June 5 - Pembroke, North Carolina

Hello Family and Friends!!

Things here in Pembroke, North Carolina have been going well!! I hope y'all have been doing well and having a fun first week of summer vacation! I still can't believe that summer is here!! June 2 was my official 18 month mark as a missionary.....18 months has gone by in the blink of an eye!!

This week has been a slow week...... We did a lot of finding this week and only found a few new people to teach....usually we find a good handful or so! We also had several of our investigators call/text us to tell us that they are no longer interested in learning. So, that was a bummer! However, this week we had a really great lesson with Porchia about the Law of Chastity and Repentance. Since then, she has been determined to talk to the boyfriend and give him a deadline of when he needs to move out! So, June 17 she should be getting baptized!!!!!!! I am so excited for her!!! She is such an amazing person!!!!!! She is going to be a great influence here in the Pembroke ward!!! Her parents are continuing to do well!! Our next step with them is to get them to the temple to do baptisms for the dead!

This week in my Book of Mormon study, I finished reading in Mormon. My favorite chapter in that book was chapter 9. Some of my favorite verses were 27 and 28. They say, "O then despise not, and wonder not, but hearken unto the words of the Lord, and ask the Father in the name of Jesus for what things soever ye shall stand in need. Doubt not, but be believing, and begin as in times of old, and come unto the Lord with all your heart, and work out your own salvation with fear and trembling before him. Be wise in the days of your probation; strip yourselves of all uncleanness; ask not, that ye may consume it on your lusts, but ask with a firmness unshaken, that ye will yield to no temptation, but that ye will serve the true and living God." Over the last 18 months, I have been able to witness the principle of repentance in the lives of several people including in my own life. Repentance is truly what sets us free!! This week, we did a demonstration with one of our investigators about repentance. We tied one strand of string around their wrists and had them brake it. They were able to do it easily. Then we wrapped several pieces of string around their wrists and tied it tight and told them to break it. This time, they were not able to do it. As we continue to sin and not go through all of the steps of repentance, it's as if string is continuing to be wrapped and tightened around our wrists and you know, that's not very comfortable. Thankfully, Heavenly Father has provided us with a way to cut the string!! Because of Jesus Christ we can be freed from the burdens and the pains of sin. I know that as we repent......truly repent, we will feel burdens and pains lifted from us.

I am so grateful for all the wonderful things I have been learning here in North Carolina. Thank you for everything! I love all y'all!!!

Love,

Sister Paynter

May 29 - Pembroke, North Carolina

Hello!!!

I hope everyone has had a really great week!! I can't believe that school is officially out for the summer!! That is just too crazy to me!!!! Time has flown by this year!! Things here in Pembroke are going really well!!

This week, we began teaching the Oxendine's their new member lessons.....it was amazing!!! We can really see such a big difference in them and in their home since they were baptized! It has been really neat!! Yesterday, Kenneth received the Aaronic Priesthood. They are seriously on such an amazing path!!! This is seriously one of the greatest parts of missionary work!!!! We have also been able to do some really good finding this week. Some of the people we found have asked some really great questions and they all seem to have really great potential!!! It's amazing to see how the Lord has His hand in the work here in Pembroke. Things are just going really well!!

This week, I came across this quote by President Hinckley, "It isn't as bad as you sometime think it is. It all works out. Don't worry. If you do your best, it will all work out. Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith." The past few weeks of my mission have been some of the hardest. During those weeks, I sometimes thought to myself that they were never going to end. However, I knew that the Lord had great things in store for me and so I put my trust in Him and went about doing His will. As I lost myself in His work, I noticed that time seemed to pass faster. I also noticed the growth I received in my testimony and my faith. Sometimes in life, we have to go through really hard, difficult trials and sometimes it can be easy to get angry with our Heavenly Father and question why we are being punished. However, I have learned in my life and on my mission that those hard times are not to punish us, but to bless us. During our hardest times, if we put our trust in the Lord, He will shape us and mold us into something truly amazing!!! Without the hard times I have had in my life, I honestly don't think I would be where I am today. Also, if I hadn't gone through the trials I have gone through on my mission, I would not have been changed into the person/missionary I am today! I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who blesses us with loving corrections. I truly know that He loves each and everyone of us so much!! I know that if we trust in Him during our hardest times, He will bless us with the greatest blessing.....CONVERSION!!!

I love you all so much!! Thank you again for all that you do for me!! I have been very blessed by the experience I have been able to have here on my mission!! There truly is no other place I would rather want to be right now! Have a great week!!!

Love,

Sister Paynter

May 22 - Pembroke, North Carolina

Hello Everyone!!!

What a week it has been!!!! Sorry if this email is shorter this week.....time is just getting away from me haha! The days are just flying by lately!!! Sister Herr and I have been making the most of everyday by working as hard as we can, but also having lots of fun!!! This has already been one of the best transfers of my mission!!!

This week, the Oxendine's (minus Porchia) got baptized this weekend!!!! It was really an amazing thing to be a part of!!!! They both told us that they felt different.....they felt better! On Sunday we rode up with them to Stake Conference. Layla wasn't going to go because she didn't feel good, but we persuaded her and did our best to get them out the door on time.....that didn't happen. We ended up being 20 minutes late to Stake Conference ahhaaha!! I have never been late to a church meeting my entire mission! Oh well, we got them there and they loved it!!! They all learned a lot!!!

I am truly grateful for all the opportunities I have been able to experience on my mission. Teaching the gospel to others has really strengthened my testimony!! I know with all of my heart that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true!! I know that the Book of Mormon is true! And, I know that we will be with our families forever if we live true to the teachings of the gospel!!! One of my favorite scriptures is Alma 36:17-20.

