"The work is really hastening here!"

Hey!  Well, I'm glad that you all had a great week up in Idaho!  That sounds super fun!  Sounds like that place was awesome and beautiful!  Fun to be up there as a whole family!  Though sad that there are beberapa hal yang menyebabkan penyesalan.  Sorry, I can't think exactly how to phrase that in English, other than "a few things that cause regrets"  but that doesn't sound quite right.  But you get what I mean.  

I can't wait to see the pictures of Grandpa waterskiing!  That is so cool and exciting!  And thanks for the other pictures!  Those are awesome!  I love it!  I am excited to get my shirt, too!  Haha grandma is too funny!  I am glad that you are having a good time!  Tell everyone hi for me, and that I love them!

What else did you guys do up there?

Well, things here have been going really well this week!  The work is really picking up, and that is exciting!  At the end of last week, we met a guy on the street when we asked him for directions.  We ended up giving him a passalong card, and he actually invited us to come to his house the next day. That rarely happens!  But it did!  So, we went.  And the lesson went terribly...  He just wanted to talk the whole time and wasn't really absorbing what we said.  We weren't even able to finish the lesson. But he said that he felt like we were good guys and that we could come back again this week.  So we figured we'd give him a try.  Well, turns out he had read the Restoration pamphlet we had left with him and had a few questions.  So we started explaining it to him, and were able to actually get to the Restoration and first vision part this time, though it took a few tries to get him focused.  But, when we recited the first vision to him, it was a completely 180 degree change.  The Spirit came super strongly and he focused on me as I said it more than I have ever seen anyone focused.  But it was like he was looking through me, not at me, which was weird to me.  But after we finished and explained it a little, he told me that as I said that first vision, he felt like he was off the ground, and as if someone else were speaking, not me, and a few other really cool things.  and it gave him the chills.  From that point on, he was totally focused and absorbed everything we told him.  At first he was really worried about the Book of Mormon, but after that, he totally accepted it.  Then, on Sunday he came to church and we set a baptismal date with him for August 9.  So that was a really cool, powerful, spiritual experience!  And that wasn't all.  This week we were also blessed to find several other new investigators and get some good lessons in!  The work is really hastening here!

Our whole district is really picking up, which is good!  It is nice to have some excitement and success going around!  And this week is looking pretty good, too!  We have mission conference at the end of the week, and the President is coming to visit with us and go on a split in our area tommorow.  So lots of exciting things!

So last week we went to see the golf course and ended up hitting a bucket of balls at the driving range. And this week we are going back there as a district to play at the driving range and get some practice to go play a real round someday.  I am pretty rusty after not having played golf at all in probably more than 2 years.  But it is pretty fun!  And the golf course here is absolutely beautiful!  So that is fun! Other than that, things around here are pretty normal.  We haven't been able to meet with Elder Ws dad for a while because they have been visiting family back in Solo.  But we are hoping to get over there tomorrow.  And we have a good appointment for later tonight with an investigator.  He's funny though, because he likes to meet at the lobby of the country club.  But he is really cool and a nice guy!  We are really working on trying to get him to come to church!

Well I hope you all have a great week!  Thanks for all your emails and support and encouragement!  You are awesome and I love you all!  Hope Eliza has a great week at EFY!  That will be awesome!  I loved EFY, it was so good!  Make the most of it!

Love you all!  

Love Elder Wood

July 13, 2014 - 75 and freezing!

Happy what sounds like the busiest week ever!  Sounds like things have

been a bit crazy back at home!  But hopefully this weekend will be a

bit relaxing and you can kind of chill and relax a bit!  That sounds

like a ton of fun to have a big family reunion party thing up in

Idaho!  Especially if grandma is putting it on and making it pretty

cheesy!  Haha!  I miss those fun family vacations that we used to do

growing up!   SO if there's a lake up there, did you bring the boat?

What else are you doing up there?  Let me know more about it and send

some pictures!

So, this morning we had a funny experience.  You know how Indonesia is

ridiculously hot, right.  And so luckily we have an AC in the bedroom,

and it works pretty well, and gets it pretty cold.  Well, this morning

it was especially cold, and I was freezing, and we don't have any

blankets, or even anything more than shorts.  So we woke up cold this

morning.  But usually that is nice, because you get out of bed and

leave that room and are immediately sweating.  But this morning was

different.  We left the bedroom and went outside and were still cold.

