Hey y’all! Another week, another email. They just seem to be getting faster and faster. The next time I email it will be Christmas! And that means I get to video chat with my family! ha-ha But I think someone is a lot more excited than I am for that (@mom) ;)
Monday we went to Jennings to meet with C* and sent emails for a minute then went and played some ball. But we don’t have a gym in our building so we went to a street ball court and balled up with some local Jennings boys. We played against them twice and won both times! Elder Anderson my new DL is super good at basketball. He played for his school in Panguitch, Utah. So we wouldn’t have won without him, but I am gonna say this, I’ve never had better plays in my life. Haha I guess practicing against my little brother helped a lot ;) but I had some pretty good shots and stuff so I felt pretty good about winning ;)
Tuesday was super good! We drove out to Elton and Kinder which are at the top of our area boundaries. We tried less actives and some former investigators. We met this guy named P*. He seemed super prepared. He was super, super nice and he let us right into his house and started to try and feed us a ton of food and told us if we ever needed anything that his house is open to us even if he isn’t home! We didn’t have time to teach him a lesson right then but we are going back this week to teach him!
Wednesday started off slow because we were just trying formers and stuff. But then we went and got some fries and a frosty at Wendy’s and while we were parked in the lot a guy came and knocked on our window. So we started to talk to him. He told us about how he was on his way from Houston to New Orleans and they had stopped at a gas station earlier and his wife had left the car unlocked and some guy tried to break their window but then realized it was unlocked and stole their purse which had all their credit cards and money and everything in it. He showed us the dent in his window from the guy trying to break in. Anyways, he was in a rush and all he needed was 20 bucks for gas to get to New Orleans. So we talked for a bit and gave him the money. He knew a little about Mormons and he was super grateful for all we do. He asked how many times we get slammed doors... haha :p He was super interested in family history so we gave him a card with the website and information on it and then he insisted several times we put our address so he could pay us back. We said we didn’t want or need him to but he insisted. And with some people down here if you don’t let them pay you back they take offense to it. Anyways, right before he left we asked him for his name. He turned and said "oh, I’m Tim. Tim McGraw"
Thursday was kinda hard, lots of rejection. But then that night we had a lesson with J* and J*. That went okay. J* doesn’t believe there is only one true church and that baptism is important. But J* is doing well! She understood everything we talked about and she seems a lot more interested than J*. But after our lesson they offered us some southern chili so we ate and talked to J*. We started talking about music and she listens to Queen and MJ and Prince and stuff! She is gonna get baptized now cause she is obviously on the right track. ;)
Friday we had district council and training. Then we started our exchange with our ZL Elder Storey.
Saturday we biked around Welsh and met some Pentecostal people. We came back later and read them the Articles of Faith and explained what we believe in. They really liked having us over and they learned some stuff so it was good I guess.
Sunday we had 61 in Sacrament Meeting! Which is a lot better than last week’s 40 something. Lots of less actives we have been contacting came so that was super good. It was a super good meeting as well. I felt as though one of the speakers was talking right to me. He said "It doesn’t matter where you get called, Houston or Jennings. It doesn’t matter how much you get fed. It doesn’t matter how many real investigators or even real lessons you get. All that matters in missionary work is how much you come to love the people." So, I can’t think of very many others in the congregation that needed to hear that except me. So that was pretty cool. That night we had a lesson with some people who drove up here to be taught by me and Elder Kent. It was really, really good actually. It was probably the best lesson of my entire mission. They actually wanted to be taught and they listened and understood what we were saying! How crazy is that?! :p But that was super good. Elder Kent and I worked really well together and we learned a ton! So it was an overall good time.
Anyways, that was my week! I miss and love you all! I really hope your Christmas week goes great and you remember to show and spread the Light of Christ! Take time to show those people that truly matter to you, that you care about them.
Also, there is so much to learn in this life! And it is all in the scriptures! If you are not studying every single day in the Book of Mormon then how could you ever expect to become better and learn more? I would very strongly encourage all of you who are not reading every day, to do so. Prove to your Heavenly Father that what he has given you is important. If you read with your family then you will see a difference in your lives. To all you head of the households, it is your responsibility to make sure family study and council is happening every single day. It is a first priority, not a last. You will all be blessed as you strive to do this thing which Heavenly Father has asked of us!
I love you all! Have a great week!
-Elder Wood
Thursday, December 21, 2017
Monday, December 11, 2017
Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-CHANGES!
Hey everyone! I hope your Christmas season is going well and everyone is feeling Christ's love for them!
My week this last week has been good! Lots of things are changing so that's really great!
Monday we got Elder Jones ready to leave. He was super excited to be leaving. He had kinda given up hope for this area so it will be good to get some new, fresh missionaries in this area.
Tuesday was transfer day! That’s also when I sent my last email. We woke up at 5:00 to go meet some missionaries in Beaumont at IHOP to have breakfast. The Beaumont ZL's, the Orange ZL's, and the missionaries from Fred all came and we all got breakfast before we headed out to transfers.
My new comp is Elder Kent. He is from Lewiston, Utah, and he went to Sky View! He and I are getting along super well so far. We also have two more missionaries out in Jennings now, Elder Anderson and his greenie Elder Howard.
Wednesday we met with the other Jennings Elders and made plans for how we are going to work most effective in this branch. I’m super excited and we are expecting miracles! We had mutual that night and they had us missionaries teach the young men what we wish we knew before our missions. It went super well. We had two investigators there that thought it was super interesting and they both committed to read the Book of Mormon and pray to ask if it is true. I talked about how I wish that I understood that as a missionary, it’s not your own ability that will convert people, but it’s God's power that works through you. Even if you think you don’t know enough or aren't good at talking to people, it doesn’t matter. If you are willing and show faith in God then he will make it possible.
Also, a miracle happened today! We were at the church planning and such and when we pulled into the parking lot there was a car parked and there was a guy in it. So, we went and talked to the guy and he told us he was a member of the church but he was just driving through for his selling business and he was just eating lunch. He was very kind and offered us some of his lunch but we declined because he didn’t have that much and we didn’t want to take it from him. He then later walked into the building and handed us 50 bucks for the four of us for food! Haha That may not sound like a miracle to some of you, but when you are in an area where you don’t get fed like at all and you only have a little amount of money to pay for every meal plus laundry and cleaning stuff, 50 bucks can go a long way.
Thursday we spent a lot of time re-assigning all the investigators in the area book that are now in the other Jennings Elders’ area. It took a while because we had a few hundred old investigators and you have to send each one over individually. Also, it had been raining for the past like three days straight and the temperature was dropping more and more each day, and our heater is broken... Haha I think one night it got down to 52 degrees inside our apartment. Which isn't terrible but it’s definitely not comfortable to live in... Elder Kent and I turned on all the stove tops and stood over them like a fire to keep warm :p
Friday was a snow day! We woke up and there was about 2 inches of snow on the ground! P* called us and told us very sternly that he didn't want us driving anywhere! Haha Oh man, it’s so funny to see how everyone like shuts down and they don’t know what to do with snow. But it was super cool to watch some little kids experience snow for the first time. We also met this guy while we were trying to contact less actives and he told us he wasn't even aware that there were Mormons in the area! So hopefully we can get him and his non-member family to come to church.
Saturday we went early morning to help set up for our Branch Christmas party! It was pretty fun! In between setting up and the actual party we went down to Lake Arthur and tried all the members there. After that we had the party and it was super fun! None of the less actives that we or the other Jennings Elders invited came but it was still fun. They had a nativity done by the Primary and they had a real life Santa come! E* told me she could tell it was the real Santa because his beard didn’t look funny ;p
Sunday we only had 34 in Sacrament Meeting. After church we went to the V.A. home and gave a member there the sacrament. He was super grateful and you could tell he felt so much better after. We were planning to go to Morse to help Brother H* learn how to track his stuff for his trucking job online because his company is switching to online stuff instead of paper and he asked for help, but he called us when we were on our way and said he had figured it out. So Elder Kent and I drove up to the top of our mission area and tried contacting people in Elton. That night we drove to Sulphur to have to dinner with President Young from the stake presidency. We and the Lake Charles district go every second Sunday of the month to discuss what we need help with in our areas and what is going well. It’s fun plus Sister Young is an amazing Cajun cook! We had gumbo and it was super good! I keep thinking I need to pick up a few recipes so I can give some to my brother Josh when I get back. I think he'd like that ;)
Anyways, I hope all is going well for all of you and I miss you all! I hope you have an amazing Christmas and remember to share the light of Christ with everyone around you. Even the littlest things can make a big difference!
Love,
Elder Wood
My week this last week has been good! Lots of things are changing so that's really great!
Monday we got Elder Jones ready to leave. He was super excited to be leaving. He had kinda given up hope for this area so it will be good to get some new, fresh missionaries in this area.
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| My first day with Elder Kent |
My new comp is Elder Kent. He is from Lewiston, Utah, and he went to Sky View! He and I are getting along super well so far. We also have two more missionaries out in Jennings now, Elder Anderson and his greenie Elder Howard.
Wednesday we met with the other Jennings Elders and made plans for how we are going to work most effective in this branch. I’m super excited and we are expecting miracles! We had mutual that night and they had us missionaries teach the young men what we wish we knew before our missions. It went super well. We had two investigators there that thought it was super interesting and they both committed to read the Book of Mormon and pray to ask if it is true. I talked about how I wish that I understood that as a missionary, it’s not your own ability that will convert people, but it’s God's power that works through you. Even if you think you don’t know enough or aren't good at talking to people, it doesn’t matter. If you are willing and show faith in God then he will make it possible.
Also, a miracle happened today! We were at the church planning and such and when we pulled into the parking lot there was a car parked and there was a guy in it. So, we went and talked to the guy and he told us he was a member of the church but he was just driving through for his selling business and he was just eating lunch. He was very kind and offered us some of his lunch but we declined because he didn’t have that much and we didn’t want to take it from him. He then later walked into the building and handed us 50 bucks for the four of us for food! Haha That may not sound like a miracle to some of you, but when you are in an area where you don’t get fed like at all and you only have a little amount of money to pay for every meal plus laundry and cleaning stuff, 50 bucks can go a long way.
Thursday we spent a lot of time re-assigning all the investigators in the area book that are now in the other Jennings Elders’ area. It took a while because we had a few hundred old investigators and you have to send each one over individually. Also, it had been raining for the past like three days straight and the temperature was dropping more and more each day, and our heater is broken... Haha I think one night it got down to 52 degrees inside our apartment. Which isn't terrible but it’s definitely not comfortable to live in... Elder Kent and I turned on all the stove tops and stood over them like a fire to keep warm :p
Friday was a snow day! We woke up and there was about 2 inches of snow on the ground! P* called us and told us very sternly that he didn't want us driving anywhere! Haha Oh man, it’s so funny to see how everyone like shuts down and they don’t know what to do with snow. But it was super cool to watch some little kids experience snow for the first time. We also met this guy while we were trying to contact less actives and he told us he wasn't even aware that there were Mormons in the area! So hopefully we can get him and his non-member family to come to church.
