No Email?

Dear You,

To start off I am extremely tired, we just got done playing a lot of soccer and a little bit of basketball. It was great exercise but I am pretty dead now.

Sorry the email from last week didn't go I did send it but for some reason there was an error or something. Hopefully you get it.

I am glad you liked the picture. We were in a Greg Olsen art place and I didn't know which one to get so I grabbed a phone book and tried calling Grandma and Lori to see if they knew what you favorite picture of Christ is but nobody answered. They are probably at the cabin or something. So I decided to just get mine. I was hoping that the note would get there first so it would maybe be a little bit of a hint, I don't know if you noticed, but down the left side it says O JERUSALEM. I made a draft of two so I could make it fit with out being to obvious. I hope you enjoy it and put it up somewhere were everyone can see it.

So this week was a great week. We are really trying to continue to visit and teach as many people as possible. It is really exciting, we have so many people that are so close to baptism, all they need to do are the simple things like go to church and then I know that they will want to join the church. Not much else super exciting happened this past week though, just good old normal missionary work.

This week should be another great week we have already started off with teaching 5 lessons, so it should be great.

It is so cool to hear that you all got to experience the same weather that I am. It is a little bit cooler but right now it is high thirties and low forties for the highs. There is a lot more snow(in giant piles from the snow plows) but I don't know if we will get much more snow this year. It seems to be really mild the past few weeks, but maybe it is the calm before the storm, let's hope so!!!

It is so random that at the same time that mom called Sister Cannon I came into the office. I saw her on the phone and proceeded to talk to other missionaries and then we sang happy birthday to an Elder. I am sure you heard.

Well we have to get going, we have to still go to wal-mart and what not. bye!!

Love,

Elder Paxton

Last week...

Hola Familia!

This week was a great first week in Ontario. we had 3 baptisms in a family that I had just barely met, but even though I didn't know them I could feel the spirit of their baptism. It was great to be able to see Elder Sandoval and Elder Sewell there as well. Elder Sandoval gave a talk on the holy ghost and the family really loves him so it was great that he was able to make it.

We have also found/have been given, a couple of new investigators that seem to have a lot of prospect. We are very excited about them. One of them is in one of our English wards and his sister is an active member. We stopped by her house and had a little lunch with them and met Bob, her brother. He has just recently moved into the area is really grateful for the church and the service that he has received from them, with the moving help. This Sunday he was at church and was really excited to see us. He also told us that anytime that we want to come over for anything, we are welcome. We are going to get to know him and I really feel like he is ready to accept the gospel.

It has been a little interesting getting used to teaching in English since it has been so long. Sometimes I need to look up scriptures in Spanish and then go to English. It is funny because it was the exact opposite at the beginning of my mission, but I know that everything will be okay and that we will be able to have a lot of success.

I am going to put off getting the bike tire for a little while. Elder Cottam is a runner and we go out in the mornings, he runs and I bike. We have been taking a farm road that is muddy and has some snow on it too so I need the mountain tire, but if I need a new tire for my trainer I will get one from Wal-mart in Ontario, that is where we do all of our shopping.

My new place is the same place that I went to over a year ago. It is still pretty messy but it is not the worst I have seen. One fun experience that we had was that one of the two toilets was overflowing for about 20 minutes before we noticed (it is on the far side of the house). There was about 2 inches of water on the ground, one in the bathroom and one in the basement below. We called the facilities management people and on Monday they gave us a new toilet, and also fixed a few other things around the house, like our door knob, gave us a new lamp and a couple of other things. They still need to run a snake through our tub because when we are showering it fills up to mid shin so its almost like taking a bath.

There is a good number of members in the branch, it is a little smaller then the branch in Meridian but it is still good sized. Elder Cottam is pretty good at Spanish but still struggles a little bit, but everyone does when you have only been out of the MTC for six weeks. He is getting better every day though. It is such a blessing, and so fun, to be able to speak half way decent Spanish. I think about that everyday and am very grateful for all of the help that I receive.

It was pretty scary to hear about big Z's stomach. If any of the dogs decide to kick the bucket before I get back I will be very mad, so tell them to not. The past little while has been super fun it sounds like with all of the dogs, but I am glad that everyone should be okay. Someone needs to teach Z how to chew her food.