Like realy cold.  Shorts and a t-shirt were not enough, but we don't

have any sweatshirts.  And I had goosebumps.  So I put on my sarung (

a traditional man-skirt thing) that is pretty long to try to keep my

legs warm and I wrapped my towel around my arms and upper body.  Still

cold, but now comfortable.  So, then I remembered my alarm clock has a

thermometer on it, and I wanted to know how cold it really was,

because I felt like winter.  So, I checked.  In the bedroom it was 75

degrees fahrenheit.  and outside it was 77 degrees.  And I was frozen.

I don't know what I am going to do when I get home and its in the 50s

or 60s.  And then winter is going to be rough!  Its scaring me.  But I

still got a while.  But I now understand why Edward and Florence wore

fleece jackets when they came to our house a few years ago, even

though we thought it was hot.  I'm not used to the cold anymore.

Except my cold showers (which I could not man up to face this

morning..)  Its scaring me for spring boating haha!

The rest of this week was pretty good!  A lot better than last week!

We got in several good appointments with members and investigators.

We met with one member who has liek the coolest job ever!  He has a

travel agency, and he gets paid to go on vacation with really rich

people and take them to do cool things.  And he specializes in

golfing.  So, he has taken people all over the world to go golfing in

Indonesia, China, America, and all over.  And he takes them to major

tournamnets and stuff and has met a ton of famous golfers.  And he

himself is a really good golfer.  And he said someday he would take us

golfing here if we want!  So that sounds like a ton of fun!  There is

even a Jack Nicklaus course about 10 minutes from our house that he

said he could take us to go play.  But it is kind of expensive.  I'm

thinking about using my birthday money there haha!  Just cause that

would be cool to say I've golfed in Indonesia!  But he is a super cool

guy!  and then, we got a media referal for this lady.  We went to her

house, and it turns out that she lives across the street with a

fairway view of that golf course.  And she lives in a mansion!  Sadly,

after talking to 3 of her house helpers, we found out that she is in

London and will be until August.  So, we will have to try back later.

But maybe she has an in at the golf course.  We are in with some of

the rich and the famous here...

On the spiritual side of things, things are going well, too!  We have

several good investigators who like meeting with us.  One of them is

funny, he likes to meet us at the lobby of the country club, and he

drives an Audi A4.  So that makes me think of home a bit haha!  But he

brought his 11 year old son with him last time, and his son was all

confused.  He looks at us and asks who we are and how we know his dad.

then he puts it all together and is like, "Oh, are you the Momons?"

We chuckled a little and said, ya, thats us.  Then he said, "I found

your book in my dad's car the other day and I started reading it and

it made me feel really happy!"  And he really had read enough to

understand it, and that it was about Jesus visiting the America's!  So

that was really cool!  Hopefully that will push his dad to read it

more and to keep up with his son!  We found some other new

investigators and met with some that we have been having a really hard

time meeting with, as well.  And we got into several inactive members'

homes through service and whatnot.  We helped on woman clean her house

for 5 hours after it had gotten all muddy in a flood.  We mopped and

cleaned her floors, and that was fun and a good service, and I think

it touched her!

I also had some cool personal experiences in gaining a stronger

testimony about specific principles of the gospel that came a bit

unexpectedly, but that I am very grateful for.  And I had experiences

of the Lord answering my prayers and giving me comfort when I was

feeling discouraged as well.  Probably my favorite verse of scripture

this week is D&C 123:17.  Sometimes that is very needed in this work,

because there is only so much we can do, and then we have to trust the

Lord to take care of the rest.

This week we got attacked on a ride home one night.  But not in the

way you are probably thinking.  These girls rode up along side us and

told us to pull over.    They were being pretty flirtatious, though,

so we were trying to be quick.  Then they asked us if we had

girlfriends.  We just gave the easy way out and said, Ya.  Then they

were super persistent, and said that that didn't matter.

We then explained that we were missionaries and couldn't do

that.  Then we gave them a passalong card and rode away.  Later,

one of them texted us and told us that she was far away from Jesus and

wanted help coming back to him.  We were pretty wary and didn't

respond much.  But today she texted us and said that her mom is sick

in the hospital and she asked us if we could come visit and pray with

her whole family.  She soesn't seem as flirtatious anymore, so I think

we're going to give it a try, because it is public and a pretty

harmless location.  And who knows what could come of it!  Hopefully

something good!

I have been trying to organize going ice skating for P-Day, but

everyone has been sick or tired, so I think we are just kind of going

to relax for the day.  Hopefully we can go play some other time.  Hope

you guys have fun up in Idaho this week, and tell everyone Hi for me!

And tell that I love them!  Let me know how everyone is doing!

I love you all!

Love Elder Wood