WEEK #47

Opa!

I hope you all had a wonderful week! This week was pretty good for me and Elder Vecchio, we worked hard. It was tough as well, we had to drop some of our investigators because they weren't progressing or keeping any commitments. We dropped the family that came to church the other week, because they wouldn't keep commitments and all they wanted was money. They were needing a little bit of money to get their little girls started in school, so they asked our Bishop for $50. But after that they didn't come to church, and every time we went to their house to teach them they just kept asking when they would get the money from the bishop. We explained that he needs to see them at church and he needs to see them showing their faith. But the next time we went there, the grandmother said that she needed $3500 for a down payment on a new house and she said that the Bishop promised her the money (which he didn't.) It was just a really complicated and frustrating situation for us, but its all good because we found some more investigators. We taught a lot of lessons this week and we had 5 investigators at church! It was awesome.a 

Sonaira is still wanting to be baptized, and earlier this week her mother said that she could be baptized if she wanted! So we got super excited and were planning her baptism for Saturday, but then her mom changed her mind and said she cant be baptized anymore. Go figure! We are still trying though.

We´ve also been teaching another girl named Erica, the only problem is her parents don't want her to be baptized until shes 18 either. But right now we are teaching another family, the wife and kids were at church and they really liked it so we are going to visit them this week as well.

There has been a lot happening here in the ward but we are just focusing on working and not worrying about the gossip. We have responsibility for our areas, so we are just going to work! Also transfers are next week, we will see what happens! I kind of have a feeling that I will stay here for another transfer but we will see. We are also moving into a new house next week which is like twice as big and is a lot better suited for 4 missionaries, so it will be good. 

But things are going really good here! The  people are awesome. The work is coming along, hopefully we will see some baptisms shortly. I love seeing the difference the gospel makes in peoples lives. I am so grateful to be part of this work! 

I hope you all have a wonderful week! I love and miss you all very much.

Love,

Elder Kyle Payne

WEEK #46

Hey everyone, 

Is it really February already? Dang! I hope you all had a good week! So I hear Seattle won?! That's exciting I feel so out of the loop with sports and music and... life haha. Oh well haha.

Well this was probably the most frustrating week of my entire mission! Me and Elder Vecchio are about to go crazy. I cant really go into all the details, but there is a huge problem here in Ponta Pora with gossip and rumors and drama in the wards. I feel like I'm back in High School again! It is frustrating, because we are adults trying to do the lords work and help people. But transfers are on the 15th so we will see what happens. We have a mission conference this Thursday so that will be good. I am going to talk to the mission president to see if we can try to better the situation here. It has been really frustrating for me, because right now I don't have a leadership position and I cant communicate in Portuguese as effectively as Id like to, so I feel like I cant really make a difference right now I just have to go with the flow. 

But last night we had family home evening with some members, and they had the Superbowl on TV before we started. There were 6 missionaries there and a bunch of members. The game hadn't started yet and everybody was talking and yelling, but before the National Anthem started we asked for people to be silent during it and be respectful. But then some missionaries were like dude you're in Brazil not America! But some of the members were nice and asked people to be quiet too. Then the lady started to sing the National Anthem, and some members and missionaries started yelling and making fun of the national anthem. It was really frustrating for me, I explained that there were many many people who gave their lives for our country and for our freedom, and that the National Anthem symbolizes our love and honor for our country and for those who died. But still, they continued to crack jokes and sing during it. I couldn't believe it. I feel like I'm in high school again with a bunch of kids! haha. 

But anyways we only had one investigator at church yesterday, it was Sonaira. Her mom still wont let her get baptized. But Sonaira got up and bore her testimony in Sacrament Meeting, it was so beautiful and I am praying that she will be able to be baptized here soon! We are going to fast this week again and hopefully things will work out. But we also have to remember the Lord knows everything and things will work out how they're supposed to! 

We went on exchanges with some of the young men in the ward two days during the week, so we taught a lot of new people and we got 16 new investigators this week. We will be really busy again this next week making return visits to see if people read and prayed about the Book of Mormon. Fingers crossed! There are so many good and humble people here that would be baptized, we just have to work hard and find them.

It was super hot this week and we didn't have very much rain, so that was nice! i hate the rain during a mission because we don't have a car, so when we get stuck in the rain it is awful! haha. 

I have had Red Red Wine by UB40 stuck in my head for like 4 days! Hopefully i can get a hymn or something stuck in my head instead! We will see! 

But anyways I love you all so much! I know the Lord has a plan for us all and that everything will work out according to what He wants. The Lord is always with us and is always willing to help us! I'm so grateful for this gospel and for my family and friends. I hope you have a good week! 

Elder Kyle Payne

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 #37 BRAZIL

Beleza!!!

I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving! :)

I don´t even know where to begin! haha. Things are so crazy in Brazil! I love it already. We had a super long flight here I was way tired when I got here. But I´m just so happy to finally be in Brazil I don't even care haha

Well, the first thing I can say about Cuiabá is that it is suuuuuper hot!!! Like unbelievably hot. When we got off the plane it was like 105 degrees F. It was quite an adjustment coming from 2 degrees when we left Montana! And it is super humid here too. it seriously feels like a sauna. hopefully I´ll get used to it though :)

The food here is really really good, so far I have had rice and beans for every meal but we usually have some sort of meat as well. On Saturday I ate Coracão de Vaca (Cow heart) it was actually really good I liked it. but other than that the food is normal, just rice and beans all the time

