Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Hola! It's me again, Hna Payne!!!!

Guess what!? I was just in the OUTSIDE WORLD! CRAZY! I went and talked to the people about my license and asked what I needed to do to get another one. They sent us right then to the outside world! Mom, I drove right past your work. I waved and told you I loved you! :) They are sending you another one. PRAY that is comes in a week. they said it takes like 3! but take it out of the lettter and then send it to me. I felt like a dog in the van.. i just wanted to stick my head out the window and let my tongue hang out of my mouth. I must be a missionary if I am calling Provo the outside world! haha :) But it was an experience to write home about. It was kind of scary, not gonna lie. It was kind of hard having to talk to people. A lot talked to us, a lot just kind of hardly said hi. Oh well, it was nice though because we know how people will be at the airport. it was training :) I was also taught not to judge people by the way they look. One guy was going in with his 2 older kids in the 20's that were kind of scary lookin. He stopped to talk to us about being the ward mission leader and about the sisters in his ward. Then there were some motorcycle lookin guys that weren't pleasant to the eye, but they were sooooo nice. they were both bringing their kids and grandkids on errands. So all in all great experience!

The mission president week was cool. not near as cool as I would have thought. They were all in the main building and we weren't able to go in to that building. No, I didn't get to sit by the Prophet, he wasnt in any of our meetings. I didnt even get to see him :( I did however get to shake Elder Christofferson's hand. Cool. We did have an amazing devo by Elder Oaks tho. I think he is my new favorite Apostle! At least most of the talks that I have read as of late have been by him. "The challenge to become!" AMAZING! Something abuot repentance and faith.. Ah all are sooo good! If anyone wants to send me their favorite talks, that would be great. Send me your knowledge! Let me know your spiritual experiences :)

We have really been focusing on the atonement these last few days. Sooo good. I mean i knew this before, but there is SOOOOO much to the atonement. Let me just say that being here in the MTC, and being in a trio forces me to be in check.. forces me to be constantly changing myself. its sooo hard, but soo good. As if you didnt know this before, I have sooo much to change. Its sometimes a little discouraging to think of everything. But I love love love it here. We read in a zone meeting John 15:1-16. THis is what being a missionary is all about! It talks a lot about the word "abide" That isnt a word that is used a lot in our society! But it means to remain permanantly, to come, and to stay! That is what I am going to be asking others to do. The goal is to have then abide with the Savior. We are also told that bringing forth the fruit means that we will be going through trials! Not easy, but that is what makes us grow the most! The question was asked, "How did Christ lay down his life?" I hadn't really thougth about it before. But I realized that it was in EVERYTHING that He did. In every thought, word, action, He was doing it for us.In every second of everyday! Holy cow! What a realization for me. He is the perfect example. I know it is through the process of the gospel that we can become who He wants us to be. Coming unto Christ IS becoming who He does want us to be. This requires me submitting my will to Him. Again, this isnt easy. But im trying to listen to the promptings of the Spirit and act on them. This gospel requires action. It requires us to be humble and to repent, and strive to become better. (read that talk by elder oaks) Repentance is a change of mind, a frest view about God, oneself, and about the world. How can and will our views change?

Well I should get my flight plans tomorrow or Friday! I cant wait!

Sorry time is up again... it goes soooo fast! I hope all is well with all of yall. I love yall soooooo much. thank you for all that you do for me.

