I'm where I need to be!

Hey!  Thanks for all the emails! Glad to hear you guys are having fun!  Looks like and sounds like Lake Powell was a blast!  I'm glad that you told me about it!  I like to hear that you guys aren't just being boring without me!  So don't feel like you can't tell me about the fun things you guys are doing! It doesn't make me sad or trunky (except maybe the picture of Lake Powell glass at sunrise haha jk)!  It makes me happy!  Actually what I thought was coming out in mom's email was, "things just aren't the same without you, so...we sold the boat."  I was getting ready to cry.  But then I heard you went to lake powell and I was super excited for you guys!  Haha!  So that was much better news than hearing that the boat was no more ;)

But sounds like things are all going well at home and that you guys are having some good times with parties, college prep, and all that stuff!  Keep sending pictures of Lake Powell and all that stuff, I love seeing them!  I try to send pictures from here, but it just doesn't work.  Sorry! Oh, and if you could send me that picture of grandpa waterskiing that would be awesome!  I would love to see that!  

Well, things here are going really well!  We have had a miracle this week!  We met with Brother W again on Saturday night, and he and his whole family just broke down with us.  We didn't teach anything, but it was a testimony meeting.  Brother W has finally been touched by the Lord, and is coming to church weekly, praying regularly, and preparing for baptism!  I can't believe it!  It is the answer to so many people's prayers and fasts!  And it is truly a blessing of his wife's temple trips and his son's mission!  I am so grateful just to be able to witness it!  It has been the highlight of my week! And to see him and Sister A finally sitting together in Sacrament meeting was amazing!  It almost made me cry!  It just seemed "right".  She has sat faithfully alone for way too long, and to see them together and happy now is so amazing!  The Lord comes with his own timing, but he comes!  So, we are starting with the discussions this week and he will hopefully be baptized before the end of this month! And they are making plans to go to the temple in a year once Elder W gets home!

The rest of things are going well, too!  Our other investigator with a baptismal date has had some setbacks, and has been delayed a bit.  But we are still working with him and things are going well! Hopefully things will still go through with him.

And we have another family that we have been teaching just the father for the last few weeks, but he wants to bring his whole family to church next week,and he is open to the idea of baptism!  So things are really looking up this week!  I am excited! 

And next week or so I will start training a new missionary from Idaho.  I will be staying in my same area, which I am really excited about, because I will be able to see and follow up on things here!  

Well, that is most of it for this week!  And good luck to you guys on getting ready to send Sabrina off to college!  That is so exciting!  Hope the rest of your week goes well and that you have tons of fun! Tell me more about Lake Powell!  where did you go, what did you do?  Houseboat, hotel?  Just whatever haha!  Don't worry about telling me!  My time will come, but this is where I want to be right now!  And where I need to be!

Have a great week and know that I love you all!  

Love Elder Wood

July 27, 2014

Hey, happy 24th of July.

But most importantly today (or tomorrow for you...)  HAPPY BIRTHDAY SABRINA!!!

Man, you're getting old!  But wiser, too, as I learned from your talk!  That talk was awesome!

Well, sounds like you all had a good week!  I'm glad to hear that!  I love hearing from you all every week!  Glad EFY was fun for Eliza, that you guys got some running in and stuff, and had some fun for the holidays!  Any plans for Sabrina's birthday tomorrow?  

Well, things here have been going pretty well this week, too!  We had a good time on splits with President!  That was an awesome opportunity!  However it was also one of the most stressful days I have had in a long time!  Because a lot of the plans we had for the day fell through last moment, so I was scrambling to get things put together to have some appointments, because President did not want to spend his day with us proselyting.  But luckily we got things worked out.  I was on the phone making phone calls the whole day when we were in the car and I killed the battery on the phone haha, but we got it worked out.  So that was good.  I was just a little bummed because I couldn't talk to President as much as I wanted to.  But it was still an awesome day and I learned a ton.  Then we had Zone Meeting with the President on Thursday and Friday.  That was fun!  Interviews were awesome, and I learned a lot.  And I also found out that I will be training one of the new missionaries coming in in the next two weeks!  So that should be fun! and a great opprotunity!  I am super excited for that!