The language is really hard!!! People speak so fast and its hard to understand but its all good. I am serving in Industríario which is part of Cuibá. My companion is Elder Kennington, he is way cool we get along great.  He helps me with my Portuguese a lot. he has a mission blog too, so I read it and I already knew who he was before he was my companion! Kinda funny.  We live with two other missionaries, Elder Moraes and Elder Groff, they are both from Brazil near Curitiba. They are so funny we are teaching them English. Elder Groff always says funny things like Hey be quiet you horse! or Elder Payne I am going to ticklish you on beneath your arms! haha 

We have a few progressing investigators right now so that is good, we have taught a few lessons but i don't know what anyone is saying most of the time, i just bear my testimony. i bore my testimony yesterday in sacrament meeting so hopefully the people could understand what I was saying haha. I had a few people come up and thank me for my testimony so I guess it made sense haha

We had a really cool experience this week. So on Friday we had to take the bus to Cuiabá to take care of some paperwork and stuff at the office, but on our way back our bus got a flat tire. it was hot and crowded and we had to wait for another bus. the bad thing is is that we didn't have money left on our card things to pay for another bus trip, so we needed to go get another card. we started walking and a guy stopped us on the street and asked about us, and we taught him the entire first lesson and gave him two pamphlets. he was way cool and he said he would go to church on Sunday.Then awhile after that we got on another bus and a stranger paid for me to get on which was awesome. the people are so nice here. But the Lord put us in the right place at the right time. He knew we needed to teach that guy on the street, even if it meant us having a flat tire and no money! He even took care of us to get back on another bus to get home. 

I love this work so much.

Anyways, I love you all so much and I´m grateful for you! have a great week

Love,

Elder Payne

WEEK #33

Hello everyone!

Man this week has been crazy. I'm just getting settled into Helena and getting to know the ward better. Right now we have two investigators on date for our area so that's great! But last week the zone had I think 6 investigators on date for baptisms and now this week we have 14 investigators on date for the month of November! I'm so excited. We have some great missionaries in our zone who are doing great work. 

I'm really excited to be back in Helena again! Lincoln is in this zone, so I was hoping Elder Manufekai would be in Lincoln still but he got transferred :( H is District Leader though which is awesome! I will always be grateful to him for being my trainer and for everything I learned from him. He's a brother to me!

I am really short on time today we have a lot to do. But we've taught some solid lessons and our investigators are coming right along. We are doing the stop smoking program with one of our investigators to help them stop smoking. The program works without fail if the people follow each step! I've seen it work before so I know it can happen again.

Still haven't heard anything about my visa but I don't even know what to think about it anymore. I've spent almost a third of my mission here in Montana but I'm still really anxious to get to Brazil. Hopefully it comes soon. But I understand it's all where the Lord wants me to go.

My companion and I get along great, it is pretty confusing that his name is Elder Payne too. And we never hear the end of it from members and stuff! They always tease us about our names like double the pain, or which one of you is the bigger pain, two pains in the butt, everything haha. But it makes for a good conversation with new people. Our mission president just calls me Big Payne and him Little Payne. I'm not sure how I feel about being called big payne but I guess it works! haha

Anyways, I'm so glad to be a missionary for the Lord right now! I absolutely love the people I serve with and serve around. I meet so many amazing people and learn so much. I'm grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and I know it's true. I can't imagine my life without it. I love you all and I'm so grateful for each of you! Have a great week!

Love you much,

Elder Payne

WEEK #32

Hello everyone!

Wow this has been a crazy week! We have been teaching a lot of solid lessons and our investigators are progressing great. We had two come to church so that was really good. We are working with setting new baptismal dates with them, and setting dates for our other investigators. Today it is like a blizzard outside! It's so cold and there is snow everywhere. I hate it!

So we got iPads last week! They are sooooo helpful! They have are planners and area books on there, and all the gospel library and teaching pamphlets. It will help missionary work so much. They're so useful. The lord really is hastening his work by letting us have the opportunity to use technology like this! It really is amazing.

Well, I got a call from the Mission President on Saturday and he informed me that he is changing my calling. I'm getting transferred to Helena and I'm going to be Zone Leader there! I'm really excited to go back to Helena though, I know a lot of the members there and it will be great to see them again. I'll also be in the same stake as the Lincoln branch, so hopefully I'll get to see the people from Lincoln again. I'm a little nervous to be Zone Leader, there are a lot more responsibilities but I think it will be a great learning experience! Oh and get this... my new companion's name is Elder Payne! He's from Cali I think. So that will be really confusing when we answer the phone and stuff, everyone is going to think we are related haha. We'll see how it goes.

I'm so sad to leave Whitehall! I feel like just when you  get in a groove in an area and the work starts picking up, you get transferred! It's a little frustrating but oh well it's part of the mission experience. I will definitely miss the people here in Whitehall. Well, me and Elder Sumner haven't boxed this week at all so I don't have any more bruises. But I think my finger might be broken, I jammed it playing Volleyball like 4 weeks ago but my finger is still bruised and swollen so the medical director wants me to go get it checked out today. Hopefully it's just jammed.

The weather was nice all week until today! It was in the 60's earlier and bright and sunny. now it's cold and windy and snowy! Hopefully Helena is a little warmer haha. But i doubt it. I have also been trying a lot of different hot sauces, I even made a rating chart and have like 10 different sauces rated and organized haha. Yesterday we ate at a members house, and I tried Dave's Insanity sauce. It's basically pure habanero paste. My face caught on fire! My eyes and nose were running and it burned my lips for like 2 hours. I think I put too much on. That's about the craziest experience of the week.

There have been many good experiences as far as teaching goes. My own testimony has grown and I'm so grateful for the gospel and for all the blessings we receive from Heavenly Father! I know without a doubt this church is true and I'm so grateful to be a missionary. I am seriously so sad to leave Whitehall. I hate leaving areas. I have grown to love the people in each area and they have taught me so much and have seriously changed my life. I am so grateful for everyone I've met and for the experiences I've had thus far!