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| SNOW!! |
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| Helping decorate table centerpieces for the Christmas party |
Anyways, I hope all is going well for all of you and I miss you all! I hope you have an amazing Christmas and remember to share the light of Christ with everyone around you. Even the littlest things can make a big difference!
Love,
Elder Wood
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| A salamander we found in the baptismal font. At least we got something in the font! :) |
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| E* in her Christmas sweater |
Tuesday, December 5, 2017
Transfers!
Hey friends and family!
First off, since transfers were today instead of yesterday, they had us have our P-day today. So that's why the letter is a day later than usual.
Anyways, not much really happened this week. It was kinda slow until the end of the week. Monday-Thursday were mostly uneventful. Except for the fact that Elder Jones thought it would be a good idea to paint our wooden table white... haha He got about a third of the way done till he realized it was going to look super, super bad. So we then scraped off all the paint and now part of our table has random white specks everywhere. :p
Friday was the first day of December! Which means #lighttheworld! We had district meeting in Lake Charles and then that night for our Light the World we went to the Welsh semi-finals football game to meet with some of our investigators there. And we actually came across a former investigator from before I was even here! We offered her our chairs but she kindly declined. So much for freely giving...
On Saturday we took down some food orders to one of Brother T*'s friends in Crowley. We gave her the food and stuff and then offered a lesson. She accepted! haha This is the first real lesson I've been able to teach for quite some time... She was very kind to us and loved hearing what we had to say. The only thing was that she takes care of her daughter’s children and they have a little 2 year old boy. He has a full head of curly blond hair and blue eyes. He also has more energy than I’ve ever seen in one child and has absolutely zero fear with strangers. The second we walked in he was on us. I could tell Elder Jones was kinda stressed trying to teach a lesson with this kid going a million miles an hour around us so I tried to take most the heat from him. ;p He was jumping all around the couches, throwing balls to play catch, trying every second to steal our Book of Mormons to color on and our tablets to play games on. He even at one point came over to me and licked me right on the cheek! haha R* was super embarrassed but I’m used to kids so I just thought it was funny and cute. He then tried to make it better for licking me by giving me kisses on both my checks. haha He especially liked my watch because when you push a button on the side it glows up! haha He thought it was magic. We still had a good lesson what we said seemed to really stick. She said she would read the Book of Mormon and wanted us to come back! When it was time to go, the little boy was heartbroken... I tried to say a closing prayer and he kept interrupting me asking if I had to leave. Then when we stood up to go he ran in front of their door and demanded "You ain’t goin' no-where!" Haha We promised we would be back and had to leave. That night, we met up with the former Elder Wood-- now P*Wood. He left the same day I got to the mission. I've heard a lot about him but I hadn’t met him until then. He and his parents were driving through to see everyone from his mission and attend some sealings for his converts. We had dinner at Subway and he seemed like a super nice guy. Elder Jones knew him super well while he was still on the mission.
Sunday!!! The highlight of the week!!!! WE HAD THREE INVESTIGATORS AT CHURCH!!! haha We actually had people come! It was a good way to end Elder Jones' time here in Jennings. J*, J* and C* all came! I sure hope they keep having a desire to build their faith in Christ. After church we had dinner with Sister M* and that was super good! She cooked goose! Bullets still in it included! haha I kinda felt like I was on that one movie, Second Hand Lions.
So for transfers, Elder Jones is heading to Williamson 3rd which is Vidor and I’m staying here in Jennings! My new companion is Elder Kent. He was a Zone Leader from Beaumont. It should be super good. They are also opening up another area in Jennings finally! Elder Andersen who used to be the Zone Leader is stepping down to District Leader and he is training there. Which means we four in Jennings are now a district. So we won’t be going to Lake Charles anymore. But it will be really good to get more missionaries out here just because before Elder Jones and I just had so much to cover. So many people and so little time or miles. It will be good but I’m a little sad because the T* family live in the other Jennings area. But I will still see them on Sundays so hopefully it'll work out still!
Anyways, that's pretty much all for my week! Although, I was reading the story of Jesus' sacrifice and the events that happened right before and after and I noticed something I hadn't noticed before. There was a man named Barabbas who was a murderer and thief who was imprisoned also when the people presented Jesus to Pilate to be crucified. Now as tradition Pilate was to release one prisoner free of debt on the feast. And the two candidates were Jesus the Christ and Barabbas the Murderer. Pilate at first thought this was absolutely ridiculous. He said, "Behold, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him. Therefore, I will chastise him and release him." But when he asked the people who they would have, they all cheered "Give us Barabbas." Pilate a second time tried to reason, but they all again said they wanted Barabbas to be freed. He then, even a third time, told the people that Jesus had done no wrong. He had no reason to be put to death. But the people still all cheered for Barabbas. So, Pilate let them do as they all pleased. Now, I think of this story but I see it from a little different perspective. Think of it as instead of us being Pilate trying to save Jesus and stand up for him, we are instead, Barabbas. For are we all not sinners? Have we all not gone about this life doing all manner of wrong and causing all kinds of pain? And then finally we are caught in our sins and put on death's row. Because that is what we deserve. We have sinned and with no Savior we deserve to be destroyed. But, then there is Jesus. He is there. And he willingly takes the blame for us. He is the one who paid for our sins. The people of the world cheer with loud voices saying we are the ones who deserve punishment for our sins. But there stands Jesus not saying a word to defend himself against the people because he understands. He understands that this must be done so that all of us can have a chance. Now, we can tell ourselves we aren't worth it. We can say that we have gone too far. We, like Barabbas, are known sinners and have done so much wrong that we feel we are not worth saving. All of those feelings, all of those thoughts are complete and utter lies from the enemy. See Jesus didn't hate Barabbas for the people choosing a murderer over the son of God. But Jesus loved Barabbas. Jesus loves all of us. And his atonement reaches out to all of us. And if you think it’s too late for you, you’re wrong. Even when your time is up and you are about to be crucified for your sins, Jesus stands next to you and takes your sins upon himself. All you have to do is use his atonement and repent. Come unto Him and change your life for the better. Jesus has already payed the price. All that is left is for you to choose to use it.
Anyways, I love and miss you all! I hope this week has gone by wonderfully for all of you and I hope as this Christmas season rolls along that you will take time to realize how blessed you all are! Don’t forget to #lighttheworld! You can go to lds.org or mormon.org to see ideas on how to get started!
Until next week!
Love,
Elder Wood
First off, since transfers were today instead of yesterday, they had us have our P-day today. So that's why the letter is a day later than usual.
Anyways, not much really happened this week. It was kinda slow until the end of the week. Monday-Thursday were mostly uneventful. Except for the fact that Elder Jones thought it would be a good idea to paint our wooden table white... haha He got about a third of the way done till he realized it was going to look super, super bad. So we then scraped off all the paint and now part of our table has random white specks everywhere. :p
Friday was the first day of December! Which means #lighttheworld! We had district meeting in Lake Charles and then that night for our Light the World we went to the Welsh semi-finals football game to meet with some of our investigators there. And we actually came across a former investigator from before I was even here! We offered her our chairs but she kindly declined. So much for freely giving...
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| Watching the game |
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| Marching band at the football game in Welsh, LA |
Sunday!!! The highlight of the week!!!! WE HAD THREE INVESTIGATORS AT CHURCH!!! haha We actually had people come! It was a good way to end Elder Jones' time here in Jennings. J*, J* and C* all came! I sure hope they keep having a desire to build their faith in Christ. After church we had dinner with Sister M* and that was super good! She cooked goose! Bullets still in it included! haha I kinda felt like I was on that one movie, Second Hand Lions.
So for transfers, Elder Jones is heading to Williamson 3rd which is Vidor and I’m staying here in Jennings! My new companion is Elder Kent. He was a Zone Leader from Beaumont. It should be super good. They are also opening up another area in Jennings finally! Elder Andersen who used to be the Zone Leader is stepping down to District Leader and he is training there. Which means we four in Jennings are now a district. So we won’t be going to Lake Charles anymore. But it will be really good to get more missionaries out here just because before Elder Jones and I just had so much to cover. So many people and so little time or miles. It will be good but I’m a little sad because the T* family live in the other Jennings area. But I will still see them on Sundays so hopefully it'll work out still!
Anyways, that's pretty much all for my week! Although, I was reading the story of Jesus' sacrifice and the events that happened right before and after and I noticed something I hadn't noticed before. There was a man named Barabbas who was a murderer and thief who was imprisoned also when the people presented Jesus to Pilate to be crucified. Now as tradition Pilate was to release one prisoner free of debt on the feast. And the two candidates were Jesus the Christ and Barabbas the Murderer. Pilate at first thought this was absolutely ridiculous. He said, "Behold, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him. Therefore, I will chastise him and release him." But when he asked the people who they would have, they all cheered "Give us Barabbas." Pilate a second time tried to reason, but they all again said they wanted Barabbas to be freed. He then, even a third time, told the people that Jesus had done no wrong. He had no reason to be put to death. But the people still all cheered for Barabbas. So, Pilate let them do as they all pleased. Now, I think of this story but I see it from a little different perspective. Think of it as instead of us being Pilate trying to save Jesus and stand up for him, we are instead, Barabbas. For are we all not sinners? Have we all not gone about this life doing all manner of wrong and causing all kinds of pain? And then finally we are caught in our sins and put on death's row. Because that is what we deserve. We have sinned and with no Savior we deserve to be destroyed. But, then there is Jesus. He is there. And he willingly takes the blame for us. He is the one who paid for our sins. The people of the world cheer with loud voices saying we are the ones who deserve punishment for our sins. But there stands Jesus not saying a word to defend himself against the people because he understands. He understands that this must be done so that all of us can have a chance. Now, we can tell ourselves we aren't worth it. We can say that we have gone too far. We, like Barabbas, are known sinners and have done so much wrong that we feel we are not worth saving. All of those feelings, all of those thoughts are complete and utter lies from the enemy. See Jesus didn't hate Barabbas for the people choosing a murderer over the son of God. But Jesus loved Barabbas. Jesus loves all of us. And his atonement reaches out to all of us. And if you think it’s too late for you, you’re wrong. Even when your time is up and you are about to be crucified for your sins, Jesus stands next to you and takes your sins upon himself. All you have to do is use his atonement and repent. Come unto Him and change your life for the better. Jesus has already payed the price. All that is left is for you to choose to use it.
Anyways, I love and miss you all! I hope this week has gone by wonderfully for all of you and I hope as this Christmas season rolls along that you will take time to realize how blessed you all are! Don’t forget to #lighttheworld! You can go to lds.org or mormon.org to see ideas on how to get started!
