33 New Investigators

This is going to be short because im going to talk to you tomorrow.

We watched brave for christmas zone conference. it was a good movie. a lot of people didn't like it... I did.

We had some crazy stuff happen in the mission this week. we had 28 baptisms this week which is the most since 2006. and we have 67 this month so far and we still have a week left in december. I could see us getting over 30 as a mission next week too. We probably wont hit our goal of 624 as a mission this year but we will get a lot closer than expected. its going to be a big month.

I think I mentioned last week that we got 38 new investigators as a zone. well we got 33 this week! Really good stuff.

Things are booming in our area. We had a baptism yesterday and we have 4 on date. Richard Morrow got baptized. it was kinda a surprise baptism. he was taught everything in the terrace heights ward in the other stake and we caught wind that he lived in our area and wanted to get baptized. So we had to make the transition. The sisters weren't aware that he couldn't be baptized in the terrace heights ward... So we made it work. He is in our ward now and he is awesome. His aunt and uncle and girlfriend are all members of the church. He's a great guy.

Laura will be baptized into 6th ward. We sorted all of that out. She is good to go. We had an appointment with her for Saturday and she texted us right before to ask if we could bring our service clothes. So we did. We expected it to be a small job, but she wanted us to help her slaughter her turkeys... 2 of them. So it took longer than expected and we had appointments to be to! So we left for a few minutes and went and taught a lesson then came back and finished killing the turkeys. It was bloody... I got blood all over my jeans. We helped her pluck one of them but we didn't have time to do the other. After it was all done the big turkey yielded 41 pounds of meat. Thats a big turkey. And Laura wants to serve that after her baptism because she has nothing else to do with it. So we are trying to coordinate that. I'll let you know what happens next week.

James didn't come to church but still wants to be baptized. We'll see... He has quit smoking which we thought was the biggest thing, but now his church attendance (or the lack thereof) is the problem.

Trina Mears, and Craig Hancox are on date for January 19th. Trina is doing well. We were starting from square one with her. She knew nothing about Christ or the Bible or anything when we started. Which is good and bad. But she is excited to be learning more. She texted us this morning and asked what else she should read in the Book of Mormon before we see her next because she already finished her other reading assignment. She's pretty cool. And she's our age, which makes it fun to teach her.

Craig is one that is really exciting. He was no where near being baptized a few months ago. His wife got baptized in august or sometime around there and he was talking about getting a divorce because of it. But his heart has softened a lot since then and he is thinking about getting baptized himself. We are hoping for January. He says he wants to read the whole Book of Mormon before he gets baptized, but he also said he could read it in about a week if he wanted to. So we gave him a month to read and prepare for baptism and he thought that was a good goal. It's really cool to see how far he has come. He really sees that our church is different and he wants to be a part of it.

This didn't turn out to be short. Oh well. I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Love,

Elder Paxman

A Foot of Snow

This was a good week.

It snowed a foot last night and we had a snowball fight with Matthew and Joshua. They are the two Finch kids. Matthew is 15 and Joshua is 18. When we got home last night we went truck sledding. We grabbed on to the back of brother Finch's truck and we slipped through the snow behind him. We would grab on the underside of the bumper or on the tailgate. It was tons of fun. Brother Finch said "a few people die from doing this every year but we're conservative" hahaha. Don't worry. We were safe. There was a foot of snow as padding for when we fell. It was fun.

 

After that is when we had the snowball fight. It was tons of fun. Yakima is always good for a foot of snow. Yesterday is pretty much the first time I have driven in snow. We drove on the freeway up to Selah while it was coming down pretty hard. All of the snow is melting today though. The sun is back out in the Palm Springs of Washington.

We had a Stake Correlation again this week. And this time President Greer and President Stapleton were there. Normally President Greer isn't able to come and it's even more rare that both of them come. But for both of the ones that I've been involved with its been President Greer. Lucky me.

 

Anyways. There's lots of drama with boundaries going on right now. We're teaching Laura Larsen and she wants to get baptized at this point but has been attending 6th ward even though she lives in 1st ward. It's getting closer to her baptism date so we had to discuss it. We were able to set up a meeting with Stake President Button Bishop Miller (of 1st ward) and Laura. We met in President Button's office and had a discussion about which ward she would be baptized in. She was very adamant that it would be in 6th ward. But President Button and President Greer wanted her to be baptized in the ward that she lived in. She made it such a big deal and was stubborn enough to get her way... Which isn't what the church wants to do, but we made the exception.

 

One stake over, in Selah Stake, the sisters in Terrace Heights were teaching a brother, Richard Morrow, who lives in Yakima 1st ward boundaries. We didn't hear about this until Saturday when they showed up at our stake center to do the baptismal interview. We asked why they were doing it there and they said because he lived closer to that church than any other one. The reason he was going to Terrace Heights for church was because he has an Aunt that lives in that ward. So when we heard that we had to teach the sisters that you cant just baptize people wherever you want. You have to talk to the Bishop/ Stake President/ Mission President and if it is a special circumstance then they can get a boundary exception. We sorted through all of that in our Stake Correlation meeting and Richard Morrow will be baptized in Yakima 1st ward this Saturday. So now the baptism will count for our stake/zone's numbers instead of Selah hahaha. I feel bad, but it's not about numbers. But it's definitely about numbers (not really).

SO. We might get a training on how important it is to teach people within their ward boundaries. President Greer seemed mildly annoyed at all of the issues that we have come up with recently. Not a huge deal, but something that needs to be fixed.

We found 38 new investigators as a zone this week. That is insane. The past transfer we averaged 9 a week over 6 weeks and this week we go over 4x as many as that. And it was a transfer week! Transfers can be a big distraction to the work but not this week! 38 is probably the most Yakima Zone has every found in one week. We were very pleased with those numbers and we're looking forward to the progress that every area is going to make because of all the people that have been found. Finding more people means more baptisms in the end. Exciting stuff.

Laura is golden for baptism at this point. We sorted out what ward it will be in and we're moving forward. James is struggling a little bit... He was supposed to quit smoking Saturday and he was doing good for that day but didn't show up to church so we weren't able to make any contact with him yesterday. We're hoping for the best...

 

Trina is doing well. That is Josh Statler's girlfriend. She is asking all the right questions and is following through with the assignments we leave with her. It's starting to feel more and more like a baptism in the making. We hope to put her on date this Tuesday. We'll let you know what happens!

We chipped in with a few new investigators to help get 38 and we are excited for them. We found Kaysie Slack, she is 22 years old with two kids and is engaged. She was really cool and is looking for a church. She and her fiance have moved a lot in the past and are planning on staying awhile in Yakima so want to settle down and find a church to attend regularly. We can help with that.

 

We also found Mariann. She is a Filipino lady and is a very active Seventh-Day Adventist. But she was the nicest lady in the world. And she lives in the nicer part of town. We decided to knock a few doors before dinner because we had about 10 minutes and she was the first door we knocked on. She let us right in and unfortunately we couldn't stay long because we had a dinner to get to. She told us to come back after the holidays.

The work is going well.

Today is also my 16th mission birthday. I'm getting old... I only have 8 months left! What is going on...

I will tell you more in a week over skype! I love you all!

Love,

Elder Paxman

p.s. Conner, if you get copies of my emails then here is a response. I do get copies of your emails through my mother. and I loved the "greatest comeback since Lazarus" plug. I laughed out loud. hahahaha lol.

 

 

Quick Updates

Short on time today again. I was busy reading/replying to other emails.

quick updates:

Elder Lyells is gone :( He left for Tri-cities this morning and I am with Elder Evans for the next few days. But my new companion will be Elder Manning. I am so incredibly excited! I couldn't be happier about this. He was my District Leader when I served here in Yakima last time and now he will be my companion. I'm sure I've said some things about him in past emails. He is wonderful and I am very excited.

