E-mail 10-15-12

Bonjourr!

This week was kinda a mess but ca va! C'est la vie! My toe was super jacked up. It finally got to the point where I couldn’t take it anymore so we took a couple of visits to the doc. The first visit the doc said it would probably take surgery to fix the thing because it was so deep but I didn’t like that idea so we went to another doc. The next one said it could be fixed without surgery; all I had to do was take some gnarly pills! He was right. Turns out it was just super infected and the nail hadn’t grown in too far. With a little digging into my foot, two large pills, prayer, and soaking my foot in some crazy medicine it was miraculously fixed! Yay. Now I can walk like a normal person. We missed a lot of proselyting time due to my stupid bug toe, so I’m glad that is finally over with.  I’ll send some pics of it. It’s pretty neat.

Conference was a bit weird. We watched the Saturday morning session here at 6 o’clock Saturday night. Then we watched the priesthood session, Saturday night, and Sunday morning session all on Sunday here. Only two of them were live feed. The other two were recorded. I still haven’t seen the Sunday afternoon session. Pretty excited for the Liahona magazine issue to come out. The church is a five minute walk from our house #Blessings. Transfer notices come on Saturday. I am pretty sure I will be staying here. I hope so anyway. I love it here. The people are awesome. And of course I love the food as well. After yesterday’s sacrament (fast and testimony meeting) meeting I’m pretty sure I could stay here in this ward forever! The spirit was soooo strong. Honestly I didn’t understand every word that was said from the pulpit (Français) but almost everyone that bore there testimony did it with humility for the lord and for the gift of his son, Jesus Christ.  Everybody was crying, sobbing, and really reflecting on the blessings they have received recently. I hope I never forget that meeting! It was a life changer.

This last week I also had the opportunity to attend the funeral of our Bishop’s mother. It was also a real spiritual builder. Once again not everything that was said from the pulpit made complete sense in my grand tete (big head) but the spirit was soooo strong. The biggest of sinners could have felt it!!  Many people attended who were not of our faith. I know they felt something. Hopefully they have questions for the missionaries! During the funeral I thought a lot about Grandma Hendrix and how her funeral would of went. I’m sure there were many tears of sadness but many more tears of joy.  Grandma is in a better place!  She is in the rest of God who gave her life. How grateful I am for the plan of salvation! I watched many people cry hysterically during the funeral. Theirs were not tears of joy because they don’t have the same knowledge we do. They don’t believe that they will ever see her again. It really is sad. But that’s why I am here in Belgium on a mission. To share with people the plan of salvation! The best plan everrrr.

 

Well that’s about it for the week. Oh yeah, Justin Beiber was in town last week. People were going crazy.  Including me ahhah just kidding.  Every missionary hates him, except for me of course.  Kids got a cute lil voice. I got no reason to hate. I hope ya’llz life is awesome. You deserve it. Love ya to the moon and back.

Elder Adams

E-mail 10-8-12

Sounds like all is well out there in that big cold world! Ca ces schouette! Y’all deserve it! What a week it has been. Conference was a real eye opener and life changer. We were able to watch conference at our church along with other Elders who came from towns that did not have it. Me and my comp were in charge of making sure that the projector and internet were working before each session so people could watch conference. Thankfully all went smoothly. We were in charge of watching the building all day to between each session because all of the Bishopric wereout of town. It kinda stunk but whatever. On Sunday we showed up at the church at nine and didn’t get home till nine. And we forgot to bring food. Worst decision ever. #Starving. Wasn’t conference so amazing? I can remember no conference as influential as this one in my life. EVERY single talk related to something I needed and have been contemplating. The Lord was truly answering my prayers right before my eyes! I could go on for days about the things I learned but I’ll try to stick to a couple of talks.

