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
Sister Mathews took this picture above and sent it to Chantel (Chase's mom). Here is their conversation:
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
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| Missionary Brunch Before Transfers |
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| Pasco Missionaries |
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| Pasco Missionaries |
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| Michael Votaw--getting baptized November 17th |
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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."
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