Dear Family,
Well, this week was quite an eventful week in the way of news. Ten hour of conference made for an exciting weekend, filled with inspiration and revelation. I'll try to get down some of the parts of conference that I enjoyed the most and a bit of what I learned, after the biggest piece of news for the week. Transfer information is in, and despite my belief that I was gong to stay in Edinburg North, I'm actually getting moved to Laredo, tomorrow. I'll be in the south part of Laredo, (aka the ghetto) in an area called Larga Vista. I wasn't expecting to move, but I will admit I'm thoroughly excited to go to Laredo. I've always heard good things about that area and hopefully I'll be able to find someone there that I was sent to teach. My companion that I'm leaving, Elder Arens, will be training a greenie in this area. This is starting to make a weird pattern, considering that the last two companions I've left have trained. I'm excited to get to Laredo. I'm sure I'll have some good stories to tell soon, as I've already heard quite a few from that area. For example, Elder Figueroa, another Elder that lives with us was there and has a video of him eating chicken feet stew. Hopefully I won't have the same story to tell, but I'm sure I'll get something soon.
This past week we found a couple of new people to teach that I guess I will be handing off to the new missionary when he arrives. One lady we have been teaching, Nora, is a single mom with 7 kids under the age of 10. Needless to say, she is very stressed. The noise in the house often reminds me of growing up with many other little Bedlamites (yay, Elder Holland). She wasn't able to attend Conference this weekend not due to any fault of her own. Hopefully, she'll be able to attend this next week. The investigators that I am really sad to leave behind are Jacob and his wife, Brenda. They are the brother and sister-in-law of Alex's mother-in-law. Jacob has had some really powerful experiences with the Church before, such as witnessing healings by the power of the priesthood and has often felt the spirit that surrounds his sister's family. Jacob does struggle with serious depression and has trouble motivating himself to act for himself. Because of that, he has had trouble deciding to join the church because his wife, Brenda, struggles with a family commitment to the Catholic church. Jacob has trouble doing anything that Brenda doesn't do. However, this last Sunday, Jacob came to Conference and said he is ready to start doing what he wants to do, such as coming to Church and being baptized--even if Brenda doesn't support or follow him. We promised him that what he was doing was the right thing and that if he follows through with it, Brenda will see a change in him and his great example and will soon follow him by making steps into the Church. Sadly, I won't see the end to that story, but I intend to follow up with Elder Arens and whoever takes over for me in this area to find out what happens with Jacob.
Well, I'm starting to get low on time to write, but I guess I can write down a few things that I remember from Conference. I loved Elder Christofferson's talk on "divine chastening". I've heard the story about Elder Brown and the bush before from our mission president, but this time it struck me with a bit more force. I'm planning to make myself a quote wall from Conference on some things that I want to remember and apply while I'm in Laredo. One of them will be, "I am the gardener and I know what I want you to be!" (In my mind that's being said with a dramatic Elder Christofferson voice) as well as some others. I especially liked Elder Oak's talk about desires and actions determining who we become, as well as the role that they play in our priorities and our choices. One talk that I plan to print out and study is the talk Elder Bednar gave on receiving revelation. I thought while he spoke about the investigators that I have had so far in the mission and how some have gone through both processes to gain a witness of the truth of the Church. Some have had lightbulb moments, where direct and specific revelation comes to them, while others have been through a long course of study and learned line upon line, precept upon precept, until they finally realize that the sun has risen, and it's a new day.
Be sure to give my best wishes to Khand at her wedding, and make sure Dad keeps Mom from stressing out too much. Oh, and for Dad as well, I did meet with Gustavo for a little while during this week and we had an altogether positive exchange. Sadly, I will be moving to Laredo and be out of the valley, so I will not be here to take him up on his offer to tour the station. If you can, please express to him my gratitude for the time he took out of his schedule to show me around. He is a very kind and very impressive man, of that I have no doubt.
I hope that everyone has a great week and that Mel and the baby do well also!
Love,
Elder Wood
For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle, with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul; (D&C 4:4)
April 18, 2011
April 15, 2011
March 28, 2011, email from Edinburg, TX
Dear Family,
I was happy to hear that Mom had a good time in Provo and Arizona these past two weeks. I'm sure that Christian is enjoying all of the free cinnamon rolls and house cleaning that comes with a visit from Mom. Also, this last Tuesday I got the package that Mom sent me and have already managed to eat all of the food. The CTR ring does fit quite nicely.