We put Laura Larsen on date for December 29th. It was such an intense lesson. She has a lot of hold ups because her family is so against the LDS church. We told her in the previous lesson that we wanted to set a date with her and she said she would think about it. We went back on Thursday and we told her we wanted to set a date. She thought about it and we came to the conclusion that the 22nd would be a good day. So I clarified that she would be baptized on the 22nd and confirmed on the 23rd if she was able to receive her answer by then. But she stopped me and said that she thought we were setting a date for her to receive and answer, not a date to be baptized. Poor communication on our part. But Elder Lyells said "if you've received an answer then what would be stopping you from getting baptized?" She said "Nothing" without hesitation. So we let her think about it and we probably sat there for 5 minutes without saying a word. Then she said "the weekend after Christmas". So there you have it! She is working towards that date and she decided all on her own. We are very excited for her.

It's almost Christmas! I'm excited!

I'm just excited about everything!

I'm pretty sure I'm out of time...

I am loving it here in Yakima. The family we live with (the Finch family) is the greatest family every and I am working in the best part of our misison and I have had the best companions here. Life couldn't be better.

I am so excited for Mason. He will be so so so warm there. Unlike freezing Yakima. Our car was caked in ice this morning...

I'm glad dad is safe at home now. I'm sure it was a good trip.

I hope I didn't leave anything good out.

 

I got a letter from Conner this week. He's so good. I miss him Ryan Christopher and James...

Love,

Elder Paxman

Zone Leader Conference

Good good week. There is nothing to complain about in life. Except for cold weather.

So. I'll start off with some weird news. We had ZLC this week and President Greer let us know of some transfer date changes. The next two transfers are going to be normal 6 week transfers. But the following one will only be 5 weeks dues to the huge influx of missionaries. Then everything else after that will be normal 6 week transfers. But due to that one 5 week transfer all subsequent transfer dates move up a week. So I'm coming home a week early. It's kinda bitter-sweet. But mostly sweet. I know that that is what needed to happen and that will give me an extra week to prepare for school. I was supposed to come home to Missouri on August 20th, and school starts in SLC on August 26th. But now I will be home on the 13th. I definitely appreciate those extra 7 days to get ready for school. Also, President told us that in some missions they lost as many as 9 weeks because of the amount of missionaries coming in. So I am grateful that ours was only a week.

We had ZLC this Friday. That is such a wonderful meeting. I love meetings in the first place but ZLC takes the cake for all meetings. I learn so much in a few short hours. President just lets us know what's on his mind and what we need to focus on as a mission and then we take that back to the members of our Zone in a Zone Meeting. Yay! More meetings :).

It was an interesting week working with just two of us. We were still able to get a lot done but it was definitely different. It's a little bit easier when you have 4 people haha. But I love working with Elder Lyells. He is so great.

As for the people we teach:

James Draven

His date had to be pushed back a week because we weren't able to make much contact with him at all last week. We stopped by about 6 times and never caught him home. We were trying to call him all week but we learned yesterday that his phone isn't in working order. BUT. We did get to see him yesterday after church. He was playing the new Call of Duty of course. He has already beat Halo 4. He likes video games. But that was a side note... He is still on track for baptism. Still excited. I still love him. He is such a cool guy. It was great to talk to him yesterday after stressing all week about how he was doing spiritually. He's still doing alright. And he will be baptized on the 15th.

We have FHE tonight and James will be coming to that. We're making gingerbread houses tonight for FHE! We also have visit nights for the YSA on Tuesdays. We go to the church at 7 and anyone who wants to visit someone in the branch comes too. Then we divide and conquer. Then meet up at DQ at 830. That little activity has been quite effective at finding us new investigators in the YSA. We found Trina this week through that. She is dating Josh Statler who is a returned missionary in the YSA. A couple weeks ago that is how we found Hannah and her roommates. She is roommates with Jaimi Cox who is an active member of the branch too. I LOVE the YSA. The Branch President is great too. President Hendrix.

We found another new investigator in the YSA. Juaquin Horta. He knows Cameron Mugleston, who is also in the branch. We will be having a lesson over there on Wednesday with Cameron right before institute and Juaquin wanted to go to institute as well. I'm super excited for him. He seems pretty cool.

That same night we have an appointment with Trina. And Clair Schend, a less-active member of YSA.

But we do work outside the YSA too. I just don't want to talk about it. Because I would rather  talk about YSA. I love teaching people near my age.

It has been a good week. I hope I was able to convey that.

Love,

Elder Paxman

 

This is a picture of Marilynn and Jonathan's baptism. They got baptized Sunday . The missionaries are Elder Snow (left) and Elder Packham (right)

 

Turkey Week

Hello Family.

It was a wonderful turkey week here in Yakima. Very very cold. No snow this week but lots of frost in the mornings.

We taught a wonderful lesson on Tuesday with Hannah. She has softened her heart a lot. She enjoys us coming and she has learned a lot. She mentioned that she would always hide from missionaries in the past because she didn't know what they had to say but now that she has been introduced to it she is a lot more comfortable and actually likes the gospel! Of course she does!!!

We are still pluggin along with James Draven. He is getting more and more comfortable with his baptism on the 8th. His concerns are disappearing one by one. We had an exchanges with the AP's this week and Elder Lim was able to go over there and teach James with us. I think he helped a lot in making him feel like he has met all qualifications necessary to be baptized. He also wanted to know why he needed to be baptized again and we were able to answer that for him. I'm praying hard that he will follow through with this.

We taught Laura Larsen a couple times this week. We had a very interesting lesson with her... She has attended West Side Baptist church for years and no one in her church or her family knows that she is investigating the LDS church except for one of her cousins. She was telling us the other day about some questions that she emailed her Pastor and we read a copy of it. She mentioned that her Pastors name was Rick. I asked the last name and she said Harpel. It was interesting to hear some of the things that Rick had said haha. And it was really weird to make that connection again with Rick. It makes me feel like I'm supposed to be in Yakima or something. I was here last winter and got to know Rick and his wife a little bit and see things from their point of view spiritually speaking and now I am here on the other side. Laura is troubled by a lot of things she has heard from those in her church. Especially when they explicitly bash on the LDS church in their sermons. But a lot of their doctrine isn't very sound and she is troubled by that.

We read the email that was sent to her and it was hard to understand completely what the West Side Baptist church believes. I've studied the answers to her questions and it is very confusing. It makes me grateful for the Doctrine of Christ and its simplicity.

That was an interesting connection that I made this week. If you dont remember the rest of the story, Rick Harpel is Dave's cousin and he lives here in Yakima. I was able to hook up with him last year and we had dinner and lunch together a few times. It was really cool to see him and visit. And now we have sort of crossed paths again. Fun fun fun.

I hope I explained that well... I feel like I didn't. I am kinda in a hurry.

Thanksgiving was wonderful! The Finches fed us. They are the family we live with. They're the greatest. Sister Finch came home this morning with a 6 foot Christmas tree strapped on to the roof of her Denali. We assumed it was for them but she said it was for us! It is so cool to have a real Christmas tree haha I love it. We'll get to decorate it tonight.

The best part of Thanksgiving was when Elder Smith the younger opened his mission call over skype with his family. He is going to the New Jersey Morristown Mission, Spanish speaking, on February 6th. That was way exciting to hear, it made me excited for Mason. So I called President Greer and asked if I could call my family to hear where Mason was going. At first he said he would call for me but then we got to interviews and he hadn't called yet so he let me call Mom for a few minutes to ask. It should be another week before the call is here but it was still great to get to talk to Mom for a few minutes over the phone. That was the day after Thanksgiving.

The Smith brothers went home this morning. They are traveling right now back to Utah. It is super crazy... Being with missionaries right before they go home is hard haha. It is so hard not to think of home yourself. Oh well, it's a good kind of hard. I think it was worse that I was with 3 missionaries at once that were all going home right around the same time. But Elder Lyells and I have 2 more weeks together and then he goes home too. Which will be good for him. He misses girls haha.

