Elder Payne - Home!

Elder Payne arrived home at 11:10pm March 28, 2019.

Thanks everyone for your support and prayers!

Final Letter from the France Paris Mission

Bonjour à tous,

Well I did it, 2 years of titling all my weekly emails the same way. What an achievement! Oh and of course, this will be my last weekly that I do! I finish my mission on Thursday! It's an odd feeling really, it's really like you have 2 families, but to be with one you have to leave the other. I think I'm ready though! I've learned on my mission how to adapt to situations, so we'll see how this goes.

The mission has been the span of time in my life so far where I have learned and matured the most. I have learned what many of my strengths and weaknesses are, and the time I have spent here I don't think I could've spent anywhere else.

All pleasantries aside, it's been hard. Heavenly Father tests us to our limits, and that's how we grow. I have experienced that and will continue to experience it. But as well, I have found a kind of unending joy in helping others. In trying to help them feel the joy and contentment that I feel. In reality, on a level that applies to all of you, I learned profoundly about 2 commandments. Prayer and Scripture Study. We are asked to do so many thing in the church, but how do we do those things without "shrinking" before the task or cracking under the pressure? It is by the Prayer of Faith and diligent scripture study that we can do all of these things. I have a strong testimony of that because I have seen the pattern countless times. I leave with you all that simple testimony.

I will see you all in a few days! I love you guys and thanks for all the support you have shown me! 

Sincerely,
Elder Jay Payne 
France, Paris Mission

Helping Others Remember Spiritual Feelings

Bonjour à tous,

I have been starting my weekly email the same way for almost 2 years now! That's gotta be some sort of record right?

This past week was pretty normal. We have been working a lot with the people who haven't come to church in a while. And that's been really cool to watch! Usually they've stopped coming to church not because they've turned away, but because they've simply forgotten over time what they used to feel. And usually all it takes to help them back is a loving reminder. 

Today I went and got some shoes for 25 bucks, which was cool. We also bought a 5 kg bag of rice. 

Last week we had district P-Day and got to hang out with the others missionaries. We stayed at the church and just played games for most of the day, I definitely needed that! Something calm but tons of fun was just what the doctor ordered!

Anyway, have a good week everyone! I love you guys and I will see you soon!(kind of)

Sincerely,
Elder Jay Payne 
France Paris Mission

Replace tobacco with chocolate!

Bonjour à tous,

This week was pretty great! We had zone conference, and found some new people, and helped a man stop smoking! And I learned a lot about faith this week.

First off, we started the week by getting a frisbee stuck in a tree. My bad. But we got it out after throwing a good many sticks and rocks and getting the help of a super sweet old guy to find some large sticks which we could throw at it. It is one of those "Aerobee" disks. Which tend to get quite stuck in trees and stuff.

Well, we've been meeting a lot of super nice people this week! One of which we actually had a short lesson with. She is a super nice woman who said she was Muslim and just so kind as to not turn us down right away. She is alone though so we couldn't stay for long. We have another lesson planned this week to introduce her to the sister missionaries who will continue to teach her. 

We also managed start helping one of our investigators quit tobacco! What we did is we went and, with the help of a senior missionary couple, bought a ton of Belgian chocolate for him and his fiancé. And we made a deal with them that in order to quit smoking, they had to get rid of the tobacco. So we brought all of this amazing chocolate and told them that we would do an exchange. The chocolate for the tobacco! And it was like 2-3 pounds of chocolate! The investigator was all in, but his fiancé wasnt quite ready to go cold Turkey like that. So we took most of their tobacco to dispose of it. It was great! And we didn't smell any smoke on our investigator on Sunday! So I guess it's working!

I have been learning a lot about faith recently. I would tell you but it's hard to explain. Basically it comes from several scriptures, you can look at them yourselves. Matt. 9:22, Mark 5:34; 10:52, Luke 7:50; 8:48; 17:19; 18:42. There ya go, enjoy!

I miss you guys! Have a great week! 

Sincerely,
Elder Jay Payne 
France, Paris Mission

Parents Note:  We received the travel itinerary!  Elder Payne will return to Albuquerque on Thursday March 28, 2019 at 10:45pm !!

Matthew 9:22
But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.

Mark 5:34
And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

Mark 10:52
And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.

Luke 7:50
And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.

Luke 8:48
And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.

Luke 17:19
And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

Luke 18:42
And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee.

Read the entire chapters for context at:  New Testament

Elder Payne - Boldly Following the Spirit

Bonjour à tous,

This past week was actually pretty good! It was long in the moment, but when I look back on it, it was good!

The weather here has been warming up just a little. Enough to not wear a coat over the suit. Which is literally the best thing ever to me. I definitely hate the cold Haha.

One of our less active members came to church! Which is great because we have been working with him and really trying to help him out. He is such a happy guy and he just cheers up everyone around him. It was funny how happy he was to be at church, he was almost giggly! Which is hilarious because he's a 70 something year old man, and when he laughs he just kinda wheezes hahaha.

Today we went and played some frisbee out in a park and got the frisbee stuck in a tree, and it took us a long time of throwing rocks, sticks, and shaking the branches to get it down. But in the end it was fun! And nice to do something a little out of routine. 

We have zone conference this week and I realized not too long ago that it will be my last zone conference! Which means I get to bear my testimony in zone conference. That's when you know you're an old missionary. Haha!

We had a lesson this week with a man that has known the missionaries for over 30 years, but has never come to church. That was an interesting lesson because I've never had to be so bold in a lesson before. It was hard for me because I've never had to do that before and I basically had to tell him that he hasn't prayed about Joseph Smith because he's afraid the answer will be yes Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. But I think he needed it and we definitely left him with a lot to think about. So we hope that he prays to know the truth. 

