Hello,
Transfers are today. Before I tell you what is happening with me, I'll let you guess. Is it:
A. I'm staying in Napa and things are the same as last transfer
B. I'm being transferred
C. Elder Bacon is being transferred and I'm staying
D. I'm training in Napa
I'll let you think about that while I write about my short week. It wasn't very exciting. We taught like 15 lessons. We have been really working hard with Susanne! I'm so excited for her! She is having her baptismal interview this coming Wednesday, and she wants me to confirm her after she is baptized! Actually, Elder Bacon kind of volunteered me because I haven't done it before. But I really don't care who does it, all I care about is if the ordinance is being performed. Susanne is going to be a gold mine for referrals too. She has been talking about the gospel to everyone who talks to her. She is an incredible missionary. We were studying Preach My Gospel at DM (District Meeting) this week and one of the things we talked about was how you know if someone is "truly converted." The truly converted can't get enough of the restored gospel, they can't stop reading and they want to tell everyone about it. Susanne is doing all of these things. We have taught her pretty much everything. She came to church yeterday and she LOVED it. We had a fantastic Easter Sunday. Wonderful talks, uplifting music and great lessons. I was very edified. But I am very happy for Susanne. She is going to be a very powerful addition to this ward. I can see her being a future Relief Society President or something of the sort.
Other than Susanne, not much else has happened. Our Bishop found us a new investigator -- Jordan. He is 23 and is looking for something in his life. We met him and taught him about the Book of Mormon at our Bishop's Honda Dealership. We taught him in our Bishop's office. It was pretty sweet actually. So we picked Jordan up, but unfortunately, he is a YSA (Young Single Adult) and therefore belongs to the single ward sisters. But I'm happy for them becuase they haven't had any investigators almost this entire transfer. They have been struggling. So they were VERY excited to get Jordan.
Alright, ready for the answer? If you answered D, you are WRONG! The correct answer is B. I'm being transferred, and I'm really upset about it actually. I will miss Susanne's baptism. When I told her the news she started crying...it made me so sad! But I'm going to Fairfield 3rd Ward. Figures, right when me and Elder Bacon are having tons of fun and working great together and we have a baptism in 2 weeks, and I'm loving it here, President Bunker sees fit to take me away. UGHH!! I told him I didn't want to leave. Guess that was a bad idea. Along with that, I'm whitewashing...wooo hooo. If you don't know what whitewashing is, it is when the 2 missionaries in an area both get transferred at the same time and the 2 new incoming missionaries have no idea what's going on there. I am one of those incoming missionaries. Me and my new comp -- Elder Carter -- are going to have to do a LOT of work this week figuring everything out and getting caught up with the investigators there, if there are any. Presient Bunker called us the other day and he congratulated me on my new assignment. I was pretty bitter with him. He said that he is excited for me to get there and to pick it back up. Word on the street is that Fairfield is like a roller coaster. Apparently it is at a low, just like Napa was...wonderful. However, I know that I'm being sent there for a reason, just like I was sent to Napa for a reason. I must have fulfilled my purpose here because I'm leaving. But the Lord has need of me elsewhere and I'm going to try my best even though I've been very spoiled with the best Bishop in the entire mission (it's true, 2 other missionaries have confirmed that). So, there is the news for the week. Fun stuff.
My new address is: 2215 Peach Tree Dr., Apt. 29, Fairfield, CA 94533.
I hope you all have a wonderful week.
Love, Elder Edwards
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
THIS IS MY LIFE
Hello!
THis week has been really good. We taught 20 lessons. Although our numbers show that we had a fantastic week, don't be fooled. It was quite difficult. We have been talking to EVERYONE. I have become very bold with talking to people. We were walking down town and I talked to like 10+ different people in about a hour. I also placed 2 Book of Mormon's this week which is a personal best for me. But it has been a hard week. We lost a few more investigators that weren't progressing, so we had to stop seeing them. That was sad, but they just weren't ready I suppose.
