Hey, so good to hear from you all! Sounds like things have been busy
back at home! Even with only one child around! Haha, bet that's
kinda weird, huh Eliza? But hopefully Girls camp was fun! But glad
things are going well! Man, I miss Ragnar! My second one that I
haven't ran! Bummer! But glad you guys did it and had fun! You
should totally sign up for next year! That would be fun, and it would
give me something to get in shape for when I get home! And thanks for
the pictures from it, those are awesome! Man, mountains, blue skies,
and running! Don't make me too trunky! Haha just kidding!
Man, Sabrina, touring Europe! That's pretty sweet! Hope you had a
great time there and have a safe trip home! I can't wait to hear more
about it!
Dad, thanks for your thoughts and stuff! I needed that this week! It
was really good, and we had a lot of experiences that relate to that
principle, so that was good!
Oh, and hope you guys have a good time preparing for Pioneer trek and
all that stuff! Cool! Have fun!
So, this week has been pretty good. I kind of have been playing dad
here a little bit. Being District Leader is a big responsibility.
Last Monday I had to spend the whole P-Day getting service guys over
to get the AC fixed and then going fridge and mattress shopping. Then
on Tuesday morning the washing machine broke, so I had to get people
over to fix that, too! Lets just say that my missionary budget and my
personal budget is shot, and I am waiting for a huge reimbursement to
come in from the office! But it made me think about when I am married
and I have to pay for those things and I don't have the comfort of
knowing I just have to wait for a reimbursement! Scary!!! But, now
its all taken care of, the AC works, the washing machine works, the
new fridge has been delivered, and the new mattress is here too. Now
all I have left is to figure out what to do with the old fridge. But
that's simple and not time-constrained. So that's good. But Tuesday
morning was stressful, because I was on the phone trying to do money
transfers, working with the washing machine repair guys, trying to
figure out appointments, and talking to President who was asking me
how to rearrange the areas and what to do about housing and stuff.
And all of this happened in the space of 30 minutes. It was a
ridiculously stressful 30 minutes! I got done and just had to sit and
try to think straight for a few minutes again. After it all ended, my
companion just looked at me and said "That was the craziest 30 minutes
I have ever seen. I don't know how you did that." Haha I don't
either. But it's over now.
The rest of the week has been pretty good. I went on splits with the
Zone Leaders and had a good time. We got some good appointments in.
We got stuck sitting under a hut on the side of the road for 1.5 hours
waiting for a typhoon to pass. But there were no walls really, so we
still got pretty wet. But we got this really cool new investigator
that night. He lives inside of a country club area and he is super cool.
He had found the church website and requested a meeting. We taught him
and he really liked it and invited us back again. So we are super excited about him. We are
hoping maybe some P-Day we can teach him over 18 holes of golf...haha
Sadly we haven't been able to meet with Brother W. again this
week, but we have an appointment with him for tonight, so that is
good.
The rest of the week has been pretty stressful and unsuccessful. It
has been a passing of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd watches, rowing against
the storm without making much progress. It was definitely getting
frustrating and discouraging. But we kept going. Then on Sunday, we
had 3 appointments scheduled. But, at church, my companion got sick
and couldn't go out. However, the other companionship didn't have any
appointments and was feeling pretty discouraged because they have a
family that has been baptized but has not bene able to meet and has
not been confirmed yet and now they have to start over from the
beginning. They are pretty bummed about that. So I left one of them
with my companion and took the other to 2 appointments. Then we went
back to the house and I took the other one out to the last appointment
to get them out of the house and to stop sitting and thinking and
being bummed. And so that I didn't have to cancel all our
appointments. And I am glad the way it all worked out. I think it
worked out just the way it needed to for everyone. My comp needed
some time off, I think, and they needed a night to go out and have
some good appointments, and the investigators we visited needed the
visits, too. One of them is this an investigator that has been making
very little progress lately. He is happy to meet and likes what we
say, but that has been about the extent of his progress. But yesterday
we watched the Restoration film with him and asked if he would like to
know if it is true, and he immediately answered that "It is true." I
was a little stunned and confused. But we immediately responded by
inviting him to join this restored church, and he asked a lot of
questions about it, and about baptism, and about his current church.
He accepted all our answers and wants to come to church next week, to
start reading the Book of Mormon, and preparing for baptism. He didn't
want to commit to a date yet, but he committed to coming to church
because he wants to see it first before he sets a date. But he seems
genuinely open and excited, so that is good!
We definitely had the Lord come at the very end of the week, in the
Fourth watch, to us. We have seen mini examples of this principle
other times throughout the week, too. Daily it seems that just before
going home we are discouraged, having had little or no success, and on
our last attempt we somehow get a good contact or somehow squeeze a
lesson in, and it restores our faith and hope to go do it all again
the next day. And Sunday we had that for the entire week! So that is
good and promising. So thanks again, dad, for teaching me that
principle this week. I needed it and there are a few other
missionaries that need it, so I will have to share it with them!
You guys are awesome and I love you so much! Thanks for all you have
done and do for me! I miss you tons, but this is where I need to be!
I love it here, even though sometimes it is so hard.
I love you all and can't wait to talk to you again next week.
Love Elder Wood
