.

Getting up the morning that we had to leave wasn't as rough as I thought it was going to be. I got about 3 hours of sleep, due to being anxious and making sure everything was packed. Got up at 3 am and didn't get to bed until 10:30. There was a group of 14 of us that were traveling to the airport. (Much more missionaries would travel that day but at the time we left it was only 14) I feel like none of us knew where we were going but we were led in the right direction. Just a reminder to us that God wanted us to get where we were going. It was a fun experience with the freezing cold weather, the wind, the monkey noises (of course), and confused Elders and Sisters. But, we all got to the airport safe and sound. If you didn't know we have to take the bus to Provo Front Runner, then take the front runner to Salt Lake City, then transfer to Trax to get to the airport. Navigating the airport wasn't bad at all. Going through security was the roughest part. I forgot that I had my full-size toothpaste and shampoo in my carry-on bag, so the airport man stole them.(haha) I was disappointed in myself but then I got a really good waffle for breakfast and that made it all better. Can't stay mad after a good waffle!!

The plane ride was alright! A little rough during the duration of the flight but we made it all safe and sound. In case you were worried! Yes, I made it to Texas. The one and only. It was one of the Elder's first time on an airplane so it was fun to watch him as we took off and landed. He had the biggest smile on his face! The little joys in life are what we live for.
I got my trainer and his name is Elder Rice, and I bet you will never guess where he is from. . . I'm waiting. . . Pleasant Grove, Utah!! 2 towns over from where I live!! We talked and found some mutual friends. It's been fun being able to talk to him about the Utah Valley area and have him actually know what I'm saying!! He has been out for 18 months, play's soccer, and graduated in 2021. He is very disciplined and loves God. He was called Spanish speaking but has been in English speaking areas ever since his second transfer. He still keeps up with his language study and we are hoping and praying that he will be able to get into another Spanish area before he leaves. Pray for Elder Rice!!

I am in Temple, Texas which is in the Waco zone. Elder Rice is actually the Zone Leader, so I am getting the best of the best. President Fox knew I would need it. Temple is kind of a poor area from what I've been able to see. There are some Utah type neighborhoods, like Vineyard, with those small houses all tightly put together. Been to a lot of houses where when you walk in you get hit with thick smoke, weed, or an alcohol smell. That has been a tough adjustment for me.
Been eating enough to survive, the ward members feed us almost every night. First the Wilsons, then we got dinner from the Mimbs, then the Pritchards, then the Clayton's with Geraldo who is one of our friends who is on date to be baptized!! (that's a later story) The members are really nice and do A LOT of missionary work!! We have a lot of members that sit in on lessons with our friends and it helps! If we can get a member to become friends with the person we are teaching it basically means that they are going to be baptized. I have a challenge for you all, Invite someone to come to church. Anyone your heart desires. Pray and ask who you can invite.

A quick list of some things that happened this week because I am running out of time:

1. Got some really good food at a place called Green's Sausage House. Ate my first Kolache and it was so good.

2. It has been really cold the past few days. Due to the wind, feels like home.

3. Grinding out some Saftey Zone videos (which are the missionary safety videos)

4. Cute puppies everywhere but also mean puppies

5. A lot of sad looking homes around.

6. CHURCH. Got to meet a lot of the members, but don't remember all the names.

7. Got a gun waved at me. Pretty cool and scary all at the same time. The guy really didn't want us at his door.

8. It has been hard to adjust to full time missionary life. I need to just be patient with myself and know it will get easier.

Didn't have enough time to put all the things I wanted to in this email but we got next week, right? I will have more photos next time. Thank you all for your prayers on my behalf. I do feel them!

That's it for now. See ya.
Elder Payne

I'm Sorry Dad!! I know running is for criminals but it's something to keep me entertained. I will be on a bike soon enough. Volleyball and 4-square have been super fun to play as well. Elder Saline played Vball in high school, so he was schooling all of us. Elder Elder is really good at chess so we've been playing that a lot along with ping pong. The Rec Room is always packed though, so it was hard to get into the "nerd room" also known as the chess room.

