Weekly Email October 13th 2014

Well, another week down, and not too many more to go. This transfer is just flying by. But we'll get to my work in a bit, let's see how you guys are doing:

Dad: Sorry you are so tired as of late, but hey, I'm sure things are fine. You're just working really hard, and therefore are tired. Being down 60 lbs. is what is keepiong you from having a massive heart attack.

I'm going to be working on the postcards today, and will probably send them off later today or tomorrow, we'll see if I can get everything done, probably will.

As for college, can you look up SLCC stuff? I'm probably just going to go and get my associates first, then worry about the rest later.

Mom: Empty house huh? Feeling some empty nest syndrome? I guess not, but still, it's going to be interesting knowing there will just be us three for a while... not sure what I think of that.

Taking it that Kendra and Marcus are doing okay otherwise? That's good. Still need to write them...and then they need to respond....

In regards to Sam: Something that I have gotten as a missionary was a flashlight. A flashlight comes in really useful at night, especially if you're in an area without a lot of lights. I know mine has come in useful.

Man, Seattle.....

So, what happened this week, well, we taught a fair amount, did a lot of finding, and trying to contact.

We managed to make contact with one of our old investigators this week, Miriam, and we started reading from the Book of Mormon again with her after English Course. She has stated that she would like to start taking the lessons again, and we're going to try and set up an appointment for Thursday before English Course, and reteach the Restoration.

We also managed to teach a lesson to a family, Stefano and Angela, but we're not really sure how much interest is there. We're going to be meeting with them again this week, and going to be seeing just how much interest they acutally have. It's going to be interesting, but I have hope.

We weren't able to meet with LaVigna or Luca this week, but Luca made it to church, but left before we could talk to him. We're going to be trying to see both of them this week, and hopefully we'll have a serata familiare with LaVigna and the Melone Family tonight.

Besdies that, we had a scambio with Anziano Rigby and Anziano Mika, and we found a lot of people to contact and that's our goal for this week: Contact all the people, and fill our schedules with more teaching appointments.

Okay, that's all for me, talk to you next week, and I'll talk about Zone Conference,

NaNa


Here are the pictures that were posted on Sorella Waddoups blog from the zone conference. In several of the pictures you'll see the missionaries including Nathan making beads.  Here is what Sorella Waddoups had to say about that activity:

Lesson from the Beads

"We made bracelets at zone conference.  Yup, you got it.  The elders and the sisters.  It was a neat object lesson.

A few years ago my husband and I visited a Buddhist Monastery in Taiwan.  Many of the monks there wore a simple bracelet made from brown wooden beads.  Each bead represented a blessing.  As you went around the bracelet naming a blessing for each bead, the blessings never stopped because the bracelet created a circle and formed one eternal round.

We put a bag of brightly colored beads on each table.  Each missionary was told to take a handful  of beads and count out 35 beads.  The remaining beads were to be placed back in the bag.  Each missionary was then given a piece of stretchy elastic and instructed to put 25 beads on the elastic and then tie the two ends of elastic together creating a bracelet.  The extra 10 beads were then placed back in the original bag of beads.

After the bracelets were completed, I told the missionaries how each bead on their bracelet represented a blessing in their life.  Those blessings never end.  I counted each of the missionaries as one of my blessings.

We talked about how the bracelets are a lot like serving a mission.  The bracelets may not have exactly the colors or number of beads they wanted, but they had to work with what was available.  It’s just like serving a mission.  Nothing is ever exactly the way you imagined it and you have to work with what you are given.  Making bracelets probably wasn’t what they wanted to do at zone conference, but they were required to do it anyway.  On missions we do a lot of things we don’t really want to do.  The elders certainly didn’t expect to come to zone conference and make a bracelet, but it was still a learning experience.  For some of them, the bracelet didn’t match their outfit, but they either had to wear it or go without.  The bracelets won’t last forever, but neither will serving a mission in Italy.  It only lasts 18 to 24 months.

We discussed different uses for the bracelet.  When they look at the bracelet, they will always be reminded of all the blessings they receive.  The sisters can wear the bracelet and always remember the good things in life.  The elders  can give the bracelet away to their mother, a sister, a girlfriend, or someone in the ward.  Most of the elders want to keep the bracelet and give it to that special someone they will marry some day.  They can tell them they made the bracelet while they were on their missions and they have been saving it for that one special blessing in their life.

