WEEK #21

Hello everyone!

This week has been crazy! Belgrade is awesome. It is a lot bigger than
Lincoln and there is so much work to do! My companion is Elder
Greenwall, he's from Santaquin, UT. He's a great guy and a hard worker
so I"m excited to be with him here. We work well and teach well
together so things are looking good. There's even a McDonald's here!
yay!!! haha

This week we have been visiting a lot of the members and the bishops
and things like that, getting to know the area and we have met with a
few investigators. An investigator was baptized last Saturday so we
have been working with him and trying to teach his sister. He is such
an awesome guy and he gives us "homework" every time we meet with him.
He teaches us more than we teach him I think. It's amazing to see what
the gospel can do for people.

I don't have a ton of time today so I apologize. But Belgrade is
great. We cover two wards here so we should always have things to do.
The members here are absolutely amazing! The last missionaries that
were here didn't take advantage of the members and their referrals and
didn't have the members trust all the time, so hopefully Elder
Greenwall and I can change that so that we can have more success in
this area. Member trust is so important. Every member a missionary!!!
:)

I am seriously learning so much out on a mission. Some days I feel
like I'm pushed to my limits but at the end of the day I'm grateful
for the challenges that I've had. Plus we get to sleep at the end of
the day so that's my favorite part ;) just kidding. My companion has a
paper on our wall with a poem on it, and I think it's funny and so
true! It's called The Highs and Lows of a Mission. Here it is:

A mission is a strange experience
It is a trial and a test.
A mission throws at you the worst
Yet, teaches you the best.

I've never been so happy,
I've never been so depressed.
I've never felt so forsaken,
I've never felt so blessed.

I've never been so confused,
Things have never been so clear.
I've never felt my Heavenly Father so distant,
He's never been so near.

I've never been so discouraged,
I've never been so full of hope.
I feel I could go on for forever,
I think I've come to the end of my rope.

I've never had it quite so easy,
I've never had it quite so tough.
Things have never been so smooth,
Things have never been so rough.

I've never traveled through more valleys,
I've never ascended more peaks.
I've never met so many nice people.
I've never met so many freaks!

I've never had so many ups,
I've never had so many downs.
I've never worn so many smiles,
I've never had so many frowns.

I've never been so lonely,
I've never had so many friends.
BOY, I hope this is over soon,
GOSH, I hope this never ends!

I just wanted to share that, because that's pretty much how it is on a
mission! This is the hardest thing I've ever done but it's also the
best. I love it. We live with a member family. They are so awesome!
The lady we live with is a single mother but her youngest son lives
there with his best friend. They're both 18 and are are way cool so we
have a lot of fun with them!!! they own a piano business and have a
piano store right by their house so I've been in there playing the
pianos a lot haha. We are going hiking with them today so that should
be fun.

Well everyone, I love you all so very much and I'm grateful for each
and every one of you. I love this gospel and I know it's true. This
truly is the Lord's church and I'm so grateful to be a missionary. I
will be sure to write about how the work is going next week. Love you
much!

Ate mais,
Elder Payne