The Spirit Speaks in French!

Well, it has been a pretty busy week!  We had a lot of cool stuff going on and a lot of neat opportunities.  On Monday night, we went to teach this African guy named D, that the Sisters contacted.  He has come to church in the English ward twice, but we have not been able to teach him until now because he is a pro soccer player here and is way busy.  But we showed up.  I was actually on splits with Elder Troff because of all the transfers and stuff.  So it was fun to be with my son again.  Well, we show up and he is in a tiny little apartment.  He is sitting there with his African girlfriend.  Then this huge other African guy that is ripped walks out of the bathroom in just a towel and starts speaking French.  And another one goes into the bathroom.  We have no idea what's going on, or what is going to happen.  Well, we just kind of sit waiting because D is stalling on starting the lesson.  Then the guy that just got out of the bathroom comes in dressed again.  And they start talking in French again.  Well, then D explains to us that he is the only one that can speak English really, and his friends and girlfriend only speak French.  But he wants them to hear the lesson, too.  We were like, “Well we don't speak French, so how's this going to work out?”  But he said he would translate.  So we started the lesson and taught the Restoration as simply as possible.  It was so simple, and after every sentence, D would translate it for his friends.  And although it was simple, the Spirit was so strong, and they all understood.  They answered our questions and they asked questions and everything!  And throughout the lesson, during his translation, we would notice D was saying way more than we had said, but when he stopped, he looked at us and said, "Sorry, I was just telling them that if they read the Book of Mormon, they will feel the Spirit and get peace, comfort, and direction in their life like they have never had before."  and stuff like that.  He is just learning for the first time, but is bearing his testimony from the little he has read and experienced at church!  It was awesome!  Definitely one of the coolest lessons I have ever experienced!  So simple and slow, but to see D so excited to share it and translate with love for his friends was awesome!  I just wished I understood more French!  But at the end of the lesson, all three of them committed to baptism!  And they asked what they had to do to prepare for it, and accepted all the commitments right then and there!  And the friends, in very broken English, kept pointing at his heart and saying, "I feel happy!  I feel so so happy right now!  You are my family now!  You come here whenever you want!"  It was awesome!  They were so genuine and so sincere!  And they came to church on Sunday, and we set up the translating equipment because there is a member that speaks French, and he translated for them!  It was so awesome!  They are so cool!

Then on Tuesday I was at Senopati all day waiting for my companion to get in and stuff.  In the evening, Sister Donald came up to the office, because there were just a few of us here, ordered pizza for us.  Then we went down into their house and we got to watch Meet the Mormons with President and Sister Donald!  That was a way cool experience!  

The rest of the week with Elder Barlow has been awesome, too!  We have been really busy and have been working really hard.  We have a lot of investigators that are doing really well!  In fact, we currently have 8 investigators with a baptismal date, and several others that we are going to commit this week!  So the hastening of the work is really happening!  We got 16 lessons in this week, which is more than I have ever gotten yet in Jakarta, and we didn't even get to go out at all on Tuesday.  And we already have 14 lessons planned for next week with a lot of other time for other investigators to meet!  So there is a lot happening!  We have been working on making covenants with the Lord to bind Him on blessings, and we have been seeing the results.

Well, I probably ought to wrap up.  But I love you all!  I hope you all have a good week!  I am loving the mission, and we are going to do some awesome things in the last few months here!  Love you!

Love Elder Wood

Not an alien!

Well, it has been another busy week!  The beginning of this week was PLD--like zone conference with President.  We had to teach a part of it on the role of the Spirit in conversion.  And it was pretty cool.  I learned a lot.  And we used a fun little object lesson with oil and water.  They don't mix together very well by themselves.  But if you add some soap (the Holy Ghost) they will mix together a lot better and will turn white (pure).  Haha so that was fun.  But we forgot anything to stir it together with, and we didn't add enough soap during the actual lesson...so it only sort-of worked.  But it got the point across.  So that was good.  PLD was good and inspiring as always!

