April 28, 2015 - Adam's letter. He's staying in his first area, and got to see Waterloo!

Hey Mom and Dad and family! 

Yes I am writing this week! I'm so sorry for the delay, I hope you weren't worried, but yesterday we actually had a big conference with the WHOLE MISSION (even Elder Baldwin has only seen that twice his whole time here, so that's pretty rare, it was pretty great), and we got to receive iPad training from Elder Nielson and elder Kearon from the Seventy. Boy, it was so much fun. They were willing to laugh and joke and have fun with us, so it was really great. 

I loved seeing the pictures and hearing the family stories, thanks for keeping me updated. Holy cow little Brielle is already getting some cheek chub. Yes, cheek chub. :D :D If she's anything like me, or lots of people in our family, that will only accelerate in rapidity as she grows. :D Is she still a type 4 baby, do you think? Boy and Zia just gets cuter and cuter! What a cute little thing! I talk to all my missionary friends about those two, they're so cute! Uncle life rocks! God bless you Malia and AUstin, especially Malia, as you finish up and graduate from school in just three days! You can do it! If anyone can pull it off, it's definitely you! I'll be praying for you so you can get that degree! Woohooo! go Malia! 

Dad--loved your story about the little Scout training. Wow, I thought you were done with that one! They have lots, don't they? It's all right, I'm sure you're taking it like a trooper. I wanted to tell you a little something...

Do you recognize this?

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WE WENT TO WATERLOO!!!!!!

WOOOHOOOHOOHOHOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It was so awesome! We went by train to Braine l'Alleud, and then walked up to the hill, and then learned that you need to pay 7 Euros to go up the stairs to the statue. A couple elders said they'd rather stay, I almost stayed, too, but then I thought, "Man, if Mom and Dad heard I'd come all this way, and then didn't go up to the statue, they'd be like, 'But--you were right there!' " So I did it. :D P Man Dad it was so cool! I had to take just a second and ponder upon what I might do as Napoleon or the British commander. Haha. This is where Napoleon was defeated, I believe, the first time, and it was actually 200 years ago this summer. Pretty sweet timing, huh? 

Mom--I loved getting a letter from you today! Actually, I am staying in Charleroi. Pretty crazy, right?!?! Holy cow, I'll be doing six months here. Me and Elder Harris are starting to believe we're literally inseparable, as we are still together in the same apartment, ever since October!! Haha! So once this transfer is over, we'll have been together a good eight months, close to a third of our missions! Crazy, huh? 

Well, we have to go, I only have a minute, but I want to tell you that the Lord loves you a lot. I'll take a minute and sent a little letter tonight. I know the Lord loves you and is with you. Wish I could tell you more, but I have to go right now. Good luck, Mom, with everythign you're doing! No, Dad, actually I haven't been able to listen to that album yet, we're trying to get some format problems fixed. I'm going to ask Michel tonnight if he can't get some files converted. Don't worry, we'll get it done. Thank s SOO MUCH for sending it to me.K 

Love you! Till next time! 

Loooooooove, 

Elder Edwards

April 20, 2015 - Adam's letter and pics

Last Baptism with Laïsse and Thibeault. Gaeton and his wife, friends of Michel; Laïsse in white; Michel, who was baptized a week-and-a-half after I got into the field; Nicolas, I believe, the son of Gaeton and his wife. 

Same as above, with Carine, Michel's wife, next to me and Nicola, their four-year-old son below her, and Jimmy, Carine's son, behind Carine.

Laisse and I.

Today's Brussels trip. These and the following pictures are the buildings in the Grand Plaza, you can look it up online, it's one of the big tourist attractions in Brussels.

This building is St. Michel's Cathedral, it is, itself, one of the big identifiers of Brussels on little tourist trinkets you can buy.

This is a different building, a museum of some kind.

Brussels again. My buddy Elder Haaaarrrissss! Woohooo buddy! (Apparently his mom and you talk every week, hahaha! She even called me "adam!" Haha! So he was worried I told some kind of crazy stuff about him, haha.)