17 And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.

18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.

19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.

20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!

I can testify to you that the gospel truly does bring us joy far greater than any of our pains!!!

I love you all so much!!! Thank you for everything! I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Paynter

The Oxendine's baptism!!!!!!!!

May 15 - Pembroke, North Carolina

How is everyone doing this week?! It was so good to be able to see and talk to my family on Sunday! I am so grateful for the wonderful family Heavenly Father has blessed me with!! I am also very blessed to have such an amazing mom!!! I am so grateful for her example and the things that she has taught me over the years!! I am also lucky to have a great step-mom who supports me and my siblings and loves us unconditionally!! I am one lucky child of God!!

This week has been really good!! The Oxendine's came to church on Sunday again!!!! Do you know what that means???? They are supposed to be getting baptized on Saturday!! As of right now, only the parents will be getting baptized. Their daughter, our other investigator, she was going to be baptized with them as well, but she won't kick her boyfriend out! He can't find a place to live (even though we have found several good offers for him) and is currently not working. I am sure he would work a lot harder to get a place to live if he didn't have a free stay at Casa de Oxendine. We are continuing to pray for her and hoping she realizes how important it is to live the Law of Chastity completely!! We do have other investigators we have been working with, but we have been having a really hard time getting up with them. The Oxendine's are really the only investigators we have right now that are really progressing!

Yesterday in church, we sang the primary song, "Families Can Be Together Forever" I love the simple and beautiful message this song delivers! Over the last couple of weeks, I have been reflecting on the importance of families! I am so grateful for the wonderful family my Heavenly Father has placed me in!! During my mission, I have had the opportunity to teach the Plan of Salvation to so many families and individuals!! Each time, my testimony grows of the reality of the statement families can be together forever. I know that we can be with our families for time and all eternity!!! Nothing can separate us!!!!

I love you all so much!!! Thank you for everything you do!!!

Love,

Sister Paynter

May 8 - Pembroke, North Carolina

Hello Family and Friends!!

This week has been quite a week!! It's been a weird week, but a good week at the same time! I cannot believe that today officially marks the beginning of my last transfer.....where has the time gone?!?!

Tuesday, we had our first transfer training meeting. This meeting is for all of the missionaries who are finishing up their first transfer on their mission. At the meeting, President James, Sister James, and the Assistants all gave us wonderful instructions and had us practice teaching a lot!! Thursday night, we went to meet with a man we had tracted into two or three weeks ago. When we got to his house for the appointment, not only were we able to teach him, but we were able to teach his wife and their two sons!! They all agreed to set June 17th as a goal for them to get baptized! We were also able to get the dad to say a kneeling prayer at the end of the lesson!!! It was great!! Saturday, we had a great lesson with one of our new investigators named Bradley. Bradley is the boyfriend of one of the Young Women in our ward. He wants to get baptized this summer, so we are super excited for that! On Sunday, we went over to the Oxendine's in the morning to get them out the door!! Which means......they came to sacrament meeting!!!! It was so great to have them there for all of church! They all said they really liked it too!!

On Saturday, Sister Angila Holmes (a member of our ward that I absolutely love...she goes by Mama Ang) showed us a new Mormon Message called  "The Music of the Gospel" which is about a Native American boy who learns how to "hear the music". Go and watch it now..... https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/mormon-messages-2017?lang=eng .....In the video, it talks about how the music of the gospel is our own personal testimony that is within our hearts. When we "hear the music" we are able to "dance" or act on our own and have a sincere desire to do the things we are asked  to do like reading our scriptures and going to church. We can all go through the motions, but unless we can really "hear the music" it means nothing. I learned that early on in my mission. I had to decide if I was just going to do missionary work because it was what I was supposed to do or if I was going to put my whole heart into it and do it because I knew it was what I wanted to do. When I finally made the decision to give my heart to the Lord and do what he wanted me to do, that was when I truly began to change on my mission!

On Friday night, Mama Ang took us to the Lumbee Spring Powwow. It was really neat to get to experience some of the Native American culture that is here in Pembroke. My favorite part was getting to watch the opening ceremony for the dances. Early that morning in my studies, I was reading Helaman 15:12-13 which says, "Yea, I say unto you, that in the latter times the promises of the Lord have been extended to our brethren, the Lamanites; and notwithstanding the many afflictions which they shall have, and notwithstanding they shall be driven to and fro upon the face of the earth, and be hunted, and shall be smitten and scattered abroad, having no place for refuge, the Lord shall be merciful unto them. And this is according to the prophecy, that they shall again be brought to the true knowledge, which is the knowledge of their Redeemer, and their great and true shepherd, and be numbered among his sheep." It was a neat experience to be reminded that I am here serving among some of the ancestors of these people and helping them to be brought back to the knowledge of their Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. It was a special experience for me!

I am so grateful for this opportunity I have to be helping all of our Heavenly Father's children come back to Him. There really is no other place I would rather be than here on my mission!! Thank you for everyone who has helped me to be where I am today!!

I love you all so much! I hope you have a great week!!

Love,

Sister Paynter

 

On Friday, before Sarah left to go back home to Charlotte, we went and bought a dozen bagels and handed them out with pass-along cards!! It was a lot of fun hahah!!

May 1 - Pembroke, North Carolina

This week has definitely been a testing period haha! That means that blessings should be coming soon right? Hahah just kidding. This week, we did a lot of tracting in the hot sun hahah and literally only found 1 person who was willing to listen. Oh well, that's what missionary work is! It's still been a pretty good week though!