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe week! You are all in my thoughts and prayers. Love you!

Love,

Elder Payne

WEEK #31

Hey everyone!

I hope you all had a great week! This week has been good for me and Elder Sumner. We had a goal to teach 20 lessons this week but we only taught 16. Oh well, we'll do better next week! Mike and Jan (the couple getting baptized) are going to have to push their date back for baptism. So it won't be this Saturday, I think it will be November 9. Hopefully I don't get transferred again. They are awesome. The reason we are pushing it back is because Mike got in a 4 wheeler accident in South Dakota and he can't see out of one of his eyes because it got hit by something, so he is there until he gets better. But once he comes home we will teach them the rest of the lessons and they can be baptized. Satan works super hard to keep people from getting baptized! It's crazy.

We've been teaching a suuuuuper nice lady named Dee, she is so awesome! She hasn't committed to baptism yet but she said she will think about it. She didn't say no though! I can tell she has felt the spirit. She has read the introduction in the Book of Mormon and the testimony of Joseph Smith and the Three Witnesses, and she said she believes it all. So now we are trying to get her to read 1 Nephi and pray about it. Seriously she is the sweetest lady I've ever met! She is in her 70's but has the energy of a teenager. Oh which reminds me, we've been meeting with her 16 year old granddaughter as well. Her name is Savannah, and she lives in Butte but she drives down to her grandmas house whenever we have an appointment. She said she really likes us and thinks missionaries are cool, so that's good! We play card games with Dee and Savannah then the conversation always moves to the gospel and missionary work. It's great. Savannah reminds me a lot of my sister Jennie! We haven't taught her a lesson yet, but we are planning on it this Thursday.

Other than that, we have been seeing a lot of less active families! We've almost reactivated a couple in the ward, so if they come one more week to church they will be considered active again. Reactivations are great, they're often harder to get than baptisms because people have specific reasons for not going back to church. But we've been working closely with them. Oh, and they have a daughter that is 10 years old and they want her to be baptized, so we are going to teach her this week as well :) I'm amazed at how Heavenly Father moves his gospel forward. I feel inadequate sometimes and I don't understand how we can teach people who know a lot more than us. But the spirit testifies to them and truly converts them. There is a funny saying, "If this gospel wasn't true, two 19 year old boys would have ruined it a long time ago!" haha that is so true.

So we've been doing tons of service! I've mucked horse stalls, tagged cows, and herded cattle this week, and all of them I've showed up in basketball shorts and a tshirt! haha I don't have any warmer clothes so good thing my family is sending me some. The members have been super nice though and have let me borrow jeans and cowboy boots and jackets and stuff. They're great.

Elder Sumner and I found boxing gloves at a thrift store, so we've been doing that every night haha just for fun! We just say we will go half speed but then it always gets competitive and we just start hitting harder haha. Then it somehow turns into kickboxing, so my left thigh has a hugh bruise on it now from Elder Sumner kicking the same spot every time! It's good fun though and nobody has gotten hurt... yet!

Oh also I have some exciting news, the Montana Billings Mission is getting iPad Minis!!! The first presidency of the twelve have selected this mission to be a pilot program for teaching with electronic devices. So the ipads will have our planners on them and also the lessons and scriptures, basically anything that the church publishes we will have access to. Which is suuuper helpful. I think it will help the work progress immensely. Not every missionary is getting one though, we had to get interviewed and only the ones who are obedient get one. But luckily i passed the interview haha so I'm going up to Bozeman tomorrow to get trained on it and get the ipad. Pretty sweet!

Anyways, this gospel is true! I love it! I hope you all are reading the scriptures and praying every day! We need to speak to our Heavenly Father every day! Prayer is such a huge blessing and we need to take advantage of it. I know God has a plan for each and every one of us. I know I'll get to Brazil when I need to be there! There is a reason I'm still in Montana, maybe it's because there are people in Whitehall that I need to be here for. Whatever the reason, I'm willing to serve wherever the lord wants me. I hope you all have a wonderful week! I love you and look forward to hearing from you.

Proverbs 3: 5-6

 

Love,

Elder Payne

 

 

 

WEEK #29

Hello friends and family!

This has been a great week. I hope you all enjoyed general conference
this weekend! I LOVED it and I took a lot from it. It was kind of
weird to not be home sitting on the couch and eating junk food during
conference! haha. But it was still good. Elder Sumner and I drove to
Dillon on Saturday for Dell's Baptism and watched conference and went
to Priesthood session, then spent the night and watched conference on
Sunday with them. It was good to be with the Williams family again.

The work here in Whitehall is going good, we have two investigators on
date for baptism (Mike and Jan.) Elder Sumner and I set the date with
them while I was here on exchanges. So it's good that I can teach them
more now! :)

So apparently there is a huge deal going on with the government and
government employees? That is such great news to hear... I'm sure it
will do wonders for getting my Visa! haha. hopefully it is over soon
and I will be able to get to Brazil without any MORE delay haha.

We have been working with a lady named Dee, we play games with her and
eat meals with her every week, and we just taught the first lesson
with her last week. It was awesome! She loved the lesson and she
started to tear up towards the end. She is strong catholic, so we are
keeping that in mind as we teach, but she says she believes in
everything that Mormons believe pretty much. So I'm really excited to
keep teaching her and see her progress. She's awesome!

