Elder Wood's Mission Adventures: Stronger than a hurricane!

Hey y'all! Hope everything is going well for everyone! Thank you all for the prayers and letters. They really make all the difference on long days. Your support and love keeps me going and I love and miss all of you!

So, about this last week, where do I begin.... Wednesday morning was our service day so we woke up earlier than the usual early to go do service. We were assigned to one of the new buildings. Me and 3 other elders in my room got to wear the vacuums but they looked like the ghost busters packs! They had glowing lights and switches and everything!

It rained a little this week and it was heavenly. I love the rain and it was just one of those small gifts from God that keep you going.

We've started playing district volleyball during break times, and it’s easily one of my favorite parts of the day. Just our district, getting to be ourselves and have fun. I started this thing of "anger castles" where before each play we build a little mound of sand so if we mess up instead of getting frustrated with each other, we just squish our castles. Haha oh I love my district. We are all so close and nice. We do district study every night and it’s probably one of the most spiritual moments of the whole day. We have a list of quotes from everyone and it’s so great. Some of my favorites are, "I have an hourglass figure but all the sand is settled at the bottom." And "the gospel is quality content".

This week Elder Horikami and I got 2 investigators to commit to baptism! We taught them all last week and they both got to the point where they felt ready to commit! It was such a cool experience to watch their testimonies grow and learn to love them. This gospel truly is for everyone.

Another thing about the MTC, everyone is sick. Literally everyone. It's like a plague. It's only a matter of time. All of our room is sick and so is everyone else, but the work continues!

Every day here is exactly the same... so last week I said we should have Christmas on Tuesday since we aren't gonna get one for 2 years. Anyways so yesterday was Christmas Eve. So the Elders in my room were singing Christmas songs on the way to our residence and then our whole floor just joined in. Soon we were all blasting Christmas songs and singing and dancing. Everyone was just like, "Sure, of course it's Christmas Eve!" Haha we met in the commons and I read the Christmas story to everyone. So today is Christmas, and our district is all doing secret Santa gifts and we have a tree and everything. So today is Christmas.

So apparently the church has decided it's not the right time to send members to go help and serve in Houston yet. They are sending money and resources but not people yet. So maybe something else is going to happen. But we are going in a few days! So we are being sent to our death. It'll be great! I love this gospel!

Anyways, I'm off to the temple pretty soon, I love you all! Keep telling me how things are going! If you want me to email you personally, you have to email me first so I have your email, and I can read them any day, I can just only reply on p-day. Remember the big picture! God loves us all, but faith without works is dead. I can't wait to go serve the people of Houston! Until next week!

~Elder Wood

*Since Jonah didn't send any photos today, I thought I would include a few pictures of the aftermath of the hurricane. The devastation is really quite overwhelming to think about. We are so grateful for the opportunity Jonah will have to serve the people there when he arrives!