Two More Baptisms

We had two baptisms this weekend! They both went very well. We were supposed to have three but one was postponed a week. Matthew Rose and Chris Beltran got baptized and confirmed this weekend. It all went very smoothly because of the help of the ward. Brother Brown baptized and confirmed them both. They made it really easy on us. No problems. No concerns. Their picture is the first one I attached.

The second picture is from Jason White's baptism last week.

This week we also put Jyheam, Jaysean, A'mi, and D'vonte on date. I think I have mentioned them before. They are the grandchildren of Sandra, who is also investigating the church. Katrina (investigator) is the mother of A'mi and D'vonte and Mindy (member) is the mother of the other two. They want to be baptized so we just needed the permission of the parents. So the date is September 22. The reason it is so far away is because D'vonte doesn't turn 8 until September 20 and they all wanted to be baptized together. The hope is that Katrina and Sandra will be baptized on the same day. Right now Sandra is having a tough time recognizing the answer to her prayers. She desperately wants the gift of the Holy Ghost but she doesn't know where to find it. We tell her that she can find it here in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but she wants to be certain. We suspect she already has and answer to her question. She has felt the spirit many times with coming to church and receiving a blessing and meeting with us, but she still feels unsure. I'm not sure why... We are going to try and strengthen her understanding of the Book of Mormon and we hope that will help.

Phoenix is getting baptized this Saturday. I don't think there will be anymore problems there. We just really hope he stays active... It's all up to his mom.

We had a mini-missionary again this week. And both times we had a mini-missionary, on the second day, we put 4 people on date. They must be good luck or something.

Every once in awhile we have gone into a home where the Olympics are on. Usually they turn it off quickly. It makes me sad that I'm missing it. But, again, it's what I signed up for. I knew I would miss it. OH WELL!

I also heard that Ichiro got traded to the Yankees the day that the Mariners were playing the Yankees. People here aren't too thrilled about it... Poor Seattle sports... They all suck. Go Seahawks hahaha. Ya right.

Well, I don't know what else to say. Elder Camba has been worried about his weight recently so I offered to go on runs at night. We are probably going to be doing that now. It was fun the first time we did it. And we go on walks in the morning with the other missionaries in our apartment complex for exercise. So I guess I like going on walks and runs now Kristen...

Oh! I didn't know Christopher and Conner were also DL's. I did know that James was. He also should be finishing up training if he hasn't already. I'm not sure what happened to Ryan... I need to write him. And James... and Christopher... Oh, and Conner. Dangit. There is no excuse. Everyone in the world is busy. I should just write more. Sorry.

Love you all! Write me even though I don't write you!

Love,
Elder Paxman

Baptism

So this was a good week. We had a baptism. Jason White. I would send pictures but I forgot my camera. Next week. Jason is Emily's brother. It was a very good baptism. His mom gave the talk on baptism and brother Storrs gave the talk on the holy ghost and they were perfect lengths and perfect content. Then the baptism happened. Jason's sisters and sister's boyfriends were there too. Lots of non members. Sandra and Katrina and their kids were there too. We taught them the next day... more on that later. Jason was confirmed the next day and all went well.

Alex came to church! We went to his house at 10:45 and told him church started in 10 minutes. He was surprised we showed up but he said he would come. He didn't show up for sacrament meeting but we saw him in the hall afterwards. We took him to Gospel Principles and Priesthood. In Gospel Principles we went around the room and just said our name because we had new people there. Alex went last and he stood up and said "I'm Alex Siharath, and I'm an alcoholic" We all laughed hahaha. He said "whoops wrong class hahaha". He is a pretty funny guy. I'm so glad he came to church. He took notes the whole time. We taught him on Tuesday after p-day fun and he was talking a lot, like he always does. He got on the topic of his MMA fighting and he said one of his favorite lines "Don't fear the guy that practices 10,000 kicks one time a day, fear the guy that practices one kick 10,000 times a day". He only uses three different moves in his fighting. We asked him what those moves were and he told us he would show us. We were at the church in one of the classrooms and we cleared out a space and we wrestled hahaha. He was so good. He is a small guy but I'm pretty sure it's all muscle. We wrestled for like 30 minutes hahaha. That's the best way to teach him I guess. My throat hurt for the next few days because he choked me out pretty bad haha. I guess I didn't tap out soon enough. Elder Camba doesn't like to be touched at all so he didn't participate as much but Alex made him a little bit. And he almost broke Elder Camba's wrist hahaha. Poor guy. That was a fun lesson. On Wednesday we had another lesson with him and we used a chalkboard. He is very very visual, so we drew out the plan of salvation and he drew his thoughts too. It was a good lesson. But the best part was that he came to church. I'm really really excited for his baptism. I pray that he stays active!

