Training, Teaching and Thankfulness

January 20, 2011

"Hey everyone!

Today's email should be longer than the last one...Lot to talk about and longer time. :D

Well this week has been good so far. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we had a specialized training in Murfreesboro. So that's why Pday is today instead of on Monday. We are here in Nashville! Elder Waltman (my comp)had a Dr. Appointment, so we thought we would spend the day in Nashville since we were already here.

It’s a very cold day. People say we are expecting a snow
storm...not sure how big or small, but it’s very lightly flurrying right
now...you can barely see it kind of snow.

It has been a really good week, lots of learning, and lots of spiritual things. We went over some of
the new 8 lessons that the brethren have come out with that will help us teach
better. They are...1) the doctrine of Christ-The missionary Purpose. 2) The
role of the holy ghost in Conversion. 3) Revelation through prayer 4)
Revelation through the BofM. 5) Revelation through Church attendance. 6) Teach
People, Not lessons. 7) We invite, they commit, we follow up and #8) How to
begin teaching.

I actually wish they came out with these when I first came out because I have become a much better
teacher since they have come out, and I have learned a TON in studying them. They can all be found in "Preach My Gospel" Which by the way is a goodbook...I love it. I encourage yall to study it out...especially Chapter4...Recognizing the Spirit(my favorite).

Had some pretty cool experiences. I got to stay with the current Stones River Elders that are now there. On Tuesday night me and Elder Bassett(one of the missionaries that are there) went to an investigator who is reading the BofM and he wants to find truth. The lesson went really well, at
the end of the lesson we invited him to say a kneeling prayer....probably one of the most powerful moments on my mission. The spirit was SUPER strong. But I don’t think he realized it, but I
was able to point it out to him, and I asked him how he felt, and he said peaceful and calm. It was a very special moment. I will probably remember that one forEVER.  But all in all the past 3
days have been really, really spiritual for me. I just love this gospel, it is awesome, and I am so glad I have this opportunity to serve the Lord.

Oh, on Sunday night we had an awesome lesson with our Ward mission leaders nephew. He has been meeting with us for about a month now, and we set a baptismal date with him!!!!!! We set it for February 6th. His name is Josh Reed, so if you could keep him in your prayers that
would be awesome.

I like Tullahoma a lot. Sister Mills and I had a good conversation on Sunday after church, and as
well as Brother Mills. She told me the last time I saw her in church I was interrupting
sacrament meeting :) But we plan on having breakfast with them on Saturday morning....oh and thanks for the box!!!!! and tell Diana, if you can find the Tennessee
shirt she can burn it or throw it away...I have repented of wearing the T shirt
:) haha.

Yesterday was President Hutchings birthday! Not sure how old
he is, but our whole Zone gave him a tie. I have some good pictures of it.

How was your week? Hope it was good. Hmmm...Can't really
think of anything else. Oh, my companion’s name is Elder Waltman. He is from
Alberdine Idaho...not sure if that’s how you spell Alberdine but yeah. We get
along really well, and have lots of fun together.

We are going to head back to Tullahoma shortly, after we take some pictures of downtown, and go exploring  :D. Today has been a good day so far. And it was good to be back in Murfreesboro for a couple days, and to see
people...seems like people remember me and miss me so I guess I had done some
good things there. And I found out that a less active is now active. I
worked with him ALOT when I was there and he is trying to be a good missionary. He
was so shocked to see me there, but very happy to see me.

But yeah I am doing good and loving life, and loving every moment of my mission. Thank you all so
much for your love and support that you have shown me while I have been out here. I really do appreciate it. :) It's hard to believe how fast time goes, but I guess that’s what happens when you are serving the Lord and serving people you love. Because I have truly come to love the people here. No matter what walks of life they have been through.; Just thought I would take a moment
to Thank everybody. So THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOU HAVE DONE FOR ME!!!! I
LOVE ALL OF YOU!

Till Next week

I LOVE YOU

-Elder Tim Edgell"

SNOW!!