I'm not sure what else to report on this week. We had zone conference
on Wednesday, so it was great to see everyone there. All of my past
companions were there, so it was a good reunion! haha. I talked with
Elder Greenwall who I was just with in Belgrade, and 3 more of the
people I was teaching there have committed to baptism now! I'm so sad
I had to leave Belgrade! it was such an awesome area. The area was
dead when Greenwall and I got there, but we worked hard and towards
the end things picked up and now the area is on fire! I'm jealous.

I'm definitely coming to visit Montana after my mission. I can't wait
to see all the great friends I've made here again.

The past few weeks I have been cooking a lot, with Elder Tayrien and
now with Elder Sumner. So that's been fun! I need to get a good
cookbook with simple recipes and stuff. Because with $135 per month we
can't afford to buy much, just simple foods. Plus we hardly have time
to make big meals. So it's been pretty fun and challenging to see what
we can come up with to eat. There have been a ton of flies in
everyone's houses because the weather is getting cold. Which reminds
me, it snowed last Friday!! like crazy! the whole week has been cold,
wet, and muddy. But today is in like the 50's and it's bright and
sunny, so that's awesome :)

Well everyone, this gospel is true! I'm so grateful to be a
missionary. I hope that the things I'm learning will help me be a
better person, husband, and father someday. No matter how hard
missionary work gets sometimes, I always find comfort in the
scriptures and in prayer, and I know I'm in the right place. I can't
remember who said it at conference, but the message really hit me. It
said, "It doesn't matter where you serve, but how." That is very true.
Whether I'm in Montana or Brazil, I can still serve with everything
I've got. The lord looks out for his missionaries and I will serve
wherever I'm called to serve.

I love you all and I hope you have a great week!!! Ate lago!

Elder Payne

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

WEEK #20

Hellooooooo everybody!!!

This has been a great week for us in Lincoln. Things are going really
well. We had 4 investigators at church yesterday, and 3 of them got up
and bore their testimonies! It was soooo awesome! I couldn't believe
it. We had some bad news though, one of the families we have been
teaching moved unexpectedly. They didn't tell anyone they were leaving
and they abandoned all their stuff at their house so we thought they
were just on vacation or something, but they really are gone. It's
pretty sad but oh well.

We got the transfer calls this morning and..... I'm getting
transferred! I'm going to a new area called Belgrade, it's in the
Bozeman area. Bozeman is where the big college is so hopefully there
will be some pretty cool people there. I will be covering 2 wards
there, so I'm sure it will be a lot busier than Lincoln. I'm excited.
My companion is named Elder Greenwall, he is from Santaquin Utah.
That's all I really know about him. I haven't met him yet but I will
on Wednesday. He just came out last transfer so I have been out longer
than he has, but we are both new to the area so we won't have any idea
where we're going haha. Hopefully the other Elders took good care of
the Area Book so we know what we're doing.

I am really going to miss Lincoln! I have to admit, sometimes I
thought I was going to go crazy because we struggled to stay busy some
days and we felt kind of isolated there. But now that I'm leaving I
will definitely miss Lincoln, especially the awesome members and the
people we stayed with. They fed us all the time! I have put on like 5
lbs. since I've been in Montana. Nao muito bom.

I still haven't received my stupid Visa. I feel like I'm about to call
the consulate myself and say HEY GRAB MY PAPERWORK FROM THE PILE AND
PROCESS IT RIGHT NOW!!!!!!! haha. I've been waiting for so long!

Thank you everyone for the letters and all the support! I really miss
all of you back home and I'm so excited to see you when I get back. I
love serving the Lord though and I'm so grateful to be a missionary.

I have learned so many things already and I can't wait to learn more
about the gospel, about myself, and about life in general. Seeing the
troubles that people have really makes me appreciate my own life even
more. I am a strong believer in consistency, because I have seen the
success and miracles it brings when you work hard. Making small, smart
choices every day brings more success over time. I am definitely not
perfect and I know I'm not the best missionary, but I am trying to do
a little better each day. I want to make the Lord proud.

Well I love you all so much and I hope to hear from you soon. I'm
sorry this letter isn't too long we don't have much time there is lots
to do today to get ready for transfers. Have a wonderful week and work
hard!

Stay thirsty my friends.
Elder Payne

Alma 37:6-7

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

WEEK #18

Hello everyone!

Well this week has been an adventure! Probably the most frustrating week of my mission. But I have learned a lot from it.

The Jones backed out of their Baptism. It is a really long story but basically they didn't want to live the Word of Wisdom because they all love their coffee and Sweet Tea. And their dad and brother was really discouraging them. It is heartbreaking because we worked so hard with them and got our hopes up but they didn't follow through. We will keep trying though. I just keep feeling bad because I'm not sure if I did something wrong, or if I could have done more. I sort of feel personally responsible, but it is a learning experience. We have had problems with our truck, the clamp connecting one of the hoses to the heat valve broke so our engine was overheating and spraying coolant everywhere. So that has been fun trying to fix, since the closest place to get it fixed is 60 miles away in Helena. It has been really hot here but that's alright.

We have been trying to find new investigators because we desperately need them! The problem is Lincoln is so tiny and it is our only area. We have tracted out the area multiple times, most people are tired of us trying to talk to them. And honestly I'm tired of trying to talk to them too haha! We had an interesting conversation with a guy on Wednesday. He was a referral from our branch president but they weren't interested at all. We talked to his wife at the door, she politely said no thank you and we were walking down the driveway and he stopped and yelled at us to come back. He then continued to tell us that we are a cult and that everything we believe is false. He kept telling us that he has multiple DVD's and programs that "prove" that Mormonism is false and that everything we believe is a lie to try to get money. We testified to him and he just shot us down and attacked us personally saying he has zero respect for all Mormons. I immediately got mad but I just bit my tongue haha. I didn't want to cause any more problems, but he kept bring up things and trying to dispute doctrine. I was more frustrated at how miss-informed he was. He was like "i know you guys pass around a tray every Sunday to collect money and you just keep all the money for the church!" he said it was a scam for money. Oh well, hopefully his heart will be softened.

