April 14 - Favorite Conference!

So, this week was pretty good!  Actually it was awesome!  We got to watch Conference this week on Saturday and Sunday!  And we got to watch it in English!  Or at least we got to watch some of it in English, and listen to the rest of it in English.  The internet here is too slow to stream it, and too slow to download it all, too, so we got some video, but then we had to revert to just streaming audio because video was too slow.  But the audio was kind of cool, too, because then we could read along with the text as the speaker read the talk, and it helped to better understand.  But Conference was awesome!  I definitely got more out of this conference than I have out of any  Conference before.  I wish I had been better at actually paying attention and trying to get something out of Conference before, becuase it truly is amazing and has so much strength and counsel for each of us individually.  I mean, I guess that would make sense, seeing as it is the Word of God given directly to us...that puts a new perspective on it for me.  But I can tell you that my questions were all answered very clearly, and I can't wait to read and review all the talks!  (Will you send me an English Conference Ensign when they come out?  Last conference we never got the English version here... Thanks!)

I will share some of my favorite thoughts from this conference.  And sorry, I will not quote things very well and will probably leave a few things out, because I forgot to bring my study journal with me today with my notes in it.   But, to me, one of the most powerful messages of Conference was Elder Packer's talk.  He is interesting, because he rarely talks about anything other than the Savior and the Atonement.  And this year was no different.  But his closing testimony was so powerful.  When he read Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon's testimony "That He lives!" and then said that their words are his works, and he said "I know Him" was one of the most spiritually powerful moments of Conference to me, because the Spirit came like a wall and confirmed his words, and testified that they were true!  He lives, and I know it!

I also really liked President Monson's talk about not worrying about what the world thinks.  "We must do what is right, because it is what is right!"  We need to be courteous to others, but we need to stand for what we believe.  I loved one of his closing lines that went something like, "It is impossible to stand firm if we are rooted in the shifting sands of popular opinion and public approval."  Well, that's dropping a bomb!  It was powerful, and so relevant to each of us!  And it reminded me of his quote from last conference that says, "Dare to be a Mormon, Dare to be alone, Dare to have a purpose firm, Dare to make it known."

One more that I really liked was Elder Eyring's talk about being a Proper Priesthood Man--a good Priesthood role model, and how important that is to those around us!  It was just a cool talk!

Well, there were a lot of other amazing things that I learned, but for now that's about all I will write.  But Conference was amazing! 

The rest of this week has been pretty good!  We have a new investigator, and yesterday we gave him the Baptismal commitment in our second lesson, and he accepted it!  He was so prepared and placed in our path, and he wants us to work with his family now, too!  So that is super exciting!  And we have one other investigator that has a commitment, and 3 others that we have extended the commitment to that are praying about it!  So that is exciting!  The Lord is hastening His work!  The guy that has been teaching a congregation out of the Liahona that lives far away has been avoiding us lately (I have actually never met him yet), but we are praying for inspiration to know when to go out there to meet with him and find out what is going on.  And the rest of the work is going well, too! 

I am realizing how fast time is going by, and it is kind of scaring me.  I am realizing that even though I still have a little over a year left, I don't really have that much time left to be a full-time missionary.  Hopefully I will be a missionary my whole life, but there really is something special that I can feel being here full time, and I really enjoy it!  I guess that is good motivation to make the very most of it while I still have time! 

Well, I am glad that you guys are going somewhere fun for spring break!  Costa Rica huh!  That's pretty sweet!  Haha mom, stop worrying about it.  You don't need to feel like you have to put vacations and life on hold for 2 years for me.  My life sure isn't on hold here.  So go have fun and don't worry about it.  Sure, I'd love to be there.  But, and sorry, I'd rather be where I am right now...I love you though!

Hope things are going well and that you are all healthy and having fun!  Thanks for the Easter package, too!  It was awesome and I have been loving it!  The talks are awesome and I have already listened to a lot of them!  And the pictures are awesome too!  And I'm excited for the birthday package :)  You guys are spoiling me!

Thanks for everything!  YOu guys are awesome!  I love you so much!

Love, Elder Wood!

Monkeys and Dogs

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Hey, thanks for all your emails!  Glad you are all doing well!  Crazy that it is snowing and stuff there! It has been raining here quite a bit the last few days, too!  But not too crazy!  Exciting, Sabrina is going to college!  That'll be fun!  

So, this week has been pretty good.  Not too crazy, but good.  Manado is still amazing and beautiful, and it is really nice and refreshing.  It helps, and I really love serving here.

Last week for P-Day we went and saw these cool monkeys.  They are called Tarsis Monkeys, and they are the smallest monkeys in the world and are found only in Manado.  So that was cool!  I guess National Geographic has some big article on it or something somewhere if you ever want to look it up. We literally hiked through the middle of the jungle/rainforest, so that was awesome!

