The Same Yesterday, Today and Forever

Moms and Pops,

Well, although my b-day is this week, I still feel the same as I did yesterday. I still feel like a kid actually. But alas, time moves on. You both know that, you're 600 years old! That made me laugh what dad said... classic.

To answer dad: Elder Windholz hasn't been out very long, he's only been out barely over a year, maybe 14 months. He goes home next September. And now for crazy news........ I'm not serving with him anymore. We had an emergency transfer. A missionary in Kelseyville is going home, his mission is over mid-transfer and he was a ZL and so Elder Windholz had to go there to fill in. So that means that I need someone here with me, so they brought down an Elder Blowers from Alabama to be with me. But, here is the crazy thing, he isn't a zone leader. I'm the lone ZL for the biggest zone in the mission. Crazy. Elder Blowers goes home with me in January, so I know him, but not very well. We'll only serve together for 2 weeks, until the transfer is over. Weird stuff, huh? I'm really sad, I loved Elder Windholz!!!! I miss him already, and he's only been gone for 3 hours... He will be a lifelong friend for sure.

Anyways, the week was great! Our teaching pool is increasing and we found an AWESOME investigator the other day. He has a young family, and he's from Mexico but speaks perfect English. His parents used to meet with missionaries in Mexico when he was real young, so he remembers that. He is a pretty humble guy and wants the gospel for him and his family. He has 2 young daughters and his wife. Awesome. It has also began to rain a bit this week, it rained a few days.. I got soaked! I didn't buy a raincoat, because I'm coming home soon and I don't want to buy it and then just keep it in my closet at home forever. I'll just tough it out for a month. I still can't wrap my head around that... It still feels fake.

Hello g-ma!!! I'm afraid to say that I didn't get her package... I hope she doesn't go nuts! We have a SWEET family that signed up for Thanksgiving, so no worries... their son plays lacrosse and they have a puppy german shepherd (who is pretty dang big), so I'll be in heaven! Thank you for the package by the way!! Those oatmeal cookies with whatever the heck is in them are dang delicious! The nice black sweater fits me, but the other one is only a large... You know that doesn't fit me! It is pretty tight... I guess I could wear it under a long sleeve shirt or something. The other nice sweater works perfectly fine, in fact, I wore it last night.

Other than that... Go OSU! BYU isn't doing too well... they need to shape up before I get there, or I'll be ticked! And dad, I know, I worry about all that stuff too! But, it'll all work out somehow. I'm jealous of your trip to Dublin... that place was cool! I really want to go back and visit Europe, especially Belgium. Looking back, those were great days, and I am constantly reminded of the opportunity that I let slip through my fingers to learn French and make the most of my experience there... I hate that... But, live and learn I guess...

I love you both very much! I hope your week goes well! Is Colin going home for Thanksgiving?

Love,

Elder Edwards

November 12 - Holey Moley

Moms and Pops,

Crazy week! So... I was really surprised that neither of you talked about the elections! I was on exchanges with Elder Buchan on Tuesday and we had no idea what was going on with who was leading and who wasn't... then we got online at night to do facebook work and we just saw TONS and TONS of status saying things like ''we're screwed!!'' and ''well, let's pack up and move to Canada.'' I thought it was pretty humorous. Too bad that I have to be back for all 4 years of his administration... I enjoyed being a missionary and not knowing what the heck was going on... Let's sure hope that the country holds together for the next 4 years of having a communist regime... Let's look on the bright side, the first thing people say to us isn't ''are you going to vote for your guy?'' That's a good change of pace...

Anyway, today is my 22 month mark... That is so hard to imagine... I feel stuck in this missionary realm that time doesn't change. I still feel like that when January rolls around that I'm still going to be a missionary here in Novato, and I feel like I'll be doing that in February and on into the year... I can't comprehend going home. It doesn't really even phase me because it just doesn't feel real. I don't think that it'll hit me until we have our departing dinner at President's home, or even until I'm on the plane. It is a weird sensation.

Work here in Novato is really slow... and it's not for lack of effort. We are talking to everyone and we're tracting and going through every one of our former investigators... but we haven't gotten anything super solid. We were blessed this week with 3 new investigators that were found through former 'gators. Outside of that, nothing. It's hard. But, I also know that trials precede the miracle. I'm working on just being patient and trusting that the miracles will come.

So for our P-day's, we don't do anything super crazy. We have a very spread out zone, so it's hard to get together as a big body and do something fun... so, we've been coming up to Petaluma and hanging out here playing basketball or something... We usually email at the library, but because today is Veteran's day (Elder W is a veteran!) and it's closed.

Well, that's about it! Weird to think that I'll be 21 a week from Thursday, crazy... I hope all is going well! I just found out that the white shirt I am wearing is falling apart... Seems to be a common theme with my old white shirts... There is a hole in the back shoulder. Oh well... I'll be okay for another 2 months. I love you both!!! Give loves to my puppy!

Love,
Elder Edwards

Camp Zion and a Baptism

Moms and Pops,

Hello again! We just got back from our 4 day camping trip! Holy cow, it was crazy!!! Because we're zone leaders, we were running all over the place the whole 4 days. We were so super busy. We had to "own our zone" and considering we have the largest zone in the mission: 24 missionaries, it made it a bit difficult. This camp is in the mountains by the coast, so in the camp itself, there is a very steep hill that has steps built into it, and we literally ran up and down that thing about 30 times in 4 days... My legs were so burned out and tired, but Winholz (Sarge is his nickname) was loving it! It was a lot of fun. We did a ton of workshops and the best part was that we didn't have to wear our normal missionary clothes! We got to wear "civis!" When I asked for long-sleeve shirts, I was thinking more of thermals so I would be warm... Not long-sleeve dress up shirts, but it's okay, I survived! I was only cold once, really... And even then it wasn't all that bad. I got to see a lot of loved ones as well: Bishop Kastner (from Napa 2nd ward), he picked up his missionaries, President Bell (he is the new 2nd counsilor to the mission president), and a few others that I haven't ever mentioned. One of the best parts of the week was when we returned on Saturday, we had a baptism to prepare for the next day! A lady named Liza was baptized after 2 years of investigating the church. This was her 3rd attempt to get baptized, and she ran into road blocks the first 2 times. But it worked out this time! We had a huge turnout at the baptism, the whole ward knows her. That is when Sister Barella got my picture, so that was only yesterday! She brought down Elder Weisenburger and Elder Felix because they both have served here in Novato and have both worked with her so they came to the baptism. It was great! We had one of our 'gators there. This particular 'gator would be baptized if she wasn't an alcoholic. Her daughter was murdered a few years ago and it she has struggled ever since. We're working with her though. She actually might end up going to a rehab facility in Vallejo because it's so bad, she's been hospitalized a few times because of it. It's pretty sad to watch...

Go OSU! I like bye weeks sometimes, because then you can't lose! Go Colts! And Go Browns (even if they lost...)! I loved the pictured of Max that you sent. I could only really cut 1 of them to a size that I could put it in my wallet, but that's fine. As for my birthday/christmas... like I said, I'd rather you just save money and send me some super sweet ties, than spend a lot of money on me. For ties, like I said, I like bright colors! Remember to not be too crazy with it though... Other than that, just save the money and we'll go shopping for whatever I need when I get home. I'm going to need some things, so just hold on to it. Can you believe that I'm coming home in 2 months... I can't. It is so surreal to me, it can't really be happening. I don't really believe that it is, so it's all okay. Weird thing though, Elder Buchan is going home in 1 month, that is crazy...

Anyways, Elder Windholz is keepin me in shape. I feel like my belly has gone down a bit and that my face has slimmed down a bit as well. But I'll let you be the judge. Also, send me back my memory card! I took a ton of pictures on the one that I have right now, it has around 125 on it or something. Or I can just use this one for the remainder of my mission, I don't really care either way. Also, I would send you pictures, but I lost my cord, so I can't... Sorry!

I love you both very much, thank you for everything!! I hope that you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Edwards

Marin County

Moms and Pops,

Novato is great! This area is so beautiful! There are a lot of trees and there are a lot of hills. There is also a TON of money... Holy Cow! I have seen some massive homes, some sweet cars, and a lot of other super duper fancy things. Whew... The ward here is awesome though! We have about 150-170 active members, and the grand majority are young couples with a few kids. It is a very young ward (referring to people, not how long the ward has been around). There are people in the ward that are old and retired and rich... But, yeah. I was surprised yesterday when there wasn't as much screaming by the little kids as I expected because of all the little munchkins.

Elder Windholz is a monster! He can run for days, and days, and days, and days... I feel like I'm in conditioning every morning. Like I told you, he spent 4 years in the Army before he came out on his mission and he spent 12 months in Afghanistan. He is just a super solid and fit guy. He is a bit older, 24 years old, but luckily we were already good friends so it wasn't weird or anything. We are getting along great and we have lots of laughs during the day. He calls me Major and I call him Sarge, and we end up talking in military jargon a lot too... it's fun! He is sure whipping me into good physical shape... I'm still sore from running all last week. We go about 2-3 miles a day, plus up at least 1 really big hill (Novato is full of hills). I'm dying while we run, but he is just loving it! Every morning, he'll roll out of bed and do 100 push ups right in a row... I love the guy though, he is probably one of my best friends on the mission. Oh, he is from Woodward, Oklahoma and loves to workout and shoot guns. He has a bunch of guns... I've seen pictures. I guess when you live in a town of 12,000 in Oklahoma, there isn't anything better to do than shoot guns and work out.

