Elder Payne hasn't sent a letter for this week yet, but he was able to video chat with him for Christmas!
Jay is doing well and is very happy in Epinal France. He is pretty comfortable with the language and only has difficulty when people speak too fast. He has also been learning phrases in other languages like Arabic and Swahili. People are surprised when he can greet them in a different language than French. It has opened up several discussion opportunities. Recently on a train ride between Paris and Epinal, Jay and his companion met two very promising contacts. There is plenty of time to visit and discuss the Gospel of Jesus Christ when you are on train rides so often.
The small branch of the church sometimes only has 7 people that attend on Sunday. They have been working on finding less active members in the area and re-inviting them back to church. He described looking for a member in a smaller town for several hours only to find out that they were not there any more. But they did get to know the town very well.
Jay did receive his Christmas package while in Paris this week. We originally sent it to him in early November (as instructed). But Jay was transferred to Epinal to help train and his package to Amien got returned to New Mexico. We had to pay to ship it again, only this time to the Mission Office in Paris. Jay was excited for the green chile and other local edible treats we sent. He also was glad to receive a book about Temples that he can read on his free time (when ever he gets some).
It was very humbling to hear him bear his testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Atonement in French. We could see the devotion and humility as he spoke.
The blessings of serving a mission were surely evident today as we got to visit.
Curtis Payne
Monday, December 25, 2017
Monday, December 18, 2017
Work Progressing in Epinal
Bonjour à tous,
Well this week has been complicated and some crazy things happened.
First off, we had district meeting in St. Dié this week. We didn't know it was in St. Dié, so we bought the normal train tickets to Nancy. Got in Nancy, found out it was in St. Dié, bought 2 more tickets to St. Dié. And went to a late district meeting. And after that, we had exchanges. So we stayed there and met some really cool people! I helped find a guy from Senegal who is awesome and recognizes us as servants of God! So that was awesome!
On Thursday, we had the responsibility of cleaning the church, it's small enough to do on our own with a couple of hours. And while we did that, elder Anderson set up decorations. He really likes doing that kind of thing, so I let him do most of it while I practiced piano. After that a member who is here for studies asked us to come to her house and bless her apartment. So with another member (because she is there alone) we blessed her apartment. She is really cool and speaks some English!
On Friday we had a open day ahead of us, so we did quite a bit of door to door. And we found a someone with awesome potential! It was actually kind of funny, because we actually got along by talking about how glad she was that we weren't the Jehovah's witnesses. So we all got a good laugh out of that. And she said that she is excited to meet with us again!
On Saturday we had to extend some last invitations to come to church Sunday, so we went searching for less active members in a smaller town called Le Thillot. There were 2 people who lived there who had been baptised. We couldn't find one but we did find the other after 2 hours of searching and thinking, and turns out that she just doesn't have the means to come to church. So we plan on meeting with her again just to visit and help her out and make sure she has come contact with the church and the Gospel.
And Sunday we actually had a decent turnout for church! The Serbian family we met a couple of weeks ago came, and a less active member that Elder Anderson met on exchanges came! And it was so good to see the branch come together to make something good and they were all so good to the people we brought. It was just a really good Christmas Sunday, and of course, we ate afterwards and the food killed us for the rest of the day. We were so tired, I had to keep elder Anderson awake for studies!
And now here we are, me and Elder Anderson did some exploring today and took some pictures, so I will send what I got. Christmas is next week so I wish you all a merry Christmas in advance! I get to call my family next week so I am really excited for that!!!
I love you all
Sincerely
Elder Payne
France, Paris Mission
Well this week has been complicated and some crazy things happened.
First off, we had district meeting in St. Dié this week. We didn't know it was in St. Dié, so we bought the normal train tickets to Nancy. Got in Nancy, found out it was in St. Dié, bought 2 more tickets to St. Dié. And went to a late district meeting. And after that, we had exchanges. So we stayed there and met some really cool people! I helped find a guy from Senegal who is awesome and recognizes us as servants of God! So that was awesome!
On Thursday, we had the responsibility of cleaning the church, it's small enough to do on our own with a couple of hours. And while we did that, elder Anderson set up decorations. He really likes doing that kind of thing, so I let him do most of it while I practiced piano. After that a member who is here for studies asked us to come to her house and bless her apartment. So with another member (because she is there alone) we blessed her apartment. She is really cool and speaks some English!