This was super cool! Three guys that apparently have little structures they rest on inside the robes, but it looks like they're just sitting like that, the weight of two guys on the bottom guy. Pretty cool.

A little church or cathedral in Brussels. I got lost right by here my first trip to Brussels in my first transfer! Haha and the sisters found me, it was funny.

You'll think this is kind of funny, but yes, it's a statue of a naked little boy. Peeing. Yeah. It's called "Mannekin Pis."It's a big national symbol for Belgium, so there are always lots of people around it. So there you go, a little piece of Belgium culture! It's pretty small, less than one foot tall, for sure.

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Hey Mom and Dad! 

I love you both so much! wow it was awesome to hear or read your words! 

Dad thanks so much for the great letter of encouragement you gave me! It was a great light into my day! Thank you too Mom for teh encouragement! It suonds like, from your eyes, I'm doing pretty well! So thanks for the reminder just to keep giong and not be discouraged. Thanks Om for the spiritual experience you shared with me. 

This week, I had a ton of exchanges--one with Elder Earnshaw from Nivelles, one with Elder Vance in Namur (which is a very nice little town), and we also had the opportunity to have three days with a mini-missionary! I'd never heard of that before--It's basically a priest who goes with us to try out a mission for a few days! Pretty cool huh? 

Beyond that, I'm excited to finish up the next little while in Charleroi! I'm thinking I'm going to ask Elder Badlwin if we can try and pick out some really pretty door-to-door spots in our area to go porting for these last couple weeks, so I can absorb the beauty of the town!

We had a great church activity on Friday night, we all made cookies and banana bread, it was pretty sweet! Haha a member brought us home which was good or we woudln't have ever made it! Haha it's hard to be home on time sometime. 

Love you all so much! THanks for your letters and your prayers! I received a letter from Grandma Georgia today and read it on the train to Brussels, which was great. It was a graet pleasuer. Thanks again for the packages. 

we went to church yesterday, like normal. It was a good experience, there were a couple great talks given. One of the members in the ward, Sebastien Wery, is a truly great guy and I feel like a friend with him. He's about 27 or 28, he's been home from his mission for five years, and he has a little boy, Gabby, who is being taught french, Spanish, and english all at the same time! Pretty cool, huh? 

Beyond that, we went to Brussels today for P-Day [today] and it was awesome! We saw lots of cool stuff and had a great time even thoguh it was just for a few hours. Cool stuff!

Also, I've felt help from the Lord with getting more hope and desire up for my mission! Adn when I was on an exchange with Elder Tibbetts, he told me I was doing well, that I'd find my direction. Just keep chargnig, right? I hope to incorporate Dad's good spirit of keepign on charging, and giving it my best, my service, immersing myself in the important things! That way we can have a legacy together, Dad! 

I'll write in my journal tongiht, I promise! 

Till next week! 

Elder Edwards 

LOOOOVEEE YOU ALLLLL

And ZIa and Brielle are REALLTY CUTE

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Thanks Mom! Wow I really loved your voice recordings, and Gabe's little bit, too, and Grace's! Thanks so much for the advice. I'll try and go to some of the pretty areas in Charleroi to go door-to-door, just to enjoy the town. Boy, Elder Earnshaw from my district and I went to this gorgeous little neighborhood, it was awesome, on Tuesday! It was sweet. Okay I'll send you and Dad an email when I read Dad's. Love ya!

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(Note from Becky:  For some reason these pictures didn't stay pictures in Adam's email, but I'm pasting them here anyway to remember the captions. Maybe I can check again later and they will be fixed.)

Me and my bro Elder Smith!

The three amigos at the

frites place (fry restaurant)



Random little castle thing in the middle of Brussels! It looked super old. I wonder if it was a remnant that has been preserved of an old castle or something. But look, there's a modern building right next to it! that's it, it's just a wall. 

April 13, 2015 - Adam's letter - best mail week ever, and cooking more

The wall of our apartment right behind our desks.