But on the other hand, Susanne. Oh boy, she is a miracle. She has a very strong testimony already. She KNOWS that the Book of Mormon is true, she KNOWS that Joseph Smith was a prophet and she KNOWS that President Thomas S. Monson is a prophet today. When we taught Susanne the first time this last week, she said that she set a date to be baptized before her birthday in August. Me and Elder Bacon said that she con be baptized on May 7th because she is ready. We were skeptical, of course, but we just told her to think about it and pray about it and she gladly accepted. The very NEXT day we get a call from our Bishop who talked to Susanne and he said that she prayed and she got an answer. She is set for May 7th!!! When we saw Susanne that night for the Garden (a musical oratory thing that was AWESOME), she told us that she got her answer and that she quit drinking coffee and that she is preparing to be baptized on May 7th. She quit drinking coffee that day. She gave it all up. She gave all her coffee beans away and she gave her coffee pot to her boss who has a daughter going to college. She doesn't smoke or anything which is a plus. How is that for a story?! Oh man, I've never been this happy in my life. Now I kow why Alma said, "this is my life." This is just my joy and happiness for 1 person. It's incredible how happy this has made me. I"m so thankful I chose to come out and serve. If not, then Susanne may not of ever been found, she may not of ever made the decision to be baptized, and therefore she would not have been able to get onto the path that leads to eternal life. For those of you following along, GO SERVE A MISSION!!! There is seriously no greater joy than seeing someone you love and someone that you have been teaching make the decision to be baptized. Man, I really do love this. I can't say it enough. It is tough at times, but for ALL the rejection and for all the hate people have towards us, it is worth it for this one person.
That's my story for the week. I love every single second of this. Hopefully I'll be able to stay in Napa for the next transfer and see Susanne get baptized. If not, oh well, the Lord has need for me somewhere else. That's all I have to report on this week really.
For you mom, missionaries usually stay in an area 3-6 months. I'm coming up on 3 months at the end of this transfer so I could possibly be transferred out. I really hope not, but we'll see on Saturday when we get the information. We get out info only 2 days in advance. They don't want us to have time to think about it and whatnot.
Anyway, I love you all! Thank you for your support.
Love, Elder Edwards
THis week has been really good. We taught 20 lessons. Although our numbers show that we had a fantastic week, don't be fooled. It was quite difficult. We have been talking to EVERYONE. I have become very bold with talking to people. We were walking down town and I talked to like 10+ different people in about a hour. I also placed 2 Book of Mormon's this week which is a personal best for me. But it has been a hard week. We lost a few more investigators that weren't progressing, so we had to stop seeing them. That was sad, but they just weren't ready I suppose.
But on the other hand, Susanne. Oh boy, she is a miracle. She has a very strong testimony already. She KNOWS that the Book of Mormon is true, she KNOWS that Joseph Smith was a prophet and she KNOWS that President Thomas S. Monson is a prophet today. When we taught Susanne the first time this last week, she said that she set a date to be baptized before her birthday in August. Me and Elder Bacon said that she con be baptized on May 7th because she is ready. We were skeptical, of course, but we just told her to think about it and pray about it and she gladly accepted. The very NEXT day we get a call from our Bishop who talked to Susanne and he said that she prayed and she got an answer. She is set for May 7th!!! When we saw Susanne that night for the Garden (a musical oratory thing that was AWESOME), she told us that she got her answer and that she quit drinking coffee and that she is preparing to be baptized on May 7th. She quit drinking coffee that day. She gave it all up. She gave all her coffee beans away and she gave her coffee pot to her boss who has a daughter going to college. She doesn't smoke or anything which is a plus. How is that for a story?! Oh man, I've never been this happy in my life. Now I kow why Alma said, "this is my life." This is just my joy and happiness for 1 person. It's incredible how happy this has made me. I"m so thankful I chose to come out and serve. If not, then Susanne may not of ever been found, she may not of ever made the decision to be baptized, and therefore she would not have been able to get onto the path that leads to eternal life. For those of you following along, GO SERVE A MISSION!!! There is seriously no greater joy than seeing someone you love and someone that you have been teaching make the decision to be baptized. Man, I really do love this. I can't say it enough. It is tough at times, but for ALL the rejection and for all the hate people have towards us, it is worth it for this one person.
That's my story for the week. I love every single second of this. Hopefully I'll be able to stay in Napa for the next transfer and see Susanne get baptized. If not, oh well, the Lord has need for me somewhere else. That's all I have to report on this week really.
For you mom, missionaries usually stay in an area 3-6 months. I'm coming up on 3 months at the end of this transfer so I could possibly be transferred out. I really hope not, but we'll see on Saturday when we get the information. We get out info only 2 days in advance. They don't want us to have time to think about it and whatnot.
Anyway, I love you all! Thank you for your support.
Love, Elder Edwards
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
What the Poison Oak?!!!
