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
Monday, January 14, 2019
Monday, January 7, 2019
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
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
Monday, December 17, 2018
Turning weaknesses into strengths
Bonjour à tous!
Well this week was pretty fun! It's been raining constantly here. But it was sunny as well though, with some fog here and there. Really, the weather is rainy rainy and more rain, with about 2 hours of sunshine. I'm going to be incredibly pale when I get back and I'm gonna burn so easily, but ça va.
We had exchanges this week with the Cherbourg elders. Which was a blast, we did a ton of finding and contacting, got wrecked a few times, and then went to an Asian buffet. That was a really nice way to end the day! I think I had 6 plates and I think that the manager was starting to get angry at us for eating so much. They didn't take into account that we were four hungry American missionaries, haha!
This week has just been full of finding. We met a cool refugee from Afghanistan last night, he should be coming to our English class.
For Christmas, we are going to be just about everywhere. We tried looking for service opportunities at food banks and stuff like that. But nobody wants three missionaries helping them out. Some organizations are pretty against religion. But, we did get permission from our leaders to go and visit all of the people in our ward that may need some company! Normally we'd have to have a member there with us when we visit some of the older single women, but our leaders said we could visit anyway because they could really use a visit and it could be a great service! So I am way excited for that because the people here in Rouen love us, and we love them, so it's all good.
Anyway, today we are going to go on a hike, because I just love getting outside of the normal city life. And I haven't had a really fulfilling P-day in a while. I will try to send pictures later today.
Something I've been learning recently on a very personal level is the idea of just how small and weak we all are. Now when I say that, of course I mean our physical, imperfect bodies. I have been coming to terms recently with the fact that I really am weak. My whole life, I've been trying really hard to be strong and specifically to be strong enough to do everything I need to do. I hate the feeling of not being capable of doing something. But I realized recently something that struck me to the core. It's simply "I'm not strong enough". When we say "I want to be strong enough to do anything I want or need" we are effectively saying "I don't want the help of others" which is a form of pride. When in reality, we need to realize 1. That we need others help and 2. We need God's help always. Once we start to be strong, we start to get prideful, and we start to shut others out of the equation, including God. But we will eventually be humbled and realize that we can't do it alone. We simple aren't strong enough. One of the prophets once said "the Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" think about how true that is! And Henry B Eyring once said "When I find myself drawn away from my priesthood duties by other interests, and when my body begs for rest I give to myself this rallying cry, Remember Him.". I try to Remember Him when I am tired, I realize, though, that the first thing I think about when my body "begs for rest" is not always the Savior. But I also find that every time I say those words in my head, I do remember him, and that gives me just enough strength to take another step, and I find myself every Sunday with just enough strength to say to God during the Sacrament "I do remember him". Yes, times may be hard, trials are meant to test us to our limits, that is how we grow. Sometimes trials may last a week or a month or even years. But our Heavenly Father makes us these two promises:
1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
Ether 12:27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.
We'll that is what I have been learning recently. I hope you all have a great week! I love you all! Don't forget to eat lots of Christmas food for me!
Sincerely
Elder Payne
France, Paris Mission
Well this week was pretty fun! It's been raining constantly here. But it was sunny as well though, with some fog here and there. Really, the weather is rainy rainy and more rain, with about 2 hours of sunshine. I'm going to be incredibly pale when I get back and I'm gonna burn so easily, but ça va.
We had exchanges this week with the Cherbourg elders. Which was a blast, we did a ton of finding and contacting, got wrecked a few times, and then went to an Asian buffet. That was a really nice way to end the day! I think I had 6 plates and I think that the manager was starting to get angry at us for eating so much. They didn't take into account that we were four hungry American missionaries, haha!
This week has just been full of finding. We met a cool refugee from Afghanistan last night, he should be coming to our English class.