So this week I learned about being bold, and how to not doubt the spirit when it tells you to do things that you're afraid of doing.

Well have a great week everyone! I know I will! I love you guys!

Sincerely,
Elder Jay Payne 
France, Paris Mission

Parent Note:  We were able to video chat with Elder Payne for about 1/2 hour.  It was awesome to see and talk to him.  Thanks to the new church missionary policy.

Missionary able to call home

Short Letter from Leige

Bonjour à tous,

Well this is going to be a short one. But work is really doing good here. We've picked up the pace and now we've got a fire started. We've started working a lot more with the members and the people who are less active or inactive in the church. And I must say, life is so much better. We haven't been finding as many new people to teach yet that aren't members. But we have been teaching a lot of less active members of the Church. We had a mission conference just a few weeks ago and Elder Neil A Anderson said that the members are really the keys and that we are now trying to work more with the less active members. And it has been working and we have really been seen a lot of little miracles. 

So yeah, that's how it's been going. I have been doing a lot more studies in the Book of Mormon recently and I have definitely found more strength in doing so. Also, I read an Ensign article recently that I thought you guys might like. Look it up! It's in the Ensign February 2019 by Elder Juan A Uceda called "A Personal Relationship with Our Heavenly Father through Prayer" I really liked it. And I thought you guys might like it too!

Have a great week everyone! I love you guys!

Sincerely,
Elder Jay Payne 
France, Paris Mission

A Personal Relationship with Our Heavenly Father through Prayer

A visit to Paris

Bonjour à tous,

This past week was pretty great! The work here has really begun to pick up again. Our ami Sébastien is getting married civilly in march with the member that referred him to us! Which is great! We are planning to have is baptism that same month! Who knows, maybe he will do it before I leave.

We went to Paris this week on accident! That was an adventure! What happened was we thought we had to go for legal work for Elder Nelson, and we assumed everything had been figured out. But then, when we got to Paris, we asked the Senior couple in charge and they said that we will do his work in March! So we had an entire day in paris to do whatever! So we studied, and studied, and studied. So that was a fun day!

This coming week we have some lessons with members! And we have exchanges in Namur on Wednesday and Thursday. 

Sincerely, 
Elder Jay Payne 
France, Paris Mission

Slow Week That Ended Great

Bonjour à tous,

Well this past week was rough at first, but then it got much better! We did a lot of finding with no success.

But at the end of the week, everything got better! We had a lesson with our friend Sebastien, and it was a great lesson! The spirit was there and we all felt it and we could tell that he has seriously begun to change. Hes got some work to do before he is baptized, but hes doing great.

After that, on Sunday, a less active/now active woman asked us to give her a blessing, so I did that. And it was a very powerful and meaningful moment for her and for me and for everyone in the room. That was awesome.

Today, for pday, we went with the district to explore some nearby caves that we had found on the map. That was a ton of fun! And now I'm pooped! We were all pretty tired at the end of that but it was a good day and we had a lot of fun. I will attach a picture.

Well I love you guys! I think that the work is really gonna start picking up soon. And I cant wait.

Talk to you next week!

Sincerely, 

Elder Jay Payne 

France, Paris Mission

Christmas package finally arrived!

Bonjour à tous!

Yay! I got my Christmas package last week. And I loved it! 

The work has been tough lately. We have decided that for some reason, people generally haven't been very open to the gospel recently. The Sisters here have concluded the same thing. Lots of finding, very little success. But I just think that its a phase that will pass soon enough. 

I definitely have been feeling a feeling of excitement for coming home in a little over two months. The hard part is that I know I will eventually come home, and I'm incredibly excited, but I also know that I have to wait. The feeling is there. I just have to keep working hard to be sure these last two months are filled with service.

Anyway, have a great week!

I love you all!

Elder Jay Payne

France Paris Mission - Elder Payne on front row - gray suit with black tie

Work picking up in Liege

Bonjour à tous!

Well this past week was good, I honestly don't remember a lot of it though. We did set a baptismal date this week with an ami! So that's awesome.

The work here is really starting to pick up again! We finally got really settled in and we are back in business! 

We helped someone move all day Saturday. That was awesome, me and Elder Nelson have been wanting some good service, so once we heard about a move, we consecrated the whole day for it. And that's what we did. My shoulders hurt after that. But it was really good to be able to just work hard for a day on something. We needed that.

Anyway, not a ton to report this week! Hope you all had/will have a good one! I love you guys!

Sincerely,
Elder Jay Payne 
France, Paris Mission

Back in Liege and training

Bonjour à tous!

So this week was alright, I mean we started out real slow because we had just gotten into Liege and we had no area book because it didn't recognize that we existed (the program used by the Elders to keep track of ministering efforts), and we didn't have any investigators because of that. So our 1st week was basically just solid finding most of the time along with the studies needed, however the work is going all right now. 

Oh as well my blue's name is elder Nelson he's from the Alberta, Canada area. He's a cool guy.  The work here has been going alright since Sunday. We had more success because a lot of people came to church and we had some interesting things happen. We had the new curriculum to follow and of course 2 hours a church but as well we had 2 baby blessings which means that there was a lot of family there. It was interesting, I never got a chance to talk to all the visitors. 

After church a member came up to us with a friend of hers and she was like "Hey, my friend wants the lessons, he wants to talk to you guys" and we're like "OK" and so we set up a lesson! They seemed pretty cool, we're gonna teach him tomorrow, we'll see how that goes. 

Anyway, so we are excited for this week.

I hope you all have a great week! See ya!

Sincerely,

Elder Jay Payne

France, Paris Mission