Baptism!!

Brother W's Baptism - with special guest, Elder W baptizing his dad!

Hey!!!

Well, things here have been awesome!  Brother W was baptized and confirmed on Sunday!  That was amazing!  The service was so awesome and full of the Spirit!  And it was fun to meet with Elder W again, who got to fly in to perform the ordinances and then fly back to his area!  So that was pretty cool!  

And we had our investigator Mama V at the baptism.  And she brought her 14 year old daughter as well!  And they are both on date to be baptized next Sunday!  So we will be busy going out to their house pretty much every day this week to get them prepared!  It is exciting and worth the 1 hour + bike ride out there, and the same time to ride home!  Haha we are getting pretty good biking legs!  It is hard at times, but then it seems easy compared to an IronMan or riding from Sinclair to the top of Big Mountain and back.  So I use those experiences to motivate myself haha!

We have been super busy again this week!  We taught J the Plan of Salvation, and he really liked it and promised to come to church, but then didn't show up.  That was a major bummer!

Ibu M is doing well.  But she is older and really has it stuck in her head that she has already been baptized and doesn't need to be baptized again.  So we are trying to work through that.

M is doing well and seems to really like the church. She came to Brother W's baptism yesterday, too, and seemed to really like it.  Then some members asked her when she was going to be baptized.  She took it well.  She didn't give a clear answer, but she didn't reject it.  She is still thinking about it I think, but hopefully soon we will have a positive answer!

And still a lot of other things going on!  This coming week we have Mission Conference on Tuesday and Wednesday which will be fun!  I am excited for that!  Then after that we will probably have transfers the coming week.  I am not so excited for that.  I don't know what will be happening yet, but I kinda think I will be moving, and I am not super excited to.  But I guess whatever happens is for the best.

Well, you said details so I really worked at it and got some pictures, because those are worth a thousand words, and I don't have that long to type haha.  So here are some pictures--one of Brother W's baptism, one of a throng of little kids that started following us as we were proselyting one day, and another of us golfing a few P-Day's ago.

Thanks for all your emails and love!  I love hearing from you all so much!  It is a big bonus to my week!  Also, please tell Scott and Lisa thanks so much for the package they sent me!  It was awesome and so nice of them!  I will send them a letter,too, but if you could tell them thanks that would be awesome!  haha they are funny, they are trying so hard to make me trunky haha!  They put a picture of the house they are building in St. George, saying that we will all have to go play down there next summer, go to Lake Powell, and all sorts of stuff!  Sounds like I will be having a busy first summer home haha!  But it'll be fun and all in its time!  But for now the focus is here!  Well, I'm Glad you are all having fun and I hope you all have a great week this week!  Love you!  

Love Elder Wood

Love this area!!!

Man, those pictures you are sending are amazing!  Don't make me too trunky haha!  Just kidding!  But I do miss those fall leaves and utah mountains and scenery!  Looks like you guys are having a ton of fun!

This week has been pretty good here, too!  We have been busy and have been seeing some good success!  We were able to get 4 investigators to come and see conference!  And all of them felt the Spirit!  It was such a great opportunity and a blessing!  And I loved the spirit that I felt and the many things I learned!  A few interesting things were: 1)At one point when they were showing the organ pipes I had a distinct thought/feeling of remembering Grandpa Cal, and I felt him with me for a moment.  That was cool!  And 2)  As I heard the speakers, I had an undeniable feeling and witness of the truthfulness of this church!  It truly is led by Prophets, seers, and revelators, and there is no way I can deny it!  It is so true!  What a blessing!

Brother W is still on date for next week!  So that is super exciting!  No problems there!  But I do hope that you can meet him and his family someday!  They are probably one of my favorite families that I have met here in Indonesia!  And they are doing missionary word!  They have found a girl named M that is here for college and have invited her to learn about the church!  We teach her at their home, and they bring her to church and everything, and she is starting to really progress and think about baptism!  It is so cool to see them working through the process themselves, and to be helping someone else at the same time!  They are awesome!

Mama V is awesome!  She is on date for the 26th of October!  We really weren't sure about her for a while.  We thought she was just doing it because she liked us because we weren't seeing any real changes in her.  but the last 2 weeks or so have been totally different.  She told us that at one point she was done.  She was ready to give back her Book of Momron and be done.  But, she decided to pray and ask about it one more time.  And, she got her answer!  And now she is already past Mosiah 24 in her reading!  And she absolutely loves the Book of Mormon!  She says it has helped her change so much for the better!  She can recognize the change, and so can we!  And several members have also commented on seeing the same changes in her!  So that is awesome!

J is doing well, too!  We finally figured out a little bit of what was going on with him and have helped him recognize more of how the Holy Ghost works, and he is receptive to it now.  He was going to come to conference, but that morning his grandma got hospitalized, so he couldn't come.  But luckily she is ok, and he is still wanting to learn and come hopefully next week!

There are a few other investigators as well, but these are the main focus right now.  

