First Week in Fortuna

Dearest parental units,

 

First off, yes dad, it's ForTUNA... for tuna.... hehe and secondly, BELIZE?! Man! That's gonna be sweet! You guys are gonna have so much fun. You're taking Della? Really? Are her and Colin getting........ dare I say.... married? It seems like they go everywhere together, even trips now... Well, I guess you need someone to take my place huh?

 

Well, howdy! Sounds like I didn't miss too much in football this year, other than BYU going 9-2.... oh well. At least the Colts will have the first round draft pick! I heard a rumor somewhere that Tressel was being looked at for the head coaching job? Also, I heard recently that Peyton has recovered from his surgeries and he is out throwin the football again... news on that? Will he return?

 

As for my blog that I do, my supposedly "newest" post about football, that was at least a month ago, haha it wasn't very recent. It gets to be a hassel sometimes, and from what I can tell, no one even reads it so I don't really bother. But I'm glad that you like it!

 

It's getting super cold up here in the morning! Today it was 33 degrees! Our car has frost and ice all over it... I really cold use those gloves about now! Those steering wheels get pretty chilly. But, it is BEAUTIFUL up here... this week it's been sunny every day, and I've had a chance to see a little of the area because last week it was foggy all the time. There are beautiful hills all around with trees everywhere. Yesterday for church we drove down to the tiny little branch in Miranda, and boy, that is a gorgeous drive! I can't wait to bring ya'll up here! You get to cruise along the 101 through redwoods and through the mountains... I love it! The Branch is tiny... I've never been to a branch, and if I have, I don't remember it. There was about 20 or so people there, but the testimony meeting wasn't bad. I bore my testimony since it was my first time there, it's an easy way to introduce myself to everyone. Also, the stake president was there too so he took up a good chunk of time. There is a guy there, named Jeff, who had a stroke not too long ago. He's confined to a wheel chair, and he isn't a member. He wants to be baptized! He comes every week, our WML takes care of him and bring him to church and teaches him. The catch, he forgets things real easy beacuse of the stroke. BUT, he still remembers that he wants to be baptized, so that is awesome! His date is for Christmas Eve! What better a way to celebrate Christmas than to bring someone closer to Christ? Then again, you can't spell Christmas, without "Christ." Did you guys happen to see the First Presidency Christmas Devotional last night? It was awesome! We had dinner at a members and watched it while we ate. It was good! So, since I've been up here in the middle of nowhere, I had ridden the bus so many times already! All we do is ride the bus it seems like. It's good way for transportation though!

 

So the Christmas season is here... We do have decorations up in our tiny apartment. Did I tell you that it's long and narrow? The only thing dividing our bedroom from our kitchen is a blanket that hangs down, and then the kitchen and the tiny tiny livig room where we study is separated by a blanket as well... But, we found some stuff to put up. We have christmas lights up all around, and we have a tiny tiny fake tree that we decorated and put on our table. It's about a foot tall haha. There are some people here that are NUTS with their decorations though! I love this season! It hardly seems like it's finally here though. Crazy how time flies! I've almost been out a whole YEAR, can you believe it?!

 

Anyway, have a great week! I love you both very much.

 

Love,

Elder Edwards

THANKSGIVING

Dearest Parentals,

 

I'm thankful for my wonderful parents and for their example to me. I'm thankful for my mission and for all that it means to me. I'm thankful for my trials (that one was hard to say.....) because of how it makes me grow. I'm grateful for cooler weather and not sweating all the time. I'm thankful to not be in a bike area. I'm thankful to still have over a year left on my mission. I'm thankful for my amazing pup back home. I'm thankful for life!

 

My thanksgiving was okay. We went to a members home who had like 15-20 other people there so it was kinda overload for me because I didn't know who anyone was. I'm still trying to learn everything... Like I said earlier, my area is HUGE. It takes about an hour and 40 minutes to drive to the northern most tip of my area to the southern most tip. We cover a bunch of tiny little coastal towns. I haven't hardly been out of Fortuna yet due to our lack of miles. We get 1350 miles a month here, and there is 1 building here in Fortuna where the ward meets (at 9:30 in the morning yuck! That means we have our meeting with our WML at 7:00 and PEC and Ward Council all before it starts) and there is a tiny tiny building in Miranda where the branch meets (I haven't been there yet) and they start at 11. We don't go to both each Sunday. From what I've been told we go to the Miranda branch about once every 3 or so weeks. My new companions name is Elder Rex Cosman and he's a Cunnuck! He's from New Brunswick, Canada. Being with him is okay... I'm trying to adjust to a new missionary. He kinda treats me like I'm an idiot sometimes... I'm pumped to address that with him here soon :) See, about 10 months ago, I just would have brought it up right when something like that would happen and I'd blow it out of porportion, but now, I take my time and I think things through. I'm growing up! Elder Carter is in my district again too... and his companion is another kinda new guy, only been out 5 months.  My impressions of Fortuna are... I'm not sure yet haha it's an interesting small town. It's named "The Friendly City." So far, I haven't met any huge jerks yet... But it's alright I guess... I gotta learn to love it, just as I did Clearlake. Comes with time. We live in a little add-on apartment on the side of a members house. It's a really narrow apartment. It's probably only 20ft wide, if that, and about 100 feet deep. But! We have our own washer and dryer, which is awesome! So, my new address is: 683 Spring St.  Fortuna, CA 95540. It's weird how I don't really care about mail anymore... maybe it's because I haven't received mail for like a month other than Shelley's letters, which I love! Tell her I really appreciate them... I feel bad that I don't get back to her, but it seems as if there is never enough time on P-day to do things, especially if you have to go by the bus schedule. Everytime we go up to Eureka for p-day or district meeting we have to take the bus because we can't afford the miles on our car. So... I think that's all you asked for mom?

 

As for football, Urban Meyers is at OSU!!?? That's awesome! Wasn't he the Florida Gators coach? Or was he the LSU guy? I know he's been bumped around quite a bit. But, that should be great, get OSU some W's! How is BYU doing overall nowadays? As for NFL, I just appreciate the updates that you do give. Thank you! What's going on with the Colts? I heard a rumor somewhere that Tressel might get the head coaching job? Is there validity to this?

 

I like your little spiritual messages Pa, thank you for those! So when are you gonna be called as bishop again? Mom, are you still a ward missionary? Are you being used at all, other than to teach Gospel Principles? I've been teaching Gospel Principles every other week for about 4 1/2 months now... I just taught it yesterday because our WML who normally teaches it had an ear infection and went home, and Cosman just looked right at me because he's new and all that stuff... In Clearlake, no one was assigned to teach it, our WML was the First Counsilor in the bishopric so he was always busy... but it was good, I taught about Eternal Families. Ya'll better stay on the path so we can hang out in the Celestial Kingdom!!

 

Well, this has been a long letter from me... I hope you enjoyed it! I gotta write President now and complain to him and stuff... haha I won't complain, he does not enjoy complainers. But, anywho, have a great week! Keep on keepin on. Any plans for Christmas?? Vacation?

 

Love you guys so much!

Elder Bredwards