In response to Dad's email, I called Gustavo again yesterday, and we should be meeting sometime on Tuesday in the afternoon. I'm supposed to call him tonight to find out the actual time that we can do it.
This past week was a good week though we didn't manage to make any huge strides with anyone in the way of missionary work. We have been pushing to try and get referrals from the members in this area in the hopes of finding some new people to teach. We had some success with this, but we haven't found anyone so far that is on their way and progressing towards baptism.
This week is the last week that we have before we find out about transfers on Saturday. I will most likely be staying in Edinburg, but my companion has been here for a while and will probably be leaving. Transfers are basically the biggest deal in the life of a missionary besides baptisms. Saturdays before transfers are normally a pretty high-energy day with everyone stressing out to find if they're going anywhere or not.
We had quite a large miracle this week with our recent convert Juana Maria. She has been struggling to pay the rent on her trailer lot for while now, and is currently living without electricity or water. During this last week she wasn't going to be able to pay the rent on her lot, and they were going to kick her out unless she paid. She was ready and willing to live out of her car, as she has done before, but for the nine people that live in that trailer it was a bit of a scary situation. So, we brought up her situation in the ward co-ordination meeting that we had, and the ward put itself to work finding a way to help her. The members pooled together here and gathered $300 to pay her rent for this month. She was very thankful and expressed her gratitude for the miracle that she received to the members. She is also determined that once she's back on her feet more, she'll be searching for an opportunity to pay back the miracle that she received and help others in the ward with their problems.
Overall it was a great week filled with missionary work, miracles, zone conference and a lot of fun. I'm sure that next week won't be too different. I hope Mom stays safe as she goes back home and also that everything goes well with Mel and the pregnancy. Thanks for everything! Oh, and be sure to wish Dad a happy birthday for me. All of the other missionaries already know about my amazing, quirky father and the many stories he has given me to tell.
Love,
Elder Wood
I was happy to hear that Mom had a good time in Provo and Arizona these past two weeks. I'm sure that Christian is enjoying all of the free cinnamon rolls and house cleaning that comes with a visit from Mom. Also, this last Tuesday I got the package that Mom sent me and have already managed to eat all of the food. The CTR ring does fit quite nicely.
In response to Dad's email, I called Gustavo again yesterday, and we should be meeting sometime on Tuesday in the afternoon. I'm supposed to call him tonight to find out the actual time that we can do it.
This past week was a good week though we didn't manage to make any huge strides with anyone in the way of missionary work. We have been pushing to try and get referrals from the members in this area in the hopes of finding some new people to teach. We had some success with this, but we haven't found anyone so far that is on their way and progressing towards baptism.
This week is the last week that we have before we find out about transfers on Saturday. I will most likely be staying in Edinburg, but my companion has been here for a while and will probably be leaving. Transfers are basically the biggest deal in the life of a missionary besides baptisms. Saturdays before transfers are normally a pretty high-energy day with everyone stressing out to find if they're going anywhere or not.
We had quite a large miracle this week with our recent convert Juana Maria. She has been struggling to pay the rent on her trailer lot for while now, and is currently living without electricity or water. During this last week she wasn't going to be able to pay the rent on her lot, and they were going to kick her out unless she paid. She was ready and willing to live out of her car, as she has done before, but for the nine people that live in that trailer it was a bit of a scary situation. So, we brought up her situation in the ward co-ordination meeting that we had, and the ward put itself to work finding a way to help her. The members pooled together here and gathered $300 to pay her rent for this month. She was very thankful and expressed her gratitude for the miracle that she received to the members. She is also determined that once she's back on her feet more, she'll be searching for an opportunity to pay back the miracle that she received and help others in the ward with their problems.
Overall it was a great week filled with missionary work, miracles, zone conference and a lot of fun. I'm sure that next week won't be too different. I hope Mom stays safe as she goes back home and also that everything goes well with Mel and the pregnancy. Thanks for everything! Oh, and be sure to wish Dad a happy birthday for me. All of the other missionaries already know about my amazing, quirky father and the many stories he has given me to tell.
