Happy Labor Day!

Well another week has passed. We were told to email everyone on Tuesday so here we are mom don't worry! It's been a good week! Although we cover 9 wards in our area, the work is off to a slow start. We're not sure what the future of the area will be here soon enough...perhaps a less active area. We get less-active referrals handed to us like candy, but the non-member work is slow! We've gone through family apartments only to find strong members living in them. But it doesn't matter because the work is hastening! Now that doesn't mean that the work in our individual areas is automatically going to explode. With the influx of missionaries, a ton of areas have had to be cut in half, which means the work was too. We're still in the stage where the big change in missionary work is in its infancy...the beta version more or less. But nevertheless and notwithstanding, the work as a whole is going up. More are coming unto and into the gospel than ever before! We have to keep that in our minds, especially when serving in areas like Ephraim! What a great place to serve!

Well with that in mind, we have met a lady who is practically as golden as they get. She moved in from California about the same time I got here. Her name is Chelsea, probably in her 60's or so. Such a great lady! Very well-mannered and regal and sociable. She's a non member, and just before she moved here she started talking with missionaries. She's super curious about mormons and wants to learn just the basics. She's been coming to church on her own and is developing relationships with ward members. She's basically her own fellowshipper! It's awesome haha. 

The only thing is that the house she moved into is much less than meets the eye. She was awfully disappointed to say the least, long story short, she has found a new place to move into in Mt. Pleasant, just a few miles north of Ephraim. So she's moving out of our area! Darn! haha but we've been able to answer some questions and gave her some pamphlets and videos. She's really been impacted by the kindness and standards of the people of the church and has gained a love and trust of the members here. She asked us about baptism and jokingly added that she doesn't like the idea of being dunked in water if she decides she wants to "become a mormon." Plus she did mention that she will not give up coffee or wine haha but we won't worry about that yet. Anyway, we're deciding to tread lightly and let her come to us at her own pace and in her time. She's willing to take the lessons from the Mt. Pleasant Elders (E Gomez and Wade!) once she gets moved in. She's moving this Saturday! Such a blessing and privilege to have been placed in her path. We're planting a huge seed for her, and she's thrilled to watch the Testaments tonight! haha she's prepared and ready. Finding the elect is awesome!

A big lesson I've learned on my mission is the principle of quantity vs. quality. I've noticed that a lot of missionaries get out here and focus on the quantity...their motivation is the numbers and the goals. They're successful because of the expectations of leaders. They get lots of baptisms and lots of lessons with a member present and lots of everything. They're really good missionaries! I've taken more the quality approach throughout my mission, meaning I focus more on who I'm teaching and how to make each appointment an effective one. I tend to focus on who I'm working with rather than finding more and more to teach. I want to make sure my converts don't go astray after baptism. I'm not so much concerned about hitting the goal for the month as I am with the investigator truly being ready to covenant with God. It's really helped me develop a lot more charity! But now I feel like I can step it up. I feel like the good thing is quantity, the better is quality, and the best is a balance of both.

Well in other news, we took a Labor Day hike yesterday in a canyon outside of Moroni. We went with Elders Finnie from Canada and Jones from I forgot haha. It was pretty fun! We went exploring and stuff and it wasn't nearly as bad as the hike we did right before I left haha. I'll send some pictures. Also, we're starting to teach a Daniel George, as well as Daniel and George. Two different families. Kinda weird. We went on exchanges this week and I went with Elder Betham for the day! What a clown haha he says he reads my blog every week so at least we have one fan on there mom. Well other than that, guess how many lessons I've taught on my mission so far? Well I did the math from all my planners and as of right this minute I've taught 996 lessons! Join me as I hit the four digit barrier this week! haha well I love you guys and I have hope that you will have a great week!

Love,

Elder Payne