After PLD, we got several new Indonesian missionaries straight from the MTC.  So, Elder S and I have had two of them with us all week.  So we have been on splits with them, which is nice because we can get 2x the work done.  And it has been funny to be with missionaries so new.  My companion is still on white-person shock, so he still thinks I'm something weird and special, kind of like an alien.  Which is funny, because all the other missionaries are already so over that sort of thing.  But it has been fun.  But we were teaching our first lesson together--his first lesson in the field with an investigator. And halfway through it I got a pretty bad random nose-bleed.  And it wasn't stopping.  So I just had to sit with my head tilted back and a tissue over my nose while he and a new member, who was fellowshipping with us, taught the rest of the lesson.  Haha that was stressful for all of us, and definitely an interesting experience!  But it worked out alright!  So that was cool!

It is transfers this week.  I am not transferring, but my companion will be transferring, and I will be getting a new companion, Elder B.  So that will be a lot of fun.  I've met him several times and he is a really good guy and we get along well.  So I am excited for that!  He will be coming in tomorrow.  

This week we found some new investigators.  One of them is from the Congo, and the other is from India.  Who'd have guessed.  But they are both really cool and came to the English ward yesterday!  So that was exciting!  And we are going to teach them later tonight.  Sadly for several different reasons, we did not have a baptism yesterday.  But the investigators are still doing well and want to learn and progress.  We are just working through a few things--mostly word of wisdom things.  But it is progressing.

Today we went ice skating for P-Day which was fun.  And then we ate an italian pizza place, which was pretty good.  And I think you guys are too concerned about the picture.  I think it looks worse than actuality, because everyone here says I look the same as before, and I still weigh the same and eat fine.  So I am ok.  

Well, I am glad that you guys have all been having a good week.  Tell Kye congrats on the baptism! that is awesome!

So ya, that's pretty much it.  Hope you have a great week!  And mom, congrats on winning the food challenge thing at the Superbowl party.  Sounds like you've taken the cake the last 2 years!

Well, I love you all!

Love Elder Wood

Visitors from Utah

 I am glad that you got the pictures!  Sister Wayment was so nice, and it was fun to talk to her!  It was pretty crazy, there were a lot of people from Utah in church yesterday, actually!  There was Sister Wayment (who is really good friends with the Bartons, too--the Mormon world is so small haha!), Elder And Sister Visick--the doctors from Logan, and then there was another big businessman from the Campbell's soup company who I think was also from Logan that came and visited the ward today, too!  It was fun to talk to all of them, and they were all so nice!  Haha and they all asked if I had anything that I wanted them to bring back to Utah.  Sadly I didn't have anything with me...So I sent my love home haha!

Haha as for the skinny picture...I am the same weight as when I left I think...But I am really skinny.  I eat a lot...but mostly white rice.  There's not a lot of protein to be had.  And this whole week I have been pretty sick...I have had a sick stomach and have had pretty bad diarrhea a couple of days.  So I was really glad for the packages, actually!  Especially the cereal, because that is about all I have felt like eating for most of this week.  So I really was grateful for that!  But ya, this week I lost a bit of weight before she took that picture, just because I haven't been eating much, but I have been losing a lot....  But today I feel fine!  So that is good!  I finally feel like I can eat rice and whatnot again!  So hopefully I can start packing it on again!  

As far as the work goes, it has been another pretty good week. As always, there are ups and downs, and we had quite a few lessons and plans fall through. But overall, we were quite blessed this week. We taught Pak M again, and he is excited and preparing himself to be baptized on Feb. 1. Pak B, another investigator, is also on date for Feb.1, and he came to church yesterday.  His testimony is growing and he believes it is true. It is just a bit of a slow process with him. But he made some improvements and steps this week, so that was a blessing! We also got a media referral named Pak A, who we were able to teach this week, and he is awesome! He is very open and searching for truth, and he promised to keep learning and to come to church next week! And last night as we were on Facebook and taking stats, we were trying to make an appointment with an investigator named F. He is also very open and knowledgeable. During our conversation last night, he messaged and asked us what he needs to be baptized! So we were super excited about that, too! There have been many miracles happening this week!  Oh, and that Malaysian guy I told you about a few weeks ago came to church yesterday, too!  So that was cool!  Oh, and about a month or more ago we contacted a couple at a mall.  Well, they contacted us actually.  But we lost contact with them because they went out of the country over the holidays.  But they work at the same company of one of the members, and they know each other.  So this week we got the member to talk to the husband at work, and talk about having a family night together, and they seemed really open to it he said, so they are working out a date!  So that is awesome!  Lots of miracles and blessings from the Lord!  The hastening of the work truly is happening!