Until next week!
Love,
Elder Wood
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| Cool Sunset |
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| Christmas lights on the street by our apartment |
Monday, November 27, 2017
Turkeys, Fire Ants, and Banana Spiders--Oh My!
Hello again y’all! I guess another week has gone by because here I am writing again! I hope y’all's week went well and that everything is peachy.
This week was Thanksgiving as I’m sure most of you know ;p So I hope everything went well for that! It was kind of weird not being with family for Thanksgiving this year but I had an awesome time this week regardless :)
For my week, not much happened on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. Tuesday afternoon we went to Lake Charles to meet with the Beaumont Zone Leaders because they wanted us to help them make a google sheets document like the one we made for here in the Jennings branch. So we went down and saw them for a bit.
Thursday was probably one of the most fun days on my mission so far. So earlier this month we had scheduled to have Thanksgiving with the D* family but then a few days before they erased their name on the list... so the T* family picked us up like the awesome people they are. They told us they had been thinking about us the day before and were going to invite us even before they knew we didn't have a place! So we headed to their house at about 10:30 and pretty much spent all day there. Before lunch/dinner we played games outside with the kids. They live on a country farm so we had lots of fun. We played soccer, volleyball without a net, dodge ball with what E* calls peaches (oranges that have fallen on the ground from their tree) Then we had our feast. It was so good! We had a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, yams, rolls, jell-o, etc. It was super yummy. (Their turkey wasn't as good as Grandpa's turkey though) ;) Before we started eating E* asked me to sit by her so I did and she told me about where she got her necklace from. Then I gave her one of those green shield CTR rings and explained to her what it meant. Haha-- she loved it! She went and showed it off to everyone in her family and then when we were going around all saying what we were thankful for the very last thing she said was the ring. After dinner we played a Thanksgiving matching game that E* wanted to play and had pie for dessert. Then T* went and got his girlfriend, who is one of our investigators, and brought her over. The kids and us went outside and went exploring for a little bit. We found a fire ant hill which I was then dared to stick my hand in for 10 seconds... and you know me, I’m no lightweight ;) haha
In Louisiana on the outskirts of all the property there is just this massive jungle type forest that is super thick and seems like it goes forever! So we went exploring in that for a while! We found a big thing of super old junk that was pretty cool. We also came across a giant banana spider. It was probably the biggest spider I’ve ever seen that wasn't a tarantula... go look up pictures of banana spiders. They are something else. Anyways, this is super long so I'll finish up the day. J* and his grandpa took me and Elder Jones fishing in the bayou. We didn’t catch anything but it was still super fun. We had to be in our apartments by 7 though so once we got back from fishing we said bye to everyone and then headed home. It was a super fun day and if I ever visit Louisiana again, I'll have to make sure I see the T* family :)
Also, Thursday was my 3 month mark! Crazy how fast it’s gone!
Friday was kinda uneventful. We just had district meeting and such.
Saturday we had priesthood Saturday. So we biked around Welsh. We found this guy at the park and talked to him for 30 minutes about the gospel. We read from the Book of Mormon to him and answered all his questions and it was going super well! But then all of a sudden, at the very end he said he wasn't interested... That night we went and visited our investigators J*and J*. J* had to go chase his sheep things and so we talked to J* and her friend L*and J*’s mom who is technically a member. Jessica had read from the Book of Mormon and she understood it and liked what she read! They promised us they would come to church the next day and it seemed to go really well! But come Sunday, they didn’t show up again. This is the third time they've done this. So technically we are supposed to drop them since they aren't keeping commitments but J* read from the Book of Mormon... And she's really the only investigator I’ve had keep a commitment on my whole mission. So I think we will keep working with them.
I hope with this holiday season you all are reminded of what is truly important. I encourage you all to do the Light the World project the church has put out. As members of this church you all are called as missionaries to spread Christ's' light. Show others around you that you love them. Even small gestures of kindness can completely change someone's day. Be that light in their lives.
I love and miss you all. I hope your week goes well and I'm so thankful for all the support you all give me. I love it here and I love this gospel. I've never felt more pure joy than when I live and share the gospel. And I know that same joy is available to all of you.
Love,
Elder Wood
This week was Thanksgiving as I’m sure most of you know ;p So I hope everything went well for that! It was kind of weird not being with family for Thanksgiving this year but I had an awesome time this week regardless :)
For my week, not much happened on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. Tuesday afternoon we went to Lake Charles to meet with the Beaumont Zone Leaders because they wanted us to help them make a google sheets document like the one we made for here in the Jennings branch. So we went down and saw them for a bit.
Thursday was probably one of the most fun days on my mission so far. So earlier this month we had scheduled to have Thanksgiving with the D* family but then a few days before they erased their name on the list... so the T* family picked us up like the awesome people they are. They told us they had been thinking about us the day before and were going to invite us even before they knew we didn't have a place! So we headed to their house at about 10:30 and pretty much spent all day there. Before lunch/dinner we played games outside with the kids. They live on a country farm so we had lots of fun. We played soccer, volleyball without a net, dodge ball with what E* calls peaches (oranges that have fallen on the ground from their tree) Then we had our feast. It was so good! We had a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, yams, rolls, jell-o, etc. It was super yummy. (Their turkey wasn't as good as Grandpa's turkey though) ;) Before we started eating E* asked me to sit by her so I did and she told me about where she got her necklace from. Then I gave her one of those green shield CTR rings and explained to her what it meant. Haha-- she loved it! She went and showed it off to everyone in her family and then when we were going around all saying what we were thankful for the very last thing she said was the ring. After dinner we played a Thanksgiving matching game that E* wanted to play and had pie for dessert. Then T* went and got his girlfriend, who is one of our investigators, and brought her over. The kids and us went outside and went exploring for a little bit. We found a fire ant hill which I was then dared to stick my hand in for 10 seconds... and you know me, I’m no lightweight ;) haha |
| "Haha I figured I gotta do it at least once while I'm down here. And it actually wasn't that bad at all. Like the bites are almost completely gone already." |
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| The Bayou |
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| Fishing |
Also, Thursday was my 3 month mark! Crazy how fast it’s gone!
Friday was kinda uneventful. We just had district meeting and such.
Saturday we had priesthood Saturday. So we biked around Welsh. We found this guy at the park and talked to him for 30 minutes about the gospel. We read from the Book of Mormon to him and answered all his questions and it was going super well! But then all of a sudden, at the very end he said he wasn't interested... That night we went and visited our investigators J*and J*. J* had to go chase his sheep things and so we talked to J* and her friend L*and J*’s mom who is technically a member. Jessica had read from the Book of Mormon and she understood it and liked what she read! They promised us they would come to church the next day and it seemed to go really well! But come Sunday, they didn’t show up again. This is the third time they've done this. So technically we are supposed to drop them since they aren't keeping commitments but J* read from the Book of Mormon... And she's really the only investigator I’ve had keep a commitment on my whole mission. So I think we will keep working with them.
I hope with this holiday season you all are reminded of what is truly important. I encourage you all to do the Light the World project the church has put out. As members of this church you all are called as missionaries to spread Christ's' light. Show others around you that you love them. Even small gestures of kindness can completely change someone's day. Be that light in their lives.
I love and miss you all. I hope your week goes well and I'm so thankful for all the support you all give me. I love it here and I love this gospel. I've never felt more pure joy than when I live and share the gospel. And I know that same joy is available to all of you.
Love,
Elder Wood
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| A fox tail hanging from some guy's roof |
Monday, November 20, 2017
The Amazing Race
Hey y’all! I hope this week has gone good for all of you! Now I'm fixing to put the most important part of this email first, then I'll get to my week later. (Just like we should live our lives, with what's most important first) 😉 Anyways, if you are going to read any part of my letter this week, have it be this next part.
So Tuesday of this week was zone conference in Vidor. President Hewlett and Sister Hewlett came down and taught us all and then President did interviews during and after the meeting. President had a list of questions he wanted us all to prepare answers for so we would know what to expect during the interview. After those questions were discussed he said something to me that I have no doubt in my mind was inspired. It was one of those things that you feel was exactly what you needed. He told me about a race. He told me to imagine my mission as this big amazing race. At the end of the race was the finish line. Now that finish line isn't when I finish my mission, but rather when I baptize a convert. And everything before then was the preparation and the actual running of the race. Now, you prep a little different for each kind of race. Some are longer than others so you need to train a little more and work a little harder, but ultimately they are all still races. Now too many people get caught up in finishing the race. Too many people think that the only important part of a race is winning. But if you focus only on finishing a race and you hate the extensive training and the difficulty of pushing through the race then you will be extremely let down when another racer finishes before you. Or when the race is too hard and you give up. These kind of people or missionaries have such tunnel vision that when the end of the tunnel gets blocked they are left in only darkness. In order to avoid that almost guaranteed darkness and feeling of failure, we need to learn to love the middle parts. Learn to appreciate and love the training and the running. Take your time to see the beauty in the course. Take time to learn to truly love those around you and who you are working with. Become excited to teach those you are talking with about the eternal truths you know. See the light of Christ work in their own lives. Help teach them how to run their own races. Then at the end, even if you don’t win, it will be okay. And you will still thank the Lord for the wonderful race you were able to run.
Now this doesn't only apply to missionary work, but can relate to anything in life. If you are looking for a new job but are only focused on after you get one, then it will be much harder to find a job that you will really enjoy. But something important to remember is that if we even want a chance at finishing then we have to run.
"Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain." -1 Corinthians 9:24
We will not be able to obtain if we don’t even start the race. But if we keep pushing forward with a steadfastness in Christ, we will obtain. It may not be in the time we would like, but we will eventually win that race.
Anyways, so my week 😊
Monday was a super slow p-day. We are low on miles so we just stayed in Welsh and hung around our apartment all day 😜
Tuesday was the zone conference thing. That was super good and it's always a blast to see all the other missionaries. (Especially since as the Jennings Elders, we don't ever really see any other missionaries.) After we left we got about 45 minutes away from Vidor and then we got a call from other Elders saying that they had found my tablet... which I wasn't even aware I had left ... so we turned around and drove back. (Good thing miles are exempt for zone conference)
Wednesday was kinda slow. We didn't have any success except for we went and met a Book of Mormon request and it was T*’s girlfriend that had already been to Mutual and Young Women's in Excellence a few times! The only problem is her family is what I call Cajun Catholic... which means that you are born a Catholic, and you die a Catholic. And if you ever switch, then you get disowned... it's a very real thing and it's super sad. She told us she wants to switch and be baptized... But she is only 17. So without the consent of her father, there is nothing we can do. So we are gonna keep trying to get in to have a lesson with her family and see what we can do to help them.
Thursday was super super slow. We went and tried to visit less active and find part member families... and we didn't get a single answer or success....