When asked what other lessons they had learned from the experience, they came up with things like it was easier for some to make than others.  No two bracelets are exactly alike.  Some missionaries liked their bracelets and others didn’t.  Some wanted to make more, some didn’t.  Depending on the size of the beads, some bracelets were bigger than others.  Some of the bracelets were really colorful.  Some of the missionaries traded beads and produced bracelets that were all one color, or matched the color of their country’s flag.  Some were made of bright colors and others made from more subdued hues.  Some of the missionaries loved the activity and some of them couldn’t see the point in even doing it.  At the end of the conference, one of the senior elders said “If you want your blessings to go on continuously, you have to ‘tie the knot’ and get married.  That pretty much summed it up."

Great idea!

Anziano Eads and 31 other missionaries had to spend the night before the Zone Conference at the Mission Home.  Nathan munching . . . 

Anziano Eads with two others role playing teaching the restoration. 

Anziano Eads just being happy and a ham looking at the camera. Nice to see. 

Anziano Eads hamming it up and being silly in the picture above and below. Yep, he has matured, grown up but his personality remains his. 

Looking a little reflective here signing. 

Singing here with memorized words; benefits of being an "older" Elder in the mission. Truly he is an Anziano which really means "old man."  

The picture above and the two below is of the bead/bracelets making. Looks like Nathan made green and black . . . we will confirm in the email if he responds to that question.  Wonder how he managed that. Unless it is dark blue like navy and that bright green to reflect his favorite NFL team, the Seahawks; should be red and gold . . . . 

Weekly Email October 6th 2014

Hey guys,

I love conference weekend. It's a great chance to learn new things and how to get better, as a missionary and more importantly as a person. I really find plenty of answers. I loved President Uchtdorf's talk in priesthood, and I absolutely loved Elder Scott's talk.

Honestly it seems like you guys are super busy, so I don't want to take a whole lot of time, especially if that's true that you all are busy, so I'll make this fast.

Sounds like home is all good and dandy, and I'm looking forward to hearing more. Mom, can you please let me know what you really liked about conference, I always appreciate your insights. And thank you for the one with Iole, we'll see how that goes.

So, this week was surprisingly busy, but we didn't see a whole lot of fruits right away, minus the new investigator. SO, here we go.

Luca is his name, and he's the boyfriend of one of our members. We met with him this last Thursday, and we talked about the Restoration with him. He had a lot of good questions, and we found answers for all of them in conference. We especially think that Elder Christofferson's talk was heaven sent for him, and we're thinking we might show it to him this week. Overall, he's been well-prepared, and he said he would read the Book of Mormon if he has time.

Besides that, Iole is doing fine. We met with her on Wednesday again and taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It's so nice to see her answering questions and just being an amazing member. She actually has asked for some copies of the Book of Mormon to hand to her friends, and this week, we're going to be seeing if we can get these friend's numbers and meet them sometime soon.

Not much more besides that. Still working on contacting or turning into investigators the people we've contacting, but it's proving to be a little bit harder than we originally thought. But conference has given us some great ideas on how we want to intorduce the Gospel, and that means we're definitely going to be a lot more bold in introducing this message and courageous in doing so.

Anziano Tew's doing great. He's actually been taking charge in planning and the like, and he's doing a great job. His language is coming along great as well, and I'm sure he'll be fluent by his 6th transfer. The goals we've set are definitley helping out with things, so overall, it's been good.

OKay, next week,

NaNa

Week of September 29th 2014

Hey guys, here we go:

No problem Mom, my pleasure. I wouldn't mind going back to Rocca Calascio, but I don't know about any other places yet. I'll let you know on Christmas.

Tell Hayden I say congrats, and I'll send a letter to Dax in a bit. Tell him I really appreciated all he did for me and his time serving us really made a difference! Tell him to leave the calling smiling . . . look at all of us who are serving missions and have been blessed by his service. It just keeps going out, as we serve others, then they serve, then those people serve. Isn't this just awesome how the Gospel works!

