The Temple was Amazing!!

 Elder Paxman and his compa Elder Markward.

 Elder Paxman and his compa and some others at the Louisville Kentucky Temple.

 Same Elders with the Branch President who took them, President Coffin.

Louisville, Kentucky Temple

Dear Mom,

I do have pictures from the Temple, but I don't have the things to attach them, so that will have to wait sorry... The temple was amazing, and I loved it as always, the new video was epic! It felt amazing to be back, and the whole event was really fun. Although the temple is tiny!! Hahaha or at least on the outside it looks like that. But, I am going to include more details about the temple later on in the email.

Do you eat at President Coffin’s house often?  We eat with the Coffins maybe once every other week.  I have eaten with them twice so far, and we probably will again once more before this transfer is over.

I received a picture of you via Elder Hjelms mom taken by Hermana Hernandez I think… Where was this?  I think you look good in it, not too skinny. We were at a dinner appointment with Maria De Los Angeles she is a really nice lady that feeds us every Sunday. Although I am glad I look good in the Pic because I felt terrible when it was taken, we went back to our house and I was way sick! So that really stunk.

How has your health been?  What about your energy level, you told daddy it was really low?  So overall my tummy is alright, I told Dad you guys could send out the vitamins and stuff.

(Ben’s sister Bailee graduated from College this week.) It sounds like the graduation thing went awesome! I am glad that she enjoyed it and that all went well. It is crazy to think that she has already graduated! That is so crazy... After this there is a ton of crazy adventures up ahead.

Oh just to let you know this letter might be a little shorter because we don't really have a p-day because of spending a day at the temple, so we have to be done with all our p-day stuff soon.

(I told Ben that news at home was that I had thrown out my back and his sister had to be grounded for typical teenage behavior..) It seems like you have thrown out your back more and more, be careful mom... Yeah Teenagers... Good thing I was never like that, bahahaha, if only... Hang in there mom we get better, well it might take her a few years yet to grow out of the teenage stuff, but hey I still get to miss a year of it so let’s look on the positive side bahahaha.

The weather here has been anything but severe.   It has rained once in the last few days and for maybe like 2 hours and not that hard.  It is cloudy today, but no rain yet. So the weather thing is not an issue it seems. When it does rain hard here it is beastly, but it is similar to when it rains hard in Utah.  I have been in worse in Utah.  The thing is here it is much more frequent and can be terrible. Driving isn't too bad although Indiana drivers are the worst in the entire nation I swear!! Yep it is still humid here and it will get worse as time goes on. I don't think I will ever miss mowing the lawn... EVER!! haha

The work is going about the same, nothing really new to report on.  The Diaz family is doing great, we are still teaching them and everything there is going good. My Spanish is alright and you are right about me being my own worst critic thing, I have always been that way though. Things are still going good with the companion. For transfers I am not sure what is going to happen, one of us is leaving for sure, maybe even both of us, so we will see. We pretty much know he is getting a new companion, but we don't know if it will be in this area or what... So he can't drive because he doesn't have all the licensing and stuff worked out, but he got a call from the car guy saying he needs to get his stuff ready because he just needs to. Now that either means he is training, which we don't think or that he is going with Elder Mancilla who also cannot drive because he got his privileges taken away. So he is freaking out poor guy. As for me and the whole transfer thing we have no idea what so ever. I am indifferent to go or stay, I would love to stay, I love the area and branch.  But I won't be torn apart if I leave either. On exchanges my companion met some new people, but we have not really met or started teaching any new people very consistently... I really like the complete Spanish branch it helps a lot with the language and I do understand everything!!  We don't really have a P-day today, because of the temple, and I am going to have to end my letter soon, so I can respond to others. I only have like 15 min left. The translation challenge is going alright, I have gotten behind a bit because we have had tons of meetings and stuff at the time I usually read, so I am trying to catch up a bit. I am actually really glad people are reading the blog I hope it is making a difference for someone out there. Oh quick side note, Get on Roo's case about that girl writing me!! I feel lonely, bahahaha, no not really but hey potentials mom come on!!