C is doing well.  He was out of town for work this week.  The Ws are still awesome!  And So is Mama V and Sister M from all I hear!  So that is good!

Today it has been raining pretty hard all morning while we have been cleaning the house and studying.  now we are emailing.  And then we are going to an appointment and stuff doing our work.  Then later tonight we are going to Bekasi and playing futsal and doing splits tomorrow.  so should be fun!

Tell Hailey Daniels congratulations on her call, too!  And tell the Smoots all hi from me!

Well, I love you all!  Thanks for the emails, packages (or this week better known as life support), and everything!  You guys are awesome!  I love you!  I will try to eat some more this week haha!  Have a great week!

Love Elder Wood

Raising the Bar!

Well things here are going well!  This Sunday, C was confirmed!  So that was awesome!  He is super cool!  All our new members are awesome, actually!  And one of our other new members, Brother E, who was baptized about 2 months ago, just baptized his son yesterday, too!  That was super cool to see!  And we have been getting a lot of lessons and having some good success.  Pak M came again this week, and he brought his brother as well.  And Pak M is still excited for baptism!  Sadly we weren't able to teach his brother yet, because he had another appointment.  But Pak M is excited to help his brother as well!  So that is awesome!

This week we had mission leader conference, and talked a lot about the goals for this year.  We have a mission goal to get almost 400 baptisms this year!  That is super exciting!  And so we are raising all the goals and standards of excellence of the mission in accordance.  Haha it is awesome, because if you had told me these goals in my first few months here, I sadly probably would have laughed in your face and said not possible, because that was just the culture here.  But things are changing, and the Lord is hastening the work and everyone is getting excited.  There are still a few that are pretty shaky about these goals, but they are willing to try I think, and we are seeing success throughout the mission, and it is motivating everyone!  So that is exciting to see!  We had to teach a ZTM lesson on it, and we had some fun object lessons to convey the point, that I think went well!  

Sadly today we weren't able to go paintballing.  I think we will be going next month, actually.  But we are looking forward to it.  Today we are mostly just relaxing and stuff.  We got haircuts and have to go shopping.  Plus, I got strep throat this week, so I haven't been feeling to great.  But I got some antibiotics and stuff and am recovering well. 

Well, I hope you guys have a great rest of your time in Hawaii!  Have fun and be safe!  And Happy Anniversary Trip!  I love you!  

Love Elder Wood

Welcome 2015!

Hey!  Well, welcome into 2015!  Those pictures of skiing were awesome!  I miss the mountains!  But I am going to freeze when I get home, I think!  The other day it was rainy at night and I woke up and it was like 75 degrees, and I felt cold.  Like really cold...  But oh well, I'll get used to it.

Well, this week was pretty slow actually.  Because of the new year, everyone has been out of town and so we have had a really hard time getting many appointments.  So we have been spending a lot of time proselyting.  But it has been raining almost every day this week.  Which makes it hard, because when it rains, not many people are outside to talk to, and we can't knock on doors.  So it makes it a bit difficult.  And we get wet.  So we are just banking on the old missionary rumor that the more you proselyte in the rain, the prettier your wife gets!  Hopefully it comes true!  But we have been able to find a few people.  And then we experienced a few miracles.  

One of them was after proselyting for several hours and having almost no success, we were walking to a members house and a guy called to us "Hey, are you Mormons?"  We started talking to him, and turns out he just moved here about a week ago from Kuching Malaysia.  He was baptized in 2010 there, and knew several of the people we met while we were there.  I asked him and he knew about that guy that we spent a lot of time with that had adopted all those boys.  And he knew Alana, and said that she is serving a mission in Kuala Lumpur right now.  Sadly he didn't know grandma and grandpa haha.  But it was awesome to meet and talk to him.  He said he had been looking for the church here, but hadn't found it yet.  So we took him to the member's house with us, and then took him to the church.  He said he would come this Sunday, but sadly he didn't show up.  Hopefully next week.

