Passing of Anziano Eads' Grandmother

Nathan has written of his thoughts in his emails to us on the passing of his grandmother. This week his grandmother, who played a major role in his life, received her own mission call. This call was to return home to that God that she loved, to be with those of her family and friends who have entered into that glorious full time work in the Spirit World. Colleen was greeted by her husband, mother, father, sister and many other family and friends on Monday, October 27th, 2014 as she had a reunion and then began her period of instruction in preparation to her assignments there.  One assignment that we know she will relish is to act as a ministering angel to her earthly missionaries and to her family.  Let us hope that as with the Holy Ghost, we are open to the promptings she gives.  Three pictures, one of Nathan and Kendra with Gma and face paint.  Two of Nathan with his Gma after his farewell (yes, Anziano Eads has lost a LOT of weight).

A copy of her Obituary at this LINK.

Nathan's and I favorite hymn, well one of a couple.

Come, thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace.
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet sung by flaming tongues above;
Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it, mount of thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer, hither by thy help I come,
And I hope by thy good pleasure safely to arrive at home.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.

Jesus sought me when a stranger wandering from the fold of God.
He, to rescue me from danger, interposed His precious blood.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.

O to grace, how great a debtor, daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness like a fetter bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.
Seal it for thy courts above.

As I wrote here on this hymn with Nathan in an email truly, we all wander from our Father yet the tendrils of love from our Savior reach to us, and interposes His precious blood to make us clean, worthy to serve and reach and share to others, to bring them to those tendrils that reach to them and to us. This is our work in mortality, this is now Colleen's work in the Spirit World. From Alma Chapter 26:

26 Therefore let us glory, yea we will glory in the Lord, yeah we will rejoice for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of His great power, and of His mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel."

35 Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we, since the world began; yea, and my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God; for he has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a merciful Being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name.

 36 Now if this is boasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people, who are a branch of the tree of Israel, and has been lost from its body in a strange land; yea, I say, blessed be the name of my God, who has been mindful of us, wanderers in a strange land.

 37 Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen.

Special Email to Mom October 27th, 2014; A Mama's Boy

Several people ask if we share everything on the blog. Well, about 90% of stuff yes. This is a sample of the 10% of stuff we don't as they are very personal and spiritual. It is shared here to show the growth and blessings that a child serving our Heavenly Father has and the importance of family in all of our lives. Sometimes Mother's Day doesn't come in May. Sometimes it comes in October . . .



Hey Mommy,

So, I'd thought I'd write you a little personal email this week, just because I've written one to Dad way back when, I don't remember, and I thought I'd write you something too. I'm probably going to get a little spiritual, and all, so, please know that I'm probably crying as I write this, so it's okay to cry too.

Firstly, I hope you know how much I love you. I'll probably mention this all the time in this email, but it's true. I love you so much! Honestly, for the first part of my life, and for an ongoing part of it, you were and still are my example in a lot of things.

It was weird, but without Dad in my life when he was traveling all the time for business, you were kinda my role model. You worked so hard to keep Kendra and I happy and content with the things we had in life, and you do so many good things for the both of us. One of my favorite memories is of us reading Harry Potter together, and of course when I was getting ready to be baptized, "One of the Lord's commandments is...Nathan, go to the bathroom!!!!!!!" Oh man I still laugh about that one.

Seriously, I love you, and I never knew how hard you worked, or how much you sacrificed for the sake of our family until I came out on my mission. You can say I'm a mama's boy, but honestly, I kinda am. I'm not afraid to admit that when my time comes to come home, the person I'm probably most happy to see is going to be you.

Secondly, you are amazing spiritually. I wish I had payed more attention to it back home, but thinking about it, you really are Dad's spiritual equal. No wonder he married you!  You're just so humble about it, that's the thing, and honestly, that's a great example.

Speaking of which, you are one of the most humble people I've ever met. It's been an example to me as a missionary as I strive to be humble, I always think of you and your example in regards to that. You've served Kendra and I, Dad, Grandpa and GMa, and so many others that so many don't know about and your so humble doing it. It's been something that I've had to work on, and your example has helped me with that.

Thinking back, I probably wasn't the best son you could've had, I was a bit of a problem child I think, and I want to apologize for that. I could've been a lot better, and could've made your life a whole lot easier. Sorry, things you learn with time, and hindsight is 20/20....

Anyways, I was thinking about some scriptures I could write that would describe how our relationship is, and this was the first one that came to my mind:

"...yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.

 And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it." Alma 56: 47-48

I think that describes us pretty well. You taught me a lot of the things I know of the Gospel, and from your example you taught me, and I do not doubt that you knew it, know it, and will continue to know it far into the future.

Another one that I thought described us pretty well was the story of Hannah and Samuel. You and Dad tried so hard to have a kid, and the Lord promised Dad that you would have a son and I was the result of the blessing of the Lord. And like Hannah, you've dedicated me to the work of the Lord, at least for these two years, and you've done it willingly, despite the sadness.