Friday we had our Branch Thanksgiving party! That was fun. People didn't show up until 45 minutes late but then we had a decent turnout. We had good food and then after we had eaten we set up an alley with tarp and a wooden board at the end and had a "Turkey Bowl". Haha we went bowling with turkeys instead of bowling balls 😂 it was great. We did kids vs big kids (adults). I got a spare my first try!
Saturday we did exchanges. I went to Lake Charles with Elder Harmon. It went really good actually! That morning we did priesthood Saturdays and biked around looking for potential priesthood holders. We were riding and some little black kids came up and said "y’all from New Orleans?!?" "Y’all on TV?!" We explained that we were missionaries and that our job was to help others come unto Jesus. They nodded for a while and then out came more questions. "Y'all teach people how to dress up nice at your church?" "That's a nice bike, I got that exact same bike!" Haha One of them said, "My dad's a pastor". Another said after that, "My dad's in jail"... Oh man, after we talked to them for a while we asked them if their dads (the ones that were still around) would like hearing a message about Jesus Christ. They said yes and then took us to their house. We then had a very very good lesson with a man named R*. He seemed super prepared. He had changed his life around and wanted to be there for his family and his kids. He knew God's presence was in his life and he truly wanted to become closer to him. We taught him about the restored priesthood and how that can bless his family and he said that he really wants to come to know that it has been brought back so he can use it to bless and help his family. He also promised to start reading the Book of Mormon and Bible again. It was super super cool to feel the words I was saying be validated by the spirit and see them make sense in his eyes--to have the spirit work though me and help him make his life better. That's what missionary work is all about.
Sunday was pretty normal. After church we went and visited Sister E*. She is the grandma of the G* family. She apparently had fallen pretty badly so we went to see how she was doing. She was in a lot of pain but she seemed alright. We also got to see the kitten we saved that she has been taking care of. She is doing much better. She was all healed up but didn't recognize us anymore. Sister E* talked to us for a while and told us about how she grew up in California and was a rodeo queen and had the fastest time for barrel racing at a few major competitions. I would have never guessed! Haha it was funny though, because Elder Jones didn't know what barrel racing was and the fact that he didn't know what barrel racing was, was almost incomprehensible for Sister E*... 😜 she was just so shocked that someone didn't know what it was. Then he told her he had never seen a rodeo before... I think at that exact moment she lost all faith in our generation... haha she was relieved I knew what it was though. 😂
Anyways, that was my week. It really went by super fast again... it's crazy how fast things go now a days. I miss and love y’all! Thank you so much for your support and love! I hope y'all have a great week!
Love,
Elder Wood
So Tuesday of this week was zone conference in Vidor. President Hewlett and Sister Hewlett came down and taught us all and then President did interviews during and after the meeting. President had a list of questions he wanted us all to prepare answers for so we would know what to expect during the interview. After those questions were discussed he said something to me that I have no doubt in my mind was inspired. It was one of those things that you feel was exactly what you needed. He told me about a race. He told me to imagine my mission as this big amazing race. At the end of the race was the finish line. Now that finish line isn't when I finish my mission, but rather when I baptize a convert. And everything before then was the preparation and the actual running of the race. Now, you prep a little different for each kind of race. Some are longer than others so you need to train a little more and work a little harder, but ultimately they are all still races. Now too many people get caught up in finishing the race. Too many people think that the only important part of a race is winning. But if you focus only on finishing a race and you hate the extensive training and the difficulty of pushing through the race then you will be extremely let down when another racer finishes before you. Or when the race is too hard and you give up. These kind of people or missionaries have such tunnel vision that when the end of the tunnel gets blocked they are left in only darkness. In order to avoid that almost guaranteed darkness and feeling of failure, we need to learn to love the middle parts. Learn to appreciate and love the training and the running. Take your time to see the beauty in the course. Take time to learn to truly love those around you and who you are working with. Become excited to teach those you are talking with about the eternal truths you know. See the light of Christ work in their own lives. Help teach them how to run their own races. Then at the end, even if you don’t win, it will be okay. And you will still thank the Lord for the wonderful race you were able to run.
Now this doesn't only apply to missionary work, but can relate to anything in life. If you are looking for a new job but are only focused on after you get one, then it will be much harder to find a job that you will really enjoy. But something important to remember is that if we even want a chance at finishing then we have to run.
"Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain." -1 Corinthians 9:24
We will not be able to obtain if we don’t even start the race. But if we keep pushing forward with a steadfastness in Christ, we will obtain. It may not be in the time we would like, but we will eventually win that race.
Anyways, so my week 😊
Monday was a super slow p-day. We are low on miles so we just stayed in Welsh and hung around our apartment all day 😜
Tuesday was the zone conference thing. That was super good and it's always a blast to see all the other missionaries. (Especially since as the Jennings Elders, we don't ever really see any other missionaries.) After we left we got about 45 minutes away from Vidor and then we got a call from other Elders saying that they had found my tablet... which I wasn't even aware I had left ... so we turned around and drove back. (Good thing miles are exempt for zone conference)
Wednesday was kinda slow. We didn't have any success except for we went and met a Book of Mormon request and it was T*’s girlfriend that had already been to Mutual and Young Women's in Excellence a few times! The only problem is her family is what I call Cajun Catholic... which means that you are born a Catholic, and you die a Catholic. And if you ever switch, then you get disowned... it's a very real thing and it's super sad. She told us she wants to switch and be baptized... But she is only 17. So without the consent of her father, there is nothing we can do. So we are gonna keep trying to get in to have a lesson with her family and see what we can do to help them.
Thursday was super super slow. We went and tried to visit less active and find part member families... and we didn't get a single answer or success....
Friday we had our Branch Thanksgiving party! That was fun. People didn't show up until 45 minutes late but then we had a decent turnout. We had good food and then after we had eaten we set up an alley with tarp and a wooden board at the end and had a "Turkey Bowl". Haha we went bowling with turkeys instead of bowling balls 😂 it was great. We did kids vs big kids (adults). I got a spare my first try!
Saturday we did exchanges. I went to Lake Charles with Elder Harmon. It went really good actually! That morning we did priesthood Saturdays and biked around looking for potential priesthood holders. We were riding and some little black kids came up and said "y’all from New Orleans?!?" "Y’all on TV?!" We explained that we were missionaries and that our job was to help others come unto Jesus. They nodded for a while and then out came more questions. "Y'all teach people how to dress up nice at your church?" "That's a nice bike, I got that exact same bike!" Haha One of them said, "My dad's a pastor". Another said after that, "My dad's in jail"... Oh man, after we talked to them for a while we asked them if their dads (the ones that were still around) would like hearing a message about Jesus Christ. They said yes and then took us to their house. We then had a very very good lesson with a man named R*. He seemed super prepared. He had changed his life around and wanted to be there for his family and his kids. He knew God's presence was in his life and he truly wanted to become closer to him. We taught him about the restored priesthood and how that can bless his family and he said that he really wants to come to know that it has been brought back so he can use it to bless and help his family. He also promised to start reading the Book of Mormon and Bible again. It was super super cool to feel the words I was saying be validated by the spirit and see them make sense in his eyes--to have the spirit work though me and help him make his life better. That's what missionary work is all about.
Sunday was pretty normal. After church we went and visited Sister E*. She is the grandma of the G* family. She apparently had fallen pretty badly so we went to see how she was doing. She was in a lot of pain but she seemed alright. We also got to see the kitten we saved that she has been taking care of. She is doing much better. She was all healed up but didn't recognize us anymore. Sister E* talked to us for a while and told us about how she grew up in California and was a rodeo queen and had the fastest time for barrel racing at a few major competitions. I would have never guessed! Haha it was funny though, because Elder Jones didn't know what barrel racing was and the fact that he didn't know what barrel racing was, was almost incomprehensible for Sister E*... 😜 she was just so shocked that someone didn't know what it was. Then he told her he had never seen a rodeo before... I think at that exact moment she lost all faith in our generation... haha she was relieved I knew what it was though. 😂
Anyways, that was my week. It really went by super fast again... it's crazy how fast things go now a days. I miss and love y’all! Thank you so much for your support and love! I hope y'all have a great week!
Love,
Elder Wood
Monday, November 13, 2017
Week of Kittens
Hey y’all! I hope you are all doing well and loving life! It starting to cool down a little here in Louisiana so that’s been good! And by cool down I mean it’s in the 60's. Which would probably be warm for you guys back home... ;p
So, for this week...
Monday our zone leader Elder Andersen came down to stay with Elder Jones and me for exchanges. That night they both got in this big discussion of how Adam's physical body was actually created. Because it says Jesus was the only begotten son of God and it says Adam was created from the dust of this earth. But there are quotes from apostles saying we would be foolish if we thought any man was created by any other way than all men have been created. And that being because God is unchanging. Anyways it was funny to watch them go back and forth all night trying to figure this out :p
Tuesday was good. We went around with Elder Andersen to visit some people. We went down to Morse to drop off a check to a less active. Then on the way back we stopped at the T* family! That was fun as always. E* and I finished coloring and then she showed me these walkie-talkies she had. But they didn’t have batteries so we just had to pretend they worked and talk through them ;) We were on a tight schedule so we couldn’t stay long and she wanted me to stay and play a game with her but we had to go. Before we left though, she raced with me around her yard to show me how fast she was. It was a close race but she was always a little faster than me ;p After that we went and visited this less active who I hadn't met before. And let me tell you... She was absolutely crazy! haha She lives in an old gas station. Not even kidding... They have about everything you could think of and not in a good way. They let us in and the first thing they had us do is try and find a dead rat they had been smelling for 2 weeks... haha Oh man, I'll sure have some stories to tell when I get back! Then we went by the G*'s again and their little girl M* just loves me. She is kinda crazy though and is very high energy ;p As we were leaving we closed the door and I heard M* say that she didn't get to give me a high five so I quickly opened the door back up and gave her one. Haha that made her happy I think
Wednesday was the day of the kitten. While we were out trying to find less actives, we saw a dog down the street that had a kitten in its jaws and it was throwing it around and stuff trying to kill it... Now if you read my letter a few weeks ago I saw a kitten get killed by a dog earlier and now that there wasn't a guy with a gun next to it I wasn't about to let it happen twice... We ran over and got the dog away from it. As soon as I crouched down towards the tiny thing it crawled between my feet to hide from the dog. It had a pretty bad cut on its neck and it was super scared. I picked her up and we took her to the church where I washed its cut out and wrapped it up to keep it warm. Then people started coming for mutual and by this time the kitten was calming down and getting used to me. J* named it Crystal and we decided that A* would take it home to take care of it. Also for mutual, since we are a branch, we don’t have a chapel... so our building can be used for church and for activities. So we had a giant Nerf war with all of the youth. Haha-- it was a good time. And we had four non-members at mutual!!!
