First Transfer Over in the Field Coming Up! - September 25, 2017

So tomorrow (September 26th) is transfer day and it's wild cause that means the group of missionaries I saw while leaving the MTC are coming into the field! Don't get me wrong, I loved the MTC but those 6 weeks felt WAY longer than the first 6 weeks in the field! I felt like a got just a glimpse of how fast missions really are! It feels like it was this morning that I was saying goodbye to my family for two years and now its been three months! I know that's way short especially as in two years but time really does fly by in the mission field! My trainer says it only goes faster! 

This week has been way fun but hard too! The weather has either been absolutely pouring or super hot and humid! There really isn't an "in between" here! I actually love it when it rains, It rains so hard and so fast water just rises like crazy! It's fun to just walk through floods haha This week we found a family in a town called Anduyan. It's a pretty far walk but totally worth it! The last time we were over there they all gathered around us to take a picture. One of the girls asked if she could borrow my whiteness... haha It's funny being an American here because the kids just love you! When school gets out there will be a ton of kids and all I have to do is smile and wave at them and they'll just start laughing and hiding their faces. It's pretty hilarious!

We are preparing for two baptisms this week and we are pumped! One of them is a dad whose family got baptized a year or two ago and with him being baptized they'll be able to prepare for the blessing of the temple! The other is a girl in a family who hasn't been baptized but her family has. Their family is just the coolest! They always give us snacks when we go over to them! The people here are literally the nicest people ever! Everyone is always smiling and happy! 

I love you all and would always love to hear from ya! Keep up the good work back home, be grateful for what you have because I can testify that not everyone has what we have back home!

Love,

Elder Payne

Much Love for You All! - September 18, 2017

I turned 19 last week so that's fun! I only have one more B-Day in the field haha! It was a fun day! The sisters in my district brought balloons and treats to our district meeting. It was really nice of them! It is hard to have a birthday so far from home but I am very grateful for all your emails and the people here are taking good care of me! 

   

This week Elder Manarang and I finally got rid of the mouse that has been chilling in our house. I was getting ready for bed and brushing my teeth when the mouse like literally fell from the sky. I still have no idea where it dropped from... but anyways it drops onto the counter, scares the heck out of me, and then runs under our little portable stove top thing. I yell over to Elder Manarang and he runs over. I had a flashlight and kept it shined on the mouse so it didn't get away. We armed ourselves with brooms and mops and then chased the mouse out. It flew out and started running on the floor. We started yelling (screaming) and slapping the floor! I broke the mop and then Elder Manarang nailed it with the broom. We thought it was dead but I poked it just for good measure. When I poked it it jumped up and started running around again! We start yelling and slapping the floor again like a bunch of cavemen but eventually we got it for good.  So ya that was fun.

On a more spiritual side... Brother M. came to church again! This was his third week so he just needs to go one more for us to be able to baptize him! That's the rule here in the Philippines, investigators need to go to church 4 weeks in a row before they can be baptized. But It has been amazing to see how much happier he and his family have been. It is amazing to be a missionary and have front row seats to seeing people change their lives and come closer to their Savior! We have his baptism for the 30th and I can't wait for that day!!! 

Love and miss you guys and thank you again for the birthday wishes! You guys are the best! Keep reading your scriptures and feel God's love for you! 

Love,

Elder Payne

Elders Manarang and Payne

Elder Payne with President and Sister Bangal

They forgot to list Elder Payne's name here, but I assure you he's in there!