Phoenix's baptism is being pushed back... It wont be next Saturday either. We will see when... Hopefully August 4th. His mom needs to show some commitment so that he can actually have activity in the church. So far we haven't seen that.

I like Elder Camba more and more each day. He is a really good person. He is super obedient. It's a good example for me. I should try and learn from him. We are a lot more comfortable with each other than we were when it was Elder Lee, Elder Camba and I. Different dynamic. I like it a lot better now. I think I enjoy Elder Camba the most because we are having so much success.

We get two more mini-missionaries this week. two at the same time. That should be fun.

We will see Tom Duvall again tonight. Hopefully that goes well...

Linda and Elijah didn't come to church. Again. Very disappointing.

I realized this week that we have been really busy. I used to have time at night to do things like read or write or whatever but lately we have been planning until 10 or so and we are so tired by the end of the day that we have no time to do anything. I haven't sent a letter in awhile. SORRY!!! I really am. We just have been super busy. I'll try to write more on p-day.

Sandra and Katrina came to church again. We had 7 investigators in second ward today. Sandra is the grandma and Katrina is A'mi (8) and Devonte's (7) mom. Mindy is the mother of Jyheam (10) and Jaysean (9). They are all black as you can probably tell by the names. And they are the coolest kids ever. They are so interested in the gospel. Jyheam and Jaysean have been taught everything before a few months ago and they still remember all the little details. So they teach A'mi and Devonte with us. When we explained the Holy Ghost Jyheam said "I feel the holy ghost right now! It's like a warm feeling in my chest" and at the end of the closing prayer Jaysean said "When he asked if the Book of Mormon was true my heart was like 'ding'!" And then when we left, they all said "We should have a Book of Mormon study when the missionaries leave! YEAH!!" And we left and they all were sitting at the table reading the Book of Mormon with each other hahaha. They're just kids but they get it way more than anybody else does. Hopefully Sandra and Katrina feel the same. We are teaching them in Bishop's home tonight.

The Orozcos are still kinda where they were last week. We saw them on Saturday night and they didn't come to church even though they said they would... That was disappointing. So we will have to try to help them keep the chaos out of their busy home. We will see them a lot this week I'm sure.

Chris and Matthew are being baptized next Saturday. So we have to pull all of that together this week. It should be fun. I'm really excited for that one too. They're awesome kids and they ward is keeping good track of them.

That was our week. Very busy again. And tonight will be way busy too. We have to end our p-day early because we have so many appointments. Oh well. Good thing missionary work is fun!

I'm happy because I'm busy. It's hot outside but not too hot. No problems. Life is easy. Thank you all for you love and life updates. I appreciate it a lot.

Love,
Elder Paxman

People on Date!

Another temple week. Sorry. Well it was a good one. Going to the temple is always very refreshing. I always learn a lot.

 

We have been teaching a lot of members recently. President Greer has set a focus on finding new investigators and this week we were finally able to really get going on visiting members of our wards and teaching them about the Doctrine of Christ. Then we ask them for referrals! And it works! We always ask for referrals at dinner and other times when we see members but it doesnt have the same effectiveness. We go in their home and share a message and are out in 20 minutes. Because it's so focused and they know why we are there we actually get referrals! That has been fun. We are trying to visit with everyone in our wards.

 

We have 11 people on date for baptism at one point this week. two of them fell off date though so now we have 9. Two will be baptized this saturday. Jason and Phoenix are being baptized this saturday. We put some of the Orozco family on date. The orozco's have a lot of people in their family. It's 2 sisters and their men and usually around 10-12 kids living in the house. And 5 of them are baptismal eligable. Three of them have accepted a date for baptism. AND THEY CAME TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY! They took up two rows haha. It was great to have them there and see that they were on track.