Of course because I am currently a missionary I loved Elder Nelson’s talk. It was powerfulllll. "Ask the missionaries, they can help you!" Sooo true. I wish all the people here in Belgium heard that one single sentence! haha. We are trying desperately to get into doors and to have the opportunity to share the gospel but these last couple of weeks have been rough. I wish everyone could know what we know as members. "This gospel can help us more than we can possibly imagine." Truthhhh!  Its no easy task but Ii know that if I continue to pray for those that are ready for the gospel, the Lord will send me to them and he will give me power from above so that I can turn their doubts into hope and happiness through the blessings of the gospel!  I think my favorite line from this whole talk though came from the beginning when he said "serving a mission will shape our destiny." How lucky am I! Throughout most of this conference I couldn’t help but think how truly blessed I am to be serving the Lord at this time in my life!  There are a gazillion other things Icould be doin,g but none of them are even close to the importance of serving the Lord full time. #VraitmentBenis.

Another talk I really loved was the first talk of the entire conference by Elder Cook. He really set the tone for the entire conference. I love how he started by letting all of us know how important and strong we really are as a church and as an individual. "Church members, especially our youth, have never been stronger!" I also love how he said it is the missionaries’ job to teach repentance. It is my job to preach repentance in the nicest way possible!  It’s no easy task either but people need to know that they can repent no matter what and become spiritually renewed in the process. What a blessing!!

Christ set the perfect example for us and was put to death in the process. "The death of Jesus Christ marked the beginning of Christian life, not the end!"  This work was not simply killed by killing God! Christ needs me to preach his gospel and defend his faith, no matter whatt!  Like Elder Holland, I too know "this is the work of the Almighty God" and I am so grateful to be able to share his message with the people of Belgium!!  Life really is the best. Conference really showed me how blessed I really am. All we have to do is pause and ponder once in a while and we will realize how much God blesses us each hour of every day!

"We can give people a fish and feed them for a day... or we can teach people to fish and feed them for a life time!"  Have a good week. Go fishing!  You best believe I will be.  Hopefully I catch a few! #Baptisms HAHA.  #NoJokeThough

Bises,

Elder Adams

#143
#Jimmer
#LifeRockz

10-8-12

10-8-12

Sounds like all is well out there in that big cold world! Ca ces schouette! Y’all deserve it! What a week it has been. Conference was a real eye opener and life changer. We were able to watch conference at our church along with other Elders who came from towns that did not have it. Me and my comp were in charge of making sure that the projector and internet were working before each session so people could watch conference. Thankfully all went smoothly. We were in charge of watching the building all day to between each session because all of the Bishopric wereout of town. It kinda stunk but whatever. On Sunday we showed up at the church at nine and didn’t get home till nine. And we forgot to bring food. Worst decision ever. #Starving. Wasn’t conference so amazing? I can remember no conference as influential as this one in my life. EVERY single talk related to something I needed and have been contemplating. The Lord was truly answering my prayers right before my eyes! I could go on for days about the things I learned but I’ll try to stick to a couple of talks.

Of course because I am currently a missionary I loved Elder Nelson’s talk. It was powerfulllll. "Ask the missionaries, they can help you!" Sooo true. I wish all the people here in Belgium heard that one single sentence! haha. We are trying desperately to get into doors and to have the opportunity to share the gospel but these last couple of weeks have been rough. I wish everyone could know what we know as members. "This gospel can help us more than we can possibly imagine." Truthhhh!  Its no easy task but Ii know that if I continue to pray for those that are ready for the gospel, the Lord will send me to them and he will give me power from above so that I can turn their doubts into hope and happiness through the blessings of the gospel!  I think my favorite line from this whole talk though came from the beginning when he said "serving a mission will shape our destiny." How lucky am I! Throughout most of this conference I couldn’t help but think how truly blessed I am to be serving the Lord at this time in my life!  There are a gazillion other things Icould be doin,g but none of them are even close to the importance of serving the Lord full time. #VraitmentBenis.

Another talk I really loved was the first talk of the entire conference by Elder Cook. He really set the tone for the entire conference. I love how he started by letting all of us know how important and strong we really are as a church and as an individual. "Church members, especially our youth, have never been stronger!" I also love how he said it is the missionaries’ job to teach repentance. It is my job to preach repentance in the nicest way possible!  It’s no easy task either but people need to know that they can repent no matter what and become spiritually renewed in the process. What a blessing!!

