Indonesia, Jakarta Mission 3/13 - 3/15

Monday, March 17, 2014

I am loving it!

Thank you so much for your email!  It was awesome!  I love hearing from you all so much each week!  Hearing about what you guys are up to, what is going on at home, and also hearing your advice!  It is always a highlight of my week!  Thank you so much!  

Well, mom and dad, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!  How long is that now?  Well, thats fun that you were able to make it down to St George for a few days and get a pretty sweet room!  But, bummer that Rufus got sick and you had to head home!  That stinks!  But glad he is still doing well and going along.  Poor old dog!  Hopefully he still keeps feeling well!  And hopefully you guys still had a good anniversary watching Home Improvement and stuff like that haha!  You guys make me laugh :)  Well, good luck on the whole tile thing haha!  Have fun with that!  

So, things here are pretty good!  Like a mission, there are always ups and downs.  So this week probably our biggest downer was that on Tuesday we woke up at 3:30 in the morning to drive to Amorang with the mission couple to try to get there in time to meet the congregation leader before he went out to work in the fields at his farm.  But we got there too late.  He had already left.  So that was a bummer.  And all the other people we tried to visit there struck out, too.   But it was still super cool--the road there was beautiful and the area was super cool to see!  But the rest of the day and the next few days we were pretty dang tired from the loss of sleep!

The other cool thing was that this week President, Sister Donald, and the Assistants all came for a visit. Saturday, we all did exchanges so that there were 5 companionships in Manado.  And I went with Elder Welch, the senior missionary.  That was stressful, because I have been here less than 2 weeks and had to lead the whole day, figuring out the angkots, where to get off, who to visit, and what to do and teach.  So, I had a pretty good plan made with 6 pretty sure appointments.  But, that morning when calling to confirm the appointments, all but one cancelled on us!  That was scary, because I don't know the area well enough yet to know much what else to do or how to get anywhere, and neither does Elder Welch really because they never ride the angkots.  So we scrambled and made a few hopeful little plans.  We first went and tried to visit a few former investigators.  The first one totally rejected us.  So then we went to the next one.  She works at a beach-front cafe, so we figured if nothing else we could at least get lunch there and try to talk to her.  Well, turns out she has totally changed from before.  She immediately recognized us and came and talked to us.  She totally believes the message and wants to be baptized.  She has been reading the Book of Mormon.  So we set a baptismal goal for her for the 2oth of April.  So that is exciting!  And we found another new investigator together!  So that was fun!  From being so stressful, we were clearly led by the Lord throughout the day and blessed with so many good things!

And we have seen a lot of other cool stuff going on here!  I am loving it!  Well, I have to apologize, the computers here don't recognize card readers, so I haven't been able to send pictures yet.  But we are going to the mission couples house for P-Day to watch "Planes".  I will try to send a few pictures from there.  But it is amazing here!  The beach we went to last week was one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever been to, and we have been to some awesome beaches before. But it was stunning!  I will try to send pictures!

Thanks so much for your letters and stuff!  I have been getting them!  And about new music, a USB would be perfect.  Just if you could make sure that the songs are in MP3 format, not MP4.  But, almost even more than music, if you could download some cool talks and stuff on it and send it that would be awesoem!  That is probably what I most want.  Other than that, I am not too picky.  Oh, and maybe throw some pictures in of what you guys have been up to, that would be awesome.

Well, I love you all so much!  Sorry this is short and lame!  But I hope you all have a great week!  Can't wait to hear from you again!  


Love Elder Wood

Sunday, March 9, 2014

A Whole New Mission!

Hey Hey Hey!