Also, we had a small miracle this week!  We had a lesson with Brother W on Friday night.  It was the first time we have been able to meet him in almost a month.  We watched the Testaments movie with him and the Spirit was super strong!  And then on Sunday he came to church for the first time ever! And he came the whole time!  So that was super exciting and awesome!  He finally overcame that major barrier and we are so much closer to helping him get baptized now!  

Well, that is most of what is going on here.  I am super sore because during zone conference we played about 6 hours of basketball, futsal, and football straight!  it was so much fun!  But tiring!  

I'm glad that things at home are going well!  Hope you guys ghave a great week! I'm glad the pictures and letters got to you!  

Love You!

Love Elder Wood

"The work is really hastening here!"

Hey!  Well, I'm glad that you all had a great week up in Idaho!  That sounds super fun!  Sounds like that place was awesome and beautiful!  Fun to be up there as a whole family!  Though sad that there are beberapa hal yang menyebabkan penyesalan.  Sorry, I can't think exactly how to phrase that in English, other than "a few things that cause regrets"  but that doesn't sound quite right.  But you get what I mean.  

I can't wait to see the pictures of Grandpa waterskiing!  That is so cool and exciting!  And thanks for the other pictures!  Those are awesome!  I love it!  I am excited to get my shirt, too!  Haha grandma is too funny!  I am glad that you are having a good time!  Tell everyone hi for me, and that I love them!

What else did you guys do up there?

Well, things here have been going really well this week!  The work is really picking up, and that is exciting!  At the end of last week, we met a guy on the street when we asked him for directions.  We ended up giving him a passalong card, and he actually invited us to come to his house the next day. That rarely happens!  But it did!  So, we went.  And the lesson went terribly...  He just wanted to talk the whole time and wasn't really absorbing what we said.  We weren't even able to finish the lesson. But he said that he felt like we were good guys and that we could come back again this week.  So we figured we'd give him a try.  Well, turns out he had read the Restoration pamphlet we had left with him and had a few questions.  So we started explaining it to him, and were able to actually get to the Restoration and first vision part this time, though it took a few tries to get him focused.  But, when we recited the first vision to him, it was a completely 180 degree change.  The Spirit came super strongly and he focused on me as I said it more than I have ever seen anyone focused.  But it was like he was looking through me, not at me, which was weird to me.  But after we finished and explained it a little, he told me that as I said that first vision, he felt like he was off the ground, and as if someone else were speaking, not me, and a few other really cool things.  and it gave him the chills.  From that point on, he was totally focused and absorbed everything we told him.  At first he was really worried about the Book of Mormon, but after that, he totally accepted it.  Then, on Sunday he came to church and we set a baptismal date with him for August 9.  So that was a really cool, powerful, spiritual experience!  And that wasn't all.  This week we were also blessed to find several other new investigators and get some good lessons in!  The work is really hastening here!

Our whole district is really picking up, which is good!  It is nice to have some excitement and success going around!  And this week is looking pretty good, too!  We have mission conference at the end of the week, and the President is coming to visit with us and go on a split in our area tommorow.  So lots of exciting things!

So last week we went to see the golf course and ended up hitting a bucket of balls at the driving range. And this week we are going back there as a district to play at the driving range and get some practice to go play a real round someday.  I am pretty rusty after not having played golf at all in probably more than 2 years.  But it is pretty fun!  And the golf course here is absolutely beautiful!  So that is fun! Other than that, things around here are pretty normal.  We haven't been able to meet with Elder Ws dad for a while because they have been visiting family back in Solo.  But we are hoping to get over there tomorrow.  And we have a good appointment for later tonight with an investigator.  He's funny though, because he likes to meet at the lobby of the country club.  But he is really cool and a nice guy!  We are really working on trying to get him to come to church!

Well I hope you all have a great week!  Thanks for all your emails and support and encouragement!  You are awesome and I love you all!  Hope Eliza has a great week at EFY!  That will be awesome!  I loved EFY, it was so good!  Make the most of it!