Anyway, the work here in Novato is pretty slow at the moment. We only have 4 investigators, and one of them is getting baptized this coming Sunday! So that is awesome! But, other than that, it's tough! We are also ZL's (forgot to mention that last week), and our zone is pretty dang large, our zone covers 4 cities, and we have 11 companionship's which is 23 missionaries (one of the companionship's is a trio). Our zone is the biggest in the mission, so it'll be fun going around and visiting all the different cities. Elder Buchan and Elder Ramiah (former companions) are both in Rohnert Park, so that is fun too!

I can't believe you got my travel itinerary! I wasn't told anything about it. I won't get mine until next transfer. That makes sense though, so you guys can start planning on whatever, and I won't get mine so I don't get trunked out. I think I'm doing well with that though, because I still feel like I'm pretty focused and it doesn't feel real that I'm going home soon. There are times when I'm not busy that my mind wanders to things like music and movies and football, but that isn't too often. Last night we had dinner at a PM's house, and they didn't turn off the tv (we also didn't ask......) and they have pre-game football on... That was awesome because I love football, but it sucked because it just made me trunky for football... I got over it pretty fast though.

We go to our all-mission conference this week on Wednesday up in the redwoods on the coast off of HWY 1. I'm super excited! I hope I get my package before I go... I have been assigned to give a little devotional in front of the mission, so that should be interesting as well. Anyways! Time for me to go... Because we have this 3 day all-mission conference, we have a short as possible P-day today, so we gotta go shop and clean our apartment and car. I love you both very much! Thank you for all your prayers and words of encouragement. Also, any news on the priesthood lineage??

Love,

Elder Edwards

October 23 - Transfers

Moms and Pops,

 

First off, on transfer weeks, our P-day is on Tuesday. So I couldn't email either of your on Monday if I wanted to. I know Mom had a question about that, it's not that I'm too busy on Monday, it's that Monday isn't our P-day on transfers. So, first off, I have been transferred. I am going to Novato to be with Elder Windholz. That name may look familiar, I may have talked about him before. But he is one of my best friends on the mission! I have served around him for 5 transfers previous to this, so we already know each other quite well. This transfer is such a blessing for me! I have wanted to serve in Novato for a very long time and Elder Windholz and I always talked about serving together. He is the one that is from Woodard, OK and served in the Army for 4 years before his mission. He spent 12 months in Afghanistan as well. He is awesome! We are going to do great together! Also, Elder Ramiah is in my zone, a previous companion, and so is Elder Buchan. So, I already know a lot of the missionaries! It is hard to believe that I only have 1 transfer after this... Boy, time sure does fly...

 

Anyway, the Swank family is getting baptized this Saturday! I am so excited for them! President is going to allow me to come back for their baptism, Novato is only about 45 minutes south of Santa Rosa. It is a very wealthy area as well, so it should be interesting. One of the girls that was going to get baptized, her legal guardian (her mother) isn't going to allow her to be baptized... so that is a big stink, but the other girl and then the grandma are still doing it though. How exciting!

 

This is a very short email, and I would write more, but I am very pressed for time right now. Sorry! I hope everything worked out with the Cards. Go Bucks, Go Cougars, Go Colts, Go Browns! Also, please send Kendra a text with my new address. And you can send me the package asap now. Here is my new address:

 

904 Lark Ct.

Novato, CA 94947

 

I love you both very much! I hope that you have a great week.

 

Love,

Elder Edwards

 

P.S. There is a Chipotle in Novato!!!!! There are only 2 in our mission, and 1 of them is in Novato. That is one of the places that we eat at. Yum!

Giants Country

Moms and Pops,

This week we got to go to the temple! It was awesome! The weather was
incredible and I loved it so much! It was overcast, a bit windy, and a
bit chilly... I haven't had that kind of weather in forever! It is
such a nice change of pace from being in Vacaville where it never
rained, there were never any clouds, and it was always in the 100s...
Also, this is unusual, but I was able to drive one of the vans down
from Santa Rosa to the temple! That was fun. I also had 3 sisters in
the van, which is also very unusual. But, we got permission to do it
because it was a temple trip. I haven't given any girls a ride in a
car since I was at BYU almost 2 years ago! How crazy is that? Also,
the day that we were down in the bay area was the saem time as the
Giants game. It was CRAZY! We stopped at a food court for lunch and
the game was on and it was like the 10th inning and the Giants came
and won. People were going so crazy. Now, it's the Cardinals and the
Giants. Man, the Cardinals better win! One of my recent converts,
Tony, is a huge Giants fan... so, we gotta win!!!

So the family that we've been working with is all set to get baptized!
There is 3 of them, an older lady in her 50s or so, and then 2 young
kids that are 9 and 11. They're getting baptized on the 27th of
October. Also, we're working with a 12 year old girl who has come to
church with her grandparents the past year, and she as well is going
to get baptized on the 27th of October. So, that will be a huge day! 4
baptisms on that day. The Stony Point Ward's baptismal goal for this
year was 6, and so far there has been 10 or 11 baptisms, and we're
about to have 4 more. That goal was blown out of the water! So awesome
to see something like that happen. The work is on fire! Also, this is
the last week of the transfer (is it already that time?) so I may get
transferred... only time will tell.

Remember our Lao family? We had dinner with them this week and I ate
another extremely hot pepper... I didn't think it would be as hot as
it was. I was sweatin the whole time. Also, their food was SO good!!!
Holy cow! It was just delicious. I had a yellow Thai Pepper, and
apparently those are about as hot as a habenero. I didn't know that at
the time... I have eaten a habenero on my mission too, and that too
was an interesting experience, one that I don't want to have again.

Last week was General Conference, and this week we had Stake
Conference. How crazy is that? We haven't had normal church for 2
weeks. It is really weird... Everyone is all confused and it just
feels weird. On Saturday, the area seventy and the stake president
went out with the missionaries. So, we taught a lesson to the Swank's
with our stake president and a general authority! How cool is that?
His name is Elder Frank Trythol (not sure of the spelling). It was
pretty awesome. He slapped my leg, haha it was funny. It's not every
day that you get to have a lesson with a general authority. I've met
him before in Vacaville, him and president Bell were good friends.
President Bell is also really good friends with Elder Cornish of the
Seventy, they worked together for a long time. There is a quote that I
heard once that says "there are 3 main 'tions' to which people are
called to leadership in the church; Revelation, Inspiration, and
Relation!" I thought that that was pretty clever.

The works moves forward here. Me and my companion are doing okay. We
are very different. He is kinda like a little brother to me who just
talks and asks questions just to hear himself. I can kind of see how
Colin and Tanner may have viewed me! But I am learning patience. It's
been tough, but it's been okay. It hasn't been terrible. Other than
that, I don't have much else to report on! I'm
impressed with dad's involvement with the YM. That is awesome! I know
that you are making a huge impact on them. They need a good role model
like you to help them right now in their lives. I've heard countless
missionaries say that one of their biggest "heros" was their YM
leader. So rememer that, you are changing lives, even if you don't see
it. Do you remember my YM leader from Ohio? I can't quite remember his
name, it was like Brother Nye or something like that (that could also
be completely wrong)? Anyway, he lives in Fairfield, and he was in a
different ward when I was there, but we met in the same building. I
heard from the missionaries in his ward that he found out that I was
serving a mission and he said "really?! I never thought that he would
do it!" I wonder how many people would say that who knew me from Ohio
and even Belgium. Just an interesting thing that he lives in Fairfield
next to the airbase.

Anyway, I hope that the Colts and Browns did well. I'm glad to hear
that OSU won! I saw that BYU was playing "OSU" somewhere, and I was a
bit nervous that it was Ohio, but now I know that it was Oregon... Go
Bucks! Go Cougars! Go Cardinals!

Love,
Elder Edwards

Third Times a Charm

Moms and Pops,

So, as the title suggests, what can you think of that I've been "plagued" with at least two times before now on my mission? Well, if you guessed Poison Oak, you are correct!! We did some service in some one's backyard that was very wooded, we were clearing underbrush and whatnot, and the lady said that she had all the Poison Oak removed... well, that's not true. Once again, I have it everywhere. IT IS ABSOLUTELY MISERABLE! When I found out that I had it (on Friday morning) I immediately went and bought bleach and 2 tubes of cortisone (which are all empty now, I bought a few more and they are empty too, 4 bottles in total). That morning I have myself a bleach sponge bath, that sucker BURNED like crazy! Of course I didn't do straight bleach, I blended it with water, and the rest of that day was just miserable... It is on my face, my neck/jaw line, both arms, both legs, and behind both knees... fun times, huh? Funny note though, I have permission to not shave! So, I've been growing out my beard for the first time since I had something to grow! It is pretty gross... haha I've been growing it out since Friday. It is very patchy... but I got some good stuff on my chin! Other than that, it isn't too pretty... On Friday though, i called the mission nurse and she got me hooked up with some prescription prednisone which helps a lot... so, I got hooked up immediately. Like you, pops, because of my infirmities, I couldn't enjoy General Conference as much as I would have liked.

I HATE POISON OAK! I hate being so stinkin allergic to it! Ughh!

Anyway, how about general conference! Despite my plague, I received a lot of good inspiration and revelation on my life! I had 4 major questions that I had prepared. They were pretty general though, they were: 1. What direction should I take my life (career wise) after my mission? 2. What should my priorities be? 3. and 4. How can I continue to glorify God more fully. The talk that provided me with the most revelation to my questions that I had was Elder Christofferson. It was great! I loved that talk. Also, other favorites of mine were Elder Holland (as usual), Elder Bednar (as usual), and President Monson's Sunday morning. Of course many many of them stood out, but those ones come to mind first. It was awesome! Now that I'm older and can understand what is being taught, I am so much more involved, and time passes by SO fast! These past 2 days have gone by in the blink of an eye. I remember when I was younger and watching G.C, it was just drudgery, but I didn't fully understand at the time. I'm grateful for the added knowledge that I have now that helps me learn. Weird to think that the next G.C. that I will be at home... crazy! My mind is continually blown that I only have about 3 months left, that is way too weird. Oh, what are your thoughts on the age change for missionaries? That blew my mind! Holy cow! There are going to be a TON of freshman girls at BYU in the next year, should be interesting! :) This is God's way of taking away my competition! haha! Either that or He is giving me a great opportunity to find a RM wife... either works for me. Not that I think about that a lot anyway.............................................

