Hey! Glad to hear that things are going well back at home! Sounds like you guys have been having a pretty fun week! That hit and run race sounds pretty fun! Man, sounds like normal running is way out of style now. No more normal 5K's or anythign like that. It's gotta have all the bells and whistles and stuff haha! Well, I am excited to try it when I get home! Hopefully its still around and not just a fad! But sounds like its a bit painful, too haha! How do they make it a race with all the waiting in line and stuff?
And man, those pictures of the Ogden Temple are amazing! It looks beautiful! I can't wait to see it in person! When are they doing the dedication? Is there going to be some big youth festival thing for it? That is fun that you could take some other friends and neighbors to see it, too! That is a great missionary tool, because they will feel something there, and later hopefully recognize a desire to return there and go inside again. And then they will figure out what they have to do to go inside again :) We'll keep praying for them!
So, things here have been a bit slow this week. We had several investigators reject the message saying that they don't believe it is true. And we had our progressing investigator, Pak Mafud, who had a baptismal date a few weeks ago reject us this week. That one was really hard. He had had a spiritual confirmation of the truth of our message, but he decided that it was too difficult to move from his old church to ours after having been there so long. And his choice was especially confirmed after he talked to his pendeta. So that was a major bummer this week and made us all quite sad for him and disappointed. But we gave him the seed, and I guess we have to accept that he has his agency to do what he wants. It is just sad to see him reject something that he has had a witness of, and to lose so many blessings. But, we will keep moving forward.
So, our teaching pool took a big hit this week, which is hard, especially knowing I have a new companion coming in next week.
But we still have an investigator that wants to come to church and is really progressing. His only problem is that his wife won't let him come to church. yet. But he is still working on it and hopefully it will happen soon. We have an Indonesian Independence Day party at the church this Saturday, and we are going to try to get them to come to a non-threatening activity like that. So hopefully that will happen.
And Brother W is still doing really well! He is really progressing and has turned completely toward Christianity. Now we are just helping him gain an understanding of what we believe and helping him strengthen his testimony, and helping him prepare for baptism! Hopefully we can get him there soon! So that is really exciting! Such a blessing and a joy to see someone's life change!
This week I have been in a 3-some with Elder Honda and his new companion, Elder Hariyadi. He is a really cool guy! He just transferred here from Manado. He is actually the missionary that replaced me in Manado! And he told me that one of the investigators that I started teaching when I was in Manado got baptized just a few weeks ago! So that was super exciting and rewarding to hear! And I am just waiting to get my new companion on Thursday or Friday this week.
Well, I am glad to hear that you guys are having fun and things are going well at home! I love getting your emails every week! It brightens my day! Keep letting me know what's going on! How are the bees? Any honey yet? How is the mustang project going? Any pictures? What else is going on?
Well, I love you all and I love being a missionary! The work is hard, and yes, dad, sometimes I do feel like I am pushing against an unmoving rock. But I guess that's what sometimes has to happen. And then the Lord will come in with His timing. Things will turn around here! There is great potential! And it makes it all worth it to see someone like Brother W accept the gospel and see it change his life and bless him and his family! I am so grateful we have that blessing in our family!
I love you! Have a great week!
Love Elder Wood
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