Here's this week's update from Elder Edgell.
I heard f rom Sis. Mills, my friend in Tullahoma (we knew them in Alabama 1987-90, Tim was born during that time) and she said they have had close to 18 inches of snow there.
Missionaries can't drive when roads are dangerous. Hmmm...guess they get lots of service and study time.

January 11,2011

"Hey everyone....this will just be a quick email.

We got about 7 inches of snow! We got snowed in yesterday,
and couldn't drive till later this evening...we are using a members computer
just to let ya'll know we are safe, and somewhat warm.

I did get transferred, but still at Tullahoma...and yes I am in Sister Mills ward...we were supposed
to go out to eat with them last night, but due to bad roads we weren’t able to.
We are going to reschedule for later this week.

But everything is going good.

Heard Auburn won the National Championship game :D. I am
sure Doug is happy about that one. I am too it just proves that the SEC is the
best conference in the Nation :D.

Also heard from the members we are at that y’all are
supposed to get the snow we got, but a lot more. Hope you survive :D.

Everything is good. We had a really good week last week.
Interviews went good, need to make improvements. But don’t we all. My companion
and I are working really hard on being STRICT in EVERYTHING. I went on
exchanges last week Wed-Friday, went good, got a lot of work done.

Ummm, that’s all I can think of. Since it is Martin Luther
King Jr. Day next Monday I will be emailing next Tuesday....hopefully no
weather restrictions...we hear there is supposed to be another bad storm  coming through, rain/ice...let’s hope not.

But yup I am doing good. Surviving the snow...we made a snow
man :D...just a little one, but I have pictures of it. Hope you survive your
winter storm....love you all

Talk to y’all next week.

-Elder Edgell"

Happy New Year from Tullahoma, TN

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!

First week in Tullahoma was a good one! Hope everyone had a safe and fun New Years. I know I had a fun New Years. New Years Eve and New Years Day were both Pdays and a much needed break.

New Years day was an all day P-day and I had a great time with the Zone. We got to watch Toy Story 3! It is a really good movie. I always loved the Toy Story sagas. I think 3 is the funniest. We played LOTS of dodge ball, and LOTS of basketball, and of course the best part of the day was watching the movie. Our one movie we get to watch each year, well I guess technically we get to watch two, Christmas and New Years. But anyways it was a blast.

Yes, it was a shock to get transferred, but the new ward/area is great!

I think it is evenly spread out between old and young, unlike my last ward, where it was just old people. Our ward mission leader is awesome. He is a dentist, and very, very nice. His name is Brother Lynn. We ate dinner over there last night. His office is way cool too.

Hopefully I can send y’all some pictures here soon.

We start [church] at 9:00, but we have to be there at 7:30 for meetings, and we are the only ward that meets.
Yes, we do have our own washer and dryer...THANK GOODNESS...it’s nice. It’s more of a duplex, than an apartment. I like it much better than my last apartment that’s for sure. And we live in a pretty good neighborhood.

Elder Reeder is my District Leader...if you remember, I served with him in Sulphur Well. He was my first companion back, and I came out with him...this is my district’s last transfer...it’s weird to think that they are going home in 4 weeks :/.

We are working with some really solid people here. I am excited. We have a lot of potentials that could be baptized this month. So things are really looking up here in Tullahoma.

The ward is good, investigators good, weather is EXTREMLY nice for this time of year, especially compared to last year this time, it was in the negatives...but I’m thankful for the great weather here.

I had the opportunity this morning during my studies to reflect on last year, and what I accomplished.
I actually did a lot last year. This year is going to be better.
My motto for this year...."2011 is going to be THE BEST EVER." So I am excited for the new year, a fresh start, and a lot of goals to accomplish before I go home.

Well, I think that’s it for this week.

Not much else new here, other than my new area that I like and my companion and I are getting along. Oh, interviews are in Murfreesboro on Thursday morning, so I am excited to be able to go back and see M'Boro.

Oh and relation to Nashville, it is south east, not sure how far out, but our area borders the Alabama border. Which I hope to go down to sometime and get my picture taken in front of "Welcome to Alabama".

We also have a full time car, and 1200 miles, which is really nice to have a fulltime car. :p

Well that’s it. Hope everyone is doing well, and having a great New Year!

