January 23, 2012

FAMILY! :)

I can't believe Isaac goes into the MTC in 2 days!!!  That is so exciting!! :)  I just wrote Lauren about it and every letter we write to each other we always mention how exciting it is that 4 of the family will be serving at the same time: Jake, Lauren, Isaac, Me.  So awesome!

Food Report:

(I won't have to talk about Monday in this e-mail since I talked about it in my e-mail last week because I e-mailed last Tuesday...So that is where we will be picking up from).

Tuesday: Chile Relleno

Wednesday: Chicken Fajitas

Thursday: Italian Spiced Chicken

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: Pizza

Sunday: Meatloaf

Investigator Report:

...Well...7 of our lessons fell through this week.  We only taught 6 lessons.  It's been a rough/challenging week.  Good thing Elder P and I know how to have fun while we go about our day...It makes it so much more exciting.

RJ: 9 year old boy.  Taught Lessson 1.  Went great.  His family said they would all come to church...None of them showed up.  We are teaching him Lesson 2 tonight.

Cecy: Lesson fell through.  She said she would come to church.  She didn't.  Haven't met her yet.

Sherryl: Lesson fell through.  Haven't met her yet.

Raul: Lesson fell through.  Haven't met him yet.

Weekly Summary:

Tuesday: After e-mailing we went out with our ward mission leader to do dinner and visits to less-active members.  We visited a family and it went well.

Wednesday: A lot of tracting and making visits.

Thursday: A lot of tracting and visits.  We taught Lesson 3 to Erika (less active).  It went really well.  She is great.

Friday: A lot of tracting.  Taught RJ and his family Lesson 1.  It went really well and the Spirit could be felt by all.  The Mom was so excited to be learning.  She said that even though she learned this all growing up, she was actually able to "soak it in" this time.

Saturday: Guess!!!  Yep...Tracting and visits.  None of our visits to Part-Member Families have been interested in having us come back. Until...

Sunday: Our last Part-Member Family visit for the night was very welcoming.  They have an unbaptized 9 year old daughter, and we set a time to go back and start teaching her on Wednesday.  Hopefully that will go well!  Church was good...The bishop called me up and asked me to bear my testimony.  It was a good experience.  President and Sister Black came into the building.  It was good to say "Hi" to them and see them.

I feel like this e-mail sounds really depressing.  It was still a good-ish week.  Hopefully we will see more progress in the area this week.  Another depressing story: My bike light popped off when I hit a bump turning on Tropicana.  I watched the cars zoom by barely missing my light.  Just as the light turned red...I watched a van roll over my bike light...SMASH!  I fell to the ground yelling, "NOOO!!!!!" While my companion just laughed himself to tears.  Glory.

Spiritual Thought:

We tracted into a lady from Japan this last week.  She was so kind and friendly.  We spoke with her for quite a while and she had really great questions.  She grew up in the Buddist faith and still practices.  We had the opportunity to testify to her of the Restoration, Joseph Smith, The Book of Mormon, Prophets, etc.  She was so receptive.  While we were talking she asked, "Why did no one tell me about Jesus Christ growing up?"  This made me so sad.  I could see that her soul yearned to learn more about her Savior, but did not know how to follow through with her feelings.  We invited her to learn more and hopefully we will be able to start teaching her.  This reminds me of D&C 123:12 where it talks about how people "are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it."  It is my prayer and hope that I can continue in this great work and that the Lord will use me as an instrument in his hands to help bring people to a knowledge of His eternal gospel of happiness even unto salvation.  Every member a missionary!

Love,

Elder Sean Edwards

January 9, 2012

FAMILY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!!!  One year older and wiser, too...Happy Birthday...To You!

Transfers:

Transfers are today and tomorrow.  Transfer calls came on Saturday.  Did I get a call?  Will I stay or will I go?  I've been in this area for almost 6 months now... Verdict: I AM LEAVING!  I am so sad to be leaving the members and area I have come to know and love SO MUCH, but excited for my new adventure that lies ahead.  I will be serving in the Redrock Zone in the Spring Valley Ward with Elder P.  Elder P came out with the same group Elder S and Elder M were in, so I will be "polishing" him.  The Spring Valley Ward is one of the wards that Elder T served in, so that is exciting.  But that's not all...I got a call from President Black on Thursday.  He said that I have a new leadership assignment from the Lord and him.  So, I will be serving as District Leader as well.  I don't even know what to do.