Love Hna Payne

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Hola! Its me again, Hermana Payne!!! Anyways...... my enter button doesnt work so Im not sure how all of this will turn out.... all run together I guess.. First things first... eh I never know where to start.. so today i guess.. as you know the Provo temple is closed, so we will not be attending the temple for the last few weeks.... sad day.. today tho our service assignment is to clean the temple.. we will be going at like 12 and cleaning it for 3..5 hours (sorry my period button is adding more than one to every sentence, the laundry comps are ghetto!) So that will tak e a lot of time, so I probably will not have time to write letters.. so if anyone is expecting one from me, sorry.... I dont know that its going to happen this week.. So Today is the start of the new mission presidents coming in! It should be a bomb week! There are going to be sooo many GAs here, and not to mention the prophet.. yes I wll be sitting next to him on the stand on Sunday.... yup i have faith.. that was what our last couple of big meetings have been about.. so yes im upping my faith.. It willllll happen! Well I will at least be the closest to him that I have ever been before.. COOL! So guess what, I spoke in sacrament meeting this last sunday.. yup, in spanish.. It was quite a good talk.. you guessed it, short, sweet, and to the point.. it was about agency and obedience.. everyone is supposed to prepare a talk and then they pick randomly.. I was the lucky girl that got the opportunity.... Dad I saw Meagan the other day! I always call her the Miss Meagan.... I dont know her last name.. Christianson?? We will just say that she is great for telling you exactly what you want to hear :) She seems really nice.. too bad she will be leaving you and getting married! Mom, so the stinky feet were because of the brown skechers.... eh i havent worn them in more than a week.. I do LOVE my new black ones.. Could I possibly get them in brown? How expensive were they? I will try on the Jody dress this week.. Can you pretty please run my sister missionary mall and get a backpack just like mine? A girl here needs one.. She has cash to give me.. Let me know please :) Question.. what about teeth whitening???? Could you send my crest strips? I just know by the end that my teeth will not be as white! Small problem.. I can't find my drivers license.. I think it fell out of my wallet.. please pray that I will find it.. if not how do I/you go about getting a replacement?? Drew, you gave me that camera card.... remember?? Anyways will you please send me the one that I left at home, in the computer?? So now guess what.... are you ready for this?? I get my travel plans NEXT week! Please scream with me now AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay, I feel a little better now! Ah Im not goin! I dont have any spanish skills! But at the same time I am sooo excited! The whole language barrier is the thing that scares me! Speaking of we taught our first lesson in spanish last weeek.. eh! All I can say is that the Lord called me to a language so that I would rely on Him.. I hate to say that a mission would be a piece of cake in english.... because i know that its not but at this point i cant help but think that.. no worries tho! I will get this.... it just might take a while, and a few more, okay a LOT more prayers! Hey like I said, FAITH! Uh, I wont get my travel plans till probably next thursday, so you will be waiting a while, but I just think that is sooooo weird.. I just got here.. 6 weeks has gone by sooo fast.. all the time here has blurred together but when I think about the fam or my friends or anything on the outside, that feels like forever that I have seen yall! Weird.... if that makes sense? So Lake Powellllll????? Jealous, but not.. of course you would wait until I left to do that and to go to Karan's! I still havent heard from her, p..s..! Thats cool tho.. Kelsie said she was trying to get time off to go.. I cant believe B will be 1 when she comes to stay will yall.. sooo weird.. time has flown! We got to hear a talk by Elder Holland the other day.. I LOVE him! His talk was amazing.. He talked about missions being FOREVER.. All I have to say is that when he talks, you listen! He is very passionate about the things he talks about.. Well two of our sisters in our room just flew our to their mission.. that is weird.. they are out knocking doors right now! My comps are great.. We have our moments.. i guess you can say its humbling to be in a companionship.... you have to look at yourself being the one that needs to change.... eh I dont really like that idea so much, but hey! It's all a learning process that is making me into who Im supposed to be, in who I want to be! Life is oh soo goood.. I love it here.. I love yall soo much.. thanks for all yall do! Keep me updated on everything :)

Love, Hna Payne :)

Friday, June 18, 2010










Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Hola! It's me again, Hermana Payne!

How goes it on the home front?? I got your package, thank you!!! As for the feet thing.. I think its just a common girl thing that their feet are sick! It's because of the hose, and no socks... But my brown shoes are the worst! I hate them! So I will let you know how it goes this week :) I will be sending some pictures of our nightly rituals when it comes to shoes :) What are the pics for? Just to give to my comps? I still need family pictures :)

Dad, HAPPY FATHER'S Day and Birthday.. again! Did you like your present that I picked out?