Ok so a little about the week. Mainly I want to talk about the temple. It was amazing the power of the spirit there is just amazing. I was fortunate to have the Celestial room to myself for about 5 min. This was an amazing experience. Although this week I have been thinking a lot on how we receive Revelation.  Especially out of D&C 8. I read that in the temple and it was really strong to me in that moment. I think it is amazing that we can pray to our heavenly father and receive answers on a daily basis and even more frequent than that!! It to me truly shows his love and His closeness to us. It is simply amazing how he can hear all of our prayers and answers them all when it is best for us. I think it is cool to ponder about when we pass on, how familiar His face will actually be, and all the memories that will come pouring back into our minds of times we walked and talked with our father and our Savior.

Well like I said this week’s letter is going to be shorter. But I love you all and hope you have a great week and that all goes well for everyone. You are all in my prayers constantly and I hope that this next week is filled with miracles and adventures even just the everyday ones, like no red lights or who knows. Well I love you and hope to hear from you soon. Although, next week will also be short because it will be transfer week p-day.

Love, your son, Elder Paxman

Not just Enduring, but Enduring Well!

Picture sent to me by a dear friend and shared to her by President Coffin, 

Elder Paxmans branch president

 Picture posted this past week via Face Book by Hermana T. 

Dear Mom,

(We recently took a trip to St. George and while there saw a few fairly large lizards, in the past this would have resulted in a catch and grab by Ben.  I asked if he would still chase lizards.) Hahaha, as far as the lizard thing goes... Do you really have to ask that question... Of course I would still go grab them and chase after them!!! Give me some credit hahahaha. I do remember the Gublers sending me letters, there is just one problem I don't have them anymore because they were in the big blue thingy I sent home. Also, yeah I am terrible at writing back by snail mail, but I want to get better so if they send me some letters I will try and get back to them.  Although one reason I feel bad to write back to people is because my hand-writing freakin sucks haha it does, especially when I am in a hurry.  

Hermana Selegna Torres is a member that I am tight with.  She is super cool, I knew her at the beginning of my mission. So accept her friend request, plus she will probably send you pictures of me through Facebook.

(I asked him where the picture of the 6 Elders shown above was taken and when.  I received it on Thursday, via a text from the branch president to another missionary momma that sent it to me.) We were at the Branch Presidents home, and it was I think this last Thursday. (I also mentioned that he is again looking a little skinny.) I probably am a little thin again, it has been a while since I got really sick, but my intestines are still not really normal, they still give me fits every once in a while. I have stopped the medicine for now. We are doing the 2 weeks on 2 weeks off thing, but I am keeping a pretty good record so the Doc and I can keep track of things and talk about it when I see him again.

(We are all doing the Book of Mormon Translation Challenge.  He is doing it in Spanish, which I told him was awesome!!) It is a little hard to do the challenge in Spanish, but I really like it, I don't know quite a few words, but I can deduce them with the sentence and words around it.  Another goal I have is to read the entire bible by the end of my mission.  Right now I am in Leviticus 18, it.... okay I am not going to lie, kind of stinks, like I need to know the 200 different ways to tell if some guy has leprosy! Goodness I can't wait till I can get out of that part of the bible, which is pretty much the first 5 books.

I am glad that people like to read the blog, it is kind of cool to think about for me. I just hope that people get to hopefully feel the spirit even just a little by the words that I write, especially since I am not the greatest at it.

Yes I was at the meeting; it is called Why I Believe.  It is a meeting where a few of the newly baptized people get to go up and tell their story and their testimony.  I really liked it.  They have it about once a month or once a transfer here in the city. We did get the Easter package and I did really enjoy it! I loved it, the socks where awesome. I liked the design ones, I have always wanted some. I did give my companion his Easter sack, and we didn't open our sacks till Easter and we did find the money. I really liked the Submarine tie bar, I thought it was super cool and I wore it that day to church. I loved the package overall and the candy was awesome! I still have most of it because I have been saving it.

