I would rather not look like an Umpalumpa!

Dear Mom,

It sounds like its building up to be a really cold winter in Utah. The snow is probably much needed though I would imagine. Here it is getting colder, but for the most part it isn't too bad. Also, no snow still. 

We are making seeing a movie the day after Christmas a tradition.  This year we saw the Hunger Games movie Mocking Jay.  Daddy liked it better than the others so far.  I think that it is kind of funny, that of going to the movies the day after Christmas. That is good that dad liked the movie, so far they aren't some of my favorite. They are good, but not a have to see movie for me.

I told him about our plans for break and mentioned that Brooklyn was already trying to fill up her schedule with social events. I can see Brooklyn already making plans for all those days. I can't even imagine what it is going to be like when she gets into High School... It scares me to think about it haha.

Have you eaten all of your Christmas Candy and treats? I have eaten a lot of my Christmas candy, mainly because if I am going to be doing 6 months to sexy I need to eat less junk food, and if it is in the house, we all know how that will go. So I have eaten a lot, but there is still some. I am freakishly sore today because I worked out like a beast so I could get going on the sexy part, and tell you what... I am not sure if it is worth it hahaha, there aren't even any potentials who are waiting back home, most are married or in a relationship anyway. But it is a goal of mine so here goes nothing...

(For reference Six months to Sexy is a mission thing, at least in his mission.  When missionaries hit their six month mark, they have six months to lose any mission fat and get into shape to prepare for dating and girls post mission)

How many meals were you fed on Christmas? On Christmas we only ate one place and that was with the Creasy's, it was really nice, homemade American food. I missed it. Other than that, we ate a lot of junk food. Christmas overall was really good, we had a fun time, and really enjoyed the time. It is crazy to think that it is my last one as a missionary...  I will miss it a little out here next Christmas, there is nothing quite like a missionary Christmas. So it will be sad when that time comes around.

I told him about Elder Rowberrys homecoming and some funny things he said in his talk comparing Indiana to a Star Trek movie.  Ba ha, he is such a nerd, in a good way... I love that kid, I am excited to see all of them when the mission is all said and done. I will be sad when that day comes too though. I hope he can come to my homecoming along with other missionaries that I know. That would be awesome and a special treat for me to see a lot of them again. Especially the ones I was companions with or just really good friends with. That sounds like a really good time at his homecoming.

I told him that Elder Rowberry told me that Elder Paxman is a phenomenal missionary. I don’t know about that, but I try to do the best I can and try every day. Trust me some days are much better than others. I just want to do the work and help people the way that I have been helped.

The doctor there has prescribed Vitiman D and sunshine, because his Vitimin D is really low.  So the mission nurse told him to make sure he got 15 minutes of sunlight a day.  I asked him if that meant a tanning bed?  Ha ha.  The sunlight thing is just normal sunlight, which I get a lot of, but she wants me to be in like short sleeves so my arms can get the sun. So it isn't anything too extra special just sun time for me. Thank goodness not a sun tan machine. I would rather not look like an umpalumpa! Not to mention the idea of crawling inside a giant microwave... No thank you!!

How did you like your slippers and sweaters, do they all fit? I really enjoyed all of the gifts thank you so much for all of those!! They were awesome. The slippers are amazing and both the sweaters fit. I really like the argyle one. I still have to set up the basketball game thing. It will be really fun though. I am glad that you sent it.

You mentioned having lessons set up to teach this week, how have they been going?  How is the work during the holiday? A lot of the lessons we have been scheduling have fallen through. So we are really trying to find those people who are prepared. We were still able to teach a lesson or two I think. Although this week has been slow so far. We are really trying though and we will keep doing so. A week it seems we average anywhere from 11 to 15 lessons, usually 12 is the average. Yes we try and get at least 20 lessons a week, so that is hard, really hard sometimes, but we do our best and we seem to be improving from week to week so I can't complain. This area is probably the slowest area I have been in so far. Although, I hope and intend to change that, if it is in the will of the Father. Yes getting motivated has been hard when things are so slow, but I have been doing better at that. I really want to be a good example for Elder Ryan. I am not the greatest missionary, but I am trying to do my best so he can be better than I was and so he can enjoy his mission. I firmly believe if one can enjoy their mission in the service of those around them, they will never regret the decision and they will see the hand of God in many different ways.   I hope I can live up to what people expect of me, at times it is a little overwhelming to try and live up to those standards. This week with the little success we have been having I paused to question myself, "Am I doing something wrong?" Sometimes I feel like I am not good enough, but regardless of how I feel, I know that people need this message. I know that it has changed my life and I know it can change the lives of others around me. I just hope I can do my best for those around me and for myself. I heard a quote that I really liked it was very pertinent to me. It says. "Make us proud, Make yourself proud." I think if we cannot take happiness in our own work, we might need to reconsider some things we do. 