So let's see.. a typical day at the MTC is LONG! But fast at the same time. Breakfast is always at 8:15, lunch at 1 and dinner at 6! Wake up, gym (some days its at other times) breakfast, class, lunch, more class, meetings, teaching appointments, dinner, devotionals.. Okay well all of that is just a mixture of all the days.. But they are all basically the same, with a little different order. There is NEVER enough time in the day to get everything that you need to accomplished! You go to bed wishing there was more time! We teach our first lesson in spanish this week! It's a good thing Hna Jones understands everything! HAHA I will just smile and bear my testimony! We have a couple of progressive invest. that we teach a couple times a week. One is Gabriel. He is a lot of fun to teach! His family means the world to him.. which makes it super easy to relate the gospel to him.. We just take everthing back to how the gospel can help his fam. He is hard at the same time tho.. he gets really distracted easy, and he askes lots of questions. I'm always afraid for what the next question will be.. but at the same time the questions are really helping me to prepare of the field. In our lesson he actually cried! Holy cow! We asked him what he would ask Heavenly Father if he could pray. He wanted to know that He was there, and that he cared for his family. We all need that understanding in life, that our Heavenly Father cares, and loves us! I can't imagine going through life and not having that knowledge!

So I am here at just the right time! All the new mission presidents come in at the end of this month for like a week or two. So there will be some major "Big Boys" here.. not to mention most likely the Prophet. I might even get to sit on the same stand as him! HAHA well Hna Jones is the coordinating sister in our zone and so she was asked to speak at the meeting on Sunday... which means I will have to sit on the stand with her... So I'm hoping I get to sit next to President Monson.. It's perfect! Hna Jones speaks, and I sit there.. Well, it's my claim to fame anyways! I will let you know who I see!

Dad, you said something about this Meagan girl.. The girl in your ward right? HAHA well again, I have only seen her like once.. So I dont know how she could mention any kind of countenance.. Dont worry tho.. the spanish will come! How is the ward? Are you loving it being in there with Ken? Are you getting to know any of the kids really well? So you saw Rach again? Ya she Nicki, and Kim sent me some cookies! I wrote Rachel back last week but haven't sent it beacuse I lost the address.. oops! I did find Derek and Joey, and we got our pictures! I will send them soon! Drew.. im sending the camera card to kels.. im going to have her delete all of your pics.. they are saved right? P.s. Im waiting on a letter from you! You should send me a dearelder today (and anyone else that wants).. I keep hearing things from other people about you and Sarah.. I need details from you!! Please, and thank you!

Anything else that is going on this week? What did yall do for dads bday? What do yall have planned for father's day?? My roommate sisters are leaving on Monday! Sooo weird. They are going to Washington D.C. and will be in the visitors center 3 days a week. They got the best of both worlds! Wow I cant believe that I have been here for 5 weeks now! Still so nice not to be the new girl on the block! I'm still loving the MTC. Life here is great! Soo much to learn! But I cant wait to get out in the field either! Except for that whole having/getting to speak in spanish! I dont know how much im going to be able to accomplish if I cant speak their language! Oh well.. I will get it! Sometimes it still doesnt feel real that I am here and a part of this great work! How amazing it all is. The more I learn the more I realize how much I dont know about the gospel. Not that I EVER claimed to know anything.. but still I dont know anything even about the basics of the gospel! Ah, I love it tho! It's so nice to have progressing invest. so that we are practicing towards meeting people's needs!

Okay well that is all I have time for! I love yall and miss yall!

P.s. mom see if you can get another box of contacts for each eye if you can. If not. I think i can make it work!

Quote of the day "Humility is not thinking less of ourselves, but thinking of ourselves less!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

HOLA!!!!