The new shirts that you're trying, the Gold Bond ones or something like that? I think Gold Bond is some kind of baby powder, but it's something like that. It's a good shirt to use, they'll be good for the winter when it's colder, because these shirts are a bit thicker. As for my birthday, don't go crazy... ties, and some snacks would make me perfectly happy! As for Christmas, with only 2 weeks after that, I would say just save the money. I mean yeah, send me some snacks or something, maybe a tie or two, but save the money. I don't want to receive a bunch of things and have to haul them home with me. When it is time for me to come home, I'm going to give away a lot of things, like my bike, ties, shirts, etc... I want to come home with light luggage. When I get home, then maybe we can have our own little Christmas in January or something... give me $75 to the Nike outlet or something, I'd have a blast!

As for the work, we just dropped 7 investigators the other day... they were people that we haven't seen in weeks, and people that are avoiding us. The one referral from the MTC who was super solid dropped us as well, so... that, along with the plague has made for a very trying week. It has been tough. But, through the trials, we learn patience, faith, and trust. There is not really anything more I can do about my skin disease, but just wait it out and endure... good thing a lot of talks focused on trials and whatnot, huh?

So, we received some sad news yesterday... Elder W's grandfather passed away. He took it pretty well actually. He had about 15 minutes of just crying it out, but after that he shifted his mind and was good to go. He has a lot of faith. It made me think of if Gma passed away while I was out here... I would be devastated... I love that "sassy old pup!" I've been telling her, in about every letter, that she needs to take care of herself so I can see her when I come home! So, that was some sad news that we received this week...

Sounds like sports is doing great! Except the Browns... sometimes I wonder if they like to think. I guess not... frustrating! But the Colts won! Who is their head coach?? So good to hear about OSU KILLING Nebraska in the conference opener... So excited for them! And BYU... their offense has been pathetic the past year or so, that score 6-3, was like a baseball game score... Sorry to hear about the Cardinals... They can come back! at least it's not single-game elimination.

Can't believe that there is only 2 weeks left in this transfer. Where does all this dang time go! I'm up and going 16 hours a day, every day, you think that it would seem like the days are super long! But, they aren't... time just gets faster and faster. It is also increasingly easier and easier to get unfocused... If I hear a good song in a restaurant or see a glimpse of an interesting movie, it is hard to bring my mind back from thinking about how much longer I have until I can do those things again... But, that internal battle continues. My comp says that I seem to be doing very well with controlling my "trunkiness."

Anyway, I love you both very much. I hope that you were both uplifted and enlightened from General Conference and that you received some great guidance. Remember, it isn't enough to just think of ways to change, we need to ACT! Hugs and Kisses XOXO Also!!!! This is probably the first letter in MONTHS that neither of you mentioned my pup!!!!!!! I need an update on that furry little critter! Please and thank you!

Love,
Elder Edwards

October 1

Moms and Pops,

So, news first... I got my pink slip this week... I'm not sure if you know what that means, but it is a landmark in a missionaries life. It means that the church is getting ready to purchase my plan ticket home... So, I need to know some info for all of that. First off, I've prayed about it, and I think that I'm just going to come straight home. I feel like that would be best. I can stay in touch with people through email, FB, and phone calls (which I can't do while I'm here). I'm really good at changing my mind aren't I? Is our home stake the St. Louis, MO Stake? Is our home ward the Rockwood 1st Ward? Also, what is the name of the airport that I will be flying home to? I need you to confirm those for me ASAP please. Crazy to think that it is getting to be that time... AND it's already OCTOBER! Wow!

So, Nathan was baptized on Saturday! He asked me if I would baptize him, and Elder Weisenburger confirmed him. It was a great service, a lot of people showed up to support Nathan. It was great! I am excited to go to baptisms when I'm home to just support people. I wish I would of done that more often, but then again, I didn't understand the gospel nearly as well as I do now. It's a miracle that Nathan was baptized because he doesn't have much longer to live, he's pretty frail... The Swank family is still on top of things! They came to church again yesterday, we gave Lisa (the mom) and her husband, Jim, blessings after church and taught the kids. Lisa has a baptismal date for October 27, and one of the kids expressed her desire to be baptized as well. We're teaching them again tonight, so we'll get a little deeper into it. I love that miracle of teaching a family! It's the best!!! It's what every missionary dreams and prays for, and it is such a blessing to have all those prayers become a reality. There is no doubt in my mind that this is a blessing straight from God Himself. It is truly incredible.

We also got a referral this week from the MTC for this lady who requested a missionary visit from Mormon.org. Her name is Monica and she has studied our church for a long time. She has been searching for the true church and she said that she narrowed it down to 2 churches: The Jehovah Witnesses and us... and she's met with the JW's and she knows that they aren't the true chruch so she said it must be us. What a blessing! We taught her twice this week, she came to Nathan's baptism and she came to all 3 hours of church yesterday! The only downside... she's 25 and belongs to the Singles ward. But, she has a baptismal date now for November 10. She WILL get baptized. She is so excited for it. We're going to teach her again this week with the sister missionaries that cover the YSA ward so that we have a smooth transition. They were thrilled as you could imagine. So many awesome things are happening right now! Miracles are coming every day.

Things are going okay with the Elder Weisenburger. We are quite different in many regards but very much alike at the same time. That an make things difficult at times. He is very much so a perfectionist, similar to Elder Christensen, and he stresses sometimes if things don't work out perfectly. I have definitely learned the value of good communication.

We had a Zone Leader Council this week again. It is crazy how fast those things come around. I only have 3 more (if I stay a ZL for my last 2 transfers). Time sure does fly. We talked all about having faith and about shifting the paradigm. We watched an AWESOME video called "The Butterfly Circus." You should look that up and watch it, I'm sure it's on youtube. But that impacted me a lot, it was great. We went to Panara Bread on Saturday before the baptism, yum! Reminds me of Ohio. On Saturday we also ran about 2.4 miles! Woo! There was some huge bike race that morning too, it made me think of XOBA and riding my bike with you pops, across Ohio. Those were fun times. I will not do that in Missouri in the Summer....

Anyway, life is good. Things are going great. Time is flying by and it's hard to imagine that things are going to come to a close a whole lot quicker than I'd like. Again, I'll just fly straight home, you don't need to come pick me up. That will all work out one way or another. I asked President Alba about it and he said that it's not encouraged for parents to come pick up their missionaries. So, I just figured that I'd come straight home. I love my new shirts, they are very nice... I could use some long sleeve though. 2 of my long sleeves are thrashed, also a nice raincoat would do well. I lost mine somewhere a long time ago... also, maybe 1 or 2 long-sleeve thermal shirts because of the weather and it'd be nice to wear in the morning. We are having a 3 day all-mission conference at the beginning of November out in the middle of the wilderness at what's called Camp Liahona, and it's gonna be chilly and i don't have any long-sleeve t-shirts, and i only have 1 sweatshirt (it's impressed me how long that thing has lasted considering how much I wear it). I will also be sending home some things here in the future... now whether that future is a week, or a month, or even 2 months, I'm not sure... but it will happen.

I love you both very very much. Thank you for all of your support and all that you do for me. Have a great week and I hope everything goes well. And when you find your priesthood lineage, just send me mine if you could! Now that I know you're looking for it, I'll quit asking. Love you both!

Love,
Your Missionary Son

Sept. 24 - Awesome

Moms and Pops,

It's great to hear from you both this week. Glad to hear that things are cooling off over there, here in Santa Rosa it has been in the mid 60s to low 70s all week. It's glorious! Everyone you talk to here talks about how gorgeous the weather is. Some of the church members will say something along the lines of "the Celestial Kingdom will have the weather of Santa Rosa, CA!" It's funny stuff. I'm not complaining.... yet.

I miss Cocoa Beach. I'm jealous that you got to go out there! You both read 7 books combined?! That is ridiculous! You were both a bunch of beach bums! I have so many different books that I want to read when I get home... I have developed a thirst for knowledge on my mission. I'm almost done with Jesus the Christ! It's taken me around 8 weeks to read around 30 chapters! Woo!

Ben is going to Ft. Lauderdale, FL?!?! That's crazy!! There is no way that he is that old yet! I would have figured the he'd go to some school first, but hey, more power to him. I know he doesn't turn 19 until November, but I forget the specific day. That's incredible. Ft. Lauderdale is where my companion is from, weird. Speaking of missions, I am done in 4 months... that continually blows my mind! When a missionary is about to be done with their mission, we say that they are "dying." So, as I am on my "deathbed," I have had some weird dreams about going home. Oh, and other missionaries who know that you're going home are never slow to remind you... But, I had a dream just last night about going home, or in missionary lingo, "dying." My dream was that this time, when you go home, you actually die. It was 2 days before I left to come home, and I just had the anticipation of dying... It wasn't my favorite dream. I didn't end up dying though, all I remember is showing up at home and then it went from there to more weird stuff about black people and spicy chips... Believe me, this one was weird!