Thursday we stopped by J* and J*. They showed us their baby kittens and sheep. We then tried to commit them to come to church. At the time they seemed pretty solid and like they wanted to, but they didn't show up... we will have to go see them this week and see what’s going on with that.
Friday we went and saw R*. It’s been awhile so it was good to see him. We focused on the importance of the Book of Mormon. Hopefully he will actually start to read because then he can find out for himself that it is true. And if the Book of Mormon is true then Joseph Smith was a prophet. Which means we have prophets today. Which means this is the one and only true church. I'm really hoping he sees a change in his life and decides to accept this gospel. Any prayers would be much appreciated.
Saturday was our first day of doing this new thing called "Priesthood Saturdays" which means we biked! It was so nice to go and get out compared to the usual inside our car because our area is so big. We found a guy named K* who might go somewhere. I guess we will see. All of the rest of our appointments that day fell through... that was a bummer.
Sunday none of our investigators showed up for church... but I got to pass the sacrament and teach the youth class. We also had a good branch council meeting after so that was good. We went after church with President M* and saw Brother W* at the Veteran’s home. He isn't doing too well... That night we went to President Y*’s house for dinner in Sulphur since it was the second Sunday. His wife always cooks such good Cajun food... oh man. We had jambalaya and some shrimp parfait stuff. It was so good.
Anyways, that was my week. I really hope all of you guys’ weeks went well! I miss and love you all! If you have any questions that you need answered Read Moroni Chapter 10. That will show you how to receive answers for yourself :)
Love, Elder Wood
So, for this week...
Monday our zone leader Elder Andersen came down to stay with Elder Jones and me for exchanges. That night they both got in this big discussion of how Adam's physical body was actually created. Because it says Jesus was the only begotten son of God and it says Adam was created from the dust of this earth. But there are quotes from apostles saying we would be foolish if we thought any man was created by any other way than all men have been created. And that being because God is unchanging. Anyways it was funny to watch them go back and forth all night trying to figure this out :p
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| The picture I colored with E* |
Tuesday was good. We went around with Elder Andersen to visit some people. We went down to Morse to drop off a check to a less active. Then on the way back we stopped at the T* family! That was fun as always. E* and I finished coloring and then she showed me these walkie-talkies she had. But they didn’t have batteries so we just had to pretend they worked and talk through them ;) We were on a tight schedule so we couldn’t stay long and she wanted me to stay and play a game with her but we had to go. Before we left though, she raced with me around her yard to show me how fast she was. It was a close race but she was always a little faster than me ;p After that we went and visited this less active who I hadn't met before. And let me tell you... She was absolutely crazy! haha She lives in an old gas station. Not even kidding... They have about everything you could think of and not in a good way. They let us in and the first thing they had us do is try and find a dead rat they had been smelling for 2 weeks... haha Oh man, I'll sure have some stories to tell when I get back! Then we went by the G*'s again and their little girl M* just loves me. She is kinda crazy though and is very high energy ;p As we were leaving we closed the door and I heard M* say that she didn't get to give me a high five so I quickly opened the door back up and gave her one. Haha that made her happy I think
Wednesday was the day of the kitten. While we were out trying to find less actives, we saw a dog down the street that had a kitten in its jaws and it was throwing it around and stuff trying to kill it... Now if you read my letter a few weeks ago I saw a kitten get killed by a dog earlier and now that there wasn't a guy with a gun next to it I wasn't about to let it happen twice... We ran over and got the dog away from it. As soon as I crouched down towards the tiny thing it crawled between my feet to hide from the dog. It had a pretty bad cut on its neck and it was super scared. I picked her up and we took her to the church where I washed its cut out and wrapped it up to keep it warm. Then people started coming for mutual and by this time the kitten was calming down and getting used to me. J* named it Crystal and we decided that A* would take it home to take care of it. Also for mutual, since we are a branch, we don’t have a chapel... so our building can be used for church and for activities. So we had a giant Nerf war with all of the youth. Haha-- it was a good time. And we had four non-members at mutual!!!
Thursday we stopped by J* and J*. They showed us their baby kittens and sheep. We then tried to commit them to come to church. At the time they seemed pretty solid and like they wanted to, but they didn't show up... we will have to go see them this week and see what’s going on with that.
Friday we went and saw R*. It’s been awhile so it was good to see him. We focused on the importance of the Book of Mormon. Hopefully he will actually start to read because then he can find out for himself that it is true. And if the Book of Mormon is true then Joseph Smith was a prophet. Which means we have prophets today. Which means this is the one and only true church. I'm really hoping he sees a change in his life and decides to accept this gospel. Any prayers would be much appreciated.
Saturday was our first day of doing this new thing called "Priesthood Saturdays" which means we biked! It was so nice to go and get out compared to the usual inside our car because our area is so big. We found a guy named K* who might go somewhere. I guess we will see. All of the rest of our appointments that day fell through... that was a bummer.
Sunday none of our investigators showed up for church... but I got to pass the sacrament and teach the youth class. We also had a good branch council meeting after so that was good. We went after church with President M* and saw Brother W* at the Veteran’s home. He isn't doing too well... That night we went to President Y*’s house for dinner in Sulphur since it was the second Sunday. His wife always cooks such good Cajun food... oh man. We had jambalaya and some shrimp parfait stuff. It was so good.
Anyways, that was my week. I really hope all of you guys’ weeks went well! I miss and love you all! If you have any questions that you need answered Read Moroni Chapter 10. That will show you how to receive answers for yourself :)
Love, Elder Wood
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| Cute flowers that grow wild in the grass here |
Monday, November 6, 2017
A Good Week in the Bayou
Hey y'all! It's been a good week here in the Bayou! I hope all is going well back home!
So, to start out this week, we drove to Vidor on Monday to do exchanges while all the District Leaders and Zone Leaders went to a meeting in Kingwood about getting Facebook and changing the mission. Now, I’ve been to Vidor a few times before. Mostly to do service or direct traffic when all the Mormon Helping Hands were staying in the high schools. Now if any of you haven't heard of Vidor and its historical significance, I would suggest looking it up. Because unfortunately, in a lot of aspects, nothing has changed. But, that just means there is a lot of work to do there! Elder McBride and Elder Larsen and I all stayed there for the day while our DL companions all went to the meeting. So it was just us "greenies" for the day!
The next day was Halloween! We were still in Vidor for most of the day doing work there. That morning we went to go help at Christian Care, which is a place where people donate food and clothes to and then they distribute it out to the needy. We didn’t really know what was going on but we kept busy so it was good I guess :p
Wednesday we headed out to Crowley with Brother W* for the day. We tried to visit a lot of less actives and members on our records. We found out that most of them had moved away or weren't interested. But while we were there it was raining the entire time. I love the humid rain! It feels like everything has been through a power washer! But, down in Crowley, it only rained for a few hours and the rain water was up to the houses already! So I can't imagine what it would be like if another hurricane came through. After that, Brother W* took us to Cajun Tales. It was so good! They had the best seafood Gumbo! And then I had all this Cajun food and I didn't know what half of it was but it was all super good!
Later this week on Friday I got Facebook! This is something new the mission is doing and it’s to help us hasten and be more effective with our work! I’m super excited because there are a lot of people down here who don’t have working phones or emails, but everyone has Wi-Fi! Haha So it'll be good to be able to contact everyone! The rules are that we can group message anyone in our area and post things that are "Member Appropriate". So with Facebook, we aren't only missionaries, but we are ourselves too. So that helps all the people we come in contact with realize we are regular people :p But all you back home can like and comment on my posts and everything, I just can’t message you or anything like that obviously. That is still saved for Mondays :) But, it would be super cool if you guys would post a thought or your testimonies on the posts I share or anything like that so we can continue to share and spread this great gospel! Anyways, also on Friday, I got in my first car wreck... It was just a backing accident and only scraped the car a little. But still... Our vehicle coordinator Elder Avery is very adamant about his cars...
That night we went to go visit a member and she wasn't home, but her husband and daughter were! They were very nice and let us right in. We talked for about half an hour and taught them about the Book of Mormon. The wife is very less active but the husband and daughter seemed very interested. The daughter had already read from the Book of Mormon before and they said they were going to come to church this Sunday! Plus her best friend in school is a member as well! What are the chances that her friend is the only other member her age in the whole school? They seemed super prepared and hopefully with more work, they can get baptized!
Sunday was a conference thing, I’m not sure what the real name of it is, but it was for a few of the states. I think Utah was one of them. That was good. They talked a little about the clean-up that was going on down here and they even mentioned us missionaries who have been working on it! After church we heard that Brother T* was in the hospital in Crowley so we went to go visit him and give him a blessing. After that, we went to the Young Women in Excellence our branch was having. That was the first Young Women’s thing I’ve ever been to and it was very, Young Womens-ey... ;p It was cool though! It’s great that our branch is starting to do all these things to help strengthen each other! Also, the T* family were there so as soon as we walked in, Emma ran up to us and wanted us to go get nerf guns or something. Haha. She is such a character! We went and sat in the back and she came over to our table and asked if she could sit by me instead of her family. She pulled up a chair and then sat with us. And then she handed me and Jones little pass-along cards that she had from her little stash in her front pocket. Haha. Then after the meeting she had me sit by her again so we could color together. She told me she wants me to come over to her house when we aren’t doing missionary work so we can finish our picture ;p Her brother has a friend that he’s been bringing to mutual and to the Young Women in Excellence thing. It would be super cool if we started working with her and then he could baptize her!
Anyways, that’s all for the week pretty much. It’s been good for the most part. I’m starting to love the people here more and more! And the food is so good! And the weather is perfect! It’s just an overall quality time. :)
I love and miss you all! I hope you have had a wonderful week! Also, congrats to my little brother on all of his band stuff this week! I’m so proud of him and all the hard work they have put in! Keep me updated on everything, I’d love to hear from all of you! Thank you so much for the prayers and support!
Love, Elder Wood (Jonah Wood on Facebook) ;)
The next day was Halloween! We were still in Vidor for most of the day doing work there. That morning we went to go help at Christian Care, which is a place where people donate food and clothes to and then they distribute it out to the needy. We didn’t really know what was going on but we kept busy so it was good I guess :p
Wednesday we headed out to Crowley with Brother W* for the day. We tried to visit a lot of less actives and members on our records. We found out that most of them had moved away or weren't interested. But while we were there it was raining the entire time. I love the humid rain! It feels like everything has been through a power washer! But, down in Crowley, it only rained for a few hours and the rain water was up to the houses already! So I can't imagine what it would be like if another hurricane came through. After that, Brother W* took us to Cajun Tales. It was so good! They had the best seafood Gumbo! And then I had all this Cajun food and I didn't know what half of it was but it was all super good!
