Spit white, walk right

Good life motto

 Hey family and friends!

It's been a good week here in Humble, Texas!

This week I've really tried to focus on recognizing the Lord's hand in my life. I've prayed to see everyone how God sees them and to recognize everything the Lord does for me. I've quickly come to realize really how much He influences everything. There is nothing good that can happen that He doesn’t have a part to play. By recognizing this, even days where we get rejected all day long, the one little kid that smiles while we explain eternal families makes it all completely worth it. The Lord truly does work in marvelous ways!

We found the car that hit Elder Setoki
and we taught the lady another lesson

We had our interviews with our president this week and he always has such good counsel. I feel as though I've gained a real personal relationship with President Hewlett and through our relationship, he has given me the push, and sometimes well timed correction, in order to become closer to my God and Savior. One thing we discussed is that the Savior’s atonement doesn't only heal the pain from your own transgressions, but that it can heal pain that comes from the actions of those around you. This is a super important concept to understand because every day I meet people whose lives have been completely taken over and controlled by their hatred and envy they hold for other people. The only way you are ever going to be completely happy is if you realize you can't control others actions, but you can control yours. And just as the Savior said, in D&C 64:10 "I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men." Once we truly understand everyone's divine identity as children of our Heavenly Father, we must accept He loves us all equally. And because He loves us, Jesus Christ payed for ALL our afflictions. Helping people around me realize how real the atonement is is one of the greatest things I've been a part of. That's because they gain something we all need, a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father.

Alright, now I'll step off my soap box.. This week we stayed in Kingwood on Tuesday because it was MLT. I spent the day with K1 and K3 and we loaded and unloaded the mission office from the Kingwood chapel back into its original office because it's finally been fixed up from the flood. The new offices are super nice and it'll be great to not have to share space with every other church thing in the area. We loaded all the stuff into the transfer van and some trucks the mission has. Haha I told my old companion Elder Wolfgramm that he only has 5 weeks left till he rides in the same van to go to the airport! Man it must be weird to be an old missionary...

On Wednesday we were just biking around trying to find some people and we stopped to talk to an old man who was sitting in his porch (garage with the door open). Haha he was so funny! His name was "DALLAS. NEWMAN. JOHNSON." and he was a "THREE WAS VETRIN" Oh man, he told stories about how during World War II and the Korean and Vietnam War, he would carry his bible under his arm and he wouldn't pay no mind to the Yankees who were laughing or starin'. Haha he repeated himself a lot and for some reason he could understand me just perfectly and not hear a word Elder Setoki said but it was great! He gave me one of my favorite quotes from down here which is, "Spit white, walk right!" That's something he used to say to himself as he would be around all the guys who would chew tobacco around him in the army. Haha he's a great guy but he said he doesn't need this new gospel because the old one already saved him. I have high hopes he will accept it later down the road though :)

Our mission is starting this thing called 'deep fishing' and it's basically like the Olympics we did. It’s a mission wide competition, zone vs zone and whoever wins at the end of the month gets a sponsored p-day activity by President and Sister Hewlett! So that'll be super dope. Our zone is going to go so hard and we are going to win for sure. Our team is LOADED with the best missionaries ;) Haha It'll be a fun competition as we work super hard to improve missionary work here in Texas and Louisiana.

Swamp boardwalk we found in our area

Our investigators Oz and Erica didn't make it to church because they’ve been super busy, but they called us and expressed they still wanted to be baptized so that's a huge relief! :) Miracle!

Today we went down to Kingwood again and balled up with the Kingwood Elders. It’s always fun to spend time with all the good friends I've made here in the mission. Man, the mission is great. It’s the hardest and most frustrating and stressful thing I've ever loved. Totally worth every second! :)

I love you all so so much! Keep your heads up and read the scriptures! It can truly change everything. :)

Watching my comp get hit by a car, this is America.

Hey y'all!

Today we came down to Kingwood to ball up with all the Elders here so it's gonna be a short one so I can get my slam on like MJ in Space Jam.