I think that's all I have to say. I hope I explained everything well...

I love you

Elder Paxman

Elder Paul D. Pieper

Hey. I'm still here.

This week was cool.

 

Elder Paul D. Pieper came to town and we had a half mission conference. He had some wonderful things to say about finding the "elect" and then he gave us some pointers on how to teach. He wants us to help people help themselves. Often when investigators have questions we just answer them. But he wanted us to take their questions and teach them how to find the answer for themselves in the scriptures. He gave some examples and told some stories. It was a really great conference.

 

One of the best parts about it was the Zone Leader meeting beforehand. There were 14 Zone Leaders, the Assistants, President and Sister Greer and the Piepers. It was a great meeting. I think I got just as much out of that 30 minutes as I did in the rest of the 5 hour conference. He gave us some great council on leadership and how to emulate the leadership of the Savior. He is the perfect example after all.

 

Also at the conference I got to see Elders Dutson, Camba, Lee, Burgess, Mellies, and a few others that I'm good friends with but haven't been companions with. I love Elder Dutson so much. I really hope I get to serve in his zone again someday, he is so great. That was one of the best parts of the conference. I love seeing my old friends! It makes me excited for Christmas Zone conference which is also half the mission. And we get to watch a movie! My guess is that we'll watch Brave. Is that a good movie?

Here's something crazy that happened. So right now Elder Lee is serving in my first area, Yakima 3rd ward. So I get to see him on p-days. And his companion got Emergency Transferred (ET) to the west side. So Elder Lee has been without a companion for a week now awaiting a replacement for Elder Crandell. He told me today that Elder Burgess is coming to be his new companion hahahaha. It will be fun to be around him again. And they're both Samoan! Funny funny funny. I am thinking about Elder Burgess and him walking in the cold of Yakima during the winter. It's an interesting thought. I am not really sure how he is taking it haha. It is hard to leave Pasco 2nd and 4th wards. There is so so so much success to be had there. Speaking of that, Brother Votaw got baptized. I'll send pictures in another email. Mission life is crazy. It can change at any time. Recently a Zone Leader in the mission went home early and a ZL from the west side got ET'd over to Richland. You can move anywhere at anytime. Things happen. I just hope that I wont have to be involved in an ET any time soon.

The area that we are working in is doing wonderful. We put someone on date! Elder Joseph Smith and Elder Landon Smith went to an appointment with James Draven and Landon put him on date for December 8th! That was the first time he ever invited someone to be baptized! He was way excited haha. It was fun to see. I wish I could have been there but it's even better that his brother was there to see it. Afterwards Landon called President and Sister Greer and they said that he could call his Mom and Dad too so he and big Elder Smith called their parents and told them about it. I'm sure that was fun. While they were talking to their parents I was thinking "I wish that I could talk to my parents..." haha. Next transfer is coming soon! Then I can call you all.

 

James is a pretty cool cat. He was in the military and that kinda messed him up so he doesn't retain all the information we send his way. But he is accountable, and he is ready to be baptized. He has been taught for years now by Sister missionaries and now us in the YSA. He was interviewed by President Greer a few months ago and President cleared him for baptism. I'm really excited for him, he is such a good guy.

Speaking of President. I got to see him yesterday. I love that man so much. He is the greatest. ZL's in the past have said that the best thing about being a ZL is that you get to spend more time with President. I didn't realize how much more you see him though. It really is a lot more. I wish I could spend all day with him. Another thing that I've learned is that the church has a lot of meetings and reports and councils and correlations and coordinations. There are just a lot of meetings in the church. And one of those happened yesterday. Elder Lyells and I had our Stake Correlation Report. We met with the Stake Presidency, the High Councilors over missionary work, and President Greer. And we reported on the goings on in our zone. It was a fun meeting. I had always known they happened in the past because my Zone Leaders would always gather the information from us every month, but I don't think you really realize what the meeting is like until you attend one. It was fun to be there and see the efficiency with which those brethren can work. Meetings are fun. I think I'm the only one who thinks so.

I think I'm done now.... I don't have anymore time.

I love you all!!!!!!

Fun Week

This was a  fun week. Life is a little more stressful when you have a responsibility over more things, but the companions that I get to work with are the greatest. It is so much easier than training haha. Well, I guess it's just different. When you get to train then you have to make sure the work moves forward and that your companion is learning. That can be a fine line to walk sometimes. It's good to have companions that know what they are doing. It is so nice to be able to rely on them.  Between the four of us in our companionship we have about 62 months of missionary experience! It is so fun.

Another nice thing about all of this is that it would be very easy for them do exclude me in some ways because they all knew each other before the mission but they have done such a great job of making sure I'm up to date on what they're talking about. They catch me up on stories of pre-mission life. It really helps.

It is fun to talk every night at dinner with the members. At first we don't tell them that Elder Smith and Elder Smith are brothers and that Elder Lyells and Elders Smith were all best friends in High School. But it always comes up in conversation one way or another. It is fun to see everyone's reaction haha. I love it. I think it might be getting a little old for them but it's still fun for me.

Ken Kidd is pretty much ready to be baptized. So is James Draven. Ken is in his 60's and is married to a member. He has come to church twice and plans on continuing to come. Things are going really well for him, we just have to make sure he has friends that keep him coming to church.

James is in the YSA and he mentioned how he wants to get baptized. We weren't quite sure if he could be baptized because he is on medical marijuana. But we asked President and he said that he was good to go as long as he isn't abusing it. He came to church this week and is on a good pace for continued progress.

I love working in a YSA. It is so fun to work with people your age. We are starting to teach an apartment of girls that are all going to YVCC (Yakima Valley Community College). Jaimi is an active member and she has introduced all of her roommates to the church. We went to visit night on Tuesday and Jaimi and Hannah and Hannah came to dairy queen afterwards. We talked with both Hannahs about coming to church and they seemed way interested. There is also another couple of roommates that we haven't talked to yet. Jaimi was saying that Cat would be the most interested and that Sierra is a roommate of hers that is less active that we could work with. Apparently Sierra went to church yesterday. I didn't go to YSA though, I went to 6th ward with the older Elder Smith (Side note: his name is Joseph Smith. Pretty cool huh??). YSA and 6th ward meet at 1:00. 1st ward meets at 9:00. So we have to split up.

Laura Larsen is also still coming closer and closer to baptism in the 1st ward as well. We are working closely with her to resolve some of her concerns. Things are going well. I love working with my companions. I love working in Yakima.

Also, it snowed this week. A couple of different times. It stuck one time. but not very much. I hate it. I dont like the snow because that means it's cold. Life sucks then you die. but not really.

I'm so excited for mason to get his call. so so so so excited!

I'm still praying for all of my family just so you know. I pray that Dad is transitioning well to Jakarta and that Mom is settling in to Rolla. Life is good.

Love,

Elder Paxman

Companionship News

I am here again. Yakima is so choice. So, many of you asked about my companion and living arrangements. Well, let me tell you of the surprises that awaited me.

When I got to the transfer site on Wednesday I noticed that Elder Smith (Joseph Smith is his full name) was still there. He was supposed to go home the day prior. He had served an honorable 2 years, the last year as a Zone Leader. He was my Zone Leader while I was serving in Cathlamet. But he was still around. I asked around and it ended up that he extended for another month. That rarely is approved by the first presidency so it was cool to have him here. THEN, I found out he would be serving with Elder Lyells and I in Yakima! I was so pumped. But, it gets much more awesome. When we got to Yakima Elder Lyells and Elder Smith told me that they were best friends in High School. Which I did not know! But. Even more, Elder Smith let me know that his brother would be arriving the next day to serve with us on a mini mission for the month that he extended! So now it is the four of us serving in Yakima. Elder Joseph Smith and his Brother Landon Smith and their best friend Elder Trevor Lyells and myself.

