Garner, North Carolina - July 25

This week has been amazing!! I am absolutely loving my new companion Sister Flinders!! She is so determined to work hard and find the elect!! It is great!! So, we were going to be in a trio but due to issues with a new missionaries visa, our third companion went with another Sister. We don't really know what will happen when the other Sister comes. We will just have to wait and see.

This week we have had an amazing time finding new investigators. We have spent several hours tracting and searching for those that the Lord has prepared. Agnes (our super great investigator) is doing amazing!! We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she loved it! She loves the idea of eternal families! Agnes is also very excited for her baptism. She has some back problems and was concerned about the baptism, but we told her that it would all work out and she started crying and said that she knew it would work out because Heavenly Father loves all of His children!! Like I said, she is amazing!! We are also working with the Thorpe family. We are still kind of trying to discern their interest level, but they love having us over and have really enjoyed what we have talked about so far! Tonight we are going to be inviting them to be baptized! I can't wait!

This week, I have learned quite a bit! Something that has stood out to me the most though is submitting our will to the Father's. Our Bishop gave a talk yesterday on Elder Maxwell's talk "Swallowed up in the Will of the Father". This week, Sister Flinders and I made it a priority to do EVERYTHING that Heavenly Father wants us to do. Obviously, we are not perfect and we didn't do everything, but we strived to. This week, I have completely lost myself in the work and it has been great. I find myself being more positive and finding more joy in the work. It truly has been the most refreshing week! It reminded me of what I felt in Jacksonville. I know that as we submit our will to the Father's and we honestly strive to do what Heavenly Father has asked of us, we will find greater joy in the journey! 

I hope you all have a great week!!! I will keep all of you in my prayers! I love all y'all!!

Love,

Sister Paynter

 

***I am so grateful for all those who helped make Meghan's birthday memorable. ***

 

 

 

Agnes

 

Garner, North Caroline - July 15

How has everyone been this week? I hope y'all are staying safe from the heat! It has been getting to the high 90's here and the humidity is real!!! Haha!!

This week with Daisju was kind of a bummer. She has been basically avoiding us all week which really stinks!! She really is so ready for baptism, but I don't know if she completely realizes that yet. Oh well, we will continue to love her and encourage her!! We have found a couple of new families to teach though which has really been great!! One specific family is the Thorpe family! We had our first full length lesson with them this week and it went really good! We taught the Restoration and they both seemed to love it! Next week, their two kids are going to sit in and start learning!! Also, when we first met them last weekend, they told us that they were moving in a few weeks to an area that we thought was out of our mission. However, it is not!! They are still going to be in the Garner Ward boundaries!! What a great tender mercy!!!

This week during my studies, I have been reading a lot about the importance of turning to Christ. All through out the scriptures, it teaches us about the importance of turning to Christ. In the scriptures, Heavenly Father has promised us that as we turn to Christ, have faith in Him, and do all that he asks, we will have eternal life!! Doesn't everybody want to have eternal life? I know I do!! I don't just want to achieve immortality, I achieve immortality and live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. This has motivated me this week to work harder and keep trying!! Life was never supposed to be easy! Sometimes, it can be really easy to make excuses to why we are not progressing. Whether that excuse be that you were offended by what someone said at church, that you don't like the local church leaders, that church is too early in the morning, or what ever it may be, do not give up!! Heavenly Father loves all of us!! Even when Heavenly Father is disappointed in the choices we make, He will always be there with His hand stretched out to us! (2 Nephi 19:12) I pray that we will all make a better effort to turn to Christ! Rely on prayer and the scriptures!! I have loved the time that I have had to study the scriptures everyday!! It has really made a difference in my life as I have relied on prayer and the scriptures!

I love y'all so much!! I hope that this week goes well for all of you!!! Thank you for everything!!! Have a blessed week y'all! 

Love,

Sister Paynter

PS: Sorry I was really bad and didn't take any pictures last week! I will be better this week!!

Garner, North Carolina - July 4

I hope everyone had a good 4th of July!! I know our 4th of July was packed full with fun and joy!!!

This week, Daisju was all set to be interviewed for her baptism, but got sick the day of her interview. So hopefully next week she will be able to be interviewed and then get baptized on the 16th! (Happy Birthday to me...just kidding!) I am so excited for her though! It is amazing how much love I have for these people that I am working with it is truly amazing!! We were also able to find a few new investigators! They all seem to have great potential! I can't wait to see them again this week!

This past week, President James' Sister's family was in town. They are the Ahuna Ohana! The Ahuna Ohana is a family from Hawaii that performs different Polynesian dances as well as a couple of Native American dances. They have performed at the 2002 Winter Olympics, Disney World, and other culture festivals. Anyways, they came to visit this week and did several performances through out our mission! We were able to see two of them. Last night, we got to go to the night time performance for the 4th of July!! My favorite dance was the fire throwing dance that can be seen at the PCC and it was so neat to see it at night in the dark!! 

During the performance, they talked about what their Ohana means to them and how the gospel has helped shape their family. It really made me think about how lucky I am to have the family that I have. I am so grateful for the love that Heavenly Father has shown to me by blessing me with my family! My family has really helped shape me into the person that I am today! I am also so grateful for the family that I have here in North Carolina! I am so grateful for all of the members that care for us and take us in! The Family is truly the most important part of the gospel!! Heavenly Father really has given us families so that we can grow and learn together. What an honor and a privilege it is to know that my family can be together for time and all eternity. I love getting to share that message with others! I love the happiness and excitement others receive when they truly understand that their family can be together for time and all eternity as well. I hope that we can all do what we need to do to ensure that we can be with our families for eternity! 

I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for this opportunity that I have to be serving Him! I am so grateful for all of the love, prayers, and support from all of you! There is truly no place where I would rather be right now! I hope that all of you have a great week! I love and miss you lots!!

Love,
Sister Paynter

 

Garner District

Harmony

Mushu