September 26, 2011

My you Lovely Parents,

HI! It's great to hear from you guys every week. It lifts my spirits.. Not that they were down to begin with - right now anyway. It has been another awesome week! Saffron was baptized, the 15 year old (turns 16 in October). We had a baptism yesterday in which I performed the ordinance. I messed up the prayer so I had to do it again. Her hair wasn't under anyway, so I would have had to do it again anyway. The water was warm this time so it was good. I can't wait for you guys to come out and meet these people! They're all amazing!!!!!!!!!

We went on exchanges this week with the Assistants. I was with Elder Webber here in Clearlake. He is the only American black missionary that we have in the mission. He's from Ohio too! He was in our stake back in Westerville. Pretty cool, huh? I was talking with him about a stake activity, the basketball tournament (where we ended the night hitting black ice and getting into that wreck) and I remembered seeing him there! Anyway, I took him to all the black people that I could think of here in Clearlake...I'm not sure if he noticed or not, but the reactions from people were great! Remember Chuck? He was gonna get baptized back in August, but he backed off and we haven't really taught him at all, so we paid him a visit. Man, when he saw Elder Webber he got so excited! It was hilarious. Webber is a good guy. I like him a lot. He will be going back to BYU so we'll probably see each other again. We have been tracting every day from 3-4:30 and we have had some interesting stories. Don't worry, I have them all written down in my journal.

I got the package and I was very pleased! I enjoyed all the goodies, and I am still enjoying them. The cookies are the best things I've tasted in my life! But they seem to be the best things that the other 3 missionaries have ever tasted as well...so that makes for a lot of people wanting cookies. I am sharing though, to an extent.. The shoes are good and should last me another 8 months! My other ones are just thrashed! The soles on the front are literally falling off and I'm actually missing a big chunk out of my right one. I've had to shoe glue hte soles back on, the insides are all torn up, there is a big hole that you can fit a pen through in the side. So yes, I did need new shoes.

I love golf. The place that we go is a 66 Par (for 18 holes). I hit a 122 today :) That is improvement from last week though when I hit a 130...I had some awesome hits today. It just feels really good when you smack one really long and straight. I've learned that you can't just hit the ball as hard as you can...doesn't work too well. I'm still having some trouble on the fairway, but my putts are solid! I'm gonna take you down when I get back pops. Yes, I do get frustrated when I suck. BUT, I'm nothing like I used to be. Remember when I first tried to learn to water ski? Yeah, not like that.

I love you guys so much! Thank you for the support that you give me. It helps me a lot and it motivates me. I miss you both!

Love, Elder Edwards