For Christmas, we are going to be just about everywhere. We tried looking for service opportunities at food banks and stuff like that. But nobody wants three missionaries helping them out. Some organizations are pretty against religion. But, we did get permission from our leaders to go and visit all of the people in our ward that may need some company! Normally we'd have to have a member there with us when we visit some of the older single women, but our leaders said we could visit anyway because they could really use a visit and it could be a great service! So I am way excited for that because the people here in Rouen love us, and we love them, so it's all good.
Anyway, today we are going to go on a hike, because I just love getting outside of the normal city life. And I haven't had a really fulfilling P-day in a while. I will try to send pictures later today.
Something I've been learning recently on a very personal level is the idea of just how small and weak we all are. Now when I say that, of course I mean our physical, imperfect bodies. I have been coming to terms recently with the fact that I really am weak. My whole life, I've been trying really hard to be strong and specifically to be strong enough to do everything I need to do. I hate the feeling of not being capable of doing something. But I realized recently something that struck me to the core. It's simply "I'm not strong enough". When we say "I want to be strong enough to do anything I want or need" we are effectively saying "I don't want the help of others" which is a form of pride. When in reality, we need to realize 1. That we need others help and 2. We need God's help always. Once we start to be strong, we start to get prideful, and we start to shut others out of the equation, including God. But we will eventually be humbled and realize that we can't do it alone. We simple aren't strong enough. One of the prophets once said "the Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" think about how true that is! And Henry B Eyring once said "When I find myself drawn away from my priesthood duties by other interests, and when my body begs for rest I give to myself this rallying cry, Remember Him.". I try to Remember Him when I am tired, I realize, though, that the first thing I think about when my body "begs for rest" is not always the Savior. But I also find that every time I say those words in my head, I do remember him, and that gives me just enough strength to take another step, and I find myself every Sunday with just enough strength to say to God during the Sacrament "I do remember him". Yes, times may be hard, trials are meant to test us to our limits, that is how we grow. Sometimes trials may last a week or a month or even years. But our Heavenly Father makes us these two promises:
1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
Ether 12:27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.
We'll that is what I have been learning recently. I hope you all have a great week! I love you all! Don't forget to eat lots of Christmas food for me!
Sincerely
Elder Payne
France, Paris Mission
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Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Rainy in Rouen
Bonjour à tous,We'll this week was kinda rough. Elder Banton was really sick for two days with the flu as well as a cold. I don't even know how that works but okay....Anyway, so this week was a really slow one, it keeps raining, and it won't stop. I like the rain, but only when it rains a lot. In France you have this constant mist. Not even rain, just mist. But then when we do go outside, it rains harder. I'm getting pretty tired of it, it just never ends!!On the bright side, we have a lot of fun as a trio! Even through the hard times, we joke and laugh, so that's good.I am way excited for Christmas! It's coming up fast! I don't know exactly what we're going to do, we already have a member that wants us to come over. We might just do that.We'll I'm sorry I don't have a lot to tell! Have a great week everyone!Sincerely
Elder Payne
France, Paris Mission
Parent's note: The Mission President has been keeping us informed about our missionary. There is some protesting and other not pleasant events happening in France right now. Jay (and the other missionaries) are safe. If they encounter any gathering of protesters, they are instructed to stay/get away from the area.
Monday, December 3, 2018
Acting on Spiritual Promptings
Bonjour à tous!
So I just wanted to share a cool experience this week!
I am in a trio right now. And one of my companions loves to skateboard. So, Since today was P-day. We decided to look for a skate park. We wandered around town a little but couldn't find one. We finally just settled with a bike trail.
While we were playing around, a woman passed by and I remember feeling something was off as she walked by. I didn't think much of it and we just kept playing around with the skateboard. We decided it was time to head back and we started down this bike trail. We come to somewhat of a dead end, but it was more like a random wall in the middle of this bike trail. Well the woman was sitting of the ground leaning on this wall and as we passed by, I could immediately tell that she was very sad. But we just passed by as I made eye contact with her.