This was my first full week in Humble and it's going good! I haven't met too many members yet but we are working hard and I think we will see some success in this area :)

On Tuesday, I got to Humble and then we did shopping and such. Then we went and tried some potentials and formers for the rest of the night. We stopped by these people named Dae, Lequisha, Kami, and Tay, we started teaching them a restoration lesson and then Kami stopped us half way and said "I like all this church stuff, but this a FINE white boy." Then Dae said, "KAMI! these are CHURCH people." Then Kami said "I know but he IS"... haha oh man, so I guess according to the hood of Humble, I'm a "fine white boy"...

Wednesday we had a lesson with our investigators Oz and Erica. We had a plan of salvation lesson and at one point Oz stopped us and said "this might sound crazy, but, I've seen this before. I know this." So yeah, MIRACLE! :)

Also, on Wednesday we were biking and about to cross a street. A lady turning in signaled us across and then I guess another lady thought it was for her because next thing I know Elder Setoki is going over the hood of a white Jeep Renegade. So yeah, I called 911 and then lots of police and ambulance and everyone in the hood showed up. The recent convert here named Curtis showed up in like 2 minutes because he used to run the hood. Setoki was alright but he put a pretty good dent in the lady's car. While Setoki was in the ambulance I walked over to the lady and was all "so,.... have you ever talked to missionaries like us before?" Haha I taught her a restoration and left her a pamphlet. She said maybe it wasn't a coincidence she hit him :p Later that night we were walking home and literally a 4 foot black snake crawled over my foot... so yeah... fun filled day! ;)

Friday we had district meeting and then went to the docs for Setoki. He's all good. Just a few bruises. We also a chased down an ice cream truck cause, of course ;)

My first Sunday was good, it'll take me a minute to learn all the members’ names but I'm super excited :)

It is truly amazing how I can see the Lord's hand in my life every single day. I couldn't do anything without Him and I know that my own abilities aren't nearly good enough.

Please pray for Oz and Erica! We need them to get baptized so they can see the blessings and miracle of having that direction from the spirit.

I love and miss you all!

Kids at a dinner insisted on holding our hands across the parking lot

Gotta Stay Humble!!

Hey family and friends!

So today are transfers so I really don't have any time... But I love you all so much and I hope everything is going well!

So I got transferred to Humble Texas, (pronounced 'Umble'). It's just across the bridge of Lake Houston from Kingwood so I'm not too far away. I am sad I'm leaving Kingwood but I am excited for all the new adventures I'm going to have here! My new comp is Elder Setoki. He's from Hawaii and we are the same mission age! He's the DL here so that'll be fun! Elder Jake Osborne actually took my place in Kingwood 1st so that's kinda funny!

Some highlights of the week:

We were able to have a lesson with our investigator G* and her husband J*. They are the angry baby parents. (Refer to previous email). It went super well! We were able to answer their questions and they are both super interested in the church! It'll be great for them as they learn more and continue reading from the Book of Mormon!

Another highlight was our ward had a crawfish boil this last Saturday. One thing I've learned on my mission is I LOVE crawfish! So so good. We had tons of less actives and even lots of non-members and investigators show up so that was amazing! Such a great idea for the ward.

I found out I was leaving Saturday night so I said goodbye to members on Sunday. I sure have grown to love this ward and area so so much and I'm going to miss it. But I know there are people here in Humble that I will learn to love just as much. I'm so excited for the new opportunities I'll have and that I get to keep spreading this wonderful gospel!

Have a wonderful week everyone and I love you all so so much! :)

Love,
Elder Wood

Temple, angry mothers, and knowwwledge

Hey y'all! This week has been jam packed full of stuff so hopefully I can write about it all in at least a decent length ;p

On Tuesday we went and got ready for our church tour with Ryan our investigator. We cleaned and got it all ready and he texted us right before saying he would let us know when he arrived. But, then he never showed up... he hasn't got in contact with us since... We think he might have got called into the station but it's weird because he hasn't called or texted back yet still... We really hope everything is okay because he really is super prepared. That night, we were biking around and it was like 8:30 so we had a few more minutes to keep working if we wanted to be obedient and stay out till 9. So Elder Wolfgramm decided to knock this one house. As we were walking to the door I noticed a "baby on board" sign on their car. I immediately had the thought, “We're going to wake up the baby.” Sure enough, when the lady answered the door, she was NOT happy... she went on and on about how we shouldn't knock doors this late and that because we woke up her baby it's pretty much ruined her life. Now, I have siblings with babies and I get the whole ‘don't wake the baby’ thing. But, her reaction was a little too much :p We told her we were so sorry and that we wouldn't do it again and we left not really thinking too much of it because people yelling really is pretty common. But, the reason I told this story is because there's more to it later on, so 'FIND OUT NEXT TIME ON DRAGON BALL Z!'





















