Elder Payne in Baguio: 2 Weeks

Sorry about last week. I sent a group email but something must have went wrong... So here is a 2 weeks update! We had 2 baptisms a week ago! I was able to baptize them and it was such an amazing experience. I felt the spirit in such a way I cannot put it into words. There was such a joy and peace in those moments. It was beautiful. I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to be involved in their conversions. Brother M. was one of the investigators we baptized. His family was baptized about a year ago but he has been an investigator for about 3 years! He and his family are now preparing to enter the temple and be sealed for time and all eternity. Is there any greater thing in this world then being able to be with our families forever? I can promise you that this blessed truth shows the love that God has for all of us, all he asks is that we turn to him.

This week has been wild! I had my first "Bible bash" And let me promise you it was very much so involuntary. So we were contacting this one day, just going door to door, and we found this guy in a pretty nice house (considering the Philippines). I Tao Po'd his house and he was way excited to let us in. We sit down on a bench in his patio and he asks us to begin. Elder Manarang started out with talking about how There is a living prophet on the earth today. At that the guy just says "1 minute" runs into his house and comes back out with his bible and slaps it down on the table and says "Teach" We tell him the living prophet today is Thomas S. Monson and he didn't like that it didn't have President Monson's name in the bible. We then tried to teach baptism but he didn't think that we have need of baptism. We tried to help him understand that Christ taught the importance of baptism both through his example in Matthew 3:13-17 and teachings in John 3:5. We just wanted to provide him a way to come closer to our Savior but he wasn't willing to try. It was sad for me to see him reject a way that he could come to know his Savior better. We ended the lesson on a positive note though as he prayed for our well being. It was an interesting experience, but I'm glad we could respect each others beliefs and end positively.

Then of course conference this week! That was a much needed experience! The words of the apostles are so strong and encouraging. It was such a blessing to receive instruction on how to make it through these troubling times. I am truly grateful for the revelation which they are able to receive in order for us to stay safe in a dangerous world! Plus it was so fun for me to see so many friends in the choir at the Priesthood session! I saw everyone like the McEuens, Coach JC, The Nielsens,The Diamonds, The Baughs, Mr. Baer, and some friends from high school! I'm seven thousand miles away and it was the best treat to be able to see them all the away here in the Philippines!

I love you all and sorry for the lengthy email but that's about what happened in the past two week of my life! I hope everyone is finding joy in these troubling times. One of the most powerful lessons I learned from conference is that times in which it's hard to turn to God are the very times in which we need to the most! Stay safe and trust in God. See you all next week!

Much love,

Elder Payne

That's the rice that I eat here. They dry their rice on the street like that and then scoop it into bags to be sold at the markets.

That goat was stuck like that. We had to go over and Elder Manarang held its head as I lifted it up and freed it. haha. The babies were still trying to get milk as it was stuck like that! She was pretty calm while we did it. I think she was grateful that we got her out.