 

Matthew and Chris are also still on track for next week being baptized. They are way excited too.

 

Alexander Siharath has kinda disappeared... We haven't been able to find him! We're kinda nervous about that because he's so so cool. He just needs to be less busy and understand what's important.

 

Linda was the last one that set a date. She has to serve some jail time. A week and a half I think. And they didn't show up to church after we had a really really big stress on that in our last lesson. We told them that we would knock on their door at 8:30 to get them out of the house and they promised us they would be there. And they weren't. That was a big disappointment... I don't know what to do with them.

 

Thats all 9. And we hope to put 4 more on date really soon. Sandra and Katrina, who just moved in with sandra's daughter in law, mindy. They moved from Louisiana. Mindy is a less-active member and her kids aren't baptized. Jahiem and Jaysean are baptismal age though. So Sandra Katrina Jahiem and Jaysean, and also maybe One of Katrina's children. Sandra and Katrina are really really black. That makes it kinda fun hahaha. We taught them this week and it went really well. The reason we got in contact with them is because bishop's wife knew they had moved into mindy's place and she went and picked them up for church. So that is where we met them. It was awesome!

 

We're also teaching a Part-Member family, the Duvall's. Tom is a non-member and Bonnie has been a member all her life. They both smoke. That is the only thing holding Tom back from being baptized. He wants to quit so we are working with him. I hope they start attending church and going to the church sponsored addiction recovery class in kennewick.

 

Connie Acosta needs to get married. That's it. Then she can be baptized.

 

The holmbo's daughter is moving to Pasco and she will probably be baptized soon too! That is Jason's half-sister. And Emily Water's sister. The Holmbos are like a baptism factory.

 

I am doing well. Elder Camba and I are staying very very busy. 11 people on date is pretty crazy... We are very blessed with work in our area.

 

The weather is hot. It's been in the 100's lately.

 

Everything else is going well. Keep praying for me. I wish I could write more...

 

Love you all! Write me.

 

Elder Paxman

4th of July and Birthday

This week was my birthday and the Fourth of July. Those were really fun days but two really really bad missionary days. We taught zero lessons both of those days and talked to very few people. Everyone was out of town or busy and they didn't want to talk to the missionaries.

It was a good week for putting people on date thought. We put four on this week. Jacob Young, in his 30's, will probably not be baptized... But that's the goal for now. Matthew Rose and Chris Beltran-Lopez, both 13, will be baptized on the 28th of this month. and Alexander Pheng Siharath, 38, will be baptized on the 11th of August.

Matthew and Chris have been coming to church for a long time now and it is just about time that they take the lessons and get baptized. They both really want to, especially Chris. Neither of their families are baptized but Chris' family is being taught by the spanish missionaries and Matthew's parents seem to be okay with him being baptized but they don't want to be involved. They have a lot of good fellowship in the ward from the young mens. I'm excited for them.

Did I tell you about Alexander?? He pulled over one day and told us he wanted to start the lessons. I think I talked about him. Well we started teaching him and he set a goal for baptism on the 11th of August. He is kinda eccentric. But that's a good thing! He is an MMA fighter and he does martial arts as well. He also has a $2000 dollar spiderman suit and he dresses up as spiderman for kids parties. He is pretty much the coolest guy ever. He stopped us in the middle of our first lesson and had us "break the ice" with him. So he spent about an hour getting to know us and how we work. He LOVES to talk. He talks really really fast and can change subjects quickly. He just goes and goes and goes. So 30 minute lessons turn into 2 hour visits. This last time we saw him he brought his "vision boards" With positive messages on them. He says he has about 20 vision boards. He brought in 3 for us. They had pictures of goals he wants to achieve. And they were covered with positive uplifting words and phrases. He also draws so he drew a lot of pictures for his vision boards. He also loves to make acronyms out of everything like HOLY BIBLE - He only left you basic instructions before leaving earth HOPE- Helping other people endure GRACE- Gift received at Christ's expense FEAR - False evidence appearing real and they go on. He has an acronym or a catchy, uplifting, thought provoking phrase for everything. He is all about positive attitude. If you can dream it you can do it. That sort of crap. I love it. He was raised Buddhist but has turned to Christianity and he has a friend in Utah that told him to stop us. So he did. And now he's gonna be baptized.

