April 25-Jacksonville, North Carolina

I can't believe that it is almost May?!?! That is so crazy! This was unfortunately my last week in Jacksonville. I am being transferred tomorrow! I can't wait to find out where I am going!

Monday, we had a very relaxing P-day. We just napped and wrote letters. That night we went and helped a member and her husband clean out the shed at their new house! From the front yard, you would not think much of this house, but in the back it is like an oasis!! There is a pool and a little pond with a small gazebo in the middle of it! It was a neat house! I wish I had taken pictures!!

Tuesday was our deep cleaning day! That afternoon, we went tracting and found the sweetest lady named Joyce!! We had dinner with a part member family who invited us back next week to watch Meet the Mormons! For the rest of the night we had coordination with Brother Johnson.

Wednesday, we had District meeting! After our meeting we went to eat at this weird Asian buffet called Mai Tai. The food was pretty good though! We went on exchanges this day and I worked with Sister Salakielu in my area! We went tracting and found 3 new investigators!!  We went to Young Women's with our investigator Alyssa! It was so fun!! We also went to see Falon!! Micah, her little boy was very excited to see us!! Falon says that Sister Salakielu and I are the Dream Team! :)

Thursday, we exchanged back and did weekly planning. For dinner, we ate with the Johnson's. Afterwards, we went to the Adkins and to see Patrick. After Patrick's I had to say goodbye to Brother Johnson because he was leaving for six weeks to do training in California. We weren't sure yet if I was being transferred, but I could have been transferred next transfer and he would not be back before then! It was sad.

Friday, we met with our new investigator Joyce. She fed us pizza for lunch and loved the message that we shared! She is great!! After diner, we went tracting and found 4 new investigators!! We also found several less active members that lived in the apartment complex we were tracting at.

Saturday, we went tracting all day and found 7 new investigators!! It was crazy! We found these apartment complexes that had so many people willing to listen to our message. We also had these really cute 7 year old boys that kept following us around. We let them be missionaries with us. We let them knock on a couple of doors and tell the people that we are missionaries sharing a message about Jesus!! It was so cute!!

Sunday, we had to talk in church....not my favorite thing to do!! But, it went good! We stopped by a lot of the people that we have worked with so that I could say goodbye and get pictures with them. It was definitely bitter sweet!! 

Well, thank you for everything!! I can't wait to find out where the Lord wants me next!! I love you all so much!!

Love,

Sister Paynter

 

Falon and Micah

Joyce

The Mitchell's

 

Sister Johnson

Well hello everyone!! I hope everybody has had a good week! I know we had a great week! 

Monday, Sister Parker took us shopping to find Sister Smedley a better pair of shoes. We had a lot of fun shopping with Sister Parker! We even went to Hobby Lobby...my FAVORITE!! For dinner, we ate with Sister Diaz and our investigator Vanessa came too!! Vanessa and Sister Diaz really seemed to connect! Their sons also became good friends. We taught Vanessa the Word of Wisdom and she is committed to quitting Coffee!! Her baptismal date has been pushed back because she is so busy!!

Tuesday, we went with Sister Parker to go to some appointments and sadly, all of them weren't home. It was a little frustrating. For dinner, Sister Reeves, a member we had never met before, took us out to eat at a really good Mexican Restaurant. For the rest of the evening, we went tracting.

Wednesday, we had Southern Zone Conference!! So, all of the areas in the southern half of our mission came together. President James gave us some really great instructions on how to work with members! He also showed us the statistics of baptisms for our mission and the statistics for the missions in Utah. In our mission when we find our own investigators, we have 1 baptism for every 36 investigators, in Utah it is 1 baptism for every 9 investigators!! Why is that?? Well, it is because there are so many members!! Most converts convert because of Mormons they knew! In our mission, if we receive investigators or referrals from members, we average 1 baptism for every 7 investigators! Member missionary work is VERY important! After the conference, we all went to the Airlie Gardens in Wilmington. It was beautiful!! Don't worry, I do have pictures!! 

Thursday, we did our weekly planning and then went out and did some tracting. We found one new investigator! We will start teaching her this week! We also met with Patrick tonight. He told us that he prayed about The Book of Mormon and he believes it! It was a very exciting night! Now we just need to get that man to church!!

Friday, we went with Sister Parker and helped a family in the ward move. That night we had dinner with the Johnson's and met with Makayla's family! It has been an amazing experience to watch Krisi come back to church and to bring her children with her. She is a great mom and an amazing example to her family!! I love working with them!

Saturday, we went over to Falon's and she taught us how to make cheesecake!! It was so much fun and very delicious!! For the rest of the night, we went out and did some tracting. We talked to this one guy for almost an hour but he would not schedule an appointment. He did say to come back though.

Sunday was a great day!! We haven't had a Ward Mission Leader for almost the entire time that I have been here in Jacksonville and they finally called one today!! Our Ward Mission Leader is now Brother Johnson!! We are pretty excited about that!  After church, we had lunch with the Johnson's and went over the ward roster with Brother Johnson. We also met with Michelle and Jeremy today. They are hoping to move back home to Utah this week which was really sad! I have loved working with them! For dinner we went to the Lee's. We celebrated Alyssa's birthday by having ribs for dinner and cheesecake for dessert!! We taught Alyssa about the Plan of Salvation tonight and she loved it!! I can't believe she is getting baptized in three weeks!!

This week was great!! I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be serving my Heavenly Father! I am also so grateful for the trust He has in me to allow me to teach and work with those that I am working with! I love being on my mission! I can't believe how fast time is going by!!

I love and miss you all so much!! Thank you for everything!

