Garner, North Carolina - August 22

How has everyone's week been?! Time is really flying by fast! I can't believe that this week is the first week of school!! Life in North Carolina this last week has been great!

This week, we had the opportunity to meet some really amazing people! For the last 5 weeks, we have really been trying to find the people here in Garner that are what we call elect or in other words have been prepared to receive the gospel. We have also been finding great success not only in tracting, but in working with the members as well!! The members have been sending us to meet their friends and invite them to learn about the church!! This week, one of the members gave us a referral for their friends Roger and Toni. So, we went over to meet them and they are the sweetest couple ever!! They are an older couple and were both so welcoming to us! They had met with missionaries once before, but there was a language barrier with one of the missionaries. When we taught them about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon this week, they loved it!! Sister Flinders and I feel as if they are "already mormon" haha!! The Thorpe's are still doing really well. They have been unpacking this week so it has been a challenge to get up with them, but we will be seeing them this week and hopefully they will be able to make it to church! We haven't been able to get up with Angie yet, but we have an appointment tomorrow! We also met this couple, and the wife, Gina, is hilarious!! She talked for almost 45 minutes straight!! It was so funny! She did have some really great questions though! She told us that she does believe that the Bible has missing parts and that it seems muddled to her. We are going back this week to teach her about The Book of Mormon. I love meeting people like this!!

Something I learned this week was that weaknesses are not sins!! Mom sent me a really great article from the Ensign called "It Isn't a Sin to Be Weak." After reading it this week, it really made me think about what my weaknesses are. I hear many people in prayers asking Heavenly Father to forgive them for their weaknesses, but really we should not be apologizing for them. We should recognize that we are weak and then ask Heavenly Father to help us strengthen that weakness, but weaknesses are not things that we need to be repenting for. In the article it says, "We cannot simply repent of being weak—nor does weakness itself make us unclean. We cannot grow spiritually unless we reject sin, but we also do not grow spiritually unless we accept our state of human weakness, respond to it with humility and faith, and learn through our weakness to trust in God." We need to accept our weaknesses and do all we can to strengthen them. We are human and we will fall short! I think that is something very important to remember, but we can't let that simply be an excuse. We still need to do our part at repenting of our sins, accepting our weaknesses, and doing our very best to follow the Savior's teachings. 

I love being a missionary!! There really is no other place I would rather be than here on my mission!! The last 8 and a half months have been the best 8 and a half months of my life! I have learned so much through the many trials I have had to go through!! I have truly seen myself changing and becoming more converted to the Lord. I love being a part of this great cause!!

Thank you so much for all of your love, support, and prayers! I am so grateful for everyone who has helped me get to where I am now!! I love you all so much!!

Love,

Sister Paynter

Here are some pictures of us with some of our favorite members here in Garner and a picture of our combined Zone Activity at Defy Gravity. Defy Gravity is a trampoline park! It was a lot of fun!! Apparently, she had not heard of Riley's fate at the trampoline park in Utah...

 

Garner, North Carolina-August15

How has everyone been? I can't believe that school is starting this week and summer vacation is coming to an end! Time is just flying by!!! This week has been a great week!

The Thorpe's are still doing great! We had a really good lesson with them this week about The Book of Mormon and the restoration of the church. We are really trying to help them strengthen their foundation of their testimonies so that as we move on to the word of wisdom and law of chastity they will already have a stronger testimony to build upon! We also went over on Saturday and helped them move some things into their new house! They are so excited and they have loved the time that we have been putting into helping them! I love their family so much!! This week we also found another really great investigator! Her name is Angie and she is very active in the two churches that she currently goes to, but she loved what we taught her and already has friends in our ward!! 

This week, I have been thinking a lot about time! Time is one of the most precious things that Heavenly Father has given to all of us! As missionaries, our time does go by extremely fast and we cannot waste our precious time!! The time that we spend in the mission field comes and goes in the blink of an eye and we need to do everything we can to use every second of our time wisely! Everyone's time here on earth is just as precious as our time as missionaries! Someone once told me that if we had a rope that went on and on for eternity, the length of time we have on earth compared to eternity could be showed by tying a string of floss to that infinite rope. I believe that Satan knows that he cannot win, but he wants to do everything he can to decrease the number of Heavenly Father's children that will be able to return to Him. Our time on earth is our time to prove to our Heavenly Father that we WANT to be with Him. This is the time that we have to prove to Him that we will do all we can to overcome Satan's traps. However, we are imperfect people and we will fall short, it's in our mortal nature. Thank goodness for Jesus Christ!! He truly has paid the price so that He can help make up the difference! We just NEED to do OUR part!! What a truly important message that is to share!!