I'm really glad things are going good for you guys back home, too bad I can't help Kendra and Marucs out. But I'll write them this week.

As for the basement: I want to move into Kendra's old room, because it's bigger, but I also want to paint it that turtle green again from our other house. Could I do that when I get home?

Sorry, I don't actually know Elder Burton (his mother works at William Penn where my Dad works). He went to Sardegna when I left and went to Foggia. So overall though, that's just how things are going.

So, let's see what's happened this week. Well, we had a family home evening with Lavigna like I said, and we talked about the plan of salvation, and we think it hit home pretty well. Anziano Tew did a great job talking about the life on earth and the three kingdoms. His Italian is coming along great! And his progress as a missionary is doing fantastic. He will be an amazing missionary, growing and touching many lives.

Besides that, we had a scambio with the Zone Leaders, and that was enjoyable. We talked about making goals for companionship unity, and then we went and did some finding. We actually got a decent amount of contacts who we have been trying to contact or have made contact with.

We also met with Iole, and she taught us the Restoration. That was rather enjoyable, seeing that her testimony has grown a great amount. She is doing okay. She's run into some problems with one of the members, but besides that, she's doing okay. We're going to be meeting with her this Wednesday, and sharing the Gospel with her to try and strengthen her. I think we all need to do that, visit each other and strengthen each other by sharing the Gospel with each other. Oh yeah, it's called home and visiting teaching. It lets us touch and build others as the Savior did.

Besides, that, lots of finding, and contacting. We've made some appointments for some members this week, and we're going to be asking for some referrals, that way we can continue to grow our work.  The Lord's definitely been blessing us, and we're going to be seeing more miracles here soon. It's not just faith, it is knowing that the Savior loves his children and if we are among them, miracles occur so He can bless his children through us.  Thus we become just a little more like Him I think.

Thanks for the prays! That's really going to help us out!

I'm doing fine, honestly, things are going good. Still have plenty of energy, so I'm good!

Our Father lives, He is mindful of us, and knows me, that I live and he knows each of us. He loves us, unconditionally, though not all of our choices. Love is the more powerful thing in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and will in time, wear down any wall, resistance or barrier to touching another's life. The Savior showed that in both His life and in His atonement. Know that He indeed took upon Himself my sins, your sins, and through Him, we can not only have faith, but a true hope that we can not only be forgiven by our Father and our Savior, but we can forgive ourselves.  When we truly are forgiven, we forget our sins, we move forward in a new hope and faith, being filled with love towards others. That is called conversion, when we stop judging others, love them where they are at, and let the Holy Ghost work on them while we pray for them. Prayer is so powerful. It brings patience, love, kindness, the surrendering of our ego to His will where we don't seek to puff ourselves up at the expense of others. It is charity, the pure love of Christ, and it is our duty to obtain that gift, to use that gift and thus to become as the Savior is. I testify of His love for us. I testify that He is with me each day, each hour and through the Holy Ghost I feel His charity toward me and more importantly as I serve others. toward them. There is NO greater honor then to be an ambassador of Jesus Christ, to be one of His missionaries at this point in my life. If your heart isn't swelling in love toward someone this week, your not serving and becoming as Christ is. Do it! In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Sorry for the rant, but I haven't shared my testimony with you all in awhile.

Next week then,

NaNa

Weekly Email September 22, 2014

Hey you guys!

Man, don't have a whole lot of stuff to respond to. Mom I love your football gear set up! It's a beautiful thing!

Tell Kendra and my fake brother-in-law hi!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, and the reason I was so busy last week, as because of the image that is attached to this email: I went to the LadyHawke castle!

You're welcome.

And as for my week:

We met with Iole this week, and we talked about the Plan of Salvation, and also about the temple. Things are going really well with Iole. Her progress has been quite astounding, it's like she's a completely different person nowadays. Her reading of the Book of Mormon has improved greatly as well as her understanding of Gospel Principles. She loved the idea of being able to be sealed with her son in the temple one day, and she has said that she really wants to go at some point so that she can experience what the other members have felt.

We also met with LaVigna, the mother of Andra, the girl who was baptized in April. She was investigating for a time, and then just faded off the map, and then just barely started coming back to church and the activities, and we managed to get an appointment with her, after walking in a rainstorm and getting soaked to the bone.