As we were walking away, the thought of turning around and talking with her replayed over and over again in my head. Finally, I came to terms with myself and recognized it as the Spirit, and I knew that I had to do something about it.
I had fallen behind the others for a moment at this point because I was rather caught up in my thoughts. And God, just to seal the deal, somehow made it so that one of my companions actually passed me the skateboard. So I took the skate board and just started going back to the woman, signalling to the others to come with me. I finally made it over back to the wall. The others caught up to me and I told them, "That woman is sad and we are going to help her, let's say a prayer." And before they could say anything about it, I prayed.
I then we went over to the woman and sat down next to her. I don't remember everything I said, but she cried and told me everything about her life. Her mother had died recently, as well as her sister. And she had lost her job, and was just totally wrecked emotionally. I basically just told her that God loves her and then suggested that I pray with her. She agreed and I prayed for her, I blessed her in my prayer and did my best to listen to the Spirit.
After that, I told her that we needed to go. I told her that everything would be okay. Then we left.
I hope with all of my heart that she will be humble enough to continue to pray. I know that if she does, she will be guided to the truth.
That is the cool experience that I had today, and I definitely felt that truth of the principle that the more good things you choose to do, the more light you have in your heart.
Well I love you all! Have a great week!
So I just wanted to share a cool experience this week!
I am in a trio right now. And one of my companions loves to skateboard. So, Since today was P-day. We decided to look for a skate park. We wandered around town a little but couldn't find one. We finally just settled with a bike trail.
While we were playing around, a woman passed by and I remember feeling something was off as she walked by. I didn't think much of it and we just kept playing around with the skateboard. We decided it was time to head back and we started down this bike trail. We come to somewhat of a dead end, but it was more like a random wall in the middle of this bike trail. Well the woman was sitting of the ground leaning on this wall and as we passed by, I could immediately tell that she was very sad. But we just passed by as I made eye contact with her.
As we were walking away, the thought of turning around and talking with her replayed over and over again in my head. Finally, I came to terms with myself and recognized it as the Spirit, and I knew that I had to do something about it.
I had fallen behind the others for a moment at this point because I was rather caught up in my thoughts. And God, just to seal the deal, somehow made it so that one of my companions actually passed me the skateboard. So I took the skate board and just started going back to the woman, signalling to the others to come with me. I finally made it over back to the wall. The others caught up to me and I told them, "That woman is sad and we are going to help her, let's say a prayer." And before they could say anything about it, I prayed.
I then we went over to the woman and sat down next to her. I don't remember everything I said, but she cried and told me everything about her life. Her mother had died recently, as well as her sister. And she had lost her job, and was just totally wrecked emotionally. I basically just told her that God loves her and then suggested that I pray with her. She agreed and I prayed for her, I blessed her in my prayer and did my best to listen to the Spirit.
After that, I told her that we needed to go. I told her that everything would be okay. Then we left.
I hope with all of my heart that she will be humble enough to continue to pray. I know that if she does, she will be guided to the truth.
That is the cool experience that I had today, and I definitely felt that truth of the principle that the more good things you choose to do, the more light you have in your heart.
Well I love you all! Have a great week!
Monday, November 26, 2018
Transferred to Rouen and a broken window
Bonjour à tous,
Well so this week was rather interesting. Because I got moved to Rouen. And now my companion is a super guy named Elder David. We get along pretty well.
It was incredibly hard for me to leave Liege. I really loved the people in Liege so much. They were all so great that the night that I left, I couldn't help but feel sad. I was so excited to be in Liege and then I was moved.
This week, on Wednesday, we are going to Versailles for mission conference! I am way excited for that. And at mission conference, we are gonna get an additional companion! Elder Banton will come home with us and we will be in a trio for the rest of the transfer!