Love you all!  

Love Elder Wood

July 13, 2014 - 75 and freezing!

Happy what sounds like the busiest week ever!  Sounds like things have

been a bit crazy back at home!  But hopefully this weekend will be a

bit relaxing and you can kind of chill and relax a bit!  That sounds

like a ton of fun to have a big family reunion party thing up in

Idaho!  Especially if grandma is putting it on and making it pretty

cheesy!  Haha!  I miss those fun family vacations that we used to do

growing up!   SO if there's a lake up there, did you bring the boat?

What else are you doing up there?  Let me know more about it and send

some pictures!

So, this morning we had a funny experience.  You know how Indonesia is

ridiculously hot, right.  And so luckily we have an AC in the bedroom,

and it works pretty well, and gets it pretty cold.  Well, this morning

it was especially cold, and I was freezing, and we don't have any

blankets, or even anything more than shorts.  So we woke up cold this

morning.  But usually that is nice, because you get out of bed and

leave that room and are immediately sweating.  But this morning was

different.  We left the bedroom and went outside and were still cold.

Like realy cold.  Shorts and a t-shirt were not enough, but we don't

have any sweatshirts.  And I had goosebumps.  So I put on my sarung (

a traditional man-skirt thing) that is pretty long to try to keep my

legs warm and I wrapped my towel around my arms and upper body.  Still

cold, but now comfortable.  So, then I remembered my alarm clock has a

thermometer on it, and I wanted to know how cold it really was,

because I felt like winter.  So, I checked.  In the bedroom it was 75

degrees fahrenheit.  and outside it was 77 degrees.  And I was frozen.

I don't know what I am going to do when I get home and its in the 50s

or 60s.  And then winter is going to be rough!  Its scaring me.  But I

still got a while.  But I now understand why Edward and Florence wore

fleece jackets when they came to our house a few years ago, even

though we thought it was hot.  I'm not used to the cold anymore.

Except my cold showers (which I could not man up to face this

morning..)  Its scaring me for spring boating haha!

The rest of this week was pretty good!  A lot better than last week!

We got in several good appointments with members and investigators.

We met with one member who has liek the coolest job ever!  He has a

travel agency, and he gets paid to go on vacation with really rich

people and take them to do cool things.  And he specializes in

golfing.  So, he has taken people all over the world to go golfing in

Indonesia, China, America, and all over.  And he takes them to major

tournamnets and stuff and has met a ton of famous golfers.  And he

himself is a really good golfer.  And he said someday he would take us

golfing here if we want!  So that sounds like a ton of fun!  There is

even a Jack Nicklaus course about 10 minutes from our house that he

said he could take us to go play.  But it is kind of expensive.  I'm

thinking about using my birthday money there haha!  Just cause that

would be cool to say I've golfed in Indonesia!  But he is a super cool

guy!  and then, we got a media referal for this lady.  We went to her

house, and it turns out that she lives across the street with a

fairway view of that golf course.  And she lives in a mansion!  Sadly,

after talking to 3 of her house helpers, we found out that she is in

London and will be until August.  So, we will have to try back later.

But maybe she has an in at the golf course.  We are in with some of

the rich and the famous here...

On the spiritual side of things, things are going well, too!  We have

several good investigators who like meeting with us.  One of them is

funny, he likes to meet us at the lobby of the country club, and he

drives an Audi A4.  So that makes me think of home a bit haha!  But he

brought his 11 year old son with him last time, and his son was all

confused.  He looks at us and asks who we are and how we know his dad.

then he puts it all together and is like, "Oh, are you the Momons?"

We chuckled a little and said, ya, thats us.  Then he said, "I found

your book in my dad's car the other day and I started reading it and

it made me feel really happy!"  And he really had read enough to

understand it, and that it was about Jesus visiting the America's!  So

that was really cool!  Hopefully that will push his dad to read it

more and to keep up with his son!  We found some other new

investigators and met with some that we have been having a really hard

time meeting with, as well.  And we got into several inactive members'

homes through service and whatnot.  We helped on woman clean her house

for 5 hours after it had gotten all muddy in a flood.  We mopped and

cleaned her floors, and that was fun and a good service, and I think

it touched her!

