Elder Edholm -- week 67

So tomorrow we are going to the temple!!! This will be my third time going to the temple here! The temple is awesome and something I have been waiting for for a while now. I'm excited to be able to go, pondering some questions I have and to be able to receive an answer straight from God in His house. It's so amazing that I have the opportunity to visit the temple in this country because I know that there are still a lot of countries that don't have temples. 

There is also this convert that I've really been trying to work with a lot that when I first got here he was kind of less-active. But I could see that instead of getting frustrated with him, but really actually loving him how he started going to church. And after really really working with him he went to the temple this last month. He told me how much he loved it and how excited he was to go again. Now I see him get to church early every Sunday, in a white shirt and tie, passing the sacrament. I don't have any doubt that the temple had a big part in it.

I don't know if you guys remember my investigator Jeffrey. We have a lot more, but he is the one progressing the most. He has come to church three Sundays in a row now, practically running to get there in time. I always watch him earnestly paying attention in all of the classes and especially when we teach him. He has completed with almost every invitation. I have no doubt that he will be a hundred percent ready for the 22nd of October.

Well anyway that's all for this week! I love you all, I hope you all have a great General Conference this weekend!

*Palmer sent me this picture of his shoe!  That's wearing your shoes out in the service of God!*

Homecoming 2016

HOMECOMING at Worland High School.

Each class at the high school does a skit.  Andy was part of the sophomore skit, he is Luigi, the one with the green cap and mustache in their skit.  You can view it by clicking here:Sophomore Skit


The parade came next and the rain stopped so it wasn't wet:

Andy with a mustache

Eric on the cross country float.  He is on the very back right edge.

The football game was against Jackson.  It was REALLY rainy, but we prevailed and won!

Andrew is #12

You can see the 2 from his #12 on his uniform.

Elder Edholm -- week 66

So I received the best email of my mission from my mission president today. It was an email telling me that he interviewed the Espinosa Family and that they are going to get baptized on the 24th. I was so very happy in that moment to see that that family is finally getting baptized. I truly grew to love that family. They endured through many tough trials that came their way to keep them from getting baptized and they're finally making this covenant with The Lord. It truly makes so happy to see that I was able to follow the promptings that the spirit sent me to invite the spirit into their hearts.

Besides that our investigator Jeffrey is doing really great. He works every single day including Sundays. But he likes the church so much that he is willing to leave his work for a couple hours on Sunday to go to church. He still has a little bit to go but he is making great progress. He was really excited to get his Book of Mormon. 

It's also really cool to see how people progress once they are faced with the reality that we can't keep teaching them if they don't go to church. That happened to us this last week with a partial family we are working with. We told them that if they don't complete with the commitments we extend to them than there is nothing we can do. The next Sunday we saw them at church.

But I just love Barahona so much, it's such a blessing to spend 7 months here. I'm really growing to love my branch and just all the people here.

Here's a picture of the four of us that live my house. We're in my backyard, it's a jungle out there. And the other one is the Espinosa Family, the son isn't there, but he is also getting baptized.

 

 

Babies and scouts

Eric participated in a scout "camporee" this weekend in Thermopolis.  Brian took Peter and they had a great time.  Peter was very proud that Brian joined in the tug o war and his team won.

Eric got to instruct the cub scouts on bear safety.

Of course Eric is wearing a Studio C shirt!

Sweet Van is laughing now!  I have to watch this video at least once a day!

Other things that happened this weekend:

• Worland Warriors played Buffalo at Buffalo.  Andy started on offense again and they won 28-21.
• Eric ran a cross country race in Cody.  He came in 55th out of 80+ runners.
• Lucy played her first volleyball game and won.

Elder Edholm -- week 65

So I'm can't write a super long email today. But I have found out that the supposed thugs from the street are actually really open to receiving the gospel. This last Sunday we had three ¨thugs¨ in church and they really enjoyed it and are really receiving the message well. I also met another one in one of the other missionaries area that is about to get baptized that one would think is a huge thug, but I could see how much the Atonement of Jesus Christ had worked in him. But I'm now starting to see some success after dropping lots of investigators and basically just starting all the way over.

Besides that we are going to the temple in about two weeks!! YAY! And I'm going into my fifth transfer here in Barahona!!! I will be here for 7 and a half months!! I'm gonna really have to force myself to keep on working hard in the same area I've been in forever. But it's actually a huge blessing too because I would say that this is the defining point of my mission.