On Wednesday we were able to go to the temple!!! Oh, it was so so good! This is the first time I've been since I've gotten here on my mission because it got flooded by Harvey and they just barely re-dedicated it. It was so nice to go again. I have learned SO so much the last 8 months and I was able to apply everything I’ve learned into the session. The spirit taught and showed me so much and it answered many of my personal questions and prayers. I know that we have been given temples for a reason. They are one of the greatest things here on earth. The things our Heavenly Father promises to us are immeasurable to anything the world has to offer. I can't express how so very important it is we always keep our covenants and stay worthy for the gifts and miracles He so desperately wants to give us. He truly is waiting to give us all He has. We just have to be ready in all aspects in order to receive. If there are things in your life that are holding you back from receiving the light and knowledge you need or from seeing and participating in miracles daily, I invite you to change. Truly turn yourself towards the Savior. If you take the steps necessary to walk towards Him with faith, He will help you walk on water.

River crossing

The member who gave us a ride told us on his neighborhood app some lady asked where the 'guys with white shirts' live because she wanted to apologize. It was the same lady who yelled at us for waking her baby! We went and stopped by and she was super excited to see us. She said as soon as we left the spirit told her that she needed to love more. And that God had given her her child as a gift and so she needed to show her gratitude through her actions to others. So, we are going to go teach her and her family soon! It’s so so cool and I've never had anyone who yells at us try and find us to apologize before! She said she had been standing outside around 8 every night since then looking for us and that she drove around the night it happened for an hour looking for us. It's so cool how the spirit can touch and change people! :)

This week Elder Mills and I had to go to the dentist to get some cavities fixed. Curse you weak enamel... we had to get some information from back home because it was a new place for both of us so Elder and Sister Admunsen gave us permission to call our parents! Haha it was short and strictly for information only but still, two calls in one week! ;p

This last week it's just been getting hotter and hotter! Haha on Friday I had exchanges with Elder Mills and it was one of those work super hard all day, zero results kinda day :p There was a fair going on and we stopped for lunch and got some food from a Hawaiian truck so that was good! Haha but we were so tired and sweaty by the end of the day :p

Sunday was Mother’s Day! It was super nice to see my family! I love them all so so much and it was fun to see all their faces and hear their voices again! I love you so much mom!

We went around Sunday night and left sticky notes for some of the moms in our ward. Hopefully it made their day a little better :)

Anyways, that's about it for the week, I love you all and I hope you keep on keeping on! :) say yes to new adventures! Especially gospel adventures! ;)

Oh also, we saw a Lambo this week. Just another day in Kingwood. ;)

Come on and Slam. Get Ready for the Jam.

Hey family and friends!

So for this week, our p-day is only until 2 because of our temple trip this week. So this might be a shorter one but I’ll see you next week family for Mothers Day!

Tuesday we were able to have a lesson with R*! It went so so well. We covered the restoration again just to make sure he understood and to answer questions. R* is literally the most prepared person I've ever met on my mission. Every single question he asked was right along with the lesson we were teaching. He said he was baptized when he was 5 but he didn't like it because he believed you should be baptized when you can choose for yourself. He also is super interested in coming to church and literally loves everything we've taught him. It’s almost unreal how prepared he is... I literally was sitting there teaching him and it was like I was in the MTC again because he was accepting everything we taught him. I am so so grateful we have this chance to teach him and be his guides on this journey. I know there is no way my own abilities could be sufficient to convert him to the true gospel of Jesus Christ. I owe everything to the Lord and I am only a tool in his hands. I pray I can continue to earn his trust and help more people along my way.