The Oxendine's....well let's just say they didn't come to church....again. This week, we are buying them alarm clocks so that they can get in the habit of going to bed early and waking up at a decent time! They are seriously so funny!! They all know it's true though. They are so excited to get baptized! We were able though to schedule some baptismal dates with some great people! It's really neat to see how many people are being prepared to hear this message!

With the passing of Aunt Janice this week, I am very grateful for the knowledge that we all have of the Plan of Salvation. Yesterday, Sister Herr and I taught Gospel Principles. The lesson was on the Church of Jesus Christ today. We talked about all the wonderful truths that have been restored! My favorite would definitely be that families can be together for time and all eternity!! I have been very blessed with such a wonderful family!! I am truly grateful for the Priesthood Authority and the power that it has to seal families together forever! What a privilege it has been to be able to share this message with so many wonderful people!

I love you all so much!! Thank you for everything!! I hope you all have a wonderful week!!

Love,

Sister Paynter

 

This is a recent convert!! Her name is Sara!! She is awesome! I love her so much! She has been going to college here, but is leaving to go to BYU-I. Sunday was her last sunday!! I am going to miss her!!!

PS: She loves Disney more than me!!!

 

Pembroke, North Carolina - April 24

Family and Friends!! I hope you all had a wonderful week! I can't believe how fast the weeks are going by these days. This week has been a really great week! We have been tested and tried, but have kept working hard and have seen wonderful little miracles come from it!

The Oxendine family is doing well! Again.....they missed sacrament meeting.....so now they are getting baptized May 13. Last night, we made all them make up their own contracts and sign them promising that they will be at church by 8:45 next Sunday. They are seriously such an amazing family. The mother hasn't chewed tobacco in over a week now and the father is going on week 3 of not smoking! This family has changed so much since the first time I met them!! Every time we teach them, they soak it all up and just fall more and more in love with what we are teaching them. They also love the Book of Mormon. They have all been reading it and really enjoy it! We are even finding more wonderful people to teach through the Oxendine's!! We are now teaching almost all of their children and even some of their grandchildren!! It's been amazing!!

On Saturday, we had the opportunity to go see my two favorite hooligans in Lumberton get baptized.....Tracy and Tony!!!!! Seeing them enter the waters of baptism has been one of the greatest blessings I have been able to witness on my mission. They both just seemed so happy and glowing!! After they were baptized, they both bore their testimonies. Tony talked about how the Church has changed him. He talked about how he is happier and a better person because of the things that he has learned and is now living. Tracy also talked about the change this message has brought to her. She suffers from a lot of anxiety and since she has been reading the Book of Mormon and going to church, she has had more confidence in herself and feels so much more at peace!!! Through out the entire program, I couldn't help but get emotional about how much I love being missionary! I sat there thinking about all the amazing people I have met and watched change and I just cried. I am not ready for all of this to end. Seeing people change on my mission has been the most rewarding experience of my life!!! I have learned so much about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know that Christ's Atonement is the single greatest blessing to have been given to each and every one of God's children. Without Christ's Atonement, I would be nowhere. There would be no purpose to life. Without the Atonement of Jesus Christ, I would not be where I am at today. Learning about and applying the Atonement of Jesus Christ on my mission has changed me into something I could never repay my Heavenly Father!! I love this work so much!!! I am excited to see what the next 2 months brings. I just hope that I can continue to give the Lord all that I have and continue to be change through His Atonement!!

I love you all so much!!! Thank you to everyone who has supported me in my decision to serve. Thank you to everyone who has helped me get to where I am today!! I don't think I could ever repay you for the amazing experience I have been able to have out here!!! I love and miss you all!!! Have a wonderful week!!

Love,

Sister Paynter

 

Tracy and Tony's Baptism!!!!!

 

 

 Pembroke, North Carolina - April 17

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!!! This week has been a really great week filled with wonderful experiences!!

The Oxendine family is making wonderful progress!!! The mom has finally given up chewing tobacco and the dad hasn't smoked in over a week now! They are just so amazing! As of right now, they will be getting baptized May 6th. Every time we teach them, the spirit is always so strong!! They are learning so much and really gaining such a wonderful understanding of the gospel!! I love it!! When we are teaching them, for some reason they remind me of Grandma and Grandpa Paynter!! It has really been a neat experience!! Sunday, we got to go back to Lumberton! Two more boys that I taught got baptized!! Their parents were against them getting baptized, but the 12 year old (who has "already" been baptized) told his mom that he wants to hold the priesthood, be able to pass the sacrament, and go on a mission. He told her that to do those things he needed to get baptized....so he did!! It was really such a neat experience to be there!!

Yesterday, we got to share the #PRINCEofPEACE video with a lot of people! I absolutely loved the church's initiative this Easter! Jesus Christ truly is our Prince of Peace! I am so grateful for the time we have at Easter to celebrate the joy he brings into our lives! It's not a time to mourn His death, but to rejoice in His life and resurrection. Because he lives, we too will live again!! What a wonderful message that is!!!!

I love you all so much!! Thank you for everything you do!! Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Paynter

PS: Sorry for the short letter this week! 

Picture 1: Layla's tobacco (round 1) she ended up buying more....but Saturday she gave us the rest and hasn't had any since!!!

Picture 2: Dean and Tristen's baptism!!

 

Half-price Easter candy!!

 

Pembroke, North Carolina - April 10

Family and Friends!!!

How has everyone's week been? I hope all of you who had Spring Break this week enjoyed your wonderful week off!! This week in Pembroke has truly been amazing!