BAPTISM:

Ahhhh!!!  The baptism of the H girls, E, B, A, and E, was incredible.  The service went wonderfully.  The room was PACKED.  It was one of, if not the, greatest moment of my mission to stand in the baptismal font and watch the girls walk into the water to make those beautiful, eternal covenants with their Father in Heaven.  Their smiles are something I will never forget.  I had the wonderful opportunity to baptize all four of them.  I think it is so cool that on the EXACT day of my 6 month mark, I got to baptize.  I invited President and Sister Black to the baptism as well.  They both came and really enjoyed the baptism.  After the baptism, President Black said to Elder M and I, "I have heard many compliments about you both."  That made me so happy to hear.  It is nice to know that our hard work isn't going unnoticed.  That's always just a good feeling.  On Sunday, I got to confirm E.  Elder M confirmed B.  Shaun M, who is preparing to leave for his mission in March, confirmed El.  And, A's primary teacher confirmed her.  The whole experience was all around perfect.  I think their dad could really feel the spirit as well.  He was so impressed that so many people came to his girls' baptism to support.  I am so happy! :)

Investigator Update:

R: Didn't get to meet with him this last week.  We were supposed to, but when we showed up, he wasn't home.

B: Didn't get to meet with him this last week.  We were supposed to, but an hour before we were supposed to meet with him, his wife texted and said they had gotten into an argument and wouldn't be able to meet.

J: Met with him this last week.  We had finished all the necessary Preach My Gospel lessons required for baptism, so we were thinking, "What next?"  We decided, through inspiration that came from the training program, that we would read The Book of Mormon WITH him.  We decided we would just pick up wherever it was that Jacob left off.  I anticipated him to be around 1 Nephi where Nephi and his family are sailing to the promised land.  Nope.  He was all the way in 2 Nephi already.  And he was in 2 Nephi 15, which is an Isaiah chapter.  I thought to myself, "Oh, great!" (sarcastically).  But, as we read, we got a GREAT discussion going, the spirit was felt, and it was really awesome!  Jacob at the end of the lesson said, "Thank you so much for coming over.  Today was a particularly rough day for me and that was exactly what I needed."  How great!

Food Report:

Monday: Tilapia Fish Tacos

Tuesday: Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Wednesday: Chicken Enchiladas

Thursday: Fried Chicken

Friday: Smoked Ham Sub

Saturday: Tilapia Fish Tacos

Sunday: Grilled Steak

Weekly Summary:

Monday: P-Day.  Missionary work in the evening.  We had to finish our Weekly Planning since we didn't get around to it the week before because of Splits with the District Leader.

Tuesday: District Meeting was...interesting.  We taught A a lesson on Missionary Work and more specifically a story of two great missionaries in the Book of Mormon, Alma and Amulek.  She had texted us the night before saying, "I want to go on a mission."  Soooo awesome!  We went to the church building in the evening to do a baptism run-through with the Henderson girls so we could get them fitting in their clothes, show them where everything is, practice the baptismal hold, and just making them comfortable so there were no "surprises" at the actual baptism.

Wednesday: Taught R a lesson on the Gifts of the Spirit.  Tracted a neighborhood.  The weather has been SO beautiful, so tracting was excellent.  Dinner with the Es!  I LOVE THEM!  One of my favorite families EVER!  Their 17 year old daughter M invited and wanted me to go with her to Senior Prom at LVA (Las Vegas Academy - Performing Arts School).  Next time you see Liz, tell her that I was invited to LVA's senior prom.

Thursday: We went to go visit a Less Active, Lisa, that Elder S and I had met while tracting.  Her and I really got along the first time we met, and so we chatted with her and had a good time.  I said, "You better come to church this Sunday because it will probably be my last Sunday in the ward."  And guess what!  SHE CAME!!!  So awesome!  Had dinner with L and her family.  I am going to miss them!!!!!!  Lesson with J and D.

Friday: BAPTISM DAY!  (See above).  After the baptism, we got a ride to a member's home in some other elders' area.  We met up there with Elders N, T, M, and C and Sisters L, W, and F.   It was a lot of fun and we had a great time!

Saturday: Taught my last lesson to J about Patriarchal Blessings.  We hung out for lunch and went to McDonalds.  I got a head start on my packing.  Dinner with the As...I am going to miss my dinners with them SOOO much!  I love them!

