"Let them be in whatsoever circumstances they might be." (Alma 32:25) - April 18, 2022

Spiritual Thought 

Alma 32, in The Book of Mormon, is one of the greatest sermons of faith and discipleship recorded in scripture.  Each time we read this chapter we are reminded of the importance of faith and the process to obtain greater faith.  We are taught that humility is one of the central elements in obtaining deep and abiding faith in our Savior.  There are some people who, similarly to repentance, must be compelled to humble themselves and place their trust in our Savior.  Others, however, have such a yearning to emulate the Savior that a motivator is largely unnecessary.  Speaking of this group the prophet Alma declared "For I verily believe that there are some among you who would humble themselves, let them be in whatsoever circumstances they might." (Alma 32:25).  Such unvarnished, childlike faith in our Savior is truly admirable and should be the goal we each desire to obtain.  The Savior is anxious for all of our Heavenly Father's day to draw closer to him and he waits with open arms to receive them.  Nonetheless, I am confident he must rejoice even more when you and I do not need to be compelled to turn to him.  My question to each of us is this: do we view the Savior as our last resort when all else fails, or do we turn to him first because there is no other resort?  I invite each person who may read this to prayerfully consider their own relationship and reliance on the Savior.  As we do so we will inevitably find ways in which we can turn more completely to the Savior of the World.

I testify that Jesus Christ is our safe harbor in the storms of mortality.  He commands the waves and, as such, is the only person who can, with authority, instruct them to be still.  His eternal nature and character is to invite.  I testify this is what he will always continue to do for us.  His hands are eternally extended to us.  He has won the victory over sin and overcome all trials we may be asked to endure.  That each of us will choose to humble ourselves in every moment of our lives is my prayer.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Weekly Update

Hello everyone,

I'm still here.  I'm still trying to talk in Spanish.  We still usually volunteer at DI and I'm quickly changing my career plans because of that.  Trees in Utah are still weird and stink when they bloom.  Eventually I'll have a new area but until then I'll still be in Bountiful.

The end.

Tune in next week to see if anything has changed.

Elder Payne

Okay, that was just a joke. 

We are teaching a family from Venezuela who lives literally across the street from us.  They are progressing very well.  We invited Nagdini and her son Neikar to be baptized on April 23rd which is this coming Saturday.  They are praying about if it is the right choice for them.  We know that it is the right choice, not only for them but for every one else, since it is a commandment from God but we are also praying Satan doesn't convince them this is only true for some people (sorry, I guess I'm feeling punchy today).  Prayers for Nagdini and Neikar would be appreciated.

Anyone who spends their days counting down the seconds until Elder Payne sends another email and their nights feverishly reading past emails may remember Alex and Talita.  During my second transfer Elder Marchman and I found this couple in our apartment complex.  They are from Brazil and, even with a language barrier, it was obvious they had been prepared to receive the Gospel.  However, I was still a young, dumb greenie and didn't know exactly what I should do.  I was transferred about two weeks later and have wondered how they are doing from time to time since then.  Fast forward to this week when Heavenly Father gave me a second chance.  We were in an apartment complex trying to decide where to go next when the Holy Ghost awakened me to where I was.  I looked around for a second then realized I was very close to Alex and Talita's apartment.  As soon as I realized this I had the strongest impression to go talk to them.  In fact, it was almost like I wasn't even controlling my own feet.  I remembered which apartment was theirs from that long ago (a miracle in and of itself) and knocked on the door.  Talita was home and was very excited to see us.  She said, in broken English, that she used to talk to missionaries all the time but she guessed they had given up on her because her English wasn't very good.  We promised her that imperfect missionaries might give up but we serve the Savior who will never forget her or her family.  He had been merciful enough to put one of those imperfect missionaries back on the street in front of her apartment and give him the courage to knock on her door for the second time.  We asked if she would be interested in talking to missionaries who spoke Portuguese and she became very emotional as she emphatically said yes.  That night we called President Johnson and asked how we should go about helping these people be taught the Gospel.  Yet another miracle was that President Johnson happened to be in a meeting with all the mission presidents in Utah.  He told us that normally he would have called us back after the meeting ended but he felt like he needed to step out and take our call.  The Ogden mission has a few missionaries assigned to speak Portuguese and they are allowed to teach people in the entirety of the Layton mission.  President Johnson was able to step back into the meeting and hand the phone to President Prier from the Ogden mission.  Keep in mind that a General Authority Seventy has at this point put his entire meeting on hold and left eight more mission presidents waiting so that we can tell another mission president who has the resources to help about someone who would like to hear the Gospel "in their own language and tongue".  We gave President Prier the information and he gave us the contact information for two Portuguese missionaries.  He then asked that I send the information I had told him in an email and include President Johnson and the Portuguese missionaries so we could all work together.  Alex and Talita are now being taught the Gospel in Portuguese.  This truly was a miracle and I feel honored to have played some small part in it.  It would not surprise me at all if I was sent back to this area for the sole purpose of being in that apartment complex on that night when Talita was home and President Johnson was in a meeting with President Prier from Ogden.  This is the Lord's work.  He is at the helm and he has a plan to make the Gospel available to every last one of our Heavenly Father's children.

I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Payne

DISCLAIMER:  Mom, you're not allowed to read this because I know you'll start to worry.  I'm doing fine, my feet are dry, and I love you.

I have achieved one of my mission goals: there are holes in the bottom of my shoes.  I came up with a true missionary solution to the problem.  I'll send a signed Restoration pamphlet to the first person who responds telling me what I did.

With Elder Allen (I tricked him into taking a picture with me, I've had practice with my four year old brother).

The Bountiful temple during our strange snowstorm in the middle of April.

On exchanges with Elder Underwood.

Elder Allen drew this in the dirt on top of somebody's grill when they didn't answer the door.

There's an inside joke behind this picture that I don't feel like explaining.  If you're that curious feel free to contact my sister, Jessica Payne.  She has volunteered to explain this to anyone who wants to know.  Thanks Jess!  Otherwise, just be content knowing my family is finding this very funny.

The deer next to our house when we were coming home one night.

District Council.  I'd like to thank the ZLs for coming to make us feel a little bigger.

Then Elder Burgoyne decided to punch me.