Well done thou good and faithful servant...

You can't have a welcome home without signs and balloons!!  So we prepped the yard.  Brooklyn even broke out the sidewalk chalk and decorated!

 I thought she did a pretty good job drawing Indiana!!

 We had to get creative with short notice.  Thank goodness for butcher paper and sidewalk chalk!!

 Grandma, the Girls and I waited on pins and needles at the bottom of the escalator!!

Daddy and Grandpa were a little more patient.... 

From the time the screen says his flight has arrived... it just takes forever.

Everyone that comes down that escalator before him, says "he's coming" with big smiles! 

Then we FINALLY caught our first view of him... gave a big cheer and then my waterworks started

Daddy getting his first appearance on video...

 Look at that Handsome Missionary!!

 Time for "The Hugs"

I'm 90% sure I was saying,  "Let me have a look at you, your so skinny and pale.."

 Daddy's turn

Bailee...

Brooklyn...

Grandma... Grandpa had a hug too, but he had crazy eyes in the pic, so I saved it. ;)

So fun to be reunited after 14 months!!

 He's Home!

Our stake has a tradition that I did not know about...

When the missionary meets with the Stake President and the missionary is released 

the Mom removes the Missionary's name tag.

Can I just say I did not want to be the one to do this..

He didn't want it removed, he wants to keep serving, so it was a bittersweet moment.

We both shed a few tears...

Well done thou good and faithful servant!!!

Ben has been continuing to undergo further tests and treatments.  He is doing much better and his blood levels are improving.  It's not going to be a quick fix, but it's moving along.  He has such a strong desire to return and finish out his mission in Indiana, if it's the Lord's will, it will happen.  If it's not, he served a great mission, he served with honor, he was a great missionary,  and he touched and changes many lives, including his own!!

So unless the Lord sees fit to return "Elder Paxman to Indiana" this part of Elder Paxman's life and this blog are complete.

These next two photos were taken on a small (very small) hike he and his dad went on the past Saturday May 29.  It is a place overlooking the Draper Temple.  Ben has been having cabin fever and wanted to get out for a bit.  As you can see he is looking a little better every day! Still skinny and still pale, but we're working on it!!  Continued prayers, love and support are always welcome!!

*This entire blog post was actually written 2 1/2 weeks after he came home, that's how I could add these last two pictures of him. 

The Lord's answers will be given...

Elder Paxman in the Hospital.

He has always been a good patient.  

He never complains and always tries have a good attitude.

Even when his mission is disrupted by health issues.

"Patience is not the ability to wait but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting"

 Elder Paxman spent 4 days in the hospital in Indiana and had a variety of tests.  None of the tests could determine what had caused his bleeding, his low blood counts and his low iron.

Due to the fact that he needs more tests and to recover his blood levels he will be coming home from his mission on May 17th with an honorable medical release.  

He had so many people help him, visit him and care for him.  The Elders of the White River areas, His companion Elder Rowberry, The Coffin family, especially President Coffin and Sister Steadman the mission nurse!  They were all amazing and he couldn't have done it without them.

He is so sad to be leaving and would love to stay in Indiana and continue to serve, but realizes he needs to come home and get well.

After his hospital stay he was released to the care of his companion for a few days to wrap up some things and to pack.

Elder Paxman and Elder Rowberry

 Elder Paxman, Elder Rowberry and the Coffins.

"We may not know why, or how The Lord's answers will be given, But in his time and his way, His Answers WILL COME!!"  ~Elder Robert D. Hales

"If we have faith in Jesus Christ, the hardest as well as the easiest times in life can be a blessing."

Not on the mission bucket list....

First I do not have a letter to share from Elder Paxman today.   I do have some pictures from our Mother's Day face time.  He was able to face time us from the home of the Diaz family who he baptized along with his companion in December.  Elder Paxman loves this family so much and they love him.  They shared with us, their conversion story, how the missionaries changed their lives and how Elder Paxman is a blessing to them. That because of the missionaries and the gospel that they shared the Diaz family is now a real family!  The thanked us for the sacrifice of giving up our son for a few years, that he may come to Indiana and be guided to find them and touch their lives.  They also stated that he is like their son and brother.  They will remember and be friends with him always.  They expressed their love for him, the gospel and for us as parents who raised a son that could bring the spirit into their home.  It was nothing short of amazing!! Tears were flowing by all, the Diaz family, Elder Paxman and us.  We took some screen shots, sorry they are blurry.

Now because this is his mission blog and I endeavor to document all the mission experiences he is having I will have to post the reason  I did not receive email today.

Elder Paxman has been admitted into the Indiana University Hospital.  He has been feeling quite weak the last week or so and his color has become very pasty.  It was also discovered that he is having some bleeding either from his stomach or his intestines somewhere.  Due to this blood loss his hemoglobin is only at an 6 and should be closer to 14. He is not feeling sick, not in pain and in good spirits. His only complaint was having a HUGE IV placed in his arm to receive blood and IV fluids.  Also he stated that this "was not part of his mission bucket list"!  He will spend the night in the hospital and tomorrow have an Endoscopy done to see if they can locate where the bleeding is coming from.  He has many people looking out for him and checking on him.  Even though he is away from home... He is not Alone!

Prayers would be great at this time!

I wanted to leave you with a piece of his testimony...he bore it in Spanish on Mothers Day but I of course am challenged and can't get the video to upload.  I will try again later. 