Sunday: Church was great.  It was so sad to say "Good Bye" to everyone.  I am so happy for this area and the friendships I have been able to form here.  I love Waterfall and Aliante wards.  I bore my testimony in both wards.  J bore his testimony which was really cool.  His whole testimony was about how blessed he is.  Isn't that awesome?  Knowing what he has gone through, I think many people would find it hard to "count their many blessings", but he does it so effortlessly.  That is amazing to me.  We had dinner with the N.  I. LOVE. THEM!!!!  Totally one of my favorite families ever.  They are so great.  I hope they have the desire soon to come back to church.  We played this game called "Headbands".  GET IT!  It's so fun, and then we can play when I come back.

Small World:

1) So, the member's home who we went to the other night to do the tie burning was showing me pictures of her son that is on a mission.  His name tag read, "Elder R".  I said, "I'm related to Rs," (L's husband, T).  It turns out she was married to a R and there is relation there.  Also, she is Karen J who went to high school with an was in the same grade as Cheryl.  She also knows Lyndee, Naomi, Quincy, Jeff, Marylynn, etc.  Small world!

2) I bore my testimony on Sunday and talked about Jace.  I didn't mention his name, but afterwards someone came up to me saying, "Did your cousin have a companion named Elder Davis?"  I said, "That is my cousin!"  It turns out the lady is a teacher in Logandale and knows Donna.

Spiritual Thought:

I was reading in 2 Nephi 9 this last week.  I came across verse 40 that reads, "O, my beloved brethren, give ear to my words. Remember the greatness of the Holy One of Israel. Do not say that I have spoken hard things against you; for if ye do, ye will revile against the truth; for I have spoken the words of your Maker. I know that the words of truth are hard against all uncleanness; but the righteous fear them not, for they love the truth and are not shaken."  The last part is so powerful.  I know that if we learn to love the truth, we will be unshaken in our testimonies.  I love The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, because I know it is true.  I love my Heavenly Father, because I know He is truly my Father.  I love Jesus Christ, because I know He is truly my Savior.  I love the Atonement, because I know it is truly the way for me to return to live back with my Father in Heaven.  I love the Plan of Salvation, because I know it is truly God's plan of happiness for me.  I love the Priesthood, because I know it is truly God's power given to man for the salvation of His children.  I love the principles of Faith, Repentance, Baptism, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End, because I know it is truly the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I love temples, because I know they are truly the House of the Lord where families are made eternal.  I love the Book of Mormon, because I know it is true.  I love my church leaders, including President Thomas S. Monson, because I know they are truly called.  I know that if we can learn to LOVE THE TRUTH, we will be firm, steadfast, and immovable in our faith and testimony and our love of truth will push us towards eternal joy.

Well, I am sure I have more to report, but that is all I can think of for now!

Thank you so much for all the love and support!  I love you all SOOOOOOO MUCH!!!  Keep sending mail.  I love it.  Tell everyone I said, "Hi"!

Love,

Elder Sean Edwards

  

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January 2, 2012

FAMILY! :)

Ohh...There is so much to cover since I didn't get to e-mail last week.  So, this is an e-mail covering December 19 to January 1.

So much has happened I don't even know where to start.

Food Report:

Monday: Grilled Chicken

Tuesday: Tacos

Wednesday: Navajo Tacos

Thursday: Pizza

Friday: Steak

Saturday: Clam Chowder

Sunday: Fajitas

Monday: Turkey

Tuesday: Cheeseburgers

Wednesday: Pizza

Thursday: Meatball Sliders

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: Tilapia

Sunday: Pho

Investigator Update:

R: BAPTISM!!  Yay!  R's baptism went excellent.  We had a good (not awesome) turn out.  It was so great to watch his brother, C, baptize him.  C was just baptized in August.  Then it was so wonderful to see his step-father, W, confirm him.  W was just baptized in July and just got the Melchizedek Priesthood two weeks ago.  I gave the Talk on the Holy Ghost.  Elder M and I did a presentation of Lesson 1: The Restoration and all went great.

J: We finished teaching him the necessary Preach My Gospel lessons needed before baptism.  He is still waiting on that spiritual confirmation.  I love him.  I think that when he gets that confirmation, he will become a strong member of the Church.  I just think of Brigham Young.  He was not baptized into the Church until around a year of investigating, and he became a prophet.  So, I just need to remind myself, "It's okay that he needs some more time."  I think the direction we will go with him next is reading the Book of Mormon with him.  It is important that he continues doing that.

