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 #14

Oi minha familia e amigos!

I hope you all had a wonderful week! This week has been crazy awesome. I'll get right to it! :)

Well Transfers are this Wednesday, but my companion and I are both staying in Lincoln. I was hoping I would stay, I love the people there and we are doing good work. I'll tell you all about it.

So, a lot has happened with the Jones and with Roxy. I'll start with the Jones. So for the past couple of weeks they weren't really progressing anymore, they weren't reading the book of Mormon and they weren't keeping other commitments. But we just kept working with them and were patient. During one of our visits, we felt inspired to read the first chapter if 1 Nephi with them and help them understand and get their thoughts. They loved it, and Bro. Jones related the story to him a lot, because he moved his family from their home Texas to Montana. So he made that connection right off the bat, so he's like "hey I like this guy Lehi, he trusts the lord." haha pretty cool. Anyways, they committed to keep reading as a family and they did, they read all of chapter 1 and 2. When we showed up the next night and asked how their reading went, brother jones said "oh we read alright, and it's getting interesting! But man those older brothers of Nephi are stupid!" haha we laughed so hard! It was great. Then the next night they read all the way to chapter 4 and then came to a halt. They hit a roadblock! We went to go follow up with them and brother Jones said he couldn't read our book anymore, because he read the part in chapter 4 where Nephi slays Laban. He said he didn't believe that God would tell somebody to kill another person like that. We understood where he was coming from, and we explained why Nephi did it and everything. It was better for one wicked man to perish than a whole nation. But he just kept saying that god wouldn't do that, and he said well what if I stole something, does that mean you Mormons would come kill me? haha He wasn't being reasonable or mature about it at all, and we were both getting a little mad, but we kept our cool and followed the spirit. I told him that we could try to convince you all day, but the only way you can truly know for yourself is to pray about it and ask Heavenly Father. He said he wouldn't read anymore but he'll pray and ask. Oh man it was intense. Sister Jones, his wife, is such a saint. She believes everything we're saying and she said she will try to get her family to pray and see our point of view. She is pretty much ready for baptism, except for her word of wisdom issues. But I'm so grateful for her and the influence she has on her family!

Anyways, as for Roxy and her family, they have been coming to church for a solid month now, and we committed her son Logan to be baptized!!! He is such an awesome kid. He's 12 years old and he loves the missionaries. He has been taught everything, but we are going to teach him all the lessons again in preparation for his baptism on the 13th of July. He said he wants me to baptize him! I'm so excited. It will be my first baptism! He is really excited about receiving the priesthood and everything. His mom, Roxy, isn't quite as ready for baptism as we thought, she has word of wisdom issues and law of chastity issues. She isn't married but she's living with her boyfriend Frank, they've been together for a long time but just haven't gotten married. Logan's biological dad is supportive of his baptism as well, so we should be good to go! We're praying that everything runs smoothly and goes to plan so that he can be baptized on the 13th.

Well, the Lord truly has blessed Elder Manufekai and I this week. Last week was a rough one, we worked hard but didn't see the fruits of our labors, but it definitely paid off for us this week. We've been talking to a ton of people and have been super busy. I'm so grateful for all that has happened.

There is still no word on my visa, and I'm about to go crazy haha. I just want to get to Brazil so bad! It will come eventually. It's just hard because we have no idea when it will come. Oh well.

My challenge for you all this week is to just read the book of Mormon! It doesn't matter how long or how much you read. Before my mission, I didn't really like to read that much, and the book of Mormon seemed hard to understand and boring. But since I've gotten into the habit of reading every day, I realize how powerful and true it really is. I have learned so much from it and I'm so grateful for it. And it isn't boring at all! haha. The stories are so interesting and there is a lot to learn.

Anyways, I hope you all have a wonderful week. The Lord truly loves each and every one of you and is always there for you. Until next week, I love you much! :)

Ate mais,

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 #10

Hey everyone!

I hope you all had a good Memorial Day weekend! I didn't get to email on my p-day yesterday because the library was closed. I was so busy though! A lot of people came to their cabins in Lincoln for the weekend, so we just went and talked to everyone in front of the Bars and Casinos haha. It's such a small town but there are like 8 bars and they all have casinos. So much has happened this past week, it flew by! Time on a mission is so weird. That's the only way I can describe it. The days are long and tiring, but the weeks fly by. I can't believe it's almost June!!!