HAPPY 2011

Hope y’all have a good week :D

-Elder Edgell

PS MOM.....I actually found shoes in my apartment, that are pretty much new and they fit :D"

Phone Call and Transfers

It was great to talk with our missionary on Christmas Day. He sounded great and is loving serving the people in TN. He's learning and growing a lot. It's possible that was our last phone call. He may return home right before Mother's Day.

December 28, 2010

"Nothing new other than I got transferred to Tullahoma, TN. My new companion is Elder Waltman and he is from a small town just outside of Pocatello Idaho. I’m no longer District Leader, but I am senior companion.


The libraries were closed yesterday so we were unable to email. I actually just got in about 25 minutes ago, settling in to my new apartment/area. It’s another small town, but so far I like it.

Sounds like good things are going on here, looking forward to being able to be a part of something great and it feels good to be back in the McMinville zone.

It was good to talk with everyone! Hope all is still well.

Nope we didn’t get any snow from the snow storm, but I heard about it from other people. It's actually supposed to be pretty nice the next few days and I heard it was supposed to be in the 60s on Saturday.YAY!!! Just got snow on Christmas!! I think that was my first white Christmas..not sure though.

Well ,that’s all for now. Till next week. LOVE YOU ALL AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR LOVE AND SUPPORT, AND IT WAS SOOOO GOOD TO TALK TO YA'LL ON SATURDAY

Thanks again for your love and support.

Love you all :D

-Elder Edgell"

Merry Christmas!

Dec. 20. 2010


Hey ya'll!!!

First things first...Christmas day!!! I can't believe it’s already Christmas again. Seems like we just had one. So not sure exactly what time I will be calling but most likely around 2 our time, so that would be 3 your time... We will be at a members home Christmas Eve and Christmas morning and later on that day, when we will be calling. I am also excited about being able to talk to yall...will everyone be around so I can talk to them? Sure hope so. But so yeah 2:00 my time. So 3 your time. We only have 40 minutes to talk this year. The missionary department and President recommend it .But hey 40 minutes is better than nothing. :D.

Glad to hear that ya'lls Christmas program was good yesterday. Ours was too. I think one of the High Council men spoke. The ward choir here is actually really good. They had a really nice program. Sadly though none of our investigators were at church yesterday :(. Not sure exactly why, but we will find out this week hopefully. Samson one of our investigators came during priesthood, he woke up late, because he had to work late last night. And we pretty much had dropped him because we taught him everything already, and we told him that it is up to him now to figure things out and to keep praying. We told him he can still come to church, and still read, but we can't do much more for him. We can give him support but that’s about it. Olin Kiley is doing well too.

We went on splits with the Zone Leaders on Friday. It was pretty good. I went with Elder Swenson (he came out with me) and Elder Hamblin went with Elder Rosecranes, our other ZL.

Olin is doing good from what I have heard. He has been studying in the index of the Book of Mormon about baptism and repentance. He told Elder Hamblin and Elder Rosecranes he is not sure how to start repenting, or where to begin. So I was able to study for him this morning, and actually learned new things about repentance. I love being able to study in the morning and then try to apply them in my missionary work.

That is pretty much all we are working with right now, we dropped alot of our investigators this past week. We pretty much are starting from scratch. So there is going to be alot of tracting this coming week..woo who.

Other than that, I am just trying to figure out how I can get this area moving. And how I can get the members excited about missionary work enough to get alot of referrals, and alot of things going for us. :D.

But overall this past week was a good one. I got my package from the John's and also Sister Bastian. Haven't gotten yours yet...should most likely get it today or tomorrow, we will see though. Hopefully today :D. Oh, and also got one from Melissa as well. So I have gotten 3 packages so far. When I get stamps, I will be sure to send of thank yous to everyone.

Hope you do get to see the Christmas lights, that would be awesome. They actually canceled the Temple trip last week due to an ice storm that was supposed to come through. Not sure exactly when I will be going to the temple again, but hopefully soon.

This next week we have TWO PDAYS in a row!!!! Exciting! Friday and Saturday. So today is just a half a pday to get laundry done and emailing and shopping done.