Hey Everybody,
So, as the subject suggests...yeah, I have poison oak. That is my highlight of this week. IT SUCKS. Last P-day we hiked to that waterfall and I was Very careful to not get anywhere near the stuff but somehow it's like I rolled around naked in a big bushel of the crap! UGHH IT'S SO ANNOYING! I itch...everywhere. It's gotten better. I called the mission nurse and she hooked me up with some prednisone. I've already gone through 2 bottles of cortisone and I'm in the middle of a bottle of calydryl. Man, it has been a rough week. I haven't had any energy because of the itching and whatnot. I haven't had any motivation either, but I made a point to get out and to work even harder through it. We were blessed because of it and this week we taught 14 or 15 lessons which is more than the past 2 weeks! I also placed another Book of Mormom to some dude in a diffeent area (we were on exchanges). So yeah, you guys know how poison oak/ivy affects me. It isn't a fun experience. This is already the 2nd time on my mission I've gotten the stuff! The first time was pretty mild and it didn't spread. But this time, it has spread like wildfire! I had/have it on both knees, both forearms, both triceps, used to have it on my neck and ear, have it on my hip, my belly, and the other place you don't want to mention. That Monday we were late for an appointment so we didn't have time to shower/change so it just spread. So yeah, rough week. But anyway, investigators...
First off, bad news. Jen and Justin, 2 of our awesome investigators, dropped us. Man, I was so ticked...Jen had some sort of relationship with a member in our ward and they stopped "talking" and no one decided to tell us missionaries. Se we just went over to see how things were because we haven't heard from them in forever and they weren't responding to our calls/texts. We get there and Jens says she's done. She feels too pushed by us and by the churh. She said she wasn't going to come back to church or anything and she didn't want to meet with us anymore. I was very sad. I was so positive that they were going to get baptized. They still can. I think a whole lot of it has to do with the drama with the guy. Jen probably doesn't want to come to church if he is going to be there because that would be awkward for her I'm sure. She doesn't even live in our ward boundaries so we're gonna have the 3rd ward sisters go and see them in a few weeks and hopefully get things sparked up again. But yeah, that was the downfall of our week. Minus 2 investigators.
Now good news, actually FANTASTIC news! Susanne is progressing like crazy! She bought all 3 Book of Mormon help book things. She is reading like crazy, she has a testimony, and she is awesome. We met with her on Tuesday night and invited her to read 3 Nephi 27 (for those of you who don't know, it talks about the doctrine of Christ, mostly baptism) and then when Elder Bacon and Elder Phipps met her on Saturday (I was with Elder Blake in their area for exchanges) Susanne said that she prayed about it and she KNOWS that she needs to get baptized!!!! Every bad thing that has happened thus far in my mission is worth it because of this! To see someone pray and receive an answer - direct revelation - is what it is all about. I was so happy and giddy when I hear about it. She could pretty much be baptized tomorrow. Her only concern is that she drinks coffee, which she already acknowledged that she needs to quit, and that the church will be too much work for her or something like that. She feels she isn't personally worthy. She totally is though. We hooked her up with the Relief Society President and they hit it off and Susanne is coming to a dinner here at the church for the RS and then we are going to a play/musical here at the church with her. It's
The Garden. Ever heard of it? It's going to be SWEET! But yeah, so having Susanne makes everything worth it. Man, I love being a missionary!
We have also been meeting this inactive guy every Sunday afternoon. He isn't physically able to go to church because of surgery. He is a really great guy. When we met with him yesterday, we always ask people if there is anything we can do for them, and he just broke down and started to cry. He has done this a few times in lessons, but this time we didn't even say anything to him. He is a really gentle and sincere guy too. He expressed how grateful he is that we come by and see him every week. Even to just check up on him. That made me feel really good to know that I am helping him in that way. I had no idea that we had that effect on him or that it meant that much to him. We talked a lot about charity at church and we, idk it made me really happy to know that I'm being charitable to him without even knowing it or without knowing how it was affecting him. So that is just a nice side note.
Transfers are in 2 weeks. I'm gonna be ticked if I get sent out to another area...I love this place too much. I love our bishop too, man I can't get enough of him. As for me and Elder Bacon, things have improved greatly. There is still something about him that bugs the crap out of me, but I can't really put my finger on it. But we work decently well together, and that is what matters. The rest I don't really care about. If we can have the Spirit with us and if we can teach with the Spirit then that's all I care about. The Spirit is the one that converts people, not the missionaries.
