13....

It's that time again! Wild I feel like I was sitting here just a week ago! We had some fun adventures this week! For starters, we got to plant some rice! Now if you want some work, go to the rice fields! Wow! They plant every single stem of rice by hand. Entire fields that seem to go on forever! By hand... wild! They are so good at it and the lines of the rice they plant are sooo straight. My lines on the other hand... I'm still learning haha. It's funny to hear everyone talk about the white guy planting rice. They get a kick out of it. I'm glad I was able to serve that way! What a good time! 

We had a very productive week and were able to find a ton of new people to teach. 16 in fact! What a blessing! I'm excited to start working with them and be able to share my testimony to them. Being a missionary is hard but so so worth it! I wouldn't change any of it for the world! The Philippines is beautiful. The people are amazing, and the work is teaching me tons! Oh! This time of year is great as well cause the rice smells sooooo good! I love walking past rice fields and having that smell hit me in the face! I'm doing well and loving my time here. 

Miss you all tons! Please help someone this week. Make them smile, give them a compliment, open a door. I promise it will put a smile on your face as well ;) 

Love,

Elder Payne 

As this is a public blog, the faces of children are covered to protect their privacy.

Happiness is a Choice!

What a great week to learn some great things. I'm not going to lie, there were some real life problems that were happening this week. It was hard to me to see some trials that were going on in the lives of the people around me. I love these people and their problems feel like my problems. Because of that I was able to understand the Atonement in a whole new light. As I felt sorrow for those I love I thought of how Christ literally felt the entirety of sorrow, hurt, and pain in all people. But when you think of Christ do you think of someone who is sad? Of course not. I firmly believe that even through the responsibility of the Atonement Christ was still able to find joy. There is no reason that we can't be happy as well. Life isn't perfect. Bad things happen. But we can make the choice to be happy as we rely on our Savior Jesus Christ and his Atonement. What a blessing! Alma 7:11-13

In other news, Sunday was a blast! In sacrament I was sitting next to my main man Bro. Will. He is the best! We were messing around with a little boy in the ward. We gave him a pen and he began drawing on Bro. Wills had. At first he put eyes, a nose, a mouth, then ears, arms, legs, and then he stopped for a little bit. We thought he was finished then he made an... addition in complete seriousness. After he made this "addition" brother will and I lost it. We were laughing so hard! I turned to brother Will and said about the drawing "Lalaki pala siya" (It turns out its a boy!) I'll let you guess what he drew to finish his drawing... haha Later that night we were teaching a part member family and I had to super focus on the lesson cause I kept getting distracted with playing with this cute six year old girl there. I showed some magic and then I guess we became best friends haha. I LOVE these people! 

Love you all and hope you have a great week. 

Love,

Elder Payne 

Swimming! It's not like that :)

This was a super fun/ wild week! We had zone conference and I got to see some very good friends before they get on a plane! To Elder K, Elder B, Elder M, Elder G, Elder F, and Elder U, have a safe flight. I'll miss you guys a ton. I also got to see my trainer again! Always fun to see Elder M. In other big news... We got our washer this week! Sweet! The only problem is its too big to fit comfortably in our bathroom... Oh well, no reason to complain! 

 We were able to have 2 baptisms this week! What a wonderful experience that is. The spirit is definitely present when a child of God enters those waters of baptism. What a sweet and wonderful feeling that is there. It was super cool to see my man L make it to that point. He was my first lesson here in Santa Maria and I have seen him grow so much in his desire to follow Christ. He's 20 so there's still time for a mission ;) And J is super cool, what a kid. He has so much potential. What a time to be alive :) 

 Fun last story, we did splits with some members yesterday and I was with one of my favorite members out here in the Philippines, brother W! He is the best! After our appointments we started making our treck home in the midst of a storm. Our previously clear roads had now turned into rivers... I loved it! After an hour walk to our last appointment I truly felt like I had come back from swimming. Still not like that ;) But I honestly had a blast! Great people, great work, great times. I love being a missionary!

Love you all and hope you have the best week ever!

Elder Payne 

As this is a public blog, pictures of baptisms from this week aren't included to protect the privacy of the those in the pictures.  They are included in Elder Payne's weekly emails for those that are part of that email group, though.

First and Last 4th of July in a Foreign Country

Sorry I missed your birthday America, don't worry I'll make up for it next year! Haha It was quite a strange feeling being out of the country when such a great day was happening back home. Definitely missed some fireworks but I still had a good day! The sunset out here on July 4th was pretty stellar so I can't complain too bad!

We got some really good work done this week. We were able to have some interviews for some of our investigators who are close to baptism and they all passed! That means we'll have some baptisms this Saturday so I'm pumped for that! They are all really great people and I feel so blessed to have been involved in their conversion process. I can testify of the changes that happen in people's lives as they come to Christ. I've seen it first hand! 

Earlier today we were able to go on an adventure to some waterfalls. I was pumped! I've been wanting to go to some waterfalls for a long time! They were pretty sweet! The water was a little dirty cause of all the rain we have been getting but I still thought it was great! We took about an hour and a half bike ride to it and had some fun with that too! We had a member come with us to show us stuff the locals would know! It was a really fun time!

Well, that's all I've got for you this week. Love you and miss you all. Have a good week everyone!

Love, Elder Payne

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 What a fun week we had here in Santa Maria! Tons of highlights we can hit but one of my favorite was a lesson we had right on the beach! We were in a little kubo about 20 feet from the water. It was absolutely beautiful and had the sun reflecting off the ocean. It was just the best! I'm not going to lie, that was probably one of the strongest temptations I've had on my mission to go swimming ;) But... I didn't, promise :) When I come back to the Philippines someday, all promises are off. You already know I'm going to go swimming everyday I'm out here! 

    In other news, we have 4 investigators who are on track to be baptized on the 14th of July! Please keep them in your prayers. They are soooo close and I know they can do it! I sure do love these people out here. One of the sweetest experiences I've had in my life is testifying to these people about the things that are most important to me God, Family, and Joy. What a blessing to be a missionary! 

   We were also able to do a CSP this week which was super fun. We transplanted rice from one field to the true place it will grow until it is harvested. It was super fun, I had blast and serving is always just the best. I now have been involved with all stages of rice! I might just make my own rice field when I get home ;) Joke Lang! But still super fun work! 

Hope you all have a great week and find joy in all you do. Life is fast, there is no time to be sad! Love you all!!!

Love,

Elder Payne