Baptism Week! - September 11, 2017

We had a baptism planned for Saturday at 3:00 in a city called Agoo because there is a font in the Agoo Chapel. We brought the family whose little girl we were baptizing to the church just to find the font wasn't filled... And the water here is way slow! So we were filling the font up from the faucet in the font and then getting 5 gallon buckets and filling them with water from different faucets surrounding the church. When they would fill up we would run them back to the font and chuck the water in! We did that for about an hour and the water level hadn't even passed the first step! We decided it just wasn't going to work so we talked with the presiding leader at the meeting and he told us to just go to the ocean! We all packed into this van and drove to the beach and found a quiet little spot. It was BEAUTIFUL and sooooo cool! Elder Manarang was baptizing but i just put my hand in the water and it was soooo warm! The baptism went wonderful and it was just perfect. Then I was able to confirm Marga yesterday before I spoke in Sacrament and it was just way cool! The Spirit that was in our tiny little meeting house was so powerful. I can't say enough how grateful I am for this Gospel for this truly is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is his Church. He loves us with a love we can't even comprehend. To know what I am saying is true and to truly feel his love for you and encourage you to ask our Heavenly Father, for he is the one that can testify to you in a way that words can't.

It's easy to get home sick, though, especially when taking shower with buckets and flushing the toilet with buckets.  But that's okay, those are the easy things to get over. I really am doing fine here. I am learning so much and I really do love it here. It just gets frustrating to not be able to say what I want to say. I'll learn, I just need to be patient.

Love you all and hope you are surviving the end of the world back home (from what it sounds like).

Elder Payne

The beach where the baptism was held

The luncheon we had for Elder M's birthday

                                                    

My bed with the Toy Story sheets 

I needed a blanket not to stay warm.  It's just comforting to have a blanket so I got the first one i could find at a store called 698. It turned out to be a spider man blanket. 

That's my bathroom! I have to clean spider webs out of the corner every once in awhile. 

I put a nail in the shelves so a could hang up a towel, there wasn't any hammers so I just used the flat side of the machete... Don't worry mom, I was careful.

Spiders are a real problem

    

This is my district.   Elder C. is sitting next to me.  He is from Dubai.  His companion is Elder B., who is the missionary on the far side of me.  My companion, Elder M., is sitting next to Elder B..   Sister B.(next to me) and Sister M. are both Filipino.  Elder B. is from the same valley I am from in the Utah. Elder M. is from California.

Elder M. and I - both from the same valley back home

Where to Begin?!?! - September 4, 2017

First off... I forgot my camera so no pictures this week from me... my bad. 

I'll probably start from last P-Day. We had a birthday thing for my companion. We bought a huge pig and had lechon which was way good! There was a ton of food leftover that we were able to give to families which was pretty cool. We also went to the zoo which was pretty sweet. They had a tiger there that was like freaking out and roaring at everyone! It was a fun P-Day! 

Throughout the week we were able to see many miracles. One was that of an investigator coming to church. He has been an investigator for 3 years and hasn't been to church since he first became an investigator. We have really been trying to help him see God's love for him in his life. Then this Sunday, he came!!! We were able to then teach him a lesson later on and it went way good! He has been struggling with gaining a testimony of Joseph Smith. As we were talking I felt the impression to stress the importance of the Book of Mormon. I testified to him that I know the Book of Mormon is true. I know that it is the word of God and that Joseph Smith was able to translate that Holy Book through the power of God. I then was able to testify to him that if he came to know that the Book of Mormon was true that he would know Joseph Smith was a true prophet called of God. Now, realize I am really not very good at Tagalog so I didn't say it as well as I would have liked but I know the spirit was there in my broken Tagalog, for the spirit testifies of truth no matter the language. 

I love the people here! They are absolutely amazing! They are always so kind and no matter who you see, if you wave they will wave and smile back. The other day a bus gave us a free ride because we were missionaries. It was dope! The kids love to see missionaries and run up and jump on us, start giving us high fives, and just give the biggest smiles! They LOVE magic, so Elder M. and I are going to find a magic kit from a store today haha. Also the kids here love to dab, its pretty hilarious. They call it the "American" haha. 

Fun fact, we have a baptism on Saturday! I am way pumped except for the fact that I am speaking. That's alright, I have time to prepare a talk in Tagalog. Oh and I am speaking on Sunday, same thing. One thing I have found to be a great blessing this week has been reading "Our Search for Happiness" by M. Russell Ballard. Please read this book! It is absolutely amazing! Not only for members but for those who just want to learn more about our faith. That book is inspiring. 