Well, Manado is pretty sweet!  There really are so many things going on over here and so many exciting opportunities!  It is almost overwhelming how much work there is to be done here!  But it has been a totally awesome experience so far because of that.  I have learned so much to rely on the Lord and to seek His will, because there is just no way to focus on everything that needs to be done here all at once, and it all seems so important.  So I have had to learn a lot more to collaborate with the other missionaries, and especially with the Lord through prayer and promptings of the Spirit to learn what things we should focus on and when to most effectively progress the Lord's work here, and to do it in His way.  I still have a long way to go, a lot more to learn about this process, and a lot more to figure out.  But it has been an amazing experience to just get started and to seek and recognize the guidance of the Hand of the Lord here.  I truly have learned so much here, and I know that this is where I need to be.  I don't know if this is where the Lord needs me for His work, but I know that He knows that this is where I need to be for my own progression, and I hope that I can fulfill HIs work and will along the way!

So, it is kinda crazy here.  It is almost like a completely different mission.  The culture is really quite a bit different here.  I went from a 95% Muslim city to a 95% Christian community.  So, the way to approach the work is completely different, and it becomes a lot easier to proselyte and stuff.  But the challenges and setbacks and stuff are completely different as well, so there is a big learning curve.  Also the language is different.  The basics are a lot the same, but for common words there is a different vocabulary as well, and the accent and speech pattern here is completely different, so it has been a lot of learning again to understand people.  But it is coming along.    Also, the church is a lot different.  I went from covering two strong wards in a city that had a stake as one companionship.  Now I am in a small branch that is held in a storefront space because there is not enough church attendance to build a chapel. Also, the branch President has only been a member for about a year and a half, and there are 6 missionaries and a mission couple in the branch.  So it is completely different!  But it is super exciting!  
The members here are awesome and I felt such a strong cool spirit in Sacrament meeting last week!  I am so excited to serve here!  There is a lot to do, everyone is friendly, its sunny and hot, and its a beach community so everyone is happy and stuff like that!

Oh, and it is absolutely gorgeous here!  It is like paradise!  I have taken so many pictures since I have been here, and I have been trying to get them to send for the last several minutes, but the computer I'm on won't recognize any card readers, so I can't send any pictures yet this week.  So sorry!  I will try to send a bunch next week!

But I am absolutely loving it!  And we are hopefully going to go out to Amoran this week and try to set up a Sacrament meeting out there for the following Sunday, so that should hopefully be cool!  A huge opportunity!  And we actually have 2 other investigators/potential investigators in other outlying villages that are interested to learn about the church, and that are also leaders of congregations.  So there are 3 possibilities to start up 3 new units here.  Its hard not to get over-excited and just rush into things, but we are trying to take it slow and do it right.  But also do it as quickly as possible, too!

Well, I am glad things at home are going well.  I am glad Rufus is doing okay now.  Hopefully he holds on!  But sounds like he got pretty dang spoiled!  Lucky dog!  He's eating better than I am haha! Ice Cream and cheese burgers?!

But the mission couple here is pretty good to us!  They are taking us all ot the beach later today, so that should be fun!

Well, one more thing.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!  Hope you guys have fun this week!  

Oh, and for birthday stuff, I don't really have all that much I need.  Maybe a football would be kinda fun to play with at the beaches here, because it sounds like that is a fairly common p-day activity here. But I may be able to find one here and just buy it here for cheaper.  So I'll let you know.  Maybe a little bag of Krusteaz would be kinda fun too.  And ya that's about it.  Maybe send a little more of that beef jerky...I don't know.  Ya, that's pretty much it.  I think for my birthday I will probably treat myself to some new white shirts, because mine are starting to get kinda gross...so I'll replace them at the year mark.. But don't worry about sending those because they are super cheap to buy  here.

Well, I love you all so much!  Thanks for everything!  You are awesome!  Have a great week!


Love Elder Wood

Monday, March 3, 2014

Manado

Well, I'm here in Manado now.  Sorry I didn't get to email last night, so I am a little late now.  But at least we get to email!