Wednesday we were able to get in with a part member family who just recently had a new baby girl! My sister had a baby not too long ago as well so it made me kinda miss home but they are super nice. The husband grew up in the gospel but never really got a testimony. But he knows it's what his family needs and with this new life step with their baby, they can be really susceptible to the spirit so we are going to continue to work with them :)

That night we were biking home, and they were having mutual in the church parking lot and I heard the distinct, unmistakable sound of Star Wars music... Needless to say we turned around. ;) haha The priests and teachers were learning how to sword fight with lightsabers and they graciously let us join in :) haha So that was pretty cool. Got my Star Wars fill for the day. :)

Thursday I had exchanges with my district leader Elder Abbott. We had district training that morning and then we went out. We decided to go to Porter and try some people we had there. We don't go to Porter that often because the only way to get there on bikes is through the forest and there are packs of wild pit bulls and angry hillbillies with shotguns who don't like you trespassing on the trailer yard... but we went anyways. It was sprinkling a little but we didn't think anything of it. As soon as we got in Porter we went to try a referral we got and then it started to pour. And not the Utah evening storm kinda rain. Like torrential, almost hurricane, wind and drops as big as marbles rain... it was crazy!! We tried to pull out our maps because we had to find out where our dinner appointment was and it was going to be with President Hewlett and his wife so we couldn't miss it... none of our maps were working and it was raining so hard it was ruining our tablets and phones. We biked as hard as possible down the road trying to find some kind of shelter from hurricane Harvey's moody teenage daughter. We finally found a patch of trees kind of by where we came in by the Porter pass. We huddled under some trees and called Kingwood 2 for a rescue... We then waited for 20 minutes while K2 came. There were some guys under a porch by us who were drinking and they just kept laughing at us. Haha I guess we must have been quite the scene as two drenched, muddy guys in church clothes hiding under the trees. K2 arrived and we called Sister Hewlett asking if we should change or just come over. She said to just come so we did! Dinner was really great. It's super nice to get to know our president and his wife better and in a more personal way. They are super funny and so loving. I was joking around with the cashier and just talking and then president came over and told her that if she listened to the message I had to share, that it would change her life forever. So, we gave her a BOM and a restoration pamphlet. Hopefully she'll take it to heart!

On Sunday we had dinner with the A* family. I love their little girl! Oh she's just so so cute! She showed me her little garden and she had me help her water the plants. I just love little kids! :) haha I wish I was a kid still... being an adult is the pits sometimes...

Well, I'm excited to see you guys next week and I miss and love you! :)

Keep being amazing and keep reading the scriptures! :)

4 Weeks to 4 Days

Petting Zoo!

Hey everyone!

This week was full of greatness! :)

This week I really had a cool experience with the power of prayer. So, this last Sunday a recent convert, Brother O'Keefe, asked us if one of us could sing. I immediately pointed out that Elder Wolfgramm could. (Because if any of you know me, I don't have the best singing voice. Haha I try sometimes but it's more like a dying pterodactyl) He then asked us if we would be willing to do a musical number in sacrament meeting the last week of May. Elder Wolfgramm has never performed anything musical so he was kinda nervous so I told him if he agreed then I would play the piano for him. He agreed and then we picked the song titled 'Peace in Christ' which is the new mutual theme for this year (if any of you haven't heard it, go listen to it!) I wasn't too stressed about it because I had 4 weeks to learn the song. And I felt pretty confident in my abilities to learn it in 4 weeks because I'm not the best at playing but I can figure it out if I work on it. Anyways, we were able to have a member print us the music on Wednesday night and things were lining up good. But when the member gave us the music there was some confusion because she thought we were doing it this Sunday... we explained we were doing it in May and then she said that the theme for this next sacrament meeting was Peace in Christ... we talked to Brother O'Keefe about it on Thursday and he then decided we were going to perform this week.... 4 weeks of preparation turned into 4 days... I’ve never been able to master a piano song in 4 days and I've certainly never played a song while people sang along. But, we agreed to do our best. A Laurel in our ward Josella Lane decided to sing a duet with Elder Wolfgramm so they could do the harmonized parts and sound all pretty. So we started practicing from 8 to 9 every night. I don't think I've ever prayed harder for a performance than I did for this one. I've done plenty of musical performances and competition before so I wasn't too nervous about being scared to play in front of everyone but I was more scared for my own ability to play the song. I prayed lots and lots and I did all I could to do as much preparation as possible. I knew I couldn't just pray for me to play it perfectly without me putting in as much work as I could. God delivers answers and miracles after the trial of our faith. Come Sunday I was sitting in the pews and the last speaker was speaking before our performance. I had only been able to play the piano solo in the middle without any mistakes about twice before... I was nervous and scared because I wanted the members to be able to feel the spirit and I thought messing up the piece might distract them from how they were feeling. Right before the speaker ended I said one last prayer asking for help and I told Heavenly Father it was in his hands. I was immediately washed over with peace and confidence. I barely remember performing at all and I didn't mess up in the parts I usually did. It wasn’t perfect, but it was enough. And I know there is no way my own talents could be enough for that.

