WEEK #40

Tranquilo Gente! 

First off, FELIZ NATAL EVERYONE!!!!

Haha so I can pretty much describe Brazil in one word.... LOCO!!!!! haha i love it though. This week has been really really crazy! So I was supposed to go to Campo Grande, but it got changed so right now I'm in Ponta Porã! It is sweet here. But we kept having problems with our bus tickets, so it was just really hectic and stressful. Things are not very organized here haha. But anyways, after 18 long hours on the bus, I finally made it here. When I got here, nobody was here to pick me up. I couldn't use anybodies cell phone, because everybody buys there phones from Paraguay because it is cheap, so to call out of state to the mission office is really expensive. So there I was by myself with all my bags without a phone and nobody to help me! haha It was alright though. On the bus, I sat next to a guy who played professional soccer in Sao Paulo, and he called his brother to come pick me up to take me to the church in Ponta Porã! Way sweet. I used a payphone to call the mission office and then a couple hours later some elders came and picked me up. It was pretty stressful but it all worked out and everything is good. Tudo Bem!

My companions name is Elder Vecchio, he is from Argentina! He is way cool. We are like exactly the same size, so its pretty funny because we are both pretty tall compared to the people here. He helps me out with the language a lot. He got super super sick at the beginning of the week before I got there and he was in the hospital! But he is better now. Right now we live with two other missionaries, one is from Brazil and the other is from Chile. But they all speak Portuguese well, so I am starting to learn a lot faster! I had to speak in Sacrament on Sunday, that was pretty cool. The ward is great here, the stake is strong in missionary work. Elder Vecchio just had a baptism and we hope to have a baptism this weekend. We taught a lot of lessons this week so it has been good. 

So Ponta Porã... is crazy! It is right by Paraguay, so it is pretty hectic. Apparently it is the most dangerous city in the mission. So we have to be really smart about what we do. But for the most part we are ok. 

My Portuguese is coming along, I have learned a TON this week. It is still hard to understand people though haha. But I just have to be patient with myself! It was kind of funny though, we had a Churrasco yesterday, and one of the members spoke a little bit of English. So he was talking to me in English, and he asked if I was thirsty and I said yes. He asked if I wanted water or orange juice and I said I wanted orange juice. Then he said, Do you like poop in your orange juice? I said no, that's gross. Then he said ok then here is some water. So I said well can I have some orange juice without poop? haha I thought he was joking with me but he was like you can have orange juice, but it has poop in it! It was really weird but I finally figured it out.... He was trying to say PULP instead of poop! haha I busted up laughing once it clicked! Then I explained it to him and everybody thought it was really funny. Then I got my orange juice with PULP :)

Anyways, everything is good here! I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!!!!! It is such a wonderful time of year, to remember the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. I love him and I'm so grateful for his sacrifice! I hope you all have a great Christmas week! I love and miss you all!!!

Atê mais,

Elder Kyle Payne

Week #25

Hey everyone!

This week has been pretty crazy! We have had a lot of success the past couple weeks, things are really starting to pick up in Belgrade. The members here are AWESOME and they are a huge help to us. Good thing we're all on the same team :)

Kelly is still getting baptized this Saturday, we are so excited for him. He's setting a great example for his kids. We have a few other solid investigators as well, we will be teaching another guy within two weeks when he gets back from North Dakota. His wife is a member and they just got married, but he wants to get baptized so that they can be sealed in the Temple next year. Way cool. We will see how that turns out in a few weeks.

Transfers are next week, I can't believe it. Time is going by way too fast. It has been pretty rainy here, we've had some really cool lightning storms though.

We went on an awesome hike this morning. Montana is seriously so beautiful! I can't wait to come back and visit here after my mission.

I LOVE the people here. They're great. 

As usual, still no word on the Visa. There are still 3 of us from the MTC District still in Montana. One of them, Elder Jackson, is in my District right now so we see each other pretty often. So that's good.

Watchman said Brazil is just awesome and he said I will love it when i get down there. So we'll see! :) 

I can't really think of anything crazy that happened this week, it has been pretty routine I guess you could say. We have worked really hard.

We spoke in 2nd ward yesterday and it went really well, the members seem to trust us so that's good. We had 6 Less-active families come to church and 2 investigators. It's always great to see them walk in the door to the chapel :)

Anyways, things are going good here in Big Sky country. I hope you all have a great week! I love you very much. Keep the faith!

Elder Payne

WEEK #22

Oi familia e amigos!

I hope you all had a wonderful week! This week for us has been
LEGEN....wait for it.... DARY! haha we have been working our tails
off. The area has so many less active families and we are working with
them to try to get them to come back to church. We had an investigator
named Kelley come to church yesterday. He is such an awesome guy I'm
excited to work with him. So far the wards here have really welcomed
us in, we have received a ton of referrals and stuff so it's keeping
us busy. We've been using the bikes a lot so we are outside most of
the day. It's been really hot lately but it's all good. We just make
sure to keep lots of water with us.