It is all very fun. And we live in the coolest place ever. We live in a mansion and get the whole downstairs to our selves. We have our own full kitchen. A ping pong table. An air hockey table. a big couch where all four of us can sit and plan every night. Also, there is a basketball court in the backyard that we can use every morning for exercise. We live with the Finch family. They have two sons who are the most perfect people I have ever met.

Being a Zone Leader is hard... There is like no time to work. But it is nice having four of us because we can do almost twice the work in half the time. We just don't get out of our apartment until like noon or later every day because of all the paperwork and other coordination. It is way fun though. I love it. I get to see a whole new side of serving a mission. And it is great to have two Zone Leaders to work with. Technically Elder Smith isn't a Zone Leader anymore, it is me and Elder Lyells, but he still has 24 months experience to offer so he helps us out a lot.

The work her is going well. We have a few progressing investigators. I am still trying to learn it all in a short amount of time. Elder Lyells and Elders Smith will be going home by the end of the transfer and I will be left a lone man in Yakima. So I have to learn it all.

I feel like I have left information out... But I'm out of time. Email questions if you have any... And write them down on paper and send them to my address. The mission office...

Love you all,

Elder Paxman

 

also

We are teaching a family. The Kidds. The wife is a member and the husband is not. But she looks like a Lancaster. She has all the features. And most closely she looks like Cristi. It was throwing me off ha ha. She's a nice lady. We are going there RIGHT NOW.

Bye

 

Missionary Brunch Before Transfers

Pasco Missionaries

Pasco Missionaries

Michael Votaw--getting baptized November 17th

Sister Mathews took this picture above and sent it to Chantel (Chase's mom). Here is their conversation:

Sister Mathews: "Elder Paxman has been teaching my brother, sister, and nephew the last three weeks. The night before he transferred he stopped by to tell us where he was going and to say goodbye. When I learned he was going to Yakima I knew I needed to share my family history with him. My grandparents lived in Toppenish on the Yakima reservation and the chief lived across the street from them. The headdress was a gift to my grandfather. Your son is an awesome missionary and will be missed."

 

Chantel: "Thank you for sending this. I miss him so much and it brings me peace when I see his smile and hear about the lives he has touched. Thank you for being so kind to him."

 

Sister Mathews: "We had not really discussed much about home or family till the night he left because he is a very devoted and serious Elder, but the night he left he shared a bit of himself with my husband and I and he loves, misses, and cherishes his family. I know when my boys were serving missions it was special to hear from people they served. God bless."

 

 

Hard to Say Goodbye

Well. I got transferred. I'm going to back to Yakima to be a Zone Leader. I am terribly excited. Not necessarily about the Zone Leader part. But I get to go back to Yakima!!! Two Halloweens, Thanksgivings and Christmases in Yakima. I am so so so excited. I will be serving with Elder Lylles. Im pretty sure that's how you spell it. He goes home in either December or January so I may "kill" him. Elder Crowther trained Elder Lylles. I have met him before and he seems great. I'm sure any Zone Leader is a good companion though. It should be a great transfer. I leave for Yakima on Wednesday. Hopefully I can go back and visit Betty :)

Ironically, Elder Packham will be taking my place here in Pasco. For the first 3 months of my mission President Greer had the hardest time remembering my name because of Elder Packham. He would always call me Elder Packham. And one time in our monthly newsletter my name was mistakenly put down instead of Elder Packham's for a baptism that he had in Vancouver. I'm sure Elder Burgess will have a lot of success with him. Elder Packham is a hard worker and he is walking into a very successful area. He and Elder Burgess might have a hard time getting along though... Elder Burgess and I didn't usually see eye to eye on most topics but we made it work. I just have a feeling that Elder Burgess is going to struggle with some companions in his future... But he really is a great guy and a great missionary. I'm excited for the future of the Pasco 2nd and 4th area.

Speaking of the future of this area, when President Greer called me last night, I asked him about splitting our area so that each ward is it's own area. I have always thought that this area would do just fine if it were split. President then asked if they should find housing in 4th ward. I said yes. The area  will probably be split in a few transfers.

Another thing he told us is that we will be going from 190 missionaries in our mission up to 250 missionaries in the next 6 months. Every time I think about that I think about mason coming to this mission and me training him hahaha. How cool would that be! Oh my goodness that would be splendid. Pray for that hahaha. Just kidding. But seriously. Maybe Conner will punch one of his AP's in the face and get megatransferred to Yakima. Don't pray for that.

As for the work this week it was superb. Michael Votaw is back on date and this time to stay. Sister Votaw cried and called us the best missionaries in the world. She has been married to him for years and he has never been ready to be baptized but we happened to be here for it. She also was telling us that Sister Mathews is her visiting teacher and they were comparing notes because we have been teaching Sister Mathew's Brother, Sister and Nephew and they are all getting baptized soon too. Sister Mathew's sister is Marilynn and she is getting baptized on November 10th. So, Sister Votaw and Sister Mathews really like Elder Burgess and I. I'm kinda a fan of them too. It's going to be hard to say goodbye.

As for Brother Votaw's date we went over there on Thursday and discussed it a little bit. We came to the conclusion that November 17th would be the day for baptism. Then Sister Votaw said "neither of you get transferred now"... I told them I would probably be leaving on the 31st and to make a long story short, Brother Votaw was considering getting baptized tomorrow night so that I could be there. We told them not to get baptized for me but to do it for himself. They decided they would pray about it and give us a call the next day. We got the call and after thinking about it they decided upon the 17th. I think that was the right choice. I thought I might be able to come back for the baptism but Yakima is too far to travel just for a baptism.

Sandra will be baptized this Saturday if all goes well
Roni will be baptized on the 13th (we had to push it back a week)
Anthony is scheduled for the 17th
Shirley (73 years old) is scheduled for the 24th
Zack and Olivia are super super close to baptism. We could have put them on date last night but I wanted to leave the lesson up to Elder Burgess and he didn't want to do it. That's totally fine though. They can set a date next time!
I think the toughest one to say goodbye to will be the Nelson family. I really love them all a lot... It makes me sad to think about.

So that is what I will be leaving... It's hard to say goodbye. But kinda a relief to be done training hahaha. I do love Elder Burgess, I hope you all know that. I am kinda stressing about being a Zone Leader though. It will be hard. I hope I can do a good job. Elder Lylles will be a huge help I'm sure.

Ummmm. That's all I got.
I love you Kristen. Sorry you receive no letter recently...
You too mom! I'm sorry...

Love,
Elder Paxman

Update on Investigators

Yesterday was a great day. We only had one lesson but it was a delightful one. It was with Roni Gardner. We found her as we were sorting through our unorganized phone (it is now all organized) 3 months ago. It was in the phone as 'roni' and I didn't recognized the name so we gave her a call. She didn't know how we had her number but she knew some LDS people and invited us over. As we started teaching she was very closed to the idea of becoming LDS or taking the lessons. The only reason she invited us back is because she has a few LDS coworkers at the post office in Richland and she doesn't like how they treat her. She gets teased by them and there is a very negative attitude in her office. She wanted us to help her forgive and dispel the resentful feelings she had towards these people. She thought that we could give her some perspective and teach her how to forgive. We were able to accomplish that for her in 2 or 3 visits and then we had a good relationship with her. At that point she had opened up to us sharing more of our beliefs. We started the first lesson with her and she agreed with what we had to share. It ended up taking the next 2 months just to teach the first lesson because she had so many questions and comments. But we finished up last night by watching the 20 minute Restoration DVD. After the movie was done we asked a few follow up questions and she expressed that she believed it all wholeheartedly but she still had a few concerns. We asked what those were and she told us it was mostly Polygamy and questions to do with the Temple. She was sure they could be answered but it seemed to me like she was afraid to ask the questions because she didn't want to offend us. We assured her that we would love to answer those questions for her. When we were done with our explanation we invited her to be baptized and she said yes! November 7th. Only 2 weeks away! She has already been to church once and we have 2 more Sundays before her baptism. It is truly amazing to see the change that has come in her life in such a short amount of time. She went from one end of the spectrum to the other. A lot of it just had to do with getting her the correct information. But the main part was the Holy Ghost. I'm really excited for this baptism, although I have a feeling I will be leaving in about a week.

