The Gleaners Food Truck and a Gross Cat

 Elder Paxman Snow Selfie

 Elder Paxman and Elder Blood 

 He titled this "Gross"

Missionaries take the weirdest pictures. 

 Preparing for Gleaners food truck service.

Dear Mom,

I agree with Dad, you can’t turn on the Christmas lights till after Thanksgiving! I am glad that the lights turned out so great though!! I am way excited for Christmas!!! Although, I realized that shortly thereafter I will only have six months left on the mission!!! Which kind of scares me, the time has gone by super-fast. I think I will probably stay in this area of Columbus or Seymour for this next transfer; it depends on a couple things. So we will see what happens. This transfer is the first big shipment to go home, it is crazy. Just those three Elder Rowberry, Elder Hjelm and Elder Gooledge are the Spanish that will be leaving.  (he has been companions with all 3) We are supposed to get a few more like 4 or so here in the next little bit. After this next transfer the mission will be reduced down to 200 or so I believe.  We will get fewer new missionaries than are going home. The rumor is there will be no new Spanish missionaries this transfer, but 4 the next one. I think we will at least get one. I hope so, but we will see. I am hoping to go to Seymour full time, but I will do whatever I am called to do. Although, as I said  I believe I will be staying in one of these two areas.

It is true we teach the Doctrine, but we are not the true teachers. The Spirit will testify of truth so it is our job to allow him to be present, and do all we can to allow him to testify through us or with us or whatever it may be, so that the person may feel of its convincing power.

Any snow? We have had one good snow fall of about an inch or so and it stayed for about oh 3 days, and it was then just super cold. Now it is really rainy and in the 50's which is supposed to change here in not too long.

Wow the first Great Grand baby. I heard from Grandma that is kind of weird I am not going to lie... Bai and Kyle better wait to pop out a small one till I get home. Well it is too late anyway, she can be preggers before I come home, but no baby!! Even though it would be freaking weird to see Bai with a baby belly.... No thank you!! Not till later!

The work has been slow to say the truth. Although, Carlos will be getting baptized this Saturday!!!! This is awesome! I will be doing the Confirmation in church on the 30th!! I am so excited I love being able to participate in things like that. Especially giving of the Holy Ghost, it is so powerful to be able to give them such a great gift from Our Father in Heaven! As far as exciting lessons we watched JSPR with Bertin, because we found that his big concern was if Joseph Smith was really a Prophet. So we watched it and he loved it! So we have a lesson with him tomorrow, and I am really hoping that we can help him along. He is so close mom, I can feel it, we are just waiting for that day when it finally all clicks together. We have not found anyone new to teach this week though. We are hoping and going to change that though if the Lord be willing in the next few days! Things are going really good with the comps. I really like Elder Rowberry, hopefully those feelings are reciprocal, and Elder Blood is awesome too. I am closer to Rowberry by far, I’m sure because of serving briefly together before, but I am really working on trying to get along and be a good friend to all missionaries, especially my companions.

I received pictures from a member of you doing service on a food truck.  What is this? The Gleaners food truck, we do it once a month. It is really cool. It was my first time this last week. It is for those who are less fortunate and a way for them to get food. I am not sure how it all works exactly, but it was an awesome service we got to do. I will comment on a story from that at the end of the letter.

In the pictures of the food truck you were wearing your thermals and shorts; do your jeans not fit? Also in the picture you are looking fit and healthy. Yes my jeans fit, but since I am living out of both apartments, they were down in Seymour. So I just wore what I had, it was around the high twenties that day... I actually stayed rather warm. I didn't take a hoodie for that event, although yes I do have one. haha The looking really fit I am sure comes with the outfit hahaha. I am doing alright health wise anyway. I got really sick this last week which was not fun, and I haven't felt too great since. Although I will start my antibiotics on December 1st so that is not far off. So hopefully that gets better, the big thing is there is now a cough going around, and I think I am starting to catch it. Also my appetite is gone again, so hopefully it will come back, I still eat, just not as much as usual. I will work on the blood draw thing.

Have you done any other service this past week besides the food truck? Not really any other service besides the food truck. Although this week it looks like we will be building a lean to like thing for a member. We will see.

You said you sleep on the couch, is this still true and I thought you were supposed to all sleep in the same room how does that work? I do still sleep on the couch, but we moved it into the same room. Except in Seymour, I sleep on the couch, and it is in the other room. So we just keep the doors open and such. We stay in Seymour usually one or two nights, so not too many. 

The three of us get into some fun times. One of which is we were making cookies at a members house, and there oven is way jacked up. So we burnt several cookies and made their house smell terrible. We did get some good cookies out of it though. So while we are there, we keep hearing this pounding, well shortly after someone knocks on the front door. It is Hermana Soares she is another member that lives next door to the Ramirez who we were visiting. She comes in and says she is locked out and doesn't have a phone because she sent it to get fixed. Her husband was home, but not answering the door. So after some discussion, it is concluded, we decide that I will break into their house and let her in. Great plan right, let Elder Paxman break in and open the door for you, oh one problem the husband is inside, doing who knows what and he might see me and put a freaking cap in my butt!! So I am like okay adventure right!!? So I walk out front whip out a card and start working on the door, I am just about to get it, when they come out and say that they got a hold of the husband and he is coming to let her in now. So in the long run I did not break into a member’s home, almost, but not quite. So it was kind of funny and a fun night overall.

This week’s more spiritual thought comes from the Gleaners truck. So we were there early and were sitting inside this building talking together as missionaries. Well this older fellow starts talking to me and another missionary, asking us where we are from and so forth. He states that he had a few good friends who served missions and so forth. So after we have some small chat, the other Elder leaves and I start talking to him. It turns out he was a Green Beret sniper for 23 years. He speaks over 5 languages and has been called on military missions in over like 35 nations. He was awesome. Well after a lot of discussion we come around to the topic of Will. More specifically one’s own will. We were talking and he said it is sad in this rising generation, that many young people do not have the personal drive to do things anymore. I agreed with him, it is sad, but true, many of the young people today do not have the mental drive or fortitude to do many things in this life. He talked very powerfully about the word Can't. He said that it should be abolished from the English language. He said many people before they even start or once they hit hard times they say "I can't do it!" He said once you say this, you have already lost. You might as well have added 500 pounds to your pack on the journey in life. It was great for me to hear, because often times I think I doubt myself too much. I am very hard on myself, as you well know. So hearing this was a great help for me. He said it is not wrong if you need help to get things done, but saying you can't do something is making it seem impossible. I remember as a kid dad always telling me that I could do whatever I put my mind to. I felt that same resounding determination in this older man's voice. We must believe in ourselves, we are of great worth and potential. We can do anything that is in God's will for us, and that we strive and fight for. This life is fought in the everyday battles of one’s mind. You determine whether you win or lose, you determine if it’s a good day or not, you determine your own destiny! I have come to know this without a doubt. Agency is indeed one of the greatest gifts we have been given of God.

Well, this has been a really long letter. So I love you all so much and hope that things are going great back home. Remember never to doubt yourself, for He will help, and we are engineered for eternal greatness! I hope you have a great week and I can't wait to hear from you again soon. My prayers are always with you.

Love, Elder Paxman