Elder Chase Paxman
391 East SR #4
Cathlamet WA 98612
Thank you for letters!
Monday, February 27, 2012
New Area
Transfers went well. I'm in Cathlamet now. Well, not right now. Right
now I am in Longview. Lots of stuff going on. So Cathlamet is on the
very west side of our mission. The edge of our area is about 30 miles
from the coast. We are also about 30 minutes away from any other
missionaries. We cover all of Wahkaikum County in Washington. That
consists of Cathlamet, Skamokawa, Rosburg, Greys River and Deep River.
Also, Puget Island (which is technically Cathlamet). The county has a
population of about 4000 people. We mostly stay in Cathlamet but every
once in awhile we will make a trip out to Skamokawa (pronounced
skamokaway). Rosburg Greys River and Deep River are way out of the way
and we don't really have the miles each month to drive there. Speaking of
miles, I have a car now. That is just about the nicest thing ever.
However, we have been walking a lot recently because we are essentially
out of miles for the month of February. We get 1150 miles a month and we
went over that limit yesterday. The Zone has some extra miles though
but we wont be driving the next few days. Cathlamet is right on the
Colombia River. We cross over part of the Colombia to get to Puget
Island. But if you cross the whole river then you are in Oregon and out
of our mission. There is a ferry at the end of Puget Island that you can
either walk on or you can take your car on it and go into Oregon that
way. The Elochoman river is also right next to us. There is one High
School in the area - Wahkaikum High School - There is one convenient
store in town and it's way overpriced so we don't shop there, we just
wait until p-day when we come into Longview. There are some local restaurants though so we eat there sometimes.
There were about 50 people at church on Sunday. More than
I thought. So, like Pamela was saying I found out quickly that Grandma
and Grandpa Bingham served here. The morning I got into Cathlamet we
were made aware that Brother Wishon had died. Elder Crowther worked with
him a little bit and he helped out with missionaries a lot. We went to
the funeral on Friday and Sister Wishon came up to me and told me about
the Binghams. I had no idea! Almost everyone in the branch knew them. It
was cool to find that out.
This Branch is way more involved in the missionary
work than Yakima 3rd ward. It is so cool to see people working with us
and actually devoting time to help us and go out of their way to do so.
We live with members. Sort of. The Dunn's have a home and
disconnected from that they have a trailer. We stay in the single-wide
trailer. Its actually way nice. We have queen sized beds, a leather
couch, two lazy boys and our own bathrooms. And the Dunn's are a way
nice older couple. Brother Dunn's first wife passed away a few years ago
and then he and sister Dunn got married a year ago. So they are still
kinda newlyweds. Which is weird...
Elder Crowther is awesome. He has been out 20
months. He has 3 transfers left. He is trunky... But not so bad that he
wont work. He is definitely ready to go home but he is going to work
hard until the end. He is a funny dude. I don't even really know how to
describe it. I enjoy his company, we get along, that's all you need.
We do a lot of less-active work. That occupies
most of our time. We have only a few investigators and it is really
hard to just go and knock on people's doors in Cathlamet because its
more of a place where people go to get away or retire or farm...
Knocking doors doesn't work.
Well. That's all I can think of.... probably. Its way
fun in Cathlamet. A lot different. Very very rainy. But I'm going to
like it here. I should be with Elder Crowther for a few transfers.
Love,
Elder Paxman
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Cathlamet
I'm going to Cathlamet Washington to serve with Elder Crowther. Elder
Crowther has been out over 20 months so I will probably be the companion
that sends him home. Cathlamet is a brand new area. President opened it
up 6 weeks ago I think... Elder Crowther was the first missionary in
that area so I will be going there to do some big work. There has been
nothing there in the past. It is the Cathlamet Branch that I cover. Its
not a ward. So I will most likely have a car and it will be spread out.
