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