Transfers are on Halloween. I'm probably leaving. I really am going to miss Pasco. There aren't very many areas that are this consistently successful. I just hope I can bring that with me to my next area wherever that may be. Due to the change, send mail to the mission office until I get my new address:

Elder Chase Paxman
8202 W Quinault Ave. Ste. D
Kennewick WA, 99336

We have 3 other people on date too. Sandra, Anthony Diaz, and Marilynn Scott. We should put Michael Votaw on date on Thursday too, he agreed to do that. Brother Votaw's wife is an active member and he has come to church the past 2 weeks. I think I mentioned last week that he bought clothes for the occasion of coming to church. He is in it for the long haul. He'll get baptized soon. He is ready to go.

Sandra smoked on Saturday morning after going 1 1/2 weeks without doing so but she has recommitted and is trying again. She should be ready to be baptized on November 3rd. Maybe the 6th though because that's her birthday. She wants to be baptized she just needs to go two weeks without smoking! She'll get there

Anthony Diaz is 15 and has been coming to Young Men for the past month. He came to General Conference and has the desire to come to church consistently too. We just need to be able to coordinate with him a little better for rides there. He wants to be baptized but his parents aren't interested. His mom and grandma are fine with him being baptized but they aren't very helpful in making it happen. Oh well, we don't expect them to be.

Marilynn Scott is Sister Mathews' sister. I mentioned that a few emails ago that she was a referral from Sister Mathews. It's Marilynn Brian and Jonathan Scott. Marilynn, Sister Mathews, and Brian are all siblings and Jonathan is Brian's son. Marilynn is ready to be baptized! Brian and Jonathan will get there. Just a little bit slower. November 10th is Marilynn's date.

Unfortunately I will probably be absent from all of these baptisms. But that's missionary work. Oh well. As long as they get baptized it's okay.

We also went to the funeral for Angie Garcia. I don't know if I mentioned her last week. She was 37 years old. Her mom is a member and we were teaching her and her daughter. She got in a car wreck a couple weeks ago when the driver of her car decided to pass illegally on the freeway. She was in a coma for awhile. They decided to pull the plug and we went to her viewing on Saturday. That was sad.

Well...
No se que mas decir

I love you all. I hope this email was sufficient. Oppan Gangnam Style.

Love,
Elder Paxman

Chase had dinner with a family in Pasco and the woman's parents were visiting. He found out that her parents are moving to Rolla, Missouri. Such a small world.

Update

We had some big changes in the leadership in 2nd ward this week. We've had a lot of move outs and ins recently including our YM President and 2nd counselor in the Bishopric. The other night I had a dream. It was about the Hales in our ward. Brother and Sister Hale are an active family but in the dream Brother Hale was Bishop but he wasn't a member. Sister hale told me he wasn't a member but it was a secret and I couldn't tell anyone. The reason he was Bishop is because it was a cover up for not being a member. So we had dinner with them the other night and I told them about this dream. Then 2 days later at church, Brother Hale was sustained as our new 2nd counselor in the Bishopric ha ha ha. I went up to Sister Hale after sacrament meeting and said "this just proves he isn't a member". It was pretty funny. They told me never to have dreams about them again ha ha ha. Funny family.

Our new YM President has only been in our ward for 2 weeks so I don't know him at all. Crazy that he moved in two weeks ago and is already the YM President. They got him quick.

It was a really really bad week for numbers all throughout the zone... We struggled to teach lessons. And Elder Burgess and I are back to 0 on date again for the first time in a long time. We are kinda starting over. But we do have a lot of potential coming up. We had 6 people at church on Sunday which was great.

Michael Kelly came to church. It is an interesting story as to how he got interested in the church. We tracted into him and he told us about how he has been meeting with a couple sisters in Richland at the Family History center there. He has a desire to find out where he came from and who he is. I think it all stems from the fact that he has a poor relationship with his father. He is trying to find a different path than the one set out by his father. So finding through family history actually works! That was crazy. We told him we had a smaller family history center at our chapel that he could use if he came to church on Sunday, so he came. During the second hour of church he spent time in there on the computer organizing some of the information that he has gathered. He is so excited about his family history! It's really cool to see.

Sandra and Catrina also came to church as usual. I don't think they have missed a week in about 3 months. Sandra quit smoking. She has been off cigarettes for 5 days now. She also moved to Kennewick but is going to continue attending Pasco 2nd ward. I think moving helped with her desire to quit smoking. If she can continue to stay smoke free for 1 more week then we will baptize her! She really wants to get baptized because she wants the Gift of the Holy Ghost. She knows it will help. We are almost there with her.

Michael Votaw came to church as well. He bought a white shirt and tie on Saturday for the occasion! That shows me that he is in it for the long haul. I love seeing that. He is a good friend of Bishop Pierce. They go fishing together often. He is most definitely going to be baptized. It's just a matter of when. His wife is an active member in our ward. He just doesn't quite feel completely comfortable with everything quite yet. He is getting there though. He's doing everything right.

The other two investigators that came to church were Olivia (11) and Zack (9). Their mom is a recently reactivated member. They were all actively attending New Hope Baptist church for years until about 3 weeks ago. Tonia, the mother, made the decision to go back to the LDS church because of her boyfriend, Danny Groce. Brother Groce is a convert of 6 years and actively attends 4th ward. Tonia and him have been dating for over a year now and she had no intentions of coming back but because of brother Groce's patience and persistence she has found her testimony again. She made the decision to come back on her own and her and Danny will probably be married soon. Her kids aren't members but it is tough for them to make this transition so quickly. It is especially tough for Zack. He really misses his old church and doesn't understand why they made the switch. But they are great kids and Tonia is a great mother and they obediently follow her to church each week. We have a lesson with them tonight over at our WML's home (Brother Thorn).

That was everyone that came to church. Hope to get more next week. We've done a lot of dropping recently. We went from 50 investigators to 30 investigators in the past couple of weeks. It is much better this way. The pool that we have now is much more focused.

With the recent change in missionaries' age requirements President is thinking that we will get more missionaries. And due to that change he and other leaders have been talking about splitting our area. I thought that might happen before they changed the age because of how busy we have been but now it just makes it more likely for me. It may happen this transfer but I'm not sure. I doubt I will be here to see the split. I expect to leave Pasco on Halloween which is the next transfer day.

We also had a Zone Conference this week. It was great as usual. I wont bore you with details.

That's all I got. Sorry if it didn't answer questions you may have had...

Love,

Elder Paxman

Spiritually Jam-Packed Week

Family,

We have a spiritually jam-packed week. It started with General Conference this weekend. Then we had a Zone Meeting on Monday. We went to the Temple today. And on Friday we have a Zone Conference. That means we have to wear our suits a lot... (and now that conference has happened it is again a rule to wear suits every night from dinner on... Not excited for that)

Conference was great. I was very much looking forward to it and it did not fail to exceed my expectations. I took upwards of 10 pages of notes. I hope they were useful... I feel like I will get much more out of it when I get to read the talks in the Ensign in a month. With the announcement on the age of missionaries my first reaction was that I wish it came out earlier so I could have gone straight out of high school! But after that initial selfish thought I realized that the age change wasn't meant for me it was meant for other 18 year old crumb crunchers.

The Zone meeting that we had yesterday was great. We are implementing a new way to set monthly baptismal goals. When Elder Maynes came a couple weeks ago he suggested an idea of a "rolling 3" where you set goals and make plans 3 months at a time for baptisms. So instead of just setting a goal at the beginning of October for October baptisms. We set a goal for October, November, and December and then we reevaluate each month. We have names to back up the numbers in most cases but for some of the November/December baptisms we realize that we will probably find them within the coming weeks. So that is what we will be using from now on. Also, we received news that we will be getting new mission vehicles. Subaru Legacys and Toyota Tacomas instead of Chevy Colorados. That will be fun. I love what we drive now though (2012 Ford Fusion).