That cat is freaking crazy! I don't even know what to say about it besides it is a freak of nature. It made me laugh how you emphasized that WE were contaminated because daddy and I always blame you or the girls for bringing illness in the house haha. Hopefully you did get feeling better; I noticed when you talked to me you were coughing. Sorry about that I hate being sick, it bites.

Well mom, we are getting hurried along they are going to close the libraries so I need to wrap up. I love you so much and hope you have a great week! I know that if we can find happiness in anything we do, we can truly be a force for good. I always try to find happiness in life. For me the happiness comes in the small things, it sounds cheesy, but sunsets, sunrises, and the stars have helped me feel happiness in times of struggle in my life. Well I have to go love you a ton and have a great week, find those little things that make you happy!

Love, Elder Paxman

Shortest Email Ever!!

Hey I know you won't like this, but I will be emailing later in the week because of the holiday! 

Love you talk to you later!

Yes that one sentence is really all I got in my email today.  :/  I guess I will see what comes later in the week.

But we did have a great Skype with Elder Paxman on Christmas Day!  We were able to talk with him for 90 minutes and it was perfect.  We met his great companion and enjoyed having him share his testimony with us in Spanish.  I will try to figure out how to add a video clip of it.

 This is our version of an almost Christmas Family picture.  Unfortunately Kyle took the picture so it really isn't a complete family picture. :)

Love, Elder Paxman and Christmas Juan o<[8{D

 Elder Paxman and Elder Ryan 

Mission Christmas Conference. 

Dear Mom,

I am doing pretty good.

How was the Mission Christmas Conference?  Did they feed you?  What other activities were there? The Christmas Conference was really nice. I enjoyed it. Although I forgot my camera so I will not have any pictures of it, that is okay I only went for my camera like twice was all haha. Yep they fed us, gave us our packages and they also had a talent show.  We also played bingo and a few other things. We also received spiritual training to start the meeting off.  Oh and they fed us baked potatoes, which was pretty good.

Did all the Elders and Sisters receive a Christmas package? All the elders and sisters received a package which was really cool.

Did you receive our packages there?  I hope you didn’t open them, they are for Christmas morning. I have not opened the two packages you gave me. I got three packages, two from you and one from gma and gpa. I did open gma and gpa’s package and there was grandmas homemade bread in it. I salvaged some of it. It was great!!

How have you and Elder Ryan been enjoying your 12 days of Christmas? We have really been enjoying it, so that has been awesome thank you so much for that. I have really liked all of the stories; there hasn't been one that I haven't liked.

I received a picture of you holding Share The Gift signs, where was this taken and who sent it to me in a text? Was it at a Branch Christmas party? Yea it was a branch family home evening slash Christmas party and I had President Nehring take those and send them to you.

If mail is accidentally sent to your old Seymour address will you still get it? Yes the Elders that live in Seymour still live in the same place I did, so it will get to them and then to me.

How is the work?  Any success in finding new investigators? The few new investigators are still in the works. The work this week was freakishly rough. It was a hard few days and it has been a hard last week, but we are hoping to change that, there is always room for improvement. We are teaching hardly anyone, we haven't been able to contact hardly anyone lately so that really bites, but we will go on. Bertin has gotten a new job and can hardly even meet with the Seymour Elders, so things are going rough on that end which makes me really really sad... So yea we will see how everything goes with him in the next few weeks. My companion and I are still getting along great! We are really working on just staying motivated and getting out and doing the work. It is hard at times, but we see the blessing of our work and sacrifice in just a short amount of time.  As far as new things going on... Not a lot, we are really working on teaching members and strengthening the branch since we are having a hard time finding new people to teach. Although, we still spend a lot of our time searching.

How is your weather?  Has it gotten any colder?  Have you had any snow?  Weather has gotten a little colder not much and it is still not snowing here. Which bites, but hopefully it will

Do you have plans for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?  Yes we are going somewhere for both Christmas Eve and Christmas so that will be really fun! I think the Seymour Elders might come up to Columbus, if they do I will probably spend a little personal funds, because we will go out to eat or buy something to cook at home.

So for Christmas, will it be a phone call, Face Time or Skype? Any idea on time?  Okay as far as I know it seems we will be skyping, the family we will be with on Christmas does not have an apple device so we will probably skype. It will probably be around 4:45-5 a clock your time. I will call on Christmas Eve to talk some more about that and if we need to change it. I am also excited to talk to you all for Christmas!! It should be really fun.

