Friends From Home

Hey!  So it was pretty crazy to see the Sheffields here!  That was pretty fun!  Kinda weird to see friends from home.  And it was weird, because it didn't seem like it had been a year and a half since I had seen them!  But they said everything back home is good, that you guys are all looking good and doing well.  But they said that dad, you seem the most trunky of the family to them haha!  But not really trunky, just missing having another man around.  But they laughed about the things you have bought.  Especially the fatty bike haha!  But they brought the packages!  Thank you so much!  They are awesome!  Everyone has been loving the cookies and stuff!  And the Donalds were so appreciative of their gifts!  They seemed really touched and said to tell you thank you so much for them. 

Well, this week has been pretty good.  On Tuesday we had Mission Leader Conference and got to sit down and hear President Donald lay down revelation for the mission for several hours!  That is always a really cool and inspiring experience!  I always learn a ton from those things!  And after that, we met the Sheffields and talked for a while.  Then the next few days were pretty normal and uneventful.  Then on Friday we had Zone Conference, and we had to teach.  But it went pretty well I think.  We talked a little bit about the "Which Way do you Face" talk from conference, and also a lot about the Book of Mormon--back to the basics, and how we can use the Book of Mormon to help members do their missionary work, as well as to help the leaders to fulfill their duty to fellowship and involve new converts as well as to become examples in missionary work.  I think it is something that can help make a positive difference, so hopefully it will go well.  

Then on Saturday morning we went and had an appointment with a former investigator that we found in the area book and called up.  We had a great lesson with him reviewing the Restoration and stuff, gave him the baptismal commitment, which he received!  That was awesome!  And then talked a little bit about the Word of Wisdom because we knew that would be something that he would need to overcome to be prepared for baptism.  We didn't have time to teach the whole lesson, but we let him know what he would need to do, i.e. stop smoking, drinking, etc.  He said it would be hard but that he would try because he felt that everything we were telling him about the Book of Mormon was true, and he wants to build his relationship with God.  So we told him we will explain more later and help him, and he said he would start trying now.  So that was awesome!  His name is H, and he has a date for the 18th of January.  So that is exciting!

Yesterday we had the English ward Christmas party.  We had a few new members come, and we went to a members house and sang Christmas carols and ate delicious food and desserts!  And we even had Egg Nog!  It was awesome!  And it finally helped to start feeling the Christmas season, too!  And we had a member who has been working really hard to do missionary work for the last several weeks.  He finally got two of his friends to come to the party and we were able to contact them and get their numbers!  So that was awesome!  Then he got an amazing blessing for his efforts, because he came here and married a Muslim woman,  and she has been super closed off to the church lately, and wouldn't receive missionary visits.  But she wanted to come to the party tonight, and a new member really fellowshipped her and got the sisters an appointment with them!  So that was awesome!  Her husband was shocked when he heard the news, but was super happy!  So it was a great night.

Today we have just been playing some futsal and emailing.

So I got a cool little Christmas service opportunity for you.  There is a member here who is from the Phillipines. Her son is in the MTC in Provo right now, and we were talking about him yesterday.  She was saying that it is so hard to send him packages from so far away, and that it is hard for him because he is the only one in the group that never gets packages from home.  So, sorry, I volunteered you to send him some cookies or something fun for the holidays, because it is also his birthday soon as well, and she doesn't know how to get anything to him.  So I got his address.  It is

Elder B

2007 N 900 E 

Provo UT 84602

I told her you could maybe send him some cookies and a note or something simple, and she seemed really touched and appreciative and said to tell you thank you so much!  So if you could do that, that would be awesome!

Other than that, things here are going well!  I love you so much and love hearing from you!  Thanks again for the packages and stuff!  You guys are awesome!  I can't wait to talk to you on Christmas!  Love You!

Elder Wood