Well, so we have some exciting news with the Jones family! We taught them about the Plan of Salvation and it was really hard to get through the lesson because they ask so many random questions about dumb things haha. Like Bro. Jones always quizzes me on how many species of animals were on the Ark and if I've read from the book of Mary in the Bible (I guess it was taken out? I don't know) He calls us every day to see how we're doing and asks us for help to paint his trailer, take stuff to the dump, dig out tree stumps, etc. Sometimes I think he's just using us haha. But he really likes us and he invites us over all the time. Anyways, after we talked about the Plan on Salvation and the different degrees of glory, all the kids were really excited to learn more. We used ice cream in our lesson, to help the kids understand. We said that in the Telestial Kingdom, we get one scoop of ice cream every day. In the Terestial Kingdom, we get a bucket of ice cream every day. And in the Celestial Kingdom, we get our own ice cream factory that we can go to whenever we want! haha. You can guess which one the Kids wanted. They liked the lesson and especially the Ice cream. I extended an invitation to the family to be baptized, and they said yes! Brother and sister jones thought our belief about different kingdoms was weird, and he didn't agree to baptism, but we'll get him eventually! haha. We also invited them to pray what we taught was true, and Matthew, the second youngest, came up to us the next day and said that after he prayed he felt like something hot went into his body and then went out, and he said he knows that God told him that it was true. How cool is that?! It was so awesome to hear him tell us his experience with the Holy Ghost. I had to hold back the tears. I'm so excited to teach him and his family more, hopefully they can be baptized before I go to Brazil.

Our other most progressing investigator is named Doc. I love him so much and want him to be baptized!!! He's just so stubborn haha. He's totally ready, he just doesn't realize it yet. We are working with the branch to help him as well. It's so frustrating because I know that he knows it's true. He just lacks confidence in his decision. We're working on it though, we just need to do our best and the Holy Ghost can continue to testifify to him.

Well, me and my companion have had a lot of fun this week, we are working our butts off! I've never been so busy in my life. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve the people of Montana. I love the people here. I'm going to miss it when I go to Brazil! I have a feeling our Visas are going to come next week. I'm not sure, we'll see :)

I'm learning so much about life and about myself. This week I have thought a lot about eternal families and how blessed we are that we can be with each other forever! I have realized how important it is to spend time with loved ones when we have the chance. Time is something that there never seems to be enough of. I encourage you all to spend as much time as you can with family and friends and not to take them for granted. It's often easy to take things for granted, we don't even realize we are doing it. But my challenge for you this week is to show your love for your family or friends by serving them and letting them know that you love them. I think I've given this challenge before haha, but it's so simple and important. Spending a little extra effort and time to serve someone goes a really long way. I hope you all have a great week! I love you and pray for you every day..

Ate mais! Ti amo!

Love, Elder Kyle 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 #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 #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

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

WEEK #4

Hey Everyone!

Holy cow time is just flying! I can't believe it's P-Day again. This week just flew by. Well life at the MTC has pretty much been the same, but I had a couple way cool experiences. The coolest one is that on Tuesday night at the devotional, Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve came and spoke to us!!! It was so cool to hear his voice. We were on the third row so we were way close to him. He made eye contact with me a bunch of times :) haha. He spoke most of the time on prayer, and how important it is to keep that channel open with God. We NEED to communicate with him. He is waiting to pour out blessings on us, we just need to be obedient and talk to him. It was funny, because after he finished his talk we sang a hymn and a Sister missionary was going up to say the closing prayer, but elder Scott jumped out of his seat and told her to sit back down and he went back to the podium and spoke for another few minutes. It was cool though I've never seen an apostle do that. He said he felt prompted to speak more and that he felt like someone needed to hear his last message. That was definitely me! Haha. He gave all of us an Apostolic blessing, that was probably the coolest thing I've ever experienced! I've never felt the spirit so strong in my life. He promised that the burden of learning the language will be eased as we continually pray and work hard. I love the apostles!

I seriously can't explain how much I love learning about the gospel! We have been teaching a lot and 2 of our investigators committed to baptism! They aren't real investigators but still, we have been teaching them for weeks and we have been making progress, now finally we got them to baptism :) Baptism is only the beginning though. Tomorrow we have to teach a real investigator in one of our training exercises. I'm pretty nervous but I think we will do good. We are planning on just getting to know them and talking about the Restoration and a little about the Plan of Salvation, depending on who we teach.

  Also this week I have been learning a lot about Joseph Smith. I love Joseph and I'm so grateful for his sacrifice. He gave his life for the building up of the Kingdom of God. I encourage you all to watch the Joseph Smith restoration movie. I love it. We watched it in Portuguese on Sunday and amazingly I could understand almost everything they were saying! I can understand a lot of Portuguese it just takes me a little longer to put together sentences and build sentences. I'm getting better though. It really is awesome teaching in another language. Because even though our Portuguese isn't the best, the people we teach can still understand our message and feel the spirit. My favorite thing is bearing my testimony in Portuguese. I just let the spirit guide me as to what to say and it almost always goes along perfectly with what our investigators needed to hear at that time. Cool stuff.