Thats all for this week!

Love,
Elder Paxton

No email? Awesome letter...

So last p-day I did not get an email from Elder Paxton. I was feeling pretty sad about not hearing from him. Then on Friday I came home to find a very large box had arrived addressed to Elder Paxton. I certainly was not going to wait for him to come home to open his own package, so I opened it. Inside was a beautiful framed Greg Olson print of the Savior overlooking Jerusalem.


There was not a note in the box or any explanation. Today I got the explanation. A letter that this missionary mom will cherish! Here is what he wrote:

Dear Mommy (and everyone I guess), Wednesday February 2, 2011

Yesterday we were shopping and almost our whole zone was there. While we were shopping we just thought that we would all get our mom's an extra special gift. So, we went to a church store. Right as we got there we knew that we were all understanding that we couldn't leave without getting something. We looked around for a while and to our amazement there was something for all. To show our love to our moms we all got a painting of Christ, as an example of our service and why we are out here. Mommy, thanks so much for everything. I hope that you like it.

Love,
Elder Paxton

I guess I will forgive him for no email last week. Now I should get another one tomorrow! What a great week!

Goodbye Meridian...

Buenos Dias(o tardes, o noches depende en cuando esta leyendo esta carta) Familia y Amigos,

This past week was a great way to finish off my stay in the great area of Meridian. We had a wonderful baptism of Maria Montgomery, on Saturday. It was such a great experience to see her get baptized and it was also great to hear her testimony the next day during sacrament meeting. She has a wonderful story. About a year ago after her husband died, she had no where to live and was trying to find some work by cleaning houses. She was walking down the street with two bags of cleaning supplies and a woman, Cindy, was driving and felt prompted to stop and help. Maria climbed into the car crying because someone was willing to help her in her time of need. After time went by she was introduced to the missionaries and she immediately felt that this is where she needed to be and she felt that an emptiness was filled that she had always felt at the catholic church. I know that she will be a great member and I know that her 3 children will also be able to be baptized very soon and will all be a great addition to the branch.

It was also an experience for me because she wanted me to confirm her, and it was my first time ever confirming someone so I was a little nervous, but I think it went okay and hopefully she enjoyed it.

Another fun thing that happened on Saturday is at 6 in the morning all the missionaries loaded up two buses and drove down to Twin Falls for a special missionary meeting. We had the privilege of hearing from Bishop Mc Mullin, second counselor of the general bishopric, Elder Gonzalez, of the presidency of the seventy, and from Elder Russel M. Nelson, of the quorum of the twelve apostles. It was also such a great experience to hear from Elder Nelson. I have been thinking about the things that he said since we finished the meeting, and this morning I studied Hebrews 11, one of the chapters that he shared with us on faith, so I could better help our investigators understand why faith is so important. It was also great to hear from Bishop McMullin and Elder Gonzalez. It was such an uplifting experience and one that I will not soon forget.

I am grateful for the opportunity I had to serve in Meridian and also now I am serving in Ontario Canada(or Oregon)!!!! It is a Spanglish area, so that means that we cover a few wards in English. Elder Cottam is my new companion and is from Rancho Cucamonga California and has been out of the MTC for a whole six weeks now. He is still a little green but that is okay. He seems to be a bit of a work-a-holic so that is always great. It has been a long time since I have taught a lesson in English and I will need to work on finding scriptures in my English scriptures, but I know that it will all be okay and that Elder Cottam and I will be able to help this area progress.

That is about all that has happened this past week and I am excited to be serving in this area.

Love

Elder Paxton

Here are a few pictures from our trip to Twin Falls...

"Ready to go and Do what we are commanded..."

Hola Amigos, Hello My Friends,

Sorry the last email have kind of been short but today's should be better. We have already done just about everything that we need to to for the day so we have a little bit of time.

This last week was another great week for Elder Sewell and I. We were able to teach 12 lessons and have found 3 new investigators who want to learn more about the gospel. One of the best things was that we got to help one of our investigators not get kicked out of her apartment. She is a dog lover and isn't allowed to have one, the management found out and told her that she had 3 days to get rid of the dog and all signs, or get out.

