Guns and Roses

A few pictures from Christmas.  He didn't give me many details, except that some of them are of them messing around and quite funny.  

Dear Mom,

If you gave away a name tag do you need to order a few more? I had already ordered two more name tags so I gave her one of 4.

Have you had any further contact with the less active member you visited last Sunday? Is her husband a member as well?  Does he mind you visiting her? We have had some contact with her, and we are visiting her tomorrow.  Her husband is a non-member, so that in the future may open doors, but we are really focusing on her right now. He has not objected, but I am not sure if he really likes it. So I am hoping all goes well there.

I saw on your Facebook a picture of the Ramirez family and wondered if their little girls are they twins? Will they be going to the temple before transfers?  Will you be able to go? They are an amazing family, they do have twins. Erika and Milly, although Erika doesn't really like missionaries for some reason haha it is kind of funny. Mateo is their little boy and he is awesome!! He likes me so that is always fun. They are going to the temple on the 14th of February so most likely I will be going with them! So I am way excited for that!

Women mom, I do not know how your species thrives... I wanted to edit this out, but I just couldn’t, it was such a funny statement.  He said this in response to a story I told him. So you get a random sentence that means nothing to you but shows his funny side. 

We tried a new thing this weekend, crispy cheese circles.  Basically think pieces of baked cheese.  It was yummy we dipped it in soup.  I think you would love it.  I would probably just eat the crispy cheese and ditch the soup, I mean come on mom, let’s get real here. I eat cheese off the block. I am so down if you make those for when I get home. Also, try nachos with Doritos... all I can say is heart attacking awesomness!!

How are you feeling this past week since you finished the meds?  How is your weight? I have been pretty good this past week. Feeling decent, this morning I wasn't feeling that good, so hopefully that keeps going away. I am not sure about my weight... I haven't weighed myself in a long time. I will have to see one of these days. So I think things are good with that.

Are you staying busy?  I know you are struggling to find people to teach.  How are things? Staying busy, we are doing that, sometimes it is just with studies, but we do our best, and we try to improve where we are lacking. We have found a few new people. Judy, I am not sure if I told you about her, and another Rodriguez family is a referral we got that we hope to contact here soon. I have not gotten too discouraged, it is hard sometimes to stay on key and focused when results are few, but we will go on. Many times this happens in our lives I think, so it is a good prep, plus helps me become stronger.    

How is your companion?  Still doing well?  His training is almost over and he will be moving on?  Do you feel you have trained him well? I think he is adjusting well. I have been sure to really take it slow with him and try and do my best. He is a good person, and has a good heart. I know he will do well if he keeps it up. The hard part comes in about six months it seems. Yea I will finish training him on the 24th of Feb. So hopefully we can finish out strong and keep on going. After that I will only have 3 transfers left in the mission... I do not like that thought. I have really enjoyed serving with him, I think we will be friends after the mission, although that will still be a long ways off for him. He is a good missionary and he can do what the Lord needs of him, even if it seems a little hard at times. I have faith in him. I just hope I have done all I can to help him on the journey when all is said and done... I am not perfect, and both he and I know that, but as long as we try our best, we cannot ask more. Oh before I move on, a funny thing about my companion, he consumes more coke, mountain dew, and cereal than anyone I have ever met I think haha. I always give him a hard time for it.

Do you still do the food truck service project? We do, but this last time we could not go because we had lessons and other things to do.  So hopefully this next month we can. 

How was church this week? Church was good, still weird to get out at 5 p.m. Funny story, I had some fruit snacks in my bag, and little Mateo was wandering about the other week. So I whipped them out and all I had to do was crinkle the bag and he came running, haha he is awesome!

It’s your 21^st Birthday in a few weeks. Do you want/need anything specific for your birthday?  I know I am getting freaking old!! 21 that just sounds kind of depressing.... oh well, another one bites the dust. As far as anything for my birthday... I am not sure right now, I will think about it over this next week and email any ideas next week.

So stories of the week. One that makes me chuckle is the fact that my compo really likes heavy metal music, which I do not. Although, I do like classic rock, so we catch ourselves singing songs every once in a while. Lately it has been some Guns n' Roses and a few by Queen, and other hits of the 80's and that time period hahaha. Probably not appropriate for missionaries huh.

One fun story is we have been hanging out with a member named Eddie he is 32 single and a bro! We are helping him with some things, but we also just have fun and share stories and such. It is awesome. We actually had an amazingly spiritual lesson with him the other day. It also is what my spiritual thought will be on today.