We just got back from a 10+ mile hike today. We went with a potential investigator named Ryan. He took us up to a place called Heart Lake. It is one of the most beautiful lakes I've ever seen! The water is so blue and clear and it's in the middle of a thick green forest. But guess who's an idiot and forgot his camera? ME. haha. If i took a picture it probably could have been put on a calender or something.

My MTC companion said that he has 4 dots on his online Visa application, which means it has been processed and is ready for pickup. I checked mine and I only have 1 dot which means it has been received by the consulate. WOW!!! hopefully mine comes this week. I'm tired of being a Visa-waiter haha I just want to go to Brazil already. Transfers are on August 5, so I'm not sure if I'm staying in Lincoln for another 6 weeks or going. I've been here for 3 months now. I kind of have a feeling I'm getting transferred. Lincoln is a really small place so I'm surprised I haven't gone crazy yet! Maybe I have.... just kidding ;)

Well, being on a mission really does help me realize how truly blessed I am. We should never take the things we have for granted. The Lord has given us so much, it's up to us to make the most of what we have and to be happy. I never thought I'd say it, but I am so grateful for trials and challenges. Going through rough times and trials really do make us stronger. Everything happens for a reason, we just have to trust in The Lord to take care of us. He always will.

I hope you all have a great week and I hope to hear from you soon! Write me or email me, missionaries love getting mail :) Tchau!

Much love,

Elder Payne

WEEK #16

Hello all!

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July. What a blessing it is to live in this free country. I am so grateful for all those that sacrificed their lives so that we could enjoy the freedoms we have today. Don't take it for granted! :)

Things have been going really well! We have been working hard and....... we set another baptismal date! Her name is Dakota, we're super excited for her. She is part of the Jones family we have been teaching. We are sure that this will be a great example for her parents and brothers, and that they will want to be baptized as well. The date she chose isAugust 10, possibly sooner. I can't believe it! We're so excited.

The Lord truly has his hand in this work. Now I know what missionaries are talking about when they say that the spirit converts people. Because we sure as heck don't convert them! Haha. All we do is teach, help them feel and recognize the spirit, and invite them to keep commitments. It's amazing to watch somebody grow and make changes in their life that draw them nearer to the Savior. I wish everyone could serve a mission and experience what I'm experiencing. Some days are harder than others, that's for sure. But you can always learn something from those hard days and become a stronger individual.

Funny story, we had a bat in our cottage! Elder Wilson (another visa waiter) came up and stayed with us for a few days, but all of the sudden we see something fly above our heads, and we were like was that a big moth or what? but then it started screeching! so we took pictures of it and videos. We threw stuff at it to try to get it to move but it didn't. Then finally I climbed up in the loft and hit it with a flip flop and it started flapping above my head! I was so scared it was gonna bite me and I would get rabies! haha we were all screaming and running around the cabin with this demon bat flying above us and finally it flew out the window. crazy!!! We're sissies I know ;)

I got to go golfing last week! It was so nice. It was so great to be out golfing again and just relax. I played pretty well and the course was beautiful, it's called Double Arrow resort in Seeley Lakes, MT. I'm definitely going to come back after my mission and visit Lincoln and go play that course again!

So our baptism with Logan is this Saturday and we're super stoked. It looks like everything is going to work out and it should go great.

Well as usual there is still no word on my visa haha. A couple elders got their visa's last week but they were here in Montana for 11 weeks. So I'm due pretty soon I hope! My time will come I just know it! haha :) I will be so sad to leave though. I love these people and it will be hard to say goodbye to our investigators, the members, the missionaries, and other friends I've made here.

Well everyone, remember how much the Lord has blessed you and thank him every day. He has given us so much. I feel especially blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. The least I can do to repay my heavenly father and Savior is to serve a mission. I'm so glad I'm out here on my mission and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

I love you all so much and hope to hear from you soon.

Tenha um bom semana!

Love,

Elder Kyle Payne

WEEK #15

Dear Family and Friends,

Another great week here in Montana! Things are going really well. We have been teaching Logan and the Jones, as well as Roxy and Doc. We have fellowshipped an awesome kid named Ryan, he is the same age as me and he works in town at the gas station. We play basketball and work out throughout the week with him and he really likes us! He says he's pretty comfortable where he's at religiously, but he said he wouldn't mind learning a little more about what we believe because he has a friend on a mission in Arizona.

 

Anyways, I have suuuuuper good news, I'm going golfing today!!!!! :) I'm so excited! Haha I've been dying to play the weather has been so nice. A family is taking us. It's pretty crazy how we met this family! So there is this Lodge really close to where we live. It's like a vacation lodge thing and people come from everywhere during the summer and rent it out for family reunions and stuff. But Judy (our neighbor) runs the lodge, and she told us that there was a family reunion going on there, so on Saturday we thought we would go and introduce ourselves and meet the family (and hopefully get some food) haha. Turns out, the family is Mormon! haha. They are awesome. Some of them are from St George and Kanab area. The parents are awesome, there is a senior couple, and all their kids and grand kids staying there. They remind me a lot of my family! We really enjoy spending time and playing games with them at the lodge. Anyways, we met them on Saturday and invited them to church on Sunday, and they gave us a ride on Sunday to church. There were tons of them! The branch president, instead of giving talks and stuff, just made it a fast and testimony meeting and all the adults that came went up and bore there testimonies. It was so cool to have them all there, it was the most people I've ever seen at the Lincoln Branch. The spirit was so strong they are such a great family. Also it's pretty cool, Bro. and Sis. France (the senior couple) just returned home from a mission in Finland, and we started talking about their mission and I told them that I had a good friend named Greg Waite serving there and they actually knew him! They worked in the office in Helsinki and they said they knew Elder Waite. Small world huh?