Well none of us have gotten our VISA's yet, so we are most likely getting reassigned stateside until they get here. I will find out where my reassignment is next week. I'm excited, it will be cool to serve stateside and get the hang of missionary work in my own language. Everything will work out how it's supposed to.

Well everyone, I love you all so much and I'm so grateful for your love and support! My challenge for you this week is to take a few minutes, when it's quiet and there aren't any distractions, and say a prayer of gratitude to your Heavenly Father. Don't ask for anything this time. Only thank him for everything you have been blessed with. I promise you will feel closer to Him and you will be more grateful for everything you have. I did it, and I can tell you that we all have so much to be grateful for. He has given us so much.

I love this gospel so much and I am so grateful for the influence it has on my life. We can experience true and lasting happiness if we strive to be obedient and live by the standards of the church. The Book of Mormon is truly another testament of Jesus Christ. I know it. Every time I have a question or am worried about something, I say a prayer and read the Book of Mormon. I receive my answer EVERY time. Guys, the gospel is true. God loves each and every one of us and wants us to talk to him.

Well I'm out of time but I hope to hear from you all soon! Ate mais tarde!

Love, Elder Kyle Payne

  "Olhos fitos na Gloria de Deus" (Eyes fixed on the Glory of God)

WEEK #3

Hey everyone!

I wanted to thank you all for the letters and packages! It's so nice to get mail. I have gotten the half way care package and the salsa! Thank you. It's so crazy to think that I'm over the hump and only have 2 and a half weeks left here! Time at the MTC is so weird. It feels like P-Day was just yesterday. The weeks are flying.

Well this week has been pretty normal, except for General Conference! I hope you all enjoyed watching conference because I sure did! I learned more from this conference than I ever have in my life. It seemed like almost every talk had a message for me and I took a lot out of them. I especially liked President Uchtdorf's talk in Priesthood session. He is such a powerful speaker. They were all good though. I loved when President Monson told the story about him setting the grass on fire! It is funny to hear the prophet tell stories like that because it makes you realize he is a real person and we can just connect with him more. I love the apostles.

We have been working like mad and studying the language constantly! We wake up around 6:00 every morning so we can avoid the shower line haha. We have breakfast at 7 then we head straight to class for 3 hours. I'm getting used to it though. One cool thing is that one of the speakers at a devotional on Tuesday said that here at the MTC and on your mission, you are literally doing more than your body can physically and mentally handle for such a long period of time. But Heavenly Father strengthens his missionaries so that they can accomplish more than they ever could on their own. That's awesome.

My companion and I have  been working on two investigators (they are just members acting the part). One is named Edgar, he's from Angola. He is so difficult to work with because he doesn't follow through with his commitments because he's so busy with school and work. But he said he wants to know more and keep learning about Jesus Christ. We are praying that we will receive some revelation as to what he needs so that we know what to teach him. He doesn't talk too much. Our other investigator is named Maria, she is awesome! Her husband and her kids are members of the church but she isn't. She has trouble with smoking and alcohol. But she said she wants to break her bad habits and make a change in her life. Perfect opportunity for us! haha. We have been teaching her about the Plan of Salvation, The Atonement of Jesus Christ, Repentance, and Baptism (all in Portuguese!) I was really nervous to teach her about the Word of Wisdom, because I didn't want to offend her. But what we felt like we should do is just ask her questions and tell her that we love her and are there to help her with anything. We want to help her come closer to Christ so that she can be happier. Then once she knew that she just completely opened up to us and told us, and now we are helping her. Even though she's not a "real" investigator, I still get super excited and want to help her so bad! We committed her to go to church on Sunday with her family and smoke less and less every day until this Saturday. Saturday will be her last cigarette (hopefully) We shared some great scriptures with her explaining that Heavenly Father promises to bless her if she keeps his commandments.

I got to host new missionaries coming into the MTC on Wednesday, that was really fun! I saw a few buddies from school and met new people. I hosted an elder coming all the way from New Zealand and he had THE coolest accent haha. It was fun to just show them the MTC and encourage them because they just left their families and are pretty overwhelmed, but they're all super excited and ready to get to work.

Some of the elders in our district have gotten sick, and I've been able to give them priesthood blessings. They have been really cool experiences. Can you believe how many missionaries are out in the field now? 65,000 full time missionaries and 20,000 more have their calls. I heard BYU is going to be using their student housing to house some of the missionaries in the next few months because they won't be able to fit here at the MTC. Crazy.

I'm praying super hard for my VISA to come! Only one person in our whole branch has gotten their VISA but they went through the San Francisco Consulate. Nobody from the L.A. consulate has gotten theirs yet. But everything will work out how it's supposed to :)

Well I don't have too much time I have to go finish laundry and get ready for the temple, but this week my challenge to all of you is to pick one talk from this General conference or any other general conference, and look for ways that it applies to you and how you can improve. It will only take 10 minutes, but I promise you that you will find something significant to you and you will be inspired. I know this gospel is true and I know that the power of the Priesthood is very real. God is our LOVING Heavenly Father and has blessed us so much. We all have so much to be thankful for. I know that the gospel blesses and changes lives. It has already changed my life.