Transfers:  Transfers are actually not until November 1st or 2nd I think.  I am glad, because I will still get to see Brother W and Mama V get baptized.  But I still am not ready to get transferred.  I want to stay here at least another month or 2.  Especially because that transfer they are adding 2 more companionships to Tangerang, so it will be a bigger district, which will be fun!  

Speaking of bigger districts, that has been stressful for me this week haha!  I have been having to look at dividing the area and other logistics.  And I have gone house shopping!  I was drawing on my inner Grandpa Wood Realtor skills this week!  But I found a great house and negotiated the price down to within budget and got them to throw in an air conditioner!  So I bought my first house this week!  (I guess rent is a better word, but still).  I joked with my companion, though!  I told him that this first house buying experience was supposed to be shared with my wife, but that he was taking her place haha.  He just laughed.  But It has been an interesting go here in Tangerang!  I have gained a lot of good life skills!

Well, I think that's about it!  I love hearing from you and hope you have a great week!  Keep having fun and sending pictures!  I love you so much!  

Love Elder Wood

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

September 21, 2014

Well, things here have been going pretty well again this week!  The Lord has really been opening doors and progressing the work here!  We had another busy week this week!  

Sadly Pak M was not baptized.  He has been getting a lot of opposition from his old church.  His priests have been coming to his house and yelling at him and scaring him from being baptized, and holding monetary weight over his head.  So he has been really stressed over the past few days and has begun distancing himself from both parties I think.  Which is sad.  I know that he will find all the peace and blessings he is looking for if he will just make a firm decision to be baptized and will go through with it, but the more he wavers and goes back and forth, the harder things are going to get for him.  But we really have to help him build the faith to make that step!

Brother W is doing well and progressing. He already acts like a member--he helps our investigators, he participates at church, and all sorts of things! He is excited for his baptism, and we are too! But he also knows that that is not his final goal! He is already talking about going to the temple as a family, and often says how he would love to serve a mission with his wife, Sister A in a few years! He is amazing! 

We have another progressing investigator, Mama V.  She is reading and coming to church, and is open to baptism. She just wants to learn more first, so she hasn't set a date yet. But she is doing well. 

We have one other progressive investigator. His name is J. We met him a little over 2 weeks ago, and have taught him twice now. He has been reading the Book of Mormon, praying, and came to church yesterday. But after Sacrament meeting, he pulled us aside and said that the whole time he has been asking, he hasn't felt anything. In fact, he said he felt completely empty and even bored during Sacrament meeting. We have had members to his house, and he is sincerely wanting to know and is willing to be baptized if he receives an answer that it is true. But it is hard, we have explained all about the Holy Ghost with him and he still says he hasn't received any answer at all, and he is getting frustrated. I don't really know what to say to him other than keep trying at this point.  It is kind of confusing and frustrating.  Hopefully he will keep trying!

I love you all so much and hope that you have a great week!  I think today we are going to go get our bikes serviced, grocery shop, and have a nap!  We are dead tired!  We probably ride at least 30 miles, and sometimes maybe up to 50 miles a day...It is tiring!

But it is good, and I am enjoying the work!  Have a great week!

Love you all!

Love Elder Wood

Miracles Happen!!

Things here this week have been absolutely crazy!!!  I am dead tired today,  I have to say.  But, waking up this morning was such a relief when I woke up and got to say, "Yes, it's P-Day!"  I can relax (even though it is only a little bit of relaxing.  We still have a lot to do.)  This last week we had 21 appointments!  It was the most packed week I have ever had!  And doing that while also doing the extra amount of study time for training has been hectic!  It was to the point that we didn't even have time to do weekly planning last week, so we had to do that when we got up this morning.  But I wouldn't trade it for a more relaxing week!  It is exciting times here!  The Lord truly is hastening the work like crazy!  Now we are just trying to keep up!  We have been finding new investigators all over the place and been having really powerful lessons!  And it has been happening in both companionships this week!  It is awesome!  Everyone is super excited! The hardest thing is how much riding we have been having to do to get all the appointments in. So much, in fact, that Elder Troff's tire blew up the other day (but everyone was fine). But if that is the biggest problem we have to deal with to receive all these blessings, I think we will take it, no complaints!

We had a baptism on Sunday!  It was one of the other companionship's investigators, Ibu E.  She was so excited and it was such good experience!  And we were able to get one of our investigators to come, Pak M.  Pak M is an interesting story.  He was one of our former investigators, and used to be progressing.  But then he told us he didn't feel comfortable leaving his old church.  Then he couldn't meet for over a month.  For a long time, he wouldn't answer our calls or anything.  Then 2 weeks ago we just dropped in to his house.  He was home, and we caught him within just a small 1 hour window of him being there.  We taught him, and he remembered his testimony of the message and commited to come to church again.  He came and loved it.  Then this week when we visited him, he wasn't sure again.  We had a long discussion.  It wasn't a debate, but it was like bartering. He was so sure about his old church, and we just kept telling him the promised blessings of the church.  We didn't think it sunk in, and he told us that he wouldn't come to church this week, buit that maybe the next week.  And that he was going to go see what his priest had to say about him transferring churches.  Well, turns out, after we left his house Saturday morning, he went to his church, told his priest he was moving to Mormon, and his priest got really mad.  But he held firm and left.  I was astonished!  Then he called a member and arranged himself a ride to church, and came on Sunday!  And he stayed for the baptism, and then told me he wants to get baptized next Sunday!  I couldn't believe it!  But he says the Holy Ghost told him that that is what he needs to do!  So we are going to be working hard to get him all prepared this week!  Miracles happen!  And the Lord guides the work!

