Elder Edholm -- week 60

 This week week went pretty well, there is a member in the ward that works for the U.S. census, and she met a Venezuelan family and talked to them about the gospel. We were actually able to go and meet them and teach something with them last Friday and they really liked it! It's the mom and dad, and their son and daughter who are 14 and 10. We also started teaching a lady this last week named Rosa, and she has an injury to her shoulder so she's been going through kind of a rough time, but she was able to go to church with us yesterday and she really liked it!!

Today for p-day, we went hiking up to a lake! It's called Lake Blanche, here are some of the pictures we took!

Elder Edholm -- week 59

 This last week was interesting, somebody that we were teaching got the virus and we had an in person lesson with them. So we called the mission doctor and told her what happened, and initially were were going to have to stay in complete quarantine for two weeks. But then she talked to the mission president, who is a doctor also, and he said that because we were outside, we had no physical contact, we were more than 10 feet away, and that because my companion and I, and the people we were teaching all had masks on we only had to do it for a little under a week to check if wegrt any symptoms. So we did, checked for symptoms, took our temperatures, and everything turned out fine so we are now able to go outside again! In the time we were in quarantine, we called every single number that we had, and we actually see up some appointments and found 7 new people to teach! Which was really awesome! That's it for this week!

Smokey Red sun-a result of the California wildfires

The family that was baptized last week

Elder Edholm -- week 58

 This week went well, Luz and Mario, with three of their children, Gregorio, Jeronimo, and Brayan, were able to get baptized on Saturday. Because of Covid, we had a limit on how many people could be there, the people there were the second counselor in the bishopric who led the service, my companion and I, the family getting baptized, and the elders quorum President with his son. It was really awesome to see and participate in. We asked the kids after and they said they felt a noticeable difference after. 

Other good things that happened this week, we finally got another service project, we help a lady with her yard! Also we started teaching a guy named Vladimir yesterday, and he asked about us and our background, so I told him about myself and one of the things I said was that I am the fifth of eight kids, and he said he is too! I thought that was super cool! Also, we are helping another family get married! That's all for this week.

Elder Edholm -- week 57

We didn't get a letter from Andrew to post today, so I will summarize what he told us over facetime.

We sent him a package and it's amazing how fast packages get to their destination when it's in the U.S.!  

The wedding of his investigators went well and they are set to be baptized on Saturday!  

Him and his companion will be making another video soon to post on the Facebook page. 

He says Utah is pretty cool, there are really nice members that honk at them, but there's also people that like to yell at them too. 

He's getting really used to wearing masks and biking up a ton of hills. He says his companion has it easy since he only weighs about 130 pounds.  

He got his hair cut today by a lady from Vietnam and she was really nice. He said he loves it when people are like that and you just feel good around them. 

Elder Edholm -- week 56

This week went well, we are getting a family married on Tuesday and their baptismal date is for the 15th. 

That's all the email I got from Andy today, we did get to talk with him for awhile. The family has 5 kids and 3 of them are old enough to be baptized, so that is pretty exciting. They are from Mexico. 

Andy and his companion made a Facebook video that you can check out here: https://www.facebook.com/jesucristosaltlakecity/videos/280674569861824

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

Junior Historical Fiction. Newbery Medal Award Winner 1959. 

This is the next book that I chose to read aloud to my kids that I have loved for a long time. It started out a little slow for my kids, but they quickly became invested in Kit and what would become of her in the world of New England in the late 17th century. 

I think this is a wonderful book for children to read and discuss. There are so many lessons to be learned about how to treat people. It helps us look at our own expectations of people and, hopefully, we can learn from these fictional character's mistakes and triumphs. There are a few true historical figures in the story which can lead to further learning about the early settlers in this new world of America. 

As I've read more historical fiction and non-fiction about the beginnings of our culture and religion in the United States, I have felt a profound gratitude for these people's lives and choices. They sacrificed more than I can understand and like today, they had many choices to make that were filled with nuances that cannot be seen from one quick glance. 

Recommend: Yes!