E, B, A, E: These girls are awesome.  They will be baptized on Friday!  They have asked me to baptize them and I am SOOOOO EXCITED!!!! :)

R: He is good to teach and he asks good questions.  He still doesn't believe in God.  I asked him that if these things were true, what it would mean to him.  He said, "Nothing."  He is very content and complacent with his life as it is now.  Hopefully something will spark with him soon.

B: Another one like R.  We hope something with spark with him soon.  I feel like complacency is a plague...One of Satan's tool to motivate us to be lazy and NOT change.

M: OH!  I LOVE M!  She is 26 and has been SO fun to teach.  We taught her all the missionary discussions in ONE week before she had to up and move to Michigan.  She was so great and we did breakfast with her on Christmas Eve.  When we had to say our good-byes, she started crying because she was so sad we wouldn't be able to see her anymore.  She was so grateful for all that we had done and taught her.  I hope the missionaries in Michigan have made contact with her and are keeping that spirit going.

Weekly Summary:

Mon, Dec. 19: Taught M Lesson 1 at the Ls.  Dad, do you know any Ls?  They have been in Vegas since the beginning of time like we have.  His name is Dan Leavitt.

Tues, Dec. 20: Taught A a Christmas Lesson.  Taught M part of The Plan of Salvation.  I had the opportunity to give her a blessing because she wasn't feeling well.  The Spirit was so strong and moved Melinda to tears.  It was such a great experience.  Taught the Bs a Christmas lesson (Less-Active).

Wed, Dec. 21: Taught R a Christmas Lesson.  Taught M about the rest of The Plan of Salvation.  We asked M before talking about the Spirit World, "What do you think happens after we die?  Does anything happen?"  She said that she had a dream the other night that she died and she was asked to teach other spirits.  WOAH!  How awesome is that!?  We proceeded to tell her that those who have accepted Christ's gospel will be preaching the gospel to those who haven't received it in the Spirit World.  We taught C (Less-Active) and B about The Restoration.  He doesn't believe in God and only believes in Aliens, so it was interesting.  We had a good conversation.  The whole time his wife just looked at him like he is wacky.

Thurs, Dec. 22: Taught R The Restoration.  Taught M part of Lesson 3: The Gospel.  Finished teaching R about The Plan of Salvation and then shared a Christmas Lesson with the Ts.  We stayed with the family as W did a Family Home Evening lesson.  It is so wonderful to see our recent convert so a part of the gospel and the Church.  We all had a great time with his lesson on Gratitude.

Fri, Dec. 23: Taught the H Girls Lesson 3: The Gospel.  Shared a Christmas Lesson with J and D.  We had lunch with our Zone Leaders and Elder Cs (he works in the mission office).  We taught R Lesson 3: The Gospel.  We spent the evening having dinner with and teaching M the rest of Lesson 3: The Gospel and all of Lesson 4: The Commandments.

Sat, Dec. 24: Merry Christmas Eve!  We had two breakfasts.  One with M and the Ls and one with the Ts.  We taught R part of Lesson 4: The Commandments.  We taught J a Christmas Lesson.  We had to be in at 6:00pm.  I went to bed early.  So great.

Sun, Dec. 25: MERRY CHRISTMAS!  Church was great, yadda, yadda...I GOT TO CALL HOME!  Yay!  It was so great to see and talk to you guys over Skype.  How fun!  I love you all so much!  I can't wait until Mother's Day!  Thanks for the gifts!

Mon, Dec. 26: P DAY!  We taught the H Girls part of Lesson 4: The Commandments.  We taught J the Law of Chastity.

Tues, Dec. 27: We visited the Es (Less Active with Recent Convert M.  They gave Uncle A their golden retriever).  They are SO great.  I love this family SO much.  I am like best friends with them.  Anyway, we taught M a lesson on Gratitude and set up a time for us to do dinner with them this week.  They are just the best.  I wish they would come to church.

Wed, Dec. 28: Taught R about the Holy Ghost.  Taught the HKids the rest of Lesson 4: The Commandments.  Taught H (W biological son) part of Lesson 4: The Commandments.  Taught C and B The Plan of Salvation.

