Elder Zachary Payne

Elder Zachary Payne

Monday, January 7, 2013

We Killed Our Own Son!

Hi Payne's! First of all...HAPPY BIRTHDAY(S)!!!!! to Dad and Mom and Keith! I'm sending a Christmas/Birthday package this week haha so watch out! So good to hear from mom and dad! Sounds like things are going much better regardless of the craziness of life that's still (and will always be) upon us! I'm so proud of you guys!! Thanks because hearing letters like that makes me want to go baptize everyone haha. Oh and I got your package Keith and Shauna it was awesome! I'm wearing that Gila Valley Temple thing right now haha and turns out Elder Price has the exact same journal that you got me. Go figure! Thanks again! Well keep it up, all of you. As for us over here in Cedar City, we had a pretty good but slow week. We're still trying to get out of the hangover from the holidays, so we're hoping the work will pick back up this next week...
We had a few minutes before a lesson, so we decided to drop by Del Parson's house again. This time his wife led us over to the studio next door where Bro Parson, the master himself, was fixing up a picture of Christ. It was so awesome to see him in action! We're seriously the biggest Del Parson dweebs around haha. Bro Parson is so laid back and funny and just an all around humble guy. Elder Price actually got to sit up on a chair and be a model for Christ haha it was sweet! I took some pics and a video, so I'll see what I can send haha.
I also found out yesterday that bro Olsen (the guy who wanted Mel Palmer's address) actually went to Hawaii for the holidays and met up with him! Bro Palmer was his seminary teacher and bishop! While he was there he met a former member of the seventy who just got called to be the president for the LDS school in Virginia (don't remember the name). Anyway, bro Olsen has a project to do now for him. He used to be a foot doctor but got injured and retired early.....he's in his late 30's haha. He's always been talking to us about how if you follow the spirit and do what is right, opportunities will work out for progression. Anyway, it was just cool to hear this whole story because if I hadn't come to this area he wouldn't have gone to Hawaii to see Mel or the member of the seventy, and he wouldn't have gotten that job for the university. Interesting how the Lord works sometimes with his missionaries.
So yeah Elder Price had to leave in a storm last night! We killed him! Elder Woolley our car coordinator swung by and told us to get his stuff in immediately. Yes Sir! We had hardly any time to say by, just a quick hug and good luck and he was off! He's been with us for a month and man it's been a blast with all three of us! We'll miss him a ton! He's flying out to Mexico from Vegas today! In the mean time, the area here is still in tact. Turns out Tracy is sick with cancer and the doctor's say she only has a few months to live. She was the person we married and baptized my first week here in Cedar. The cancer came back and she's headed to California or something and her husbands dad is going to be paying for everything. He must be loaded! We left during the middle of the Lion King to go give her a blessing at the hospital. The rest of the district put it on pause for us, so we got to finish it once we got back.
To add onto that, Angie apparently has cancer too and she doesn't have the money to pay for everything right now and apparently it's unsure how much longer she will live as well. Now, if she gets married to Tyron (which is their plan) then they'd have to delay it until after Angie gets her kids back, otherwise it will mess up the court case and she won't get her kids back for much longer. That's a problem because she may never see her kids again if that happens. On the flip side, if she doesn't get baptized soon, she might not get the chance in this life. I know however that the Lord will provide, especially for something this important. We gave her a blessing as well....it was intense. We went back the other day and Angie wasn't there, but we talked with Tyron for a solid hour and he explained that he feels like it's time to change, to stop relying on smoking and beer and fornication to solve his problems and to be committed to Angie and to work through things. He's choosing to stay with her despite the whole cancer thing. Every time he's with her, she makes him happy. It's that simple. We testified that this gospel and the BofM is the key to unlock those desires of true happiness. He's willing to try it out and he has come so far just like Angie. Such an awesome but critical situation. We'll see where things go from here...
So I don't normally ask for things like this, but please keep Tracy, Angie, and Tyron in your prayers. We've already made it safely onto the ledge of the foundation of the gospel, but these three are struggling to grip onto that ledge. Even death itself is trying to stop them, but Christ has the power to swallow up the sting of death and pull us all up. They're certainly doing their part, and I just think that a few extra prayers will help them and give them a boost. None of them are going to give up, and they've mentioned that a few times....That takes more faith than I have as a missionary, so they'll make it either way eventually.
Anyway I hope you all enjoy the package! There's something for everyone! Have a great week! I love you all! Transfer calls are this next Sunday!
Elder Payne!

No comments:

Post a Comment