I hope you have a great week and I'm looking forward to your letters!
Love, Elder Edwards
So, as the subject suggests...yeah, I have poison oak. That is my highlight of this week. IT SUCKS. Last P-day we hiked to that waterfall and I was Very careful to not get anywhere near the stuff but somehow it's like I rolled around naked in a big bushel of the crap! UGHH IT'S SO ANNOYING! I itch...everywhere. It's gotten better. I called the mission nurse and she hooked me up with some prednisone. I've already gone through 2 bottles of cortisone and I'm in the middle of a bottle of calydryl. Man, it has been a rough week. I haven't had any energy because of the itching and whatnot. I haven't had any motivation either, but I made a point to get out and to work even harder through it. We were blessed because of it and this week we taught 14 or 15 lessons which is more than the past 2 weeks! I also placed another Book of Mormom to some dude in a diffeent area (we were on exchanges). So yeah, you guys know how poison oak/ivy affects me. It isn't a fun experience. This is already the 2nd time on my mission I've gotten the stuff! The first time was pretty mild and it didn't spread. But this time, it has spread like wildfire! I had/have it on both knees, both forearms, both triceps, used to have it on my neck and ear, have it on my hip, my belly, and the other place you don't want to mention. That Monday we were late for an appointment so we didn't have time to shower/change so it just spread. So yeah, rough week. But anyway, investigators...
First off, bad news. Jen and Justin, 2 of our awesome investigators, dropped us. Man, I was so ticked...Jen had some sort of relationship with a member in our ward and they stopped "talking" and no one decided to tell us missionaries. Se we just went over to see how things were because we haven't heard from them in forever and they weren't responding to our calls/texts. We get there and Jens says she's done. She feels too pushed by us and by the churh. She said she wasn't going to come back to church or anything and she didn't want to meet with us anymore. I was very sad. I was so positive that they were going to get baptized. They still can. I think a whole lot of it has to do with the drama with the guy. Jen probably doesn't want to come to church if he is going to be there because that would be awkward for her I'm sure. She doesn't even live in our ward boundaries so we're gonna have the 3rd ward sisters go and see them in a few weeks and hopefully get things sparked up again. But yeah, that was the downfall of our week. Minus 2 investigators.
Now good news, actually FANTASTIC news! Susanne is progressing like crazy! She bought all 3 Book of Mormon help book things. She is reading like crazy, she has a testimony, and she is awesome. We met with her on Tuesday night and invited her to read 3 Nephi 27 (for those of you who don't know, it talks about the doctrine of Christ, mostly baptism) and then when Elder Bacon and Elder Phipps met her on Saturday (I was with Elder Blake in their area for exchanges) Susanne said that she prayed about it and she KNOWS that she needs to get baptized!!!! Every bad thing that has happened thus far in my mission is worth it because of this! To see someone pray and receive an answer - direct revelation - is what it is all about. I was so happy and giddy when I hear about it. She could pretty much be baptized tomorrow. Her only concern is that she drinks coffee, which she already acknowledged that she needs to quit, and that the church will be too much work for her or something like that. She feels she isn't personally worthy. She totally is though. We hooked her up with the Relief Society President and they hit it off and Susanne is coming to a dinner here at the church for the RS and then we are going to a play/musical here at the church with her. It's
The Garden. Ever heard of it? It's going to be SWEET! But yeah, so having Susanne makes everything worth it. Man, I love being a missionary!
We have also been meeting this inactive guy every Sunday afternoon. He isn't physically able to go to church because of surgery. He is a really great guy. When we met with him yesterday, we always ask people if there is anything we can do for them, and he just broke down and started to cry. He has done this a few times in lessons, but this time we didn't even say anything to him. He is a really gentle and sincere guy too. He expressed how grateful he is that we come by and see him every week. Even to just check up on him. That made me feel really good to know that I am helping him in that way. I had no idea that we had that effect on him or that it meant that much to him. We talked a lot about charity at church and we, idk it made me really happy to know that I'm being charitable to him without even knowing it or without knowing how it was affecting him. So that is just a nice side note.
Transfers are in 2 weeks. I'm gonna be ticked if I get sent out to another area...I love this place too much. I love our bishop too, man I can't get enough of him. As for me and Elder Bacon, things have improved greatly. There is still something about him that bugs the crap out of me, but I can't really put my finger on it. But we work decently well together, and that is what matters. The rest I don't really care about. If we can have the Spirit with us and if we can teach with the Spirit then that's all I care about. The Spirit is the one that converts people, not the missionaries.