Well I don't really have any crazy stories this week but last P-day we
hung out with Joel (the kid we live with) and his best friend Garrett
(he also lives with us). We went to the BMX track in Bozeman and we
were trying to jump this pretty big tabletop jump. Garrett and I were
the only ones who could get all the way over the jump. So I was
getting pretty comfortable and cocky with the bike I guess, but I went
down the ramp faster than I normally would and jumped higher because I
was trying to clear the second jump as well... and I completely wiped
out haha. And of course I wasn't wearing a helmet or anything so it
hurt pretty good. I was seeing green dots for a solid 10 minutes and I
got a little cut on my head but oh well it was worth it! We had a
really fun day.

Elder Greenwall and I had to speak in Sacrament in first ward
yesterday about missionary work. I was a little nervous but it went
really well. It was a great way for us to introduce ourselves to the
members more and gain their trust.

I am really loving Belgrade, this area is so awesome and there is so
much potential here! Oh I guess i do kind of have a funny story, I got
peed on by a dog on Wednesday. it just ran up to us and we started
petting us but it lifted its leg when I was talking on the phone and
was peeing on my shoe so I kicked it and it ran away. There are so
many dogs in Montana. Seriously 99 percent of the people I've met have
dogs haha. I also heard that the population of Cows in Montana is like
3 times the population of humans? go figure! there are lots of cows
here.

Well this week has been pretty normal, we have had some great
discussions with families and investigators and less actives. You can
really see the difference this gospel can make in someones life. I'm
so grateful to be serving here in Montana. But still I can't wait for
Brazil. I know it will happen on the Lords time. But I have prayed and
fasted for it to come, but through that I think I've just gotten more
comfort and assurance that I'm in the right place right now.

I hope you all have a wonderful week and I hope to hear from you soon!
Ate mais, tchau!

Com muito amor,
Elder Payne

WEEK #8

Hello all!

 

Well, I'm losing track of time but I think I have been out for 8 weeks. CRAZY! Time is flying by. I'm so glad I got to talk to my mom and family yesterday for Mother's day. It was really good to see them. Well, we just got our transfer calls and I am staying in Lincoln. My comp is getting transferred. My new companion is Elder Manufekai, he's Polynesian! I haven't met him yet but I'm excited. We will transfer on Wednesday this week.

Well I will let you know what's been going on in good old Lincoln Montana! I have been on exchanges with my district leader all week. His name is Elder McLeod (pronounced Mcloud) He's so awesome. I have learned a lot from him and we have had so much fun this past week. We also had some crazy cool experiences! I'll start off on Wednesday. So we were driving from his home in Helena to Lincoln, and all of the sudden he pulls off the road and says we need to go up this little dirt road into the mountain. I was like alright this is crazy but let's do it. So we were driving and we ran into this 90 year old couple named the Macdonalds, who own a 4,000 acre dairy farm. We talked to them for over an hour and basically taught the first lesson, so that was a really neat experience. Then after that, we both felt like we should keep driving down the dirt road farther up the canyon. We had gone for about 20 minutes without seeing any signs or people, so we were thinking about turning around, but we both had a strong impression that we need to keep going. So we kept driving and sure enough about 5 minutes later we ran into a tiny town in the middle of nowhere called Marysville! It has a population of about 50 haha. But we started knocking doors and asking where we were, and we met a guy named Eddie. He is about 60 years old and has a big white beard and super leathery skin. He's awesome though. We taught him about the restoration and book of Mormon on his porch and he said he would love to read the book and come to church on Sunday! He is in the Helena area though, so hopefully he went on Sunday. It is crazy how the spirit can lead us to people like that. I would have never thought to turn on that dirt road, but Heavenly Father knew there were people who needed to hear our message that day.

We have been working our butts off this past week! It has been a really hard week but still really good. Funny story though, on Friday we were splitting and hauling logs for Brother Caudill (the member we stay with). I parked the four wheeler by the log pile and put the brake on, and we finished unloading the logs we had into the pile. Elder McLeod said he wanted to drive, so we got on and started heading back on the dusty road. It's habit for me to put the brake on, and I forgot to tell him that I did. He forgot to check for the brake, so it stayed on the entire time we were driving back! I kept asking him if he was flooring it, because the engine was revving really high but we were going slow. But we didn't even realize that we left the it on. All of the sudden, brother Caudill starts chasing after us on his four wheeler yelling "You're on fire you're on fire!" So we hop off and start freaking out because the brakes had melted and caught on fire and the engine was burning up and smoking! So we probably looked like idiots while we were throwing dirt on the four wheeler and smacking it haha. I felt so stupid! But we apologized and he wasn't mad.