Later this week on Friday I got Facebook! This is something new the mission is doing and it’s to help us hasten and be more effective with our work! I’m super excited because there are a lot of people down here who don’t have working phones or emails, but everyone has Wi-Fi! Haha So it'll be good to be able to contact everyone! The rules are that we can group message anyone in our area and post things that are "Member Appropriate". So with Facebook, we aren't only missionaries, but we are ourselves too. So that helps all the people we come in contact with realize we are regular people :p But all you back home can like and comment on my posts and everything, I just can’t message you or anything like that obviously. That is still saved for Mondays :) But, it would be super cool if you guys would post a thought or your testimonies on the posts I share or anything like that so we can continue to share and spread this great gospel! Anyways, also on Friday, I got in my first car wreck... It was just a backing accident and only scraped the car a little. But still... Our vehicle coordinator Elder Avery is very adamant about his cars...
That night we went to go visit a member and she wasn't home, but her husband and daughter were! They were very nice and let us right in. We talked for about half an hour and taught them about the Book of Mormon. The wife is very less active but the husband and daughter seemed very interested. The daughter had already read from the Book of Mormon before and they said they were going to come to church this Sunday! Plus her best friend in school is a member as well! What are the chances that her friend is the only other member her age in the whole school? They seemed super prepared and hopefully with more work, they can get baptized!
Sunday was a conference thing, I’m not sure what the real name of it is, but it was for a few of the states. I think Utah was one of them. That was good. They talked a little about the clean-up that was going on down here and they even mentioned us missionaries who have been working on it! After church we heard that Brother T* was in the hospital in Crowley so we went to go visit him and give him a blessing. After that, we went to the Young Women in Excellence our branch was having. That was the first Young Women’s thing I’ve ever been to and it was very, Young Womens-ey... ;p It was cool though! It’s great that our branch is starting to do all these things to help strengthen each other! Also, the T* family were there so as soon as we walked in, Emma ran up to us and wanted us to go get nerf guns or something. Haha. She is such a character! We went and sat in the back and she came over to our table and asked if she could sit by me instead of her family. She pulled up a chair and then sat with us. And then she handed me and Jones little pass-along cards that she had from her little stash in her front pocket. Haha. Then after the meeting she had me sit by her again so we could color together. She told me she wants me to come over to her house when we aren’t doing missionary work so we can finish our picture ;p Her brother has a friend that he’s been bringing to mutual and to the Young Women in Excellence thing. It would be super cool if we started working with her and then he could baptize her!
Anyways, that’s all for the week pretty much. It’s been good for the most part. I’m starting to love the people here more and more! And the food is so good! And the weather is perfect! It’s just an overall quality time. :)
I love and miss you all! I hope you have had a wonderful week! Also, congrats to my little brother on all of his band stuff this week! I’m so proud of him and all the hard work they have put in! Keep me updated on everything, I’d love to hear from all of you! Thank you so much for the prayers and support!
Love, Elder Wood (Jonah Wood on Facebook) ;)
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| What the Jehovah's Witness bible says about Jonah |
Monday, October 30, 2017
Ye Ole Country Road
Howdy y'all! I hope all your weeks are going fantastic!
So, every day I spend on my mission it seems like the days all mesh together more and more. It's weird how living the same schedule for days and days can make it seem like it goes by so fast but also so slow! It's kinda hard to get used to, but it can be nice. We lay down to go to bed and I feel like we were just barely laying down for the night before...
Anyways, so my week here in the Bayou…
We had a dinner!!! It was with this less active family. Now anyone who really knows me knows that I have almost no tolerance for racism and all the neo Nazi and confederate stuff. Well, this family was pretty much all of it. Now as missionaries we aren't supposed to have a political opinion, so I kept my mouth shut, but they were talking about black people and the mentally disabled like they were animals. But they were nice other than that. The dad told us how to unhook our Tiwi (a GPS-enabled device that allows the mission office to monitor the location of the mission cars) and be able to drive behind the backs of the mission office. Haha, we aren't gonna do it but it's funny that he even knew how. Hopefully I myself can learn to have more charity and love for them and we can help them come back to church!
On Wednesday this member needed help moving her sewing machine. When I got there she kept telling me how big and heavy it was and that she and her 20 something year old son couldn't move it and how I was going to need carts and stuff if I wanted to move it. But then I got to it and it's like the exact same size of the one we have at home. So I looked at it and then just picked it up. She and her son almost couldn't believe I had just picked it up! Haha it really wasn't that heavy though... It was just like a regular sewing machine. I didn’t tell them it wasn’t heavy though because I didn't want them to feel bad. :p
One day Elder Jones and I were doing our online proselyting prep stuff at the church. But that week for mutual they did a big Nerf war. So, Elder Jones and I found a huge tote of Nerf guns and darts and stuff. Haha so we may have taken a quick 5 minute break from watching the videos we are supposed to watch and had a Nerf war in our activity hall. ;)
Saturday was our fall festival! Our Jennings branch was invited to join the Lake Charles ward to do a fun little Halloween party. We had dinner and then had a Trunk or Treat after. Only a few from our branch showed up but it was a good time! We and the Lake Charles Elders went and bought candy and opened our trunk and passed it out with pass along cards and the occasional Book of Mormon. :) For our costumes we all switched name tags :p
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| Elder Wood and Elder Jones at the Trunk or Treat activity |
Sunday! I love Sundays. After church we had a Linger Longer and people brought food and it was pretty fun. After that we had about 300 miles to use before November still so we decided to go try a bible referral in Iota. Up in that area of our mission it's nothing but long country roads for miles and miles. Big rice fields surrounded by the huge Louisiana forest. I just drove for miles through this peaceful area. It's always nice to be able to go to these places when we get to. It's a nice change from the usual hood. There was this one road we drove on that had lots of turns and it was surrounded by tall pine trees and me and Elder Jones both thought it looked like Utah! Haha so I found a little piece of home far away from home. :)
Anyways, here's a crazy story! (Disclaimer--we felt like Jonah's version of this crazy story was just a little TOO crazy and graphic to publish on this public blog--here is our "edited for family viewing" version of it!) We finally found this guy John's house. He lives in a super small town and his house was super um, southern... ;p He had five full grown pit bulls all chained to different trees around his yard. He came out and started to talk to us. He told us to watch out for the albino female that was closest to us because "she is the mean one." So we kinda laughed it off and kept talking about the gospel and such. While we were talking the dog attacked a kitten and the guy was trying to get the dog off the kitten and it was quite the scene. This whole time Elder Jones and I are watching in complete shock. Haha it happened so fast we didn't even have time to realize what was happening! He walked back over and we finished our discussions and gave him his Book of Mormon and Bible. Haha oh man, that's just a small part of just how things are down here in the real country :p
Anyways after that, we went and found this less active and he showed us around his new paintball arena he had been working on. He seemed super nice and was totally welcome to us. Maybe we can work with him and his family and see if anything comes from that :)
Well, other than that, my week was pretty normal. I hope you all have a wonderful week and will keep on doing amazing things! If there is one thing I've learned on my mission it’s that the only way to true happiness is through Christ and his gospel. The only way to having a good life and gaining success is through living in God’s path. We so easily get caught up in finishing our "lists" and making sure we stay busy. Staying busy is good, but only to a point. We have to make sure we put the first things first. The most important things should be our first priorities. And our biggest priority is this gospel. Whether you believe it or not, this gospel is for you. It’s for everyone. And through it, you can find eternal peace.
I love and miss you all! I am so, so grateful for all of your support and I pray for all of you!
-Elder Wood
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| How I decorated the bathroom mirror with the Halloween gel clings my mom sent |
Monday, October 23, 2017
Two Months
Hey ya'll! It’s crazy how fast the weeks are already going by! It seems like it was just barely P-day! And here I am again, writing back home!
Anyways, I hope everyone's week went well and that you all are enjoying fall! (As it seems that season doesn't exist here)
So to start out my week, everything was pretty normal for the most part I guess. Now that we are doing mostly member work and less-actives, and much less door knocking, we have had much less excitement and incidents throughout our days. It’s almost kinda weird to go throughout a day and not have a guy tell you about all the people he's killed or hear gunshots every now and then. (But don't worry mom, I’m on the Lord's side so I’m safe) ;)
So this week we drove around and tried to visit members on our branch list. We found this guy who lived out in the country and he had this super nice country mansion with a huge nice yard and everything. He was super kind to us and let us in his house and gave us a drink. We got to talking and he told us about how he used to be a Mormon and he went to seminary and everything in high school. But as he got older he simply found a "better religion". He then explained what he believed in and a lot of it was similar but it just seemed like a "accept Christ, get into heaven" type deal. He said he really isn't interested at the moment in coming back but that he really respects what we do and that when his pastor starts trying to bash on the Mormon religion or start to teach anti then he stands up for us and makes sure everyone knows how we really are, which is good. But it is sad he isn't interested at all in coming back. He said the only one fault we have is that once you're in the religion, it’s impossible to get out. He said he has tried over and over again to get his records removed and they just keep sending people over to see him. I mean, ultimately he has his free agency... but I know there is only one true religion. And really there is only one way back to our Heavenly Father. And it’s not by just saying you accept Christ and then do whatever you want. Sadly, this is how a lot of the less-actives are here. We have about 200 members and only about 30 real active people. So hopefully we can find some people and bring them back to this eternal truth.
A little miracle we experienced is with Ralph, who I've mentioned a few times in my other emails. He's the only real investigator we've ever found by just tracting. We've gone over at least 2 or 3 times a week to teach him, but he never lets us into his house. So we always just have to teach him on his porch. So this week, one of our goals was to get inside his house so we can feel the spirit better and teach him. So when we showed up the first thing he said to us is that we aren't getting inside his house. And obviously we can't force ourselves into his house or anything. So we starting to talk to him and soon all of a sudden the mosquitoes got super bad. So bad that he said we had to go inside! So we went in and this guy is a war veteran and a martial arts master. And let me tell you, this guy has more weapons than I've seen in my life. His walls are completely covered in all sorts of knives, swords, spears, guns, etc. It’s super cool but any robber better stay away from his house! He has a room he showed us where literally all the walls, every inch, is covered by all different kinds of knives. But anyways we were able to teach this guy in his house and it was super good. We read through the introduction and the testimonies of the Book of Mormon. He really liked when we told him about the story of Joseph Smith getting killed because of the action in it. Haha I told him he would really like the last books in the Book of Mormon.