Well, last week was awesome!  We got over 21 lessons in with investigators and inactive members, which was super exciting!  And we got to participate in the ordinance of Sister M. and her 2 kids, and I got to set apart and give the Holy Ghost to one of them, and that was a super cool experience!  I also got to meet Elder P. a little bit before I left, which was cool!

So, yesterday was transfer day.  Elder Giolas and I got up and left the house at 5:30 in the morning to go to the airport.  Then we flew to Jakarta (1 hour flight), had about a 2 hour layover, so we went and ate some Krispy Kreme donuts and scones and stuff from Starbucks.  It felt kinda weird eating there as a missionary...but it tasted so good to eat some good western sweets!  Oh the joys of international airports, but they are mahal! (expensive!)  After the layover, we got on our 3 hour flight to Manado!  It was a pretty good flight--we got food!  We had a meal of beef and potatoes and gravy, and it was awesome!  Its pretty sad when the airplane meal is one of the best western meals you eat!  Haha but it was a taste of home!  But the flight was super tempting because we were on a pretty nice airline with tvs in every head rest, and they had some pretty good music and movies on them, but we stayed strong and didn't fall to the temptation!

When we got to Manado, we got picked up at the ariport by the mission couple, Elder and Sister Welch.  They are awesome!  They took us to their house, gave us some food, and talked to us for a while.  And we met our new companions.  I am with Elder Wijaya, who is pretty awesome!  So I am excited!  It is beautiful here!  There are trees and beaches and all sorts of cool stuff!  And the best part is that because we are close to the ocean, the air is clean!  I can actually see the sky in this city!  It feels so healthy!  But there is a lot of good stuff going on here it sounds like, so I will fill you in as I find out more.  But for now, things are awesome!  The house is pretty nice, too, so that's good.  

So we have been given several assignments by the mission president for here.  First, we need to get the members more active and paying their tithing so that there can be a church building built here for the branch!  The second is that there is an investigator that lives about 2 hours away, and he has a group of about 100+ people that he teaches every week, and has been teaching them out of the Liahona for a little while.  We have been given permission to hold a Sacrament Meeting out there, so we are going to work to get that guy baptized and to receive the Priesthood, and then to work with his whole congregation and create a new branch out in that area, called TamRan.  So that is super exciting!  There is a lot going on here, but it is all in the very beginning stages, so we are hoping to strengthen things and get it going well and moving!

Oh, and there's some other cool stuff here.  One, it is predominantly Christian, so that is nice!  It makes it a lot easier to proselyte and stuff!  The second is kinda funny.  We don't have bikes here. It is all walking or riding angkots (ghetto vans with no door).  But the angkots here are crazy--they have huge body kits and killer sound systems, and everyone here is always playing music.  So that's kinda funny, but might get distracting!  But it is awesome here, and I am super excited!

Well, I'm glad that you got all the pictures and letters and stuff, and that it all worked this time!  And I am glad that things are going well at home!  Thanks for the emails and pictures and everything!  You guys are awesome!  Sorry this is kinda short and lame, but I don't know too much about things here yet! 

I love you all and can't wait to talk to you again next week!  Have a great week!


Love Elder Wood

Monday, February 24, 2014

Baptism Day!

Baptism Day!
Well, this week was so awesome!  I'll start off with the big news first.  Yes, we had our baptism this week!!!!  Yesterday, Sister M. and her 2 daughters were baptized!  It was such a cool experience, and so awesome to see it all come together and see them receive this blessing, as they have been our main focus for the last month and a half!  

The baptismal service was awesome!  We had some singing and talks and stuff, then we went down to the baptismal font and did the baptism.  I got to baptize Sister M and one of her daughters, and Elder Wintolo baptized the other!  It was so awesome and so spiritual!  Sister M. was first, and she was all good at first, but as soon as she came up out of the water, she just immediately started crying and saying thank you to everyone.  It was really cool and touching.  And after that, K. started crying before she even started walking down the steps into the font.  Then A. was crying, too.  They were all so happy and the Spirit was so strong, it was amazing!  Elder Wintolo almost couldn't make it through the prayer because he was getting choked up, too!  