Also, I broke the church window! Let me explain. Elder David and I went to them church for some business. And there are 2 doors on the chapel, one we use the key to get in, and the other locks behind you automatically. So we got in, left the keys in the door lock, and walked out the automatic door. We got all they way to our apartment before we realized that we didn't have the keys. So we called some people, got some keys and then found out that because we left the keys in the door, we couldn't use keys to unlock the door. We were stuck. So, we called the bishop and he sent a member here who had apparently picked them door lock before because they're have had this situation before. The brother comes with some X-ray photos and tries to use those as the lockpicks. He would slide that sheet between the door and attempt to open lock like that. To no avail. By this time it was dark and he called the bishop and said that that the only way is to go in through the back and hope that one of the windows are open. He asked the bishop for permission to break a window if the windows weren't open. And the bishop said yes. So we found one of the neighbours and she was kind enough to let us into her home, climb through her bedroom window, and get into a courtyard that belongs to the church. We found that none of the windows were unlocked (big surprise) and he gave me permission to break the window to the bishops office to get in. Which I did enthusiastically.
I only cut myself a few times on the broken glass, but it was surprisingly easy to break the window (the church definitely needs an upgrade).
So yeah, I broke into the church and later learned how to pick the lock to get in. Good to know!
Also, I need to apologize to a few people who have written me letters and have not received a letter back. Namely, the Horshel family (I hope you got my letter but I don't think so), as well, the primary sent me some drawings early on in my mission that I LOVED but never responded to, and a few other people that sent me letters that I never replied to. I either sent you a letter and you never got it, or I kept meaning to send you one and never got to do it.
Otherwise, this week has been a long one. Sadly we had several cancelled appointments and stuff like that. Rouen has a lot of potential and I can tell, it's hiding, but it's there.
Well I better go! I love you all! I hope you had a great thanksgiving! (We just made a casserole for thanksgiving).
Sincerely,
Elder Jay Payne
France, Paris Mission
Well so this week was rather interesting. Because I got moved to Rouen. And now my companion is a super guy named Elder David. We get along pretty well.
It was incredibly hard for me to leave Liege. I really loved the people in Liege so much. They were all so great that the night that I left, I couldn't help but feel sad. I was so excited to be in Liege and then I was moved.
This week, on Wednesday, we are going to Versailles for mission conference! I am way excited for that. And at mission conference, we are gonna get an additional companion! Elder Banton will come home with us and we will be in a trio for the rest of the transfer!
Also, I broke the church window! Let me explain. Elder David and I went to them church for some business. And there are 2 doors on the chapel, one we use the key to get in, and the other locks behind you automatically. So we got in, left the keys in the door lock, and walked out the automatic door. We got all they way to our apartment before we realized that we didn't have the keys. So we called some people, got some keys and then found out that because we left the keys in the door, we couldn't use keys to unlock the door. We were stuck. So, we called the bishop and he sent a member here who had apparently picked them door lock before because they're have had this situation before. The brother comes with some X-ray photos and tries to use those as the lockpicks. He would slide that sheet between the door and attempt to open lock like that. To no avail. By this time it was dark and he called the bishop and said that that the only way is to go in through the back and hope that one of the windows are open. He asked the bishop for permission to break a window if the windows weren't open. And the bishop said yes. So we found one of the neighbours and she was kind enough to let us into her home, climb through her bedroom window, and get into a courtyard that belongs to the church. We found that none of the windows were unlocked (big surprise) and he gave me permission to break the window to the bishops office to get in. Which I did enthusiastically.
I only cut myself a few times on the broken glass, but it was surprisingly easy to break the window (the church definitely needs an upgrade).
So yeah, I broke into the church and later learned how to pick the lock to get in. Good to know!
Also, I need to apologize to a few people who have written me letters and have not received a letter back. Namely, the Horshel family (I hope you got my letter but I don't think so), as well, the primary sent me some drawings early on in my mission that I LOVED but never responded to, and a few other people that sent me letters that I never replied to. I either sent you a letter and you never got it, or I kept meaning to send you one and never got to do it.
Otherwise, this week has been a long one. Sadly we had several cancelled appointments and stuff like that. Rouen has a lot of potential and I can tell, it's hiding, but it's there.