On Wednesday we got a call from a senior couple asking us to help them move in a new apartment in Jennings. They told us that we should have received a call about it but classic Jennings missionary style we hadn't heard a word about it. At first Elder Jones and I were scared they were moving us to Jennings so it would be technically closer to the middle of our area. But our apartment in Welsh is one of the nicest in the mission. And almost 90 percent of our active members are in Iowa and that's close to Welsh. But we found out when we arrived that they were bringing in two new elders to cover Jennings east. So they would get the east side of Jennings and Crowley and others. And we would get the west side of everything. We moved in all their stuff into their new apartment and then went home to plan and start moving over all of our investigators and stuff from those areas to their area. But then the next day we got a call saying that they are no longer bringing in elders because one of them went home right after the MTC... So it’s still just me and Jones and 40,000 people! It’s good though because I was a little bummed out because they would have gotten Ralph and the member family I talked about last week. Haha speaking of that family, at church this week, there was a super bad rain storm that morning, so I drove to Jennings and you could only see a few feet in front of you on the highway... but we made it and only about 20 people came to church because of the weather. But this family drove all the way up and that little girl, 4 year old Emma, saw me and ran up and gave me a high five and she was so happy to see us missionaries! Oh man, I love the people here.
The rest of the week was pretty normal. I went on exchanges with Elder Woodhouse on Saturday. He came up to Jennings and we went and tried members all day. Not a single person answered... all day... so to make up for that we stopped at a little place we found off the freeway and walked in and the guy there came over and handed us a baby alligator! So that was cool.
Today was transfers. One down! Elder Jones and I are both staying in Jennings but Elder Woodhouse and Sister Woodbury are leaving our district. But not much changed this transfer. All of the Zone Leaders stayed the same throughout the entire mission. And now that we aren't getting new elders in Jennings not much will change!
Well, I think that's about it for this week. I hope you all are loving life and making the most out of everything! I know I will have to make sure I get the most out of every moment because I'm already two months in and it feels like it flew by!
I love and miss you all! Thanks for the support and prayers!
Love, Elder Wood
Anyways, I hope everyone's week went well and that you all are enjoying fall! (As it seems that season doesn't exist here)
So to start out my week, everything was pretty normal for the most part I guess. Now that we are doing mostly member work and less-actives, and much less door knocking, we have had much less excitement and incidents throughout our days. It’s almost kinda weird to go throughout a day and not have a guy tell you about all the people he's killed or hear gunshots every now and then. (But don't worry mom, I’m on the Lord's side so I’m safe) ;)
So this week we drove around and tried to visit members on our branch list. We found this guy who lived out in the country and he had this super nice country mansion with a huge nice yard and everything. He was super kind to us and let us in his house and gave us a drink. We got to talking and he told us about how he used to be a Mormon and he went to seminary and everything in high school. But as he got older he simply found a "better religion". He then explained what he believed in and a lot of it was similar but it just seemed like a "accept Christ, get into heaven" type deal. He said he really isn't interested at the moment in coming back but that he really respects what we do and that when his pastor starts trying to bash on the Mormon religion or start to teach anti then he stands up for us and makes sure everyone knows how we really are, which is good. But it is sad he isn't interested at all in coming back. He said the only one fault we have is that once you're in the religion, it’s impossible to get out. He said he has tried over and over again to get his records removed and they just keep sending people over to see him. I mean, ultimately he has his free agency... but I know there is only one true religion. And really there is only one way back to our Heavenly Father. And it’s not by just saying you accept Christ and then do whatever you want. Sadly, this is how a lot of the less-actives are here. We have about 200 members and only about 30 real active people. So hopefully we can find some people and bring them back to this eternal truth.
A little miracle we experienced is with Ralph, who I've mentioned a few times in my other emails. He's the only real investigator we've ever found by just tracting. We've gone over at least 2 or 3 times a week to teach him, but he never lets us into his house. So we always just have to teach him on his porch. So this week, one of our goals was to get inside his house so we can feel the spirit better and teach him. So when we showed up the first thing he said to us is that we aren't getting inside his house. And obviously we can't force ourselves into his house or anything. So we starting to talk to him and soon all of a sudden the mosquitoes got super bad. So bad that he said we had to go inside! So we went in and this guy is a war veteran and a martial arts master. And let me tell you, this guy has more weapons than I've seen in my life. His walls are completely covered in all sorts of knives, swords, spears, guns, etc. It’s super cool but any robber better stay away from his house! He has a room he showed us where literally all the walls, every inch, is covered by all different kinds of knives. But anyways we were able to teach this guy in his house and it was super good. We read through the introduction and the testimonies of the Book of Mormon. He really liked when we told him about the story of Joseph Smith getting killed because of the action in it. Haha I told him he would really like the last books in the Book of Mormon.
On Wednesday we got a call from a senior couple asking us to help them move in a new apartment in Jennings. They told us that we should have received a call about it but classic Jennings missionary style we hadn't heard a word about it. At first Elder Jones and I were scared they were moving us to Jennings so it would be technically closer to the middle of our area. But our apartment in Welsh is one of the nicest in the mission. And almost 90 percent of our active members are in Iowa and that's close to Welsh. But we found out when we arrived that they were bringing in two new elders to cover Jennings east. So they would get the east side of Jennings and Crowley and others. And we would get the west side of everything. We moved in all their stuff into their new apartment and then went home to plan and start moving over all of our investigators and stuff from those areas to their area. But then the next day we got a call saying that they are no longer bringing in elders because one of them went home right after the MTC... So it’s still just me and Jones and 40,000 people! It’s good though because I was a little bummed out because they would have gotten Ralph and the member family I talked about last week. Haha speaking of that family, at church this week, there was a super bad rain storm that morning, so I drove to Jennings and you could only see a few feet in front of you on the highway... but we made it and only about 20 people came to church because of the weather. But this family drove all the way up and that little girl, 4 year old Emma, saw me and ran up and gave me a high five and she was so happy to see us missionaries! Oh man, I love the people here.
The rest of the week was pretty normal. I went on exchanges with Elder Woodhouse on Saturday. He came up to Jennings and we went and tried members all day. Not a single person answered... all day... so to make up for that we stopped at a little place we found off the freeway and walked in and the guy there came over and handed us a baby alligator! So that was cool. Today was transfers. One down! Elder Jones and I are both staying in Jennings but Elder Woodhouse and Sister Woodbury are leaving our district. But not much changed this transfer. All of the Zone Leaders stayed the same throughout the entire mission. And now that we aren't getting new elders in Jennings not much will change!
Well, I think that's about it for this week. I hope you all are loving life and making the most out of everything! I know I will have to make sure I get the most out of every moment because I'm already two months in and it feels like it flew by!
I love and miss you all! Thanks for the support and prayers!
Love, Elder Wood
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| What the north side of my area looks like--rice fields for miles! |
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| Our district at the beach last week taking "so cute" companion pictures :) |
Monday, October 16, 2017
Crabs, coast, and jellyfish
Hey everyone! Okay so this one is going to be a little shorter I think because I've been gone all day at the coast. So, I'll see what I have time to say :p Also, sorry to anyone I wasn't able to reply to today, I'm a little time crunched ;p so I'll try and get back to you all next week.
So this week in Louisiana, on Tuesday, I led out for my first time! Which means we have exchanges and I stay in my area and am the senior companion for the day so I'm in charge of everything. Elder Mote came up from Lake Charles and we spent the day together. It went pretty well. We went and saw the Italian again. He promised us he would read the Book of Mormon and pray about it and we promised him he would come to know it was true if he truly did that with an open mind and heart. We haven't had a chance to go see him again yet but I'm praying he was able to do it.
Wednesday we ran into this super less-active family. They were all fine except they all yelled at each other about everything. They were are super downgrading to each other... even the 80 year old grandma was yelling stuff. It really goes to show you how important the gospel is for families. Raising a family in the gospel is really the only way that will work out in the end. Without Christ being the center of a home, families get lost in the things of the world.
Thursday we had a tri-zone meeting in Kingswood, Texas. Elder Donald L. Hallstrom and his wife came to meet with us. He has spoken in General Conference a few times, even this last conference. He and his wife showed us all so much love. It was really cool because they built us up through Christ-like love and showing us the way instead of just tearing us down and yelling at us for the things we are doing wrong. Because honestly, that rarely works. But they had a lot of good things to say and a lot of cool insights.
Also, I got to see everyone again at the conference. It’s always nice to see familiar faces. I occasionally get to see Elders McBride and Horikami because they are in my zone but Elders Osborne and Davies I don't get to see as much. So it was nice to catch up with them :)
That night we stayed with the Beaumont zone leaders because it was too late to travel all the way home. They are super fun and it's been so cool to get to know all the elders here and hear the stories from past elders. Apparently David Archuleta’s little sister left this mission right before I came in. And every mission always has those crazy stories of things that have happened... Haha, oh man.
Anyways, this last Sunday it was the primary program! :) It was so cute. My branch only has about eight primary kids but they all sang super loud and proud :) Then we went down to a town on the edge of our mission to try and find some members to teach and we ran across this family. Oh man, I think they are my favorite members I've met so far. The mom and grandma are from Idaho and they have a lot of animals. They are super real and have kids aged 4 to 16. The little 4 year old girl took me all around their farm and showed me all the animals. She "helped" me get some eggs and bottle feed their baby sheep that she named "Oakshaw" ;p But the mom was super nice and they were so welcoming to me and Elder Jones. It was a nice change from the usual "send the pit bulls after you" response we have been getting. But yeah, they invited us to dinner and said we are welcome anytime. Their dad is a police officer and they are all super active. Hopefully we can find some more families that can be super good additions to this branch :)
Today we woke up early and went and got haircuts. Then we headed to Lake Charles to meet the Elders there and then we headed to Holly Beach! We stopped on the way by this river/marsh and went crabbing. Haha. We tied some chicken to some string and caught some crabs and just had a good time. I caught one with my hands and picked it up for pictures ;p We also pulled out a few slimy bottom feeders.
I love and miss you all! Keep doing good and being amazing! Thanks for the prayers and support. It really does make all the difference.
Love,
- Elder Wood
So this week in Louisiana, on Tuesday, I led out for my first time! Which means we have exchanges and I stay in my area and am the senior companion for the day so I'm in charge of everything. Elder Mote came up from Lake Charles and we spent the day together. It went pretty well. We went and saw the Italian again. He promised us he would read the Book of Mormon and pray about it and we promised him he would come to know it was true if he truly did that with an open mind and heart. We haven't had a chance to go see him again yet but I'm praying he was able to do it.
Wednesday we ran into this super less-active family. They were all fine except they all yelled at each other about everything. They were are super downgrading to each other... even the 80 year old grandma was yelling stuff. It really goes to show you how important the gospel is for families. Raising a family in the gospel is really the only way that will work out in the end. Without Christ being the center of a home, families get lost in the things of the world.
Thursday we had a tri-zone meeting in Kingswood, Texas. Elder Donald L. Hallstrom and his wife came to meet with us. He has spoken in General Conference a few times, even this last conference. He and his wife showed us all so much love. It was really cool because they built us up through Christ-like love and showing us the way instead of just tearing us down and yelling at us for the things we are doing wrong. Because honestly, that rarely works. But they had a lot of good things to say and a lot of cool insights.