Me, Sister M. and daughters, Elder Wintolo,

After the baptism, when we were all in the chapel again, their faces were all just glowing and they were so excited and happy!  It was so cool to see, and such a testimony builder!  They were so prepared by the Lord, and I am so grateful that He trusted us to help them get to this point!  And I am so grateful that I was able to see them get to this point before I transfer!  So ya, yesterday was totally awesome!

And there was another super cool experience I had this week!  There were actually several baptisms in Solo this week, and so while Elder Giolas. was interviewing Sister M. and K. and A., President Donald assigned me to interview his baptismal candidates.  So on Saturday, I had the opportunity to do several baptismal Interviews.  That was a lot more special than I even expected.  I was actually super nervous to do it at first, because I have never conducted an interview like that, or received any training.  So I was pretty nervous.  And we got there and their candidates were kinda nervous about the interview, too.  They thought it was some big scary thing.  But we put them at ease, opened with prayer, explained what the interview would be like, and then I interviewed them each one by one.  It was also a family where the mother and 2 kids were ready to be baptized.  The father is also an investigator, but is far from ready to be baptized, but wants his family to be able to be baptized quickly, and he hopes to follow later.  Well, the interviews were awesome!  The Spirit was super strong there, to help me know what to ask, how to calm their fears, and to feel the Spirit help guide me to find out about their worthiness, readiness, and testimony.  It was awesome.  And one of the coolest parts was to hear their testimonies, shared individually and privately.  So I got to find out exactly how they were feeling and what helped them believe, and it was just super cool to hear and an amazing experience that I am super grateful that I got to have!  So, it has been a really cool and spiritual last few days here!

So, like I said, I am getting transferred.  I will be moving to Manado next Monday morning.  So that is super exciting, because Manado is where everyone always wants to serve!  So I am excited about that! But I am also sad to be leaving Solo, because there are so many people here that I am so close with, and it will be sad to leave them!  But it is probably time to move on, and It will be cool to see other places! Plus Manado is an Island with beaches and cool hikes and stuff, so it will be pretty fun!  And it is kinda funny--I will be moving there with Elder Giolas, so we will be in the same house there, but won't be companions.  But I feel like that is really where the Lord wants me to be serving at this time.  So I know it is inspired!  

The rest of the week was pretty normal--visiting people and helping them come to the gospel.  We found a new investigator this week that has kind of a crazy and cool story.  As we were teaching him the Restoration, we found out that he used to be a gangster robber and has some other history, but has since changed his life and wants to find truth, and seemed to like our message and wants to come to church!  So that is exciting! Hopefully the best for him!

Well, this week, I will still be here on Sunday to see Sister M. and her girls confirmed, and we have been invited to participate in that ordinance as well, so that will be awesome!  Oh, and on Friday, Elder P. (the Bishop's son) gets home, so I will also be able to meet him before I get transferred, so that will be cool!

So today we have just been cleaning the house!  It was still dusty from the volcano.  And then later we are all going to get steaks for lunch for our last district P-Day!  So that will be fun.

Well, I love you all and am so glad to keep hearing from you!  Hope everything is going well!

I love you,

Love, Elder Wood

Our Solo District shirts







Tuesday, February 18, 2014

I'm Alive!

So, this has been a bit of a crazy week as you have heard!  The first few days of the week were fairly uneventful with not too much to report on.  Just a few lessons, some proselyting, and stuff like that. Then, starting on Thursday, things got a bit interesting.