Looking forward to talking with y’all Saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IM SO EXCITED!IIIIIIIIIIII Hope y’all have a great week, and stay safe traveling!!!!!

LOVE YOU ALL AND WILL TALK TO YALL ON SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :b

Love,

-Elder Edgell :D

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :) :) :) :b

Snow,Obedience and Candy Canes

December 13,2010

HEY HEY HEY!
Hey everyone!

It’s been really cold the past few days. Yesterday it didn’t even get out of the 20s.....It snowed all day and night Sunday. Got at least 3 inches of snow. Library was closed yesterday so we were unable to email.

We had Zone Conference today...actually just got out of ZC.

It was fun walking around last night....it reached about 15 degrees, with a windchill of about 8. We saw multiple temps all on different thermometers, all I know is it was cold. I realized after last night that I don’t have any winter stuff...I have a sweater, and a light jacket, and gloves, but that’s about it. I was actually fairly warm; I wear my PJ pants underneath my slacks, to keep my legs warm. It was fun to see it snow again. Church was let out an hour early. Samson and Olin came to church on Sunday. They are doing well. We haven’t met with Olin for about a week now, but he is doing well from what he said on Sunday, it's always good to see people come to church, makes me happy.

Last week was a good week. Monday night especially. We went to see a former investigator. His name is Rick Wills. He is way awesome, and way humble. The reason why he stopped meeting with the other missionaries who began to teach him was because he was finalizing a divorce, and it didn’t go the way he wanted it to, well the way with the custody for his 3 year old son. Anyways to make a long story short we set a baptismal date with him!!!!!! YAY! It was supposed to be for Christmas day, but he didn’t come to church on Sunday, so it is going to be post ponned for the 26th. And we haven’t gotten in contact with him since last Friday. So please keep him in your prayers that he will be able to make his baptismal date for that weekend. :D. Cuz I learned a very powerful lesson on how prayers are truly answered. And I will leave it at that, the story is too long to share on here, so I will just wait till Christmas probably and tell yall.

This past week we found 10 new people to teach!!!! So excited for what’s happening in the area, and what’s happening in the mission. So we came out with a new rule of only Mormon Tabernacle choir and Conference talks, so nothing else except that. So I am going to pack away all my CDs so I can follow our new rule. We can’t even listen to Christmas music, but it will help keep us more focused on the work.

The "Traveling Zone Leaders" were with us Saturday and Sunday. It’s Elder Davis and Elder Culvur. Elder Davis came out with me, so it was good to see him again. But it was a really good two days. Learned a lot, and found 7 new investigators in one day! Excited to see what this week will bring.

I have the wonderful opportunity to go to the temple tomorrow, and I am so excited. I get to do all the ordinances. Baptisms, sealings, endowments, etc, etc...I got my temple recommend renewed after Zone Conference. Which by the way was a way good ZC today.

We talked about and focused on the Life of Christ mostly, because of the Christmas season. I learned a lot more about Christ that I thought I already knew, but I was able to re-learn it again, which is always good to renew memory. But it was awesome to learn more about the life and ministry of Christ, Also learned something about the candy cane that Sister Hutchings shared. And this is something like how it goes. Take a candy cane and flip it upside down, what letter does it make? It makes a J. What does J stand for? Why of course Jesus. What else does the candy cane look like? Well it looks like a staff that a shepherd uses. Jesus is the shepherd....so that’s why we have the candy cane. I thought it was a cool story, of course there is a lot more detail to it than that, but that’s the gist of the story. But all in all Zone Conference was good, and looking forward to Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, not sure what time I will be calling yet. We are going over to a member’s house in the evening, so my guess is around 6 or 7....I will most likely call a little bit earlier though, since it is the weekend and we get free weekend minutes...but this year we only have 40 minutes. Our mission is trying to follow the "White Bible" more fully and to the exactness. So not sure when I will be calling. I think Elder Hamblin will call in the afternoon sometime. I will talk to the Drapers to see what time. But remember that yall are an hour ahead.

Well, other than being cold I’m doing good....oh one more thing....I NEED NEW SHOES ASAP!!!!!!!!! They are falling apart, and they are old and stink! And I’m out of stamps. But other than that things are going well.