The temple today was wonderful as usual. I spent time in the Celestial room with Elder Barton. He is one of my Zone Leaders and he knows a whole lot more about doctrine than I do so I decided to have a quiet conversation with him there while we could speak about pretty much anything. It was very insightful... He told me a few things that I hadn't heard before and got me thinking about things that I hadn't thought about before. Ha ha ha. Deep doctrine... I could spend a lot of time talking about that with him. It's interesting to find out what is and isn't doctrine in Christ's church but in the end I do know that we have all we need in the beautifully simple Doctrine of Christ and the rest is just add on to that.

I'm sure Zone Conference will be wonderful.

Gotta send.

Love,

Elder Paxman

A Crazy Weekend

It was a crazy weekend. We tried with all we had to get Alex baptized this Saturday like everyone had planned. We were planning the interview on Tuesday. But he rescheduled for Wednesday and then didn't show up so we got it done on Thursday. We were hopeful because we didn't see him all week until Thursday but we got the interview done. We scheduled to see him the next day a 1 too. We were planning on finalizing things at that appointment and then seeing him the next night for the baptism. But he didn't show on Friday either... So we were again nervous. We devoted a lot of our Saturday to tracking him down. We ended up finding him at 6:15. The baptism was scheduled for 7. He needed to be at the church at 6:30 to get ready and take pictures. He told us at 6:15 the he forgot about his nephew's birthday party. It was that day at 6:30. Ridiculous. So we postponed an hour. We made the phone calls to postpone. If we didn't have other people participating in the program and people already at the church I probably would have called it off with him right then because he wasn't taking it seriously. But I knew our WML really wanted to see it happen that night. So we postponed to 8 (but we told Alex 7:30). He texted us at 7:40 and said he was on his way but got pulled over. Then 5 minutes later we got another text from his phone saying they were taking him in because he had warrants on unpaid fines. So he got arrested. Ridiculous again. So we had to call the baptism off. Fortunately at this point only about 8 people were able to make it and we told them all the situation. It was so disappointing that it was comical. Our WML, Brother Hodge, didn't know what to do haha. We all just sat there and laughed pretty much. Alex is just the most eccentric and flakey person in the world sometimes. I really dont know what to do next... I am glad it turned out this way though. He was not ready to get baptized. He will need to be interviewed by President Greer next. I hope I described that whole situation well.

That was a disappointing but not too surprising part of our week. It would have been worse if we didn't have other things to focus on. We have a lot of good things going on so it's not too hard.

On the other hand we have Shane and Marina and Mikey's baptism tomorrow night. They are good to go. They came to church yesterday and they are all excited and everything. We finally finished up the whole family. They will all be baptized after tomorrow. It just took awhile. It is wonderful to see the change that has been made in Marina and Shane's life. Their whole countenance has changed. Everything about their home is different. It feels a lot better in there. I hope they can keep it up.

Here is something I learned over the past month. In Leadership Training early in September, President Greer was answering questions to close our meeting. One of the questions sparked a discussion that led me to ask "If you go to the Celestial Kingdom can you go down a level or two to visit those in other kingdoms?" I always thought the answer was yes of course. But President said that he wasn't sure. There is not official church doctrine on that. And then last week when Elder Richard J. Maynes was here another Elder asked that same question to him and we got the same answer. So that blew my mind. I had lived for 20 years thinking the answer to that question was yes but now I am not so sure. I sure the real answer to that question is much too complicated for us to understand and that's why we haven't received and answer but it was surprising to me to find out that we might not be able to descend down a kingdom to visit others. It would make sense either way...

I thought I would share that with whoever reads this email. Just for fun.

We got 8 new investigators last week and achieved the dirty 30 again in pasco zone! We have so many investigators it's not funny... I think we're still up near 50. I don't know how to handle it. We will have three less as of tomorrow with our baptism and we are in the midst of dropping many others. But we just seem to be finding too quickly to get down to a reasonable number. I would gladly drop half of our teaching pool because I don't feel like they are going to get baptized but Elder Burgess is more hesitant. It's hard when you're a new missionary to drop people... BUT IF THEY AREN'T READY THEY AREN'T READY!! Harsh, but true.

I miss you all. I can't believe it has been 13 months... It's going fast.

Love,
Elder Paxman

Four Baptisms

Lots of stuff happened this week. Like usual.

On Monday after p-day we had the interview for Shane and Marina with President Stapleton. President Stapleton is a member of our mission presidency and he needed to interview them because Shane and Marina have both committed serious crimes in the past. 20 year old missionaries aren't mature enough to handle that sort of stuff! Or something like that. But! What we found out is that Marina and Shane drank coffee right before their interview for baptism. They looked at it as one last cup before we get baptized and cant drink anymore. Lame. But they told the truth in the interview and that was nice. Because of that we are waiting a couple more weeks to make sure they're ready. Also, Shane is on probation so we weren't sure if he could get baptized right away. We talked with President Greer and he let us know that because it is just a misdemeanor that he is on probation for rather than a felony we are good to go on that front. So the new date is October 2nd. A Tuesday. Because Shane gets Mondays and Tuesdays off from work. The only problem with that is that they wont be able to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost until the 14th because of General Conference. Hopefully they don't slip up with the word of wisdom in between that time or we will have to wait a few more weeks for that... I'm not too worried though. I don't think they're going to drink anymore coffee.

The boys got baptized. Jyheam Lemarcus, Jaysean Ray, A'mi Latrell, and De'vonte Trevon-Maurice Mack. They all have very black sounding names. It matches the color of their skin! I baptized Jyheam and Jaysean then Bishop Pierce baptized A'mi and Brother Tippetts baptized De'vonte. The whole baptism went very well. Everything ran smoothly. The only downer was that Sandra was too sick to come. So she missed out... That was really sad. But she did go to the confirmation the next day.

We were not able to go to the confirmation though... We ditched church. On Friday we were told that Elder Richard J. Maynes of the presidency of the seventy wanted to meet with us on Sunday from 10-1. So we had to skip church to go to that meeting. The reason it was on such short notice and on a Sunday during church was because Elder Maynes was in Tri-Cities unexpectedly. One of the senior couples in our mission, Elder and Sister Garrett, just got in a really bad car accident and Elder Maynes was coming to see them. He flew into Pasco but didn't realize that they were in Portland. However, President asked him if he had any time to meet with us. He had an hour and a half on Sunday. So we met with him. He had a lot of great things to say. I think President Greer will institute some of the ideas he shared.

Also on Sunday we went to the Streble's home. Brother Streble is our stake Patriarch and Elder Burgess hadn't had his Patriarchal blessing. So we set it up with him and Elder Burgess had that yesterday. It's crazy that he is 23 and didn't get his patriarchal blessing. The reason he waited so long was because his mom didn't want him to get it in Samoan. She wanted it in English. But while he was living in New Zealand he never got around to it. So it kinda just slipped through the cracks. Sister Streble and I visited while Brother Streble gave him his blessing.

Our area is kinda coming back down to earth. Things were just going too well for us. Because of the four baptisms this weekend and two more falling off date we only have 5 more on date for baptism. Alex should get baptized this Saturday and Shane Marina and Mikey should get baptized on October 2nd. After that we only have Michael Votaw, who we put on date this week for October 27th. So we have to focus again on finding those prepared people. We have been devoting a lot of our time to Marina and Shane and the Mack family. We are soon going to be passing them off to the ward.

Michael Votaw is pretty cool. His wife is an active member. She is a tiny little small Japanese lady. He is a Mormon waiting to happen. He just has been "too busy" for years. Now that all the kids have moved out (the last one moved out last week) he has no more excuses to not go through the lessons. He is good friends with Bishop Pierce so we hope to be able to teach at our home.