This week we have had some cool experiences.  We have been teaching this older couple for a few weeks now, and they have been receiving us and stuff, but not really progressing.  But this week their daughter came home from college and started learning with us.  In four days she read 15 chapters of the Book of Mormon, and has understood and loved it!  And she came to church for all 3 hours by herself this week and liked it and said she wants to come back next week!  So we are going to teach her the Restoration this week and probably give her and her parents the Baptismal commitment together!  I think that was a small miracle, because I think that she will be the key to getting that whole family to join the church and experience all the blessings!  So that is super cool and awesome!  

Also this week we have been invited to go teach a whole congregation of Pentecostals sometime.  I don't know if the Priest that invited us fully understands what we will teach, but it is a cool opportunity, so we are going to try to follow up on that!  We have also been teaching this guy that has been learning about the church by himself for the last 5 years.  He knows a ton, but that is his problem, too, because he is just too intelectual about it.  He can see from the evidence alone that the church is true, but he doesn't have the faith to leave his church and be baptized yet, but we are working on him.

So, a funny experience.  My companion is scared of dogs.  And one night it was dark and we were trying to visit an inactive member.  As we walked up to his gate, his dog barked really loud and my companion screamed and jumped about 3 feet in the air and then we both just busted up laughing!  It was pretty funny.  

Sadly the lady that we met in the restaurant with the Senior couple has not been ready to act on her testimony yet, but we are still working on it.  Hopefully soon!

This week we have gotten a lot of good new contacts and people to start teaching, so hopefully we can follow up on that.

Well, Im feeling kinda sad right now, because there is like an 11 year old kid sitting next to me at the email place and he is smoking a cigarette.  So sad that kids this young here already start on such bad habits...Bummer!  

Well, I think thats about it for time, I gotta go, but I love you all and hope you have a great week!  

Love Elder Wood

Q & A

So, sounds like things at home are good and exciting for everyone!  ;)  Lots going on and sounds like everyone is busy!  But hope you can get everything done and have some relax time!  And hope Rufus keeps going strong!  That dog...just keeps going it sounds like, though he may be limping along on one cylinder...I thought only cats had 9 lives...i guess he does too!

Thanks for all your emails!  You guys are awesome!  And I hope you had a great anniversary, mom and dad!  Exciting!

Well, I guess I will start by answering mom's questions:

The living conditions here are pretty good.  We have a pretty big house with an AC in the bedroom, so thats nice.  And we have been trying to keep it pretty clean!  The people I live with are great!  I have Elder G., Elder S., and my comp, Elder W.  We all get along well, and have a lot of fun together.  But Elder W is really quiet and keeps to himself, so we are having a hard time but really trying to work on helping him get more involved with everyone.  The food in Manado is really good. And really spicy.  But they like a lot of fish here, so I sometimes have a hard time with that.  But they also have pork here, so that is good!  My favorite thing that I have tried is fried banana slices, and then you put this spicy sambol on them, and the sambol for fried bananas is a lot like Pico D'Gallo, and is really good!  Weird combination, but super delicious!  The only problem is that the food here is all super unhealthy!  Way worse than Solo!  And we don't ride bikes (but we do walk a lot!).  So, Elder G. and I are trying to go a little bit healthier and are going to try to start cooking at home a little bit more and stuff, but we have to learn how to cook with what we have here haha!  And we have to figure out all of what we need to buy and then go shopping!  But then hopefully we can do better!  But we have been good and getting up and going running along the beach for the last few days.  So we are going to try to do that several times a week and exercise every day!  And on the way home from running we get our healthiest meal of the day--A McDonalds egg McMuffin!  Haha sad when that seems healthy!  But it is a lot of fun and feels good to go run every morning, and the scenery isn't bad!  

The mission couple here is awesome!  They are from Arizona.  They take great care of us, and take us to do awesome stuff every P-Day!  Today we are going to see these cool monkey things that are only here, and they are the smallest primates in the world.  SO that will be fun!  They are awesome!  But we don't live too close to them.  Including the mission couple, there are 8 missionaries in Manado.  There are also 2 Sister missionaries here.

The guy out of town, we have not been able to contact yet.  He has been hard, and may be avoiding us from what I have heard.  We are working on him mostly through the mission couple, but they are having a hard time ever getting contact with him.  Hopefullywe can get out there soon!

Well, this week has been pretty good!  I am happy and loving it here!  It really is missionary paradise (most of the time).  So, thanks for everything!  I love you all!  Have a great week!  

Love Elder Wood

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

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

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

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