This week has been good, but as before nothing much new has really gone on. We did find people to teach, so we will see how all of that pans out. We did also teach a few lessons and they went well.  We did get fed by Hermana Maria De Los Angelas and Vicky some members.  Oh Vicky is Hermana Selegna Torres by the way but we call her Vicky.  I am serving under Elder Cozzens he is my DL, he was my trainer, and it is cool to work with him again. We are getting along well.  So as far as the work goes not a whole lot is new, actually no investigators showed up to Church which was sad, but it was still really good. Jesus Diaz (now a member Hno. Diaz The father of the family that Elder Hjelm and I baptized) taught in Priesthood today and it was amazing to see how much he has progressed in about 5 months! He did an amazing job and testified of many things, it was a really cool experience for me, and gave me an opportunity to see the fruits of labor not only on the missionaries’ part, but also on the part of the convert. The Diaz family is doing really well; they just got called this last Sunday as Ward Missionaries so that was amazing to see.

So I do have some amazing news, but I will get to that near the end. First I am going to talk about my studies and stuff. So this week we have gotten some training and I have studied a little bit about Enduring to the End. Which seems to be a pretty simple principal, but when things come down to it, it can be the one we fail at the most. One of the big thoughts I have thought about, is how can I endure and what blessing have I seen in my life from enduring?  Well first off, I came to the conclusion in and of myself that it is not a matter of enduring, but enduring well!! All men can endure, but it is truly admirable when it is done well. I thought of times in my life where I felt I have endured well and times where I felt that I have failed in that aspect. One of the many experiences I came upon was that of being in the hospital, after the surgeries, especially the 4th one. I remember being told I had to walk every day. Now if you remember that was not an easy thing at the time.  It took 5 minutes to get unhooked from all the wires, then it would seem as though I would take 15 steps, be in too much pain, return to the bed get hooked back up, and still being in pain, doze off.  I do remember though something that Dad and I discussed several times and my own thoughts from that time in my life. The first "it could always be worse" Dad would say as he would have to lift his own crippled son out of the bed so he could watch him take those 15 agonizing steps, than to only return to where he/I was in utter pain laying almost lifeless in a bed. I learned though that many people have the thought, “it could always be worse”, but yet when they are in the act of suffering there attitude changes from that to "Yea it could be worse, but right now I feel like I am going through hell so who even cares if it could be worse... I don't know if I can even make those steps!!" I learned that although those 15 steps would be some of the hardest I would ever have to take, that each one meant the world to me, and they meant even more when I had a good attitude about it. People take 200 times that amount of steps daily and with ease, but yet in their hearts they are in a worse state than I was physically. Another thought of those 15 steps, I was able to go 15 steps further in my progression towards being somewhat normal, what if I had not taken those 15 small agonizing painful steps...? Well I would have been exactly where I was in the first place with little or no progression. Sadly a lesson I learned at an early age is that Suffering is something all too common in this life and often time’s necessary in this life for us to grow. How do we expect to take a hike in the mountains when at first we don't think of those 15 steps? Our lives change greatly I believe based on our Attitude, at times I have had a great attitude and other times not such a great one, but in this life attitude can make the difference.  So I have learned to smile more, be grateful, and look forward with faith, because if it wasn't for those 15 steps I wouldn't be where I am today, and so I am grateful for those "15 steps" or moments like it in my life. Even though at times we wish we didn't have to take them, after we have done so, we are always glad we did.  So yea that is what a lot of my thoughts have been about lately.

Well the good news that I have is that I am going to the Temple on Wednesday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited, I haven't been in a little over a year and I am so excited to go back!! So I am preparing for that, we are just going with the Branch President, but I am so excited. So yep that is about it for this week nothing too amazing but it was a good week none the less. Well I hope you all have a great week, and that all goes well. I love you so much and hope to hear from you soon.

Love, tu hijo, Elder Paxman  

It's the small details that have always changed my life....

 A picture posted to an Indiana Mission page I follow of Ben's district.
Ben is almost right in the middle, back row.

A picture I stole off of Elder Trenton Griffiths blog... from right to left starting at the top.

Elder Marse, Elder Bawden, Elder Griffiths, Elder Butterfield, Elder Simms and Elder Paxman.

These fun boys were all in the same primary, cubs together.  Now all serving missions!!

What a handsome group!

Dear Mom,

Okay, so first I will try and think of something for the missionary momma’s thing for you. Although I already have an idea for your mother’s day gift so we will see with that. Also how long do I have for the missionary momma’s thing? Because I will need time to think of a missionary mommas thing to do, I hope I can do something cool, but I will need time.