Then on Sunday, this random guy showed up at church.  We had no clue who he was and had never met him before.  But we talked to him at church, and then taught him after church.  Turns out his friend gave him a pamphlet a week or so ago, and yesterday he decided to come.  When we taught him, he committed to baptism on the 24th of January, and wants to bring his brother with him next week!  So that was awesome!

On Sunday night we had a "cottage meeting" at President's house.  He invited all the missionaries in Jakarta to come to his house and bring any investigators or new members who could come.  We had a short devotional and then had a little dinner together!  It was awesome!  And that guy, his name is Pak M, came!  And he seemed to really enjoy it, so that was awesome!

Today we are going to play some basketball or golf for P Day, and next week we got permission to go paintballing with a new member!  So that will be awesome!  (Oh and tell Sister Sheffield that we got permission for paintballing, because she tried for months and could never get it haha)  

Um, ya, I think that is mostly it for this week!  Hope you all have a great week and that you get some snow!  I'll be praying for it! 

Well, I love you all!  

Love Elder Wood

Christmas, Baptism, and Happy New Year!

Hey!  That was so fun to Skype on Christmas!  You all look great, too!  It was so awesome to talk to you all again!  I'm glad it sounds like you all had a great Christmas!  Man, sounds like the iPhone 6 is a pretty hot item right now!  Fun!  And Sabrina, I want to see a picture of your skis!  Haha I thought someone was getting skis this year!  I knew because of the Alpine Sports sticker on my Christmas box that you sent with the Sheffields ;)  I was just wondering who was getting them!  Sounds like Sabrina was the lucky winner!  Well those will be fun for your ski class!

Well, things here have been good.  On Sunday, C got baptized!  That was awesome!  We were super excited about that!  He was baptized by Brother Subandriyo, which was really cool!  He seemed really peaceful and calm and happy afterwards!  And we had a member bring a friend to the baptism, which was cool.  And the guy really liked it and wants to learn now, too!  That was the highlight of the week for sure!

Other than that, not too much has been happening since we talked on Christmas.  It has only been a few days.  But the baptism was awesome!  

I love you all and hope that you all have a great week and a happy new Year!  ANd that is so exciting that there is finally some snow on the ground!  So cool!  Oh, and congrats on the big 25th Anniversary!  You guys never told me you were going to Hawaii!  But have tons of fun!  I love you tons!  

Love Elder Wood

3 letters - Christmas Testimony

1.  Thanks for the emails!  They are awesome!  Glad you liked the nativity!  Sorry, I had written a card to go along with it as well that I meant to get to the Sheffields as well to bring home, but with the way timing worked out for the rest of the week, I was never able to get it to the office to send home with them before they left.  So I do apologize about that.  It is now just waiting on my desk.  So I guess I will drop it in the snail mail and you will get it in a few weeks.  Sorry.  But I guess it will prolong the excitement.  

This week has been pretty good.  We had our mission tour with a member of the 70 come to speak with us.  It was Elder Randy D. Funk.  He actually served as a missionary here back in the early '70s, so that was pretty cool!  He knew a few of the members, and some are even his own coverts.  But it was a super inspiring meeting, and I learned a lot there about the gospel, about our purpose and commission as missionaries, and many other things.  I don't know what it was, but it kind of became another turning point for me, where ever since that meeting I have had a hugely increased desire to study and understand so much more about the Atonement, and as a result, have also had an increased desire to share it with other people.  I have just been trying to do a few more "little things" to help me be more obedient and dedicated, and to draw even closer to the Savior, and I can feel that even just a few little things have made a huge difference!  It has been really cool to sort of experience!

So, we have been busy with getting prepared for the mission tour and stuff.  And we have had some good lessons with some cool investigators.  We have an investigator, C, who is preparing to be baptized this coming Sunday!  We are super excited for him!  He is awesome!  We also have an investigator named Pak B who is committed to the 18th of January.  We are working with him on stopping smoking.  He is struggling with that, but he has a great desire to be baptized and we are encouraging and teaching him more about the gospel and the Atonement to strengthen him and help him!  We had 4 investigators at church yesterday, which was awesome!

