E-mail 4-1-13

Joyeux Paques!!

Hope ya’ll had a good time. Easter Sunday is always the best. Glad you were able to hear a couple of awesome talks... We had two solid talks yesterday as well. I am the translator so normally I don’t get a whole lot out of the talks except for the fact that translating is very hard haha.  But this time I actually learned. Yesterday the Lord was watchin over me!  I was understanding everything perfectly in French and I was able to translate it very well into English for our members. Real neat experience. And we had three investigators there!  A new lady we have just recently found came with her son. It was the first Christian church she has ever been too (she comes from a Muslim family).   It was so fun to see the big smile on her face and her sons as well.  You could literally see the spirit doing work within her and her son.  It was something to see.  They both came into the church at 9... wondering why they were there... and how a couple of weird Americans convinced them they should stay all the way till 12 o'clock  ("three hours of church! thats a long time.")  After church they didn’t want to go home!   #ToldYa.  Her son asked if they could come back on Monday and Tuesday and... haha.   We took advantage of that of course... we explained that church activities are normally just Sunday but we would love to have a family home evening with you tomorrow.   They gladly accepted haha.   Pretty excited.   It’s amazing what this gospel does to peoples lives. Pretty excited to teach them. 

This last transfer was amazing.  I have never learned so much in such a short amount of time. This last transfer I have really been stressing the little things. It’s the little things in life that give us direction. When we let go of the thought that we have to do huge things to see huge things we will succeed.  I’m not saying that we shouldn’t go big because if we don’t go big... we should just go home.  But it’s when we do the little things that big things happen!   It’s all through out the scriptures ya’ll. I remember at the beginning of my mission thinking that I had to do everything soo BIGGG.  Lots of lessons.  Lots of new amis.  Those are some good desires but those two things won’t happen unless you do the little things.  If you want to go big... you really got to go small!   Maybe ya’ll already knew that and its just a mind blowing thing to me haha.   It can really relate to everything in life.   If you want to be a doctor... you can’t just go BIG in one year and finish all  of your schooling.  It takes 8 years of learning a gazillion little/small things.  And after all those hard years... you get a BIG pay check!   #BOOM.   If you want to be in the NBA you cant just magically show up there one day.  You need to practice. You should probably play in High School.  And then play a little college ball.  And get jacked.   And shoot free throws.   And have good form... and... i could go on for days.   Do the little things.  Its when we see the little things in life that life becomes so much better.. so much bigger.  Think about it ya’ll.   If you want to see some miracles in your  life... do the little things.   Do the little things and see BIG miracles.   Life really is simple ehh?    Go Small or go HOME ya’ll!

Oh and transfer news... I’ll be staying here with Elder Davis.  I actually get to stay in a ville for more than two transfers.  La vie est belle.  And I’m still a district leader.   Pretty pumped for this transfer. Miracles are out there waiting for us.   Have a good week.  Stay small YA’LL!

Adamz

E-mail 3-25-13

Mother. That was a solid email!   Merci beaucoup.  Sounds like life has been swell for ya’ll.  Ya deserve it!   I forgot all about March Madness.  You know you’re on a mission when you forget about the best sporting event in the world.  But that’s okay.   Missions rock.   That’s funny that you brought up golf because... I’m going today!   I’m pretty excited.   Its super cold but I don’t argue when a member offers to take us.  I’m pumped.  Most P days we just sleep and write letters.  This p-day we actually get to do something with our lives!   Should be a good time.  Hopefully I haven’t lost the golfing swag.   I’m afraid imma wiff but that’s alright... it will be fun néanmoins.   That’s awesome that you had lots of people qualify for HOSA nationals.  Should be a good time.  It’s crazy to think that it is already time for nationals again.  Last time that happened I was in the MTC.  Its sooooo crazy how fast time flies.  Life is weird.  Growing up is the worst. I don’t want the end to come!   Life is way toooo goood right now. #ForeverFrench

Oh yeah and to answer your questions yes we can email friends and whatnot. Not sure what the church leaders were thinkin there haha.   Just kidding.   Kinda.  Not really. All of the missionaries have been talking about it. Now they can all email there cute little girlfriends.   #NotGood.  I’m gonna have to give the prophet a quick call.  Just kidding.  I think.