I am doing good this week, my health has been better. Scott Beckstead got re-married that is good, and I hope Kenny Graffs fiancé can get her visa and stuff, who knows maybe it will come sooner than they expect. I hope all is well with Eric Vance.  Damon Harker was always saying he wanted to go to Alaska, so maybe he is living the dream who knows; hopefully he is doing well though.

(I shared with him some fun experiences Brooklyn had at the Stake Dance and after this past weekend) Oh great.. so the boy stuff starts with the youngest.... Let us just say, that is something that I could wait another two years to have to deal with. So one of the missionaries that I knew out here just got married, now that was really really weird, anyway that was just a side note. Hopefully Brooklyn will be all mellowed out with the boy thing by the time I get home hahaha, but knowing my luck that is not going to be happening.... That is cool that she and Bai did a song together in church. Kevin Ford said he is anxiously awaiting a trio when I get home.... Yeeeaaa Right!!!!! He does write me about every week so it is good to hear from him.

Conference was amazing, and I got 450 views in 2 days holy cow!!!! hahaha that is really cool, although who is reading my blog...?? Well I am glad, as long as it might be helping someone out there, that is enough for me. Oh before I forget can people comment on blogs or how does that stuff even really work...??  Oh which reminds me you have to watch a video that is really cool called "Because of Him".  It is super cool we all got to watch it the other day and it is amazing, it only lasts like 3 min. but it is about Christ.   Yep me and the companion are doing well, every once in a while there is an issue but we resolve things pretty quick, so we get along well.

(I told him that since his companion is a good Spanish speaker he and his companion should make a goal to only use Spanish with each other.)That would be a good goal we will have to see how that goes. Also I am reading the Book of Mormon, I am actually doing the Translation Challenge in Spanish!!! I am in like second Nephi chapter 2, I think so that is going good. How is the challenge going for you?  I have found a lot of really good scriptures that I enjoy.

As of right now we have no plans for Easter Sunday, but we will see.  Although this week we are getting fed a lot, which lately it has only been once a week so that is nice. I also had Mole which is probably my favorite dish, so that was really good!!  I hope to learn how to make it and some other foods so I can cook some stuff for you guys when I get back. It is Spanish members that feed us.  We were fed homemade chicken nuggets this last time... They were good, oh wait actually we were fed Enchiladas which where amazing, the nuggets were before that, so we actually usually get fed one to two times a week.

I am excited for the Easter package, although I cannot think of anything that I need... Maybe two pairs of socks, some of mine are getting pretty thrashed, but I only need a few pairs. That bites about Grimm getting erased from the DVR, but at least you can still catch up online, it would really be bad if you couldn't catch up the rest of the way. I will definitely be watching Grimm when I get home... sounds good to me, I really liked it!! I was the one who got all of you hooked on to it after all!! BWAHAHA. I’m glad you are going to see Grandma and some of the family, I miss them, especially Calin, me and him are buds for life haha.  Could you just try and get Gma Paxman to email me, I hope she will. I also hope she is doing alright.

Anyway it is indeed crazy to think that I have less than a year left.  It is said that it becomes even more crazy when you hit single digits. So who knows we will find out, sadly. I love the mission so much, it is by far one of the harder things I have ever had to do in my life, but it is so very worth it. I am glad that you have enjoyed me serving, as have I, but I am still young and full of youth so we aren't on the homeward stretch yet.  When I only have 4 months left, okay, then this conversation will be a little more depressing and exciting all at the same time haha. Plus remember Uchtdorf's comment, this gospel is not filled with endings only Everlasting Beginnings, and that is one thing that I believe helps every missionary move forward, whether that is from area to area, or mission to home. The mission is going good though overall, the week has been good and nothing really new has happened, at least not that I can remember right now. Things are going pretty good with the investigators that we have right now, everything is kind of moving slowly so we are trying to find ways to really get this area going again and to think outside of the box, so if anyone has ideas feel free to shoot them my way. I am glad that you added my companion to your prayers, I feel as though he needs them right now, he is doing good though as far as I can tell.  (his grandmother just passed away) There is still a little bit of a wall there, but I am trying to break it down and he is trying too, so with time things will continue to get better. I just hope I can be the companion and help he needs right now. Today for P-day just the usual, going to the church to play sports and have fun, that is about it. We usually play Volleyball which I like, I am not great, but I at least feel like I can do alright.