It's me again, Hermana Payne! Can you believe I have said that four weeks in a row now!??????? Holy cow! First of all I have to say, I mean sing is.. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRHTDAY DEAR KELSIE AND DAAAAHHDD. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!! I hope ya'll both have a great week. Let me know what ya'll do! Dad, your gift is awesome. Just so you know.. the idea was mine. Okay, lie, but we will pretend! Dad, also.. Happy Father's Day! I love you, and you are the bestest Dad in the whole wide world. Thanks for all you do!

Sorry, I dont kno that i have a lot to say today.. But mom, this paragraph is dedicated to you. About the shoes... sure go ahead and send them and I will decide. I'm guessing they werent too expensive? About the black ones, I think im going to keep them. Im wearing them around on carpet as we speak to decide. I will send you a note today tho and le you know for sure. Guess what.. I have had a change of heart. I want a Jody dress. So if you find one please send it to me. I decided it is a right of passage! I would never wear it in the states, but Argentina is great. There is a place here that I can purchase one... let me know! And thanks for my package. It was great. I especially LOVED the smores mix. I had forgotten about that stuff. I havent been very nice to share my smores.. in this case i cant get some more..

You have talked about the Spoken Word. We get to watch it on Sundays! Well, every Sunday except fast sundays because we have a missionary con. thing. Mom, I think of you every week that I watch it and know that you are watching it too.. at the same time :) So Fast Sundays are brutal! haha I still havent caught the fire on this one. Don't worry, it will come though! It's just a long day! But yet still a great one. I LOVE Sundays! It is the day that reminds me why I'm here and that I can do another week. As of right now you probably won't hear about the times that I struggle.. because Pday just starts off being great I dont have anything to say about the bad stuff. If that makes sense? No worries though, this whole mission thing is hard and I do struggle. Its all an emotional rollercoaster, and one hour is great, and the next completely discouraging. And hey, I am just in the MTC! But yet I am loving it, and learning sooo much! There are soo many tender mercies from the Lord. I love the scriptures!! The scriptures are a great place to find answers to prayers. Sometimes its not even an answer to a direct question, but once you read it, you realize it's exactly what you needed to hear. I love that. In a devotional we learned that the scriptures is the language of the Spirit. Go figure.. of course it is!

So the MTC is hopping now! There are tons more missionaries now that school is out. I think there are like 80 missionaries that cant get their visas.. that have been here for like 14 weeks now and they are finally shipping them off to Utah areas beacase there is just no more room in the Inn. Crazy! The lines for showers and stuff are longer now because there are more sisters. I have found quite a few people that I know. I am determined to get a pic with Elder Hermanson and Elder Haws and send it to you for the ward. I think that is kind of against the rules. I think we are both supposed to have our comps in the pic. but there is 2:1 ratio.. so im not too worried. I will get my picture! I have also run into a couple of Elders that knew me from EFY. One of them was one of my boys from a couple of years ago, and the other one hung out with my group quite a bit.. weird. One of the sisters here was one of my co's. So that has been fun.Then some elder asked me yesterday if I went to Lehi.. he graduated a year after me but i had no idea who he was.. oops! We are getting more people today so maybe I will find some others that I know! I love runnning into people that i know!

So you went boating? That's great! Mom, you have to get in next time! Did you get a new swimsuit??? I heard Dirty tried sneakin in a fishin pole. HAHA I can only imagine the looks and words he got! Good for you! :) Did yall cook hamburgers out there?

Well let me know whats going on with ya'll. How is the ward?

And Drew, sorry but i know you arent engaged! Nice try. Just know, I have heard that you are getting more serious with this girl.. (i hear froom everyone) but i know that mom and dad would kill you if you were engaged at this point! Holy cow, get to know the girl :) and you have a long time to get to know her.. like 17 more months :) There will be no forgiveness in this life or the next if you get married while im gone :) just an fyi!