Tomorrows battles are easier won...

Dear Mom,

Ha ha funny enough we actually do not have any parties or anything set up for Cinco De Mayo... So who knows?  We did get invited to one, but we have a lesson planned, so if the lesson cancels or something we are going to go.

As far as transfers go, I am staying and my companion is leaving. I will be getting a new companion and I have three options/ideas of who it will be. I will also put them in what I think the likeliness of it happening is. I think it will be Elder Rowberry, Elder Thurston, or Elder Mancilla. We will see who I end up with.

(We received a cute picture of Elder Paxman with a little Chihuahua and I asked him about it, and I asked if he was still taking a lot of pictures.) I am glad you liked the pictures of me with the puppy.  Yes it is her dog and it is adorable!! hahaha Mom you are more emotional than me which is hard to get sometimes. Although, I have found I am not as emotional as I used to be or mainly just different things trigger my emotions now. I am glad you liked the picture. My camera is still working, it’s a little beat up around the edges but it still works. I have been taking a few, but Elder Markward (my companion) doesn't like pictures so I haven't been taking as many, but there are a few on there. I will probably be sending my SD card home here soon.

(I sent him pictures of our outing to the Tulip Festival and told him about what a fun family outing it was.) That sounds like a really fun outing with the family and one we will have to do when I get home. Also that is a freaking ton of flowers.

I am sad to hear about Rachel. I hope all goes well for her with her health and she can continue to do whatever the Lord has in store for her... I hope all goes well with her future plans, tell her I say Hi when you see her and that she can always email me if she wants.

Well they haven't let us know anything about the calls for mother’s day, so I will let you know the night before as usual.  But I really have no idea on details right now. We have church from 11-2 so my guess is it will probably be at night time. So I will let you know how that goes when the time comes.

The work this last week has been really good, we taught quite a few lessons.  We were able to get some less actives to church which was amazing. We actually keep track of how many lessons we teach in a week and this week was 21 which is really quite good for our area. When we are not teaching we go door to door or stop by formers or Less-actives.  We can keep busy doing service or a variety of things.  Usually it is going by formers homes and potentials and stuff more than going door to door. Overall we are pretty busy.  We never have down time except the breaks that are planned, but most of the time we just eat and sleep during those. One cool thing that happened was a less-active got up and bore his testimony and it was an amazing testimony!!  It was very strong and the spirit was amazing. So that was great for him and he has been coming for the last 2 weeks and I believe he will keep coming as long as we get him a ride, so that was awesome. We are going to hopefully be finding some families or something like that we can work with, because right now we are not teaching any families and I find that the gospel is better accepted in families and I love teaching families anyway. Yea Spanish is rough but I am still going along and it gets better weekly so that is good. Also I am behind on my Book of Mormon challenge reading because in Spanish you have to read like 9 pages a day, so it has been rough.

(What will you be doing for p-day, anything fun?) We will be playing sports and stuff as usual which is always fun.  My health has been hanging in there I haven't gotten sick really, I still feel weak sometimes, but for the most part good.  I have a little cold I am trying to shake, but it isn't too bad. I go back to the doctor in June so not for about a month. (I asked about his weight because I thought he was looking a little thin again) Actually we don't have a scale so I have not been monitoring my weight, my guess is probably around 170's but I have no idea without a scale.

Oh one other amazing thing is Drew was down here on Sunday and I got to see him before church, that was amazing and he is doing really well, so that was really nice for me to see him.

This week from my studies, I always study a Christ-like attribute from Chapter 6 in Preach my Gospel every Transfer and this upcoming transfer is going to be between two of them and I haven't decided yet.  It is either going to be Humility or Faith. So I have been studying about those a lot. It was interesting, I was reading about Faith and it was talking about how even though the Diligent seeker can obtain faith it is still a divine gift from God.  That is how some people have the spiritual gift of faith. Also we can strengthen our faith by hearing others testimonies, which was something I already knew. But it made me think about how many times I had slept during fast and testimony meeting as a youth at church back home and I felt a little guilty haha. One part that I really liked is that Faith is a principle of power and God works by power and that he works through our faith to perform miracles, but how often times our faith needs to be tried and put to the test. To me it reminds me of the tempering of steel and how it must go under intense heat and pressure to become as strong as it can be, because it helps get out all the impurities. I feel this is the same with us, often times we are put through hard moments to help get the imperfections out of us, in a way and manner that is most beneficial to us, and of course at times very trying. I feel as though I have been through many of those moments in my life and am continuing to have them. They are not always big events sometimes they are small things within the caverns of our mind, the small day to day thoughts and actions that are almost rote to us. We fight the battle in our minds on a daily basis of Faith versus doubt, or Hope versus Despair and even though sometimes it is hard to pick the good side, it always pans out for our greatest benefit in the end, because the higher the heat and greater the pressure the better the steel, and when we have better steel, tomorrows "battles" are easier won, because we are better equipped.  These are just some thoughts I had as I studied this past week.

Well I have taken a lot of time and have to get going soon. Well I love you so very much and hope that all continues to go well back home, and I will be giving you a call this Saturday in the night probably to let you know about the details.  It  will only be for like 5 min though just to set up the Mother’s day stuff. So I love you mom and hope you have a great week.

Love, Elder Paxman