Anyway tell little van I love him, and boy is Eric skying! I hope that Andy isn't taller than me yet!

Love you guys!

The blessing of Van John Tanner

On Sunday we had the pleasure of being a part of the blessing of sweet little Van.  He was very good during the blessing and his daddy did a wonderful job.  It was wonderful to see Emma again for a day and we really missed Audrey and Palmer.  I'd say this picture is a big success for our photographically challenged family!

Elder Edholm -- week 64

So I found out this week how important Preach My Gospel is. I felt like I should fast this week about how to be a better Preach My Gospel missionary. While I was doing it I found out through my companion that maybe we could have more success if we taught with more unity. I had always been the one to complain about my companions not giving me enough time to talk, and now I find myself doing it. I started pondering about it a lot, and then I read the section in Preach My Gospel about the importance of the companionship. Since then I've started trying to at least open Preach My Gospel everyday, but not just to read it, but to learn from it. Like for example study a section that I need help with. I've found that Preach My Gospel is the key. I can't complain about not having success if I'm not doing everything in my power to have success.

Right now is kind of a hard time in my area. We are in the process of dropping a lot of investigators that aren't progressing and finding new ones. Because if we are teaching somebody that hasn't gone to church in four or five weeks, that is time that can be used to be finding new people that will progress. It can be hard because there are people that you get close to and really want to progress, but maybe it's just not there time yet. But the good thing is is that I really think I'm starting to feel the pure love of Christ for people. Converts, members, friends from the street, I just find myself really caring about all of them and wanting the best for them. It was really rewarding to see two converts go to the temple this last Saturday. One of them named Geraldo was almost inactive about a month ago. When I first talked to him about the temple trip he didn't want to go at all. But really started working with him and caring about him, and I think he finally felt the love of Christ through us and he went and did baptisms. He told me he loved it and can't wait to go to the temple again. It really shows me how success isn't always measured by numbers.

Anyway, I love this work, and I love all of you guys!

Labor Day

We decided to not sit home and do nothing on Labor Day today.  We got up early and drove a little over two hours to Sixth Crossing, which is the site of the Willie Handcart rescue.  We met another family from our ward there which was an awesome coincidence.  The kids all pulled and pushed handcarts and Andy showed us where he camped when he went on Trek last year.  We saw a mom Moose and her baby and a giant crane.  There is a brand new visitor center there and it is really nice.  We watched a movie about the Willie handcart company and got the tour from one of the missionaries there.  It was really powerful for me, I felt the spirit of sacrifice those pioneers had and felt the importance of what they did. 

From there we went on another hour to Martin's Cove.  This site is much bigger than Sixth Crossing and has more buildings and things to see.  We didn't have as much time to spend here since we had to get back for Andy to go to football practice.  We saw Devil's Gate and Split Rock Mountain.  We really wished we would have had time to hike to Martin's Cove, which is about 30 minutes by foot passed the Visitor Center.  There is where many of the pioneers are buried and on the Sweetwater River bank the church has put up 4 large statues of young men representing the four young men who carried most of the Martin company across the Sweetwater.  We will definitely need to go back.

This is the Sweetwater River at Sixth Crossing.  It's called Sixth Crossing because that's how many times the Pioneers had to cross the Sweetwater by the time they got to this spot and were rescued.  This is near the spot we saw the moose and her baby and the crane.

This is a shot from the Visitors Center at Sixth Crossing looking out toward the Sweetwater River.

This is Martin's Cove and Lucy and Peter thought they were funny pretending to be a part of the statue!

Lucy really liked the handcarts and wanted to push them all day long!

The wind was REALLY blowing hard!

I have to sneak photos of Andy, he doesn't like me to take them.

It was a great time today and well worth the 6 hour round trip!

It's a win!

The Worland Warriors won there first game of the season against Lander 16-14!  Andy was a starter and did well!  It was a beautiful evening all around!

The cheerleaders looked great as well, but I really missed seeing Emma down there with them!

Peter and me selfie at the game

Petey and Ellie were hamming it up in the bleachers

#12 for the win

Eric also ran in his first Cross County meet and did well.  We didn't get any pictures of him.

Meanwhile in Utah, Audrey flew in for the weekend and got to spend time with precious Van!  

Those eyelashes and cheeks!

To top off the weekend BYU got a last minute win against Arizona!  Great way to top off the week!