On Saturday we had a conference with Elder Pearson who is our Area of the Seventy. It was super good! He talked a lot about our divine identity and fully serving the Lord.

We also were able to go to a crawfish boil on Saturday for a recently returned missionary in our ward. That was super good! I honestly LOVE crawfish and it was Elder Wolfgramm’s first time! Crawfish is definitely one of the Cajun things I’m going to miss. Right after the crawfish boil we had the stake jubilee for family history work. The stake had a goal of helping make another stake on the other side of the veil by doing all the temple work in a year. They reached their goal so they held a huge party for the whole stake down in the fairgrounds in New Caney. It was lots of fun and tons of less actives and investigators came as well! We invited our old investigator Craig to come and he did! We haven't been able to see him in weeks so that was super cool! At the party they had tons of food and lots of fun games like Ward vs Ward tug of war and stuff. They even had inflatable bounce houses and a petting zoo! (One of my favorite parts) ;) They had a llama and a deer in the petting zoo so that was pretty cool! (pics included) They also had a live band and that made me kinda trunky for my band and friends back home. (Shout-out to the real GM's. We're gonna have a dope reunion in 16 months!)

On Sunday we went and biked around trying formers and such. On the way home I saw on the map what looked like a green belt that followed a river that I hadn't been on and it looked like a short cut to where we were going. So, we decided to try it out! As we were getting onto the trail some guys on the side of the road asked us for a lighter. We said we didn't have one and went on our way. After riding the trail for a while it cut into an opening and it turned into a dirt trail that followed the little stream. We followed that all the way till where we were hoping to find a bridge. But, there wasn't one. Instead of going miles back the way we had come we decided to follow the river a little longer to see if there was a shallow part we could just carry our bikes and cross. We rode down for a few miles until we finally found a spot where we could walk across. On the way back we were riding pretty fast so we wouldn't be late to our dinner and I suddenly heard a dog and some people. As I looked down into the river, on a bank there were four guys with long hair, one had a hand drum and the others had digeridoos and they were just chilling in the middle of this forest by the river. We realized it was the same guys who had asked for a lighter. So totally just some hippies, smoking dope, just playing some good old aboriginal music like you do...haha oh man, after we passed them we looked at each other and said, 'Was that even real?' haha It’s just one of those things you’ll never forget.

Even though the work is going slowly right now, I love every moment of it! I've completely changed my life on my mission and I'm so grateful for every small miracle Heavenly Father blesses me with. He is there. And He is just waiting to give us everything we are ready for!

Again, I invite all of you to read the Book of Mormon in 65 days with me, specifically look for the characteristics of Christ. If you do this, I promise it will change your life and your focus in whatever way God needs it too. Be willing to become who you are meant to be.

Have a wonderful week everyone! I love you all!
Love,
Elder Jonah Wood

Cool rainbow I found on a leaf so I had to take advantage
of our good cameras on our new phones!

Deep sea fishing and 8 months!

Hey y'all!

This week seemed to fly by! I guess they mostly all do though :p

The beginning of this week was pretty normal. Just working all day, little success unfortunately. But as the week went on, things just kept getting better and better.