Thursday:  We were out doing some proselyting and trying to find an address on our bikes when it started raining pretty hard.  Luckily some lady invited us in to wait for the rain under her front porch. Usually the rain only lasts like 15 to30 minutes, so if we are proselyting we wait it out, because there is nobody outside to contact when it rains.  And when it rains it pours.  Well, this rain was even harder than normal, and it had wind with it, too, so it was extra crazy!  I am glad we weren't out in it, because it actually ended up blowing a few trees over and blowing big branches off of trees that fell into several of the roads and caused some nice traffic.  But after the 30 minutes of crazy rain, it was over and we went out and got back to work.  Then on thursday night, as we were going to bed, at 11:00, we heard a loud booming sound.  I thought it was fireworks or lightning or something, and just went to bed.

Friday:  Well when we woke up this morning, it was still  pretty dark outside, and so we almost just went back to bed.  But, we saw the clock and that it really was time to wake up.  So we did.  Well, when I looked out the door, I was super confused and really thought it had snowed and there was frost on the ground for a second. Then I remembered that I am in Indonesia and that is not possible.  Then we saw the gray color and that it was dust still falling from the sky, and immediately realized that a volcano had erupted.  It was funny, we both realized it and looked at eachother and said "Morapi" at the same time (Morapi is the closest volcano here).  Well, turns out it was a volcano a little ways away, but the eruption was big enough to reach here with the dust.  So the "fireworks" we heard last night at 11:00 was actually the volcano erupting.  Kinda crazy!  This morning, we were told not to go outside unless absolutely necessary until the dust stopped falling because it is super unhealthy.  Well, then the wind started blowing and the dust started coming into the houses, because they are not sealed.  So we decided that we would all ride taxis and meet at the church and hope it was cleaner, and then we could still have district meeting and hang out there for the day, too.  So we did.  And we ordered McDonalds delivery for lunch and hung out there for several hours.  Then the dust started settling, and we went and helped clean up the church a little bit.  But there was about 1/2 centimeter of volcanic ash everywhere outside!  Pretty crazy!  After we cleaned up a little bit, I translated the meeting with the Aardema's at the church.  What a small world to meet them here in Solo of all places after such a long time.  It was pretty funny and pretty cool!  They are awesome!  I'm glad they emailed you!  After that, we ate dinner at the church with the meeting people (perks of translating :) ) then went home for the night.  

Saturday:  This morning we knew we needed to spend some time cleaning the house becuase there was a layer of dust on everything!  Well, when we woke up, my comp was sick, so he stayed in bed.  I got up, dusted and swept and mopped the house, and studied a bit (all with no electricity...we ran out last night).  Then at about 11:30 he felt better and got up and we went and got some electricity.  Then we got ready and rode a taxi to a funeral for a member who died that night n the hospital of a stroke.  Then bishop took us to lunch, then we went with another member out to Sister M.'s house to teach the last lesson she needs to be all ready for baptism, and it went really well!  So we are super excited about that and that she is getting baptized next week!  And that was pretty much it for today.

Sunday:  Today was pretty normal.  Church.  Sister M. and her kids came!  So that was awesome!  Other than that, nothing too crazy.

Monday (Today):  Today was awesome!!!  Totally not what we expected today.  So, we had a plan to play futsal all together for district P-day.  But we woke up with a text from Sister M. this morning that something happened last night that made her super nervous and that she wanted to meet today. We got super nervous and almost a bit discouraged.   But we cancelled futsal and went out there this afternoon. Well, when we got out there, we had no idea what to expect.  But it ended up being one of the most amazing lessons and spiritual experiences and testimony builders I have ever had!  Suffice it for now to say that I know that prayers are answered, Heavenly Father still reaches out and guides his children individually, He gives us guidance and help to help others when we and they most need it. Oh, and I learned anew the depth of answers to questions contained in the Book of Mormon.  I will just say, Sister M. had a dream last night that she was very confused about the meaning of.  But her faith is enormous.  And we were able to interpret the meaning of her dream with guidance of the Spirit.  It was an incredible learning experience and testimony builder, and I don't think that I will ever forget it! It was literally one of the strongest feelings of the Spirit testifying with me I have ever had as we found an answer to her questions.  And it was totally from the guidance of the Spirit, not from us at all.  I am so grateful for experiences like this that I can have on my mission!  Oh, and she is completely ready and desiring to be baptized now!