Love,
Elder Wood
April 14, 2011
March 21, 2011, email from Edinburg
Dear Family,
Well, these past few days have made up a pretty great week. This week was mostly highlighted by Alex's baptism this last Saturday. I've put in some pictures of her baptism, as well as some pictures from the baptism of Juana Maria, Katy and Jiliana because I'm not sure I ever sent those home. Interestingly enough, I am not sure I ever mentioned that Elder Raynor, my old companion from Donna, is here in Edinburg, too. He is in the Central area, but about a year ago he also served in the North area of Edinburg. When I left from Donna I was leaving him behind and going to his old area here in Edinburg. He gave me the names of some of the people he taught while he was in Edinburg that he thought I should go visit. Alex was actually one of those people that he told me to go visit. He taught her about a year ago, but at that time she wasn't quite ready to accept the Gospel. Now she is fully converted to the Church and is currently trying to decide what temple she wants to go into when she gets married for time and eternity. She left the baptism on Saturday with a picture of the Houston temple which she now keeps in her room to remind her of her goal a year from now.
Looking back on what happened with Alex, the pivotal moment for her was when we got down on our knees with her and prayed to know the truth. As we spent time with her to create an atmosphere where she could feel the Spirit, taught her how to pray and helped her know how to recognize the Spirit, then her conversion came through the Power of the Holy Ghost. She is confident that she knows that this is what God wants for her. I'm truly convinced that on a mission, we convert no one. We can only do our part to help them feel the Spirit, and by the power of the Spirit can they truly become converted.
We haven't had anything else really happen this week in the way of fantastic news, but we continue working and doing our best to help other people make the same steps that Alex just took to follow the Savior. Transfers will becoming up in just a few weeks, but again I suspect that I will be staying in Edinburg a while longer. I don't really expect any changes there, besides maybe a new companion.
I haven't received Mom's package from Arizona yet, but I'm sure it will get here soon. I hope Mark is doing well in Peru and that James is enjoying his time home. I'm sure Mel will continue to do well as the Lord protects her and that soon we will have another wonderful nephew added to the family. Give my congratulations and best wishes to Khand on her marriage. I hope Mom doesn't stress out too much over another reception in the back yard. I hope everyone has a great week!
Love,
Elder Wood
Well, these past few days have made up a pretty great week. This week was mostly highlighted by Alex's baptism this last Saturday. I've put in some pictures of her baptism, as well as some pictures from the baptism of Juana Maria, Katy and Jiliana because I'm not sure I ever sent those home. Interestingly enough, I am not sure I ever mentioned that Elder Raynor, my old companion from Donna, is here in Edinburg, too. He is in the Central area, but about a year ago he also served in the North area of Edinburg. When I left from Donna I was leaving him behind and going to his old area here in Edinburg. He gave me the names of some of the people he taught while he was in Edinburg that he thought I should go visit. Alex was actually one of those people that he told me to go visit. He taught her about a year ago, but at that time she wasn't quite ready to accept the Gospel. Now she is fully converted to the Church and is currently trying to decide what temple she wants to go into when she gets married for time and eternity. She left the baptism on Saturday with a picture of the Houston temple which she now keeps in her room to remind her of her goal a year from now.
Looking back on what happened with Alex, the pivotal moment for her was when we got down on our knees with her and prayed to know the truth. As we spent time with her to create an atmosphere where she could feel the Spirit, taught her how to pray and helped her know how to recognize the Spirit, then her conversion came through the Power of the Holy Ghost. She is confident that she knows that this is what God wants for her. I'm truly convinced that on a mission, we convert no one. We can only do our part to help them feel the Spirit, and by the power of the Spirit can they truly become converted.
We haven't had anything else really happen this week in the way of fantastic news, but we continue working and doing our best to help other people make the same steps that Alex just took to follow the Savior. Transfers will becoming up in just a few weeks, but again I suspect that I will be staying in Edinburg a while longer. I don't really expect any changes there, besides maybe a new companion.
I haven't received Mom's package from Arizona yet, but I'm sure it will get here soon. I hope Mark is doing well in Peru and that James is enjoying his time home. I'm sure Mel will continue to do well as the Lord protects her and that soon we will have another wonderful nephew added to the family. Give my congratulations and best wishes to Khand on her marriage. I hope Mom doesn't stress out too much over another reception in the back yard. I hope everyone has a great week!
Love,
Elder Wood
March 18, 2011
March 14, 2011, email post from Edinburg, TX
Dar Family,
Another week has come and gone here in the mission field, and this one went faster than most it seems like. I'm sure that trend will only continue and before I know it I'll be running out of time here in the field. We haven't had too much in the way of news here in Edinburg, but we do have a few stories to tell that I'll try to get down.