This last week was out of controllll!  I have never felt the spirit so and for so long. This week was the big conference we have been planning for with Elder Richards of the Seventy.  He is a powerful man! He knows his stuff and he knows it well.  He talked for five hours non stop!  I don’t know about you but a five hour talk in uncomfortable wood chairs does not sound like the funnest thing in the world. BUT IT WAS.  Normally I can’t sit still for over an hour and stay completely in tune with the speaker but the spirit was way too strong to be taking a nap.  I think I took a total of 14 pages of notes.  Everything the man said was for me!   The Lord was speaking to me!   I had so many questions answered that no one even knew I had... accept the Lord!   It was a meeting I will never forget. Words would come out of his mouth and my pen would write something similar on the paper but they weren’t his exact words. #SpiritualNotes.   After the conference we had a 4 hour train ride back home.  After reading some letters and the new church magazine I decided to read the notes I had taken again. Some of the things I had written were nothing that Brother Richards had said but rather the things that the spirit told me to write! I didn’t realize it at the time.  Not sure if any of that made sense haha but it was a crazy experience.  God knows me.  He knows you.  Not sure how he does it.  But he does... because he loves you!   Don’t forget it.

And then on Sunday we had Stake Conference.  It was another spiritual punch to the face . #FeltSoGoodTho.  President Poznanski and his wife gave some super legit talks. That man is a beast of a Mission President. He is amazinggg.  Pretty sure I got the best Prez in the world. #EveryOneSaysThatButItsTrue.  Whenever he talks everyone is all ears.  Obviously all the Elders were glued to what he was saying but it was not just us.  He really knows how to control a crowd.  He is an amazing teacher.  He teaches straight doctrine and then he shows and shares personal experiences on how to put these doctrines into practice.  And after his talk we got to hear from Elder Donaldson of the seventy.  Two Seventies in one week!  Not bad eh?   The second he stepped up to speak the spirit swept over everyone.   You could literally see it.   It was nuts.   He gave an awesome talk on how God knows the beginning from the end.  He knows why we are where we are and why we are doing what we are doing.  We all have a purpose.  He talked about how it wasn’t just by chance that the North Star wasn’t just placed over Bethlehem.   It was there because God knows the orbit of the earth and that one little star was meant to be there way before it was actually there.  It’s like this with so many other things in our life.  God knows our "orbit" in life.  He has plans for each one of us.  It’s up to us to discover what these plans are.  God gave us prayer, family, scriptures, and church service opportunities for a reason. These things aren’t by chance.  They are all apart of our orbit!!!   I’m so thankful for the opportunity to find gods lost sheep who need to be put back in their "orbit!"  And often members of the church are lost in their orbit.  Ask yourself this question... "Are you where you should be in your orbit?"   Think about it!   Have a good week!   Stay in your orbit ya’ll. Shoot for the stars.   Go big or go home.   Do the little things.   Big things will follow.  Promise ya!

Bises 

Elder Adamz

E-mail 3-18-13

I’m glad you saw everything about the huge snow storm!  Now you know I’m not just a little girl haha. It was pretty gnarly.  Trains were canceled, power was out some places, conference was canceled, and people even died!   It was seriously a blizzard like nonstop.   It snowed for like 30 straight hours.  Just the day before it was like 60 degrees.   Then it got real ugly... real fast.   It was like there was a cloud above us and it never moved.   We had lots of lessons planned but sadly they all got canceled because people freak out when it snows here.  They think that if a snow flake hits them they are going to die.  It’s pretty funny.  Snow is not the best thing for the work but I’m not gonna lie... I love it.  Snow just makes me happy.  Something about it just fascinates me haha.  We were like the only ones outside for the two days of snow so it made for having a little fun.   But of course not too much fun! (that’s against the rules ehh).  I was able to slide down a huge hill on the way to a lesson though.  Thats was neat. #MissionMemories.  Elder Davis wasn’t a huge fan of the snow (doesn’t really snow where he lives) but that’s okay.  I still love him anyway.  Oh yeah and I almost froze my little tootsies off.  My shoes have got holes in the bottom so that was a lil sketchy haha.  I’m gonna need to buy a new pair today for sure. The homeless look really isn’t the best... especially because we have conference this week with a member of the 70.  I gots to be lookin Fresh!  Bien Sur.