All the concerts with Brooklyn seem like a lot of fun. I hope it all went well. Red Robin sounds delicious, I haven't even seen one of those out here. They probably exist, but who knows where. hahaha Mom, I hate to tell you this, but the little dance recitals are probably just beginning, you will have a break for a few years till grand kids come along, and then a ton more. So sorry about that one hahaha.

I told him my shopping was almost done and I had changed our usual Christmas day menu and taken the Chips and Queso off since he is the one who loves that the most! That will be nice when all of the shopping is done. THE chips and queso better be back on the menu for next year!!! haha

Mom I also hate to break it to you but in about a week it will only be 6 months till I come home!!! It is scary how fast the time is going!! By the time I am done training Elder Ryan I will be 21 and only have like 4 and a half months left... So that is a scary thought for me!! All of my friends will start coming home here soon. Within the next 5 months almost all will be home. It is weird, I would have been one of the more recent ones to come home, but now I will probably be dead last hahaha. But you are right the up side to that is that hopefully everyone and there dog can come to my homecoming!! That would be awesome to see all my friends again! Plus we can have shades and everything like you said. Mainly, because I do not want to roast again like last time haha. Heck yea it is far off still, freaking goodness mom, you are more trunky than I am going to be

I sent him a picture of the Tree of Life in Draper and told him about it. That looks and sounds really cool!! I would like to see that one.

Okay so now for the spiritual note of the letter and also stories!! First, a somewhat humorous story. So one day we are sitting downstairs talking and Guapo a son of the Nehrings and a member in the branch says “hey Elders are you here”, we come up the stairs and stop as there is this tan puppy standing at the top of the stairs looking at us... I am like, "look a puppy"!!! We then pet it and Guapo comes out of the bathroom and is like could you elders watch this for me. I got it for my daughter and it is a secret. So I need it to stay somewhere for a while. So we were like sure, service right? When really in our minds we are like "We get to have a puppy!!!" So we have been watching the little terror for about 3 days now. It is a monster haha. Since it is an adorable puppy it chews everything, and it has not entirely been potty trained so it has used the bathroom several times in the house... So that has been a pain, but for the most part it is pretty fun to have a puppy in the house haha. So I get to have a puppy till probably about late Christmas Eve or early Christmas day!! I took pictures that you might get to see later on. So we have had some fun adventures with that. Another funny story my companion got hit on by a nurse, which made me laugh really really hard. Okay now the more spiritual stuff. So this week has been way hard to be motivated, I am not even entirely sure why. So one day we go out to visit an elderly member named Hermana Lopez. We arrive at her house and we knock and after a few seconds we get this eerie feeling... So we call some people, things just didn't seem right. So we check around the house and make sure everything is okay on that end, and it was. So we get our ward mission leader on the phone and he says I will call you back. So we go to the car and say a quick prayer whether we should try and go in the house or just wait. Well my companion and I receive similar answers, except mine was to go in now! And his was to wait for Brother Creasy our branch mission leader. So we get him on the phone and decide to follow Elder Ryan's impression. We go and see if the door is unlocked which is not the greatest sign, and we decide to wait for him. So he and his wife and kids get there. We walk in and we call for Hna. Lopez she mutters something and Mary his wife goes around the corner first and Austin or Hno. Creasy stops us and says stay there Elders. Hna. Lopez had fallen and could not get up... We call 911 of course and do all of that stuff, and we find out she had been laying there since Tuesday and we found her Saturday!!!!! I from this experience learned a lesson that I had learned earlier in my mission. That is, when the Lord or the Spirit or our Heavenly Father tell you to do something, you do it NOW!!! I thought on my impression and realized that I could have gotten her aid about 45 min earlier when we first arrived, if I had just listened... I have had other situations where I had delayed responding to the Lords call and things have not worked out alright. In this life we are granted the ability for Heavenly help always. I kicked myself for several hours as I thought that I should have known better then to wait... Everything worked out in the end, but still it gnawed at me... When the Lord calls we go! No exceptions!! I have learned this many times in my life, but it seems that we end up learning the same lessons over and over again in this life... We must be worthy, ready, and willing, to respond to the call of those around us, or even the call of the Lord if we are so blessed to be his chosen instrument. So those are my thoughts from the week, in a short story. I know that as we respond to the aid of others, whether physical or spiritual we will be great instruments for the Lord in bringing about righteousness and happiness to the sons and daughters of God.

Well I hope you have a great week and I am excited to be able to talk to you shortly I love you so much and hope everything goes well with the Holidays!! 

Love Elder Paxman

and Christmas Juan o<[8{D

(See his hat with a pom pom, his eyes, mustache and big smile.)