I hope you have a great week and I'm looking forward to your letters!
Love, Elder Edwards
Monday, April 4, 2011
RAIN RAIN RAIN
Hey!
This week has been rain and rain and rain. It had gotten to be pretty cold too. But it was a slower week, only 11 lessons. But we picked up another investigator that our bishop found. I love my bishop! He is the most missionary-minded bishop or even member that I've ever met. He's great! I've placed 4 BoMs because of him. But this new investigator has the BoM. She read to 1 Nephi 8 in less than a week. She even went through the trouble to find a BoM Made Easy Book. The kind that mom used for seminary and things like that. She is EXTREMELY interested in the church. She grew up Jewish too. If we could meet with her more than once a week, she'd be baptized in about 2 or 3 weeks. She is amazing. The other investigators are doing well. Bryan came to church for the full 3 hours! It has been the first time that he came to our ward too. It was a fantastic Sunday too. Elder Baon game a phenomenal talk on the Book of Mormon and I had to teach Elders Quorum -- about 15 people. But we're doing very well here in Napa. We just got a member to renew his temple recommend!!! His wife was VERY appreciative. That made me feel really good. I've found that I love nothing more than seeing people be happy and change their lives. Like Jen, I've watched her as she has read the Book of Mormon and every time we see her, she is more happy than the previous week. She stopped drinking coffee. It just brings me such happiness and joy. I can feel Heavenly Father's approval and happiness of what I am doing here in Napa.
We do need to find some more people to teach, and guess how we do that? Yes ... tracting. I hate tracting. Although we have had some VERY interesting experiences. We are tracting just about every day, probably 4 days out of the week for about an hour or so. We gotta find people some how, right? I wish there was an easier way. We actually had someone contact us this week! It was an answer to my prayer when I asked Heavenly Father to help us to find people to teach. She passed us while we were walking and she stopped, backed up and started talking to us. We told her about the restoration and gave her a pamphlet. She was VERY excited about it. She even wrote all of her own contact information down for us!
It is so evident that people don't understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Faith is such an important principle and it leads to repentance which is a saving principle inasmuch as you are baptized by the proper priesthood authority along with receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. It's SO simple. But that's our job out here to teach people about that.
Love, Elder Edwards
This week has been rain and rain and rain. It had gotten to be pretty cold too. But it was a slower week, only 11 lessons. But we picked up another investigator that our bishop found. I love my bishop! He is the most missionary-minded bishop or even member that I've ever met. He's great! I've placed 4 BoMs because of him. But this new investigator has the BoM. She read to 1 Nephi 8 in less than a week. She even went through the trouble to find a BoM Made Easy Book. The kind that mom used for seminary and things like that. She is EXTREMELY interested in the church. She grew up Jewish too. If we could meet with her more than once a week, she'd be baptized in about 2 or 3 weeks. She is amazing. The other investigators are doing well. Bryan came to church for the full 3 hours! It has been the first time that he came to our ward too. It was a fantastic Sunday too. Elder Baon game a phenomenal talk on the Book of Mormon and I had to teach Elders Quorum -- about 15 people. But we're doing very well here in Napa. We just got a member to renew his temple recommend!!! His wife was VERY appreciative. That made me feel really good. I've found that I love nothing more than seeing people be happy and change their lives. Like Jen, I've watched her as she has read the Book of Mormon and every time we see her, she is more happy than the previous week. She stopped drinking coffee. It just brings me such happiness and joy. I can feel Heavenly Father's approval and happiness of what I am doing here in Napa.
We do need to find some more people to teach, and guess how we do that? Yes ... tracting. I hate tracting. Although we have had some VERY interesting experiences. We are tracting just about every day, probably 4 days out of the week for about an hour or so. We gotta find people some how, right? I wish there was an easier way. We actually had someone contact us this week! It was an answer to my prayer when I asked Heavenly Father to help us to find people to teach. She passed us while we were walking and she stopped, backed up and started talking to us. We told her about the restoration and gave her a pamphlet. She was VERY excited about it. She even wrote all of her own contact information down for us!
It is so evident that people don't understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Faith is such an important principle and it leads to repentance which is a saving principle inasmuch as you are baptized by the proper priesthood authority along with receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. It's SO simple. But that's our job out here to teach people about that.
Love, Elder Edwards
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)