This coming weekend we are having another baptism! Nathan is going to be baptized. He is 58 years old, and he has some kind of auto-immune disease. He is very weak and ill. He grew up Jewish, and then started to read the Bible and the New Testament. Later in life, he began to study with Jehovah Witnesses, but he was never baptized because he was very adamant about not wanting to be affiliated with a specific religion. But now, as we are teaching him and as he has grown (he knows the scriptures very very well and is very spiritual) he said that he received confirmation that it is time for him to get baptized. He came to church yesterday for the 5th time in a row, and he loves it. He asked me if I would baptize him. It is such a great honor and privilege to not only participate in such a saving ordinance, but to be worthy to have and exercise the authority to do so. I am very grateful for that. Speaking of...CAN YOU PLEASE SEND ME MY PRIESTHOOD LINEAGE????

So, it has been a great week working with Nathan. He is such a great man, and he is so full of love! There isn't a mean bone in his body... I love that man! Tony is doing great as well, he continues to come to church and to participate. He will be a very strong member as he receives the priesthood and moves forward.

Also, this week we had a half mission conference and Elder Gavarret of the First Quorum of the Seventy came and visited out mission. As we were all going around to shake his hand, he gave us all hugs. So, now I have hugged my first General Authority! Whenever I see him , I will remember that awkward hug... :) It was a very inspirational conference, and we were fed soup for lunch. That was a change, but it was tasty!

It seems as if I'm writing you a book today, but I don't think you'll mind... It didn't sound like a very good weekend for football... It's weekends like that that make me grateful that I missed it! By the time I'm home, the season will be over, and next year will be a great one! I have also introduced the Edwards' family nacho recipe to a few missionaries; their lives have been changed forever.

I'm not sure if I thanked you, but thank you fro the package of shirts and especially the razor!! It is a great razor and it makes things SO much easier for me.

Oh, we also had our Primary Program as well this last week. It was hilarious! I love watching the Sunbeams go up, they're so funny. I can't wait to have some of my own children up there some day. We were combined with the Spanish Branch (the YW, YM, and Primary are combined with the Spanish Branch) for that sacrament meeting. The Spanish missionaries in the Branch were translating, similar to Belgium, but it was so hard to hear some of the children that they couldn't translate anything... Not only because they spoke so quite sometimes, but also because no one has any clue as to what they were saying in English! It was awesome...

I love you both very much. Thank you for your prayers and support that you continue to give me. Keep on keepin on! I hope Colin and Tanner fix things up, not only with each other, but with themselves. Tanner will learn what is good for him one of these days... It'll probably take him getting burned again, unfortunately.

Pray for the family that we found!!! Their last name is Swank! Did I tell you about them? If not, here is a quick overview. We found them, they all live in the same home, there are 3 LA's that all have a desire to come back to church (they have come the past 2 weeks) and then there are also 4 non-members in the home (all of them have been to church at least once in the last 2 weeks). Gold mine... This is what missionary work is all about! Also, it's what the Abrahamic Covenant is all about!!! "that all the families of the earth may be blessed..." - somewhere in Abraham.

Love,
Elder Edwards

Woo!

Parents,

So, our brother, Tony was baptized!!! It was an incredibly powerful service. Tony's young wife, Mahana, gave a talk on baptism and it was very good and she was pretty emotional and made Tony pretty emotional as well, which isn't very common for him. He is just a very quiet and soft spoken guy. He asked me to baptize him, and I was honored to do so. After we got out of the font into the bathroom to change, he just gave me a big hug. It was such an incredible experience. Mahana is returning to activity, Tony got baptized and is now working on some family history to go to the temple with, and they both have their sights on the temple to get sealed in a year's time. Ahh! I love it! It was so awesome... We had an investigator at that baptism to watch as well, his name is Nathan, and he is scheduled for September 29th to be baptized, so far he is lookin good for it. He's come to church 3 times now for the full 3 hours. Things are going great here in Santa Rosa in the Stony Point ward. Elder W and I are doing okay. I love the guy to death, and he is very open to different ideas, but he is kind of a stickler at times too in the sense that he likes things done his way. He just barely hit his year mark this last week I think. But, he's from Ft. Lauderdale, FL. and he went to BYU for a little bit before he came out. He's younger than me though, he graduated high school in 2011, that is pretty weird to think about, also, we are getting missionaries now who graduated in 2012... weird stuff. I'm considered "old" now. Never thought that I'd be on this side of it all.

That's quite frustrating for BYU to lose to Utah... That seems to be pretty typical seeing as we've lost the past 3 years. Great. They'll win once I go back. Good to hear that the Colts beat someone! Woo! Santa Rosa is 49er country, and there are some die hard fans here. Luckily, I'm an Indy and Cleveland fan, and they have no quarrel with that.

We found a LA/PM family this week too! We were out on splits delivering church records to people in the ward that we didn't know or had some kind of change in their membership, and we found a family who let us in immediately. They had a million birds in their house... that was kinda crazy, but they are so solid! The 31 year old who we went to visit let us in and sat down with us. Her dad is a inactive member who has struggled with being an alcoholic for a long time, but has now been sober for a little while. They both have desires to come back to church. Then, her mom is a non-member who is interested and Nicole (the 31 year old) said that if her mom would join any church it would be our church. Also, in that house lives Nicole's brother, who is also a recovering alcoholic and who is also a member, and who also expressed that he wants to come back to church! AND, this brother has a daughter who is 9 who is not a member yet and she wants to be baptized! ALSO in that house lives Nicole's 12 year old cousin who is ALSO not baptized... they all came to church yesterday except for the 12 year old cousin and the brother... Look at that miracle! We are going to start working with them this week... I'm super excited!

Anyway, hope Cocoa Beach is awesome! Enjoy it while you can, because it's gonna go by fast! Go Bucks! Cougars! Colts! and Browns!!!

Love,
Elder Edwards

Transfer #15

Moms and Pops,

So, to end any question in your minds. I am staying in Santa Rosa, just as I had predicted. Elder Evans is getting transferred to Vallejo. Coming in with me will be Elder Ty Weisenburger. We will still be the ZL's here (this will make 8 transfers as a ZL for me... more than half my mission!). Elder Weisenburger has been out around a year, so to me, he's pretty new still. I'll tell you more about him when I know more.

So Tony, he wasn't baptized this week... BUT! He will be baptized this coming Saturday! He was going through a rough time with his wife getting sick (she's pregnant) and receiving his 30 day notice to get out of his house (the owner wants to move in again). We all can see how Satan is attacking him right now. It actually works out perfect because we needed more time to teach him a few more things. He is getting interviewed tonight for his baptism, and the program is already set up, so he is good to go. He is truly one of God's elect. In a years time, him and his wife will be getting sealed, I can't wait! I will for sure have to come back for it.

Sounds like things are off to a good start with BYU and OSU! That makes me happy! Hope they can keep it up and make it to some bowl games that I can watch when I'm home :) As for NFL, I want to have high hopes for the Browns and Indy, but that is hard to do... I don't expect much, which will help when they get beat! I won't get upset. Works out perfect. Here, we see high school football players everywhere and on Friday nights we can see the lights in the stadiums and hear the crowds when we drive or walk by. Man, I miss those days! They were really fun, good times.

Nothing too crazy happened this week except we found ourselves in a Clearlake looking apartment complex with Clearlake-like people. That was fun! Talked to a few drugs addicts, it is sad to see... Their minds are so blasted that they can't think straight! One of them was talking to us and telling us that if we didn't preach what was in the Bible that we'd be taken by Muslims to the Middle East and be crucified. That was amusing. I'm not sure if that is exactly what he said, but that is what we gathered from it. I wrote that in my journal :)

Crazy to thing that I only have 4 months left... How does time fly by so fast?! I never imagined myself this far along in my mission, not that I ever didn't think i could do it, but it just seemed so far ahead that I couldn't fathom the thought of it. But, now that I'm here, it blows my mind. Elder Evans has been out a month and a half longer than me, and we've talked a lot about it. Especially the fact that the last 4 months or so of a mission are some of the hardest times because the light at the end of the tunnel is right in front of your face. It is one of the hardest times to focus. I will catch myself wondering in my mind and thinking about other things that don't matter at the moment. It's tough for sure, but days like this coming Saturday help pushing me forward. I'm sprinting right now, I hope I don't run out of juice right before the end.

Anyways, thank you for sending me some shirts! I look forward to getting the package... Did you put any long sleeve in? I asked for 2, because some of my long sleeve are not very pretty either... and it's getting into Fall and soon, Winter where I won't be wearing short sleeve anymore. So, that would be appreciated as well! Thank you so much though!

Well that's about it for me this week. I'll be sure to analyze everything about Elder Weisenburger so you can have all the details about him. I love you both very much, thank you for everything!

Love,
Elder Edwards

Sept. 3, 2012

Mis Padres,

So, first and foremost, we had a baptism on Saturday! Our little 10 year-old Laotian got baptized. It was awesome. Pretty much everything that we planned for the baptism fell through; people showing up, talks, and that sort of thing. But at the end of the day there was water, T was dressed in white, and he was baptized by priesthood authority. That day was nuts... we helped someone move who was getting evicted on 5 minutes notice. I couldn't change from my nice suit, so someone gave my a t-shirt and I just put that on and helped the people move while I was wearing my nice suit pants. I hate moving people out of 2nd story apartments, ESPECIALLY when NOTHING is organized or boxed... it was a "grab it and pack it" deal. Then, one of the ward members fed us that night. We had "Prison Spread!" This member had been in prison for a while, and now he is endowed and sealed in the temple (prior to going into prison he was excommunicated). He is such a solid guy! So, what Prison Spread is, is ramen noodles, some kind of canned meat called chile colorado, ritz crackers (to soak up the juice), and a ton of melted cheese. And, the fun part is, is that it's all mixed together and cooked inside trash bags! How fun is that? It was super tasty. He used to make it when he was in prison, hence the name.