But the appointment went rather well and we got to get an FHE orgainized with the member family who are friends with LaVigna. We'll be going there tonight to talk about the Plan of Salvation, as it was never taught, and we both feel that it would be the key to helping her to make huge progress.

A lot of finding and we met with a few members this week. Things are going good.

Much Love,

NaNa

Pictures

This is the castle Rocca Calascio which was a Mountainside Fortress. Here is the LINK to Wikipedia to learn about it. You can learn more of how it was in the  movie LadyHawk under the filming section at this LINK. I find it VERY cool and can't wait to see it.

Week of September 15th 2014 NO EMAIL!!!!!

This is what we got from Anziano Eads.  His mother wants to know what other things he was doing on P-Day since the rules state he is to write his family each week. Hmmmm.

So, another annoyingly busy P-Day, and  all. I'll have to email you all another time, because I really don't have time to write this week, and Presidente wants us to do P-Day things on P-Day....so, no idea if I'll be able to write till next week.

Sorry.          


Much love, and I'm sorry,

Anziano Eads

Weekly Email September 8th 2014

Okay, let's get this show on the road, I don't have a whole lot of time, as I'm going to Rocca Calascio, where they filmed LadyHawke:

Mom:.

I am perfectly fine without knowing to much about football, just let me know if they won, or lost and against who. I don't need to many details. But thanks for asking!

Well, another one has fallen for the spell of costco.

Lots of stuff happening at home. Tell Wyatt and Hayden I say congrats, and that I hope things work out well for them. The mission's fun is something that should be said to them.

Dad:

My clothes are holding out fine. I don't think I'll be buying anything else, maybe some boots when winter comes, as it snows over here in L'Aquila. I'll be needing some boots to keep my feet dry.

Both:

The fast went well. I think things will work out. The temple should start picking up soon. I think it'll be done by next year at the very least.

And as for my week:

Federica's baptism occupied a lot of our attention this week, as we had to get things organized with Terni and get things arranged there, and not to mention that we had to met with her a lot this week just to make sure she was ready, which, looking back wasn't really needed. But, the baptism went off without a hitch and she's feeling really happy, peaceful, and jus tgreat.

Iole is doing fine as well. We weren't able to go out and see her this last week, but she's doing fine. We've been leaving items to read in the Book of Mormon and in the Gospel Principles manuel that we'll be talking about. This week we have planned to talk about the Plan of Salvation, and then temple and geneology work. I think that it would be a good thing for Iole, as it'll motivate her to help out the deceased ancestors. Family is a big thing for her.

But besides that, like I said yesterday, we're going to be doing a lot of refilling of our investigator pool. We're going to try and reactivate some old investigators and see if we can really bring them back into the gospel. We're also going to be meeting with some potentials this week and seeing fi we can set up some appointments and get them to church.

So, work's going to be progressing and all. I'm rather content with the work, and I'm super pleased with the blessings that the Lord has blessed us with.

I'll send pics of the baptism here soon. Love you guys!

NaNa

Pictures:

So we were in Terni, as that would be the home ward for Federica, and we used their font again.

Then there's Federica with Alessio Di Cosimo. He's the friend who introduced her to the Gospel. I'm really happy that he was the one who baptized her. I always prefer it when a member does the work. (I did do the confirmation, but only because Anziano Tew didn't feel like he knew enough Italian to do it).

Then there's Federica and her family, who were kinda against the baptism, but only because it was in Terni.

Then there's us and Federica.

Sunday in Aquila

I had to steal these pictures from Sorella Waddoups as her and President Waddoups went to Aquila and attended church there. Today Iole and Friderika got confirmed and Sister Waddoups has a wonderful post about it on her blog at this LINK.  I encourage you go and look at it and see some of the old sites around Aquila. The fencing around the ruins is to keep people out I assume due to damage from the Earthquake that devastated the region in 2009.

Left to Right: Anziano Eads, Presidente Waddoups, Sorella Waddoups, Anziano Tew (this picture reminds of how broad shoulder Anziano Eads is; he should have been a linebacker!). 

Anziano Tew and Anziano Eads