The population of Cathlamet is about 600 people. Also, I know it sounds
like a swear word. Elder Dutson and I have been walking around Betty's
basement randomly yelling CATHLAMET! Cathlamet is about 4 hours from
Yakima so it will be a long drive on Wednesday. If you have any mail
just send things to:
Elder Chase Paxman
8656 W Gage Blvd Ste #205
Kennewick WA 99336
We have 7 people on date for baptism and I am leaving... That kinda makes it hard. But I will email/write Elder Dutson to see if all of this actually happened. I'm looking forward to my new area. Elder Pereira is coming in to be Elder Dutson's new companion. They were MTC companions.
I tried to cash in on my free lunch with Elder Manning. We went to Red Robin on Tuesday and Elder Manning was going to pay for us but a member was there and saw us and paid for everyone's meal. There was 10 missionaries there! It was probably a $150 tab. Elder Manning was relieved that he didn't have to buy us Red Robin. He will probably buy us McDonalds today or something...
The 7th person we have on date is Eva. We set her date for March 24th. She is in the process of changing her life and this baptism is all a part of the process.
Umm. There was baptism on Saturday. The Selah Elders had a baptism. Elder Dutson and I taught the Restoration to all in attendance while they changed after the baptism. We got 6 of our investigators to come and see the baptism so that they can get pumped for their own!
So we were over at Yvonne and Terrance's home the other day and I told them I was going to the Vancouver area. Then we asked Adriana, who is 10, if she still wanted to get baptized this Saturday. She said yes and we asked her who she wanted to baptize her. She didn't say anything so we said "Elder Dutson can". She said okay and then her mom (Yvonne) said, that's not what you wanted. Then Adriana told us that she wanted me to baptize her. I was sorry to tell her that I couldn't because I would be gone... Then Brother Norman, who was there with us, offered to come pick me up on Saturday for the baptism and then drive me back. I told them I would call President but I don't think it would happen. Then we finished our lesson and Adriana said the closing prayer. All she said was "I'm excited for my baptism and please bless that Elder Paxman will come back on Saturday so he can baptize me" that was it... MELT MY HEART! I called President and he said no just like I expected. I'll have to tell her tonight. But Elder Dutson will do a fine job of baptizing her I am sure. He holds the Authority.
We ate with Rick one more time before we left. He took us out to Red Robin on Thursday! Nice guy. We talked about religion and other stuff. We didn't agree on a lot of it ha ha. But we agreed on some stuff! Jesus Christ is our Savior. I believe that. Elder Dutson believes that. Rick believes that. That's why we're friends.
I think that's all. Any Questions?
Send them to the address listed above!
Love,
Elder Paxman
Elder Chase Paxman
8656 W Gage Blvd Ste #205
Kennewick WA 99336
We have 7 people on date for baptism and I am leaving... That kinda makes it hard. But I will email/write Elder Dutson to see if all of this actually happened. I'm looking forward to my new area. Elder Pereira is coming in to be Elder Dutson's new companion. They were MTC companions.
I tried to cash in on my free lunch with Elder Manning. We went to Red Robin on Tuesday and Elder Manning was going to pay for us but a member was there and saw us and paid for everyone's meal. There was 10 missionaries there! It was probably a $150 tab. Elder Manning was relieved that he didn't have to buy us Red Robin. He will probably buy us McDonalds today or something...
The 7th person we have on date is Eva. We set her date for March 24th. She is in the process of changing her life and this baptism is all a part of the process.
Umm. There was baptism on Saturday. The Selah Elders had a baptism. Elder Dutson and I taught the Restoration to all in attendance while they changed after the baptism. We got 6 of our investigators to come and see the baptism so that they can get pumped for their own!
So we were over at Yvonne and Terrance's home the other day and I told them I was going to the Vancouver area. Then we asked Adriana, who is 10, if she still wanted to get baptized this Saturday. She said yes and we asked her who she wanted to baptize her. She didn't say anything so we said "Elder Dutson can". She said okay and then her mom (Yvonne) said, that's not what you wanted. Then Adriana told us that she wanted me to baptize her. I was sorry to tell her that I couldn't because I would be gone... Then Brother Norman, who was there with us, offered to come pick me up on Saturday for the baptism and then drive me back. I told them I would call President but I don't think it would happen. Then we finished our lesson and Adriana said the closing prayer. All she said was "I'm excited for my baptism and please bless that Elder Paxman will come back on Saturday so he can baptize me" that was it... MELT MY HEART! I called President and he said no just like I expected. I'll have to tell her tonight. But Elder Dutson will do a fine job of baptizing her I am sure. He holds the Authority.