So as far as the spiritual thought goes. I have been thinking a lot about different choices we make, some good, some bad, some stupid and some awesome. Whatever the choice is, we have to live by the consequences. We are to try our best in all we can, including making decisions. We make decisions for different reasons. Although I want to talk about how we can be happy with the decision we have made. Sometimes we make stupid decisions. (Sadly these are some of my funniest and fondest memories). Men are that they might have Joy right. So we are to keep working even when we make a bad decision. I have learned that at times we may mess up, and that stinks honestly, but it is okay. Live with the decision you made, be happy that you have the opportunity to learn from it and improve. Now of course that doesn't mean throwing your life away and run around screaming I am improving.... One you would make a fool of yourself, and two, would probably end up in some every bad situation. I remember a time once when I had to make a huge decision. I couldn't sleep, couldn't eat or anything. I remember some council I received from a few different people, one, being Dad, who has always known what to say to help me along. When it comes to big decisions in our lives we have to be happy with whatever choice we make, for if we are not happy in the choice, how can we be happy with the actions that follow. I am a firm believer that we are free to act for ourselves, and that it is one of God's greatest gifts to us. In life we are dealt and hand and we can only choose how to play the cards. The nice thing is if you try your best even if you fail, you always seem to get another set of cards. I know that through our choices we can truly be happy, or we can truly be miserable. We make ourselves who we wish to be. A man is built by the forges of internal character and choice, not the external forces of our circumstances. I have found this to be true in my life. Also that the only one who can judge how you have lived your life is you. Those who mock and scorn have not lived it, and they may never experience something like it. Although there is one who did. He knows us perfectly, because I believe He lived our lives, every possible outcome there could be. I am not the smartest, or the bravest, or the best looking (definitely not that one). But there are some things I know and one I wish to express is that the Atonement of Jesus Christ was wrought for YOU!!!!!! Yes you not the dude next to you. It is for me as well, I struggle to remember that sometimes. As we all do I feel. Sometimes we see how our decisions determine our future, but we forget that it is all of them, the bad and the good, that determine who we are as people. This is determined now, we must look inside ourselves at times and judge who we are, at that moment, not thinking yesterday I did this or tomorrow I will do this. But who we are now, and if it isn't who we want to be, and then change, that is the beauty of it all. Decisions determine who we are, not just where we are going.

Well I must get going; we are having a FHE tonight with some members. I hope that these letters help someone, and if not, well, at least they have helped me in writing down my thoughts. Well I love you so much and hope you have an amazing week! Thank you for your prayers, they are always a help when I am in need.

Today not tomorrow is what determines who you will become! 

Love, Your son, Elder Paxman

Hiccups

Dear Family,

Wow that is a lot of rain... I am glad though, dad said he thought there might be a lot of fires because of the lack in moisture. I wrote and thanked Grandma and Grandpa P for the things that they mailed me and I did get their package, so that was good and awesome. I haven’t gotten your package yet so maybe tomorrow or later today.

I didn't know about your foot, be careful and make sure you don't push it, you will have to let me know how that goes, hopefully everything is good and they just give you some meds or something. That is sad to hear about Rachel, which reminds me my companion wants to see a picture of her..... He is a goober. Well I hope all goes well with her medical stuff, believe me I know how that is and it isn't easy in the slightest, but it is all worth it in the long run. I will continue to keep her in my prayers. I don’t know if maybe you could also get her e-mail address for me, I would like to write her a quick something one of these p-days.

Totally let the boys play the PS3 if they wish hahaha, supposedly it will be pretty outdated in about a year, some little member boy was telling me how excited he was for the new one haha, it made me laugh. Also my guess is I won't have a lot of time to really use it that much when I get home, I will want to be in the mountains, on dates, working, college, traveling and all that other crazy stuff. But don’t give it a way, It is still something fun with friends.

(I told him I will start making lists of movies that come out and rating them so when he gets home he will know what he needs to see and what he doesn't)  Definitely do that with movies and music as well because I will need a list when I get home. I have been told of some good ones by members that they really liked.

I do not know how big our new area is exactly (miles wise) still freakishly big.  We still share a car with the Elders we split the area with which is nice. We still might get a car because of the size of the area. The new investigator field is going badly actually, so this week we are taking some different tactics to hopefully get a lot better out come than just knocking doors. Nope, pretty much none of the new elders and sisters are Spanish speaking.  We have about 20 Spanish speaking missionaries here in Indiana and that is only because of Visa waiters.  When they all leave we will have about 14.  All lot of our new missionaries have been sisters now, it is kind of weird.  One of the new sisters is from Texas the Fortworth area I guess, so that was cool. Another just got here that I went to college with, so that was fun to see and talk to her. My companion and I are still getting along very well, so that is good.

Sister Ivonne and Bro. Jesus came to church again and we meet with them tonight to see what they felt about it,  so that is going to be very good. I hope. We meet with them usually about twice a week which is what we try to do with all of our more solid investigators.  (I asked him the protocol of baptizing investigators who wish to be baptized.  Like how many lessons etc.)We have to teach them all of the basics and then they have to pass the interview, come to church 3 times and then if they wish and know it is true become baptized.

Health has been more or less good, still some hiccups  here and there but overall pretty good.  So we will see how that goes.

We get don’t get fed by the members because the members all now live on the other elders side of the new division and not ours, so sometimes they feed all four of us but usually just the two of them. My weight is staying the same I think or maybe gained a little, but I haven’t had a chance to weigh myself and see.

Supposedly the leaves turn here too, but I don’t know and also it is still humid and hot!! Yesterday it was 93 and very humid...  I read the scriptures everyday and right now I am in Alma 57 I believe, which is talking about some of my favorite stories with the Army of Heleman, and so on. Other than that not much new is going on in the mission.  We have an 8 hour long Zone Conference coming up this week which is unusual, but I am excited for it. I really enjoy the scripture you sent me this week it is one of my favorites in the Bible, especially after Elder Holland’s talk on it. Well not much else new is going on here just continuing working and pushing forward with faith everyday.   I turn 6 months old in 4 days!!!!!!! That is a little freaky, well I love you all so much and I can’t wait to hear from you next week and try out the package.

Love, Elder Paxman 

P.S.  Oh also the hiccups aren't actual hiccups, thought I should probably clarify that haha.