The last days with the district were probably the hardest days here. Saying goodbye to my district, my family, was hard. It is amazing how close you can grow to a group of people in just a few weeks. The love I have for my district is unbelievable. The love I have for them is just a small glimpse of the love that God and Jesus have for them. The last classes were hard. Lots of crying and sharing. The love in the room during these times was unimaginable. I can tell they will do amazing things in all the places they are called and I can't wait to see them in 2 years. We had a testimony meeting after a devotional on Sunday, the day before most of the district had left, and again just the love you can physically feel is remarkable. I usually like to share last and I shared my thoughts 2nd to last. I had a prompting to go around to every single person in the room and ask them if they knew that they are a beloved son or daughter of God. They all answered yes. As they should. I told them that since they know this truth, it is time for them to go and share this with people that don't have this knowledge and that it will change people's lives because it has changed theirs. It was a powerful prompting and it actually turned out super well. I didn't know where it was going to go but it seems like people needed to hear that they are loved. Then we gave some blessings and said goodbye. I already miss them all so very much.
Elder Saline and Elder Elder left bright and early this morning (Feb 14th) at 3:30. Since they were in my room I woke up and got to see them off. I was tearing up saying goodbye to them. Elder Saline has been such a blessing to me. I have been able to goof around with him and be super real with him as well.

One night the Elders on the 1st floor decided to chug bottles of sprite. I did one. Others did 5-7. Isn't that just wild!! They were trying to make themselves throw up!! Elders are wild! Last night we had a civil war on the first floor. I had these leftover chocolate balls that were so dense they were basically steel. So the goofballs we are, we started throwing them faster than the speed of light at each other. It was the OG's vs the Greenies. I had two really good hits on me. One made me bleed, the other was right underneath my eye. Don't worry mom, I am ok. The war was ragging on. We had two Elder's come down from the 2nd floor and asked us to knock it off, as it was loud. It wasn't even time to go to bed, and we needed to blow off some steam. We had one of the greenies do recon of them and he found out which room it was. He went up to them and said "Do you guys hear those monkey noises and guys yelling?" They said, "Yes, they do it every night". When he told us this I started dying laughing. The monkey noises are a part of who we are. It's just what we do. We told the new guys to keep the tradition alive and they happily agreed. After hearing this we kind of retaliated just a bit by turning off the breaker box switch that goes to their room, and yelling monkey noises up the stairs. What a party. Not the best decision probably but one that made us laugh. Sorry to that floor of Elders. We are just trying to have some fun.

Elder Williams got out of the Gulag on Sunday. It was really good to see him. We passed down the pig to Elder Lee and his crew. Told them about the curse and wished them the best of luck.

I am pretty much all packed up to go to Texas tomorrow morning (Feb 15th) at 4!! Still a few things here and there but overall we have it all ready to go. Tonight will be fun. It's weird being some of the last people in the district. I got to see everyone else leave and now it is my turn. I will be up bright and early packing final items and then heading off to the airport. It will be an interesting experience going through the airport with a group of Elders. Wish us Luck!

The MTC has helped me so much. Through my district and teachers, I've been able to see my testimony and love for the savior grow so much. The spirit is never not here. I know I will definitely be able to feel a difference when I leave. I will miss this place so much. The things I've learned and the spirit I've felt has changed me. I have never Cried, laughed, and partied so much in my life. The MTC is amazing.

"Jesus Loves You!" -Sister Hammer

That's about it. See ya'll later.

-Elder Payne (150)

That's not all though. The third floor . . . Something unspeakable happened in the third floor bathroom and word spread fast. As Elders were running around, Monday Night the Third floor had a trial to find out who done it. Now I won't go into details. It was the most I've laughed in a long time! We had The Wet Witch and The Bean Wizards. It was a wild night. They couldn't come to a conclusion, so the trial goes on. . . Update on the trial next week. Hopefully.

That's about it. See ya.

1Nephi 7:12 Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him? Wherefore, let us be faithful to him.