P.S  I have had the strangest desire lately to start to learn French... No idea why. So that is another idea of something you could send me with the camera :) Whatever works they were just thoughts. Love you!

Would you like a Pamphletta?

Elder Paxman and Elder Ryan visiting the Diaz family in Indianapolis.

 Dinner with the Diaz family and the Indy Elders.

The 2 pictures below were sent to me via text tonight from someone in the Columbus area.  

These two picture came with the caption... 

"The four greatest Elders in the Indiana Indianapolis mission. 

 Thanks for sharing them with us."  Sent from the same person.   

Dear Mom,

How are you feeling?  How was your Doctor Appointment? Okay I am feeling pretty good actually. The doc appointment was good. Yes, they went ahead and scheduled my next appointment; It is like March 14 or somewhere in there... So Yea that was a bit weird to put that date down, time is flying. She did remember me so that was kind of interesting, and nice. Elder Ryan did go with me. We had a fun time overall at the doctors.

I received picture from the Diaz family of you visiting them, was this after the doctor visit, since you were in Indy anyway? Yes, we just stopped by to visit them. It ended up lasting a long time though haha, oh well the whole day was mostly taken by the doc anyway. It was awesome to see them again! I love that family so dearly! Elder Blood and Elder Hansen came because the Diaz family live in their area, so we went to a lesson with them. I did surprise the boys at school so that was really awesome to do that. They were very excited to see me as well.

I noticed you wearing a zip up argyle sweater where did that come from? The sweater was left in the Seymour apartment from I do not know where.  I think it might be a members that they either lent or gave to a missionary. I like it though and want other sweaters like it!!

Did you get the two packages I sent you?  Did you receive the small package with the Christmas tie? We did get the other two packages!! Thank you so much for those, we have so far really enjoyed all the stuff you have given to us. (The package contained the 12 days of Christmas for him and his companion) Thank you so much for that. Elder Ryan said to tell you thank you and that you are the best. I liked the little gift bags that you sent, so I will see who I can give them out to! I have a few ideas. I did get the really small package with the tie in it. Thank you for that by the way.

How is the training of your compa going? His training is going pretty good, he is very willing to learn, which is awesome. His Spanish is interesting, especially since he tried to give me a pamphletta when we were practicing the other night. (Just so you know the real word for pamphlet is folleto!). So I lost it and couldn't stop laughing after that happened haha!! We get along super well. I thought I was awkward around girls and then I hear some of his stories hahaha I feel like a player compared to this kid... And I haven't even kissed a girl!! hahaha so that always makes me laugh. Overall though we get along really really well, which is super nice.

I received a picture of you from Sister Kimberland with an Elder I didn’t recognize. Why were you with him and who is he?  So Elder Limb is a ZL and we were on exchanges, so that is what that was all about. He is also a really cool Elder. She did give us stockings it was really nice of her, mine had two ties in it!! It was really nice of her to do that for us. She is very nice. Yes the sisters were also there with us. They came after we had been there for about 20 min.

As a district leader do you mostly do exchanges with the two other Spanish Elders? How do you like being a District Leader are you adjusting? Yes I really only do exchanges with the Seymour Elders and I got permission from President to do them more often. So we will be doing those probably once a week or maybe once every other week. We will see. I am adjusting alright overall. It is stressful sometimes, but for the most part I actually quite like it!

In your area now, where do you email from? How often are you using your Spanish?  Is the Branch in Spanish? We go to the library to email here. I am using Spanish quite often; we are trying to teach the ones who speak mostly Spanish a lot of the time. Although I would say you do speak more English in this area then you do in some of the other Spanish areas I have been in, because most of the members speak fluent English as well.  It is sometimes easier for them to just talk to us in English. Although now I feel I can do both so that is awesome. Sunday's it depends, sacrament is always in Spanish and gospel principles is always in Spanish, but sometimes Priesthood switches back and forth. I actually do the translating for the branch here in Columbus.

Again I sent him a list of friend requests and asked for direction. I feel popular lately on Facebook. Although in reality it is mostly just returning missionaries. I will take it though haha. Yep I know all of those people. Ben Reeder is an Elder I was really good friends with, he went home back in April, so I haven't seen him in a long time. I also don't think he knew that I came home from my mission. So he must have thought I had just gotten home with all of the others.  I am sad you missed Andrews homecoming, I really like Andrew I hope everything went really well for him on his mission. He is a good friend.