We ate with Rick one more time before we left. He took us out to Red Robin on Thursday! Nice guy. We talked about religion and other stuff. We didn't agree on a lot of it ha ha. But we agreed on some stuff! Jesus Christ is our Savior. I believe that. Elder Dutson believes that. Rick believes that. That's why we're friends.
I think that's all. Any Questions?
Send them to the address listed above!
Love,
Elder Paxman
Monday, February 13, 2012
Six People on Date!
So. This week was a good week.
We have six people on date! Our companionship accounts for half the people on date in our whole zone right now. That has nothing to do with me. Elder Dutson and the Holy Ghost are the senior members of
this companionship.
Here's what happened. Elder Petersen served in the Yakima 3rd ward a few months before I was here and then he went to Vancouver. He baptized a young man there and his mom just happens to live in Yakima 3rd ward boundaries, so he called us and sent us over there about 3 months ago. We went there and talked to this guy's brother who is ten years old. We told him to tell his mom that his brother was getting baptized. Then a few months later Elder Petersen got called as a zone leader for the Yakima Zone, which is right next to our zone (Selah zone). He went over to this ladies' (Andera) home and they taught them the first lesson and put them on date for March 17th. Then they called us and told us the story. Pretty crazy! Andrea is the mother and she has three kids in the home, Alexis Donovan and David. There is a father figure around but we dont know him yet. I havent met any of these people yet but we are meeting with them on Wednesday with Elder Petersen and Elder Bale.
This week we also had a contest of sorts. Elder Manning, our district leader told us he would buy lunch for the companionship that got the most OYM's this week. Our OYM numbers have been down in the district because of the cold weather and Elder Manning has been trying to motivate us for weeks to do better. This contest worked. Elder Dutson and I won by 11 OYM's. We were at 59 Sunday night and we decided to knock doors at 8 PM just to do it pretty much. We got 9 OYM's in 10\ minutes. If we wouldn't have done that we would have tied! So we got 70 OYMs and we will get free lunch. Along with all those OYM's we taught 20 lessons this week. Thats more lessons in one week then I have ever taught. We also got 9 new investigators this week! it was a very good week. We had one investigator at church and she will hopefully be on date soon. And I'm probably leaving.
Transfers are next Wednesday so you should all send mail to:
8656 W Gage Blvd
Ste. #205
Kennewick WA 99336
I am probably leaving. We get the call on Saturday and I will tell you where I am going on Monday. It's bitter sweet. We have a lot of good things going on right now and it would be hard to leave no matter where we were. But I'm sure my next area will be great. Hard work will yield the results that we are getting here in Yakima.
I dunno what else to say now. Ive run out of material. Terrance and Yvonne are getting married on Saturday. The Delaney's (A family in the ward here) are getting sealed in the temple Saturday. I am way excited for the both of them. Marriage is a very cool thing. Ya know?
Hey Ciera. You're the best sister ever and I want everyone who reads this to know that. There really is no contest. You're the best.
I love you all
Love,
Elder Paxman
We have six people on date! Our companionship accounts for half the people on date in our whole zone right now. That has nothing to do with me. Elder Dutson and the Holy Ghost are the senior members of
this companionship.
Here's what happened. Elder Petersen served in the Yakima 3rd ward a few months before I was here and then he went to Vancouver. He baptized a young man there and his mom just happens to live in Yakima 3rd ward boundaries, so he called us and sent us over there about 3 months ago. We went there and talked to this guy's brother who is ten years old. We told him to tell his mom that his brother was getting baptized. Then a few months later Elder Petersen got called as a zone leader for the Yakima Zone, which is right next to our zone (Selah zone). He went over to this ladies' (Andera) home and they taught them the first lesson and put them on date for March 17th. Then they called us and told us the story. Pretty crazy! Andrea is the mother and she has three kids in the home, Alexis Donovan and David. There is a father figure around but we dont know him yet. I havent met any of these people yet but we are meeting with them on Wednesday with Elder Petersen and Elder Bale.