A new family that we are now teaching is that referral that I mentioned a few emails ago. The Mathews gave us this referral. Their names are Marilynn, Jonathan, and Brian. They seem very interested. We are going to try to teach in the Mathews home. Because that is most effective. We have high hopes for that family. It was a really good referral.

It is good living with Bishop and Sister Pierce. They have food for us a lot (as if we don't get fed enough). They're a fun couple. The living arrangement is pretty small but not as crammed as I thought it would be. I'll probably only be here another 5 weeks anyway.

Well. That was our week. Busy busy busy. I got to see Elder Dutson again for the first time in about 9 months. And Elder Camba for the first time in a couple months. That was really nice.

Love,
Elder Paxman

Transfer Call

Normally we get the transfer call on Saturdays but we were informed this week that it wasn't coming until today! But don't worry, they sent it out this morning. I'm not going anywhere. Well I guess I am. But I'm staying in this area. We are moving into our Bishop's home. So my new address will be:

Elder Chase Paxman
4716 Hilltop Dr.
Pasco, WA 99301

We move in tomorrowish so start sending stuff there!

There were a lot of changes in our zone though. We got 25 new missionaries this transfer. When I came into the field we came with 20 new missionaries and that was the most in our missions history until now. Due to all of the new missionaries, there needed to be a lot of changes made to make room for them. But Elder Burgess and I stayed the same thank goodness. I don't think I could have left this area with all the baptisms that we have this upcoming weekend. Elder King is coming back to Pasco as a zone leader again and Elder Powell is going home tomorrow. Elder Barton and Elder King (our zone leaders) will also be training a new Spanish missionary. That will be way fun for them. Elder Wakefield got transferred :( But he is being replaced by Elder Palmer!!! I love love love Elder Palmer. I haven't seen him very much since the MTC so it will be great to be in his zone and see him more often.

The other two companionships in my district are changing as well. I would say for the better... Hopefully my job as District Leader will be easier.

We have 7 baptismal interviews tonight and they will all be baptized this Saturday at 12 and 1. Marina and Shane got married on Saturday! I would send you pictures but I most definitely didn't take any... Sorry! They are now married and no longer breaking the Law of Chastity so they can get baptized. Marina's son Mikey is getting baptized with them too.

The other four are Jyheam Jaysean A'mi and De'vonte. They are all black. I learned that Jyheam and Jaysean and their two younger siblings Jordan and Mariah are all named after famous singers. I've never heard of Jyheam the famous singer. But Jyheam the 10 year old insists that he is an old famous singer. Jordan is named after Jordin Sparks even though Jordan is a boy... Poor kid. Named after a girl.

Those 7 are good to go. We are pushing for Sandra and Catrina to get baptized on the 29th. And Alex is still on track for that day too. He came to church this week and told everyone he could that he was getting baptized on the 29th. So hopefully it works out... We're trying to get him to members homes so that people will feel the need to fellowship him. He talks a lot. I love him a lot. I really hope he gets baptized.

Olivia and Michael are still on date for the 13th of October but we have to focus a little more on them. We've been so focused on the others that they have lost some of our attention. Hopefully we can make some better progress with that family this week.

We still have 50 investigators... It's way to many to keep track of. I kinda love having that problem. We only have 10 on date right now but that's still a ton. Another good problem to have. I hope we can keep it up after the 7 baptisms this Saturday. I'm looking forward to this transfer. I just hope Elder Burgess and I can teach better together. That's my main concern. I don't think he realizes it but we don't teach with very much unity. I'm trying to work on it with him but it's hard. We get along just fine though. It's just a matter of getting better at our missionary work. Then we can work better

I heard the Utes won. And some other stuff about sports but way to much is happening for me to keep track of it all just from hearsay. I'm glad the Utes won though. that makes me happy.

well I think that's all. I'm sorry if I forgot anything.

Love you all!

Love,
Elder Paxman

The Mathews Family

Well. Two people fell off date. Michael and Victoria. But they are still around. They just dont want to decide on a church yet. So we will work with that... They also didn't show up to their teaching appointment yesterday... Oh well.

 

This Sunday was cool. We watched "The Mormons next door" Just like everyone else in the US for the third hour. And we got to watch it for both wards we cover. And as missionaries in a recent zone meeting. So that was fun. But the better part of it is this:

 

We sat next to the Mathews in the chapel in 2nd ward and they leaned over to us right before the presentation started and told us they had family living within our ward boundaries that they wanted to introduce us to but didn't really know how. So we set up a time to go over to the Mathews home after church. When we visited them Sister Mathews told us that she was the only member in her family. She is 55 years old (but she looks like shes 40) and has been a member for over 30 years. But no one has followed her to baptism quite yet. Her mom was close but when she realized she wanted to change her life she was too old and didn't feel physically able to be baptized. She passed away in 2004 and before she did she pleaded with her daughter to work with her siblings to get them interested in the church. Sister Mathews' sister Maralynn lived in Sharon Vermont and three years ago they all visited Joseph Smith's home there and all felt the spirit very stong. Now, Maralynn and her brother Brian and Brian's son Jonathan all live together in Pasco. So sister Mathews wanted to try again but wanted to do it right. We all said a prayer together after talking it out and decided that Elder Burgess and I would go over first and invite them to take the lessons. The goal that we have is to get them taught in the Mathews home but that might take some work. So we are going to be working with them! Sister Mathews said the reason she waited until now was because she didn't know what the right time would be but when we sat next to her during our meetings on Sunday she said she felt the spirit very stongly telling her that we were the missionaries that she wanted teaching her brother and sister. She said that we looked like we take our calling seriously and felt like we were the right ones. Well that makes me nervous haha. I hope we dont blow it. But I see it going very well. We met Jonathan yesterday. They seem like nice people. Sunday night football was on. The broncos were losing to the steelers... 14-19. in the 4th quarter. I dont know who won... :(

 

There were other things that happened this week. We found out that we are probably moving out of our apartment and in with our bishop on the 18th. So until I know more you should just send stuff to:

 

8202 W Quinault Ave Ste D

Kennewick, WA 99336

 

I'll let you know next week what happens. This is the last week of the transfer but I don't think I will be leaving. I think I'll finish training Elder Burgess here. Then I'll go somewhere else. So I think I'll be leaving pasco on Halloween. But we might be moving in with Bishop Pierce soon. That would be really cool. But Elder Burgess isn't looking forward to it. Less freedom. We can't do our laundry whenever. Way less space. Oh well. I'm just excited to live with people again. It's been awhile.

 

Well... No more time again. I'm sorry this is short and I didn't cover much. Shane and Marina are getting married on Saturday!

 

Love you,

 

I'll write more next week!

 

Elder Paxman

12 People on Date

This was a good week. Whenever I answer the phone I say "hello, this is elder Paxman" or "hello, this is the missionaries". I don't know if those sentences make sense after I think about them... Maybe they do. Another thing I used to say but have since stopped it "could we say a prayer before we left". And that just makes no sense. But I didn't think about it until it was pointed out to me, because when you say it quickly then it sounds normal. But of course it should be "leave" not "left". Silly grammar. I don't not hate it.

In my email from Mother this week she reminded me of the 100 push-ups that I was doing every day in the MTC. That faded quickly. But in the MTC I was mostly doing that with Elder Wakefield. And just recently Elder Wakefield was transferred to Pasco and something went wrong with the housing he was in so they had to move in with the Zone Leaders. They have been living there for over a month now. And the Zone Leaders live two seconds away from us. So I get to see Elder Wakefield a lot again! And we reminisce of our MTC days and the things we used to do. And one of those was our exercise regimen. So we started it back up!... For a few days ha ha. We were doing different things every day for our morning exercise. But it faded again. OH WELL! Now we just go outside for exercise and try to wake up by wandering aimlessly around our parking lot.