 

Still no word on the Visa, but I just made up my mind I'm not even going to worry about it anymore haha. The worst thing I can do is worry about things and worry how things will turn out. But over time I have realized that there is no point in worrying. As long as we are doing what we should, the Lord will take care of us in his own time.

 

Anyways, Elder Manufekai and I are working super hard and things are going good. There is no AC in our cottage so it gets really hot in the day but it's all good! I like the heat :) My challenge for you all this week is to serve one another. Service is such a huge blessing. When we serve others, we are blessed just as much as the people we are serving. I noticed something in the Book of Mormon a little bit ago. When Ammon and his brethren go and start preaching to the Lamanites, Aaron first goes and preaches but he is thrown into Jail for a long time. However, Ammon tells the king that he just wants to be his servant and help him. Well, after Ammon defends the king's sheep, he immediately goes back to working and doing his duties as a servant. The king is astonished by Ammon's loyalty, and trust him a lot. Then Ammon had the opportunity to preach to the King and teach him the Gospel. The key thing is that he served the king first and was his friend. Only after he served and was loyal, the opportunity came to share the gospel. We can learn a lot from this story. It is so important to serve people. We can't just go and make people change, or do what we want right away, but we CAN serve them and be their friend. It is so important to befriend people as missionaries and serve them and love them. I know as you all serve one another the Lord will bless you and you will also feel the satisfaction and happiness that comes from lending a helping hand.

 

Well, I love you all so very much and I can't wait to hear from you. I hope you all have a wonderful week!!!!

 

Com muito amor,

Elder Kyle Payne

WEEK #13

Hello everyone! 

Well, I don't have much time today to write, we have so much to do. But this past week has been really tough. We have worked super hard but didn't see much success. Our investigators haven't been keeping commitments and it's been discouraging, but we've had good things happen as well. We have both learned a lot and our testimonies have grown.

 

We had mission tour yesterday, and Elder Arnold of the Seventy came and spoke. It was really long but really good. We were in meetings from 8 am to 4:30 pm. Crazy.

 

I love missionary work and I'm so glad to be a part of it. We truly are blessed to have the Gospel in our lives.

 

Still no word on my Visa, but we are praying for it to come. We have been praying and fasting for our investigators a lot, they are at a crucial point in their lives and they need to make decisions. It is just hard for them to commit. It seems scary to join this church but they are slowly realizing that they are being strengthened by the Lord and that it is possible.

 

I just wanted to wish all the father's a Happy Father's day, I didn't get to on Sunday. My dad, Grandpa Don, Grandpa Ken, Uncle Ken, Uncle McKay, Uncle Derek, Uncle Jared, Great Grandpa Tommy, Great Grandpa Fry, and so many more. Thank you for all you do. I'm so grateful for father's and the influence they have on their families. I love my dad and grand-dads, I'm so grateful for their example to me. I hope I can be like them one day.

 

Well I'm sorry I'm out of time but I love you all. This gospel is still true :) I love Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for families and friends, and for the love and support they've all shown me.

 

I hope to hear from you soon, have a great week everyone!

 

Com muito amor,

Elder Kyle Payne

WEEK #12

Hello friends and family!

Wow this week has been crazy busy! We have been teaching a lot and doing lots of service. One of families in the branch are moving on Wednesday to Layton, UT. I will miss them! It's crazy how missionaries get so close to members and investigators. I don't want to say goodbye to the Christiansens haha.

My comp and I have been tracting a lot, we walk everywhere! We went over our allotted miles last month on our truck, so we are trying to make up for it by walking everywhere. It's tiring! It's getting me prepared for Brazil though.

Well, we haven't made a ton of progress with the Jones' family this week, they haven't kept their commitments and didn't come to church. It's so frustrating! One day things are going great and the next day things go all wrong! Haha. Such is life. But Doc came to church so that's good. We have taught Roxy more and we are teaching her son about the priesthood, he's 13 and is really interested in becoming a deacon and everything. I know that it will help him a lot.

I have been reading the Book of Mormon a lot during personal study, and I am learning so many things! I love how you can read the same stories over and over, but still get something new from them each time. But I seriously think that somewhere down the line, somebody must have dropped the Plates and gotten them all out of order! Haha because it doesn't go completely chronologically. I have to really focus and pay attention to the details, like who is who's son, which king was righteous during what time, who came out of this land at what time, etc etc. It is so interesting and exciting to read. But I can't believe how stupid people are haha. Time and time again, people are righteous for a while, but then they become prideful and wicked, and fall into sin and temptation. Then they're either rebuked or wiped out. You'd think they would learn from the past? haha.

This has been a great and tiring week, sorry this letter is so short. I know that this gospel is true and I've seen the difference it can make in someones life. This gospel isn't just for "goody goodys" or for people in Utah haha. This gospel is for EVERYBODY. I'm so grateful that we all have the ability to partake of the Atonement and become better. No matter who you are or what you're going through, the Gospel of Jesus Christ IS the answer. This week, with the loss of a loved one, I am especially grateful for Eternal Families. I know that as long as we are faithful and endure to the end, we can have everlasting happiness with our family. What a great promise from our Heavenly Father.

