Drew and I at his baptism last Saturday!
Dear Mom,
Ok, so I have no idea where to start because I was kind of
laughing throughout the letter and yet thinking of all the fun. So here goes
nothin. First my health has been alright, I got a little sick not too long ago,
but all is going fairly well. (This
letter will probably require a lot of my little explanations, as he went right
through my letter and addressed each topic I wrote about.)
(I attended a Missionary Mommas Retreat this past weekend and
told him all about the fun, also there were 16 moms of missionaries from
Indianapolis in attendance.) 16 Indy moms, goodness gracious! They must come from all over
because Elder Hjelm and Elder Stones moms are from Idaho and Colorado, so that must be
crazy. Elder VanHaren and I are tight for a couple reasons, one is because he is my
district leader, and two is because he has a bucket list, which is awesome
because I have one too. Another reason is because I was there when he came out,
now we, our whole district is tight, and we are bro's and have some pretty freaking
awesome adventures. Overall your retreat sounds like an amazing experience with
you and the other moms. (I also found out
this week that his mission has a facebook page where the mission posts pictures
etc.) I thought you knew that our
mission had a Facebook page, although we aren't really allowed to look at it so
I have no idea how it is, but you will have to let me know.
(I told him we are having a few difficulties with our foreign
exchange student) I am sorry that things
are not going too well with Regina, hopefully things will come around, just
keep working with her. I guess I really
have no idea, luckily the parenting thing is not in my job description at the
moment haha. (We have been having
missionary lessons in our home for about the past month with our foreign
exchange student and I told him how we are loving the experience) I am glad
you are seeing the Joy working with the missionaries, keep it up, we as
missionaries love it when we have families to work with that are super cool. Do
the missionaries have a lot of member appointments there in Utah? I would
imagine? Here in my area not so much, but back in Utah probably tons.
(His sister Brooklyn placed first in Region Inspirations in
Photography and gets to move on to State)That is amazing for Brooklyn that she is able to do all that
with her photos. I want to see it one of
these days. That is also cool that her show is enjoyable for her, there is a
part of me that wants to get back into all that singing and such... But who
knows. I hope Brooklyn will do well in State this year with her photos.
(I explained that in my calling right now we are getting into
the thick of planning youth conference) Youth Conference, it is crazy to think that I never had the
opportunity to go to those. L I think I actually went to one overall, Trek. (I told
him that I had visited with a family in our ward that he used to Home Teach and
that they said they just love him.) Of course they love me.... Well come on
I am me...
(So apparently Ben lost some sort of bet to his companion and
needed the email address of a girl he knew in high school. I was asked to get it from her via
facebook. I then told him, bet or no bet…
do not embarrass yourself.) Ok yea I get your point but whatever. Okay Mom I will not make an idiot of myself...
Come on now, give me some respect, I mean I am absolutely terrible with girls
so if I make a fool of myself it will not be because of a bet, it will be
because I am a missionary and am super awkward around girls hahaha. Although I
do have to say you know me too well mom. Also that is cool that Bai gets to
play her understudy role in the show that should be fun for her.
So the work this past week has been really good, we have been
working a lot on LARCS as well as trying to find new people, sadly on those
fronts nothing really panned out... But we did get an investigator who has been
investigating for a while named Donald to get on a Baptismal date, which he is really
excited for. It is set for the 27th of
April. So if I stay here for another transfer, I will be here for it. Other
than that not a ton has happened on that phase of the work, we are just
continuing to try and find people to teach so hopefully here soon we can do
that.
Now for the Baptism, we had the baptism this last Saturday and
it was really good! My part in it was
the confirmation, which was a really good experience for me, and even more so
for him. He and I are really tight
seeing as my companion and I found him and taught him and baptized him. He is pretty chill all the way around I would
say. I am so happy for him!!
I am still loving the area a lot, and we did try a new town on
the borders called Delphi. We didn't have a lot of luck there, but we were only
there for a little bit of time. It is okay, we will continue to try and
get by there every once in a while. My Spanish is doing alright. It is holding in
there, I am really trying to work on it in my studies, this is nice because it
will help me to get used to what it really feels like when I will be home and
not be able to speak it on an everyday basis. (I sent him the little spiritual message that I heard in Music and the
Spoken Word this weekend) I liked the little message at the end of the
music and the spoken word. Although, it would have been cool for you to see Elder
Holland, I would have been so jealous! Well maybe next time.
Anyway other than that this week has been really good. One thing
I have realized is that I have a lot of pretty awesome stories or at least that
is what a lot of people tell me, so that is cool because I have always wanted
them. Anyway as far as studies go there was something that I noticed that I
really enjoyed. It is in Preach my gospel at the end of chapter 8 in the study
and applications part. It talks about how it wants you to think of the final
day in the mission and what you want to say you have become, what you want
people to notice is different about you, and also how do you want to have
changed. So overall it was really cool to see and to think about. It makes me realize how long I have really been out and the blessings I have seen and the challenges I have had. This
week we talked with a lot of people about challenges and I personally like
talking about this topic because it allows us to see the hand of God more in
our lives. One thing that stood out to me was someone said that sometimes extra
ordinary spirits have a harder time in this life so they may learn and grow. Then we went into Elder Nelsons talk on this
subject, it is from the talk he gave last conference, and I really love that
talk a lot. I feel as though I can
connect with it exceptionally well. You should all read it!! One more thought
before I end, it was that of remembering those days of baptisms. When Drew was baptized it reminded me of all
the baptisms I have seen in my life and the ones I have been a part of, which
makes it even more interesting. We learn
something or feel something from all of them and I realized that I have seen
many in my short 20 years and am grateful for that. Well next email I am going to talk a little
about the feelings I’m having of what it is like to be a year old.
Anyway I have taken a
long time and I still have to email other people. Well I love you all so much
and am grateful for the prayers that us missionaries receive on an hourly
basis. I hope you have a great week and that all goes well. Love you all
and hope to hear from you soon.
Love, tu hijo Elder
Paxman
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