Birthday was great. Opened a lot of packages. Loved it all. Had cake. Walked a lot and knocked a lot of doors because no one was home. That's how the fourth was too. We didn't get to watch fireworks. But it would have been cool because they get a big barge and send it out on the river and shoot fireworks off of that. It's pretty cool. FROM WHAT I HEAR. Not see... The fourth was fun though. We ate a lot. We went to the Holmbo's after dinner and partied a little bit. So it wasn't all work. I took some time off in the evening because I am a bad missionary and Elder Rymer didn't care (I was on exchanges that day).

I didn't make my bed yesterday for the first time on my mission too.

And. We get a mini-missionary this week! I'm excited. It will be a priest age young man that comes and stays with us for two days and does missionary work with us. It will be like training a new missionary! But not... It will be fun.

I don't know what else to say even though I feel like there is a lot more I could say...
Curtis is engaged.
LOVE YOU ALL

Elder Paxman

Mission Life

My family moved... That's weird. I'm sorry you had to say goodbye. That wouldn't be fun. I already said goodbye but it is still hard to think that everyone is separated. I hope Missouri turns out to be great.
It sounds like everyone is staying busy and everything is changing. I hope that's a good thing. I pray that everyone is happy. Keep me up to date on everything. Thank you for telling me everything. I know I don't always respond directly to what you say in emails/letters but I do appreciate it when you let me know whats happening. I love all the details.

The pictures are just pictures of life. I don't know which is which... The black guy with the afro is named Donovan, we are teaching him. The black guy in the ref shirt is a recent convert in the ward named Curtis Fairman. The family is the Holmbo's. The missionaries are elder Larkin and Elder Welburn and Elder Lee... The other family is the Cook's and the picture at the luau is Brother Cook as well. Sorry that's not very specific...

Elder Boswell got called as a ZL last week. I forgot to tell you last email. That would be so much fun to be in his zone. The Zone Leaders there are Elder Manning and Elder Boswell. That would be the best. Elder Larkin got called as a ZL too. Which is odd because he only has three months left. So now my trainer, trainers trainer, trainers trainers trainer, trainers trainers trainers trainer, trainers trainers trainers trainers trainer, and my trainers trainers trainers trainers trainers trainer were all Zone Leaders... That's something.

Elder Camba likes to cook. And he doesn't talk much. I like him. I just wonder if he likes me. He did say something cool the other day. He said "You're such a good tracter" Hahaha I read that now and its almost like he said I was a good tractor. But he was saying that I was good at OYMing. Apparently they didn't knock many doors in Arizona and he doesn't think he is good at tracting. I think he is. He just hasn't done it in awhile. But that's about the nicest thing he's said so far ha ha. He is a very good missionary. He just has some different ideas about companionship unity I guess. We wont ever fight, but I don't know if we will ever get along as well as I have with other companions. Mostly because he wont just meet me halfway. He can be a little pessimistic at times. BUT I LOVE HIM!

My District is an interesting one... They are all different kinds of people. We all are I should say. Very unique. It should be a good thing. We will have a lot of different input in district meetings and other meetings. I just hope we can all find something to unify us. It should be an interesting transfer.

This week was good. I got a few birthday packages from home already. I haven't opened any of them yet. We are just going to be normal missionaries on the fourth. Nothing exciting or special. We don't have anything set up yet because no one wants to plan for anything on the fourth. So we might just walk around all day. And then the fifth will probably be a normal day too. I don't know how else to celebrate ha ha. I don't expect people to do anything. It's just a birthday. I'll do fun stuff again when I get home.

We hit our goal of 30 new investigators again this week! we got them late on Sunday again. We got three as a companionship. We only had one investigator at church this week though... Hopefully we do better on that front next week.

Sorry this is kinda short. Maybe it's not short, I dunno. It just seems like I wrote about different stuff than I normally do. I'll try to get back to investigators and their progress next week!

Love you all!! Go Mavs. Go Rangers.

Elder Paxman