Christ set the perfect example for us and was put to death in the process. "The death of Jesus Christ marked the beginning of Christian life, not the end!"  This work was not simply killed by killing God! Christ needs me to preach his gospel and defend his faith, no matter whatt!  Like Elder Holland, I too know "this is the work of the Almighty God" and I am so grateful to be able to share his message with the people of Belgium!!  Life really is the best. Conference really showed me how blessed I really am. All we have to do is pause and ponder once in a while and we will realize how much God blesses us each hour of every day!

"We can give people a fish and feed them for a day... or we can teach people to fish and feed them for a life time!"  Have a good week. Go fishing!  You best believe I will be.  Hopefully I catch a few! #Baptisms HAHA.  #NoJokeThough

Bises,

Elder Adams

#143
#Jimmer
#LifeRockz

E-mail 10-1-12

Bonjour! Cette semain etait le meilleur! (Week = the best).

Sounds like all is well in the good ole US of A. You asked a lot of questions mother so I’ll try my hardest to answer all of them.

Yessssss chocolate is amazing here! Duhhhhh. Its changed my life for sure. I probably eat like one or two bars a day. Stuff never gets old. There are so many different flavors, brands, and ways to make chocolate here so that gives me a good reason to try them all out right? Right. haha. I still don’t know how I haven’t gained a gazillion pounds. I have lost 14 so far. Not bad ehh. And no you don’t need to send me any American money. I have enough to send you some chocolate. I have small package for you and for Whitney. I will send them out tomorrow morning so they should get there next Wednesday. I already bought some of my favorite chocolate to send you this morning. #MindReader. For us to get to Paris from here it only takes a couple of hours. The train goes straight from Brussels to Paris. It goes sooooooo fast. What would probably be a 7 hour car drive turns into 2 hours thanks to the bullet train. #Blessing. We don’t spend the night when we go to Paris. Last time we just caught a train @ 7 thirty and got home around ten. Patrick picked us up and took us home (bad idea to be our after 9... people are crazzzzzy). Oh yeah and the trains are way nice. We ride like first class it feels like. The seats are like a lazy boy. #Spoiled. Yes mother, I have learned some manners. You would ask that question haha. We ate at a members house a couple of weeks ago and I got caught eatin like a dang American. Dangit. He gave me a lesson on how to use a fork and knife. Ever since then I have been a little angel. Eating is much harder and slower... but whatever makes the people happy n'est pas? And mother happy haha. Yes I spent a few bucks last week sorry about that. I bought the cheapest pair of pants I could find. They are leggit. I look like a leggit Frenchie in them. In 4 months they are having a huge thing called winter solds that lasts for like 2 weeks I think. I’m going to buy a French suit then. It will cost me about 100£. Desolet. And about the ward,  we have like 5 young men I think. 3 young women, and 5 primary aged kids. Those are just the active ones. Depending on the week we have less or more. The other missionaries here in Charleroi have there own ward. It’s about 30 minutes away from ours. It’s also a super nice building. I think that was all of your questions. Phew.

I don’t know if I told you last week but we were on the news here. I’m sure everyone in this place (Charleroi) got a good laugh haha. It was some kind of Holiday here and we were walking down the street as a marching band was going by and the news guy spotted us walking and decided to come over and interview us haha. So within seconds the film was rolling and some lady put a mic in our face and started asking questions. My companion answered a couple questions and then it was my turn. Still not sure what they asked me but Ii managed to spit some French out hahaha it was horrible. All I could say was "cetait choutte... je veins de Nevada aux Etats-Unis." It was sweet... I am from Nevada in the United States. The people nodded awkwardly and kept walking hahah. Hopefully they understood. If not Ca Va!  Good experience for sure. Oh yeah and there were these punks on our Bus and they like wanted to fight or something (can’t understand their French very well but well enough to know their intentions) so all I did was stand up to switch seats and they went running hahahahaha. People are so small here that they just shut up when they see how big I am. My height comes in handy sometimes. I can’t speak French too well yet but my body can ;) .