Another great experience of this past week is that we had Maria, our investigator who is going to be baptized this saturday, go to a baptism that was in Nampa. She really loved the whole program and is really excited for this saturday. The only bad thing is that she is a little afraid of water, and it didn't help that the brother that got baptized had to be baptized 3 times in order to get it completely right. We made sure that she knew that it was because he is really tall and we told her that it will be okay. She told us that she will have to practice so that everything goes well.

Elder Sewell and I are excited to hear what is going to happen with this next transfer. I am super grateful for this last two transfers, they have been two of the best of my mission. I know that what ever happens is what the lord wants and we are ready to go and do what we are commanded. President Cannon has pretty much guaranteed that one of us is going to be leaving. President also told me that what ever happens to me I will still be senior companion. I have got the feeling that I am going to be leaving the area. I really hope that I get to stay close to this area.

I am super grateful for all of the support that I receive from everyone. Speaking of support I got all of the medical cards and I am planning on using the visa for all sorts of "medical expenses", does making my stomach feel better by buying food count? haha just kidding, hopefully I wont need to hardly use it.

I sent my camera card home with the prescription receipts and everything, and I am planning on taking a lot of pictures at our baptism so I may need the card back soon so I can send you pictures. I hope you have all been enjoying the pictures, and hopefully they are not too confusing, if not you will have to wait for a while in order to hear what is going on in each picture.

Today we played basketball for a good little while at the mission office, and in one of our games out of the 15 points I scored 6. I was dropping everything that I put up. I made two 3's(which counted for two points) and two 360 windmill between the legs air jordan status, normal nothing special shots. I had almost all of the first points for our team. needless to say we won that game. and thankfully it was the last so I could end on a high note.

That is about all for this week. TUNE IN FOR NEXT WEEK'S EPISODE OF ELDER PAXTON'S MISSION. Will he be staying in Meridian or will he be off to face another area in the great Idaho Boise Mission. YOU WILL HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE!!!!!!!!

Love,

Elder Paxton

Here are some of the pictures that Elder Paxton sent...

Winter in Boise

The day the President told us not to drive!

9 inches on our deck

I love snow!

Christmas 2010 - Our apartment decorations

Elder Sewell

Our Tree
Our District
Having fun!
Hunting anyone?
Happy meals make me happy!
Another Idaho sunset...

Super good week!

This week has been super good and we are doing super well. We now have two baptismal dates for the 22nd of January, Maria and her 13 year old son. We are super excited for the both of them. I will be sure to take a lot of pictures of it all. We have also found a few new investigators that we are really excited about. One of them we went to visit with uncle Jeff. We needed a guy to go with us because Rosa is a single mom. We tried to call everyone in our branch to go with us, but they were having baptisms for the dead and all of the men that we could get a hold of were going. So Elder Sewell said,"doesn't your uncle know Spanish", so we gave him a call and thankfully he was able to go and we had a great lesson with her.

We have taught 13 lessons this week and have been trying our hardest to keep finding people and thankfully we have been blessed for our efforts. Sorry this email is so short but today pday is going to be pretty short because of a zone activity. We are going bowling and probably going to play soccer after too.

Thanks for everything.

Love,

Elder Paxton

Happy New Year!

Hello to all, Happy New Year,

This week has been pretty interesting. It started off really just like Rocky's fights, rough from the get go, but ended up great with us on top as the new heavy weight champions. Last week we taught 6 lessons and 5 of them were from Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with the first one on Monday.

One of those lessons was with our new investigator with a baptismal date. Her name is Maria Montgomery (which is funny because there are some Montgomerys in our branch, not related). She was a referral from some English elders and she is super golden and is so ready for baptism. She also has a 17 year old daughter who is interested as well. We are so excited for all the good that will come from her and her family. We also met a friend of hers who also seems pretty interested.

We are really being blessed for the hard work that we have been doing, also for getting sick. In the past 5 days we have taught as many lessons as the previous two weeks prior. The rest of this week should also be pretty fantastic as well. We already have a few appointments set and we should have a member go with us to a lot of them.

Today we are going to have a fun day of service. We are going to help our branch president take his cows to the butcher and maybe we will get to help drop them, but I am not sure. I will have to let you know more next week.

That's all folks!!!!

Love,

Elder Paxton