Well everyone, my challenge for you this week is sort of random, but I challenge you all to just go outside and soak up some sun!  God has given us such a beautiful Earth to live on, and so many times we take it for granted. There is so much to be grateful for and so much to do. So get out and enjoy this earth we've been given :)

I hope you all have a wonderful week, and I can't wait to hear from you.

Much love,

Elder Kyle Payne

WEEK #11

Oi!

I hope you all had a great week! My week was really eventful and busy. We are working hard and Heavenly Father is blessing us for it! I'll start off with the Jones family. We have been teaching them a lot and helping them with lots of things around their house. They told us that they love us and we are like their sons now! It's cool. They got my email and they want to keep in contact with me when I go to Brazil. I'm not looking forward to saying goodbye to everyone here! Haha. Anyways, we committed them to baptism but they haven't picked a date yet, because school is getting out and they have lots of things going on. But all the kids are ready. Bro. Jones said he and his wife want to be baptized, they just want to quit smoking first (which is a good thing, because they have to be trying to quit and living the word of wisdom before baptism anyways.) I love this family and I'm so excited for them. I know the gospel will bless their lives so much.

Doc is still progressing but just very slowly. We are trying to be patient and just help and love him. Our other investigators are doing good too and progressing. The coolest thing that happened all week was with one of our investigators named Roxy:

Roxy is a single mother of 2, and has been going through a lot in her life lately. We haven't been able to get ahold of her for the past two weeks, and we didn't know what to do. We were at dinner with our branch president, and he felt impressed to pray for her right after dinner, and that we should go see if she was at her house before we went and taught another family. We prayed for her and then headed over to Roxy's, not knowing what to expect. Right when we got there, we could tell that something wasn't right, she was going in and out of her house and her car, she seemed really mad. We were a little nervous to go talk to her, but we did anyways and found out what was going on. When she saw us, she ran up to us and hugged us and invited us into her house. She had just barely received a letter that she has to go to court for her kids, because some of her friends have betrayed her and falsely accused her of things, and because of her past she might get her kids taken away. She said that right after the letter she prayed and asked for help, and just then we showed up at her door. We gave her a priesthood blessing and she said that she felt a lot better. I don't know the whole story of what's going on, but God does. He put us right where we needed to be at exactly the right time. It truly was the work of the Lord. And even more amazingly, she came to church and bore her testimony to the whole branch on Sunday. This was a huge step for her, because she's only been to church one other time. It is so great to be a part of this work! I'm glad I was able to have that experience.

We taught gospel principles class on Sunday to Roxy and her boyfriend, and a few other investigators and less actives. We taught about the priesthood and priesthood keys, it went really well. I remember when I got set apart to be the Deacons Quorum President when I was 12, the bishop told me that I was going to hold the priesthood keys for our quorum and I had that responsibility. I was really excited because I thought I was actually going to get the "priesthood" keys to the church so I could go play basketball whenever I wanted! But then a while later I realized they weren't talking about an actual set of keys haha.

It's hard to write about everything that has happend this week, as it is every week. There are so many things that go on but I'm trying to remember all the highlights. This truly is the Lord's work and I feel so blessed to be a part of it. Heavenly Father ALWAYS knows best, and he will never lead us astray. Things will always work out how they're supposed to. I have seen many small miracles and some big ones on my mission so far, and I know that they happen when we are obedient and do our best. The Lord always blesses us when we are doing that which we know is right.

My visa still hasn't come, but I'm not worried about it anymore. It will happen when it happens. Oh also, Elder Mayolo, from my MTC district, just got transferred into my district here in MT! I'm so excited! He's one of my best friends now. Hopefully we will get to be companions in Brazil! We are so alike and we get along great, I know that we could be awesome companions. I'm gonna talk to the mission president in Brazil to see if we can make that happen ;) jk. My challenge for you this week is to read Alma 32 from the Book of Mormon. Faith is likened unto a seed, and it explains what we can do to strengthen our faith and testimonies. As we nourish that seed and desire with the word of God, it will blossom into a testimony of the truth. I struggled for a long time to gain a testimony and to know that Heavenly Father truly loved me, but after reading this along with other scriptures and taking it to heart, I have been able to develop a testimony and have true faith. I'm not perfect, but I'm trying to be better every day and become the best that I can. I promise as you read this chapter, ponder it, and pray about it, you will receive revelation on how you can increase your faith and gain a stronger testimony. I know I'm just a young kid and I don't know everything, but I KNOW that Heavenly Father blesses us when we do our best. I know this because I've literally seen miracles and the blessings that come from giving it everything we've got.

Well everyone, I love and miss you all! I hope you have a great week! Ate mais. Tchau!

Elder Kyle Payne

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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 #7

Hello Everyone!

Well, I'm loving Montana! Things are so different up here. The members are awesome and are playing a huge role in helping us find investigators. That helps a lot. My companion and I do a TON of service, because the town we live in is small so there aren't a ton of opportunities to teach. But we have taught a few lessons. Really quick, Mrs. Jones, the one who got beat up last week, is doing better and is out of intensive care and is supposed to make a full recovery over time. I'm so glad things are okay. Hopefully we can teach the Jones family more. I'm praying that they will recognize that blessing and want to learn more. Anyways, this week we have been driving in fence posts for our neighbor and putting up barbed wire for like a half mile. Fun stuff! I'm gonna have some pretty sweet scars on my arms and hands haha. Our most progressing investigator named Doc, came to a baptism in Helena with us on Saturday and he said he really liked it. He comes to church every week and he recently gave up coffee and tea! That is so awesome. We are just trying to figure out what is holding him back at this point. We have taught him all the lessons and he knows it's true, it is just a huge decision and he doesn't want to regret it. He said he wants to be baptized once he finishes the Book of Mormon but who knows how long that will take. Our goal is to commit him this week. I know that if he has faith, the lord will help him overcome any obstacles and answer his questions.