I love you mommy, so much. Don't worry too much about Gma, she'll be fine, but you know that. I'm fine, so don't worry about me, I've grown so much, and all that, but remember that I'm still your son. Dad is right, no matter how old I get, I will also be your boy, and thus a Mama's Boy and I am just fine with that.

I'm gonna try and send you a song with this email that makes me think of you everytime I hear it. It makes me cry, and hopefully, you'll understand why. If I can't get it uploaded, I'll let you listen to it when I get home.

I love you mum, take care, see you in about 4 months.

I don't know if I'll hug you for five minutes, but it'll be a decent hug when I do see you!

NaNa

PS I love you

Weekly Email October 27th, 2014 Transfer to Napoli

Well, I guess I'll start off with what I'm thinking about...

It's strange, but I feel the same way I did with Grandpa when he left, I'm not sad, or relieved. It's more like an accepting of what needs to happen, and that this is the will of the Lord. I honestly guess that that's a gift the Lord has given me, in that I can accept whatever His will is, and then work with it.

As for what I'd like to say at her funeral: Not sure yet. I'll probably write you guys later, with that. Don't worry, I'll be okay with it all.

So, another thing: I'm emailing a little earlier than usual so we can go bowling with the missionaries in Pescara. A little district activity before we all break up and go our seperate ways.

Oh yeah, transfers....well....Dad, you're wrong.

Mom got it right, the Lord is sending me to NAPOLI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


OH FRICK YEAH!!!!!!! THE LAND OF PIZZA, VESUVIUS, POMPEII!!!!!

So, if you can't tell, I'm pumped about this transfer. It's a little different because I'm going to a bigger city, instead of a smaller city, but whatever, I'm content. So, what's happening next is that I?m gonna party it up and work my butt off. I'll be sending pictures either later this week, or next week from my time in L'Aquila.

Okay stuff from home:

Dad: Sorry life is so busy. I'm praying for you to do well, and all that jazz. Hoping it all goes well.

Sorry about Kendra. Don't worry, I'll be a lot better than she is/was.

So, funny story about your astronomy. I told the Custodes (a family here in L'Aquila) that you did astronomy and had a blog. Well, in church I showed them your blog and your scopes. They were rather impressed. See, your touching lives over here!

Mom: You get your own personal email.

As for work, honestly, it was kinda dead this week. Tew was sick, then I got sick, then nothing worked out, we got lost, so yeah. It was a long week, unfortunately.

Well, next week I'll write ya'll from Napoli.

Love ya!!!

NaNa

Weekly Email October 20th 2014

Well, another week has gone by, and it was a little difficult towards the end, but things aren't too bad. You guys first, like always! 

Most importantly: GRANDMA LET IT GO!!!!!!!!! She should know that she doesn't have to hold on, and more importantly that she has to forgive herself, and that she can do that. If there's something I've seen as a missionary it's that repentance can't take full affect until the person has forgiven themselves. Only then can repentance truly work.

Hey Dad. Sorry you've been sick. Anyways, you can bet I'll pray for you to do well, and that the people's hearts will be softened. Non ti preoccupare padre mio, I've got your back out here!  And thanks for the drawing!

Mom: I'm glad that Sam did really well. Let me know when you've got the email, it'll mean something that I can write my cousin on her mission! 

Honestly, I'm still trying to decide which semester. Again, can I get your advice (your's as well Dad) on what you think I should do (start summer or fall at SLCC?). Don't worry too much about cleaning up too much. I'll help you out when I get home if you haven't finished by then. To prove that miracles do occur on a mission, yes, I really do know how to keep my apartment clean!

Both: Zone conference was fun. It was about teaching and how to be better teachers, something I've tried to do my entire mission. So yeah, it was really well done and fun. As for the tie, I've decided that it has become my zone conference tie, at least until the last conference, then I'll have a different tie on (you'll have to see which one it is ). But no, I haven't lost my love for black. If you'll notice, most of my ties are still black in some degree. 

I honestly forgot how many I had on there, about 25 I think it was. I tried to get black and green, which I did, but I also got some blue ones on there (so there's a reference to Seattle!!!!!! Sorry Dad, Seattle beats Niners).

Didn't get to see a lot of our investigators this week, things just didn't seem to work out with any of them. SO, we spent the time calling people in our phone to see who they were and if they would have any interest. So far, a lot have expressed interest in corso, but not the Gospel. Luckily, corso is a good way to get the Gospel in on the side, so they'll come around.

We did have luck with LaVigna though, she came to church, and we taught her about God as our Heavenly Father, it was a rather special lesson and it touched her a good amount. We're going to be trying to see her on Wednesday with the Famiglia Melone and another time this week if we get the chance.

Iole's doing good. We taught her about the preisthood, and auxilaries, so she understands that now and she'd doing really well with the members now. Looks like things have gotten worked out. 

Besides that, not much else. Anziano Tew got a little under the weather this weekend, but he's doing much better. We've also got some good planning in for this week, and some good outlooks for people to meet with, so here goes all our efforts.

I'll let you all know about transfers next week. Get ready for the guesses about where I'm going....

Much love,

NaNa

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