This week we also had a contest of sorts. Elder Manning, our district leader told us he would buy lunch for the companionship that got the most OYM's this week. Our OYM numbers have been down in the district because of the cold weather and Elder Manning has been trying to motivate us for weeks to do better. This contest worked. Elder Dutson and I won by 11 OYM's. We were at 59 Sunday night and we decided to knock doors at 8 PM just to do it pretty much. We got 9 OYM's in 10\ minutes. If we wouldn't have done that we would have tied! So we got 70 OYMs and we will get free lunch. Along with all those OYM's we taught 20 lessons this week. Thats more lessons in one week then I have ever taught. We also got 9 new investigators this week! it was a very good week. We had one investigator at church and she will hopefully be on date soon. And I'm probably leaving.
Transfers are next Wednesday so you should all send mail to:
8656 W Gage Blvd
Ste. #205
Kennewick WA 99336
I am probably leaving. We get the call on Saturday and I will tell you where I am going on Monday. It's bitter sweet. We have a lot of good things going on right now and it would be hard to leave no matter where we were. But I'm sure my next area will be great. Hard work will yield the results that we are getting here in Yakima.
I dunno what else to say now. Ive run out of material. Terrance and Yvonne are getting married on Saturday. The Delaney's (A family in the ward here) are getting sealed in the temple Saturday. I am way excited for the both of them. Marriage is a very cool thing. Ya know?
Hey Ciera. You're the best sister ever and I want everyone who reads this to know that. There really is no contest. You're the best.
I love you all
Love,
Elder Paxman
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Hey There
I never know what to put in that subject line... its usually something lame like "hey there"
It was a good week. We went to the temple today and that is why p-day changed. There are no early morning sessions on Mondays so we went Tuesday! and switched p-day to today this week. That pretty much makes any week complete. So I have nothing else to tell you. not really.
We are teaching this family now. They are entitled the Richards family. Amber and Elijah. We knocked their door and she told us to come back! So we did of course. They met with missionaries 6 years ago and they helped them stop smoking and drugs and drinking and everything! But they went to church and the people in that ward didn't treat them well so they didn't go back. CRAP! well. Now they are youth ministers for Morning Star. Its the biggest church in Yakima. We've actually run into a lot of people who attend there. So they aren't LDS and they probably wont be. At least not in this life. And the biggest reason why they aren't is because people at church didn't treat them well. That is a bummer. The LDS church is supposed to stand out as people who love everyone and accept them. But not this time. Failure. Anyway. The Kimbo's - That family with cheddar bug and terry and melissa and others - they attend morning star. I dunno if you remember them. I sure do.
I met a guy this week who calls himself "King James". he spoke a lot but he didn't really say much. I also talked to a guy on the street who proudly told us he canceled his playboy subscription and he is still a virgin! "A 55 year old virgin, Its a miracle!" he said. Honestly, it would be a miracle if he wasn't.
Then Sunday was the Super Bowl. I'm a bad missionary... I watched a lot of the first half. I watched Mr. Quigley moon walk across the finish line hahaha. Commercials. And I saw the new etrade commercial. Baby speed dating. Ahhhhh! I'm a bad missionary. Breaking rules. But I didn't get to watch the last half. What happened was this. We passed around the dinner calendar during relief society and no one signed up for Sunday night so I asked sister Statler if she would feed us because she is someone I feel comfortable begging for food from. Of course she said yes and told us to come over around 4. We went home and then I realized, crap, we're going to the statlers for dinner! they super bowl is going to be on!! They always have sports on their tv when we go over there so of course they had the super bowl on. For the first quarter we mostly ate in the kitchen but finally we gave into temptation and watched the game.... Just until halftime. When we saw Madonna we left :) And then we saw three people around 7-9 and we heard that it was an awesome game. We went to a less active member's home and he told us it was "the best super bowl ever played". That might be an exaggeration but it did make me feel bad for the young man who missed the last part of the game because he went on exchanges with us that night... He didn't seem too bummed.
