Christmas-week email part two, plus pics

Click here for Christmas-week email part one. 

Adam's first baptism! Elder Amico had been teaching this man, Machel, and baptized him last weekend! 

Hey Dad, 

I really hope you have had a great week and that work and service in the Church has been going well!! I will do my best to answer some of your questions from the emails I only just read today! Also how are you doing, Dad? I loved reading your emails with service at the church and how you stayed until 5 PM yesterday and how great it'll be to have everyone there together for Christmas. :) Thanks a bunch for your feelings and how you understand what it's like to be away from home! It's awesome to know that and also to know the Savior understands too. In fact he understands a lot more than I do. I want to be more obedient sometimes, for example we should be out working right now, but I improved the last couple days with talking to people. My district leader challenged me to make a goal with that and so far it's helping a lot! People are really receptive. 

Will you write me and tell me aallll about Christmas? Okay maybe not everything because I'll cry but a lot? Haha. In sacrament meeting yesterday I missed you guys A TON but it's okay, I know we can get through it. It feels so good to know my family supports me back home, if I were a convert with non-member family I don't know what I would do!!

So Charleroi has been awesome, it's not the cleanest place ever, but the people are very nice. Our ward mission leader, Brother Cockx, is really really nice. He says that in France and America, people have a lot of pride, they think they're the best (which I have to admit is true, America is the best :D). But he said it's not that way with people in Belgium. That's really cool. The chocolate is sooooo GOOD. We ate some really good chocolate here last night when we went caroling (like you did--cool!) and it was amazing. I can totally see lots of new investigators happening if we just talk to more people.

Yes, you found the right apartment! It's actually quite nice, I think. We're spoiled, in our mission, everyone has their own washer and drier! Sorry, maybe I shouldn't have said that. Yes absolutely tell the priests to read scriptures.  I'm so excited for all the five priests going out, that's so cool!!

Is Grandma B doing all right? I feel so bad, is her leg ok?

Sounds like all the Christmas celebrations were magnificent! Boy I don't know how people can stand to live very far from their parents just for work or non-mission reasons, that would be hard for me! Haha. I loved what you said about Zia "respectfully disagreeing" to sleep in the crib, that was super funny. 

Also we have the best DMP (ward mission leader) ever! He is so awesome he takes us out to dinner a lot and he really is excited about the work. Members take great care of us. I've saved all the Christmas presents and candy and a couple of families have already offered to have us over during the holiday season here so we'll be fine. Plus even if nobody has us over we just shopped today so it's okay. :D 

So far, no one has been disrespectful or rude that I can remember here! Haha enjoy that while it lasts, right? 

Sounds like your Christmas sacrament meeting was awesome, ours was really great too! I always love it I think it's the best one in the whole year. It's interesting, when I get outside of myself and try and serve others, the homesickness goes away for a while. It's really cool. It's kind of like that David Archuleta song "Glorious." 

Hey, we just watched a really cool video called "The Old Shoemaker" about how we serve the Savior when we serve others. Love you, Dad! THanks for reading the Book of Mormon! I will get back on that! Even though we are far apart, in my mind will always be the image of us, both as grown men, smiling together! You have taught me so much and given so much for me and my mission too, and all I can give you is grattitude, grattitude and bring souls to Christ. I will do both for you for the next three short days until we can at last talk to face for a couple hours!

May the Lord bless and keep you! Merry, merry Christmas and thank you so much for all your sacrifices so I can be here! I will remember that today. 

Also, would you mind sending some more developed family pictures sometime? Just so I can have them? :) Thanks so much, Dad! If not, it's totally okay. We have so much to be grateful for. Tell the priest's quorum to lose themselves in serving others for Christmas. To learn to talk to others even strangers! Christ is the King of glory. I know God lives and loves us. That is true. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

And thank you SOOO MUCH for your letter at the Christmas conference!!! It was the best!!!

LOOOVEEEE YOU MY FAMILY!!! WE CAN TALK SOON!!!!

Sincerely

Elder Adam Edwards

Click here for Christmas-week email part three, voice recordings. 

The day all these wonderful "greenie" missionaries arrived in Paris from the MTC. 

A building the greenies saw on their first day in Paris. I wonder what building it is? 

Oh good, I wondered about this. Adam gets to be with one of his MTC buddies, Elder Harris, along with the two trainers, Elder Amico and Elder Wells, their trainers. 

Wow, that's an interesting sculpture. I wonder what the meaning is.  

Adam didn't give captions to these pics but I'm guessing this is a picture of his town, Charleroi, Belgium.