On Monday night, we went over to see the Oxendine's. We had felt inspired to go earlier than we had planned to, but weren't %100 sure if that was what we should do. So, we went to Wal-Mart to hand out an Easter Initiative card. Once we found someone and gave it to them, we headed to the Oxendine's. When we got there, their daughter Mary and her daughter Paris were there. We had met them in the past and they had wanted to listen to more of our message, but we had never been able to get up with them. That night, we had planned to teach the Plan of Salvation because we felt that was what they needed right now. As we shared the Plan of Salvation with them and the idea of forever families and the three kingdoms of glory, a very strong spirit entered the room. Mary began to cry and was overjoyed to know that she could be with her husband again (he was killed a couple of years ago). The entire family told us that they had always wondered why God would put us in families here and not intend for us to be with them after this life. They were all so overjoyed!! We extended a baptismal invitation to Mary and Paris and they accepted!! Saturday night, we went over to teach the Oxendine's again. This time, we had planned to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As we were talking with them, they talked about some word of wisdom issues they have and said that they wanted to quit but never felt like God was telling them too. Sister Herr and I both got very strong spiritual impressions that we needed to teach the Word of Wisdom and so we did. We weren't even planning to teach this lesson for like another week! I was nervous that it would "scare" them away, but it didn't!! They accepted to begin overcoming their addictions! Kenneth and Layla were apprehensive about handing over their contraband, so I told them that if they would quit cold turkey, I would stop drinking soda. We told them we would come back Sunday night and discuss it more. Sunday morning, they came to church!!! They missed sacrament meeting, but they made it for the last two hours and loved it!! That night, we went over and talked about faith. We had some soda in our fridge that a member had given us so we took it to their house and gave it to them to show them we meant business. Layla was really tired and fell asleep, so we talked with Kenneth and Porchia. As we talked with Kenneth, he was still very hesitant about handing over his last cigarette. We told him that if he acted in faith, God could then help him even more. So, Kenneth stood up and went to find his last cigarette. Unfortunately he misplaced it.....or God made it disappear haha. Anyways, he was still so willing to change for God! It was so amazing to watch!! I seriously love this family so much!!! I can't wait for them to feel the amazing feeling you get as you use the Atonement of Jesus Christ and truly repent! I just love seeing them so happy!

Overall, this week my testimony of the Spirit was strengthened. I am so grateful for the Holy Ghost and the guidance that he gives each of us! I still struggle with recognizing the Spirit, but when I do recognize it, it's truly amazing!!! I would get no where on my mission and in life if I didn't have the Holy Ghost to guide me.

D&C 11:12

"And now, verily, verily, I say unto thee, put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good—yea, to do justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit."

Have a great week!! I love you all!

Love,

Sister Paynter

We got to go to Airlie Gardens in Wilmington again!! It was just as beautiful as last time!!!

Pembroke, North Carolina- April 3

Hey Y'all!! (I just had to express my self the best way I knew how....southernly)

This week has been really great!! My trainee's name is Sister Herr!! It's pronounced her. She is from the Tucson, Arizona area. Vale to be exact. She is such an amazing hard working missionary and I am really lucky and excited to be training her! 

This week was a little slower...I'm pretty sure the Lord is just testing us since it's Sister Herr's first week....He sure does have a sense of humor! The Oxendine family is doing pretty good! They were supposed to come to Conference yesterday, but didn't! They were even supposed to watch the session where Elder Costa specifically spoke to investigators haha! Oh well, we both received a lot of inspiration during Conference on how to help them so we are excited to see where it leads them! I found out that Tracy and Tony got married!! That means in just a couple of weeks they should be getting baptized! Hopefully everything works out and I will be able to go back and see that! 

I just loved getting to watch Conference this weekend!!! When I was a kid, I always felt like Conference went on and on forever!!! But now, I feel like it went by way too fast!!! What really stood out to me this weekend was the emphasis on recognizing the spirit and going back to the basics of going to church and keeping the Sabbath day holy, read the Book of Mormon, and pray! I have come to realize how easy it is to do these things, but that we make it seem a lot harder than it is. Doing the basics really is so important!! It's what strengthens our testimonies and helps us to stand strong against the "whirlwinds" of the devil. I love the scripture Helaman 5:12 that says, "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." So, keep doing the basics and you will not fall!!

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2017-01-003-spiritual-whirlwinds?lang=eng

I hope you all have a great week!! I love you all!!

Love,

Sister Paynter

Pembroke, North Carolina - March 27

This week has really been such a great week!!! We had the wonderful opportunity to have Elder Hamula, a member of the Quorum of the 70, come and visit our mission! I absolutely loved the instructions he and his wife gave us!! I definitely received many answers to questions I had and received lots of personal revelation! On Saturday, President James called and extended the calling to me to be a trainer. So, for the next 12 weeks, I will be training a brand new missionary. I will be staying in Pembroke and then after the 12 weeks.....figure it out yourselves...Hahaha! :) I just can't believe the end is coming so quickly!!!

This week, we had many wonderful lessons with lots of our investigators!!! We saw the Oxendine's a couple of times and every time, the spirit was so strong!! They didn't make it to church this week, but Saturday night, Layla and Porschia (mom and daughter) came to the Women's Conference Broadcast!! And they loved it!! It was so good!!! On Friday night, we watched the Restoration movie with them and they loved it! Their other daughter and granddaughter were there and they want to start learning more as well!!! Their family is really just so amazing!!! I love all of them so much!!

During our conference with Elder Hamula, he talked a lot about faith! He showed a really powerful video...you all should watch it...

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2011-12-05-pure-and-simple-faith?category=topics/faith&lang=eng

After watching the video Elder Hamula asked us what we do when the price goes up? Do we give up or do we go forward with faith knowing the Lord will make things work out? I know that through God, all things are possible. I know that even when the price goes up and we feel like we won't make it, if we have faith, the Lord will make it possible!! We have to remember though that we have to do everything in our power to do what is necessary then the Lord can make up the difference.

