3rd transfer

Okay so everyone sounded amazing as usual. i can't believe how good everything seems to be going back home every week! I honestly can't believe that victoria neeleman is getting married, wacky! Um i also was glad to hear about everyone's holiday plans. I'm gonna miss going to grandma and grandpas but we already have some fun plans for thanksgiving and we are excited to play in the turey bowl and stuff like that and watch a movie or a sporting event. We get a full P-day so that will be exciting! I know this transfer is going to go super quick though man, i feel like time just flies like p-day's keep coming faster and faster. I feel like i don't know enough ahhH!!!
As of today though, I AM NOT A GREENIE!!!! at the start of the third transfer, i am no longer a greenie. i know it's just a dumb title but it still feels good ha! At the same time, i feel like i should know more since i'm not the new guy anymore ya know? I wanna really be effective but i am still "getting there" with the spanish and just feel like there is a ton of stuff i could be better on. I know i've grown a ton though and learned so much. It's just easier to remember all the things that are nerve racking and scary than all the things that have gone really well.
This past week was pretty good. It was a little slower than others but nonetheless we had some good things happen, and i have been trying to have a heart of gratitude all the time and have notived little miracles all throughout the week. We had the primary program this sunday where they sing and talk about Christ and the church. It was really cute and we combined the branch and english ward so there was a TON of people there. A little miracle happend too. Before church started a middle aged lady walks in with a guy in a wheel chair. It turns out that she was a member when she was a little girl and stopped going when her parents divorced at age 13. She was taking care of this wheel chair man, walter, and he asked her if she would take him to church. She said yes and we met there. We talked a ton and then asked her if we could come by sometime. She told us her husband wasn't a member and said we could come teach him the lessons. MIRACLE!

On saturday, we went to go see a referral, and the guy was super nice. he was out in the yard when we talked to him and was super funny and just down to talk. So we shared a little message with him and he said we should come back on monday at 6 so we will see him tonight. We were so excited that he was so open and welcome to us. But the miracle came after that. We got in the car to leave and then puertas sees someone in their garage. He says go talk to em bro and i was kind of nervous cause i still do. He was like just go man, so i was like well aren't you coming with me? He says oh yeah, and then we get out of the car and go talk to these two spanish ladies in their garage. We talked for like 20 minutes and they were like oh yes we've been looking for a church to go to! And they even gave us some pasteles that took them 8 hours to make 40 of them, so when they gave each of us one, we felt pretty special. They were so elect and just it's cool how Heavenly Father works. Even though it went wel with the referral, i think we were there to find those two ladies.

We are teaching a recent converts son, that just moved here from mexico which is awesome, and we had a thanskgiving dinner party on friday f the branch and we had over a hundred people show up! i couldn't believe how many people were there, it was incredible. such a blessing.

Last tuesday we went up to albany to help the elders do some finding and i got to go with elder alderman. We were in corvalis and albany all day knocking doors. It actually went really well and out of our 3 companionships, i think me and alderman found the most return appointments. Not that it was us that made that happen, but it was still kind of cool to find a lot of spanish people even as the young guys ya know? It was really cool and we were both surprised at the help we receieved with our spanish an djust being guided to the right areas where people have been prepared to hear the gospel. It was like every 3rd door we knocked, they were willing to meet with us again, it was awesome. I had that happen in a smaller scale again on friday. I went tracting with an english elder while puertas was in a meeting. We went spanish tracting though and so i had to do all the talking. It went well though and we got 3 return appointments. Although only one of them has turned out to be legit, it was stlil cool to have to take the lead. I really am nervous about my spanish still, like i can teach a lesson by myself even in spanish, but i just have trouble understanding people still and it's like when i'm with puertas, people will talk more just beacuse he is fluent. So when we are together which is almost all the time, then it's hard for me to get everything they are saying espeially when it's a mix of conversational spanish and gospel spanish. I don't know though, i will get it eventually, and i really have noticed how much i've improved too so i do feel good. And i went tracting with another spanish elder who is white that spk=oke it pretty good, so it was good to see a non-spanish speaker that knew spanish fluently, if that makes sense? Speaking of tracting, we went white tracting last night or english tracting. It was freezing cold but we were in good spirits. We knocked on one lady's house and she was so annoying haha! it wasn't anything crazy but she opens the door and says oh it's you, we don't want any of your religion thankyou, and then she closes the door, locks it, and turns off the lights hah. I know it's not even that bad but puertas and i just laughed as we walked away at the odd reactions people have to us. We ended up teaching a lesson with a member family that night about referrals and stuff and how they can do missionary work better. It was cool to see the older son too, who is inactive bear his testimony to us. We asked them about who they knew that they could help out and he was like well, me. He was like i have prayed about the church and know for a fact without a doubt that it's true, i jsut need to stop being an idiot and get my act together and start going back to church. And then puertas is like yeah and since you were very frank with us, i will be frank with you, you need to stop being an idiot and come back to chruch ahhahaha! We all started cracking up and they are a way funny family so it wasn't awkward or anything but it was actually very spiritual and cool to hear him bear his testimony. He's a wayy cool kid too and he's like 21 i think so he could even go on a mission.

Let's see other miracles, We were in independence which is like 15-20 minutes away inviting people to our thanksgiving party and we found a guy at home named Rigo. He is hard to catch at home but we did and since he was there he told us to come in. We shared a little something with him and then challenged him to be baptized ha! He said yes and now he has a date for the 11th of december. It was just out of no where but we did it and he said yes! So it was a lot of good stuff happening this week. Our teaching pool right now has gone down though and i think this week we are gonna do some bi g finding efforts. It is getting really cold over here and the rain makes it rough. It's like high 30's but raining so it just whips in you face ugh! But it's kind of fun when we are out in the streets and there is not a soul around haah!

Anyway, i wanted to ask you guys to do something as a family. And this goes for katie and jimmy, and daniel and emily too, but we have been doing something really cool called the power lesson. We do it to help people receive their own revelation as to who they can help at this time, receive the gospel. During a family home evening or something, have mom or dad share a little spiritual message just to bring the spirit, and then kneel down together and have dad, daniel, jimmy, say the prayer. And ask specifically for someone that each of you know, that you could invite to do something gospel related. Make sure you ask a direct question to heavenly father so he can give you a direct answer. After you say this prayer together stay kneeling and silent for like 60 seconds, and jsut pay attention to any face, name, or person that comes to mind. Then, you get to role play it. you don't need to do everyone, and if you don't think of a person that's fine, but the point is that each member of the family has the opportunity to receive personal revelation in that minute. That is something i really didn't understand before my mission. Once you have some people in mind, ROLE PLAY. have someone play the part of the friend, and someone be themselves, and then invite them to do something. It can be come to church, come toa nativity thing, or a church activity or read the book of mormon or be baptized for that matter haha. But just set up a pretend scenario and act it out, ssee what it might be like. Then when that is done, you can switch people and try it with someone else. Then the last part, is to actually do it!!! yay i know it's k ind of nerrve racking but you guys are the best missinoaries. Members are the full time finders :)

Anyway taht's just my little test for you guys. I have to go now though. I love you all so much! I know this church is the true church and the same church that jesus christ set up when he was on the earth. I am so thankful for all o fyou, and for the savior jesus christ and his sacrifice for each one of us. I love you so much and i love this work and htis gospel
love elder Edwards