Happy Sunday Night! (Monday morning here... haha still kinda weird!)
So, sounds like you all had a good week! Lots of fun things going on! The picture of that spider (I'm not even going to try to spell 'terantula' haha) was pretty crazy! Haha we actually don't see stuff like that too often here, but lots of cockroaches, rats and really ugly stray cats...but that is pretty cool looking! Poor lady standing there frozen! Did Duke try to eat it?
And glad that your new job is going well, mom! Haha that is so funny to hear you say "work was good this week." Usually I only hear that from dad. But that is exciting that you have that opportunity! That is going to be fun it sounds like! Hopefully you continue to enjoy it!
And that is so fun that you got to go meet all those missionaries and talk to them! They are some of the best people I know! Haha its weird to see them all at home though! It wasn't too long ago I saw them all at zone conference! They are a great group of friends!
Well, this week was another really good week! We had some good success with finding and teaching! We were able to teach a lot more new investigators! We have been really blessed with finding lately! And now hopefully in the coming weeks we can really get all of our follow-up appointments with our new investigators, older investigators, and continue finding even more investigators! Hopefully we will become super busy with teaching appointments in the next few weeks!
Brother W is still doing well! This week he wore a white shirt to church! Although it seems small, that was another big step in his progression! Because up to this point he hasn't wanted to wear a white shirt. His wife told us that he had a tie in the car but last second decided not to wear it. So, Elder T asked him about it at some point and said "Where's the tie?" And Brother W responded "Maybe I'll wear a tie at my baptism!" Haha he's a pretty funny guy! But hey, he knows where he is heading! Now we just are working on helping him commit to a date! Hopefully sooner rather than later! Because the ward is waiting on planning their temple trip next year for him to get baptized haha! He is great! He is really reading all 4 of the Standard Works completely of his own desire, and he always writes and asks us his questions, because it is all new to him! We are just trying to get him to get the Holy Ghost so that he can learn that much faster!
We found another new family this week that is awesome! We just taught them the first time last Saturday. The father used to be a captain of a ship, and has been all over the world. He is Indonesian but speaks fluent English. The wife is Venezuelan and speaks perfect Indonesian. We showed up and the husband found out we were Mormons and immediately was super interested in what the Book of Mormon is. When he was sailing, he said he would often stay in hotels in America and he would open up the drawer and see two Bibles--the normal one and the "Mormon Bible" (He must have been staying in Marriott hotels haha!) He said he had often seen the Book of Mormon, but never really read it. Then just a few weeks ago he downloaded the English version onto his Ipad to read on a flight while he was bored. But he had never really known what it was or read it seriously. But he was very interested in our explanation and very excited to read the Book and he wants to come to church next week as well! So that was super exciting! Then he tried to give us like 30 bucks on our way out the door, which is quite a lot of money here. We are completely out of money this week because of reimbursements on taxis going back and forth to Senopati several times. So at that time we only had like 2 dollars in each of our wallets to live until this months allowance came in today. But, despite the great temptation, we obediently declined haha! But we laughed about it afterward and how tempting it was! But they want to meet again, and are super cool!
We have found and taught several other investigators and had a good time this week as well! And today we have a few follow-up appointments this evening after we finish emailing, so that is exciting!
Oh, this week we were riding and I got a flat tire. Luckily there are a lot of places on the side of the road to get it patched up. But where it went flat happened to be in one of the nicest parts of town where there are none of these places. So we had to walk for over a half hour until we found one of these places. Turns out that it went flat because I had worn a hole all the way through the outer tire, so they stuck some rubber inside there to temporary patch it, patched the tube, and I was on my way temporarily. But we had to replace the whole tire that night. Too much riding haha!
This week I have been studying a lot on how to be a "whole-hearted missionary." I don't really know how to explain exactly what I have learned, but there is a lot haha! Lots of just ideas like how to work better with other missionaries and companions, how to really love investigators, and other things. But the one that most hit me was in first few verses of Alma 17 that I read today, with a connection to 1 Cor 2:4 I think is the reference. It is about fasting, praying, and studying. But the purpose of it is not to become smarter. It is to gain power. In Corinthians, Paul talks about not converting people by convincing or flattering words, but of speaking simple words that are filled with power and the spirit, and letting the Spirit do the convincing. So that is something I am really going to work on, is keeping my speech simple, and praying and working to get power behind my words from the Spirit.
Well, I am so glad that you are all doing well and having great weeks! I love you all and can't wait to hear from you each week! Thanks for your letters! Love you!
Love Elder Wood
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