The first story is with Alex. She has been preparing for her baptism this Saturday and is doing very well. This past Wednesday was Ash Wednesday and when she showed up to school she was surprised to see so many of her friends going around with crosses on their foreheads. One of her friends during the day asked her, "Why don't you have a cross on your forehead? You're Catholic aren't you?" To which she replied, "Not no more. I'm getting baptized as a Mormon." Needless to say I had quite a smile on my face when she told me the story. Also this past Sunday she had her baptismal interview which went over very well. The Elder who conducted the interview was very impressed because Alex brought her goal of re-activating her inactive husband and getting him to the temple so they can be sealed as a family. She came to church by herself even when the rest of her part member family didn't come because they chose to sleep in during the change to daylight savings time.
Other than that the only great story from this week that I have is that we have been teaching this eight year old girl, Esmer. Her mother is a member, so really she is a child of record baptism, but her Mom wanted us to teach here since she hasn't had the chance to go to church much and learn about God. So, as we've been talking with Esmer she has managed to say some pretty funny things. For example, when explaining what commandments were, we told her they were like God's rules for us. Later in the lesson she told us that she enjoyed following Gods' "commandrules". But, I think her quote that takes the cake is just from yesterday. We were talking with Esmer about prayer and how we can ask God questions and receive answers. When we asked Esmer, "Have you ever asked a question of God when you were praying?," she replied, "I've asked Him how to get skinny." I pretty much lost it and just started laughing, and her Mom who was sitting next to her just followed suit. Oh the world we live in where eight year old girls are asking God how to get skinny!
We found a small hidden neighborhood in our area which is mysteriously populated with a lot of inactive members, so we plan to be working in there a lot during this week. We also found some new investigators in that area. If we get everyone in this three street neighborhood active and baptized we'll have a little Zion on our hands here, soon. I should have pictures and stories from Alex's baptism and confirmation for this next week, which should make for a bit longer letter.
I'm glad that Mel is continuing to do well, that Dot is still growing and I hope everything goes well for mom's trip to AZ. Strangely enough, my companion lives in Mesa as well. Maybe Mom could go visit his parents for a kick. Anyway, I hope that everyone continues to do well and has a great week! Oh, be sure to send me some notes from James' talk if you can. Thanks!
Love,
Elder Roland Wood
Another week has come and gone here in the mission field, and this one went faster than most it seems like. I'm sure that trend will only continue and before I know it I'll be running out of time here in the field. We haven't had too much in the way of news here in Edinburg, but we do have a few stories to tell that I'll try to get down.
The first story is with Alex. She has been preparing for her baptism this Saturday and is doing very well. This past Wednesday was Ash Wednesday and when she showed up to school she was surprised to see so many of her friends going around with crosses on their foreheads. One of her friends during the day asked her, "Why don't you have a cross on your forehead? You're Catholic aren't you?" To which she replied, "Not no more. I'm getting baptized as a Mormon." Needless to say I had quite a smile on my face when she told me the story. Also this past Sunday she had her baptismal interview which went over very well. The Elder who conducted the interview was very impressed because Alex brought her goal of re-activating her inactive husband and getting him to the temple so they can be sealed as a family. She came to church by herself even when the rest of her part member family didn't come because they chose to sleep in during the change to daylight savings time.
Other than that the only great story from this week that I have is that we have been teaching this eight year old girl, Esmer. Her mother is a member, so really she is a child of record baptism, but her Mom wanted us to teach here since she hasn't had the chance to go to church much and learn about God. So, as we've been talking with Esmer she has managed to say some pretty funny things. For example, when explaining what commandments were, we told her they were like God's rules for us. Later in the lesson she told us that she enjoyed following Gods' "commandrules". But, I think her quote that takes the cake is just from yesterday. We were talking with Esmer about prayer and how we can ask God questions and receive answers. When we asked Esmer, "Have you ever asked a question of God when you were praying?," she replied, "I've asked Him how to get skinny." I pretty much lost it and just started laughing, and her Mom who was sitting next to her just followed suit. Oh the world we live in where eight year old girls are asking God how to get skinny!
We found a small hidden neighborhood in our area which is mysteriously populated with a lot of inactive members, so we plan to be working in there a lot during this week. We also found some new investigators in that area. If we get everyone in this three street neighborhood active and baptized we'll have a little Zion on our hands here, soon. I should have pictures and stories from Alex's baptism and confirmation for this next week, which should make for a bit longer letter.