We like to have towel fights. So this is when our hands collided and bled. :D Good times! 

Woohoo! comps forever!

Ah, it's a pretty church, huh? also, Mom, I met the branch president of the ward when the church was buitl. Didy ou say you knew somebody who helped build this chapel? I bet he knows him. His name is Brother Lopez. 

MOMMMM!!! DAAAADDD!!!!!

You are absolutely first place this week. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE PACKAGES!!!!!! WOOOOOOOWWWW it was awesome! Thanks for the music! I loooooved Handel's Water Music! Woohoo! Thanks so much! And I think I got one or two letters from you too! At least one, anyway! Boy Aunt Natalie and Grandma Georgia both sent me a letter as well. It was the BEST MAIL WEEK EVER!!! Hey did you like General Conference? Wasn't that the best? 

Thanks so much for telling me about your spiritual experience with Seminary, Mom! I didn't read through all of it yet but I'll go back and look at it again if I have a minute. That's a great lesson to learn, that the Lord is always with us. That corresponds really well with Elder Holland's General Conference talk from the Sunday MOrning session, too. 

Oh cool, I'm glad you guys all got to do a lot of family things together! Wow Dad you are a trooper! It seems like you've been doing lots of Army weekends! Thanks so much for paying for me out here! I'm not perfect but I love it! Haha not to say that there aren't hard days, but I'm starting to love it! 

Hey guess what? This morning, I made Elder Baldwin an omelette. NOrmally, he's the one who tries to bake or make food for me and the other two elders, and he's done more to serve me than I have to serve him, but today, I made him an omelette. I admit, somewhat sheepishly, that part of the reason why I wanted to was to see if I could make it spicy enough to make him cry. He's pretty tough. He puts tobasco sauce on everything. Haha! So I put on some spices like chili powder, pepper, and at the end, I ended up dumping a TON of pepper on the middle of the omelette. It was almost black for part of it, pretty funny. But he said it was good. I just thought I'd tell you, Mom and Dad, because then I made myself one, and it was with ham and cheese, and it was actually good. Yes, I repeat, I cooked something and it was actually pretty tasty! :D So that was a fun moment. 

Yahoo for all the temple work! Way to go everyone! And way to go Grace for all the cool awards she got [at her debate tournament] ! What a performer! Elder Baldwin's twin sister, from what he says about her, reminds me a lot of Grace. She liked choir, she was into drama, things like that. Is Grace excited for her birthday coming up? Boy I bet Zeester was super cute for her birthday! She's a full two years old now! And little Brielle is a cutie in her own right! Haha I've shown pictures of Zia to the other guys in the apartment, Brielle too, and it's been fun. THEY ARE SOOOO CUTE!!!! Haha. 

I wanted just to tell you all a few events and progress reports from this week:

     Events

1. General Conference--loved it! My personal favorite, I think, without reviea of the notes, was President Uchtdorf's about grace and how the Savior can help us. Which was your favorite?
2. District Meeting--Elder Baldwin gave another great talk about writing in our journals. So I've been writing in my journal, even if just a line, for every day. I missed yesterday but I've been doing pretty good. Just need to keep it up! I guess it'll really be a big blessing to me and my posterity, and I feel like it's something I need to do, so I do it! That's a principle for you, too, everyone!
3. Liège Exchange with Elder Powelson--we had a sweet exchange review. I enjoyed being with him, we talked a lot about his football and rugby stories. He's a pretty cool guy. He said I'm doing really well, so that was a nice pat on the back. He told me to be more confident, too, so I've been working on that. :D 
4. Charleroi Exchange with Elder Tibbetts--it was really fun. Elder Tibbetts actually reminded me a little bit of my brotha, Hyrum! Just how he is a pretty detail-oriented guy, but very sweet, with a great heart, very intelligent. I love ya so much, Hyrum! How are you doing, bud? Is there anything I can do for you?
5. Samedi Sports--we didn't get a ton of people, but I made the cookies, and they turned out without any diastrous tastes! So this week was kind of a start-off week for me doing more cooking. Elder Baldwin tries to teach us how to cook when we ask so we can make more than pasta. THat's what most missionaries make. :D
6. Church--was raelly good! We actually started a new exercise program just this last MOnday, and that helped me have more energy, it was easier to stay awake in sacrament meeting! 
7. P-DAY!!!! Not a whole lot to tell about that, but I'm still excited about it :D