So, there are so many other things going on, too!  Brother W is still doing well!  I think he knows when he is going to be baptized, he just doesn't want to tell anyone yet... I have my guesses though!   But he is still learning and he picks up on things super well!  

My companion and I are doing well!  He is really cool, a really hard worker and helps me a lot!  So we are having great success together!  

Well, It is great hearing from you all!  I hope you all have great weeks!  I love you all!

Love Elder Wood

He is the one directing this work!

Hey, how's it going?  Thanks for the letters this week!  

So this week was pretty good!  We had some great appointments!  And we got 14 lessons in with investigators this week!  We met the mission standard of excellence in Tangerang!  That is the first time that has happened since I have been here in Tangerang!  Usually we hover around 10 and max at like 12, so this week was a really good one!  

Brother W is doing well!  He is still coming to church and seems like he is progressing!  It is baby steps, but it is coming!  One day it will just click for him, I'm sure!  And he knows it too!

This week we also had 3 investigators at church, which is like a record here, too!  The Lord is really blessing and hastening his work!  So that was super exciting!  They all seemed to really enjoy it, too! And it made Gospel Principles class amazing!  President Donald and an area 70 were also visiting the ward that day, so they were there to meet them all, and President Donald sat in on Gospel Principles. Since so many people were new, we started with just doing some introductions.  And, of their own volition, the investigators each shared their testimony when they were introducing themselves, and the Spirit was super strong!  Pak M said he was really considering baptism in this church, Mama V said how much she liked it here, and that in any other church she just didn't feel that it "clicked" it just wasn't quite right.  Then Brother W cried as he shared his experiences and hopes, and the Spirit was so strong!  Then President Donald shared his testimony and conversion story!  It was just an amazing spiritual high, and I think all of us, including the investigators, were touched by it!  And they all want to come back again next week!  So that is exciting!  What a great day at church!

Then on Sunday night, all our appointments had fallen through.  So we were frantically calling all our contacts to see if anyone could meet.  We got one guy, but when we showed up, he wasn't home.  We rode all around his neighborhood, trying to contact other people, but had no success.  Then we went back to his house, and he was home and let us in.  He talked at us for an hour or so about Jesus and stuff, then finally we got a chance to talk.  We thought it was just going to be a "this is good information." but that's it sort of thing, but turns out that the spirit touched him and he really was interested to know if these things are true, wants to read the Book of Mormon, and wants to meet again next week!  So that was super exciting!

Then we had one other appointment with a guy we met in front of his house a week ago, and talked to for 30 seconds or less, and he told us to come back Sunday evening.  We didn't even get his phone number.  But we figured we'd try it out.  Well, we show up, and someone answers the door and asks what we're doing.  We say that we had an appointment with the guy, and are told that he wasn't there. He asked us where we were from, and we said the church, and he invited us in.  Turns out that the guy that let us in is the guy we were looking for's little brother (still like 25 years old, though).  He was shocked that his brother would want to talk to us, becuase his brother is Agnostic and never wants to talk about religion...at all.  So he was like, "What did you say to him or share with him that he would even invite you back at all?"  We told him that we had showed him the Book of Mormon, and he was interested to know what it was and made a return appointment with us.  So now, this guy we were talking to, the little brother was really interested.  So we taught him the first lesson right there. He used to be agnostic as well, but a few years ago became Catholic.  But he absolutely absorbed everything we said, and the spirit was really strong.  At the end, we asked if he had any questions, and the first thing he said was, "I want to come to your church. Can I?"  Of course we said yes, and he said he is going to come next week!  So that is awesome!  And we then gave him the baptismal commitment, and he said that after he reads and prays, if he gets an answer he will be baptized!  There were so many other cool things that went on in that lesson, but it was absolutely amazing!  And as we were leaving, we asked him if he would be sure to read the Book of Mormon this week.  He said, "I'm going to go read it right now!"  It was amazing!  So cool and so prepared!  And the Lord totally prepared the day to lead us there, because there were several other things that we had prioritized over that meeting, but they just didn't work out for one reason or the other, and the Lord led us there!  He really is the one directing this work!  

Well, that is about it for this week!  It was a good one and the upcoming week looks pretty good, too! Hope you all have a good week!  I love you all!  Talk to you soon!  

Love, Elder Wood