I'm glad that Mel is continuing to do well, that Dot is still growing and I hope everything goes well for mom's trip to AZ. Strangely enough, my companion lives in Mesa as well. Maybe Mom could go visit his parents for a kick. Anyway, I hope that everyone continues to do well and has a great week! Oh, be sure to send me some notes from James' talk if you can. Thanks!
Love,
Elder Roland Wood
March 7, 2011, email post from Edinburg, TX
Dear family,
I'm glad to hear that James got home okay from Japan. I'm excited to read whatever notes people take during his talk next week. I wish I could hear him speak Japanese, but I figure it will be a while before I get to hear any of that. I'm sure Marsali is glad to have him home safe and sound. Also, I was happy to receive the news that Paul got into BYU Provo. He'll have a fun time there, I'm sure. He'll be in a great environment to start preparing for his mission.
This last week proved to be a refiner's fire, as far as the mission goes, having lost most of our investigators and only retaining one who continues to progress. She should be getting baptized on the 19th of March, and she seems ready and excited for that day. She missed church this last Sunday due to some extenuating circumstances, but she plans to be there next week, so she should be all ready by the 19th.
We spent most of this week out on some of the longer, more sparsely populated roads in our area, using our bikes a lot (maybe more than I would have liked). But the bikes do prove to be the most efficient way when the houses are a little bit spread out. We had a couple of days with no set appointments whatsoever, so were were able to spend a good chunk of time searching our area for those who are prepared. This past Saturday, we went out in the morning on our bikes and got caught in a pouring rain storm accompanied by lightning and hail. So, we finished the street we were contacting on, returned to our bikes and then started home. We got thoroughly soaked and upon arriving at our house parked the bikes in the garage and the storm ceased and blue skies appeared. It was my first time getting caught out in a storm on the bike, an experience I do not soon hope to repeat. But, all is well and I figure I will go through many more Texas storms.
I hope Mel continues to do well and that the baby does well since he will probably be coming along in these next few weeks. Be sure to tell James "hi" for me and give another congratulations to Paul. I hope everyone has a good week and that Mom has a good experience with her service expo and doesn't overstress too much =) .
Love,
Elder Wood
I'm glad to hear that James got home okay from Japan. I'm excited to read whatever notes people take during his talk next week. I wish I could hear him speak Japanese, but I figure it will be a while before I get to hear any of that. I'm sure Marsali is glad to have him home safe and sound. Also, I was happy to receive the news that Paul got into BYU Provo. He'll have a fun time there, I'm sure. He'll be in a great environment to start preparing for his mission.
This last week proved to be a refiner's fire, as far as the mission goes, having lost most of our investigators and only retaining one who continues to progress. She should be getting baptized on the 19th of March, and she seems ready and excited for that day. She missed church this last Sunday due to some extenuating circumstances, but she plans to be there next week, so she should be all ready by the 19th.
We spent most of this week out on some of the longer, more sparsely populated roads in our area, using our bikes a lot (maybe more than I would have liked). But the bikes do prove to be the most efficient way when the houses are a little bit spread out. We had a couple of days with no set appointments whatsoever, so were were able to spend a good chunk of time searching our area for those who are prepared. This past Saturday, we went out in the morning on our bikes and got caught in a pouring rain storm accompanied by lightning and hail. So, we finished the street we were contacting on, returned to our bikes and then started home. We got thoroughly soaked and upon arriving at our house parked the bikes in the garage and the storm ceased and blue skies appeared. It was my first time getting caught out in a storm on the bike, an experience I do not soon hope to repeat. But, all is well and I figure I will go through many more Texas storms.
I hope Mel continues to do well and that the baby does well since he will probably be coming along in these next few weeks. Be sure to tell James "hi" for me and give another congratulations to Paul. I hope everyone has a good week and that Mom has a good experience with her service expo and doesn't overstress too much =) .
Love,
Elder Wood
Feb, 28, 2011, email post from Edinburg
Dear Family,
I don't have too much time this week to write, but I'll try to get down what I can.
First, an apology to Dad over my tardiness contacting Gustavo Valadez. I will be calling my mission president today and discussing it with him. I'm sure that sometime soon I'll have the opportunity to meet with him and discuss whatever he wishes to talk about with me. He had better be certain I'm going to be sharing at least a part of the Gospel with him when we meet.