This less-active member also told us that we are 60 days away from a war with Iran. Israel is going to bomb Iran and we are going to have to step in, blah blah blah. So. If gas prices go up don't say I didn't warn you.
It was kinda a bummer to miss the super bowl but I knew I would so its not too bad. Giants win. Who cares!.... I do...
Yvonne and Adriana are still going strong. They are going to be interviewed on the 17th and married on the 18th and baptized on the 25th. I hope that all works out. We are working hard to get them both prepared. President Greer needs to interview Yvonne because of stuff that has happened in the past. But everything is falling into place. I will probably be leaving Yakima on the 22nd. That is a guess but I am pretty sure. I've been here forever. I hit 6 months in 10 days... It flew by.
I love you all. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Paxman for your package. Thanks for the letters. Thanks for everything.
Love,
Elder Paxman
It was a good week. We went to the temple today and that is why p-day changed. There are no early morning sessions on Mondays so we went Tuesday! and switched p-day to today this week. That pretty much makes any week complete. So I have nothing else to tell you. not really.
We are teaching this family now. They are entitled the Richards family. Amber and Elijah. We knocked their door and she told us to come back! So we did of course. They met with missionaries 6 years ago and they helped them stop smoking and drugs and drinking and everything! But they went to church and the people in that ward didn't treat them well so they didn't go back. CRAP! well. Now they are youth ministers for Morning Star. Its the biggest church in Yakima. We've actually run into a lot of people who attend there. So they aren't LDS and they probably wont be. At least not in this life. And the biggest reason why they aren't is because people at church didn't treat them well. That is a bummer. The LDS church is supposed to stand out as people who love everyone and accept them. But not this time. Failure. Anyway. The Kimbo's - That family with cheddar bug and terry and melissa and others - they attend morning star. I dunno if you remember them. I sure do.
I met a guy this week who calls himself "King James". he spoke a lot but he didn't really say much. I also talked to a guy on the street who proudly told us he canceled his playboy subscription and he is still a virgin! "A 55 year old virgin, Its a miracle!" he said. Honestly, it would be a miracle if he wasn't.
Then Sunday was the Super Bowl. I'm a bad missionary... I watched a lot of the first half. I watched Mr. Quigley moon walk across the finish line hahaha. Commercials. And I saw the new etrade commercial. Baby speed dating. Ahhhhh! I'm a bad missionary. Breaking rules. But I didn't get to watch the last half. What happened was this. We passed around the dinner calendar during relief society and no one signed up for Sunday night so I asked sister Statler if she would feed us because she is someone I feel comfortable begging for food from. Of course she said yes and told us to come over around 4. We went home and then I realized, crap, we're going to the statlers for dinner! they super bowl is going to be on!! They always have sports on their tv when we go over there so of course they had the super bowl on. For the first quarter we mostly ate in the kitchen but finally we gave into temptation and watched the game.... Just until halftime. When we saw Madonna we left :) And then we saw three people around 7-9 and we heard that it was an awesome game. We went to a less active member's home and he told us it was "the best super bowl ever played". That might be an exaggeration but it did make me feel bad for the young man who missed the last part of the game because he went on exchanges with us that night... He didn't seem too bummed.
This less-active member also told us that we are 60 days away from a war with Iran. Israel is going to bomb Iran and we are going to have to step in, blah blah blah. So. If gas prices go up don't say I didn't warn you.
It was kinda a bummer to miss the super bowl but I knew I would so its not too bad. Giants win. Who cares!.... I do...
Yvonne and Adriana are still going strong. They are going to be interviewed on the 17th and married on the 18th and baptized on the 25th. I hope that all works out. We are working hard to get them both prepared. President Greer needs to interview Yvonne because of stuff that has happened in the past. But everything is falling into place. I will probably be leaving Yakima on the 22nd. That is a guess but I am pretty sure. I've been here forever. I hit 6 months in 10 days... It flew by.
I love you all. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Paxman for your package. Thanks for the letters. Thanks for everything.
Love,
Elder Paxman
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