Well that’s about all. Sorry this email is not so spiritual. I’ll try harder next week! Tell Whitney I got her package and loved it. She’s the best. Not sure if the world knows yet (delete this part if they haven’t told anyone yet haha) but she’s preggo!  Pretty sweet.  I’m excited for them, but mostly for me.  Kids are the best!  Missionary work is the best.  Its my job to bring salvation to the families here in Charleroi. Best job ever!!! Au revoir.

Bises,

Elder ADAMZ

E-mail 9-24-12

9-24-12

Thanks for the emails. Yall are the best. Glad to hear the Raiders won and that my boi Janikowski is still a kicking machine. #LoveHim. Sounds like dad has been living the dream this last week! #HeDeservesIt. Fishing is the best. Hopefully after my mission I might learn how to do it haha. Oh ya I learned how to say fly fishing in French this week... Pécher à la mouche. Pretty leggit eh? Surprisingly it is pretty popular around here. I see quite a few people fishing every week. And yes mother there are lots of drug dealers here haha. If it was up to me we would avoid them but its kind of hard when we just knock on random peoples door ya know. #NothingICanDoAboutIt. We are teaching some great families.  They are by far the nicest people I have met so far but they still haven’t seen the Big Picture yet. SOOON!

This last week has been a crazy one. On Tuesday we had zone conference in Brussels. It was life changing. We combined the Lille zone so there were a lot of people. And this time President, his wife, and the AP's were there. The whole meeting was centered on the atonement and the importance of it in missionary work. And also we learned a lot about having a good attitude. President gave an awesome talk on the example of Nephi and Sam compared to there wicked brothers Laman and Lemuel. They all made it to the promised land, but Naphi and Sam did it with a good attitude! Pretty much I learned that this life is wayyyyyyy hard but people make it wayyyyyy harder than it needs to be! Nephi and Sam have set an AMAZING example for moi. My family has set a CLOSE to perfect example for moi. And Jesus set the PERFECT example for moi. Now I just have to try my HARDEST to follow all of these examples in my life! I won’t be perfect but with the Atonement of Jesus Christ it is POSSIBLE! Nephi and Sam didn’t complain but rather they forgot about themselves! There is so much to be learned from this sweet story. We all have the chance to find the promise land after this life so why not do it the easy way! With Christ helping us along. President also emphasized where the promise land is right now in moi life and... AND ITS RIGHT HERE IN BELGIUM! AND SOON TO BE FRANCE. So pretty much to sum it up... Just try to be like NEPHI!!! Spiritually and Physically (dudes got a nice bod).

And also on Wednesday I got to go to Paris to do my legality. I am finally legal to live here! Maybe I’ll stay here forever? je blogggg. It was a really fun trip though. I got to be companions for a whole day with my man Elder Walton! He’s the best. Maybe you don’t remember but he was in my district at the MTC.  Oh and Paris is sooo crazzy. There are some craazzy peeps that be livin there. Hopefully I get to serve there one day!

Well that’s about all for this week. Actually just kidding. On Wednesday I got to have my first Rachlette meal!  It was a real nice treat.  Maybe the best thing that ever happened to my MOUTH. Rachlette is so simple but so leggit.  All it requires is meat, cheese, onions, and a HUGE potato. The cheese gets melted on a Rachlette machine along with onions and then you pour it on your potato. How did I not know about this earlier in my life?  Just when I thought I had had a potato every way possible I was wrong.  Not sure if they have rachlette cookers in America, but if they do you should buy one!

Love yall to the moon and back. And Back. And Back. And Back.

Elder A.

#OneLove #LifeRocks #BelgiumIsThePromiseLand

E-mail 9-17-12

Family,

Thanks for the awesome email. Yall rock! This week was yet again a real treat. I say that every week but I have tooo, cuz its true! The people here are the best. My ward is the best. The food is the best. Learning French is stinkin hard, but its the best. And of course serving a mission is the best. Everything about my life right now is pretty much the best haha except for the fact that I have to wake up at 6 thirty every morning (not sure I will ever like that).

Questions- Patrick is the man. He works for the brand Kraft. Just like the one in America I think. He is the best. I will tell him that you say thank you. And yes the pictures you saw were at a Chinese Restaurant from a couple of weeks ago. It was really good.  It reminded me a lot of American food. And they had an ice cream bar #Weakness #HeavenOnEarth.  And he only travels to the US once a year I believe. I think he usually just visits Utah. I would tell him to come say hi to you when he visits the US of A but last time I checked no one in the family spoke French haha. Language barriers are the WORST. Trust me.