Mom… no worries, we have a Tornado plan, although as pretty much as you said, it just consists of not dying! hahaha We will be alright though.  I have been thinking, it seems my life has been filled with little events that have shaped my history, even in the midst of the big situations it has always been the details that have changed my life. Well today to finish off, I just want to share a little bit about Jesus Christ seeing as this is Easter week. One thing that has been on my mind a lot lately, is how much I mean to him? I have come to the conclusion in my mind that if the Atonement could have saved only one of Heavenly Fathers children, that Christ would have done it. I truly believe that is how great his love is for us. Luckily though his Atonement is not for just one, but for all, for that is the invitation right, that all may come unto Christ and be perfected in him. Another thing that I have liked is in reading pieces of the Bible I have found a scripture, although I do not know where it is at in this moment. It is very short but it just talks about how the Savior went to the Garden of Gethsemane and pondered or stayed there for a while. I feel as though one thing he could have been doing is thinking of the great challenge he was soon to face there in that place. Christ is everything to us, and even though in the scriptures it states that we are less than the dust of the earth, we are indeed everything to Him! I am sure of it!! I believe one can feel this for themselves, by simply thinking of what it would take to go through what he did, and not just in these last moments of his life, but in his entire life.  The hardships, the trials, the scorn, the temptations, all of it, and then if we simply kneel down and humbly ask, with a sincere and earnest desire to know, not as a witness or proof or miracle or anything, but simply so that we can know and feel it for ourselves, which honestly I believe many of us already have and we just forget it. But that we can ask to feel the Love of Our Heavenly Father and his Beloved Son Jesus Christ has for us, and that it will be made known unto us!  It may be made known in a hundred different ways, or maybe only one way, but I know that we will feel of it! I mean just think, he made this world for us to come down and live on it, and be happy "Adam fell that men might be, and men ARE that they might have JOY". Joy is what is meant for us in this life, and in the life to come, and it is all made possible through Jesus Christ and all that he did and continues to do for us, because after all he is not among the dead, but among the living. Anyway that is what a lot of my thoughts and studies have been on.  I have already taken a lot of time and I still have to respond to a couple of people. So, I love you all very much and hope that this week is filled with hope and blessings for you and those around you. Have a great week and hope to hear from you soon.

Love,

Tu hijo Elder Paxman.    

Missionary Vacation of Awesome Revelation!!

Dear Mom,

Man I miss the classic food that we have for conference! We were talking about that today even haha. That is sad that Dad went alone, but I am glad that him and Eric hooked up there! (He is speaking about Priesthood Session) How is Eric doing by the way? How is all the gang? Scott? Kenny? Eric? Perkins? I was curious how they have all been. I loved conference as usual.  It is like a missionary vacation of awesome revelation! We did get food in between sessions. For the sessions we just watch them in English in the Chapel with a bunch of missionaries and members. I loved all the talks, but especially and as always all the ones in the Priesthood session, they were amazing. I also really enjoyed Eyring’s talk, he is one of my favorites to listen too. I just loved all of conference!!! Elder Holland’s talk reminded me of a movie that a recent convert showed us the preview too, and it looks way good.  It is called the Saratov Approach, It is about two missionaries in Russia that got abducted and beaten, it is a true story, although you probably shouldn't watch it... knowing you, you will have weird nightmares... hahaha.

(We have had quite a few auto break in’s in the last few weeks in our neighborhood, it’s teenage riffraff I’m pretty sure and the neighborhood is starting a neighborhood watch.) That sucks about the break-ins and stuff.  I always hated the stuff that goes on especially by the delinquents... So hopefully all will go well in the meeting and things that follow.

