Dear Family,
We had another bit of a hard week here in Laredo, but overall I'd say things are going pretty well. Even if we're not having the most success, I do feel like I'm growing a lot as a missionary in this area. I've learned a lot about how to be motivated for missionary work and I have quite a few things I'm working on improving. So far, this area has turned into a bit of a refiner's fire for me, though I've only been here six weeks. We didn't really have any success this last transfer, but I feel like I've at least learned a few lessons that I'm excited to apply over the coming weeks that will hopefully help change the trends we've had.
One of the Elders I live with (Ed note: He's in an apartment with several teams of Elders), Elder Wilde, will be going home to Idaho Falls at the end of these six weeks. He's our District Leader here in the South of Laredo and a great Elder. It'll be interesting to see him on his way home. I have little doubt that he'll be working hard to the end. In fact, the District I was with this last transfer won't be changing at all. All three of the companionships here will be staying the same, something that none of us were expecting very much. However, as tradition dictates, we went out for a quick bite to eat after district meeting to end the transfer. We went to "Laredo Sushi" which was pretty fun. The first thing that I noticed was that every other time I've had sushi, it's been a small roll about an inch or an inch and a half in diameter. The sushi at this place was probably about 3 or 4 inches in diameter and about 8 inches of so long. Basically it was about the size of a burrito from Chipotle if you can think of that. It was pretty delicious and cheap, which was even better.
Other than that, the only story I probably have from this week happened while we were out tracting. We were walking down a street knocking some doors when we saw a family of four sitting out on their porch on the other side of the street. So we started crossing the street to go talk to them when the dad saw us. He tapped his wife on the shoulder, and all four of the, 8 and 10 year old daughters included, ran inside the house, closed and locked the door behind them. At this point, my companion and I are standing in the middle of the street just awestruck that they could disappear so fast. Anyway, we went down the street some more and ended up coming back up. So, the father saw us again and tapped his wife and they ran inside, closing the door after them and locking it. However, the 8 and 10 year old girls were getting something out of the car and were locked outside by their parents with the two terrifying Mormons coming down the street. We just smiled, laughed and waved at the girls, continuing on our way. I don't think I've seen anyone run away that fast from missionaries before. It was pretty funny.
Well, I'm out of time for today, but I hope everyone has a great week. I'll write again, soon.
Love,
Elder Wood