We saw a drunk Mexican pee on a side walk this week, that was funny.

On Monday, we had our Laotian Family Home Evening. It was fun! Lao food is delicious. They gave me a new Lao name: Elder Chai Son. It means something like "teaching heart." But that was a good and fun time. Lao people are so nice! I love them!

We had our Zone Leader Council on Friday. I love that meeting... But it just isn't the same without President Bunker. Yeah, I uphold and sustain President Alba, but he's just not "my" mission president, ya know? Just a random thought I guess.

I'm not sure what else I need to write... I'm 95% positive that I'm staying and I'm not moving. The sooner I can get that electrical razor, that happier I'll be. I'm so tired of my razor! Haha! Can you believe that I have to shave every day now? People notice if I don't! I feel like a man now. Just send it to the address that I gave you.

Good to hear about OSU and BYU... Please keep me up to date on them. Can you believe that I will be home before the season is over? Crazy! I am excited to see how Braxton Miller does, what happened to that one freshman when I was at BYU that was doing okay and took over for Riley Nelson?

As for NFL I'd like to hear about Indy and Cleveland and I guess a few updates from Peyton and how he is doing. Other than that, I don't care all that much.

As for picking me up, I would prefer that. Because one, I will have fresh in my mind where everyone is and how to get around. I guess there are are benefits to both. I think it would be very good for both of you, and maybe Colin or Tanner if they can come. So, my release date is January 14, I saw my name on the departing missionary list in the office, it goes up to 4 or 5 months. That was weird.

I love you both very much! Sorry that this was a short letter. Thank you so much for your encouragement and support!

Love,
Elder Edwards

Fall Is Coming

Parents,

I love California weather. As you both have talked about droughts and crazy hot and humid weather, I was just thinking how much I love it here! This past week, it never even got close to 90. It's been in the high 60s and 70s all week, and it's been super sunny every day! At night, the fog and clouds roll in from the ocean which causes it to cool off to the 50s, then the fog usually lingers around until 10 or 11 and then it all goes away and it leaves us with a perfectly sunny day of about 70 degrees with a nice breeze. I love it! Depending on how long the fog lingers around effects the temperature of the day. We had our ward picnic this last Saturday and the fog stayed in until about 1, and it was in the mid 60s all day. It was glorious!

Before I forget, because I know I will, can ya'll send my a nice electrical shaver? I'm tired of using a razor blade every day... It gets very monotonous. Yes dad, I have to shave daily now. Crazy, huh? When I get home, expect me to grow out a very very patchy... something. I wouldn't call it a beard, or anything similar, but it is something. Also, concerning picking me up after my mission. I know that mom said that she'd rather me come home and get my foot fixed and whatnot and THEN go out to visit. I'm curious to what you think dad. My thinking is, trying to be realistic, when I come home in January, there is hardly any chance that I'll be able to get my foot fixed right away between getting x-rays and whatever on it to see how it's doing, then the actual surgery and recovery which undoubtedly will take at least 1 1/2 months plus rehab. And, knowing you both, we'll do some kind of vacation which will take a week as well, and with me going back to school April 30th, plus getting a place to stay and whatnot... I just think that it doesn't leave much time to do all that much. You all might think different, but that's what I think at least. So, let us continue to discuss. Talk it over amongst yourselves, and pray about it. I'll do whatever you want, but I would like to get back out here ASAP. So whether, we come together when you pick me up, or we wait until the week between the Spring and Summer Terms, I'm going to go for a weekend or something when I'm at school. That was a lot to say about not much, huh?

Anyway, now to my report on the week. We had a really good week! It was a bit slower though. We dropped a few of our 'gators that had baptismal dates mostly because I haven't even met them yet and I've been here like 4 weeks now (that went by really fast!). We have T, a little 10 year old (he isn't that little) Laotian is getting baptized this coming Saturday! We are very excited! And then Tony is going to get baptized the week after that! So, we are very excited about that. Tonight we are having a big Laotian Family Home Evening at our Stake President's home, I am excited for that too! The Laotians have taught us a bit of Lao... I can't spell the words that they taught me, but I know how to say "cry baby," "hello, how are you," "goodbye," "I'm hungry," "thank you very much," "dog," "come here," and that's about it! It's fun to learn that language. It's crazy to listen to as well. Elder Evans and i are still getting along great, good things are happening and we certainly recognize the Lord's hand in this work that we are doing. Despite losing some investigators, we see the miracles that are being performed. About 2 weeks ago now, I started reading "Jesus The Christ." Holy cow, that book is MASSIVE! I've had it with me my whole mission, and I've attempted to read it once, but only got to page 12..... but this time around, I just seems to have a greater knowledge and understanding and I love it! It is such a great book! If either of you haven't read it, DO IT! There are 42 chapters, and I'm on chapter 16 I think, and I get through about a chapter or 2 a day. I have learned so much about the Savior and His life, it's a great book! Read it! I have so much that I want to read when I get home... I'm excited!

Anyway, nothing else to report on. Things are going well, it's hard to believe that another transfer is almost over! Elder Evans got his "pink slip" this week too. The Pink Slip is a pink piece of paper that missionaries get when they are only a few months from going home. It's just a thing that we need to fill out about what airport we are going home to and everything so that the church can begin to book flights. It is a big moment in the life of a missionary. Elder Evans is only 1 transfer out longer than me, so I expect to receive my pink slip next transfer. That's a weird feeling! Time flies...

I love you both, thank you very much for your encouragement and support. Remember to please send me an electrical shaver, that would be SO greatly appreciated. You can send it to the address that you have. Thank you dad for your little notes that you send me too. Which reminds me, I wrote a letter to gma a few months back, and I lost her address so I haven't ever been able to send it yet......... I know I'm bad! But, I wrote her! The letter is stamped and everything, I just need to put an address on it. So, if you could send me that, that would be great and let her know that I haven't forgotten about her!

My Address here is 155 Stony Point Rd., #15, Santa Rosa, CA 95401.

Love,
Elder Brennan

Time Flies Like an Arrow. Fruit Flies Like a Banana.

Dear Parents,

Did you enjoy that picture of my foot? Yeah, something is pretty
messed up down there. It's not discolored anymore, or nearly as
swollen. But, it still hurts. I don't have to wear a brace anymore (I
wore a brace for a few weeks following the initial injury) and I am
able to run on it and everything, but if I turn a weird way on it, it
hurts pretty bad. I'm excited to get that thing chopped open and
fixed! Which, I want to do ASAP when I get back... if it's the very
next day, that's fine with me! I want it fixed!

In other news. It's been another great week of work. We are working
with a lot of Laotian families here in Santa Rosa. There used to be a
Branch, but it was dissolved and after that, all the Laotians just
stopped going to church. So, we're in the process of getting that
going again. Those people from Laos sure do make good egg rolls!!!

I think you both asked me a few questions, but I forget now what they
were... Elder Evans and I get along great! We work very well together
and we have fun, it is a really good companionship. We don't really
have any contention at all, it's great! Yes we are in a car. I haven't
been in a bike area since last summer in Fairfield. The zone is
decently close, Vacaville was a LOT closer. We still have to drive
about 15-30 minutes to get to some areas, but all around it's pretty
close.

We are going to have a few more baptisms coming up in a few
weeks! One is a 10 year old Laotian named T. He is such a good
kid. He has a learning disability, so it is really hard for him to
retain things, but he will be getting baptized on September 1! Then,
we're working with a 25 year old newly wed named T. He just married
a member who has been LA, and since they got married and pregnant,
they've been to church every week for the past 4 weeks! T is so
awesome!!! He is such a sincere guy, he's Mexican, but grew up in
Santa Rosa. He went to a party Saturday night for his cousins b-day
and it's his culture to drink beer, but he didn't that night! He
really wants to quit. He is so solid; golden is what we call him! He
is getting baptized September 8th! Although, he could be baptized this
week if he really wanted... But we don't want him to feel rushed! He
is so awesome! I love T!

Something I wanted to ask today... It's not for money, no worries!
But, would you both want to come pick me up from my mission? I could
get a field release and then immediately I can take you around the
mission to all my areas? Think about that. Becuase I'm not sure when
I'd be able to get you'll out here, and that seems to be a good time.
It'll still be winter here, so it most likely will be super rainy (it
didn't hardly rain this last winter when I was up north and it's
supposed to rain there nonstop for months). So, think about that, and
let me know what you think!

I don't think I need anything at the moment. Also! The mission office,
for whatever reason isn't forwarding mail anymore... So you can still
send it there, and it's not a problems because I'm in Santa Rosa, but
if I get transferred again, which is still a possibility, send it
directly to my address.

I love you both very much! Thank you for all that you do. Take care of
my puppy!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,
Elder Brennan

Santa Rosa

Moms and Pops,

Whew! 19 months goes by FAST! So, are you ready for some revelation
that I have received this week? Great. Well, after praying about it,
having a battle in my head, and talking with President Alba, I have
decided to stay out until January 14th. So, plan on that. I have been
debating in my head if it it is right, but I know that it's what I
need to do. So, there ya have it! Go ahead and tell everyone that
thinks I'm coming home in December. Thanks!

This week has been good. Another PACKED week! All we do is go from
appointment to appointment, it's awesome. A lot of the time the
appointments fall through, but that's okay, we usually make something
out of it. Lately, we've been trying to visit all the families from
Laos. There are a ton of them in Santa Rosa. We are going to be
starting up a Laos group in the stake, so we're trying to gather them
all together. They're super nice people. School hasn't quite started
up just yet, I think they start this week? It's weird, I feel like
school just barely got out. I bet Shelley is excited.... haha! The
weather here is awesome too! It's been hot lately, but not like
Vacaville. Here, there is a nice cool breeze and it begins to cool off
around 6:00. At night, it cools off a LOT. I love it! Perfect weather.
We have a few awesome investigators here too. One is a 10 year old
Laos kid that hasn't been baptized, and he's come to church 2 weeks in
a row with his Aunt now! Woo! His Aunt wasn't very active but, she's
getting back into it now. And the other is a 23 year old newely wed,
and he is so excited to get baptized and go to the temple. His date is
for September 8th, he is awesome! We have good people that we're
working with here, I'm excited for the next few weeks.