We just attended the homecoming of one of his past companions and spent time with his parents and really enjoyed ourselves. That is cool that you got to go hang out with Colton’s parents, that was probably really fun. I would like it if you became good friends, they are a really nice family and I can just chill with Colton whenever you guys want to hang out.  I hope to see him at my homecoming as well.  It sounds like you had a really nice time overall.  I’m happy you got to meet Natalia she is a great girl and a good friend.  I love her family as well.  You will have to let me know how Elder Rowberrys homecoming goes as well. He still emails me every week. I also hold him as a dear friend that I hope to keep for many years. As I do with pretty much all of my companions, even some other missionaries that I was never companions with.

We harassed him jokingly about N being a very pretty girl and he should date her after the mission. If something were to happen after the mission with a girl that I met on the mission awesome, but there will be no intentionally flirting with a purpose from this guy!! At least if I can help it anyway

How is your weather?  Does it feel like winter?  Ours is warm.  Wow that is a really warm winter in Utah. Here is has been oddly warm as well. It is killing me; it doesn't even feel like Christmas without the snow and cold! I want some snow dangit and I don't even like the stuff that much hahaha. The last couple days have been high 40's low 50's so nice weather.

How do you like having a car full time?  Does it have a CD player? It is really nice and the car does have a CD player which is also really nice. It is a pain to manage miles, but I prefer it to biking that is for sure

How is the work?  Any new investigators?  The missionary work is going alright. We were able to find two new investigators over the last week, we are not sure how they will pan out because we have only taught them twice, but hey you never know the works of the Lord. We are still able to teach active members and some less actives which helps with all the other time as well. There are always opportunities especially with the He is the Gift cards. Those work well when we are PCing and stuff like that.

Have you been able to do any Service? We helped a guy move, and some other small things, jumped a car stuff like that. We have a branch Christmas FHE tonight so that will be really fun to go to. We have been pounding the pavement a ton looking for new investigators so we will see as we keep going if we can continue to find and teach and baptize.

Will it be FaceTime or Skype for Christmas, do you know about what time?  I do not know if we will be face-timing or if it will be Skype, we will work on that as we continue down the road. But we should be able to do something like unto it if not. I will shoot for afternoon, but we will see how things go. I will give you a call the night before so we can work out all the details. It might be the day after Christmas if we can't find anyone, but we will let you know when we know more.

So my more spiritual message for the week....  This week has been an interesting week for me spiritually, for many different reasons, of which I will not really get into. But there are a few things that I have learned over the week, well a lot of things, but I will only address a few. We were teaching a lesson to Sis. Kimberlan and it came out how I had gone home from my mission and was back out, which she did not know. I mentioned it briefly and talked about it very little. Although it made me ponder about those days, as often times I do. I remembered talking to the first girl when I got home, and not just talking, but actually flirting with her. I remembered how it feels to be alone, how it feels to be different (and not in the greatest way). I remember so many things, and each has shaped me and molded me. Often time’s people think of experiences in life like a clay sculpture that can be molded into anything. For me I always seem to see it more as the making of an arrowhead. Many trials in our lives do not come in a smooth touching motion, but a quick hard strike to our very being, even if it is just subtle. As you know, to make an arrowhead you have to Knapp it. Making strikes against it with another rock to break off large and small pieces. The force and angle determining how much breaks off.  Our lives to me are much the same, or at least my life has been. Arrowheads have a few different uses, but generally have one purpose, as do we. Our purpose and goal is to obtain eternal life and the highest celestial glory in the kingdom of our Father. We are "stricken" quite literally by the things and challenges of this world and the choices we need to make. Each one shaping us into the thing we are meant to become, but many times, if done improperly the arrowhead will break. If we don’t see our trials as a way to grow often times they will break us instead of chip off the extra bits. In which case because the Savior atoned for each of us the Master or in this case the Flint Master as I will call him, picks up a new piece of flint and goes back to trying to shape it. The broken pieces are not forgotten, they are not left for nothing, they are still there and forever will be. But they are no longer a problem; they are no longer something of great import, not as important as each one of us is to our Heavenly Father. We are given multiple opportunities in this life; it is up to us to make them work. You can either allow this life to sculpt you into whom you wish to be, and to whom you can become. Or you can let it break you, and the need to start over comes again. We are made to live with God again. Every single person on this planet is "destined" to return to his presence, but it is our choices that either hinder, or accelerate the process and in the sad few circumstances, stop us from being what we are destined to become. We are meant to be happy, meant to love, meant to grow, meant learn, and sadly at times meant to suffer, so ultimately we may be forever joyful in the presence of our God and King. So, those were my thoughts from the week a little. There is many more about the parable or analogy of the arrowhead, but I enjoyed it. Well Mom I love you so much and hope you have an amazing week this week, with the holiday fast approaching. I am excited to be able to skype you all in a week or so. I love you and have a great week!