This week was super bizarre.  On Thursday we taught a sweet old man named F. He has fruged (didn’t show up to the lesson) us about 5 times but finally he decided to see us! The second he let us in his house I wished he would have fruged us again hahah just kidding. But for reals the house reeeeekd. In his house he had 35 Chinchillas (rabbit looking demon things), 25 huge trap door spiders, and é huge fish tanks full of a million different things. All of these things are in his living room and kitchen! Who does that? haha. He lives in the garage and has a little kitchen set up in his garage so that all of his animals can live in the house. That’s some serious love. Probably a little to much love, n'est pas? But other than all that nonsense the lesson went surprisingly well. We taught him the Plan du Salut (salvation) and gave him a Book of Mormon. We were able to answer a lot of his questions and he said he would read the Book of Mormon. Hopefully he does!

Another bizarre rendez-vous was with a man named G. They live in a mansion. When we knocked on the door his wife let us in and went to find her husband. We literally sat in the mansion for 15 minutes before anybody came down to talk to us haha #Awkward. Finally the man came down the stairs and introduced himself.  We went out back on his porch and talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ. The lesson was awesome.  During the lesson we taught him about the atonement and the power of repentance.

Well I think that’s about all I got. The French is coming along better and better each week. The "French" light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter and brighter. It’s without a doubt the hardest thing I have ever had to do but with the help of the Lord anything is possible. Oh yeah, we set a baptismal date this week for R! I am excited for her.  Life here is the best! Stay Awesome. #churchIsTrue

XOXO Avec Amour,

Elder A.

E-mail 9-10-12

Fam,

Thanks for the emails Mom and Dad. You’re the best. This week was awesome! Sundays here are always really fun. I love the anticipation of seeing who will show up to church each week. This week we had three investigators come. We should’ve had six but ca va. It is so awesome watching people learn about the gospel and partaking of the sacrament when they still don’t even know if anything they are doing is completely true! The people here have got some faith! I have a good feeling about this next transfer. If all goes well I see a lot of success for us in the future but more importantly I see a lot of success in the future of the investigators. Hopefully they begin to see the big picture soon and the importance of baptism! I remember very clearly before my mission everyone telling me that I will probably not have any baptisms but that’s okay as long as I gain a testimony and become better myself. Not true! With that attitude no work will get done here in Europe. So many missionaries here still believe that and to me it is kind of sad. Our goal as missionaries is to help others come unto Christ by baptism! Before I left on my mission I would be lying if I said I didn’t agree with everyone and accepted the fact that I might not have any baptisms. I am so grateful for awesome AP's and for other missionaries who have helped me to have an attitude of baptism. A good attitude really does affect the outcome. 

Oh yeah and for the first time on my mission I had the opportunity to bless the sacrament this week! It was a train wreck. It took me three times before I did it correct! haha. I am such a loser. You’d think that if you had a card right in front of your face you could read it but I guess its not that easy when its in French haha. That’s definitely something I will need to practice this next week during language study. The language has been coming along very well this last week. Without a doubt the hardest thing for me is pronunciation. I sound way to AMERICAN. I have so many words in my head from all the flash cards I study but each time I go to spit them out the people have no clue what I am trying to say haha. It makes perfectly good sense in my BIG head but these little Belgians don’t seem to get it. With time and the Lords help I hope this can be fixed! These last couple of days me and my companion have taught some awesome lessons. Lots of the time he has to teach most of the lesson but this week we were pretty even! One lesson I talked for 3 minutes without stopping! Doesn’t sound like much but it IS. I almost didn’t even have to think and the words were just flowing out! With the help of the spirit anything really is possible, even Elder Adams speaking le Français!

I hope all is well back home! Life here is the best. Being a missionary is the best. Oh yeah, and a happy bday to my bro! #SuchAStud. #22AndStillNotMarried? #HurryUp.

Avec amour,

Elder Adamz