Elder Evans is a great missionary too. We get along great and we work
really well together. I seem to get the missionaries that are a bit
frantic. In the sense that they are very analytical about everything
and they demand perfection out of themselves and if they don't get it,
they stress out. I'm a very mellow person, so it's good for them.
Apparantly I've been able to help out Elder Evans a lot.

So, that's my week. Not much else to report on, other than Elder Evans
thinks I'm a good singer (he is maybe 1 of 5 people that have told me
that) and he told our ward music person, and now they want me to sing
in sacrament............ You can imagine my feelings haha. I'll do it,
but not alone, I'm going to drag someone else in to do it with me.
Luckily, if it sucks, you'll never know because the congregation
doesn't clap! So, that's a positive way to look at it I guess. We'll
see what happens.

Love you both so much! I don't know if Shelley knows that I go
moved... my new address is 155 Stony Point Rd. #15
Santa Rosa, CA 95401

Love,
Elder Edwards

I'm Still Alive

Peter and Charlotte,

Well, yes, I've been transferred to Santa Rosa. My companion is Elder
Bo Evans, from Shelley, ID. He has been out just 1 month more than me.
He is a very loving and compassionate guy. I am SO excited to be here
in Santa Rosa serving with him!

Now, thank you for the tongue whipping mom! Haha. I want you both to
know that I have a good head on my shoulders. I know what's important,
and I know what I need to do. It is confirmed, I will be attending BYU
in April for the Spring term. Also, I kinda do need to be worrying
about that now, because if I don't, I'm not going to be able to
register for the classes that I want to take, and I won't be able to
live where I want to live. Which, I may live with Elder Bacon in
Provo. That's where he's from. He actually just went home today... He's
done with his mission. Weird.

That's really weird to think about Spencer being married. Tell him congrats for me!

How are Colin and Tanner doing? I didn't get a report on them.

I got the package just in time! Thank you! I really enjoy the socks
and ties. I sure do love ties... The cookies were amazing as usual as
well. I don't know what my new address is yet, so stay tuned for that.
Just send all things to the mission office, seeing as I'm only like 15
minutes from it. Boy, that's nice. No more hour long drives to go to
Zone Conferences! I could use some new shirts... mine have lasted
forever, I'm really surprised. But, they are getting gross and they're
ripping... but stay tuned on that, I want to try and go the rest of my
mission without new shirts.

I don't really have all that much to say, I've only been in Santa Rosa
for a few hours now. I will have more to report on next week after I
get a little bit better acquanted with the area. I love you both very
much! Thank you for all that you do. I will talk to you next week!

Love,
Elder Edwards

P.S. President Bell is an incredible man. I'm happy you were able to
talk with him. He is one of the biggest inspirations for me, him and
President Bunker are up there... Pres. Bell's service in the church
will not end at just the Stake level.

OH! Also, I really really hurt my ankle again this week. There are
pictures on my camera, which I plan on sending sometime soon... I got
pictures printed, so now I just need to send the card. It was bad...
It was gross... But, I think that just made the need for surgery on my
ankle that much more necessary. I'm sick of hurting it!

Un Otra Semana (Another Week)

Mis Padres,

So, in an attempt to answer you concerns about me, well... I wish I had a definite answer for you haha. The cause for my...whatever you want to call it... may be because of a few things. One, President Bunker leaving and the changes that are taking place with President Alba. Two, having investigators constantly say and promise us that they'll be at church, and then when Sunday rolls around, no one is there. That is extremely disappointing. Three, yes Elder Buchan and I get along GREAT, but... that is also our downfall. I feel that I haven't been the missionary that I need to be. But, things are looking up in that arena. So, it may be one of those things, or it may be all of them combined. I don't know. Like I said, I don't have a definitive answer for you, but that's what's been going on lately.

Anyway, our week has been pretty good actually. We taught more lessons this week to investigators, rather than LA's or RC's. I think I told you that we're also covering the Solano Ward, so that puts a bit more onto our plate. Yesterday, Elder Buchan and I split up for church, I went to Solano Ward and he stayed in 1st Ward. It was an interesting experience. We were supposed to have investigators at both wards, but the ones that promised us would be there... weren't. BUT! We did have 2 investigators show up to 1st Ward that we're teaching and they're progressing! I'm really excited for them. Yes, we went to the temple not too long ago, and I have good pictures from it! I keep meaning to send my card, but then I think about how I want to print off pictures from it, and I haven't done that yet. It'll happen eventually!

We had Zone Conference this week as well over in Woodland. It was a really really good one. One of the workshops that the assistants did really hit me hard. He talked about teaching repentance with love. He asked for a volunteer companionship to come up and teach that (role play), I volunteered for us. Then, he gave us the twist... The assistant was going to be someone close to me ...  That changed it so much more! Holy cow... it was a powerful experience.

This is the last week of the transfer. I don't know if I'm going to be transfered or not, we'll see! Of course, you'll find out on Monday or Tuesday.

I love you both. Thank you for your concern! I hope the packages that you send me get here before the transfer, if I get transfered. I hope you both enjoy a great week!

Love,

Elder Edwards

18 Months?

Parents,

Holy cow, has it really been over 18 months since I began my mission? Wow. Luckily, it's hard for me to comprehend the end, because it's still in the middle of summer and I have to get through Fall as well. I'm still fully invested! That reminds me, tell G-ma I'm getting her letters and also express my apologies for not responding... same thing with Shelley. Thank you.

Sounds like ya'll have had a pretty busy week between the pups and yard work. It is crazy here. I wish it was crazy in the sense that we had a ton of 'gators to teach, but that isn't the case yet. There are sister missionaries in the YSA ward in VV, and one of them had to go home for medical reasons, so the other sister got moved out. Now, Elder Buchan and I are covering the YSA Ward as well as 1st Ward. So, things are crazy. We went to the YSA Ward yesterday and it was really interestng. We also ticked off one of our members yesterday. She signed up for dinner, and we were going to dinner at a YSA's house because we were going to teach someone there, and because we've been so busy we forgot to call and cancel. So we called at 4:56 pm to cancel, right before we were supposed to go over, and boy... she was ANGRY. She talked in such a calm but angry voice. She said that if it were ya'll that ya'll would scold us because we were so rude... We should have called for sure, I get that, but holy cow! This is the FIRST time that this has happened since I've been here in VV... she said that she's never signing up to feed missionaries again (which is okay with me because the last time she did it was TERRIBLE). So, that was an interesting story for the week.

Other than that, we're still struggling with some of our investigators. We are struggling to find new investigators as well, but we're trying. There are only 2 weeks in the transfer left, and I don't think I'm going to be here very much longer. The transfer ends on the 30th. So, it'll be a good transfer, to see where I'm going, if I am at all.

Well, I hope ya'll have a great week! I love you both very much, thank you for your support!

Love,

Elder Brennan

President Alba

Moms and Pops,

Well, I'm starting to get used to the new mission president. I actually love him a LOT. He is the complete opposite of President Bunker. Bunker was straight up, fire in his eyes, and would yell and get you all pumped up and ready to run through a wall. President Alba is one of the most compassionate and loving men I have ever met. When I'm around him he makes me want to be more holy. We had our first Zone Leader Council this week with President Alba, and it was incredible. Multiple times during that meeting, the Spirit confirmed to me that President Alba is the man to preside over our mission. He is an incredible person. A few small changes have been made so far, nothing too major, some of which are church-wide. I'm excited to continue to work alongside President Alba.

As for our week, it's been good. We are still struggling at finding new investigators, but we're trying. We can't force people to listen to us, but we sure can invite, and that's what we do. It's good to hear that ya'll have yourselves a good pair of missionaries. It's interesting to see the member side of it, I don't know anything that the members have said about me here, or in my other areas. But, in reality, it doesn't matter, if I were to find out it would only be to gratify my pride. We do have a few super solid potential investigators though that some members are working with, so, hopefully this week we'll start teaching them.

The weather here is slowly heating up now. It's not humid, which helps, but it's still super hot. It's going to be getting into the triple digits here this week and the following weeks as well. Awesome... Luckily, I'm in a van! I don't know if I told ya'll about that, but Elder Buchan and I are the "soccer moms" for our zone. It's awesome. I went on exchanges this week to an area that was a bike... it was hot... I was drained at the end of the day because I sweat so much. Good stuff.

Anyway, nothing else too exciting has happened. At least not that I can recall. We're going to the temple this Wednesday in Sacramento. That is a beautiful temple.

Have a great week! I love you both very much.

 

Love, Elder Brennan

 

Farewell to President Bunker

Mom and Dad,

Today, it is hard for me to not be emotional. I just got done writing my last email to President Bunker. He leaves this week, and we welcome in President Alba. I can't describe the love that I have for President Bunker, that man has changed my life. I couldn't have ever asked for a better mission president to serve with. However great my love and devotion is to and for President Bunker, I look forward to serving alongside with President Alba.

It sounds like you all have a had a very active week! It's been pretty mild here this last week, it's been amazing. It's been in the 70s pretty much all week. But, that is not to last very long, it is supposed to get scorching hot here this week.