Um, ya, that's most of it for this week!  It was a good week!  Oh, we have also been using "The Living Christ" as a Christmas message door approach.  It is such a powerful and true witness written by men truly ordained as Christ's living apostles of His divinity.  It carries the spirit so powerfully.  And so we have been using it to introduce ourselves to people and share a message about Christ, and also to bridge into explaining about the Restoration, and it has been going really well.  But I would definitely encourage you guys to read and review it this year if you haven't already!  It is awesome!

Thanks for all the Christmas packages and the 12 Days of Christmas!  They have been so fun to open and read or use and stuff!  I have enjoyed it!  And everyone has loved the cookies and stuff!

2.  As I wrote to President what I learned at mission tour the other day, I thought I would share it with you as well.  So I will copy and paste what I wrote to President.

Hello President,

Man, this week has been awesome! I will try to condense what I learned at the mission tour with Elder Funk. I will start off saying that it was a major turning point in my mission for me the last few days. Most of it came through personal revelation telling me what I needed to do. I will just list some of the major points that I felt most important to me:

1. Know PMG as well as Elder Funk knows it

2. Am I always here for Jesus Christ?

3. I appreciate your letter of love, because I truly have felt the love you and Sister Donald have for each of us, and me personally. So one thing I wrote was, "Think of the love i have for President and Sister Donald, and the love I know they have for me. That is only a small manifestation of the infinite love that Heavenly Father has for each of us, and for me personally." so thank you for your love. And know that I truly do appreciate and love both of you so much as well.

4. Make the absolute most of the last few months I have and do everything I can to share the absolute joy of the Atonement with others. Use every hour of every minute of every day. Don't waste a second. (Effective planning).

5. Search myself--find out what it is--what parts of me--that I have not fully given to the Lord yet. And then figure out how to give it all to Him. All of it--lay it out on the table. All in. GO big until you go home. And then keep going.

6. Study and gain a greater understanding and testimony of the Atonement. 

Ever since the mission tour I have had a burning desire to study and better understand the Atonement. It has only been a few days of study, but I have gained a much deeper testimony thus far, and have a great desire to understand and know more. And understanding and knowing more about the Atonement has helped me with all of my other goals and desires that I learned. It has helped me identify areas that I can give more of myself, it has helped me grow a stronger relationship with Heavenly Father through more meaningful prayer, and it has helped me have a greater desire to use time more wisely and make the most of every second. So I learned a lot at the mission tour, but most importantly I learned the Atonement, and that, as Joseph Smith said, everything else that we teach is only an appendage to it. 

3.  Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!  Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and emails!  They mean a lot to me!

What a wonderful time of year this Christmas season is to think of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.  At this time we think of his birth, and what his birth and life mean for us.  "For God so loved the world, that He sent his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."  (John 3:16).  

Though far away, I just want to share a few thoughts about Christ, and a few things that I have learned and gained a testimony of throughout my life, and especially throughout my mission.  

The first is my testimony of the reality of His divinity and service on earth.  That He, the Son of God, came down to earth, lead a perfect life free of sin and guile, and became our perfect example I know to be true.  And yet, even more, "He [went] forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he [took] upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he [took] upon him their infirmities, [and] his bowels [are] filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he [knoweth] according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities." (Alma 7:11-12).

His life was real, as was his infinite Atonement.  And it was for you and for me.  He, the Son of God, condescended beneath it all to raise us up that we, through his grace and mercy, along with our works, may be restored to our perfect frame and character, even the character and glory of God.  For God said, "Let us create man in our image." (Genesis 1:26). "In whose image?  In the image of the Gods created they them, male and female, innocent, harmless, spotless, bearing the same character and the same image as the Gods.  And when man fell he did not lose his image, but his character still retained the image of his Maker....Through the Atonement of Christ and the resurrection, and obedience to the gospel, we shall again be conformed to the image of his son, Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29); then we shall have attained to the image, glory, and character of God." (Teachings of the Presidents of the Church--Joseph Smith pg. 52).

I am so grateful for God's greatest gift to man, even His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ.  I know that he is our Savior, and that he lives!  

I love you all so much and hope that you have a wonderful Christmas!  And especially that this Christmas we can remember the true meaning of Christmas, our Savior Jesus Christ and His gift to us. 

Merry Christmas!

Love Elder Wood!