Cheetahs and Another Baptism!

From: Kendall Payne
Date: 2015-02-16 2:23 AM
To: Luana Payne;
Subject:

Hey family!

(personal notes to family)…

So now that i have time to email im going to catch you up on some things that have been happening these past few weeks.

Two weeks ago our zone went to something called cheetah experience. And what we were able to do was go into some cages and have some association with little baby cheetahs and other african cats which was pretty cool. One thing that surprised me though was in this giant compound of animals they had some wolves from canada which i thought was very awesome. They were pretty shy though so we didnt get very good pictures of them.

Also on saturday we had another baptism!! I am truly feeling blessed by Heavenly Father by being able to help all these people come into the waters of baptism and start new lives as disciples of christ. I know that this is gods work and he has a plan for us.

I hope that you all have a good week!! Remember that i love you all and that you need to keep reading you scriptures. Recently i have started the new testament which is powerful!!

Have a good week!!

Elder Payne

Elder Payne and friends at a baptism!

Elder Payne with a baby cheetah!

An cheetah cub at the Cheetah Experience.

Meeting with the Mission President

From: Kendall Payne
Date: 9 February, 2015 7:09:51 AM MST
To: Luana Payne
Subject: Re:

Hey family!!

First off. Janessa never doubt for a moment that you are loved by me. even if i dont say it over email know that you are awesome and fantastic. You are a rock star. But not literally a rock star haha.

Shae… well i hope the wisdom teeth thing goes well for you haha just remember how funny i was when i got mine out.

Mom and Dad you two are awesome as well and i love you very much.

But as for this week… i dont really know what to say. But today we did have our interviews with our mission president and he told me as i sat down “Elder Payne i dont see any problems that you are going through. I actually feel a very calm energy around you.” Im glad that all the hard work has finally paid off haha, but i still have a long ways to go.

This interview was actually very awesome! President just asked me a few questions about the area and my companion and that was pretty much it. He did say however that i will be going coastal very soon. I love the area that i am serving in but i would also love to see durban haha. He told me “you have spent your whole mission away from the coast and have done a lot of really good work. I think its time that we call you to come work for us over there. Your set of skills seem to be particular to a few areas.” Again i was kind of like wow! President is showing a lot of confidence in me. I really need to continue doing my best for him and the lord.

Also something i thought you might like to know is i received the christmas parcel from you people and also one from the ward primary which was a real treat. I really enjoyed all the contents hidden inside.

I dont have much time this week but i hope you all have a very good week!!

Elder Seth Payne

This week I also included a short but interesting snippet from a letter Mom sent to Elder Payne.

On Sun, Feb 8, 2015 at 5:52 PM, Luana Payne wrote (to Elder Payne):

… Lacey (Elder Payne’s sister) did get an official letter from President Monson about the change in your call (emphasis added). I am taking that home and putting it in your box of treasures.

Two Baptisms!

Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2015 09:04:12 +0200
Subject:
From: kendall.payne
To: cardstonmomma

hey family!

So sadly i do not have my original call letter. i left it at home so i wouldnt lose it. Also i did not receive a second call letter. Church headquarters just let my mission president know and then he let me know via email. haha so if you want to find my original call you will have to hunt through my documents that i left.

But good news!! My companion and i were able to baptize two of our investigators this past Saturday. It was really an awesome experience. The womans name is Tshedi Seathlodi and the young mans name is Onkabetse Mathe. Both of these people are very powerful. Onkabetse has been an investigator for a very long time and so was very happy to be baptized and sister Tshedi has been an investigator of our for about three months haha. Its crazt sometimes to see the different levels of prepardeness between all the people whom we are teaching.

Also just so you know the water for the baptism was really cold haha.

I dont have a lot of time this week to send a nice long email but i thought i would just let you know the highlight that happened for us this week.

…

Have a good week!!

Elder payne

Tshedi Seathlodi with Elder Payne and Elder Willombe on her baptism day.

Onkabetse Mathe and Tshedi Seathlodi with the elders showing their love.

Blessings and Plans for Baptisms

Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 11:14:58 +0200
Subject: Re: this week
From: kendall.payne
To: cardstonmomma

Hey family!

This past Week was great! My companion and i have been planning for a double baptism on saturday which might be a little stressful, but we really feel like their baptism day will be a success. We are baptizing them on a saturday, so they can immediately get confirmed the following sunday. Also that sunday one of the investigators we are baptizing wants her child to be blessed, haha so we will see a lot of blessings on that day.

Recently in our ward they have extended a lot of new callings to people in our ward. I think some of the most major changes have been in the sunday school presidency, A new counselor in the bishopric, the re-orginizing of the young men presidency with young men serving as counselors and a new ward mission leader. Haha it was kind of crazy to see all the changes happen.

But with our ward mission leader he told us that we need to find people in the ward whom we would reccomend to be ward missionaries. Immediately my companion and i told him of two young men in the ward who ware very good missionaries already whose names are Thapelo and Festo. It was kind of funny with Thapelo because we mentioned to him that he would soon be receiving the calling as a ward missionary. As soon as we told him he fist pumped the air and said “YES!!” haha i dont know if i have ever seen anyone so happy to hear about receiving a calling. He told us that he needs a name tag as well and we said that we would work on it. Haha its so great to see members so involved in the missionary work.

Well im glad to hear that janessa is still cheering and That shae loves the compliments given to her by her little ones. Just remember Shaelyn, that you probably have one of the best callings in the ward. Little kids are awesome. Plus snacks haha.

Have a good week!!

Elder Payne

Official Mission Change!

From: Kendall Payne
Sent: ‎January‎ ‎19‎, ‎2015 ‎3‎:‎50‎ ‎AM
To: Luana Payne
Subject: Re: this week

Hey fam Jamily!!

This past week was awesome!! First off some big news! My mission call has been officially changed to the South Africa Durban Mission. I just want you all to know, that i know that this is the will of the Lord. He by his apostles and prophets did send me a call to serve in kenya, But now due to circumstances beyond our control His apostles and prophets have changed my call to be where i am. I am so excited over this its hard to express.

Also i wanted to tell you about an experience that we had yesterday. My companion and i were going into a house to teach one of our investigators about eternal marriage and temples. I was a little bit nervous because of the few times that i have taught this lesson to anyone. I have studied it, but have been unable to teach it frequently. So as we started the lesson i prayed to heavenly father that he would help my companion and i as we were teaching so we could share what he wanted us to share with her. Just as we were about to start teaching her about the principle, the bishop of our ward showed up at the door and came into the lesson. When he sat down i asked him if he could give us a testimony of eternal marriage. He did so by going back to when the elders first met with him and shared with him how he and his ancestors could be with each other forever. As he bore his witness of how beautiful marriage in the temples is i could feel the spirit come very strongly into the lesson. We continued to teach and testify and bear our witnesses of how the atonement could heal her heart from any past pains and that she and her daughter right now would be blessed by doing so. At the end of the teaching she was crying and we committed her to prepare herself for an eternal marriage at some point her on earth. After we closed the lesson and were walking away i told the bishop that he was the answer to my silent prayer. He then told me that he and his friend who he brought with him were planning to go home but then decided to come visit with a member who lives at the same house where we were teaching the lesson. I want to tell you that i know the Lord answers our prayers. His church leaders are indeed inspired and receive revelation for us. He helped me when i was in need and i want to let you know he can help you in your needs as well.

Stay faithful, stay positive pray always and do not faint (2 nephi 31:9) and keep the Lord in the center of your life. Have a good week!!

Elder Seth Payne