I am so grateful for the wonderful opportunity I have to be serving here in North Carolina! I fall in love with the state and the people every single day!! I can't believe how fast the time is going by! It is definitely going to be a bitter sweet goodbye!

I love all of you so much!!! Thank you for all you do!

Love,

Sister Paynter

 

 

Pembroke, North Carolina - 
Hello Everyone!!! Sorry if this email is shorter than others, but things have been crazy around here!! Hahaha!! Things are going really well though! I found out that a couple more of my investigators in Lumberton are getting ready to be baptized soon!! Hopefully I will be able to go back and see them get baptized!!

Things here in Pembroke are AMAZING!!! I seriously love the ward and the people here so much!!! This week, we set like 7 baptismal dates!!! We found and began teaching two amazing families and set baptismal dates the night we found them!! They are all amazing!! My favorite family though is the Oxendine's! It's a family of three, Kenneth, Layla, and their older daughter Portia! We have had some really great lessons with them this week and they are making wonderful progress! We just need to get them to church!!! Hahaha that has been the struggle of my mission hahaha!!! I am really excited for them!!!

I can't believe that next week I will only have 12 weeks left on my mission! My mission has completely changed me!! For a while, I was a little nervous that I would go home and be the exact same, but over the last several weeks, I have come to realize that I have changed! Being so close to the spirit has been amazing and I want to continue striving to have the spirit with me as much as possible when I get home! The gospel is truly amazing and has changed me so much! I am so grateful for my Savior and his Atoning sacrifice! I love learning about the Atonement and applying it in my life. It's also been amazing to watch the people I have been able to teach use the Atonement as well!! Christ's Atonement is the greatest!!!!

I love you all so much! I hope you have a fantastic week!!! Talk to you later!

Love,

Sister Paynter

 

Picture 1: I found a cool dolphin statue!

Picture 2: This little old man has the neatest motorized wheelchair haha! He has a little trailer hooked on the back to collect cans in! He gets money for the cans he collects hahah! Good old Pembroke!!

Picture 3: This is our cute recent convert Gail.

Picture 4: It rained the other day and there was a beautiful rainbow!!!

 

 

Pembroke, North Carolina - March 6, 2017

Hello family and friends! How has everyone's week been? Things here in Pembroke are going really well!!! I absolutely love it here!!! The ward is really amazing!! I have felt at home here in this ward! Sister Olson and I are doing well! The people here in Pembroke are really neat! We have been meeting so many people that are prepared to here the message of the restored gospel!!

This week, we have been able to get up with a lot of people that we haven't been able to see in the last couple weeks. We were also able to find several new investigators!!! We were able to set 2 new baptismal dates with two of the new investigators that we found!!! We were unfortunately not able to get up with Delois and Anthony this week. Hopefully we will be able to see them this week! We have another investigator, Jessica, who is scheduled to be baptized in a few weeks. She loves what we have been teaching her!!! She is always waiting for us and gets so excited when we show up to her house. Our teaching pool is really quite amazing! I am so excited to see what continues to happen here in Pembroke over the next several weeks!

This past week in district meeting, I was in what they call "the hot seat". It's basically just a get to know you thing that our district leader likes to do. Anyways, one of the questions they asked me was what lesson was my favorite lesson to teach? I told them that my favorite lesson to teach was the Restoration because it's the one I know the best and therefor I know it the best. As I have been thinking about it though, the Restoration really is my favorite lesson to teach, but not for the reason I shared in district meeting. The reason I love the Restoration lesson is because it contains so many great and wonderful truths that have really changed my perspective in life. My most favorite truth to share is the fact that God is our loving Heavenly Father. I love the scripture in Romans 8:16-17. It says, "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." I love the word heir because it makes me think of a kingdom with Kings and Queens and also Princes and Princesses who are heirs to the kingdom. This verse of scripture simply outlines how much we mean to our Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have of a loving Heavenly Father. Knowing that I am a daughter of a King has given me so much strength to continue pushing on when things get rough. I know that our Father in Heaven has a plan for each of us and that he loves each and every one of us so much!!!!!

I love you all so much!! Thank you for everything you do! Every day of my mission has been amazing! It's sad to think that the end of my mission is quickly approaching! Being able to be close to the spirit and my Heavenly Father is an experience that has been so sacred to me and I would never trade it for anything in the world!!!!!!

Love,

Sister Paynter

 

There is this old abandoned house in our area that looks like the Haunted Mansion.....I definitely had to take pictures!!!! I even wore my "Minnie Mouse" skirt haha!!! (Don't worry mom.....I got the skirt for free hahah)

 

 

Pembroke, North Carolina - February 27

I hope everyone had a good week!! The week here in Pembroke has gone by very quickly!! Things have been going really well and the people here are just amazing!!

Monday night we set a baptismal date with a woman named Jessica!! She loves what we have been teaching her and just soaks up the gospel like a sponge!! It's amazing!!! We also met this really amazing couple!! Their names are Delois and Anthony. We met Delois while we were walking through some town homes. She was talking with some friends and when we started to talk to her, she expressed that she was very angry with God. She told us that she was terminally ill and that she had lost basically all of her family members at a young age. The conversation was really awkward as we tried to explain the Plan of Salvation to her. It seemed that for everything that we said she would have an argument for. We set up an appointment for the following evening. The following evening, we were really late for the appointment. In fact, we were so late that we almost didn't even bother going over. When we got there, we weren't sure if we had found her house. As we sat in the car in front of their house, a car pulled up next to us and rolled down there window. We rolled down ours and sure enough, it was Delois and her husband. She told us that she was having a bad day but that we were still welcome to come in. When we first went in, Anthony was very stand offish. We told him that he could ask us any questions he had. So of course he asked us the regular anti questions...are you a cult? Do you have more than one wife? Etc. As we met with them, she told us that she had just gotten back from a blood transfusion and dialysis. We talked about how trials are given to us to build us up and help us to become who God needs us to be. We showed her two videos. We showed her "The Refiner's Fire" first and then we showed her "The Will of God". By the end of the lesson Anthony was in tears as well as Delois. Delois told us that she felt happy for the first time in a long time. Anthony told us that he hadn't seen her this happy in a long time. They told us that they felt that God had answered their prayers by sending us to them and that they wanted to learn more. It was truly an amazing experience to be a part of!!