Friends and family, I know that God will do anything for us, if it be his will. But we first have to exercise faith. Take the first step into the dark, for when you do so I promise you each footstep in the darkness will lighten your path along the way.

-Elder Payne                               146

Beautiful :_) Music to my ears
(Idk if that video successfully uploaded right) If not message me on Facebook and I can send you the video.

How classes time works, if you are curious, we have two, 3 hour classes. Morning with Sister Golding and afternoon with Sister Mott. (My MTC teachers) Sister Golding's class starts at 8:30 and goes till 11:30. Sister Mott's class starts at 1:30 and goes till 4:30. And we get 10 minute breaks each hour. I would spend these time slots doing one or more of the following:
Run around the house
Get a snack
Use the facilities
Playing the Ukulele
Staring out a window
Crying
Spin in my chair
Talking to my District
As you can see, I am pretty dang productive in my time away from class.
One day Sister Golding had a meeting to attend during the last hour of class, so she had to make someone host of the meeting/put someone in charge so we could keep order and finish up class with what she asked us to do. >:)
Guess who got the power presented to them and gladly accepted.
ME!
I know what you might be thinking, "well that was a mistake." or "oh no." but you can ask anyone in my district and they will tell you that it wasn't as bad as you might have thought it went. We read a chapter in the Book of Mormon in small groups and discused. Then came back together talked for a bit and then ended the meeting. So it went very well in my opinion. Way better than Sister Mott's class. She had to leave for the second hour and she didn't know who to put in charge of the class. Other people were saying that I was in control in Sister Golding's class and that I did a good job. Which I did. Elder Saline is put in command to rule 2nd hour. We had two different tasks that Sister Mott left us with. Then she leaves.
Now I wont go into detail on what happened but by the time Sister Mott came back the supreme power was passed around to three different people. Me being one of them. It was wild. Friendly yelling, confusion, and laughter were all present during this hour, BUT we got the tasks done. And that's what matters.

I got to go to Elder Tobler's farewell on Sunday! I am really going to miss him. He will do amazing. I was crying during his entire talk and then during the ward choir. I am such a cry baby. I blame my dad for that.
It was really good to see all of my friends one final time before I go into the Provo MTC. We took pictures together and said goodbye. Many tears. It's ok though! Two years will go by so fast. Faster than we realize.

Yesterday, Monday, was my last day of online class!! WoOhOOo
Elder Williams and I did our first teaching appointments. Just to get practice of what it will be like out in the field. I really didn't think they went that well but the survey and info from the people we taught say other wise. I really don't feel confident at all, but my teachers and district say that Elder Williams and I do great so that tells you about the power that God has.
Moses 6:32 really coming true.
"...Go forth and do as I have commanded thee, and no man shall pierce thee. Open thy mouth, and it shall be filled, and I will give thee utterance, for all flesh is in my hands, and I will do as seemeth me good."

Sierra is letting me bring her ukulele with me, which will be awesome! She doesn't really use it a lot and it will be great to have around. Something I can do so I wont get to board in Texas :) My district will sometimes see my playing it on the 10 minute breaks and they would ask me to unmute so that they could listen to me play which was fun.

I've been packing the majority of today and been writing this email. Elder Williams and I were able to MEET TODAY!! It was really good to see him and talk about life and just talk. I was able to meet some of his family which was super cool. I will be able to meet all of my district tomorrow in person! They wont be little pixels on a screen anymore. Packing is tough! I don't know if I have enough but I'm afraid I have not enough. It's wild here at the Payne House tonight.

Duncan got his mission call today!! I was able to go and see him open it!! HE IS GOING TO MCALLEN TEXAS!! IS THAT NOT CRAZY!! We will be in the same state only about 4-7 hours apart from each other for about a year and a half! I am so shocked and so proud. He starts March 13th! What an adventure that will be!!

Lucky for you, I have a lot of pictures from this past week. From saying goodbye, Zoom things, and birthday, pictures add up and I thought I'd share some of the good ones.

Love You All. Stay Silly Goofy. ?

-Elder Payne
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