I also had some cool personal experiences in gaining a stronger

testimony about specific principles of the gospel that came a bit

unexpectedly, but that I am very grateful for.  And I had experiences

of the Lord answering my prayers and giving me comfort when I was

feeling discouraged as well.  Probably my favorite verse of scripture

this week is D&C 123:17.  Sometimes that is very needed in this work,

because there is only so much we can do, and then we have to trust the

Lord to take care of the rest.

This week we got attacked on a ride home one night.  But not in the

way you are probably thinking.  These girls rode up along side us and

told us to pull over.    They were being pretty flirtatious, though,

so we were trying to be quick.  Then they asked us if we had

girlfriends.  We just gave the easy way out and said, Ya.  Then they

were super persistent, and said that that didn't matter.

We then explained that we were missionaries and couldn't do

that.  Then we gave them a passalong card and rode away.  Later,

one of them texted us and told us that she was far away from Jesus and

wanted help coming back to him.  We were pretty wary and didn't

respond much.  But today she texted us and said that her mom is sick

in the hospital and she asked us if we could come visit and pray with

her whole family.  She soesn't seem as flirtatious anymore, so I think

we're going to give it a try, because it is public and a pretty

harmless location.  And who knows what could come of it!  Hopefully

something good!

I have been trying to organize going ice skating for P-Day, but

everyone has been sick or tired, so I think we are just kind of going

to relax for the day.  Hopefully we can go play some other time.  Hope

you guys have fun up in Idaho this week, and tell everyone Hi for me!

And tell that I love them!  Let me know how everyone is doing!

I love you all!

Love Elder Wood

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July to you, too!  and Happy Trek this week!  It sounds

like you guys are going crazy busy!  Hopefully that weekend up in

Idaho will help you relax and wind down a little bit!

Speaking of your trip to Idaho, what part of Idaho are you going to

and what are you doing up there?  That sounds like a lot of fun!  I

miss those big whole family trips!  It's been a while since we've done

one of those!

Man, I can't believe you guys went to the demolition derby without me!

I love that place!  Haha but bummer you weren't in the VIP section!

But that's pretty cool it was so legit this year!  Thanks for the

pictures haha!  But, we did have some fun for the 4th of July here,

too, actually!  We had a zone meeting in Jakarta on Friday morning, so

we went there and were all together for the 4th!  On the way there, we

passed a 7-11 gas station and stopped and got a slurpee and hot dog

for brunch!  Haha that was fun, because 7-11s are not too common here,

so that was a treat!  And a hot dog is such 4th of July food!  Then

for ZTM (zone meeting) we sang America the Beautiful for the opening

hymn, and we always recite something like the mission motto to start

the meeting.  Well, the kid that did that had some American flag

socks, so when he got up front, he hiked his pants up and recited the

Pledge of Allegiance instead.  It was maybe a little inappropriate,

but pretty funny and everyone got a good laugh!  We were all feeling

pretty patriotic and everyone had remembered and busted out their red

ties and whatnot!  It was fun!  Then afterwards we all went to the

mall for lunch and ate Burger King because it was the closest to

grilling we could think of!  And, in the mall, there was a Cold Stone

Ice Cream!  I haven't had good ice cream in over a year!  So we

splurged and got some good ice cream too!  It was a pretty fun 4th of

July!  And it was crazy to think that that was my second 4th of July

in Indonesia!  weird!

The rest of the week has been pretty slow.  My companion has still

been sick and stuck in the house a little bit, which is really

frustrating.  But he's getting better now.  So that's good.  But we

haven't done too much really.  I have gone on splits with the other

Elders a few times, and that has been fun and we have had some good

days.  But other than that, that's pretty much it.  Hopefully this

week we can get out a bit more and have more success.

Well, sorry this is kinda short this week.  But I love you all and

hope you have a great week! Don't burn up too bad on trek!  Sounds

like its going to be a hot one!  Kinda like biking around Indonesia ;)

Talk to you next week!