     Progress

1. I've been feeling pushed to improve my desire. My desire to serve as a missionary. I think that's one thing the Lord likes to help others feel through me--sometimes, missionaries get really tired out and it can be hard to keep an enthusiasm for the work, just like anything else. So I'm glad that I can improve on being enthusiastic and happy to serve here!
2. Elder Baldwin and I are doing pretty well. When we were waiting for a train from Braine-l'Alleud to go into Charleroi after an exchange, we talked for a while, and I told him that I'd really miss working with him. We actually had an exchange with the Zone Leaders, and I went with Elder Powelson. So we were both in Liège Wednesday after District Meeting until the early afternoon of Thursday. I told Elder POwelson the same thing--I'll probably consider Elder Baldwin one of the best missionaries I've served with on my mission. He's just a great comp. He works hard, he's still pretty laid-back, he's funny and very friendly, it's impossible not to like him. I comment on that because this is probably my last three weeks with him. It's possible we stay together, but after you've been with a companion for two transfers, that's usually it, one of you usually leaves. It's kind of sad. But it's life. People have told me that your first time leaving to a different apartment is realy weird, because it's all you've known, but after that, it gets easier. So, in order of probability, I'll either leave to another area, stay one more transfer with Elder Baldwin, or maybe even Elder Baldwin could leave and I'd get a new companion. Elder Baldwin keeps joking he's going to suggest that I train, for example. If that were to happen, I'd probably stay in Charleroi for another two transfers. That'd be sweet! But I'm happy to be wherever the Lord calls me. 
3. Note: Hymn number 85, How Firm a Foundation, is extremely applicable to missionary work! i'm pretty sure you could apply it to church callings, like your calling as a Seminary teacher, mom! You need to read or sing all seven verses for the full effect. 
4. I experienced a drop again in talking to people this week, it was a bit of a low point with numbers, but I'm not giving up. I keep realizing that the more I put into skills for my mission, the better of a person, worker, husband, and father I'll be. So I guess something to keep in mind is Dad's motto, "You've got today to live and the rest of eternity to think about it," and the scripture in DC: "...The worth of souls is precious in the sight of God."
5. Could you two pray for me that I'll find the faith to find people? :D Thanks! I trust the Lord gives if I'll work hard enough.
6. Seeing things positively: my little bus and metro pass hasn't been working--when you get into a bus or metro, you're supposed to hold it up to a little macfhine and it's supposed to beep, but mine didn't work, so we went and got it fixed today. I realized while I was waiting there that, rather than wait there and make myself angrier and angrier by keeping to myself, it's better when we reach out and talk to people. I didn't raelly reach out, but there were a couple of really sweet dear elderly ladies next to me in the line, and they did. :D Haha you can always trust grandmas to know what to do! They're some of best people around who know how to live life happily and well. So that was nice! 
7. Hey and guess what? Lots of people have been complementing my French, I feel really blessed by the Lord! To me, it's just you pray for the gift of tongues an dyou work and eventually it comes! So what a blessing that is! 

So I lvoe you all tons and hope that this new letter format works! I've been taking too much time with emails so I figured I'd do a bigger one like this to my mom and dad, and then have littler responses to personal emails. Please keep writing! :D I love your emails and letters SOOO much! Thanks everyone! THanks Grandma Georgia and Natalie for your faithful correspondance! God bless you all! Till next week!

Sincerely,

Elder Edwards

P.S. Mom and Dad, is there anything you think I could do to focus more completely on my missionary work? Is there anything in your life that you've gotten better at focusing on, and maybe I could steal one or two of the same ideas? Thanks! 

