Rain, Rain, Go Away
As I stated in the title, we had rain, this week was back-to-back rainy days. I really enjoyed the rain though. I got to use my fresh raincoat, and it worked like a charm! Due to the rain, it would be kinda hard to talk to people at parks during comp study. Go figure. So we went to a nice warm building, with an immaculate smell. A coffee shop. What better place to do some studies than a coffee shop? It is nice and cozy, with a good coffee smell and some pretty happy people. We ordered some Hot Chocolate and drank up as we planned and studied. What better way to spend a companionship study than that?
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