It has been another trying week. Not that we didn't teach a lot, but that all in a space of about 2-3 days we've lost a few solid investigators, including one who was going to get baptized shortly, and we have tracted into many anti-mormons. It has been tough, but I know that only after many trials and much testing do we become fully converted (look at conversion under the BD). My testimony has been strengthened talking to those that are quite anti, it has reaffirmed to me how apostasy occurs. They take many things out of context and twist them to sound terrible. Whenever we defended a point that they brought up and gave an adequate response, they would immediately change the subject. Elder Buchan and I have a goal of tracting 1000 doors this transfer, we are at about 100 right now... but we have 5 more weeks to get it done.

Your "tick island" sounds liked a horror story. I hate ticks... Dad, what is your work shop going to be on? I could give you some ideas! But, I guess you're doing it this week. Good luck!

I'm not too sure what else to say, I am filled with many emotions at this moment with President Bunker leaving. I'm sorry that this is somewhat of a "lame" email. No dad, I'm not discouraged about anything. I figured that you would worry because I wasn't my happy cheerful email self haha! But, things are good. Just a bit sad to see someone that has influenced my life to such an incredible extent leave. It is a bit hard. I'm a bit attached as you see! Anyway, I love you both. I hope that you have a very good and hopefully a not too exciting week (when there's excitement, it's usually not good). Give Maxy my loves.

Love,

Elder Edwards

Transfers

Parents,

First off, Happy belated Father's Day! I wrote a blog, you should really check it out!

Hello! As you have noticed, I'm sure, I am a day late in getting this email to you! Well, let me explain, it's transfer week. I didn't get transferred! I didn't think I would. This is now my 13th transfer, crazy to think about. Usually a trainer stays with his greenie for 12 weeks with the training program that we do, but, my boy got ripped from me! He got transferred just across town in the 5th Ward, and I am being made a ZL again... for the 3rd time! I'm pretty excited, but sad to see my boy leave. I liked him. Luckily, I'll be close to him so I can keep an eye on him and his follow-up trainer. This will be my 3rd transfer here in Vacaville as well. My new companion is Elder Courtland Buchan! If that name looks familiar, it should. Elder Buchan lived in the same apartment as me when we were in Clearlake. We lived together for 3 months, so I know him quite well already. I'm excited! We're going to get along really well. He is from Charlotte, NC and he's been out almost 20 months. So we'll be zone leaders together here in the zone. Woo!

No, the new mission president hasn't come in yet... that's not something that I'm gonna skip when I write you guys, it'll come. He gets in July 1st. And I am planning on coming back a few days before Christmas. It's not final yet, I'll have to work that our with President Alba. It trips me out so hard to think that I only have about 3 and 1/2 transfers... Only 1 more area. It truly blows my mind. Dad, I'm not trunky.

We have some solid 'gators right now. Although, this week was pretty off or whatever reason. We had just about all of our appointments fall through or get cancelled, and all the members that were going to come out with us this week fell through as well. It was quite frustrating. Also, at church we were supposed to have about 4 'gators show up, but in classic fashion, no one came. But, that's how it goes sometimes.

I'm glad that you had an exciting week! It gave you both something to write me about haha. I love my new suit, it's awesome. I really hope that I still fit in my Belgian suit. Here's to hopin! I hope you all have a great week! Oh, it's getting really hot. On Saturday it was 105 degrees... fun times. I guess I ahve a bit more to write you... We've done a lot of service this week. We're helping a member do his roof. We spent all morning ripping the shingles off, that was fun! Also, we are still doing community service at the local Goodwill, we're putting in a sprinkler system. I got to spend all Saturday morning gluing pipes together (I was also a part of digging 12-18" trenches) for the water. It was fun! So, I kinda know how to do a sprinkler system! I love you both very much, have a great week!!

Love,

Elder Edwards

Hola!

Parentals!

It's been a good week. It's cooled off a ton, which is awesome! It even managed to rain for a bit as well one day! The work here is going great! We picked up 4 solid new investigators who, I believe, will be baptized within the coming months. I'm really excited. They're all member referrals, it's awesome! I love Vacaville, it's a great place, and things are going good. Elder T is struggling a little bit with his testimony. I think he might have depression, he never smiles and he always looks sad. It must be tough for him. Luckily, I feel great! I'm happy and cheerful pretty much every day, things are going good. I don't really get discouraged anymore, but I do get disappointed. And that's okay! It's sad when your awesome investigators, who promised you that they'd be at church, don't show up....... That's disappointing, but I'm not discouraged by it. It'll all work out one way or another.

I heard from Tanner. He really is just super busy. He's told me that he's just completely swamped with preparing for finals and tests, plus working. But, he is swamped. I haven't heard anything from Colin in a few weeks though.

It's crazy to believe that Stacey just graduated from college... blows my mind! Time flies huh? Does Shelley feel old? I miss Maxy... but I'm glad he was well taken care of while you were gone.

Uhmm... I don't have too much else to report on, this is a bit of a lame email, but it's something right?! As for my ankle... it's doing okay. It gets pretty sore every now and then where it hurts to walk on, but other than that it's all bueno. Speaking of bueno, I went on exchanges this week with my Spanish missionaries and I went into the Spanish area. I spoke a good amount of Spanish! I even bore my testimony in Spanish. I said "yo se que el plan de salvacion es verdad y el libro de mormon es el palabra de Dios." Good stuff, huh! The missionary I was with hardly spoke any Spanish, so it was a very Spanglish day haha. It was fun though. Anyway, enjoy the rest of your week! OH! One of my suits is ruined, the coat is completely ripped (it was a year old) and my gray one is dying here pretty soon too... I'm surprised they lasted this long though! So... I will have to buy at least 1 more to carry me the rest of the way here sometime soon, so if you could give me some cash money, that would be greatly appreciated! :)

I love you both very much!

Love,

Elder Brennan

Well, Hello Again

Parents,

Well... I don't really know waht all to say! I just spoke to you yesterday... Well, the rest of my Sunday was good. We had our deep doctrine meeting and we talked about the Holy Spirit of Promise, and having your calling and elections made sure. It was really interesting. Then, today has been okay too... we just put our laundry in and now we're here. I'm pretty frustrated with our ZLs... they both aren't even 10 months out yet, so they're way young, and they act like it. Although one is 23, it's still frustrating. I don't feel a lot of love and unity within the zone. So, that's annoying. Anyway, I don't have much else to say. It was great to talk with your guys yesterday! I'm glad that dad recognized my voice haha I gave him a little surprise. Have a great week! Love you both!!!

Love,

Elder Edwards

P.S. I expect to get some chocolate soon :)

It's A Boy

Dear Parents,

Well, I'm having a baby boy! Not in the worldly sense, but in the weird mission lingo sense. Yes, Elder Ramiah is leaving me to go to Fairfield, and I will be training a brand new missionary. No I don't know his name, where he's from, or anything. Because, he is still in the MTC today! They all get here tomorrow when I'll pick him up. So, it should be interesting. I've waited forever to train! It'll be sad to see Elder Ramiah go, and of course, I will be a babysitter again for 2 problem child missionaries... Awesome. Funny how I always seem to get those kind of missionaries, huh? Elder Schulte and Hunt got moved to a different district, so my district will consist of me and my greenie, another elder who has only been out like 6 months (if that) and his greenie, and then the 2 problem missionaries that have only been out a year (if that as well). As for me, I'll be hitting my 16 month mark this week, crazy! I only have 5 transfers left... that blows my mind.

So we had Stake Conference for the Vacaville stake this weekend, and Elder Zivic of the Seventy came and presided. He's from Argentina, so his English is pretty hard to understand. After the Saturday night adult session (it's still weird to me that I'm considered an adult...) all the missionaries in our zone got a picture with Elder Zivic and his wife. It was a good meeting. Then, yesterday at the general session, President and Sister Bunker gave incredible testimonies. I still can't believe that they're leaving. This is their last transfer before they go home... I'm going to miss them very much; President Bunker is very dear to me.

As for the work here, it's been picking up a bit. We're teaching a few investigators, a few of them have alcohol problems and we're trying to get them into the LDS Services 12-Step Program. But there is still work to be done. Talking about whether I'd have the heat of Vacaville or the stink of Clearlake, well... you must understand that Clearlake stunk because it was freaking hot there. So, I'd prefer just the heat.

I'm really jealous of your trip to Brussels... Give my love to those that you come into contact with! Especially Anita, she was a neat lady, and I liked her a lot. You could just send Max to be with me for a bit, I'll take him around tracting and contacting with me, it'd be fun! I'm sure he'd love to help, plus being in the hot sun all day would wear him out. I would enjoy it! Although, we can't have pets... so that's a problem...

So what all happened with the NFL Draft??? I assume Andrew Luck from Stanford went straight to the Colts? What else happened? What other big news is there? I heard about the coach of the Saints and something about paying players extra to hurt others and take them out of the game. Yikes...

Have a great trip! As to when I am calling on Monday, I'm not sure... I can't think that far in advance! I imagine that I'd call in the morning around 10 your time or something like that... I don't know though... I still have to talk to President Bunker about all that good stuff. I love you both very much! Have a great week!!

Love,

Elder Brennan

Who the Heck is Methuselah

Moms and Pops,

Like my subject? I actually know who Methuselah is, I studied about him this morning and it was really interesting... A lot of people have no clue who he is, and "who the heck is Methuselah" is what Elder Schulte said when I told him about my study.

So pops, you got yourself a new calling! Say "goodbye" to gospel doctrine! Haha, I'm sure you're more than bitter about it. But are you ready for me to get all "dad-like" on you?! I have learned to be a thinker you know... I just have to be in the right state of mind. Just think, YOU will be the main influence on the youth now. I have talked to countless missionaries who say that their YM Pres was one of their biggest influences. You will have the privilege of changing a young man's life for the REST of his life. Think about that... And, just like you would tell me in this situation, it is what you make of it. If you have the mindset to make a difference, then you will make a difference. But if you grumble and moan, then it's just going to be a drudgery. I know that you'll choose the former! You're awesome!