Love, Elder Paxman

Saving Private Ryan

Elder Paxman at transfer meeting, with his new companion who we cannot see. :/

Taken by a sweet member!!

Dear Mom,

First off the Christmas lights look Awesome!!! I definitely prefer the trees and balls to hanging them on the house. Mainly because next year I will probably have to hang them :\

How many people are in your district?  What does being a district leader entail? There are just 4 of us in the district so it is really small, but I like it. Okay, so as far as a DL goes. We are responsible for exchanges, the wellbeing of the people in the district, training, reporting, and a bunch of other stuff, but that is the gist of it anyway.

I received a picture of you at Transfers taken by a member.  You look really healthy and good. Okay so if the picture is of me in a car, then I remember getting that picture taken. If not... I am slightly scared. haha

Tell me about your new companion.  What is his name, where is he from etc. I find this to be a good story. (Dad will appreciate this). So at transfers a greenie gets up to the pulpit to introduce himself, and says “Hey my name is Elder Ryan, like saving private Ryan”. Instantly I thought in my head, he is so mine!! hahaha And he is! We had a good laugh about that one later. So his name is Elder Ryan he is from a town called Brookings, Oregon. He is super fun, he was a band geek, so he says. He is kind of funny and always quotes inconspicuous movies. I love it!  He is an awesome Elder with a great desire to do the work.

How was the first week of training? The first like half week of training I think has gone pretty good for the most part. Of course it is always stressful especially with all the other stuff I have to do to.

How do you like living in Columbus full time?   How is the apartment? Who are the Elders that took your place in Seymour? If you have a full time car, what about the new Seymour Elders? Okay I am living with the Nehrings, so it is more a house. We have a full time car which is nice and we will be living in Columbus full time. The Elders in Seymour are Elder Porter and Elder Wright. Both of whom are quite young in the mission. I think together they might have maybe a year’s time. I still have the bike with me for the future, so no worries there. The Seymour elders share a car with the sisters in Seymour.

What about the continued teaching of Bertin?  He is so close but since he is in Seymour what will happen with him? The other elders will take over his teaching... Which bums me out a little bit, but they will do an amazing job. I also hope to see him at church and so forth, since we attend the same branch. I have faith that if the elders do all they can, that he will continue to do well. I hope all goes well with him.

Thank you for the advice and support mom I am nervous and hope I can do well. I was able to do exchanges with Elder Hjelm, it was really nice to see him one last time before he left. I intend to stay friends with him. So hopefully all that will go really well. I will miss many of the elders who left and who will be going home shortly.

There were about 22 missionaries that left Indiana last week.  Due to that Elder Paxman had 15 friend requests on facebook.  I sent him a list and made sure who he knew and who I accepted etc. Okay as far as the list goes. One, it made me laugh, I feel a little more loved.  All of the girls are sisters from the mission.  There is one request... I honestly have no idea who that is, but I am bad with names and good with faces. So to find out, I am giving you permission to stalk her on Facebook for me hahahaha!! I can't believe I am letting you do this... Although I can always use cute female friends... six months is not too long of a time ;) bwahaha. Plus maybe she would write me.  Elder Aranda got ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What the crap!!!! No way!!!!! Well I guess it has almost been a year!! Still dang, that is freaking crazy!! I am blown away by that... Man mom I feel super old now... And lonely, haha. I haven't heard from Aaron yet, but hopefully soon. Mom!!!  You and trying to hook me up with a girl to write me…. I am sure you made me sound ridiculously handsome and smooth... You are killing me mom haha. I would gladly write her though if that worked out. I am okay with that. :D

Your sunbeam class sounds fun, the little monsters. I love kids though. But they can be little monsters. There is one out here named Matt he is barely a year old and he is awesome!! I might have to get a picture with him, he likes me too, so it’s all cool.

How is the camera? Dad and I will work on getting you another new one.  Hopefully yours will hold out a few weeks. My camera functions sometimes and other times I feel like it gives me the middle finger and freaks the crap out! So yea it might be able to get me through a little bit. I will continue to take pictures the best I can.

How is the work? Any people to teach? How big is your area in Columbus? As far as the work goes this week is going to be interesting... We have hardly any investigators, so we will be doing a ton of finding. Which I like, but sometimes it is a pain, especially when the success is terrible for that day, but we will go onward. Columbus is a big miles area because we cover all the northern half of the stake and it is a pretty big stake. It isn't the biggest area geographically or density wise I have served in, but it is still a doozy. We will be re-mapping the area a little, mainly in focused areas, so that will take a bit, but it will really just be a lot of thumping pavement and working with members. We have not found hardly anyone to teach. I think only one person besides members this last week, but we will fix that really quickly, if the Lord wills it as well. I really like the Branch!! It is awesome, small and a lot of white people, but they are great. I really like a lot of the families and I don't even know them really well yet. I like the Nehrings a lot, I feel like I have a substitute mother. President Nehring speaks Spanish and Portuguese, he is really cool. We do laundry in their home so that isn't too bad. We interact with them quite a bit, several times a day I would say.