It all started early on a Thursday morning. 6:30, the alarm goes off as usual. It's my turn for comp prayer so I roll off bed to my knees and start conversing with the Lord. Half way through the prayer I hear heavy breathing from the other bed indicating Elder Wolfgramm has fallen asleep yet again while I was praying. I finished and then said my personal prayer. After working out with the Kingwood 3rd Ward Elders it was off to the shower. Now, our shower head is a little loose and will sometimes fall to the facing down position. This happened and thinking nothing of it, I reached up to fix it. As my hand approached it, the shower head started shaking and rumbling. Getting louder and louder. It was at this moment I knew, this wasn't going to be a normal day. The head blew off and immediately water with the pressure of all of Niagara Falls comes blasting out the side of the pipe. I half way protect myself from the shrapnel and also try and divert the water blast from soaking the entire bathroom. My one hand is covering the water and my other has half a shower head in it so I have to carefully try and turn the water off with my foot. Once the water is finally off, I stood there, with about a quarter inch of water covering half the bathroom floor... it was one of those moments you just have to go back and watch in the next life to see your own reaction. After I got it cleaned up and after personal study, we headed out. We had interviews with President so we had to bike to the church. On the way over we took a short cut through some green belts that pass by a middle school. On the path there was a middle school gym class running down it. They all moved to the side and we biked on the other side so we wouldn't hit any of them. As I was passing a larger group of girls there was a girl in the back of the pack who was running with her head down. Out of her peripheral vision she must of thought she saw an opening she could take and didn't see us because she suddenly side stepped right into the path of me and my bike... in the split second I had to react I pulled my handle bars to the right and skidded out trying anything to not hit the girl. But as I spun, my backpack clipped her side and then I spun out into the trees. I got pretty banged up by ragdoll-ing into multiple trees but I got up as fast as I could and ran over to make sure she was okay. She hadn't fallen over but she was holding her side. I asked her over and over if she was okay and she said she was and kept running. I felt so so bad though... I mean it wasn't my fault but still, it could have been much worse. Interviews went well then we did hour of power. We found a pretty solid potential and we will see how that goes! On the way home we stopped at the Kingwood 2nd Elders apartment to get a drink and smooch off some of their homemade strawberry cinnamon rolls. While we were there, there was a small knock on the door. We answered it and it was three little girls that had come by a few days ago asking for change for cancer. This time they told us they found a paper about God someone had thrown on the street. The then gave us a crumpled up JW pamphlet because they said they knew we cared about God. They then asked us "How come you don't come teach our families?" So, we are going to go teach their families! Haha we will see if the parents are as accepting as their kids!

On Friday we biked out to Porter to contact a referral and we realized the only way to get there was to bike along the freeway... and we aren't too fond on the whole dying thing so we decided to knock the street we were on instead. As we were knocking I saw some movement from the corner of my eye and a peacock comes walking around the house. So, I did the only sensible thing and I decided to see how close I could get to it. As I slowly followed it around the house it led me to an entire free petting zoo... in the middle of Porter... Greatest. Day. Ever. That night was the K3 baptism from our area. It went well and we were able to have a few investigators attend which was super nice.













On Sunday we were tracting around and we tried a former named Ryan and he is literally the most solid investigator I've met my whole mission. As we taught the restoration he completely understood and all of his questions fit right along. He was so prepared and completely believed that Joseph Smith was a prophet, that we have prophets today and that the true church of God and the priesthood and been restored. It was truly a miracle. He made sure we had his number so we could contact him again. I've been out for 8 months today and I've had lots of rejection and little success. I definitely needed that. I'm so grateful for this opportunity I have to help him to the right path. I hope and pray things will continue to go well with him. I thought of how our mission president the last zone conference told us his parable of deep sea fishing. How sometimes, to catch the big fish, we need to leave our comfort zone, put weights on the lines and go deeper. After the trial of our faith is when the miracles come.

Well, that's about it this week. I am so grateful for your prayers and support. We are all reading the Book of Mormon as a mission in 65 days. So that's equivalent to 8 pages a day. It took Joseph Smith 65 days roughly to translate the Book of Mormon. I invite all of you to do this challenge with us as we all try to come closer to Christ and to find the elect of God.

I miss and love you all!

Love,

Elder Wood