An Apartment Break-In

 Elder Paxton got to experience more snow while away in

England.

He also got to enjoy the sight of a charming English church.

Elder Paxton experienced a little break in across the pond!

His email home explains what happened:

This past week has been a good one! We have finished all of the filming for the video about my Deafness and we are now editing it! We still have a lot of work ahead of us in the editing but it is going to be so worth it!! 

We were able to meet with loads of members, start working on some musical pieces, and also work on and finish a video about how faith compares to bunnies in Mandarin and it is awesome! I have a lot of work ahead of me this week. We have a lot of lessons and a lot of videos that we are working on which I ain't gonna complain about because it keeps me busy and it keeps me going!

This past week we actually had an incident occur. We went shopping and came back to the flat and our window was open and we were all like, "uh oh." We went inside and there was nothing that had been taken and so we were curious as to what someone had broken into our flat for. Fast forward to that evening, the other Elders were making some deep fried Oreo's and they were joking about needing the fire extinguisher because it was getting smoky, so they looked at the wall where the fire extinguisher is supposed to be and it was gone! So we came to the conclusion that perhaps someone had a fire and needed an extinguisher real quick. Who knows haha. We ended up buying some locks for our windows so no one can get in now. 

This past week I learned a really valuable lesson. I learned the principle of doing our best then letting go. I had been talking to my older brother last week about some challenges I was facing and he reminded me to do my best and then let go of the rest. That really stood out to me. I was able to feel a burden lifted off my shoulders and the presence of the spirit more as I applied that teaching. 

There will be times when despite all that we do, things will not go how we want them to, or how we hoped they would. When we do all that we can, and sometimes fall a little short, or someone chooses contrary to that which is right, that is where the Savior's atonement comes in. After we do all that we can do, with a prayer in our hearts, the Savior takes care of the rest. We can do everything we can to help souls come unto Christ, to invite them to better themselves, and walk in righteousness, but in the end we are just an instrument in the hands of God, Jesus Christ is the one that does the work. This is his work, not ours. He is the one that changes the hearts of people, not us. 

My dear friends, do what you can do. Keep trying, keep giving it your best, and once you have done all you can do, give it over to the Savior. Completely. If we don't let it go, the Savior cannot take it, even if we hold on to one itty bitty piece. Do your best, then let Christ take care of the rest. 

I love you all! You are amazing!

Love, 

Elder Paxton

Gold Phone Booths

Many people have heard about the red phone booths in England.

But GOLD phone booths?

Elder Paxton (aka Chance)

has lived in a city where the phone booths are gold.

Elder Paxton has also spent a lot of extra time in various

stages of lock down due to COVID  19, so his

sight seeing options have been a bit curtailed at times.

He has however, still managed to take some pictures that give us 

and idea of where he lives and some of the sights around him.

It is sort of a custom for missionaries to take pictures of their name tags

in various locations on their missions.

Here is one that Elder Paxton took:

Chance also had this to say in the email he sent to us with the pictures:

Last week I also read a talk about China by President Oaks and it was so inspiring. As I listened it struck me that, my calling as a missionary to teach and help the Chinese people does not end when my mission is over. The Lord did not call me to teach, help, and connect with the Mandarin Chinese people only on my mission. This is a LIFETIME calling. The Lord has much in store for the Chinese people, and I'm meant to help with a little piece in helping the Chinese people learn more about God and Jesus Christ. I am grateful to the Lord with entrusting me with this calling. I hope that I may be a servant and instrument in the hands of the Lord throughout the remainder of my mission and life.

Now, for the spiritual thought.
The story of the Brother of Jared has really intrigued me these past couple of weeks of the faith and humily of these people. One part that I really liked was Ether 6:9 which says:

9 - "And they did sing praises unto the Lord; yea, the brother of Jared did sing praises unto the Lord, and he did thank and praise the Lord all the day long; and when the night came, they did not cease to praise the Lord."

They were in the middle of their travel to the promised land on the sea and they did continue to "thank and praise the Lord". This scripture goes right in line with President Nelson's video that he released on Gratitude.https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/president-nelson-gratitude-message It is so important to be grateful for the things that we have. He said that being grateful is one of the easiest ways to be happy and I agree! Continue to be grateful my dear friends no matter what you are going through. Remember to recognize the Lord for all the blessings you have received and give your thanks and praises. It will bless you forever. 

I love all of y'all so much! I hope you have a great week and a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

Love,

Elder Paxton

 

What Has Chance Been Doing?

So you may be asking what it is that Chance has been doing on his mission in England this past while.

He has experienced another lock down due to COVID 19 and has been getting a good view of the inside of his flat.

He  lives with three other missionaries in the flat and though one traditionally does

a bit of sight seeing when living abroad, Chance or Elder Paxton as he is called on his mission

has not seen much of the country the last few weeks as only essential stores are open.

BUT, he is in good spirits and is working on a project that is close to his heart.

We are excited to see the finished project at home, and will be adding a bit of our

insights to Chance's story.

Elder Paxton talks about the project in his email home this week:

Hello Everyone!

This past week has been a good one! We've been pretty busy! To explain Miracle of Deafness, I am doing a video that is about my deafness and my story of how I went deaf. I am explaining a little in depth about some of the personal experiences and feelings that I have had. We have a lot of really good equipment and this video is going to turn out SO GOOD!!! I hope y'all are excited! In preparation for it, I would ask that y'all think of people that you could perhaps share this video with. 

We have been trying to set up more stuff with our members here so that we can help them learn more about how they can do missionary work. It has been so good and I have been able to get to know more of the members here in the ward. 

I don't have too much else to report on because we spent a lot of our time filming and working on the video that we are making. I hope y'all had a good week, let me know how it went! 

A thought that we have been sharing this past week with members is from the Book of Mormon in  Mosiah 2:17. It is a fairly common scripture that is shared in the church and it says:

"17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn ^awisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the ^bservice of your ^cfellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." 

The thought we shared with this scripture is that when we serve others we are in the service of our God and one of the biggest ways that we can serve others is by doing missionary work. Missionary work is simple! A lot of people think that missionary work is hard, but it really isn't! It just takes a simple conversation, or a simple smile, or even just having your Book of Mormon in the windshield of your car! God loves us and he loves his children. He wants them to learn the gospel too. Let us be the instruments in the Lord's hand to spread this gospel to others! 

I love y'all! I will send pictures later. 

Love, 

Elder Paxton