Thurs, Dec. 29: Splits Day!  I was with my District Leader, Elder G all day.  I think he is a good guy, but I don't feel a genuine love or concern from him.  I think that is pretty important.  Anyway, it was interesting.  He did the He Girls' Baptismal Interviews.  We taught R the rest of Lesson 4: The Commandments.  The Zone Leaders came and give him the Baptismal Interview.

Fri, Dec. 30: Weekly Planning, mormon.org, and R'S BAPTISM!  So great! :)

Sat, Dec. 31: Happy New Years Eve! Taught F and D about Faith and Enduring To The End and watched Legacy with them.  Love that movie.  Had to be in early.

Sun, Jan 1: HAPPY NEW YEARS! 2012!  I hate only having 5 hours of church.  It is SO not enough to get done all the things that need to get done and talk to all the people that need to be talked to.  I am not a fan.  Anyway, we had Pho so it's all good.  OH, and it was a non-proselyting day so we played a game with the E's called Mexican Train and it was SOOO FUN!!  We should play!

Wow.  That was very condensed version of the last 2 weeks.

Small World Stories:

1) Our dinner appointment on Thursday night was with some members that I had not met before.  Brother and Sister S welcomed us into their home.  As we ate dinner, we started talking about the usual, "What do you do for work?", "How long have you been married?", etc.  I asked the question, "Where are you both originally from?"  Sister S, Megan (different from Megan S, the one I went to EFY with), said that she grew up in Logandale.  Of course my response being, "Oh!  I have family in Logandale!"  She then asked, "Who?"  I told her, "Well, I have a few members of my family living there.  My Grandparents are M and C Edwards..."  She cut me off immediately and exclaimed, "Wait!  Your cousin is Jace!?"  It turns out that Megan S, , is one of Jace's good friends.  They grew up in the same grade together, same ward, same seminary, and even both played on the high school tennis team.  It was so fun to hear her talk about the great memories she had of Jace.  Her mother is Grandma's visiting teacher and Uncle Larry married Megan to her husband.

Spiritual Thought:

I love working, speaking, and interacting with the youth.  There is such a special light about the faithful "youth of the noble birthright," (Hymns, "Carry On").  In speaking to his son Helaman, Alma says, "O, remember, my son, and learn wisdom in thy youth; yea, learn in thy youth to keep the commandments of God," (Alma 37:35).  I love that the Church has such great programs to help keep the youth and their thoughts and actions centered on Jesus Christ.  Youth today probably get seen by more non-members than any other age group because they are in schools, at work, out with friends, etc.  We need to make sure that our youth are a part of their respective program whether it be Personal Progress or Duty To God/Scouting and for all, Seminary.  These programs will help root important gospel principles in them that non-members will notice.  The youth can prove to be one of the greatest missionary efforts that the Church has.  I have enjoyed working with the youth and meeting and teaching their non-member friends and seeing them come into the Church.  Youth are at an age where there are a lot of changes and decisions to be made.  Many converts come into the Church during their teenage years such as my Mother did.  The Church just came out with a newly revised, "For The Strength Of Youth" that can be downloaded at: https://lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/english/pdf/ForTheStrengthOfYouth-eng.pdf?lang=eng .  The concepts discussed in this booklet on Dating, Agency, Language, Work, Entertainment, Media, and more, if taught and followed, will help our youth be continually steadfast and immovable in the gospel.  As they keep the standards set before them, they will be blessed and a continual increase of interest from non-members will occur.  I have a love for the youth.  "As Zion's youth in latter days, [they] stand with valiant heart, with promise shining in [their] eyes, resolved to do [their] part.  Upon a noble past [they] build; the future fills [their] view.  [They] face the challenge of our day and pledge [they] will be true...[They're] here to serve a righteous cause; truth gives [them] strength to dare.  [They'll] love, and learn, and overcome; [They'll] sing a joyful song, as Zion's youth in latter days, triumphant, pure, and strong," (Hymns, "As Zion's Youth In Latter Days").  I know that there is power in the youth of these latter days.  If we are sensitive to the their spiritual needs and bold in our declaration of truth to them, miracles will proceed.

I love you all so much!  Thank you for loving ME!  :)  Tell everyone I said, "Hi!" And that I love them!  I love everyone's mail.  Keep it coming.  Transfer calls are this week.  By the end of this transfer I will have been in my first area almost 6 months, so we will see what happens!!!  I may stay...I may go.  I just...don't...know!!!!

Love,

Elder Sean Edwards