Love you all tons! Tell Malia, Austin, Zia, and Brielle I love them SOOO MUUUUCHH!!!! Especially for Zia's B-Day and Brielle's cute little face! My goodness! 

April 5, 2015 Adam's letter - Conference was awesome, and life lessons learned

Hey Dad! 

THANK YOU FOR THE PACKAGE!!! :D Thanks so much for the great email! Thanks a lot for passing that message on to Zack. Love you tons! Haha man, that conference was sweet, wasn't it? No, I think I could have done a much better job of being attentive to conference! Haha I always fell asleep! Thanks for teaching us to listen to it, though. Even if I didn't understand how important it was back then, I'm grateful I understand a little better now. it's doing me good, Dad, to live to a higher standard. I've noticed that there's a feeling you can't really get on your mission, one of consecration and light and obedience, you can't realyl get if you aren't willing to keep the rules. I'm grateful to the Lord for every day. 

Thanks for telling me about your goals from the conference! That's a great thing. i like how you just make a few things to do and that way you can be sure to do them. Yes! Please go to the temple and keep up that genealogy work! I would love to hear about that. Holy cow, it's kind of crazy to go this long without being to the temple. Even before I was endowed, I went way more than just once in five or six months, so it's pretty crazy! Love you tons, though, Dad. Thanks for giving me that chance to go with my friends. I don't think I realized the significance of it then but it taught me that important principle of going to the Lord's house often. I think that will bless me for the rest of my life. 

I'm sorry that the email is kindo f short this week, but before I go, I wanted to tell you and Mom about some things I learned this week, actually this morning in personal study is when I wrote them down:

When you start to feel that desire to go on a mission, or to serve the Lord and stop caring so much about yourself, you start to believe and do crazy things.

1. You start to believe that maybe your comfort is less valuable than the people you could talk to, you could maybe save.
2. You start to believe it's worth it to talk to someone on the metro or on the bus if maybe you could save their soul. 
3. You start to thank the Lord every day for your mission and what it's brought you, and this opportunity to serven and you wnoder if maybe it's more important to thank God for every day rather than count down the months.
4. You start to ask God what the next thing is you can do to become a great missionary.
5. I think my life changed today from this personal study! I realized it's better to be grateful for the mission rather than have a count-down attitude for it!

I freely admit my struggles in these areas, but it's good to feel those beliefs and that desire really be here! What a great and merciful God we have! 

What a great talk that was from Elder Uchtdort! I loved many of them, but his sticks out to me after you mentioned it, Dad. He really speaks about the Savior's grace quite a lot. I really liked that. I also read al ittle talk on LDS org about the difference between weakness and sin, I really needed it. And then came Elder Uchtdorf's talk whcih covered the power and the importance of the Atonement of Christ. Wow that was sweet! I testify that's true, that the Savior has the power even to make our lowest weaknesses our strengths! How do you think he makes Nephis and Moronis and Daddionhihs? :D Because He's great and they're humble and they work together, they're yoked together in His work. So there you go. Love you Dad. Thanks for all you do. 

Sorry it's kind of short this week. Do you enjoy the Guard? How has that been to be back in it for awhile? Boy isn't it kind of crazy that it's already April? I believe it that these two years go by fast! 

I hope you have a great day. Let me know if there's anything I can do.

Love

your faithful son, 

elder Edwards

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Hey MOm! thanks for the cool little blog post! It was good to hear your voices from you, Gabe, and Hyrum too! I'm sorry I have to go but I love you all so much! Conference was so great, especially President Uchtdorf's talk! I'll right you a letter tonight and tell you about this week so you can have that instead of an email. Loev you MOm! I'm feeling the Lord's love and guidance every day. I treat my mission more as a blessing than as something to count down now. Love you. Talk to you soon! 

Your loving son, 

Elder Edwards

THANK YOU FOR THE PACKAGE

AND THE ONE TO COME

:D God bless you in all the faithful service you do! 

And if it counts for anything, I love your cooking! 

Note from Mom: Of course that counts for something!!