Do you use the new video “He is the Gift”? Have you seen it? We proselyte with the He is the Gift quite a bit, I really really like it.

Well mom I have to wrap up because I am running behind. So I will share my thoughts really quickly. So this week, I have learned a ton of things. Although one thing that was brought back to my attention, was how much these two years will mean to me and us as missionaries. I love it so much out here!  I have grown a lot and also struggled a lot. I as you know have had many experiences with trials of sorts. Although mine have often been minor in my life, they are still impacting. Trials are there to make us grow. The Lord allows us to pass through such times for many different reasons. One, I believe is so that we may help others in the future. I know that through Jesus Christ and the experiences we have in this life, we can help others around us in unbelievable ways. Also, we are blessed through our service and through the hard times we went through. We are all sanctified through the experiences we have, and in the end it will all be worth every moment of pain, sorrow, and heartbreak. When we stand at the judgment seat of God and can say with tears of joy rolling down our face, I have done what you have asked, and I hope it was enough. To then hopefully hear his resounding voice of "Enter into my rest ye faithful and beloved servant".

I love you so much and hope that you have a great week! I hope to hear from you soon.

Love, tu hijo, Elder Paxman 

Big Changes Coming for Me

Picture Overload before Letter!!

I am blessed to have come in contact with a member in the Columbus area who loves and takes care of our missionaries.  She sends me pictures.

Elder Paxman, Elder Blood and Elder Rowberry

Helping a member clear out a lean to.

 The "Tres Amigos" as Sister Rowberry referred to them.  I like it!

Elder Paxman, Elder Blood and Elder Rowberry.

 Going away party for Elder Rowberry.

Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgivng message.

Elder Paxman, Elder Rowberry and Elder Blood making their final visit to their favorite eatery.  Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt in Seymour. I LOVE this picture!!

Dear Mom,

Thanks for the pictures from Thanksgiving. Alex he looks like he could be gangster, but... he is so freaking lerpy it just aint happenin bro!! bwahahaha and Rachel and Parker... What the freak with the leg thing... 8\ Hands off bub!! I don't see no ring!!... You can see the hate in Rens eyes hahaha as he is trying to not kill him and yet smile for the camera... Brooklyn’s picture, Danika looks like she is trying to be seductive and Brooklyn looks like you caught her off guard. Grandma photo bombing made me laugh; I didn't think she would try something like that. Next who is the unfamiliar chick? I hope to discover that in the letter... Plus, the guy I am guessing is Brenda's boyfriend looks like a backstreet boy all grown up bwahahaha!! I am pure evil mom!!! Anyway I really loved all the pictures and most of my comments were just jokes hahaha. Anyway real letter time. 

I am doing pretty good and things are currently pretty crazy; that will be explained later. Sister Kimberland is a Caucasian lady from the 4th ward I believe. The Branch in Columbus is Spanish that is why it is a branch; there are 3 other words that meet in that building.

What is the news on Transfers?  I heard you will be staying in Seymour and Elder Blood will be going to Indy, is this true and are you excited to be going back to Seymour?Okay as far as transfers go. It is actually a good thing that you will be getting my email today instead of yesterday. So we got transfer calls on Saturday which was weird, but will be the normal thing now in the mission. On Saturday during my transfer call the Mission President gave me some big news. I will be training again; also I will be District Leader in Seymour. Then yesterday when we dropped Elder Rowberry off something happened. Elder Blood and I waited for Elder Rowberry to be done with his exit interview with the President so we could say goodbye.  We both gave him a big hug. When he hugs me he whispers in my ear "get ready for a surprise!" Next thing I know President Cleveland is calling me over to chat with him. He gives me a hand shake, pulls me closer, gives me a side hug and says well some things have changed. First off you are still training and still the DL, but you will now be having a full time car and serving in Columbus!!!!  I was shocked as well as Elder Blood!!! So that was a freaking last minute curve ball to add on to all my nerves for the challenges ahead! So two more recent Elders will be in Seymour, and I will be training in Columbus.  Elder Blood he has no idea where he will be going. My guess is Elkhart. So yea I was super stoked to stay in Seymour, but now that has all changed, I would not be surprised if something else odd happens before tomorrow haha.