Thank you again for everything! I am so grateful for all of the prayers that have been said in my behalf and in behalf of all the missionaries! This work is truly important!! As one of the less actives in our ward says "I want you to win!!" Thank you for all of your help, love, and support!

Love,

Sister Paynter

On Monday we went to this place called City Barbeque.....it was the best barbecue I have had on my mission so far!! It was delicious!

We also took pictures with the Thorpe's on Saturday when we helped them move.

I forgot to mention:

This week, we went to lunch with a member of the Relief Society presidency, Sister Tait. Anyways, on our way to lunch Sister Tait pointed out that Flinders is the name of the family on Saturday's Warriors!!! I did not even make the connection to Sister Flinders!!! hahaha!!!

Also, we had a missionary homecoming in the Garner ward on Sunday and he reminded me of Brady! It was really funny!! He made similar facial gestures and had the same soft spoken voice that Brady had when he first came home. It was great!

 

Garner, North Carolina - August 8

How has everyone been doing? I can't believe school starts in like 2 weeks! Time has gone by so fast that it really doesn't feel like school is supposed to start so soon! 

This week has been really good!! The Thorpe family has been making a lot of progress and have been asking great questions!! They are really wanting to figure out for themselves if this is the true church! On Saturday, we went over to their new house to help them clean so that Ruth (the mom) could make it to church! And guess what.....SHE CAME!!! It felt so good to have an investigator come to church and feel of the love and spirit there!! She really liked it too! Our investigator Agnes has been really hard to get a hold of. She most likely will not be getting baptized at the end of the month, but that is ok because I know that the Lord has greater things in store for her and for us! We are continuing to find and teach! We have been really trying to find the elect and strengthen all of our investigators!

The past couple weeks for me have really been a time of growing and adjusting. I love losing myself in the Lord's work every single day. I have learned a lot about relying on the Lord to strengthen me especially when I am feeling weak! The power of the Atonement is truly amazing!!! I love the scripture Ether 12:27 "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." I have learned that if I truly want the Lord to strengthen my weaknesses, then I have to be humble, pray for His strength and help, and do everything that I can on my part to strengthen those weaknesses. I truly have felt the hand of the Lord on my mission. He truly has strengthened me when I have needed it! I truly love the knowledge that I have of the Atonement and ALL that it encompasses!!

I hope you all have a great week!!! Continue to stay strong to the truth that you hold! Strengthen your testimonies and come closer to Christ!! I love you all so much!!!

Love,
Sister Paynter

PS: So sorry....no pictures this week...I promise that we will take more this week!!

Garner, North Carolina - August 1

I hope everyone had a great week this week!! I love getting all of your updates about life! I can't believe the summer is almost over and that school will be starting soon!! Things here in Garner have been going extremely well!!! We are continuing to gain such great trust with the members and have been doing some great finding!!

This week we found a lot of success in receiving referrals from members! We have been praying about what members we should visit and we have found such great success in stopping by and asking for referrals! Agnes is still doing well. Things have been pretty busy for her the last couple weeks. Hopefully we can get back on track with her and everything will work out perfectly for her baptism!! The Thorpe family is still progressing as well. We just need to get them to come to church!! We found another little family this week! We found them by trying an old potential! The husband has learned quite a bit about our church and loves the story of Joseph Smith! We are very excited to start teaching them this week!!

This week I have been thinking a lot about consecration. Consecration is a big deal here in the mission field. As missionaries, we have got to be consecrated in order for our missions to change us. However, I believe that this can be applied to all of us in everyday life. We should be striving to consecrate all to the Lord everyday. As we are consecrated, we show the Lord that we are willing to do all that He asks. As a missionary, I am still no where near being perfect at being consecrated, but I am continuing to strive to be fully consecrated. As I have been giving all that I have to the Lord, the blessings that he has blessed me with have been overflowing!!! I truly have a testimony of the blessings that come as we choose to follow our Heavenly Father and do what He asks!!

Thank you for all of your love and support!!! I am truly grateful for this time that I have to be a consecrated missionary! There is no where else that I would rather be right now than here in Garner, North Carolina serving my Heavenly Father!!! I love all of you so much!!!

Love,

Sister Paynter

PS: Sorry I have no pictures this week!! We will definitely take more this week! Love you!!

 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