October 6, 2014

Glad to hear conference has been going well and has been good!  That is exciting!  Kind of cool that it is being done in native languages!  How did they do that for people watching it at the Conference Center?  That is interesting!  But a cool step to making the church more international!

That is fun that you are all watching it up at the cabin!  I do miss the season changes!  I guess the seasons have been changing here the last few weeks, too, though.  It has been going from hot to hotter!

We have not had the chance to watch conference here yet.  We will watch it this coming Friday and Saturday.  So I am excited to watch it!  I love conference!  But I am not sure if we will be able to watch it in English here, or if we will have to watch it in Indonesian.  That would be a long time of difficult translating haha!  But kinda cool, too!

Well, for news here:  Things have been going well this week!  Our investigator Mama V that has been learning and coming to church for a while was starting to get discouraged and ready to give up on the church, thinking it was too difficult.  But then she prayed this week and got an answer that she really does need to be here!  So she committed to prepare to be baptized on the 26th of October!  So that is super exciting!  And Brother W is still on date for the 19th!  So lots going on here!  And we have a few other investigators that we have started teaching that we are hoping to try to give a date over the next few weeks!  I hope I don't transfer from here anytime soon!  There are too many exciting things going on!  One of the investigators we have just gotten is named M.  She is someone that the W extended family met at a hair salon and invited her to English class.  Then she came to a saturday activity at the church and then to church on sunday and has started learning.  She has been to church twice, learned once, and is really liking it!  And we teach her at the W's house, which is awesome!  That family is incredible!  We want to try to give her a baptismal date this week when we meet with her again!

Ummm, ya, those are the biggest highlights of the week!  We have still been staying very busy and having a good time!  I am really enjoying my time here in Tangerang!  And to be honest, when I came here, I had to really fake being excited.  Because I was not.  For years this area had been known and dreaded as one of the hardest areas of the mission!  And it was for a while when I was here!  But lately the Lord has really been hastening His work here and has blessed us and turned the place around!  And now I don't want to leave the place!  I could happily finish my mission here!  

Well, glad that you are all doing well and having a great week!  I love you all and miss you, but am truly happy here!  And safe...don't worry mom :)  Time really is flying by!  It is kind of scaring me, but I am trying to make the most of it! Hope you guys have a great week!  Thanks for your emails and all your prayers!  You guys are awesome!  I love you!

Love Elder Wood

September 29, 2014

Sounds like the women had a pretty good weekend at home!  Good, I'm glad!  Sounds like the temple was a big focus of the womens conference and of what has been going on at home right now!  That is so cool!  I miss the temple!  "You don't know what ya got til its gone!"  It will be exciting to go back again!  I still remember going through the St George temple together before I left!  That was a cool experience!  Speaking of temple testimonies, I wish you could hear Sister A's (Bro. W's wife) testimony of the temple!  She has such a great love and testimony of the temple!  Before her husband showed any interest in the church at all, she had been to the temple at least once, but I think twice.  She talks about how hard it was to go there alone without her husband, but also how much hope and strength she gained there!  And she always says that she is convinced that the blessing of her husband's heart being opened is a "Temple Blessing" for her sacrifices to go there alone!  That whole family is absolutely amazing and so spiritual, and super funny as well!  I hope you all can meet them someday!  They are my favorite family that I have met over here I think!  And they are already doing their missionary work!  Them and their cousins met a young woman at a hair salon, befriended her, have brought her to a church activity, and last week to church, and this week have arranged to have us start the discussions with her in their home, while Brother W is preparing for his own baptism!  They are absolutely amazing!  

Pak M is having a lot of trouble from his priest and is getting scared. We will try to keep contact with him, but we feel like it is best to let him mellow out for a week or so before going over there again, because he told us not to come the other day when we tried. But I still see potential with him.

Mama V is doing well also. She is progressing and becoming friends with several members which is really helping her. She still has a desire to learn and we are trying to help her recognize her witness that the Book of Mormon is true.  She is so funny!  She is a professional seamstress, and keeps making us things!  She made us a batik shirt two weeks ago and this week she made us a batik vest (like the vest for a 3 piece suit!)  It is pretty sweet!  

J still has not felt or not recognized any witness of the holy ghost yet. He doesn't want to be baptized with out that witness, and neither do we want him to. But he is frustrated. He says he hasn't felt anything at all...but he is willing to try coming to church a few more times to try to get a witness. We are trying to help him recognize it, but it has been difficult to this point.  Mom and dad, thanks for your thoughts, we will try sharing those with him and hope it helps!

And we have several other investigators that are doing well and progressing. The work here is going really well!  We are staying busy and tired!  Every morning we wake up absolutely exhausted!  But somehow we are sustained throughout the day!  Then at night we hit the pillow and are out!  Unless one of the roommates falls asleep first--then it is hard because he snores like Grandpa!  But other than that things are good haha!

Glad things back home are going well and everyone is happy!  things here are great too!  We went to Jakarta today to play futsal as a zone, so that was fun!  

Well, nothing too extremely interesting this week.  Still cold showers as well, but we actually have a shower head at this house, so that is nice.  Oh, we are going to be expanding the district in the next few months, so I have to go house shopping for another house this month!  That should be interesting!  Haha any advice, Grandpa?  You're the master realtor of the family!  

Well, Still happy here and having a good time and staying busy!  Glad to hear from all of you and hear that things are going well!  Hope you all have a great week!  Love you all!

Love Elder Wood