Before having to jump back and forth between areas had you finished mapping Seymour? It is mostly mapped, but we will see how all of that goes here in the near future. Seymour I believe has so much potential, then again so does every area. I have experienced on my mission that there is no such thing as a dead area, only dead mindsets. So for both Seymour and Columbus it will be a pretty much fresh start... It will require much faith and prayer. I am positive we will see miracles in this branch in the near future. Speaking of which Carlos was baptized this last Saturday! That was amazing for me. I was able to confirm him on Sunday. I would not be surprised to see Bertin join the ranks here in the next month or so.

We took Elder Rowberry up to Indy yesterday. He should be home now with his family. I will be companion with Elder Blood till Wednesday and then we will go up to transfers and part out separate ways. I will miss him, he is a great missionary. Serving this last little bit with Elder Rowberry again was a great experience for me as well.

Elder Hjelm and Elder Rowberry came home today and they are both ex companions of Elder Paxman.  I encourage you to go to both of their homecomings! They are some of the greatest Elders I have met and I will hold them as friends for many years to come! I think you will really like both of those Elders!

A high school friend of Ben’s came to visit us last week.  We were so happy and surprised to see him. When I read the story of Aaron it brought tears to my eyes... He is a dear friend, I miss him greatly. I am sorry to hear he had to come home a little early for health reasons... It is so hard, harder than many people in this world will ever know. I haven't even expressed the fullness of it to you or dad. He is a great man and I hope to hear from him shortly! So did you give him the right email?? I hope so. I really would like to hear from him soon.

I am way excited to see the packages here soon!! I am also way excited to see the pictures of the trees dad built! I haven't gotten the package with daddy's letter in it. I am sure I will get it here soon. I did get the CD and it was Awesome!! I really liked it a lot. The baptism went amazing; it was a great experience for all. Also for Bertin who was there too, I think it will really help him to know for himself and be excited to go forward with the next step. I was able to confirm Carlos on Sunday which was also amazing. It is amazing to be able to be a direct conduit for the revelations and spirit of God when we are doing blessings. We actually have not really been teaching anyone else besides Bertin and LARCS members. Things are slow in Columbus, but I intend to change that real soon if God wills it to be so.

Did you start your meds?  How long did you actually go between cycles and do you feel it worked out? Remember our Dr. Appointment is this month. I started my anti-biotics just a few days ago. So things are good there. I have not gotten my blood drawn for this month, here soon hopefully. I went a full two months pretty much without taking the antibiotics and it seemed to be fine, so that is what I will probably be doing in the future. I am not sure when the appointment is... I will see if I can find the papers... I believe I have them somewhere... I have an insurance card I believe so I should be good there. If not I will let you know. My weight I think is doing well, I do not have a scale, so I might need to get one... I don't feel thicker, and I hope I don't really get thicker, maybe thicker with muscle!

How was your Thanksgiving? It sounds like thanksgiving was awesome! Thanksgiving was good here, we ate with Kimberland, Sister Kimberlands brother and also with the Nehrings, although Elder Rowberry and I were really sick so we did not eat. We were also down for the entire day and most of the next day it stunk really badly.

Anyway, now on to the next bit, my spiritual message. I would email more, but I do not have much time sorry. So this week I have learned many many things. One of which is how the Spirit allows us to do many MIGHTY things as missionaries. The one I saw this week was like I said with the experiences we had with the baptism and the confirmation of Carlos and the power of the Priesthood and the power of Revelation. When we give blessings it is an amazing opportunity to literally call down the powers of heaven for that persons behalf! What an amazing blessing it is to have! Modern day Revelation is one of the keys to the church being so true. For it is through the Revelation/Answer to a humble boy’s prayer that started the greatest era known to religion! It brought back the very Church of Jesus Christ with all of its magnificent glory! Not to mention there is still more to come! Each General Conference is direct revelation for the church, from prophets who hold that same authority! Personal revelation has helped me so many times in my life, as a missionary and as a normal man/boy. I have felt the love of God through his answers to my prayers, whenever, wherever, and however those answers come. I know God answers prayers and that He loves each of us and hears "every child's prayer" For he has heard mine and many others. Even that of that young uneducated farm boy from upstate New York, and Josephs answer, just like all of ours will be magnificent when it comes! Whether through the same or different means! Well Mom I love you all so much and hope that this is an amazing week for all of you! I will miss you during these seasons, but I look forward to the work and the glory of Our Father in Heaven! I love you so much and can't wait to hear from you next week!

Love, Elder Paxman

P.S. If you could put my name in the temple again it would be much appreciated... I have so many crazy emotions about the new adventures ahead it isn't even funny. Anyway love you!

P.P.S. I need a new camera this one now really only takes blurry pictures and has been having a freakout as of late, so it has been hard to get pictures of things lately! So that would be much appreciated!