Well I better go! I love you all! I hope you had a great thanksgiving! (We just made a casserole for thanksgiving).
Sincerely,
Elder Jay Payne
France, Paris Mission
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Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Transferring out of Liege Belgium
Bonjour à tous,
Well today was an interesting day. We woke up this morning to see that we we're both staying in Liège. But that the Soeurs (Sister Missionaries) are leaving and that there were going to be no more Soeurs in Liège because of the all time low of missionaries in the France Paris Mission. So we were preparing to take charge of all of the Sister's investigators. We were setting things up and planning for what to do next. Then, as we were leaving the apartment, we get a call from the Mission President and he told us that we are actually both leaving and Soeur Egan is going to stay! I am going to a city in the Paris zone called Rouen, and Elder Pettus is staying in this zone but going to another city called Charleroi.
Two weeks into my time in Rouen, I will have another companion making a trio and my 14th companion! I wonder what the record is! Haha!
So I am packing my bags again! We head to Brussels tomorrow to stay the night there before we go into Paris. I am going to get rid of a bunch of stuff in my suitcases because those things have become ridiculously heavy. We also are trying to do everything we can to prepare our investigators for the change so that none of them fall through the cracks. However, the Soeurs are going to have so many lessons every week that I don't know how that will turn out. So all of our investigators are going to be taught by the Soeurs. Liège now has 7 people that could potentially be baptized.
It's sad for Elder Pettus and I because we had three dinners planned with members this week for Thanksgiving! Ugh! I was really excited for those. I was also really excited to be spending Christmas in Liège. They are putting up a giant Christmas tree right in front of our apartment! I WANTED TO SEE THAT!
But, it's out of my control and I have faith knowing that the Mission President is following the Spirit and sending me where the Lord need me now.
Well I love you guys so much! I am excited to talk to the family at home in a month!
Sincerely
Elder Payne
France, Paris Mission
Well today was an interesting day. We woke up this morning to see that we we're both staying in Liège. But that the Soeurs (Sister Missionaries) are leaving and that there were going to be no more Soeurs in Liège because of the all time low of missionaries in the France Paris Mission. So we were preparing to take charge of all of the Sister's investigators. We were setting things up and planning for what to do next. Then, as we were leaving the apartment, we get a call from the Mission President and he told us that we are actually both leaving and Soeur Egan is going to stay! I am going to a city in the Paris zone called Rouen, and Elder Pettus is staying in this zone but going to another city called Charleroi.
Two weeks into my time in Rouen, I will have another companion making a trio and my 14th companion! I wonder what the record is! Haha!
So I am packing my bags again! We head to Brussels tomorrow to stay the night there before we go into Paris. I am going to get rid of a bunch of stuff in my suitcases because those things have become ridiculously heavy. We also are trying to do everything we can to prepare our investigators for the change so that none of them fall through the cracks. However, the Soeurs are going to have so many lessons every week that I don't know how that will turn out. So all of our investigators are going to be taught by the Soeurs. Liège now has 7 people that could potentially be baptized.
It's sad for Elder Pettus and I because we had three dinners planned with members this week for Thanksgiving! Ugh! I was really excited for those. I was also really excited to be spending Christmas in Liège. They are putting up a giant Christmas tree right in front of our apartment! I WANTED TO SEE THAT!
But, it's out of my control and I have faith knowing that the Mission President is following the Spirit and sending me where the Lord need me now.
Well I love you guys so much! I am excited to talk to the family at home in a month!
Sincerely
Elder Payne
France, Paris Mission
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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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Bonjour à tous, C'était une bonne semaine! My companion is on the last 2 weeks of his mission! So we are making sure to work as hard ... -
Bonjour a tous, What's new this week you say? Well, quite a bit. We learned that our ami progressing toward baptism has been experienc...
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Bonjour à tous, This week was pretty productive if I do say so myself. The funniest story is we had set aside some time to try and find th...