Back to the work! We now have 12 people on date. I have never heard of this many people on date for one companionship. It's really amazing... The names of the people on date are... Jyheam, Jaysean, A'mi, D'vonte, Sandra, Alex Siharath, Olivia, Marina, Shane, Mikey, Michael and Victoria. Not all of those are all solid... but I believe that they will all be baptized someday. It is so hard to keep track of all these people. Even as I write them down in this email I worry about them and making sure we make the time for each of them. We really need to see Michael and Victoria......... I just texted them. Hopefully they respond.

We'll probably put two more on date this week. I hope. The Lord is really blessing us. I just hope we are doing the right things. I feel like we're spreading ourselves pretty thin. Victoria just texted back. We're going to see her on Thursday. Yay.

Sandra is a cool story. She has been going through the lessons for a couple months now. Two of her grandkids (Jyheam and Jaysean) have been taking the lessons for like 7 months. Jyheam and Jaysean and their cousins (A'mi and D'vonte) are getting baptized on the 22nd. D'vonte turns 8 on the 20th. So thats why we waited until that day. Their Grandma and Aunt have been taking the lessons along with them. But their grandma, Sandra, has been having a hard time with her faith. She has been baptized multiple times and has never really felt like she has received the Holy Ghost the way she wants. And she was hesitant to get baptized again just to be let down. We were really struggling with her. She was waiting for a sign to come her way to tell her she needed to get baptized. We were afraid that she had already missed her answer. But this Sunday during Gospel Principles she came up to us afterward and told us she had made the decision to be baptized with her grandkids! It was so good to hear. We gave her hugs. I'm so excited for her. Sister Pierce is the greatest fellowshipper in the world. We always teach lessons over at her house. It makes life so much easier. We are just the teachers. I love it.

Victoria just texted again. They have been reading!!! Yes! They are reading in the book of Moroni, I don't know why they started there but that's okay! That makes me feel a lot better

We talked to a guy named Eddie Valdez this week. He is a less-active member. He is 19 years old and just spent a lot of time off the coast of Alaska on a big fishing boat. He was a good story teller and he made it sound way fun ha ha. Despite the cold... And you make really good money! Maybe I'll do that someday. Maybe not... But maybe.

Olivia. We were going by one of our former investigators places to see if he still lived there. We knocked on the door and found out that he has moved but Olivia and her family are living there now. Olivia has three kids. Aryssa- 15 Michael- 9 Nova- 4. Aryssa is a member. Olivia's husband is in jail and is a member. And now Olivia is on date for baptism for October 13th. Super cool. She was crying in the lesson and she really wants this in her life. I hope we can get her some fellowship so that things are easier for her as she transitions and prepares for baptism. I hope that for all of our investigators.

Well. There are plenty of other things that we have been doing that I could talk about but I never have enough time. I hope I wrote all the good stuff and didn't forget anything.

Love,

Elder Paxman

Training Letter From Mission President

Baptizing and Confirming

Family,

It was a really busy week. We are still doing our dirty 30 New Investigators per week in Pasco Zone. We failed this week... For only the second time yet. It was kinda disappointing. We were only at 15 going into Sunday... So we needed 15 on our last day. That wouldn't be the most we have ever found in one day but we were unable to do it. Elder Burgess and I spent all of our time finding on Sunday. We had already found 3 new investigators that week but we wanted to help the zone out! So all of our activities were spent finding. We ended up getting 6 new investigators and we put 5 people on date on Sunday alone. Marina, Shane, Mikey, Victoria and Michael are the ones on date. And the new investigators are Marina, Luis, Felix, Olivia, Michael and Joshua. Craziness. Art, Anthony and Destiny were the three other new investigators we got this week. ALSO, I had the privlege of baptizing two people this week. Hooray! Alycea and Lili are their names. The older one is Alycea. I attached a picture.

So! Busy weekend. The whole week was busy. But especially the weekend. Not only did I get to perform the baptisms, I also got to do both the confirmations. We didn't have very much male fellowship in the ward for the two girls so they really only knew me... I was very honored to be a part of it.

Baptisms pump you up.

We stopped by the orozco's house every day this last week getting the girls ready for their baptism. And in due course we ended up putting Mikey Marina and Shane on date as well. Marina and Shane need to get married first. And they will do that on the 15th of September. We just need to go get their license and then set it up with bishop. It should be pretty small and simple. Then the baptism will be the next week. That is also the week that Jyheam Jaysean A'mi and D'vonte are getting baptized. That will be a busy day. We hope that Sandra and Catrina get baptized that day as well... That would be really good.

Elder Burgess and I are really blessed to be working in this area. A lot of other companionships struggle to get new investigators so we try to do our best to pull our weight. 9 new investigators 24 lessons and 9 people on date now. I love Pasco 2nd and 4th wards.

Training is getting easier. Because Elder Burgess is a fast learner. He humors me. I try not to be prideful. I have to remember that I don't know everything. Elder Burgess is a good man. He's fun to work with because he has such a desire to work and work right. I just hope we can work right and that I'm teaching him the right things.

Joshua is one of our new investigators and he is pretty cool. We have been trying by his place many times. More than we usually try. Usually we give a person like 5 or 6 chances and if we don't catch them then we move on. But we keep missing Joshua and something was pulling us back. We finally met with him last night. We learned a little more of his situation. He is 24 and is on dialysis. He has Kidney Failure. So he goes to treatments every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. He has a firm belief in God despite his struggles and was open to learn more. That was the last thing we did last night and we got in a little later than we wanted to because of it but it was well worth our time. We weren't out past our curfew ha ha.

That's all I got. I love you all.

I'm glad mason is transitioning well. I hope Mikayla is doing the same. I hope the book launch went well. And that Dave gets home from Georgia safely. And many more things that I didn't include here... I appreciate all the news from home. Go Broncos.

Love,
Elder Paxman

Another Great Week

Well family and kristen,

 

This week was just like any other. It was great. I think I say that every week... I've never had a bad week out here. Sometimes there are bad days but there has never been a bad week. The bad days are easy to get over. It doesn't seem like it in the moment because the immediate results dont usually show. And you are just on your knees and you feel sad and then you end the prayer and you still have problems. But then you fall asleep and wake up and the problems don't seem that bad at all. Perhaps it isn't that way with all issues. But for most it works. For bigger ones it might take a few more days. But I haven't had to deal with any of those recently haha. I am not so sure that what I just typed made any sense but I don't have the time nor patience to reread it all. The ten minute sign just flashed on me for this library computer...

 

We have 6 people on date right now and 2 of those are set up for this Saturday. It might turn into three baptisms though. It's the Orozcos. Lili and Alycea are getting baptized for sure. And Lili's brother, Mikey (13) just got back into town and his mom is really pushing for him to get baptized with his sister and cousin this saturday. He isn't so sure because he just spent a bunch of time with his dad in California and his dad kinda anti'ed him out of anything to do with mormons. But he is only 13! So maybe his non-member mom and member aunt can talk some sense into him. His mother, Marina, really really wants to get baptized. But she needs to get married first. Hopefully we can put that all together for next month. It should happen. Then her boyfriend will be her husband and they can both get baptized!

 

We also have a lot of good potential on the horizon.  There is a good possibility of 8 total baptisms for us in the month of September. The Orozcos and the Macks. Both families came to Stake Conference. And also Victoria. We taught her last night. We ended up talking for about 2 and a half hours! About pretty much everything. By the end we soft committed her to be baptized. We are plugging along with her. And we hope that it can keep moving forward. I'll let you know more about that later.

 

It was stake conference this week. Elder Foster of the seventy came. Wonderful.

 

Training is harder than being a District Leader haha. But for me, that just means that I'm learning more. It's taking me back to the beginning of my mission. I try to remember how I felt. I'm trying to push away pride and use patience. It's a lot of work but a lot of fun.

 

NO TIME HAVE TO SEND THIS.