"Blessed, honored pioneer" ("They, The Builders of the Nation" Hymn No. 36) - July 19, 2021

 Spiritual Thought

The idea of a pioneer is something that each of us who have been raised in this church will be well familiar with.  It is a regular occurence to hear stories of the hardships and struggles faced by those early saints in their struggle to reach their precious land "far away, in the west".  As we commemorate the arrival of these pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley on July 24th I wish to also extend my recognition and respect to all those who are continuining this pioneer tradition in our day.  Those who are pioneers in leading the way for their families by being the first to join the restored Church.  Those who are pioneering the kingdom of God in their own countries.  I also wish to recognize those who are a pioneer in the quite foxholes of their own souls, individuals across the globe who forge into the frontier of life choosing each day to obey the commandments of God.  However, in discussing pioneers my respect goes first to He who is the original pioneer, Jesus Christ.  The Savior of the World has forged a path that none of us can duplicate.  Any of us could make the decision to cross an untamed prairie floor but only One could venture into the abyss of death and return from it by His own power.  There is only one who could confront original evil and eternally obtain the victory on behalf of each of us.  There is only one to whom we may go to be washed clean of the stains we may receive.  As you and I sing in celebration this week, let us not only commemorate those who pulled handcarts and drove oxen but let us remember He who came unto His own and His own would receive Him not.  Of this I earnestly pray in His sacred name.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

 

Weekly Update

 The time has at last arrived.  I have entered the mission field and am now teaching, testifying, and serving among our Heavenly Father's children.  I left Albuquerque on Tuesday morning.  The plane took off at 5:00 a.m.  Needless to say it was an exhausting but exhilarating day.

My companion is named Elder Divelbiss.  He is from Wisconsin and, amazingly enough, is also called to Madagascar.  It is a tender mercy to be able to practice Malagasy with my companion.  Our area is in northern Bountiful.  The name of the stake we are in is the Bountiful Stone Creek Stake.  Elder Divelbiss and I serve the northern half of the stake and have four wards in our area: Bountiful 12th, Bountiful 22nd, Bountiful Shadows, and Stone Creek.

I am living in a four-man apartment.  The other two Elders, Elder Schiel and Elder Marchmann, serve the southern half of the stake.  Our area is a walking area.  Elder Divelbiss and I are walking, on average, nine miles per day.  

This week consisted of settling into missionary life and trying to talk to new people.  We had several lessons set up but all of them were cancelled.  We have high hopes that they will happen this week.  

On Friday Elder Divelbiss and I met a man from Sierra Leone named Moses.  It was a great experience to be able to talk with him.  He bore a very powerful testimony to us and taught us gospel lessons for about fifteen minutes.  We are the missionaries but he taught and bore testimony to us.  I love the African people.  The elect can be found anywhere in this world.  It is my personal belief, however, that the African people are being blessed in a special way at this time.  It impresses me how discussing God is not only a natural idea to these people but is what they most enjoy talking about.  God is a part of their culture and they have an almost innate desire to draw closer to Him.  We could learn so much from the African people.  These truly are special people.

At new missionary orientation President Johnson said that his goal is to get every missionary to the temple at least once per transfer.  I am scheduled to go on August 12th.  There is still questionability as to whether that will happen or not but I am praying that it will.

I hope each of you have a great week,

Elder Payne

 

At the airport before I left on Tuesday.

There was a rendering of the Layton temple waiting for me above my study desk.

The ward mission leader in Stone Creek, Bro. Winegar, has this really neat display of nativity scenes from around the world.  Sis. Winegar buys one from everywhere they visit. 

Our repurposed ping-pong table that serves as a dinner table.  You can also see our Christmas lights that have yet to be taken down. 

The view of the Bountiful temple from our apartment.

There are quite a few translations of the Book of Mormon in our apartment.  These are what I have found so far.  Clockwise from the top left there is: English, Samoan, Malagasy, Serbian, Telugu, and Tagalog.

With Moses.  He said he would feed us African food sometime.  

I'm really hoping that happens soon.

With Elder Divelbiss before one of our correlation meetings.