On Friday we had a open day ahead of us, so we did quite a bit of door to door. And we found a someone with awesome potential! It was actually kind of funny, because we actually got along by talking about how glad she was that we weren't the Jehovah's witnesses. So we all got a good laugh out of that. And she said that she is excited to meet with us again!
On Saturday we had to extend some last invitations to come to church Sunday, so we went searching for less active members in a smaller town called Le Thillot. There were 2 people who lived there who had been baptised. We couldn't find one but we did find the other after 2 hours of searching and thinking, and turns out that she just doesn't have the means to come to church. So we plan on meeting with her again just to visit and help her out and make sure she has come contact with the church and the Gospel.
And Sunday we actually had a decent turnout for church! The Serbian family we met a couple of weeks ago came, and a less active member that Elder Anderson met on exchanges came! And it was so good to see the branch come together to make something good and they were all so good to the people we brought. It was just a really good Christmas Sunday, and of course, we ate afterwards and the food killed us for the rest of the day. We were so tired, I had to keep elder Anderson awake for studies!
And now here we are, me and Elder Anderson did some exploring today and took some pictures, so I will send what I got. Christmas is next week so I wish you all a merry Christmas in advance! I get to call my family next week so I am really excited for that!!!
I love you all
Sincerely
Elder Payne
France, Paris Mission
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| Long way to St. Die |
Monday, December 11, 2017
Working with the local church members and serving in the snow
Bonjour à tous,
Well this has been a packed week! First of all, we had interviews with our mission president on Tuesday, which was awesome, me and him are really starting to work together and I definitely support him. He has helped me a lot already during my mission so I really appreciate him for that.
Wednesday, we had a soirée familiale that a member put on, apparently it's been 3 years since they had one! But we prepared a cool spiritual thought using pictures and everything. And we had a member picking us up for that. Well he came early and we ended up being in a hurry, so I forgot my gospel art book! I had to come up with something on the fly without it. It actually turned out ok! With some French errors here and there, but I got the message across! One of the members is starting to take initiative and is inviting less actives and her friends to come to church this next Sunday for the christmas Sunday that we are going to have. So that is super cool!
On Thursday we tried to meet with the cool lady we met with a week ago, but she wasn't at her house. I not giving up on her!! We also had exchanges with the zone leaders. Also, as many of you know, I bite my nails. And I have been wanting to stop for my entire mission. But it's a legit addiction! It's really hard to stop a habit you have had forever! I have tried to stop several times! So we finally went to a local pharmacy to see what they have. And the lady pointed us to this stuff called "Stop Ongles Ronglés" which translates to stop nail biting. We bought it and I was curious because the only way for it to stop me was to have a really bad taste. So I put some on my nails and tasted it just like a kid with a hot stove top.
OH MY GOODNESS IT TASTED BAD!!! The bitter taste immediately filled my mouth and throat and I almost puked. I gargled water, and even brushed my teeth and the taste was still there. Well that night the zone leaders were coming in late and wanted to grab something cheap to eat. So we got kebabs. But it made my food taste bad, my appetite was there but it tasted awful! And every time my nails touch my food, my food tastes bad. So I have a choice, either have perpetually bad tasting food for a bit and stop biting my nails. Or have good food now and never improve. So I guess I have to improve.
We actually did something really cool on Saturday! For light the world or "Éclairer le monde", we wanted to do something special. And it actually snowed very hard the previous night. So we decided to scrape ice off of people's cars. So at 9am, it was still snowing, we went out, bought some ice scrapers, and with scrapers in hand and frozen fingers, we scraped the ice off of 50 cars over the course of 3 hours. And we left a picture of Jesus Christ and a phone number in the windshield of every car we scraped. It as really cool, and then we returned home ready to eat, and got a phone call from a member asking for a Priesthood blessing for her mother who has Alzheimer's and is very sick. We ended up giving both her and her mother a blessing. That was one heck of a day of service. It was really cool.
That was pretty much our week I got a haircut today, and still can't enjoy my food. But I hope it will be worth it.
Sincerely
Elder Payne
France, Paris Mission
Well this has been a packed week! First of all, we had interviews with our mission president on Tuesday, which was awesome, me and him are really starting to work together and I definitely support him. He has helped me a lot already during my mission so I really appreciate him for that.
Wednesday, we had a soirée familiale that a member put on, apparently it's been 3 years since they had one! But we prepared a cool spiritual thought using pictures and everything. And we had a member picking us up for that. Well he came early and we ended up being in a hurry, so I forgot my gospel art book! I had to come up with something on the fly without it. It actually turned out ok! With some French errors here and there, but I got the message across! One of the members is starting to take initiative and is inviting less actives and her friends to come to church this next Sunday for the christmas Sunday that we are going to have. So that is super cool!