Sounds like you all had a real good time in Utah. That’s good. I bet Whitney’s loving life right now eh? Babies are the best.   #Jealous.  That’s the worst missionary rule ever... (rule 42b- "no holding infants or young children.")   I’m guessing for most missionaries that is pretty easy but not for Elder A.  It kills me haha.  We have these three cute little English girls in our ward here and they always try to sit on my lap. But I cant do it!   C'est la vie.  Enough of that nonsense. 

This week was a little crazy with the huge snow storm and conference being canceled but of course we made the best of our situation.  We had a week full of so many little miracles.  "Do your best, and the Lord will do the rest."   So true.   Life won’t always be smooth but we can even out the bumps with a good attitude and faith in the Lord.  We had very little lessons planned this week after the snow storm destroyed everything but we still managed 10 lessons.  Pretty high for here.  Our amis are really progressing right now.  J is so amazing.  Not sure if I have really told you about her. She is the most amazing person that ever lived.   She has been to church five weeks in a row now and she has been to two société de secours (relief society) meeting.  She is the first one to church and the last one to leave! 

She religiously reads the Book of Mormon.  She has that thing marked up like crazy!  She reads it everyday without a problem.  She visits the church website everyday and reads countless articles.  She lives for learning more about the gospel!  What an example!  She went to Switzerland a couple of weeks ago.  She looked up the church address and went to the address Sunday morning sadly discovering that the church had moved (bummer).  But she didn’t give up there!   She was visiting her grandchildren and got talking to their babysitter.  She asked the baby sitter if she had heard of the Mormons and if they had a church close by.  The baby sitter got a huge smile on her face and said that she was a member. They talked for a long time about the Book of Mormon.  Such a small world!!!   The Lord is really preparing her and many others here in St Brieuc to join his bergerie (fold).   She wants to be baptized but not until she knows without a doubt that the Book of Mormon is true.  She will know soon if she keeps at it like she is.  She’s an angel!!   Life is the best.

Funny story.  So this week we had a lady stop us in the street and demanded that we passed by her house later so we could talk about the gospel with her.  We were a little shocked to say the least.  That never happens.  So of course we went to her house the next day to see if she was really interested.   So we showed up and started talking. Turns out she was just a little drunk.  It was hard to tell at the door but it became very clear as the lesson went on. So we shared a little pensez spirituelle (spiritual thought) and tried to get out as quick as possible.  So as we stood up to get out she demanded that we sit back down.  I slowly obeyed her order.  She didn’t like that. She started going off about how she is known throughout the world and we need to bow down to her.  She went off about how she has a castle in every country and that her brother is a lawyer.  And i just said,  "cool, can we go please."  She said "no" and went off again because she said she always gets the last word.  Oh so i forgot to mention... that during the end of the lesson I asked her why she drank beer and what it does for good in her life.  That was a mistake haha,  that’s what really made her deveir fâche (become mad).   There were hundreds of beer bottles everywhere but she promised us that never drinks.  And Elder Davis made her even madder by saying "well if you never drink... what is that you are drinking right now?"   hahaha another mistake. She was drinking beer but wouldn’t admit it.  Moral of the story... don’t drink people.   This was a funny little experience but it really is sad what drinking does to people and their life.   Nothing good comes from alcohol.   I was thinking this week why people drink it.  If people really loved their family they would leave that stuff alone!   If we want to live with our families for as long as possible here on earth and in the eternities... we need to leave that stuff alone!

CHURCH IS TRUE.  We literally just had a huge miracle happen during this email haha.  Yesterday Brother Banks was on his way to church (coolest member in the world who lives thirty minutes away) and there was a guy with his thumb up on the side of the road and something told him to pull over and give the guy a ride.  So that’s what he did.  And so he invited the guy to visit the church and whatnot.  So he just did!!!   We literally just gave him a tour of the church and he wants to meet with us again tomorrow!!!   Oh lalala.    Life is way too good.   Miracles happen every minute of every day if we will just open our eyes, trust in the Lord, and love everyone!   Miracles can even happen during PDAY emails.   Who would a thunk it?   La vie est belle!   Stay awesome!   Life Rocks!   Love yall!   Smile always.   Life really is the best.   

Love,

Elder Adams