Well, I hope you all have a great week this week!  I love you all so much!


Love Elder Wood


Elder Wood and Elder and Sister Aardema
Small world!!

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Got a New Grandma!

Hey!!!  Glad to hear you are all doing well and that everything is good back at home!  And glad that the fasting and praying all paid off and we are getting some water there.  (There is no shortage of it here.... too bad we can't get it from here to there efficiently).  Sounds like a lot of exciting stuff is happening, which is pretty cool!  Shout out to Sabrina for working hard and getting a superior at Federation and for making it into the symphony!!!!  That is so awesome!!!  I am so proud of you!  And shout out to dad for hitting up the fitness and dropping 20 pounds!  Man, now when I get home its going to be me having to start working out to keep up with you!  That's awesome!

Well, this week has been pretty good!  It was kind of an interesting week, or kinda cool in a way.  So, the whole week I have been feeling a little bit discouraged and bummed that we hadn't been doing as well as we were hoping.  We just weren't getting in as many lessons as we wanted, and proselyting was hard.  But, last night, when we counted up the statistics, we actually hadn't done too poorly.  Ya, our stats were a little lower than the last few weeks, but then I looked back at several months ago, even 2 months ago or less, at our stats.  Our stats now are way higher than they were then,  and we were stoked about them.  This has given me a new vision and testimony of the hastening of the work of the Lord.  And it has also made me grateful for the success and increased vision and ability that Elder Wintolo and I have developed together!  We really are finding joy and success in this work together! And now we are hopefully going to quickly see the harvest of the fruits of our labors in the next two weeks!  Ya, Sister M. and her daughters have a baptismal date for the 23rd of February!  We have had a few setbacks and stuff, but we are pretty sure that this date is going to happen!  (And we are really hoping for it, because we are pretty sure that at least one of us will be transferring on the 24th :(...

Oh, and last night proselyting we had a pretty cool experience.  We were riding our bikes around trying to contact people and find people to teach. We had been going for a while but nobody was interested. Then we rode past this big nice house, and an old lady in a wheelchair on the front porch called out to us and invited us to come over and talk to her.  So we did.  She invited us in the gate and to come inside for a minute.  So we agreed, hoping to meet her and her family.  So we went in, and she talked to us, and invited us to share our message.  And she liked it.  She told us that (even though she is 82 and Islam) she feels that the Lord guided our path so that we could meet and talk with her.  Sadly, because of her condition (old age, she has had a stroke, and is wheel-chair bound), she cannot attend church or be baptized in this life.  But she is probably one of the nicest people I have met here.  After our lesson, she fed us dinner, gave us fruit, and then told us that she wanted us to be her grandchildren, and she was our grandma.  So now I have a grandma in Solo!  She is awesome!  I hope that there is a special place reserved in Heaven for her for her kindness, because she has a place in both my and Elder Wintolo's hearts.  And we pray that later in the Spirit World, she will have the opportunity and will accept the Gospel!  I think she will!  And she has a nephew or something that is Catholic, and we are hoping to start teaching him and his wife and son soon, too.  They have invited us back whenever we want!  It was a tender mercy from the Lord given to us at the end of what to us was a rather difficult week!  

Well, that's most of the highlights of this week from here.  Everything else was pretty normal.  Later we're going to eat at this restaurant that is kinda like a cheap Indonesian version of Texas Road House. Its called D'Koboi (pronounced Da Cowboy I think...).  I don't know, it looks funny.  Its western themed and the employees wear cowboy boots and cowboy hats.  So, I'll try to get some pictures, and hopefully it's good.