Love Elder Wood

The Fourth Watch

Hey, so good to hear from you all!  Sounds like things have been busy

back at home!  Even with only one child around!  Haha, bet that's

kinda weird, huh Eliza?  But hopefully Girls camp was fun! But glad

things are going well!  Man, I miss Ragnar!  My second one that I

haven't ran!  Bummer!  But glad you guys did it and had fun!  You

should totally sign up for next year!  That would be fun, and it would

give me something to get in shape for when I get home!  And thanks for

the pictures from it, those are awesome!  Man, mountains, blue skies,

and running!  Don't make me too trunky!  Haha just kidding!

Man, Sabrina, touring Europe!  That's pretty sweet!  Hope you had a

great time there and have a safe trip home!  I can't wait to hear more

about it!

Dad, thanks for your thoughts and stuff!  I needed that this week!  It

was really good, and we had a lot of experiences that relate to that

principle, so that was good!

Oh, and hope you guys have a good time preparing for Pioneer trek and

all that stuff!  Cool!  Have fun!

So, this week has been pretty good.  I kind of have been playing dad

here a little bit.  Being District Leader is a big responsibility.

Last Monday I had to spend the whole P-Day getting service guys over

to get the AC fixed and then going fridge and mattress shopping.  Then

on Tuesday morning the washing machine broke, so I had to get people

over to fix that, too!  Lets just say that my missionary budget and my

personal budget is shot, and I am waiting for a huge reimbursement to

come in from the office!  But it made me think about when I am married

and I have to pay for those things and I don't have the comfort of

knowing I just have to wait for a reimbursement!  Scary!!!  But, now

its all taken care of, the AC works, the washing machine works, the

new fridge has been delivered, and the new mattress is here too.  Now

all I have left is to figure out what to do with the old fridge.  But

that's simple and not time-constrained.  So that's good.  But Tuesday

morning was stressful, because I was on the phone trying to do money

transfers, working with the washing machine repair guys, trying to

figure out appointments, and talking to President who was asking me

how to rearrange the areas and what to do about housing and stuff.

And all of this happened in the space of 30 minutes. It was a

ridiculously stressful 30 minutes!  I got done and just had to sit and

try to think straight for a few minutes again.  After it all ended, my

companion just looked at me and said "That was the craziest 30 minutes

I have ever seen. I don't know how you did that."  Haha I don't

either.  But it's over now.

The rest of the week has been pretty good.  I went on splits with the

Zone Leaders and had a good time.  We got some good appointments in.

We got stuck sitting under a hut on the side of the road for 1.5 hours

waiting for a typhoon to pass.  But there were no walls really, so we

still got pretty wet.  But we got this really cool new investigator

that night.  He lives inside of a country club area and he is super cool.

 He had found the church website and requested a meeting.  We taught him 

and he really liked it and invited us back again.  So we are super excited about him.  We are

hoping maybe some P-Day we can teach him over 18 holes of golf...haha

Sadly we haven't been able to meet with Brother W. again this

week, but we have an appointment with him for tonight, so that is

good.

The rest of the week has been pretty stressful and unsuccessful.  It

has been a passing of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd watches, rowing against

the storm without making much progress.  It was definitely getting

frustrating and discouraging.  But we kept going.  Then on Sunday, we

had 3 appointments scheduled.  But, at church, my companion got sick

and couldn't go out.  However, the other companionship didn't have any

appointments and was feeling pretty discouraged because they have a

family that has been baptized but has not bene able to meet and has

not been confirmed yet and now they have to start over from the

beginning.  They are pretty bummed about that.  So I left one of them

with my companion and took the other to 2 appointments.  Then we went

back to the house and I took the other one out to the last appointment

to get them out of the house and to stop sitting and thinking and

being bummed.  And so that I didn't have to cancel all our

appointments.  And I am glad the way it all worked out.  I think it

worked out just the way it needed to for everyone.  My comp needed

some time off, I think, and they needed a night to go out and have

some good appointments, and the investigators we visited needed the

visits, too.  One of them is this an investigator that has been making

very little progress lately. He is happy to meet and likes what we

say, but that has been about the extent of his progress. But yesterday

we watched the Restoration film with him and asked if he would like to

know if it is true, and he immediately answered that "It is true." I

was a little stunned and confused. But we immediately responded by

inviting him to join this restored church, and he asked a lot of

questions about it, and about baptism, and about his current church.