(I asked how it has been returning to an EXACT area he had already served in.  Same apartment and everything.)The coming back into an area is not very common at all on the mission, and so far I have not heard of that happening at all! So that is kind of awesome. We will keep the car I am sure, but I will probably have to ride a bike again sometime in my mission... Driving in the city is stressful there are a lot of morons out there hahaha, but it makes for good and funny stories. I really like my companion, he is a great guy with a good heart.  He is a crier like me, so I don't feel so alone on that front anymore haha. We get along well and I am sure we will get along better with even more time. We have investigators of course, but we are trying to find a lot more.  (I asked him if they still do language study, companion study and companion prayers.  Just because I don’t know and was curious.) Yes we do language study and also we do companion study every day. We go over lessons and do a bunch of stuff like that we also talk about things we have learned and know and all that kind of fun stuff. I like them they are fun for the most part. We do pray together.

(I always see reports on their weather and asked him about tornado plans etc.  And I had heard that they had flooding in the White River and wondered how close he was to it.) We have a few tornado plans, pretty much hide and pray hahahha, I have no idea. The White River is right next to the church and there hasn’t been that much extreme weather yet, but sometime here soon I could see that happening. Yes, the river you have seen in my pictures of Indy is the White River, I know not very white...  

Bahahahaha!! Thanks for sharing the story about Trenton buying whiskey, knowing Trenton it was probably him that made that mistake hahaha that is a really funny story. Do you remember my Friend Tyler Augenstien, he is serving in Florida near Disney World and he is baptizing Mickey Mouse!! I died of laughter. 

I had the follow up Doc appointment; he just changed the anti-biotic I take, so we will see how that goes. Also sadly I got really sick this last week after I started the new medicine, which sucked because it has been a while since that happened... (But not too alarming, it’s not uncommon for him to have problems with his stomach when he first starts new medicine before his body adjusts)

(I told him that as a family we started a new thing called The Book of Mormon Translation Challenge.  It is that the book of Mormon was translated from April 7^th to June 30^th 1829.  The challenge is that if it could be translated in that amount of time we could read it in that amount of time.  So we took the challenge and I said if he had time he could do it also.) I might try to read that much, but time wise we will have to see if I can do it, I read slower usually so I can get more out of each verse, and I’m already studying some other things.

(How long do you think you will serve in this area?  Any ideas?) I am thinking… well really I have no idea for how long I will be back in this area, we will see with time I guess.  Well so far not a whole lot new has gone on, we are just looking for new investigators, but it is funny because I swear I have knocked every house in this place so knocking them again is weird and fun. Not much new has happened though.  Conference and the Doc and being sick took up most of this week... So I will go to studies and such until next week haha sorry not much new like I said. So, one thing that I have and am going to start studying again is the Pre-earth life. I really enjoy this subject, I am not sure why, but I always have. Also, I like to study a lot about Christ and our relation to him. One thing that stuck out to me though this past week was with the story of when Christ drove all the merchants and stuff out of the temple.  I found in Jesus the Christ it elaborates on it as well, so I read that and also the story in the bible to get my own insights. One was that no one really tried to stop him or got angry at the moment, I think this is because they all deep down knew he was doing the right thing. Something came up like Vice cannot stand when the hand of Virtue is raised, I related this to a comment in a talk at conference, that talk about how there will always been opposition to Truth. This is so true. As a missionary we fight opposition daily, we are the front lines if you will, and that opposition can come from many different sources. One of the greatest sources of opposition is trials, but, another one that is more subtle but just as deadly is one’s self. I feel as though often times we are the only thing getting in the way of happiness in our own lives. Whether that is Pride, a lack of Confidence (my personal fall back) or simply a lack of desire, we all have those things inside us that make continuing on the straight and narrow more and more difficult as the days go by. Overall though these things can way us down and drag us back as chains of great weight or they can help us move forward. I have also found that after carrying a large load we often feel lighter than before, not because the load got lighter but because we got stronger.  So yea, it also related to Elder Bednar’s talk and how we can gain traction. One last side not before I end, Do you remember that night Damon and I got stuck in the Blizzard hahahaha, I do and Bednar’s story reminded me of that moment which is actually a pretty spiritual story, that I realized I have never shared with you. Oh well a tick for another day. Well I love you all and hope you have a great week! Stay warm in the wonderful weather..... And have fun!

Love, Elder Paxman