Okay well again, time is up! I love and miss you all. You are all in my prayers!!

Love Heremana Payne

P.s. I would like a jump rope please!!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Hola!!!! It's me again, Hermana Payne!

I have been here three weeks already. Holy cow is all I have to say to that. It has gone by sooo fast.. Well some parts of it at least. I can officially say that I will be leaving next month. Now if that doesn't scare me to death, Im not sure what will! But at the same time I am sooo excited. I am learning ohh so much. Last night we have a devo and man was it amazing. It was mostly about prayer, but hit on some great points. I wish that yall could all be here for all of these experiences and learning as much as I am. I still cant believe that opportunity I have to be here, and the trust that Heavenly Father has in me to take this message to His children. WOW. Eh I really wish you could be here, things would make a lot more sense than me trying to tell you about all the experiences! The spirit is soo strong here, and is constantly testifying! We have been talking about the spirit a lot the last little while and how we can know that it is the spirit, and not us. We listened to a talk by Elder Bednar that was soo good. How he answered the question at first was surprising. He said, "STOP WORRYING ABOUT IT! If you are trying to be a good boy and a good girl, the Lord WILL guide your steps and fill your mouth." So if you are ever wondering if you are answering your own prayers... STOP WORRYING about it. It's great to learn new things because then you find new things in the scriptures. I was reading 1Nephi and Nephi showed us a great example of just that. He was led to Laban, not knowing before hand what he should do. The Lord will do the same for us in our lives if we are striving to do what He has asked. (striving being the key word)

So this last week our whole district has been sick. It started with one and went to everyone else. It was some virus that was going around. I was the last to get it. I didnt get it very bad though.. i'm pretty sure its because it was like the cold i had right before i left. Well, we get a new district today. We will no longer be the new hermanas. We are now seasoned to the MTC. We are excited to get some new people in here. It's so nice not being the new kids on the block. I have seen Joey Haws a couple of times now. Derik comes in today. I will be looking for him. I was hoping that he would be in my district, but know thats not the case. I am loving my comps and other hermanas in our room. We have soo much fun together. We laugh so hard that we end up in tears many a time! Hermana Jones is still my favorite.. that is if I were to have favorites :)

So funny story about my life... I have to say already tho.. DONT JUDGE ME! So I was asked to give the prayer the other day is spanish to the zone.. i hadn't done that before so i was super nervous and got it moved back a few days to Suday. Well it came time for me to do it and I was still nervous.. not that I expected for that to go away. Well I tried a couple of approaches before sacrament to see if I could cheat my way through the prayer. 1st of all its illegal to read your prayer.. or should i say illegal if they see you reading your prayer.. well i had on a jacket so i tried to put a notecard up my sleeve. that wasnt working to slide, and it was loud.. so I became desperate and just decided to write my prayer on my arm. HAHAH i know..dont judge me. The whole time during Sacrament I just kept practicing my prayer.. It came time for the closing song and i couldnt sing i was so nervous... i'm lame i know. So i pushed up my sleeves, folded my arms so no one would see the writing on my arm and went to give my prayer. Well the good news is that I said it without looking at my arm! Bad news... well it was probably the worlds shortest prayer. HAHA oh well.. I just have to get over my fear of speaking in spanish.. Word to the wise.. dont try to cheat your way through prayers :)

Mom, we had chocolate cake last night! It reminded me of your chocolate chip one.. ummm soo good! Please make it and think of me :) So my comps and i have been commenting on how nice the weather is theses last few days and how perfect it would be for camping! Please someone take advantage of that! Someone should for sure be going!

Did yall do anything for the holiday? What is new?? I still need pics mom!

Okay, well my time is pretty much up! I love ya'll soooo much and miss yall! Everything is going great here! Please let me know whats going on in life!

Love,
Hermana Payne

The church is true and nothing else matters!
xoxoxoxoxo