This last week was the mission tour so we had about half of the mission in a meeting with Elder Schmutz of the Seventy leadership group. It was way cool! We talked a lot about the celestial kingdom and how to get there. It was also fun because I got to meet a lot of the missionaries in my mission including another elder from Cache Valley. His name is Elder Maners and he is a way cool dude. Coincidentally, he and Elder Beck were also trained in the same house I am being trained in. So the last 3 missionaries from Cache Valley have all been trained in the same house just outside of the city of Tubao.

Well I hope everyone is doing well and I love to hear from you! 

Alam ko po na buhay si Jesucristo at ito ang simbahan niya! Alam ko po na sa pamamgitan ang Ebanghelyo ni Jesucristo puewede po tayong maging mas masaya! 

(Translation: I know that Jesus Christ lives and that is his church! I know that by the Gospel of Jesus Christ we can be more happy!)

Love,

Elder Payne

P.S.   Ya its true. They do start celebrating Christmas in September. haha They wished everyone a happy Christmas season at church yesterday. So Merry Christmas to everyone back home! haha

Originally shared on Facebook:  
This picture shows missionaries in the Agoo South Zone with Elder and Sister Schmutz as well as President and Sister Bangal.   

Sent on August 28, 2017

What a week! This week has been way fun/difficult! I don't even know where to begin! 

Well there is this one little village we go to called Halog. The only way to get there is by a tiny bamboo raft thing. It's quite the experience and a lot of fun! A guy chills at the back and has a super long bamboo stick and just pushes us along. Last time we were maybe a little over capacity and we were sorta close to sinking but we didn't haha. 

We found this group of kids who loves to come mess around with us whenever they see us and they are a blast! 

I have started boiling water before I take showers so that's really nice now. It's not as cold of a shower now.  
We have a water filter at our house. It works well it's just really slow.  Contrary to rumors, they sell toilet paper here. I will survive for two years and I will purchase toilet paper for two years. It's weird though cause toilets don't really flush here, you dump water into the actual bowl and then it flushes.

The food isn't bad, we are going to go shopping today. Elder Manarang and I are the only ones in our house so we have just been surviving on Peanut butter and guava jelly sandwiches and spam. Some other stuff here and there and some of the older sisters in the ward feed us sometimes so that's fun. Oh and I found this ice cream, its called Ube and it is way good!

Yesterday at church a member gave his talk in Ilocano and I couldn't understand a single thing... That language is crazy! It looks like I have some work to do in learning Tagalog and Ilocano. Yesterday was way fun with the kids though, at church a kid ran up to me and just pulled my hair right up to his face so he could see it better haha. And then another little girl we were teaching pulled off some of my arm hair. She was so excited that I had hair on my arms haha. 

It is so humbling to be here. There are houses I have taught in that are as big as my room back home and have nothing but dirt floors and bamboo walls but yet the people here are so happy. I love this culture and am so thankful for the opportunity I have to be able to learn more about it. 

This whole mission thing is dang hard! I just wish I could understand people or that they would at least speak Tagalog! A lot of the things here are just way out of my comfort zone and having to do everything in a different language is just kinda overwhelming. So some of the things are Jeepneys, they are way close quarters and makes me way uncomfortable. Then when we go to the market, everything is just laid out, people are everywhere, the actual stores are way too small for me to walk through and I don't know how to talk to them to purchase things. We have had to teach every lesson at church the past two weeks and that's kinda out there. That's okay though, these challenges are how I will grow. The church gives Missionaries a ton of material to adjust to a missionary life. Scripture study here has improved so much for me! I love diving into the scriptures and feasting on the words of Christ. That is one of my favorite things to do here! But I am excited to continue to learn and grow! 

I've really been able to experience trials here right off the bat but that's good for my progression. I'm excited to be able to really be apart of this culture for two years and will do my best to get lost in the work! My only desire is to bring God's children to him, I just put my faith in him that I will be the missionary he wants me to be! Love and miss you all!

Love,

Elder Payne

Elders M and Payne