As I have reflected on this experience, it made me think about how the Lord prepares each of us in his own time. Whether we were born into the church or not, the Lord prepares us for what he needs us to do. For me, I definitely know that the Lord prepared me to come out on my mission at the time that he needed me. There have been people that I have met on my mission that I know for a fact I was sent there to help them. If I had gone on my mission earlier, those people would not have been ready to hear what I have to share with them. The Lord truly works in mysterious ways!!!!

I love you all so much!! Thank you for everything! Don't forget....SMILE because Heavenly Father loves you!!!

Love,

Sister Paynter

Picture 1: We rode up to our Mission Leadership Council with some of the other sisters. Sister Steenhoek, one of my good mission friends, saw this barbecue place and we thought the logo looked cool so we took a picture. It reminded us of the Big Bang Theory.

Picture 2: I got to see Sister Flinders at MLC!! She took a picture with all of her companions haha!!

Picture 3: All of the sisters I came out with, except for one who is a trainer right now, are Sister Training Leaders so we took a picture all together at MLC.

 

 

Monday, February 20 - Pembroke, North Carolina

Hello Everyone!!

This week has been a really great week!! Tuesday, I was transferred to Pembroke to serve with Sister Olson! We came out on our missions at the same time, so it's been really fun getting to serve with her! Pembroke is really great. It's so strange being so close to Lumberton. Pembroke reminds me of Ephraim, Utah and Roosevelt, Utah mixed together.

There isn't a whole lot to share this week since I have still been trying to figure out what is going on here in Pembroke. However, on Saturday, Danny got baptized!!! I was given permission to go back and it was really amazing! I found out at the baptism that when Sister Smith and her new companion had gone over to see him this past week, Danny told them that his brother had changed his mind and told him he could make his own decision about baptism!! Apparently, he really liked what he had heard when we went over a week ago! At his baptism, Danny was just glowing!! He looked so happy!!! It was really such a wonderful experience!

I really am just so grateful for this privilege I have to be serving a mission. Watching people repent and do all that they can to be baptized as a member of the true church has just been so exciting! I know without a shadow of a doubt that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true church on the earth. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that he was called of God to restore His kingdom to the earth again. I know that Thomas S. Monson is God's chosen prophet today and that he receives revelation for all of us so that we can know more about what we need to do to live with our Heavenly Father again. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have a living prophet who leads and guides our Heavenly Father's church. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that it truly is another testament of the Savior Jesus Christ. "I'm a Mormon. I know it. I live it. I love it."

I love you all so much!! I hope you all have a wonderful week!!!

Love,

Sister Paynter

My New Address Is: 109 Barker St. Apt. F Pembroke, NC 28372

 

 

 

 

Lumberton, North Carolina - February 13, 2017

Hello family and friends! I hope you have all had a really great week this week! My time here in Lumberton has gone by in the blink of an eye!! I can't believe that I have been here for 6 months!! Monday night, President James called to ask if I would be a Sister Training Leader in Pembroke. Pembroke is only like 20 miles to the west of Lumberton! I won't even be leaving Robeson county. I am really excited!!!! The people here in Robeson county are very prepared to hear the gospel!!

This week has been really good. It has also been an emotional roller coaster haha!! This week, Danny's brother told Danny that if he got baptized, he would take him off the family will and would basically disown him. So, Danny decided Wednesday that he wanted to wait a little longer. We told him to keep praying and relying on the Lord. Thursday, we went back over and he said that he had changed his mind. He told us that he was old enough to make his own decisions and that he wanted to still get baptized Saturday. Friday, we went over to teach the final lesson and guess who was visiting.....his brother. His brother listened to what we had to say and was very nice. It was extremely awkward though! His brother told us that it was hard for him to see his brother change from Baptist to Mormon. The member we brought with us had converted from the Baptist church and said some really great remarks to the brother. We could tell that Danny was very uncomfortable. At the end of the lesson, he said that he wanted to hold off on the baptism. Later that night, we called him to make sure that was what he wanted. He said that he wanted to hold off on his baptism until next week. So, hopefully this Saturday all goes well and he will be able to get baptized! Since Pembroke is so close, I may be able to get permission to come back and see his baptism!! Everything else though went pretty well this week!

This week, I found the November 2013 Conference Ensign in our apartment and have been reading it all week! Recently I read President Uchtdorf's talk entitled, "Come, Join with Us". This talk is really great and I highly recommend you all listen to it or read it this week!! Anyways, my favorite quote from the talk is "...first doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith. We must never allow doubt to hold us prisoner and keep us from the divine love, peace, and gifts that come through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ....Come, join with us. Come heed the call of the gentle Christ. Take up your cross and follow Him." I am so grateful for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I truly know that this is the church that our Heavenly Father wants all of His children to be a part of. I know that life gets hard and it can seem to be easy to doubt our faith, but don't do it! No matter where we are at in our lives, I know that the Savior will always welcome us in!

