Another week, another email

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