Love,

Sister Paynter

 

 President and Sister James

 

 April 11-Jacksonville, North Carolina

How was everybody's week? This week has been another busy but fun week! I am loving the work that Sister Smedley and I have been doing here in Jacksonville!!

On Monday, we went to Wilmington with Sister Johnson!! It was so much fun! We went to Wilmington to see some of the sites where the TV Show One Tree Hill was filmed! It was a lot of fun!! That night we did a little bit of tracting and found 3 new investigators!! It was a great day!!

Tuesday, we went out with Sister Parker to stop by some of our potential investigators and some less actives. Sadly, no one was home. We then went to Joyce's! We had a really great lesson about the Plan of Salvation. We explained to her that without baptism by proper authority, you cannot make it to the Celestial Kingdom. It seemed to have an impact on her. She is going to continue to study the Plan of Salvation this week. We can't wait to meet with her again!! That night, we met with our less active Haylie. We also taught her the Plan of Salvation and she really liked it.

Wednesday, we had Zone Training in Wilmington! We had a lot of really great instructions!! For lunch, we went to this place called Flaming Amy's. It is very similar to a Mongolian Grill and it was delicious!! That afternoon, we went and did some more tracting and found 2 more new investigators. That night, we ate dinner at the church and ended up having a really great discussion with the Family History Center couple. That night we went to see Falon, but she had to cancel because her husband was sick...sad day. So, we did a little tracting by her house and found another new investigator!

Thursday, we did our weekly planning and then went to the Mills' home. Sister Mills is trying to figure out who is and isn't here on our ward roster. So we coordinated with her for the whole evening. For dinner, she fed us some really good chicken casserole and homemade brownies. She makes the best homemade brownies!! She helped us get our roster updated, which was a big help!!

Friday, we went out with Sister Johnson to check on some names for Sister Mills. We were able to make a lot of progress on finding out who is and isn't here for Sister Mills. That night, we met with Krisi, Makayla, Damien, and their dad!! We had a movie night with them. We watched Meet the Mormons and their Dad seemed to not dislike it!! It was a really great night!!

Saturday, we ate lunch with Sister Jarman and her non-member friend Barbara. We taught Barbara the Plan of Salvation and she seemed to really enjoy it!! For the rest of the afternoon, we tracted but only found several potential investigators. That night, we went and stopped by some more less actives and a referral.

Sunday, we had a really good meeting with Michelle. We talked about the Atonement! For the rest of the afternoon, we went tracting and found 2 more new investigators!! That night we ate dinner with the Bishop's family. Their non-member friend Alyssa was there and we taught her the restoration. Alyssa told us that she wants to have the same spirit that the Lee's have and has agreed to be baptized next month!!! We are so excited for her!!

This past week was an incredible week!! There were many days that my patience was tested, but overall I felt like I learned a lot from it. I can't wait to see what this week has in store for us!!

I hope everyone has a good week! I love you all so much! Thank you for everything!!

Love,

Sister Paynter

These are pictures taken in front of "Karen's Cafe" and some of the houses that are seen in One Tree Hill. The bridge was also a famous scene in One Tree Hill! All I can say is that I thoroughly enjoyed myself on Monday!! :) :)

 These pictures were taken at the "River Court" which is where they played basketball in the show One Tree Hill. Sadly, the court has been taken down. The last picture is the USS North Carolina Battleship that fought in World War 2!!

 April 4-Jacksonville, North Carolina

How is everyone!!?? Did you all have a good Conference weekend? I know I did!! This week has been another busy week...like always!

Monday, we went and played softball with our Bishop's wife and two of their daughters. It was lots of fun! That night, our appointment cancelled so we went tracting. We ran into some very interesting people that night.

Tuesday, we went and stopped by less actives with Sister Parker! We also met with Joyce. We watched the Joseph Smith movie with Joyce and she seemed to really enjoy it. It was sad though, because I realized that Joyce isn't really comprehending the things that we are teaching her. She was asking questions about things that we have taught her every week. It was sad. That night, we ate dinner with Sister Parker and her husband. Her husband is a non-member and always makes me laugh. He has a remote control helicopter that he let us fly!!

Wednesday, we went back to where we tracted Monday night and found 3 new investigators! We even met some Wickens while we were tracting!! It reminded me of Scooby-Doo and the Witches Ghost!! They were really nice though! Tonight we met with Falon! She is one of my favorite less actives to work with. She has a little boy who is just so stinking cute!!

Thursday, all of our appointments with our new investigators fell through. It was not fun. For the rest of the afternoon, we tried to stop by some less actives and potentials. That night we had dinner with Falon and her non-member friend that came to church last Sunday!! Falon made us homemade fried chicken and cheesecake, it was delicious!! We watched the Women's Conference with them and they both really liked it!! Her friend agreed to listen to the lessons that we teach!!

Friday, we did our weekly planning and ended up rearranging our apartment! For dinner, we ate with a part member family in our ward that the elders are teaching. They are a great family!

Saturday, we watched conference with the Johnson's. One of the less active couples that we were working with was supposed to come but they didn't. Sister Johnson made homemade Cafe Rio just for me!!! It was so good!!!

Sunday morning, we watched conference with Falon! Falon is the one that sent the picture and that is her little boy in the picture with us! Sunday evening, we watched conference with our Bishop's family and their non-member friend, Alyssa. Alyssa has agreed to take the discussions as well!! It was a great conference weekend!!!

I am so glad to hear that everyone is doing well!! I love and miss all of you so much!! 

Love,

Sister Paynter

PS: I only had 1 picture to send this week, but we had to email at a library today and we can't seem to get our pictures to load. I will send you lots next week though!! Love you!!