I love you all so much!! I am so grateful for everything you do for me! There really is no where else I would rather be right now than here on my mission. I love you and miss you all!

Love,

Sister Paynter

 

Lumberton - February 13, 2017

Hello family and friends! I hope you have all had a really great week this week! My time here in Lumberton has gone by in the blink of an eye!! I can't believe that I have been here for 6 months!! Monday night, President James called to ask if I would be a Sister Training Leader in Pembroke. Pembroke is only like 20 miles to the west of Lumberton! I won't even be leaving Robeson county. I am really excited!!!! The people here in Robeson county are very prepared to hear the gospel!!

This week has been really good. It has also been an emotional roller coaster haha!! This week, Danny's brother told Danny that if he got baptized, he would take him off the family will and would basically disown him. So, Danny decided Wednesday that he wanted to wait a little longer. We told him to keep praying and relying on the Lord. Thursday, we went back over and he said that he had changed his mind. He told us that he was old enough to make his own decisions and that he wanted to still get baptized Saturday. Friday, we went over to teach the final lesson and guess who was visiting.....his brother. His brother listened to what we had to say and was very nice. It was extremely awkward though! His brother told us that it was hard for him to see his brother change from Baptist to Mormon. The member we brought with us had converted from the Baptist church and said some really great remarks to the brother. We could tell that Danny was very uncomfortable. At the end of the lesson, he said that he wanted to hold off on the baptism. Later that night, we called him to make sure that was what he wanted. He said that he wanted to hold off on his baptism until next week. So, hopefully this Saturday all goes well and he will be able to get baptized! Since Pembroke is so close, I may be able to get permission to come back and see his baptism!! Everything else though went pretty well this week!

This week, I found the November 2013 Conference Ensign in our apartment and have been reading it all week! Recently I read President Uchtdorf's talk entitled, "Come, Join with Us". This talk is really great and I highly recommend you all listen to it or read it this week!! Anyways, my favorite quote from the talk is "...first doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith. We must never allow doubt to hold us prisoner and keep us from the divine love, peace, and gifts that come through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ....Come, join with us. Come heed the call of the gentle Christ. Take up your cross and follow Him." I am so grateful for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I truly know that this is the church that our Heavenly Father wants all of His children to be a part of. I know that life gets hard and it can seem to be easy to doubt our faith, but don't do it! No matter where we are at in our lives, I know that the Savior will always welcome us in!

I love you all so much!! I am so grateful for everything you do for me! There really is no where else I would rather be right now than here on my mission. I love you and miss you all!

Love,

Sister Paynter

 January 30, 2017 - Lumberton, North Carolina

Hello everyone!! Can you believe that it will be February this week?? Where is the time going??? This week has been really good!

This week, we had a world wide missionary broadcast and zone conference. The world wide broadcast was wonderful! The apostles and general authorities all discussed the importance of teaching towards conversion with our investigators. They also announced that our daily schedules were being changed and that we now only account for 4 key indicators. It was quite a big announcement! It's going to be interesting this week as we begin to live by a new schedule. Our investigators are doing well. Our investigator Danny is still lined up to be baptized next Saturday. He is still praying for confirmation on Joseph Smith and being baptized, but he really has loved what we have been teaching and what he learns at church. Tracy and Tony still have not come to church!! This week she ended up having to go to the hospital......Satan is really coming down on them! Haha!! Everyone else though is good. We are just trying to make a big focus on getting all of these wonderful people to come to sacrament meeting. Getting people to sacrament meeting has been the hardest thing for me to help people do on my mission. It all comes down to agency..........haha!

This week, the church put out a new mormon message. It's from Elder Holland's talk "Where Justice, Love, and Mercy Meet". The story that the message portrays is the story that I shared in my farewell talk of the two brothers that were scaling up a canyon wall and got to a point where only one of them could move on. I don't know if you remember that story, but if you don't go an read it, it's a good one. Anyways, I just love the principle that the story teaches us of the need for our Savior. My testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ has grown so much on my mission. I feel that I have become more converted to the Savior. I am grateful for all that Jesus Christ has done for us. Because of Him, we are able to repent and change! I know that Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father loves all of us so much. All they want more than anything is to have all of us return to live with them one day. So, have faith and grab onto our Savior's hands. He is reaching out for us and waiting for us to use the atonement, repent, and change.

I am truly grateful for this opportunity I have had to serve the Lord and be an instrument in His hands. Missionary work brings the greatest happiness into my life!! I love you and miss you all so much! I hope you all have a wonderful week!!

Love,

Sister Paynter

January 23, 2017 - Lumberton, North Carolina

Hey!! I hope everyone has had a really great week this week!! Things here in Lumberton are going really well...except the weather haha. At the beginning of last week the temperature here reached the 80's.........in January. This weather really is quite strange. It's probably also the reason behind this wonderful cold that I have received this week. Even though being sick has completely worn me out, we have still been able to do some really great work.

Our investigators are all doing really well. We are working with a couple named Tracy and Tony. They met with the Elders less than a year ago, but wanted to resume taking lessons after the Elders had left. Since we have been teaching them, they have begun to progress wonderfully!! They are all set to be baptized on March 4th. I can't wait for them! This week, Tracy came to a Relief Society activity with us and absolutely loved it!! She's really great. She keeps texting and calling us to check up on us. She even called this morning to see how my cough was doing....I love her!! Now, we just need to get them to church. Every week, they are so determined to come....and then something happens. This week, the power went out Saturday night and so their alarm clock got reset. Last week, they were all ready to go to church and went out to the car and their tire was flat.....the list goes on and on!! Haha Satan is working really hard on those two!! We also saw our investigator Katie who is my other favorite! She is the one from Minnesota who has been meeting with missionaries for over a year now. This month she has decided that by the end of the month she will make up her mind of what she wants to do.....get baptized or not. We just want her to be happy and know that whatever decision she comes to it will be what is best for her right now.

