Monday, August 29, 2011

Hola familia, its me again, Hna Payne. Its definitely not cold this week. Its 78 and beautiful. Life is good. Today we went to Villa Cabello to have lunch with Hna Maimo, my mom in my first area. It was soo weird. I wanted to go visit some of the families, but President didnt like that idea. He was fine for lunch, but not to be in the elders area running around. Boo. But it was sooooooooo good to be there. The hna is so sweet. She made us her homemade pasta. Yum! And while we were there another hna that we used to have lunch with (one that i wanted to visit) showed up. I will get to see them in next month at General Conference. WHAT!??!?!?!?!? Next month??? Where has time gone. Everday goes by that much faster. This week went by way fast because pday was on tuesday.

This last week we only had Fabian in church. Sad, but I was super content with life because he came all by himself. We talked to him early in the week and he said he wanted to come again.. but would have to see what happened. Well we had another lesson with them on Saturday, but only Matias, the son was there because the dad had to work. He said that he would be coming whether we went by for him or not. Sunday morning we were waiting for him to come and it was like 9:30 when we called him and the mom said they had left. It turns out that only the dad came because Matias was sleeping. BOO. Miracle! Another miracle is that when we were at their house on Saturday the mom told us that she was about to leave but that she wanted to start the lessons on saturdays. Its definitely progress! Matias and Fabian have dates for September 17th. Well Fabian isnt going to make that date because he has to get married... and im not sure where we are at on that. He said he was going to talk to his wife about church before the whole marriage thing. But Matias is going good for the 17th. He even goes to seminary. We have another family that we are working with that needs to get married to. The husband has been inactive for years. We are trying to get him a testimony. Getting people to church is soooo hard. They want to know the church is true before going.

Mom you asked about heat and transportation. No one has heat here. The people have little space heaters if they are lucky. We have one, but dont sleep with it. Its really ghetto and not super trustworthy. But luckily we dont need it this week. We use the bus more. Our area is really big so its nice to have something. We only used buses to go to church in Formosa. Formosa was TINY.

Mom! Thank you for gettin my license taken care of! Did you do it all by yourself? Or did you talk to Jess?

Dad, congrats on your coming soon store·!!!

Hilly! what are you having¿???

well that is all! Have a great week. I love, love, love yall!!!!!!!!!!

Love,
Hna Payne

Friday, August 26, 2011

Hola familia!!!!!!! Its me again, Hna PAYNE!!!!!!!!!!

Its sooooo cold here. Im ready for the heat! These last few days have been very cold. I sleep with five layers and 3 blankets! Heat is such a blessing!!!!!!!!Im sooo cold natured. Well, im sure it will be over in the next couple of days and be hot again. Thats the way it is here in Posadas.

Well we had part of the family Rotela in church. The dad, and the son.. The mom still isnt on board and one of the kids.. (everyone has free agency here and the kids do what they want) But we have another lesson with them tonight and will be talking a lot about the family. The kid told us they arent married so we will be talking about that too!

We have some good people! Its just getting them to want to change or feel the need to change. If they would just think a few things through...... We talked to a girl yesterday that didnt know very much at all about Christ. She told us she was interested in listening about Christ because her church focuses in Mary and saints, not our Heavenly Father and Christ. WHAT!?!? Its fun reading the Book of Mormon and seeing all of the effects of the apostasy. Its truly incredible. I love the Gospel and love getting to know different kinds of people. I mean who has the opportunity to just go up to any door, knock, and ask if we can come in? Getting to know someone else´s story of life is so fun, and lots of times very hard. We are trying to teach a lady with two kids and a boyfriend/husband. When they met she wasnt a church going girl but somewhere in the years she changed. they have gone through some really hard things, but instead of growing together through the trials, they grew in opposite directions. They dont talk. He just laughs at her when she talks about God. He doesnt want her to go to church so he doesnt go to work to try and get what he wants. The other day her kid was sick and she had to take him and her other kid on her bike to the doctors because the husband didnt have, or wouldn't give her money for the bus. She has no options. no money. and no family. She promised to go to church with us this sunday if she is still with her husband. You cant help but walk away from lessons with some of the weight of these people. And what can i do? I can only invite her to come unto Christ and be baptized in His church. I dont know how, but i know the Lord will provide for her. My eyes have been opened to the problems of the world. We are truly blessed to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives and family. Im definitely learning the importance of family, and the role the gospel has in our family. It would be soo much harder to live the commandments, and return to live with our Heavenly Father again, just by ourselves. Im thankful for the Plan of Salvation and that our families are vital to this plan. The best place to learn of Christ and his principles is in the family. Thank you mom and dad for giving that to me. I know that its through your sacrifices that I could grow up in gospel, and that its now easy for me. Now, to help other families so it can one day be easy for their kids!

