The Best Times Are Still Ahead!

Haha that's crazy to see snow again!  And funny, too, because today we went Ice skating at a mall for P-Day as a zone.  So that was pretty fun!  Our commemoration of the coming of winter!

Well, this week has been pretty good.  Nothing too crazy.  But it was a good one.  I am sorry, though, because of traffic coming back from ice skating, I will be cut a bit short on email time, so I will have to be a bit quick.  Sorry.  It is also raining here today, so there was a little bit of minor flooding that made traffic slow.  Pretty much happens every time there is rain...so that's a bit lame.  But it felt like winter here with the rain and the ice.  It was a pretty cold day. Almost down to 70 degrees I think haha.  Which feels way colder than it should!

So you were asking a bit about what things here are like.  Well, we live in a house of 4 Elders.  Me, my companion Elder S, and another companionship of Elder M and Elder C.  It is a pretty fun house and is pretty close to the mission home, so we find occasion to go there every once in a while, which is fun!

Here in Jakarta we don't ride bikes because the traffic is too crazy and the roads are too confusing.  So we are all on public transportation.  So that is kinda good because there are lots of contacting opportunities, but lame because it makes it feel like I get no exercise, and it takes forever to get places.  But it is kinda cool to have something new.

The work here is going pretty well.  We have a few progressing investigators, a baptismal commitment for the 13th of December, and a few new potential investigators.  So things are exciting.  Umm, other than that, things here are pretty normal.

This week we will be going on splits to Bekasi, so that should be fun.  And then in the next few weeks we will be having a general Authority come on a mission tour, so that will be cool, too!

Well, I am running out of time, but I love you all!  I love the mission, too, and am not trunky to come home yet, don't worry!  The best times are still ahead!  I hope you all have a great week and I will write more next week!

Love You!

Love Elder Wood

Naughty Bars

Man, that is pretty crazy that Sister Sheffield is coming home so soon!  I have been giving her a ton of crap about it, though, and I don't think she appreciates it. 

Well, this week has been pretty good.  Not too much going on as far as out of the ordinary.  The work in Jakarta is a bit slower than in Tangerang just because of how long it takes to get to places.  The traffic here is ridiculous, so the average travel time to an appointment is at least 1 hour, and can often be over 2 hours to get there, and the same to get back.  So that is kind of rough, and we don't get nearly as many appointments in.  But we are trying to work hard and do our best.  I am still getting along well with my companion, so that is good.  He is a pretty cool guy.

This week we had a fireside with some General Authorities, which was pretty cool!  We had Elder Funk, Brother Gibson, and Brother John Tanner and their wives, of the Area Presidency, General Young Men's Presidency, and General Sunday School Presidency, respectively.  That was a pretty cool experience!  And we had a special missionary meeting with them beforehand!  That was awesome!  It was a pretty powerful meeting on faith and teaching skills and stuff!

Then we also had Mission Leader Conference, where all the ZLs and APs meet together with President Donald every month to talk about the mission and hear President expound doctrine and set forth revelation for the mission.  It is a pretty cool experience!  This time he focused a lot on the power of prayer and how prayer should often be an experience of "wrestling with God" to obtain blessings.  He really expounded upon the principle and process of prayer with the scriptures and gave me a new understanding of prayer that I have never had before.  It was really cool and enlightening.  And I learned how much more attention and focus and effort we need to give to prayer than I ever really have before.

This Sunday another companionship had a baptism in the English ward.  That was pretty fun.  THey actually ended up doing the baptism on Sunday afternoon in a members' home swimming pool during the ward party.  And we all got to go, so that was awesome!  The meeting was super spiritual...and in English...which was awesome.  Then we had a ward dinner of roast beef, mashed potatoes, corn, and all the good stuff.  And then there was dessert.  There were some awesome desserts, but one totally took the cake.  One of the members made...can you guess it...Naughty Bars!!! I haven't had those forever, and they were so delicious!  Naughty bars are one of my favorite desserts ever!  So that was pretty fun!  So the baptism and ward party were definitely the highlight of the week!  Mom--you will definitely have to let me know who Jenny's friend is so I can meet them!  That is pretty cool!

Today we just went and walked around a mall and talked and hung out and got to know some of the other missionaries in the district that I have never really met before, and there are some cool guys here.  So that is fun.

Um, ya, that is mostly it for this week.  It was a pretty good week!  I am loving it here.  Different, but a cool change.  And that is mostly it.  I love you guys all so much and love getting your emails.  Don't get too trunky, though, haha!  Hope you have a great week!  Love you all!

Love Elder Wood