Working hard, trying to be as obedient as I can. I will let you know what time I’ll call you next week...

LOVE YOU LOTS!!!!!!!!!!

TALK TO YALL NEXT WEEK!!!!!!!

BRRRR.........

DECEMBER 6, 2010

Hey everyone!
Hope everyone had a good week, like I did. I was in Franklin/Madison all week. We had leadership meetings. Every district leader/Zone Leader/assistant in the mission was there, it was actually really fun. I learned a TON! They were definitely long days, but they were very spiritual indeed. I received alot of revelation on how I can do better as a DL, and how I can be a better missionary. I enjoyed it ALOT!

Each night we had to accomplish 3 commitments that President would come up with along with us that we all agreed on.

So here is how the meetings ran, we got there around 8:45am and got out around 4:00. I stayed with our Zone Leaders and with another District leader. After our meetings we would go out and apply what we learned. On the first night we had to talk about baptism in every lesson, ask inspired questions, and point out if they felt the Holy Ghost. The first night we got 2 out of the 3, we were unable to point out the Holy Ghost, because whenever the investigator felt it, he would crack a joke, so I think he was uncomfortable with it. But over all we had a good first night.

The rest of the nights were to have a kneeling prayer, continue talking about baptism, and somehow teach the Law of Chastity....that was a fun one.

We actually got to kind of teach it on Saturday night. It randomly came up in our lesson with Olin Kiley because he had previously had a female roommate, and she moved out, but she wants to come back because she is homeless. He didn't want her back in so he was unsure and asked, and we, mostly me taught him about it. But you have to remember E. Hamblin is still a greenie :D.

Olin was able to come to church yesterday, and I think he liked it. Samson still continues to come, has a problem with modern day prophets, and he wants archaeological evidents of the BofM to prove its true. So we are still overcoming those obstacles with him. Our Bishop actually helped us teach him last night after the Christmas Devotional, which was really good bytheway. It was a LONG lesson...we didn't get out of the church till 10:30!! He just has a ton of questions...we tried leaving multiple times, but he just keep talking, and bishop keep talking as well. But we are getting close. He called us just a little bit ago, and told me that he had read Alma 32 again, and also continued reading from the beginning. He didn't really understand 1 Nephi 3. So we are going to have to read it with him and explain it...but he understands Alma alot better than that. He told us he also prayed about, it but didn't really get to talk much. But things are going well there.

The family that we had a lesson with last Monday went really well. She sadly did not come to church though. :(. Not sure why. But we are going to call them later today and find out why. Our next appointment with them is Dec. 14th. Their names are the Lees, and they were a HQ referral.

Things are going well, lessons were low due to me being in Madison all week. Taught 10, and had 4 new investigators.

Looking forward to this week. I love Christmas time as a missionary because we can focus alot on our Savior and help people come closer to Him.

How cool would it be to be baptized on Christmas day? My goal this month is to try and baptize someone on that day. I'm hoping it is Samson. Maybe even Olin. But we will have to wait and see what the Lord wants. Not what we want.

This past week was Freeezing! It's supposed to be in the upper 30s/40s from what we have heard. Today I think is supposed to be 40 and a low of 17....brrr. Cold, but I'd rather be cold than warm. It's nice to have it finally cold, instead of Blazing hot.

I did get your package. Thanks!!!! I'm going to try and get you a picture today. But like I said before, I can't do it at the Library, so I am going to do it at a members home later on. So you should get it later on today :D.

Glad you all will be able to make it down there for Christmas, I am sure that Oma Viv will enjoy that very much. Give her a hug for me when you see her...I need to write her today.

Well I think that's it. Other than knocking on doors in really cold weather, and getting doors slammed in our faces, I am livin the life here in Tennessee :D. Hope everyone has a great week this week!!!!!!!!! Happy First week of December and Happy St. Nickolaus Day!!!! and Happy Anniversary to Aaron and Anna, tomorrow..right? I don't know how I remembered that one :D

And happy Pearl Harbor day tomorrow as well.



LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elder Edgell :D