Also, I got to see everyone again at the conference. It’s always nice to see familiar faces. I occasionally get to see Elders McBride and Horikami because they are in my zone but Elders Osborne and Davies I don't get to see as much. So it was nice to catch up with them :)
That night we stayed with the Beaumont zone leaders because it was too late to travel all the way home. They are super fun and it's been so cool to get to know all the elders here and hear the stories from past elders. Apparently David Archuleta’s little sister left this mission right before I came in. And every mission always has those crazy stories of things that have happened... Haha, oh man.
Anyways, this last Sunday it was the primary program! :) It was so cute. My branch only has about eight primary kids but they all sang super loud and proud :) Then we went down to a town on the edge of our mission to try and find some members to teach and we ran across this family. Oh man, I think they are my favorite members I've met so far. The mom and grandma are from Idaho and they have a lot of animals. They are super real and have kids aged 4 to 16. The little 4 year old girl took me all around their farm and showed me all the animals. She "helped" me get some eggs and bottle feed their baby sheep that she named "Oakshaw" ;p But the mom was super nice and they were so welcoming to me and Elder Jones. It was a nice change from the usual "send the pit bulls after you" response we have been getting. But yeah, they invited us to dinner and said we are welcome anytime. Their dad is a police officer and they are all super active. Hopefully we can find some more families that can be super good additions to this branch :)
Today we woke up early and went and got haircuts. Then we headed to Lake Charles to meet the Elders there and then we headed to Holly Beach! We stopped on the way by this river/marsh and went crabbing. Haha. We tied some chicken to some string and caught some crabs and just had a good time. I caught one with my hands and picked it up for pictures ;p We also pulled out a few slimy bottom feeders.
Then we went down to the beach and hung out there for the rest of the day. We took "so cute" companion pics and played soccer and built sand castles and such. It was a good last get together with our district since transfers are next week. Plus, you know me, I love the ocean... It was kinda hard since I can't swim but it was super pretty :) and then right before we left, I found a bunch of jellyfish that had been washed up! So I touched it because when else am I gonna be able to touch a jelly fish? But yeah, that was my week in a large nutshell.
Love,
- Elder Wood
Monday, October 9, 2017
My week in Texas
Hello everyone! It's always so great to hear from some of you and to hear about what you are doing! It's kinda crazy to me, because I'm only a month and a half in but the days already are mixing together and going by faster and faster... I don't like it! I'm afraid I'll sneeze and my mission will be over! ;p
Anyways, this week wasn't a typical week. It started off on Monday after P-day I had my first exchange, I went down to Orange, Texas to stay with Elders Mooney and Wolfgram. And their companions, McBride and Horikami went up to Jennings and stayed with my companion, Elder Jones. So we were in trios. The first day, Tuesday, we went and had some lessons! Like real, sit in your house lessons. We also had a dinner with a member! He made us steak, corn on the cob, and homemade french fries. Then that night we went and visited a recent convert who is a fireman. He toured us around the 5 million dollar building they have in Orange and gave us a little history as well. It was an all-around good day.
On Wednesday we were scheduled to do service that morning. But when we showed up where we were supposed to go, no one else was there... so we got back in the car and saw a truck with a trailer of supplies and decided to follow it. It went around an old warehouse and then parked and two guys walked into the abandoned building. It seemed kinda sketchy but we decided to follow them in. Before we could even say a word we were getting handed stuff to unload off a trailer. So, we decided we were doing service there that day :p It was really cool, the people weren't LDS and they were so grateful for our help. We three and two others were the only guys able to work there so they kept us busy! A lot of them were representatives from other churches. There were Catholics, Baptists, and I even met my first Amish people! But they were all chill, they were all super, super grateful for our help. Plus, at the end of the day, they said we could pick anything we wanted to keep. So I picked a small Star Wars Rey and BB-8 blanket. It's pretty sweet. :)
The next day was new missionary training. The elders who were in Jennings came down and we headed off to Summerwood, Texas. The drive there was amazing! So in Summerwood, they have this law about no cutting down trees without the city’s permission because they want to preserve its beauty. And oh man, it's so pretty. There are these big green trees everywhere and the houses are built around nature and there are these long walking and biking trails that just cut into the trees to get somewhere. All the roads were tree tunnels. I wanna get called there one day... anyways, at new missionary training we were supposed to memorize the entire Joseph Smith history and memorize all the “How to begin teaching” bullet points. And we were supposed to be working on this over the course of our entire time here. But, in classic Jennings elder’s style, we had no idea about this. I wasn't informed of it until two days before. So, I tried my best to learn it all but there was no way unless I spent all my time on it. So when we got there we were split off to go with different companions to say it. I got with Elder Mooney and was about to go when one of the AP's came over and said he was going to sit in with mine... But Elder Mooney saw this and he quickly stepped in and said that there was a mix up and I needed to go with a different elder. Oh man, he saved my life... Haha ;p
On our way back we six elders stopped at Buc-ee's. I had never been to a Buc-ee's before so I didn't know what to expect. If you have never been to one, imagine a gas station, okay now imagine a big gas station. Now imagine a Texas big gas station. That's what it is. It's a gas station on steroids. It was super cool though. I got a few things from there including a Texas "Come and take it" flag soda holder. We stopped at the Ross's house to say “Hi” because we all missed them because the Orange elders no longer stay with them.
The next morning, we left to go to district meeting back in Louisiana. Elder Jones had 48 Dr Peppers to drink in the course of two days... So he was overdosed on caffeine. And I wasn’t able to get my driving card yet so I don't know how we survived the drive... But we did, thankfully :p
The next morning Jones slept in till 10:30... Then he slept most of the day. He was feeling super sick. So, what does a missionary do when his companion is sick? Cross-stitch, of course! Haha some elders who were here before had left some cross stitching materials here so Elder Jones and I went and picked up some more supplies and learned how to cross stitch! Haha I'm in the middle of a project. When Jones gets sick again hopefully I'll be able to finish it. Haha I can honestly say, out of all the things I expected I was gonna do on my mission, cross-stitching was not one of them... That night I had my first crawfish meal! They are kinda like small lobsters. But more bug-like. We just got them in steam bags from Wal-Mart.
Sunday was good, I actually got to "normal" church! With service and everything, I haven't even been able to go to my branch yet. But I went yesterday! It was good. I saw a lot of people I've already met and some who I just knew their names. And we had a good turn out! We had about 50 people there! It was great. It was fast Sunday so I got to hear some of their testimonies. A lot of them are converts and their beliefs and testimonies are so strong. I love these people. That night we drove down to Sulphur and had dinner with all six of the Louisiana missionaries and with President Young. He said he has plans to get Jennings up and moving again. So hopefully with his help we'll start to get things running smoother.
So apparently there was another hurricane, it didn't hit my area that I know of, we don't get much of any information on the mission. ;p
Well, I guess that was my week. Haha if my emails are too long, let me know... I just get talking and don't realize how long they are till I'm done... :p
I'm so, so thankful for all the love and support from you all. The prayers and letters and everything help so much. I love and miss you all! Something I learned this week is that we don't need to be perfect, but we do need to rely on He who was perfect in order to be good enough. Have a wonderful week! Until next time.
- Elder Wood
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| Old Fire Truck |
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| My Star Wars blanket |
The next day was new missionary training. The elders who were in Jennings came down and we headed off to Summerwood, Texas. The drive there was amazing! So in Summerwood, they have this law about no cutting down trees without the city’s permission because they want to preserve its beauty. And oh man, it's so pretty. There are these big green trees everywhere and the houses are built around nature and there are these long walking and biking trails that just cut into the trees to get somewhere. All the roads were tree tunnels. I wanna get called there one day... anyways, at new missionary training we were supposed to memorize the entire Joseph Smith history and memorize all the “How to begin teaching” bullet points. And we were supposed to be working on this over the course of our entire time here. But, in classic Jennings elder’s style, we had no idea about this. I wasn't informed of it until two days before. So, I tried my best to learn it all but there was no way unless I spent all my time on it. So when we got there we were split off to go with different companions to say it. I got with Elder Mooney and was about to go when one of the AP's came over and said he was going to sit in with mine... But Elder Mooney saw this and he quickly stepped in and said that there was a mix up and I needed to go with a different elder. Oh man, he saved my life... Haha ;p
 |
| My photo on the Zone Leaders' organization board |
On our way back we six elders stopped at Buc-ee's. I had never been to a Buc-ee's before so I didn't know what to expect. If you have never been to one, imagine a gas station, okay now imagine a big gas station. Now imagine a Texas big gas station. That's what it is. It's a gas station on steroids. It was super cool though. I got a few things from there including a Texas "Come and take it" flag soda holder. We stopped at the Ross's house to say “Hi” because we all missed them because the Orange elders no longer stay with them.
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| Me in Buc-ee's |
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| My Texas soda holder |
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| Things you can find in Buc-ee's |
The next morning, we left to go to district meeting back in Louisiana. Elder Jones had 48 Dr Peppers to drink in the course of two days... So he was overdosed on caffeine. And I wasn’t able to get my driving card yet so I don't know how we survived the drive... But we did, thankfully :p
 |
| Crawfish meal |
The next morning Jones slept in till 10:30... Then he slept most of the day. He was feeling super sick. So, what does a missionary do when his companion is sick? Cross-stitch, of course! Haha some elders who were here before had left some cross stitching materials here so Elder Jones and I went and picked up some more supplies and learned how to cross stitch! Haha I'm in the middle of a project. When Jones gets sick again hopefully I'll be able to finish it. Haha I can honestly say, out of all the things I expected I was gonna do on my mission, cross-stitching was not one of them... That night I had my first crawfish meal! They are kinda like small lobsters. But more bug-like. We just got them in steam bags from Wal-Mart.
Sunday was good, I actually got to "normal" church! With service and everything, I haven't even been able to go to my branch yet. But I went yesterday! It was good. I saw a lot of people I've already met and some who I just knew their names. And we had a good turn out! We had about 50 people there! It was great. It was fast Sunday so I got to hear some of their testimonies. A lot of them are converts and their beliefs and testimonies are so strong. I love these people. That night we drove down to Sulphur and had dinner with all six of the Louisiana missionaries and with President Young. He said he has plans to get Jennings up and moving again. So hopefully with his help we'll start to get things running smoother.
So apparently there was another hurricane, it didn't hit my area that I know of, we don't get much of any information on the mission. ;p
Well, I guess that was my week. Haha if my emails are too long, let me know... I just get talking and don't realize how long they are till I'm done... :p
I'm so, so thankful for all the love and support from you all. The prayers and letters and everything help so much. I love and miss you all! Something I learned this week is that we don't need to be perfect, but we do need to rely on He who was perfect in order to be good enough. Have a wonderful week! Until next time.
- Elder Wood
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| Jeep for Dad |
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