WEEK #19

Hello friends and family!

Well things are going pretty good here in Big Sky Country. We have 3
investigators now, we had to drop some of our investigators. We are
now in finding mode, we are trying to find more investigators but so
far we haven't had any luck. We have tracted out the whole town now
haha and it looked like we might have a few potential investigators
but they were mostly just being polite and didn't want us to come
back.

We had one investigator at church yesterday so that's pretty good.
Better than nothing haha :) Elder Manufekai and I taught Gospel
Principles class yesterday. It's funny how much you learn while
teaching others. It has been really hot! Unusually hot for Montana
they say. We are out of miles on our truck for this month so we have
been riding bikes to and from town. We live like 6 miles outside of
actual Lincoln so that has been pretty fun to ride... not! My butt is
so sore haha. We have been doing the Insanity Program as well for the
past week or so. OOOOHHH MY GOSHHHHH! I thought I was in pretty decent
shape but now I'm not so sure! Haha these workouts are kicking my
trash. I feel like I have more energy throughout the day though. The
most important thing is nutrition, but it's hard to buy healthy foods
when you only get $135 per month. Plus we don't have the time to
prepare big meals. But oh well we make it work :)

We weren't able to teach many lessons this past week, mostly because
we don't have many investigators! But hopefully that will change soon.
We find out if we're getting transferred next Monday, so we'll see
what happens.

This past week I have been studying 3rd Nephi. This is one of my
favorite parts in the book of Mormon. It is where Christ comes and
teaches the people. There are so many solid scriptures and principles
found in this book, so I go pretty crazy highlighting the verses haha.
Oh, have you ever heard of people putting mayonnaise on jello?
Apparently it's the thing to do up here in Montana! It's disgusting!
People just get a nice plate of jello, and plop a whopping spoonful of
mayo on it. They're ruining perfectly good jello! haha.

STILL no word on my Visa. I'm going crazy. haha. On Saturday we had a
Pioneer Day celebration in East Helena, that was fun we had a lot of
good food and met some new people from the stake. We weren't able to
get any referrals for Lincoln though.

I have really come to appreciate a lot of simple things and luxuries
in life that I didn't even realize I had until I came out on my
mission. I often took my own family for granted, because I always had
to be out doing something fun or exciting. My family was always there
but I didn't think anything of it. But now more than ever I realize
just how important family is and I am so grateful for the wonderful
family Heavenly Father has blessed me with. I hope to be able to use
the things I'm learning on my mission in my life in the future and to
continually learn and progress. Probably the thing that has stuck out
to me the most the past few weeks is that Heavenly Father gives us
trials and hardships to challenge us and help us reach our full
potential. Trials will come our way regardless, but it's up to us how
we react and overcome adversity.One of my favorite quotes is by Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr:
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of
comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and
controversy."

I know that everything that happens to us is for our own good, and God
is always watching out for us. He knows what's best!

Well everyone I hope you have a wonderful week! Work hard and stay busy! :)

Love you much,
Elder Kyle Payne