Monday, February 24, 2014

Week 80 - February 24, 2012 - The area of many miracles


This week was another incredible week out here. It's super funny because I was looking back at all the emails I sent in the first few months of my mission and I sounded miserable!! Especially knowing how I ACTUALLY felt!! But now I am absolutely loving the mission!! Obviously I can't wait to come home and see the family and friends but another part of me just wants to stay here forever!!

This week we were able to baptize Adam. He is from Nevada and lives with his grandparents.  On Friday when we went over to their house to do the baptismal interview, Sister Montgomery (Adams grandma) received a phone call from Adam´s mom. She informed her that she was going to be getting baptized on Sunday...the SAME day as Adam!!! She didn't even know Adam was going to be baptized!! Crazy how God works! He has a plan for each of us and knows what's best for us and when it's our time to listen to this gospel. It's just so crazy that out of all the days in these past 5 years that Adam could have been baptized, he got baptized the same day as his mom!

We have been teaching so many people and it is going so great!! We found a few investigators last week and we put a baptismal date with them all. They are a few friends that are preparing for baptism for March 23rd. They work picking raspberries in the field of one of the members in our branch. They also had another job picking lettuce for another farm in the pueblo where they live. Well on Sunday they told their boss they were all going to church and that they would go to work after. Their boss told them that if they went to church they would all be fired. Well the three of them were at church yesterday and they were so happy!!  When they saw the baptism they couldn't stop talking about how excited they were for March 23rd to come!! 
So happy for them!

We finally reached 91 people at church yesterday!! I was looking at the past attendance here in the branch and my second week here we had 47 people at church!! We have almost doubled the attendance here! I have never worked so hard in my life and I am trying to finish off as strong as I can! On Saturday I will only have 4 months left and I wanna go home with no regrets! I can't express to you how happy I am here!  I love it so much out here in Chapala!!

This morning I was walking and I heard some American lady ask, very enthusiastically ¨Are you Mike?!¨ I responded very caught off guard and said ¨yes.¨ She later told me her name was Susan and that one of her best friends is Isabel (my Aunt Kim's mom). Isabel lives in Canada, pretty crazy that we made that connection!  She said she was at Bry and Kim's wedding many years ago and that she reads my blog and she invited us for coffee this week. I told her we didn't drink coffee but that we would be happy to go to breakfast with them haha!! She lives seven doors down from me!!

Thank you for everything!!  I love you all so much!  Have an amazing week and you are all in my prayers!!

Love,
Elder Mike Payne

The breakfast I made for the zone on Tuesday!  They were happy to say the least... a nice American breakfast!
More Waffle Crisp!!  So amazing! haha 
Another picture of the nice sunset in Chapala
Some little clown trying to raise money to get into school.  I gave in and helped him out!
Carnival started this last week in Chapala... it gets crazy during Carnival.  This was the parade they had on the opening night
Me being a super hot model ;)
Adam's baptism

More of Adam's baptism
Silly faces
Isabel's friend that I met this morning



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