In Relief Society yesterday, our lesson was from Elder Juan A. Uceda's talk from General Conference called "The Lord Teaches Us to Pray". This talk is really wonderful and I suggest that all of you read it! This talk is just a great reminder of how important it is to pray to our Heavenly Father. On my mission, I have been trying harder to pray more and to always have a prayer in my heart. On the days that I remember to have a prayer in my heart, I feel that my day goes much better because I know I am more in tune with my Heavenly Father. When I am more in tune with Him, I am doing more of the things that He wants me to do rather than what I want to do.

I hope you all have a really great week!! I love you all so much!

Love,

Sister Paynter

January 16, 2017 - Lumberton, North Carolina

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! Hahah I hope everyone is enjoying the Monday holiday and has had a good week this last week. The work here in Lumberton is continuing to grow! This week we have found several new investigators as well as set new baptismal dates.

Last week, we had a wonderful Zone Training. The theme of our meeting and for our zone is "bring 'em home". All of the instruction we received was definitely things that I needed to hear. We talked about being consecrated and working to improve ourselves in the work. I was able to receive lots of inspiration and it gave me the motivation that I needed this week. We've really been working hard to get people to sacrament and it has been quite the struggle. Our investigator Danny did come to church again this week which was great!! Our investigators Tracy and Tony were supposed to be there...they even called us an hour before church...we are still trying to figure out what happened. Things are really great though!! I have felt that this week we have really made a difference in how people view our lessons with them. We have been setting really good expectations with the people we meet so that they understand that we mean business haha!

Every week, I learn lots of new things and this week, something that really stood out to me in my studies was remembering Jesus Christ always. In life, it is so easy to forget about Jesus Christ when we are busy with work and school and other things. Even on my mission, I sometimes forget to think about Jesus Christ in all that I do. This next week, I have made it a goal to remember Jesus Christ more. I know that as I work hard to remember Him in the things that I do, I will be able to feel the Spirit more and receive more guidance. The most important part to remembering Him Always is to go to church every Sunday and partake of the sacrament. Partaking of the sacrament every week is so very important, because each time we take the sacrament, we take a step closer to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. During the sacrament, we get to renew our covenants with Heavenly Father and commit to do better this week. On my mission, I have really learned how important it really is to take the sacrament every week. Coming closer to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ should be our number one goal in life. As we remember Jesus Christ always, it will be easier to make the right decisions in life and come closer to Him.

I love you all so much!! Thank you for everything and have a wonderful week!!

Love,

Sister Paynter

 January 9, 2017 - Lumberton, North Carolina

Happy Monday everyone!! I hope everyone is staying safe and warm in the weather! Well, I officially got to see snow in North Carolina!! Even though in Lumberton we only got a super small amount and it was more ice than snow, I was still quite excited! It's been over a year since I got to see and touch snow. I even made a cute little snow ball and threw it.......just because I could! Sunday church was cancelled through out our entire stake. It was cancelled as a precaution, but Sunday came around and the roads were cleared and the sun was in the sky. It was a really strange day to say the least haha.

This week has been really good!! We've really started off our third transfer together with a running head start!! We have been able to do quite a bit of tracting and have found several new investigators. We have also been able to set more baptismal dates!! I truly believe that as we continue to invite as many people as possible to baptism early and often, we will be able to find many wonderful people who are ready to be baptized! It's really amazing to watch the Lord bless us as we strive to find ways to be more obedient and lose ourselves in the work.

I've been thinking a lot about what I want to be able to accomplish in the last 6 months of my mission. I've really reflected on the last year and thought of goals that I want to be able to accomplish. I decided to set goals that would really push me and motivate me to really lose my self in this work. Although the goals I have set may seem like a really hard thing to accomplish, I know that Heavenly Father will bless me in my efforts to try even harder to succeed. I was reading Elder Cornish's talk from this past General Conference which talked about people who wonder if they are good enough to make it to the Celestial Kingdom. In his talk, he says, "Let me be direct and clear. The answers to the questions “Am I good enough?” and “Will I make it?” are “Yes! You are going to be good enough” and “Yes, you are going to make it as long as you keep repenting and do not rationalize or rebel.” The God of heaven is not a heartless referee looking for any excuse to throw us out of the game. He is our perfectly loving Father, who yearns more than anything else to have all of His children come back home and live with Him as families forever. He truly gave His Only Begotten Son that we might not perish but have everlasting life! Please believe, and please take hope and comfort from, this eternal truth. Our Heavenly Father intends for us to make it! That is His work and His glory." I truly believe that if we repent daily and strive to do what our Heavenly Father wants us to do, we can make it. Through God all things are possible!! No matter where we are in life, we can do hard things, but we really have to try!! Elder Cornish goes on to say, "I love the way President Gordon B. Hinckley used to teach this principle. I heard him say on several occasions, “Brothers and sisters, all the Lord expects of us is to try, but you have to really try!” “Really trying” means doing the best we can, recognizing where we need to improve, and then trying again. By repeatedly doing this, we come closer and closer to the Lord, we feel His Spirit more and more,4 and we receive more of His grace, or help." I hope that you will all try a little harder this week. Recognize where you are falling short and keep trying...over and over. I know that God loves us and that all He wants is for us to be happy!! And living the gospel is what makes us happy!

I love you all so much!! Thank you for all of your wonderful prayers and letters! I love hearing from everyone. I hope you all have a wonderful week!! Stay warm and safe!!

Love,

Sister Paynter