Dear Family,
Well, this week was a bit of a challenge for us, I'm not gonna lie. We worked hard all week to help our investigators come to General Conference. But when the time came around, nobody showed. I had a hard time listening to some of the conference messages because I was just sitting in the chapel stewing in my frustration. We had been working all week really hard to help people set goals and make plans to come to church, but I guess we didn't do as much as we should've. It's hard when you feel like you're becoming a better missionary than you've been, but you don't see anything coming of it.
But, I shouldn't murmur. Nothing good comes of whining. Can't remember who said it, but in one of the past conferences someone said, "I can't think of any problem so great that crying over it will make it better." Or at least something to that effect. I also liked the remarks of the Seventy, I can't recall his name, who had the encounter with President Monson in the elevator. "It's always better to look up". So, although this last week was a pretty big bummer, we have a new week and a new month ahead of us. We didn't see any success in September, but if we work hard and have faith, I know we can find that God will help up to help some of his children here find the gospel.
During conference I decided that D. Todd Christofferson is probably my favorite apostle. Don't know why, but it seems like all of his talks just seem to help me out. HIs talk on repentance this conference was really powerful and profound. Makes you realize just how much you have to do in your own life day by day to find the joy that comes through daily repentance.
Conference did help me a lot. When each of the sessions started I was pretty frustrated and angry since so many people who had promised us they would come, didn't show up. But, by the time the sessions ended I was always a little more calm and ready to go back out and work. I really am sad for our investigators though. They may not know it, but they missed out on a great opportunity, and hopefully we can help them take advantage of that opportunity the next time it comes around.
The weather has been cooling down a bit these past few weeks. It's not quite as sweltering hot as it was. I've heard that November and December in Laredo is really enjoyable weather, so hopefully soon we'll get to see some of that.
I hope everyone got to see some of conference. If you missed any, I highly suggest going back and watching them on LDS.org. you can watch individual talks or whole sessions, so even if you have just ten minutes, you can probably squeeze one in. I can't wait for the Ensign, hopefully it'll come soon so we can study the talks.
Anyway, have a great week everyone, and thanks to JoAnn and Nathan for the pictures and drawings, I got them Saturday. Avalee and Lincoln are looking too old. It's kind of freaking me out. Time flies outside the mission field huh?
Love you all,
Elder Wood