You guys are going to Brussels! You lucky dogs!!! I wanna go back and visit!!! Dang... that really puts a hamper on the whole Mother's Day thing though... Looks like you won't be getting a call from me because that's too late for me to call, I have meetings! I'll just talk to you face to face when I get home!! ............. Just kidding! I'll probably just ask President if I can call you on Monday. In fact, that's what I'll do. So, I will call you on the Monday after Mother's Day, that makes things easier. I just have to remember to call now... But, we'll see.

By the way, mom, if I was in your ward, I'd follow your hand when you lead! That reminds me! Church... holy cow... We had Fast and Testimony meeting yesterday because this coming week is Stake Conference here. This lady that was VISITING was the 2nd person to get up to bear her testimony, when she started it was about 11:27 am.... she ended, literally, at 12:01. Everyone was so frustrated haha. The Bishop never did anything. About 10 minutes in to her rambling about her life about how she used to live in Vacaville 40 years ago and she was sick, I got up to "go to the bathroom." I put that in the "s because it was an excuse to not listen to her. I came back 5 minutes later, and she was STILL up there!!! Really woman?! I was lookin around at the ward, and I caught a few peoples eyes; one member just shook her head and put it down, another acted like he was putting a gun to his head, another just laughed, it was funny! Finally at about 11:50ish some of the sisters got up and went and sat on the stand in hopes that she'd wrap things up... but, she didn't. You want to know why? Because she had flippin NOTES! Seriously? It was as if she wrote her entire life autobiography and took it up to read to everyone. Her actual testimony of saying that "I know..." took not even 30 seconds at the end of her sermon. It was miserable... Throughout church, people were makin jokes about it. In Gospel Principles, someone raised to say something and the teacher said "Yes, but don't take 29 minutes!" For once, I'm actually glad that no investigators came to church... that would have been a hard one to explain! So, an interesting day at church.

At this point in my mission/life, I feel happier than ever! Not a lot has happened with the work this week.

Anyway, that's about it for me. I love you both very much and I hope that you are enjoying your pool!!! The pools here are starting to open up... it's torture on a hot day to see people jumping into nice cool pools! Urghh! Oh! How could I forget? I got to play with a German Shepherd this week! It was a family that I saw on exchanges in another ward, and they had a 16 month old German Shepherd! He resembled Max SO much!!! He was just a goof ball that liked to tug and box. Man, that was rough for me, I miss my puppy! I need a wallet-sized picture of him because I always tell people about him, and I need to show pictures! That also reminds me, we went to the temple this week! The Sacramento temple is BEAUTIFUL! I loved it! It's pretty small, the session we did was PACKED. They had to bring in extra chairs. We didn't stop at the Distribution Center... so, that leaves the task to you!

Anyway, so that really is about it for me. I love you both oh so much! Thank you for all your encouragement. And, I suppose I'll be talking to you in a few weeks? Crazy! This will probably be the last time that I talk to you before I actually SEE you! Weird, huh? Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Brennan

Hot!

Moms and Pops!

Sounds like you have all had a wonderful week! Well, for me, it's been an interesting week. I've realized that I'm still not fully adjusted to a normal area. It gets me quite frustrated. We have a hard time finding new investigators becuase everyone is so dang religious! It's a really religious town, and there are churces on about every corner. It's also been freaking hot!!! It's been 90+ at least 2 days this week... it was miserable. I'm so happy that I'm not a bike missionary right now haha, but I will be biking this week because I'll be going on an exchange in a bike area.

I've been a bit discouraged this week as well a few times... We've dropped about 3 or 4 of our investigators because they won't answer the door when we know that they're home, that gets really frustrating. Not only that, but just people can be really rude. So, that's been a struggle throughout this week. I've been trying to stay positive and upbeat about it though!

Where did that random hockey update come from? Since when did you watch hockey? Last time I watched a game was for the olympics when we lost against Canadia... Lame. Speaking of, I'm going to miss the Summer Olympics this year... boo!! Oh well... Only 2 MORE years until the winter games. I hope the Cards keep it up... it'd be cool if they could get to the playoffs again. We'll see. We lost Pujols right? Where did he go?

Well, I really don't know what all else to talk about. President Bunker is on his way out... yikes! That's a scary thought. I truly love that man, it's going to be hard to watch him go home. I'm pretty nervous about the new president after being with President Bunker for a year and a half... I have an interview with him on Wednesday, he's going around and interviewing all the missionaries before he leaves. Everyone wants him to do a departing interview with them, so I imagine this will be kind of like that.

I hope ya'll have a great week! Thank you for your letters and your encouragement. My new address is:                  830 El Camino Ave. Apt D1

                      Vacaville, CA 95688

 I love you both so much! Have a wonderful week!!

Love,

Elder Brennan

Hello

Mis Padres,

Well hello there! It sounds like you guys have had a sufficiently boring week haha.Too bad for the Cardinals, oh well. So, mom, you wanna talk about spending a day being soaked and wet? Try serving a mission... I can't count on my fingers or toes how many days I've spent just drenched... Lately, it's been pretty nice here! It's rained pretty good this week, I got wet pretty good. Today is a beautiful day! When it's nice here, it's nice. I'm not looking forward to spending a summer here though, it gets into the 110s in the summer... I thought Fairfield was bad, well, it's about 10 degrees hotter here than in Fairfield.

This week has been good! We've spent a TON of time doing service for others. This old couple in our ward had an emergency with one of their dogs, so we went over and cleaned up their yard and whatnot because they've been swamped and have neglected it. That was fun! We also helped someone move this week. Our whole zone is so close together that it's really easy to get all 14 of us to help someone move, and that's what we did. Unfortunately, this family wasn't organized... They had boxes all over the house, and furniture that hadn't been taken care of, so that was all up to us. Luckily, we have 2 Samoan's in the zone, and they are buff... They're big boys. Amidst all of the service that we did this week, Elder Ramiah and I still managed to teach 21 lessons! That's pretty dang good. We've had members out with us almost every day of the week, all of our lessons except 5 were with members (that's a huge deal in missionary work by-the-by). It was a good week. We didn't have anyone at church though... We picked up 2 new investigators on Saturday that said they'd be there, but we called them Sunday morning to remind them and they said they're going to sleep in............. Really? Not only is chucrh at 11:00, but they don't have jobs!!! They can sleep in any gosh dang day of the week if they want to! Ughh... that's frustrating. But, that's the life of a missionary.

I don't really have too much else to report on... It blows my mind everytime I think about how long I've been out (15 months). Whenever I talk to Elder Schulte, he's only 2 transfers ahead of me, and he is about to hit his 18 month mark in 4 days! Holy cow!! That's hard to believe. Time flies by so fast. Well, not much else to say or report on. I hope ya'll have a great week!!! I love you both very much!

Love,

Elder Brennan

Woo!

Moms and Pops,

 

It's great to hear from ya'll! Well, while mom was in Florida on the beach, and while dad was complaining that he wasn't on the beach (haha just kidding!) I was out slaving in the hot sun all week with no beach!! But, that's okay, I'd rather be here than on the beach. It has been a great week! I love the heck out of Elder Ramiah!!! He is such a goofy kid! Sri Lankan's are fun. He has a Indian accent and sometimes people don't understand him. It's interesting to be on this side of people not understanding one another. He wants to have an "American accent" because he was taught English by British people. So, he says things like a Brit with an Indian accent. So, I'm trying to help him talk like a redneck American! We moved out of our old apartment this week, and we're in our new one. I like it, it's just a generic little apartment. I don't know the address of it. But mom, you don't need to send me cleats, I bought some today for $20 at a thrift store, thanks though! The weather here has been awesome! It's been in the upper 70s and lower 80s and sunny all week. I had to break out my short sleeve shirts again. We were also given a car, so that makes me happy too!

This is a very rich area... lots of doctors, dentists, and lawyers. The houses here are massive... So, I'm back to that rich person pride again. I'm still trying to adjust to it a bit, I'm getting there. I'm not used to tracting not being effective, up north it worked like a charm! The ward here is massive too, well, it may have been because it was Easter Sunday... The chapel was packed! It was weird... it was a fast and testimony Sunday because they didn't do it the Sunday before conference. They did that in Fortuna for my last Sunday there so, 2 out of the past 3 weeks have been Fast Sundays for me! I bore my testimony and my voice is really deep and raspy because I've had a frog in my throat the past 3-4 days. But, it was good!

I'm jealous that you got to go campin dad!!! I wanna go camping when I get home. There is a misisonary in my district, Elder Schulte (he was my ZL in Eureka right before i became the ZL) and he is a carbon copy of John Plisga except that he's a member! He's also from Missouri!!! He's from Jefferson City, he's going home in October. We've already discussed our plans for post-mission which includes us going camping (you can come Dad! Mom, you can too if you want, but I know you hate camping), going to the temple, and just hanging out! I offered a room at our hotel for him to stay/live in. I did the same with Elder Blake... Tell me if you want me to stop renting out rooms in our house :) But, I love that kid! Anyways, I was surprised to see that Max was a good boy and didn't run away!!! He is smart when he wants to be! I bet it was because he was in a place he didn't know, so he stayed close. Too bad for the fishing... haha Did you catch anything with him helping you?

Anyway, that was my week! I hope you all have a great week this week.

Love you both so much! Have you seen the Bible Videos on lds.org? If not, you should check them out! They're great. Much love!

Love,

Elder Brennan