 

My comp. and I got to teach Gospel Principles in church on Sunday. That was a cool experience! We had 2 investigators there and I know they felt the spirit. It was really strong. Doc bore his testimony of the scriptures and I almost cried haha! This guy has so much faith. Our other investigator was really interested, but I think she was kind of confused about some things, so we are trying to set up a date to go teach her. Today me and my comp. are in Helena with our district for some meetings and training. My district is really fun! The funniest thing all week was in sacrament meeting! A 7 year old boy named Taien Christensen was saying the closing prayer, and it was probably the funniest prayer I've ever heard! We were all trying so hard not to laugh but a lot of us were cracking up in the middle of it haha. He starts the prayer off normal and everything was fine, then he starts thanking Heavenly Father for just about everything that came to his mind. He says, "we're thankful for penguins and how cute they are, we're thankful that the dinosaurs are dead so they can't squish us, we're thankful for fish, etc." Then he continued the prayer normally and people were calming down, and all of the sudden he goes back and yells "we're thankful for chickens, so that people who don't like fish can eat chickens!" Haha I lost it! it was so funny

 

So, our district had a baptism for a 19 year old girl named Dani on Saturday. It was awesome to be a part of that. But the coolest experience I had this week was after the baptism, a sister in the Helena ward asked us for a blessing. She is going through some EXTREMELY difficult trials right now, and she asked our district leader and me for a blessing. I had the opportunity of giving the blessing to her. I was way nervous, I didn't want to mess it up because it meant a lot to her and I didn't even know her. I said a little prayer and asked Heavenly Father to help me. As I was giving her the blessing, my fear went away and I was completely overcome with the Spirit. I can't really explain it in words, but it was such an awesome opportunity. I felt like I knew exactly what she was going through and I knew what to say to bring her comfort. I know that the Spirit was helping her feel comfort and peace, and helping her feel Heavenly Father's love for her.

 

Well, missionary work is HARD. Haha I knew it would be, but it is different than I expected. I'm so tired, and I've only been in the field for a week and a half! Haha I better get used to being tired. I love it though! We have a lot of responsibility and pressure, it is really important that we are doing are best at all times because we need to set a good example for everyone. We represent our Savior Jesus Christ and we need to show that by acting as he would. I love helping others and I'm excited to share the Gospel.

 

What has been hard for me lately is learning to rely on the spirit and accepting that I can't do this on my own. All my life I have pretty much relied on myself to get things done, but I am learning really quickly that we need God's help. I want to leave you with my testimony of the power of Prayer. I KNOW that Heavenly Father answers prayers. It has never been so apparent to me as it has this week. Whenever I am having a hard time with something or need help with anything, I pray and ask Him for comfort and help and he has definitely given it to me. Heavenly Father really listens to us and helps us if we ask. He knows what we are going through and will always be there for us. My challenge for you this week is to pick something specific you're struggling with and ask Heavenly Father for help with a sincere heart. I promise you that no matter what it is you're having a hard time with, He will give you comfort and strength to be able to overcome anything.

 

I love you all! Have a great week!

 

Love,

Elder Kyle Payne

 

p.s. I will send pictures tomorrow! :)

WEEK #5 Last week in MTC!

Hello everyone!

Wow this week has been crazy! None of our VISA's have come through except for 2, so we all got reassigned. I found out yesterday where I'm going..... Billings Montana! Haha it is going to be so cold! I have all short sleeve shirts because I packed for Brazil! And my suit is thin! Oh well everything will work out. I know the Lord will take care of me. I'm way excited for Montana! it's gonna be so fun to be able to serve in the states for a bit until my VISA comes. Hopefully it won't be too long though. And the craziest part is that I leave tomorrow at 4 a.m.! They give us like 36 hours to pack up everything and leave. Today is way stressful because we have so much to do before we leave. I'm excited though :) we fly out early tomorrow morning, so by tomorrow night I could be teaching real people! I can't wait. Most of the other Elders in my district are going to Montana too so that will be really fun.

I can't believe how fast the MTC has gone by. It's been a month and a half but it feels like a week. It will be hard to leave my district because we have all become best friends.

I don't have a ton of time today because I have so much to do, but I want to tell you all how much I love you and am grateful for the influence you have had on my life! I am so blessed to have such amazing family and friends.

I promise I will write more when I have more time, I just have to get a lot done. I know that God has a purpose for me specifically and that's why he called me to Billings. I can't wait to see how things turn out and actually teach the Gospel and spread the good word! I know that this gospel is true and that it blesses each and every one of us. I know that the Savior died for you, for me, and for every one of God's children. This week I studied a lot about the atonement again, and I learned new things. I know that Christ died for us individually, but I kind of pictured it as him suffering for our sins all at the same time. But Christ suffered for all of our sins, pains, sorrows, and other afflictions INDIVIDUALLY. He did it for YOU. The atonement wasn't infinite, it was intimate. Always remember what Christ did for you and be grateful for all that God has given you.

My challenge for you all this week is to share your testimony with someone! The best way to strengthen your testimony is to share it with others. Even if you don't think your testimony is very strong or significant, I can promise you that when you bear your testimony to someone with a sincere heart, the spirit will testify and touch people's hearts. I have seen it every day here at the MTC. I know it works :)

I love you all so much and hope to hear from you soon! I will let you know my mailing address once I get to the state of Montana baby! Haha.

Ate mais tarde! Tchau!

Elder Kyle Payne