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