Glad things are going well at home!  Know how much I love you guys and look forward to Mondays too.  Sabrina and Eliza, I'm glad you like my shirts, but aren't they a bit big...?  Oh well haha, enjoy them!  (The flannels are great to stay warm skiing, too).
Well, I love you all so much!  But sadly I have to go.  Talk to you next week!  Love you!


Love Elder Wood

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Putting on a Roof

Man, sounds like it was a pretty terrible game!  That is a bummer!  I was totally going for the Broncos, too, because I wanted Peyton to win the SuperBowl with 2 different teams!  And from what I have heard from others, it was a bad day in Vegas, too, because the analysts had the Broncos winning, too. Bummer.  It wasn't even close!  That is a pretty lame game!  Well, I hope at least the commercials were pretty funny!  But enough on that.

So, this week.  Well, there is not too much to report on this week.  But it was a pretty good week.  So, Ibu M. and her kids came to church again, which is awesome!  They are really busy, though, and so we have not been able to teach them as often as we would like, but they still really want to be baptized, and we are hoping we can get them ready by the 16th, if not at the very latest the 23rd (before transfers on the 24th because we are fairly certain that one of us will be transferring, but still not sure really.  Just guessing.).  But they are totally awesome and her kids love church and singing Primary songs and stuff. We were going to go out there today to teach them, but it ended up falling through because of timing and we couldn't get anyone to come with us.  It is hard now, because if we go visit anyone that is a female, we have to have another responsible adult there, and we are having a really hard time finding people that have the ability or time to go fellowship with us, and we can't ask the bishop every day.  So that is something new and frustrating that we have been having to try to overcome.  To this point, because of it, we have had to delay or cancel a few appointments despite having called everyone we can think of.  It is making it a lot harder to do the work, but it is from President, so I am sure it is inspired, so we are doing our best to follow it.  So, if the missionaries ever ask you, try your best to make time to fellowship with them or help them find someone who can.  Thats my advice for this week to help other missionaries out.

We have also found a few more new investigators this week, several of which look like they have some pretty good potential to progress and make the baptismal commitment.  So we are going to try to work hard with them and keep looking for more people to work with.  It is exciting to start finding new people and share the gospel with a lot more people!  

On Saturday I went on splits with Elder Giolas to his area.  That was a lot of fun to meet new people and see another area.  That morning we did some service at a new members house.  We helped them put up a new roof.  That was kinda cool.  It reminded me a lot of when I was working on building the shed up at the cabin with Grandpa. While we were there, we had a lot of time to just talk. Elder Giolas and I have gotten to be pretty good friends while we've been here.  (he's the one who's parents just moved to Midway).  He offered me a job to work with him for his dad when we get home as an HVAC salesman.  It sounds like a pretty cool job--going on sales calls, get paid to golf every Friday with clients, and whatnot.  So I don't know, that might be kinda fun.  But not something to think too hard about right now.  I'll focus on that when I get home.  But its good to have options.  That day we also visited several of their investigators and had some good appointments and it was a lot of fun!

In just a few minutes we are going to play futsal for p-day with the missionaries and hopefully a bunch of members and their non-member friends.  Trying to find some more new investigators in fun creative ways.  Then we have an appointment with an investigator tonight, then we are taking another new investigator on a church tour, then hopefully we will have a family night with an inactive member family.  So it should be a pretty good day.

This morning we spent some time cleaning the house, then I wrote a few letters to each of you and a few other people.  I put them all in a big sturdy envelope along with a MicroSD card taped to the back of a picture (I did it more carefully this time so hopefully it doesn't break), and I will put that in the mail tomorrow (its closed now).  Hopefully that gets to you soon!

Thanks for all your love and prayers!  I'm glad to hear you are all doing well!  Tell everyone Hi for me! And I will pray for some water back home, too.  Thats crazy!  Kinda scary!  Well, I love you all so much!  Hopefully that letter gets there soon!  Thanks for the letters and emails!  You guys are awesome!  I love you!


Love, Elder Wood