Pasco

I'm in Pasco now. In the 2nd and 4th wards. They say this is the best area for English work in the mission. So far it has held true. We had a baptism this last Saturday and we have 2 more this Saturday. There are plenty of others who are close too! It's crazy really. I think it mostly has to do with the members in the area, they are always telling us to go see people. We received like 8 referrals in 4 days while I've been here. It has been really really good.

I'm still DL. Elder Lee has been out 16 months now. Elder Hoskin and Elder Williams are in my district and so are Elder Pickett and Elder Rudinger. Hoskin goes home in 5 weeks and Rudinger has 11 weeks left. So I feel young again. I've only been out 9 months so I have like 70 weeks left ha ha.

My new address is

1712 N. 24th Ave. #E2
Pasco, WA 99301

Write me letters.

At the baptism this Saturday we got there two hours early and at first we didn't have a key. Elder Lee forgot to get it from the Zone Leaders. But we fixed that problem and we still had time. Then, the water wasn't working for the font. It was only coming out a little bit. So we were messing with it for about 45 minutes and finally our Ward Mission Leader came and figured it out. At that point we had only about an hour to fill the font and they say you need about an hour and a half if you want it filled in time... So all we could do was wait. It turned out to be perfect timing. We got the font filled and then Dakota was baptized. She got really nervous though and didn't want to come out of the dressing room. It was kinda hectic. Dakota is 17.

Next week the baptisms are for Jairee who is 9 and Emily who is 17. Younger baptisms from part member families. The work is very very cool here. Emily has been close to baptism for awhile now but has been resisting and yesterday she texted us and said "Why do people fold their arms when they pray? I just put my hands together, is that okay? Oh, and by the way I want to be baptized this Saturday." It was so cool. I always have heard of people getting texts from investigators like that but it hasn't ever happened to me until now.

It's kinda hard walking in to all of this work because I feel like the new guy that walked into all of this. I want to develop a relationship with all of these people! Oh well, I guess it all just takes time. I just hope that I can do all the right things to keep the missionary work going in these wards. We teach a lot of people, but we could also be teaching a lot more. Always room for improvement everywhere.

Elder Lee is great. He is Samoan. From Salt Lake City. The rumors about his snoring are all true. It's ridiculous. The reason he snores so loud it because he has sleep apnea. So President has authorized that he can sleep in another room so that I'm not up all night haha. Even with the door closed and the fan on I can still hear him. It's not normal snoring either haha, it sounds like he is dying. Crazy kid.

With Elder Lee I have to remind myself that there are a variety of ways to do good missionary work. Over the past few days I have felt a little unorganized... I don't know the area well enough to take over but Elder Lee is always turning to me like I know something haha. A member will ask us a question and he turns to me to answer and I don't know because I've been here for three days. It makes me think that Elder Richey took the lead a lot in their companionship over the past 4.5 months. It is definitely giving me the opportunity to learn fast. Dad always said "Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance" and I hope I will be able to work on that with Elder Lee. He is a very good missionary and I love him a lot, but often times I have to take the lead on things that I have no clue about because he didn't think about it beforehand. It's a little frustrating. He will probably be leaving in 6 weeks... It's always hard to say goodbye to any companion and I just hope that I will be able to bring some organization to this area before I have to take it over in 6 weeks...

I hope that didn't sound like I was ripping on my companion, because I love him and there are about a million things he does well. There are just some things we could work on. Yeah... That's all.

Well. That's all I got for now. The weather here is perfect. High 70's low 80's usually. I love it! OH!! We drive a 2012 Ford Fusion. It is so so so nice. Its the best mission vehicle we have. And Elder Lee doesn't like driving so I get to drive every other day. I'm sure that will help me learn the area too. Elder Lee never drove when Elder Richey was here.

Write me. Be missionaries. Love one another. Do other good stuff like that. But mostly write me.

I love everyone. Especially Elder Hafen. He wrote me this week.

Love,
Elder Paxman

P.S.We're in an apartment. It is very nice. It's just Elder Lee and I. The Spanish Elders who cover the same area as us live in the same apartment complex as us. Lots of Mexicans. But a nice place. Not dangerous in the least amount. You should tell everyone about that as well.