A lot has happened this week, we met and taught a bunch of new people, got a bike stuck in a tree (don't ask), caught a four wheeler on fire, got kicked out of a crazy member's house, I got chased by a mother deer because I kept trying to grab the baby deer (whitetail deer are everywhere here), my comp. fell like 10 feet out of a hammock, lots of things haha. But this has been the most rewarding week yet, I have felt guidance from the spirit multiple times, and it is awesome! My testimony is growing stronger every day.  I spoke in Sacrament meeting yesterday about Charity and Service. It was easy to relate those two things to Mother's Day, so it went well. I'm so grateful for my mother and grandmothers! :)

Members are so important in missionary work. They have a huge impact on a missionary's ability to succeed, because they help find people and befriend them before we meet them. The Members find, The Missionaries Teach, and The Spirit Converts. That is so true. My challenge for you all this week is to invite a friend or less active member to spend time with you, whether it be dinner, playing a game, anything. Share your testimony with them and invite them to come to church or read the Book of Mormon. It may seem kind of scary, but I promise that if you are bold and have faith, the Spirit will help you share your message and they will feel it.

I love you all so much! Please pray really hard for my VISA to come so I can go to Brazil too ;) haha just kidding. I know this gospel is true and that the Spirit truly is there to give us direction and comfort. Until next week!

Tchau!

Elder Kyle Payne

WEEK #6 MONTANA BABY!!

Hello everyone!

Well, I made it to Montana! I got picked up at the airport by my friend and old fellow ward member Elder Luke Olsen. It was really good to see him! We then went and ate at Golden Corral, which was awesome. We went to the mission home and then split up for our new areas. It was sad to leave my district but exciting at the same time. It is so beautiful up here! The mountains are gorgeous. I'm in a little town called Lincoln, it has about 900 people but the church is gaining a presence, we had 3 investigators come to church yesterday and I got to speak in Sacrament Meeting! We taught two lessons yesterday and today is our p-day but we did a bunch of yard work with the people we are staying with. I live with the Caudelle's, they are members me and my companion live in a little cottage up in the woods, it is so awesome. I am excited to get out and teach more! It is so good to be out of the MTC and into the real world! Haha. It was really hot when we got to MT and yesterday was perfect, like 70 degrees, but today it snowed. Go figure. Things are looking good though, we are doing a bunch of service tomorrow and on Wednesday we are teaching an investigator named Doc. I met him at church yesterday and he seems awesome, he's about 55 and single. He has a masters and professional degree in History, so he is really interested in all the Wars and things in the Book of Mormon. He believes it is a true book and everything he just has a lot of questions. It seems promising. I can't wait to teach him.

 

My companion's name is Elder Halversen s about 5'6" and weighs maybe 120, so I've got a good 90 pounds on him haha. He's a solid missionary though and I'm glad he's my trainer. He helps me out with the Language, his last comp. was also waiting on his VISA too.

 

We had a really cool experience yesterday. So one of our investigators didn't come to church and they didn't answer their phone, so after church when we were walking around town and visiting people, I had a really strong feeling that we should go talk to them. I didn't even know their names or anything, I just said hey Elder Halverson, who are those people that didn't come to church today? He said it was the Jone's. I told him i felt like we should go stop by. So we went to their house, and it turns out that Mr. Jones's sister was beaten by her son with a hammer the night before, and she is on life support and they don't know what will happen because her forehead is crushed. So scary. He was so sorry that he didn't come to church and he kept apologizing for being rude, but we talked with him for a good while about how everything will be alright and that we are here to help him with anything he needs. We gave him a DVD about Christ and bore our testimonies. It was a really cool experience, I'm hoping that he will watch the video with his family and come to church next Sunday I'm really glad we went over and talked to him because otherwise we would have had no idea what was going on. It is amazing to see the Lord's hand at work. I know that we were in the exact right place at the right time so that we could go talk to him and leave him with a spiritual message.

 

Today is my Dad's birthday! I really love my dad. I wish I had a birthday present haha but I guess this letter will have to do! Happy birthday dad I hope you have a great day. Hopefully you will at least get to go golfing or something :)

 

I'm so excited to serve! I'm not sure how long I'll be in Montana but I am going to work as hard as i can and make the most of it while I'm here. This is precious time and I want to make the Lord proud. I will send pictures when I figure out how to make this computer work, for some reason it won't read my SD card but I will figure it out.

 

My challenge for all of you this week is to look for ways to serve others around you and take every opportunity you can to help people, even in seemingly insignificant ways. Most of the blessings we receive from the Lord are through other people. You never know when something you do for someone is an answer to their prayers. I love you all so much and can't wait to hear from you. Thank you for all the love and support! Tchau!

 

Elder Kyle Payne