Okay, well I love, love, love yall! Have a great week!

Love,
Hna Payne

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Hola familia, its me again, Hna Payne!

This last week was a great week. We have zone conference and I just love President and his wife. They are just soooo great.

I am always soo surprised to find new investigators and see the way they live their lives. It hurts my heart. We found a woman the other day with two little girls that lives with the mom/gma. She is living with her mom because she is waiting to get back with the dad of her little two year old. They arent together now because he went off with someone else and she may or may not be pregnant. He told her that he wants to get back with her if the other one isnt pregnant. This guy has beat her and her child, but she doesnt care. She only wants what is ´´rightfully hers´´. She made a promise with God that if she gets her man back that she would get baptized in the Evangelical church. The way she treated her child was terrible. I was just sooo sad for her and her kids. I just dont get it. These little girls are going to grow up thinking that the man is supposed to beat them. What!? Some people should not be allowed to have kids. But the gospel can change their lives! If only they would let it. There are soo many willing to do ANYTHING for their kids physically, but they dont find the spiritual part important. Or there are sooooo many catholics that dont agree with half of the things their church does, but go along with it because of the tradition of the family. Well, that is why we are here, no?? INVITE others to Christ and not force them. If only it were easier =) But where would the lessons learned be??

We had one 14 year old in church with a baptism date. All of his family have dates too, but didnt come because of work? But when we went by to take the kid home, the mom and dad were both there. We went to get another fam and they didnt come because the dad had to work, and one of the kids had a cold or something. This week for sure. We will be working with them a lot! They have interest though for their kids. They will have to get married. It just takes time to get the appointment to do it. We will be talkin marriage with them this week =)

So i was always kind of looking to see someone from my old area. I knew it wasnt likely, but i couldnt help but keep an eye out. We were walking to our last stop to invite someone to church for the next day. This road was dark, and very deserted. I commented to my comp how Sunday nights are very dead and that the guy a long ways in front of us was going to kill us and there would be no one around to witness it or hear us scream. We finally reached the person and we were on opposite side of the street. She asked us if we were the missionaries. I let out a squeal of delight as i realized who it was. It was Hna Maimo!!!! She was like our mom in my first area. She was in the area for a dinner appointment with a friend and decided to see if we were in the apt until she realized that it was too early. She just happened to walk the same road that we were, when our paths met. Tender mercy! She is one of the most loving people in the whole wide world. You know what else was great?? I understood and could talk to her. Well, that would be a given now but when i left the area, no! She invited us to lunch one pday. We were going to get permission to go today but we couldnt get a hold of her. Maybe next week.

Okay well that is about all.... Have a great week. I love, love, love yall!