He accepted all our answers and wants to come to church next week, to

start reading the Book of Mormon, and preparing for baptism. He didn't

want to commit to a date yet, but he committed to coming to church

because he wants to see it first before he sets a date. But he seems

genuinely open and excited, so that is good!

We definitely had the Lord come at the very end of the week, in the

Fourth watch, to us.  We have seen mini examples of this principle

other times throughout the week, too.  Daily it seems that just before

going home we are discouraged, having had little or no success, and on

our last attempt we somehow get a good contact or somehow squeeze a

lesson in, and it restores our faith and hope to go do it all again

the next day.  And Sunday we had that for the entire week!  So that is

good and promising.  So thanks again, dad, for teaching me that

principle this week.  I needed it and there are a few other

missionaries that need it, so I will have to share it with them!

You guys are awesome and I love you so much!  Thanks for all you have

done and do for me!  I miss you tons, but this is where I need to be!

I love it here, even though sometimes it is so hard.

I love you all and can't wait to talk to you again next week.

Love Elder Wood

For Your Eyes Only

Hey, how's it going?  Sounds like things are going well!  But sounds

like you guys are getting pretty bored as empty nesters back at home

this week, mom and dad!  Haha!  Not too much longer...  but don't

worry about that yet.

Thanks for the pictures!  Those were fun to see!  That picture of Tige

driving the boat is pretty funny!  But man, Sabrina, you already look

like "Sister Wood!"  Crazy!  And think, in just a year or two, you

could possibly be back in that exact same spot, only that time you

would be wearing a name badge!  Crazy!  But super cool and exciting!

I'm so excited for you!  That opportunity you are having now is so

cool to go see all those places!  But the opportunity to do

it as a missionary is even cooler!

So, things here are going well.  We don't have too much to report on

this week.  We are still teaching Brother W.  He is awesome and

so good to us.  He receives all the lessons, but he just hasn't quite,

like you said, caught the Spirit.  He is in the process.  I personally

think he already knows, he just is not yet ready to acknowledge it and

give up his whole old way of life and make the big change.  But with

time it will definitely come.  We are just being patient and praying.

Other than that, the most part of our week was pretty slow. I will

copy and paste an excerpt from my letter to President Donald this

week, because that is the easiest and quickest way to explain to you,

and it is the most open.  But because of the openness, I ask that you

please be very careful when editing this before posting it on the blog

or anywhere.  But it is kind of a cool story that I want you guys to know.  But,

like the James Bond movie, most of it is "For Your Eyes Only" haha.

(Editors note: Cool story followed that I am comfortable sharing verbally with those who wants to hear)

So, please keep most of that information confidential, but I wanted

you to know.  But I really do know that the Lord will provide for us

and help us when we need it.  A lot of our problems and negativity and

doubts do not come because we are not being blessed or having success,

but rather we have doubts and lose faith because we simply do not

recognize the blessings and success and help that we are receiving,

because it is not the exact way we hoped it would come.  But it is

coming and it is there.  So, this experience, and your advice, dad,

fit together very well this week!

Well, next week should be pretty good!  We have a lot of good stuff

set up and a lot of exciting possibilities!  So hopefully we are

beginning to pull our of our slump!

Sorry still no pictures.  I tried to hook the card up to the computer,

but it just crashed the internet...Sorry.  But I did take it and buy a

microSD card this morning and had all the pictures transferred at a

photo store, so I will get that card with all the newest pictures and

a letter and some stuff sent off hopefully this week or next, and I

will keep trying to send pictures from the computers.

Well, I love you all and hope you have a great week!  Thanks for

always writing!  I love hearing from you!  I guess I will talk to you

next week, cause I am out of time now.  But I love you all so much!

Have a great week!

Love Elder Wood