On Thursday we tried to meet with the cool lady we met with a week ago, but she wasn't at her house. I not giving up on her!! We also had exchanges with the zone leaders. Also, as many of you know, I bite my nails. And I have been wanting to stop for my entire mission. But it's a legit addiction! It's really hard to stop a habit you have had forever! I have tried to stop several times! So we finally went to a local pharmacy to see what they have. And the lady pointed us to this stuff called "Stop Ongles Ronglés" which translates to stop nail biting. We bought it and I was curious because the only way for it to stop me was to have a really bad taste. So I put some on my nails and tasted it just like a kid with a hot stove top.
OH MY GOODNESS IT TASTED BAD!!! The bitter taste immediately filled my mouth and throat and I almost puked. I gargled water, and even brushed my teeth and the taste was still there. Well that night the zone leaders were coming in late and wanted to grab something cheap to eat. So we got kebabs. But it made my food taste bad, my appetite was there but it tasted awful! And every time my nails touch my food, my food tastes bad. So I have a choice, either have perpetually bad tasting food for a bit and stop biting my nails. Or have good food now and never improve. So I guess I have to improve.
We actually did something really cool on Saturday! For light the world or "Éclairer le monde", we wanted to do something special. And it actually snowed very hard the previous night. So we decided to scrape ice off of people's cars. So at 9am, it was still snowing, we went out, bought some ice scrapers, and with scrapers in hand and frozen fingers, we scraped the ice off of 50 cars over the course of 3 hours. And we left a picture of Jesus Christ and a phone number in the windshield of every car we scraped. It as really cool, and then we returned home ready to eat, and got a phone call from a member asking for a Priesthood blessing for her mother who has Alzheimer's and is very sick. We ended up giving both her and her mother a blessing. That was one heck of a day of service. It was really cool.
That was pretty much our week I got a haircut today, and still can't enjoy my food. But I hope it will be worth it.
Sincerely
Elder Payne
France, Paris Mission
Monday, December 4, 2017
Work Progressing in Epinal
Bonjour à tous,
Well my French has been getting a lot better recently. I now
understand a lot and can express all of my ideas. I am not fluent, but
that is ok.
We got a new ami!!!!! I am soooo happy for that! It was actually a really bomb experience!
Me and my district leader were on exchanges and we had some time
for tracting (door to door). We went to an area where there are a lot of
apartments, said a prayer and felt like we needed to go into a certain
building. We got inside and walked all the
way to the top (9 floors!) The first guy we talked to was a Jehovah's
witness and not interested (tough luck). He told us to leave. We knocked on every door and
finally came on a guy who came from Sudan! He spoke little to no French
and very broken English, but fluent Arabic!
(Oh boy) He let us in and we tried to explain to him who we were and
eventually got another time set up to meet. We walked out of his house
and as we were walking into the elevator to go home, a lady walked out
and Elder Melanson (district leader) started to
talk to her. She mentioned that her kid just died. And we shared a
scripture from alma about that. She then cried and we told her that God
is there for her. She continued in saying that she is a devout Catholic
and is very very strong in her faith. We told
her that is great and we appreciate all of the work she has done in her
faith and staying true. We showed a video and she cried some more (I did
too). Then I testified and pointed out the feeling she had as the
spirit and we asked her for another time to meet
and she was really hesitant. But she said we could come back and if she
is there then we will talk some more. We prayed with her and left that
feeling very optimistic about the meet. I plan to go over again tomorrow
night and teach her some more.
So that was super cool! There was also a Christmas parade in Épinal
yesterday, elder Anderson took some pictures of the cool floats. We
also have been seeing an increase in member activity here. After church
on Sunday a member came up to us and told us
she wanted to host a night at her house this Wednesday so we can bring
any amis, and she will invite her friends over!!! Super cool and I
really hope that that goes well.
Well have a good week everyone! And don't forget to light the world this Christmas!
Sincerely
Elder Payne
France, Paris Mission
Elder Payne
France, Paris Mission
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| Christmas decorations in Epinal |
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| Star Wars X-Wing fighter parade float |
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Elder Payne - Home!
Elder Payne arrived home at 11:10pm March 28, 2019. Thanks everyone for your support and prayers!
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