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

Ate mais tarde! Tchaou!

-Elder Payne

WEEK #2

Boa Tarde Everyone!

I can't believe I've been here for over 2 weeks now. Time here is so weird! It really is as they say: The days are long but the weeks go by fast. Well, hopefully I'll be able to answer all of your questions! Life at the MTC is really good but really weird. I'm still getting used to all the rules haha. I like being productive and everything but here there is literally no time for anything! Every minute of our day is planned out. It's a blessing though because that way we don't waste any time and we accomplish a lot. We have Elders in my room, which is typical. Some Elders have to have 6 people in a room. Luckily I don't. Everyone is waiting for our Visas. It's like a miracle when someone gets a visa to Brazil. i think there has only been one person in my whole branch who has gotten theirs. I will probably be reassigned stateside for a month or two until it comes, but that's okay I will go wherever the Lord wants me to go. My Portuguese is coming along pretty well! The thing I'm working on right now is teaching the lessons more in depth and asking questions. We teach several investigators and it's really important to ask them questions instead of just saying your memorized lines. Some of the investigators talk waaayyyy fast but I can understand most of what they say. The worst is when they ask me a question and I understand it, and I know the answer, but I just don't know how to say it in Portuguese. It's really frustrating. So when that happens I just say I'll find the answer and let them know next time. Learning a language is so hard! Haha now I'm starting to envy the English Speaking missionaries. Just kidding :)

Today is my P-Day, it's so nice. We don't have class or anything until after dinner. So it's up to us what we do throughout the day in our free time. I really think you have more free time in prison than at the MTC! Haha. I always joke around that this place is basically a prison but everyone is happy! Somehow I'm in Happy Prison. Just kidding it's not that bad :) I have to teach a lesson to a new investigator tonight and we haven't prepared very well. I'm nervous! Haha. My District went to the temple today and it was such a cool experience. Every time I go back I learn something new.

Well I'm pretty much best friends with the Elders in my district we have a ton of fun! I'm meeting people from all over the world it's awesome. Also, Easter was awesome here! We got to here from a member of the Seventy and my district and I were on like the third row. I went up afterwards and shook his hand and talked to him for a bit. It was really cool. I learned so much about Jesus Christ and gained a deeper love for him and his atonement.

Oh also they pretty much give the worst haircuts here. The guy who cut my hair was bald though, so he was probably just jealous and took his frustration out on my hair. Just kidding it's not that bad. But it kind of is. haha

What has really hit me this week has been service! There are so many opportunities to serve others we just have to notice them. This week almost every member of my district has gotten sick, germs spread like crazy here. First it was my roommate Elder Lott then his companion Elder Cloud, then I got it then the elders in our district in the dorm next to us all got it. It was like a flu/sore throat/cough. Super fun. But we all gave each other blessings and we are doing good now.

I'm so excited for General Conference tomorrow and Sunday. It will be weird not to be at home to watch it with family and grazing on food all day haha. But there is a lot of support here at the MTC so it will be really good. I need to start writing down everyone's questions when you write me so that I can answer them. I don't have a ton of time to email so I am typing like a mad man haha. But I will send pictures as soon as I figure out how to do it on these dumb computers haha.

I just want to leave you with my testimony (you better get used to this) :)
I know that this gospel has been fully restored to the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith. I know that God sent his son, our brother Jesus Christ to atone for our sins. Through him we can be clean from sin and return to live with our heavenly father again. I know that the Book of Mormon contains everything we need to continue to progress and receive inspiration. Heavenly Father loves us so much and wants to bless us. He will bless us more than we can imagine as long as we are faithful and are doing our best. I love this gospel and can't wait to share it with others and help them come closer to Christ and their Heavenly Father.

I will also leave you with my simple testimony in Portuguese:
Eu se que O Evengelho de Jesus Cristo e verdaderio e fortelece as familias. Eu se que O Livro de Mormon contem a plentitude du Evangeho, e as palavras de Deus e as Profetas. Atreves a Expiasao de Jesus Cristo, nos podemos receber bencaos e vida eterna. Dizo estas coisas em nome de Jesus Cristo, Amem.

My challenge to all of you this week is to look for ways to serve one another. Turn your thoughts and efforts OUTWORD rather than INWARD. I promise you will gain a greater appreciation for each other and it will bring you much joy. I love each and every one of you so much and I'm so grateful for your love and support. Thank you for the letters and care packages! I love hearing from you.

Ate Mais! (Until Later!)

Love,
Elder Payne