Love, Hna Payne

Monday, August 8, 2011

Last Monday was freezing and raining, and today is very warm. Crazy, crazy weather. I love being back in Posadas(the city) and Misiones (the state). Its so nice to have a big area that doesnt feel like everyone knows the missionaries already. This week turned out to be a great week... well, after church (we only had one person in church. we have 16 people with baptism dates but none are appearing very promising.). After church we took the bus out to the border of our area for a lesson that we had planned. We got there a little early so we started lookin for some new people. We found a girl named Jessica. We are really working hard to teach to the needs of the people.. which is sometimes really hard for me to relate everything back to them... but when we teach to their needs, walking away from the lesson is soo much easier. Maybe they wont get baptized.. but at least we did our part to declare. She accepted to come to church and be baptized... (like lots of other people, but the lesson just felt different.) We then took another bus to another area to find a guy that helped us find someones house a couple weeks back. We of course asked him if we could come by his house. He said he was never home except for lunch. We took the chance of a Sunday night. We didnt find him or the direction but we found another guy that accepted a date to be baptized. We were sitting outside of whats called a kiosko which is like a little concession stand with all the normal things that people buy. While we were teaching him a guy with his baby came by two different times to buy something. We were leaving and this guy was at another kiosko buying something. We passed by him. Then I turned around to go and talk to him. He was walking towards us. I told him who we were and he told us that he was listening but didnt say anything because he didnt want to interrupt. It turns out that he has listened to the missionaries before (i dont know how much). He wanted to know when we could go by his house. Yay!!!!! Then the Sunday before a drunk man found us and asked us when we were coming by his house. He said that there were kids and he wanted a change for them and his family or something like that (remember he was drunk). He said that it was Sunday so he was a little drunk but wouldnt be the following day. We went by several times that week but he wasnt there, but found him on Saturday. He was a completely different man. Its amazing what alcohol can do to you. He said he will be home today and that we can come by. Well we called him last night to make sure he was going to be home. He was soo drunk. He kept telling me to listen to him and kept asking the time that we were going to come by. He wanted to know how we planned on helping him and how he didnt want to waste his time. Haha and it was him that was asking for our help! Well if there is anything that can change this man it would definitely be the Gospel of Jesus Chirst. Im excited for our lesson whith him tonight... that is if he is sober =)

Sorry, that was a lot of details about a lot of nothing for yall.. but It should be a good week. We definitely have to work on getting people to church. But when i got here we didnt have anyone so i figure it takes a couple weeks to get some good people and get them to church. They usually never come the first sunday. Its sooo hard to get in, give them the lesson, commit them to read, pray, get baptized with a specific date, and get them to church. Lots of commitments! But if they arent keeping commitments then they arent repenting and coming unto Christ =)

This Friday we have zone conference. Im super excited. Its great because they are centered just for us. As of right now there arent any big new rules. The same ones are still here.

Samantha, I got your letter! Thank you sooo much. Please let me know where you are going. You can email me!

ANNNGGEEELL!!! Congrats on the BABY GIRL!!!!!!! What is hill having???

Okay fam that is about all from me. Thanks for all you do. I love yall!

Love,
Hna Payne

P.S. JUAN CARLOS GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, August 1, 2011

Hola familia! Its me again, Hna Payne, from Good ol´ Posadas, Misiones, Where the red ´´dirt´´ grows! Yes, I am back where I started! Well, not the same ward, but super close. I was super excited to get transfer calls to say that I was going home =) I HATE good byes, but LOVE changes. My companion is Hna Juarez from Guatemala. This is her second transfer and we are excited for this transfer. She is really nice, and a little shy, but all with a super willing spirit. I got here and they had two baptism dates because her trainer refused to put, or even try to put dates. Haha little does my comp know that putting baptismal dates is the easy part... its getting them to church thats the hard part. Our area is huge! Its going to be sooo fun to try and learn the area... not. Ha my comp doesnt really know either... I guess its time to learn how to read a map =) Im guessing there will be lots of room to laugh!

I have NO CLUE about Juan Carlos =( He went out of town Tuesday and got back Friday) He was to have his interview in the afternoon on Friday and his baptism Saturday??????

Okay, well Im sorry this is an extremely lame letter, not a lot to say! Next weeks will be bettter! Have a great week!!!!!

Love,
Hna Payne

Send my hellos to mike! Wish him luck for me.