We were supposed to get Shane in the water this past weekend but that didn't happen. He's not very committed to coming to the ward here in our area! He's been going with his girlfriend to her dad's ward across town, even though he keeps committing to come to ours. At least he's coming though. In fact he's been meeting pretty much all the requirements for baptism. He's just not coming to the ward that he ought to be baptized in! So hopefully this month we can redirect him. But thank the good Lord....he's quite smoking!!! Right now he's on the e-cigarette with 0 nicotine and soley water vapor. We asked Pres Center if that's okay, he said, "Yep...the word of wisdom only includes tobacco, not nicotine." Sounds good to us! But Shane is doubting himself. He wants to make sure he's completely off it, which is good, but he's scared that he'll relapse after he's baptized. He's got a little too much fear and not enough faith. He's sooo close! He's come a long way and he's become a big example to me.
Carlyn's doing well. He's still thinking and praying about baptism. This week he said that after one of his prayers, he felt something! He felt a burning in his heart, just a good feeling that he couldn't describe. Well that's the spirit my friend! He said he wants to feel that again and then he'll know for sure. He's on the right track for sure. In fact I believe he already knows it's true, he's just a little scared or nervous to commit. A little extra assurance from the Lord would definitely help! And conference coming up is going to be a big key for him as well. Should be good! He came to our St. George area recent convert fireside last night. That's when we have a few RC's share their conversion stories and testimonies...it was super good! Carlyn's close too.
And this week we started meeting with seriously the most elect returning less-active I've ever met. Her name is Lindsey (different Lindsey, we're teaching two of them). She's the one that had a seizure while riding her bike! (Did I tell you about that?) She recently went through a temple divorce. She's a single mom with three kids and she's a powerhouse. Such a strong woman! She went less-active a while back because of all the pressures of the divorce and life in general, but now she's repenting and wants nothing more than to make it back to the temple. I felt prompted to tell another lady in the ward (Sis Rasmussen) about her situation, and as I went over to her house on exchanges it turns out that she's been through almost the exact same things Lindsey has! She's a powerhouse too...super good match! Good looking out, Heavenly Father! He knows his children. Anyway we've brought Sis Rasmussen to a couple lessons and the two of them have hit it off super well. Here we are just teaching the doctrine according to the spirit, happy and confident, and then we turn to sis Rasmussen and she's weeping and sobbing and we're just like "Oh my!" and she goes on to say that she's meant to be there for Lindsey and then shares her life story with her. We've had a couple tender moments in Lindsey's home for sure. I just love it when the people I teach want nothing more than to cling to the Lord and His gospel. Such a blessing! Lindsey's doing well and reactivating smoothly.
Other than that, we've been on a couple more exchanges this week which means we've finished all of them up for the transfer! All 5 of them. Great experiences there. It's wonderful to learn so much from other missionaries in just 24 hours. I've been on this little sticky note spree. A lot of missionaries do it in our mission. At the end of every exchange we offer constructive criticism, so on the sticky note I put two columns: "What to keep" and "What to seek" and then I list some important qualities respectively. The nice thing about pondering those qualities is that a lot of times the strengths and room for improvement I see in others often applies to myself as well. Some of my favorites are complete consecration (consecration isn't perfection), be loyal to your plans, testify with conviction and simplicity, keep your "line in the water" (PMG p.152), and willing to consistently speak up and share.
While I was away on exchanges though E Lewis managed to put two flats on our car haha. He took a turn too sharp and clipped the curb near the temple. He didn't think it did too much but when he got outside the car he could hear the air hissing out. Oops! So the car was parked by the temple for a couple days and we fixed it when we could. haha just crazy how he literally shredded two holes in each tire on the right side. We got a good kick out of it. Good thing we have E Sullivan as our vehicle coordinator now. E Woolley (our last one) would have seriously killed us! All is well though, are car is fixed and we got extra exercise on our bikes.
Gotta run!
Love,
Elder Payne!
p.s. So E Nye (one of the assistant's that goes home with me) just told me that he has a friend serving in Thatcher. His name is Elder Merrill (however you spell it). Is he the one in 3rd ward? If so that's pretty sweet!
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