Again, another week has come and gone in Edinburg without too many changes. The new transfer cycle has started and my old companion, Elder Raynor is up here with me for a period of at least six more weeks. We haven't found anyone incredibly solid yet, but we have had a few experiences that I guess I could share. A few weeks back, we had been in a part of our area and we met a man named Louis. We talked with him for about an hour or so at his door because he was familiar with our church through a strong interest that he had in family history. He is a frequent user of the Family Search website, because of the wealth of records that it has and the wonderful quality it has of being free. So that is how he became acquainted with our church though he had never talked with the missionaries before. We talked with him for a good space of time about the mormon.org website which he had also heard of because of the ads on TV, many of which impressed him very much. So, we left him with a mormon.org card and an invitation to find out why we focus on genealogy so much by learning about temples and baptisms for the dead.
Yesterday, we were in his neighborhood again, so we figured we'd swing by and see how he was doing, and to follow up to see if he visited the website/read the pamphlet we left with him. He had read a bit of the pamphlet but hadn't visited too much of the website. So, instead of referring him back to the website, we just took it upon ourselves to explain why we did genealogy. After explaining to him about baptisms for the dead and the purpose of the spirit world, he looked at us and said probably my most favorite words I've ever head, "I've always had that question and you guys are the first ones that ever answered it." He is, however, very reluctant to jump into a church until he knows it very well. We left him with a Book of Mormon to read. He assured us that if we came back in a few weeks he will have read through it, marked it up and have little tabs coming out all of the sides. So we are planning to swing by him again towards the end of the transfer and check up on his studies and prayers. We spent a good hour and a half with him at his door answering the mountain of questions that he had and ended up by pointing him to studying the Book of Mormon and praying to receive an answer from God. it always excites me to find people that have questions who are willing to search and find answers.
Again, I'm excited to hear that Mel and the baby are doing well, and I hope that continues to be true. I hope Mom has success in preparing for her service fair, and I'm sure that all will go well. I hope everyone has a great week and that everything goes well! Oh, and give Paul a big "congratulations" for me on getting into BYU Provo. It's better than Hawaii!
Love,
Elder Wood
I don't have too much time this week to write, but I'll try to get down what I can.
First, an apology to Dad over my tardiness contacting Gustavo Valadez. I will be calling my mission president today and discussing it with him. I'm sure that sometime soon I'll have the opportunity to meet with him and discuss whatever he wishes to talk about with me. He had better be certain I'm going to be sharing at least a part of the Gospel with him when we meet.
Again, another week has come and gone in Edinburg without too many changes. The new transfer cycle has started and my old companion, Elder Raynor is up here with me for a period of at least six more weeks. We haven't found anyone incredibly solid yet, but we have had a few experiences that I guess I could share. A few weeks back, we had been in a part of our area and we met a man named Louis. We talked with him for about an hour or so at his door because he was familiar with our church through a strong interest that he had in family history. He is a frequent user of the Family Search website, because of the wealth of records that it has and the wonderful quality it has of being free. So that is how he became acquainted with our church though he had never talked with the missionaries before. We talked with him for a good space of time about the mormon.org website which he had also heard of because of the ads on TV, many of which impressed him very much. So, we left him with a mormon.org card and an invitation to find out why we focus on genealogy so much by learning about temples and baptisms for the dead.
Yesterday, we were in his neighborhood again, so we figured we'd swing by and see how he was doing, and to follow up to see if he visited the website/read the pamphlet we left with him. He had read a bit of the pamphlet but hadn't visited too much of the website. So, instead of referring him back to the website, we just took it upon ourselves to explain why we did genealogy. After explaining to him about baptisms for the dead and the purpose of the spirit world, he looked at us and said probably my most favorite words I've ever head, "I've always had that question and you guys are the first ones that ever answered it." He is, however, very reluctant to jump into a church until he knows it very well. We left him with a Book of Mormon to read. He assured us that if we came back in a few weeks he will have read through it, marked it up and have little tabs coming out all of the sides. So we are planning to swing by him again towards the end of the transfer and check up on his studies and prayers. We spent a good hour and a half with him at his door answering the mountain of questions that he had and ended up by pointing him to studying the Book of Mormon and praying to receive an answer from God. it always excites me to find people that have questions who are willing to search and find answers.
Again, I'm excited to hear that Mel and the baby are doing well, and I hope that continues to be true. I hope Mom has success in preparing for her service fair, and I'm sure that all will go well. I hope everyone has a great week and that everything goes well! Oh, and give Paul a big "congratulations" for me on getting into BYU Provo. It's better than Hawaii!
Love,
Elder Wood
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