October 17, 2011, Email post from Laredo, TX

Dear Family,

Well, another rough week as far as the field goes. October is turning into kind of a bust for us since we haven't had any solid baptismal dates at church, and the month is quickly closing. We're working our hardest to set up for November. I had a really great interview with our President Trayner on Friday. It's always nice to have some counsel about the work, and even more so from the person who has the keys to direct it. We did manage to find a couple of new investigators this week that have a lot of potential. We'll be working with them more over the coming week and I'm excited to see the beginnings of their conversion processes.

Mom's package did come, but we were out working when the mail man came, so we have to go pick it up at the post office, which we will do right after we're done emailing here.

The weather here in Texas has been great as well. Fall is finally starting to settle in. Everything still looks the same mind you, but the air isn't heating the 110s anymore. It's been about mid 80s most of this week, which just made for beautiful days. Especially in a bike area, good weather is much appreciated. Probably my favorite part of being in a bike area is the night time rides home at about 9 oclock. The burning Laredo sun has gone down so its not hot, and the air normally has a nice breeze and has cooled off, making for an enjoyable time. Also, our area is either flat or uphilll from our house, so sometimes we get some nice relaxing downhill rides which are even better.

An Elder in our mission got hit by a car a week back. They were biking on the side of the main road and a drunk driver purposely sideswiped them. Or at least thats what I heard from the story. Both the Elders got hit by the car but one went up onto the car and then came down and the car ran over his leg. Miraculously, he had no injury to his leg and was just a bit shaken up. He was wearing his helmet as well so he didn't have any injuries really. Right after they got hit the next car pulled over and said, "I called 911, and I'm following the guy" and then took off. The cops then took up the chase and caught the guy who is now facing charges. Our mission president came and saw the driver getting into the cop car handcuffed, so I assume from there it will all get taken care of. The Lord does take care of his missionaries. There are numberless examples of that, and this is just another since the Elder was able to leave without any real injuries. Don't worry Mom, I wear my helmet and 95% of the time we're on the sidewalk :P.

The town is starting to get into Halloween and the decorations are starting to go up. We have a couple pretty rich neighborhoods in our area that get pretty into it, so we'll see if I can get any good pictures of the festivities. It's scary to think that this is going to be my last Halloween in the mission field. Even worse, another missionary asked me how long I had left. I thought about it and I only have 9 months left in the field! So, from now on I should be able to see most of the newborns in the family, except for Rose-Ellen's kid. She'll be the last one born before I get home I think.

I appreciated Mom sharing the letter she got from her Mom in the mission field. It is a good one. I'll have to write it down and take it to the apartment.

Thanks everyone for the good wishes and prayers. I do appreciate them, they help. I'm looking forward to a new week, we should have some good experiences with the people we've just found. Whatever the Lord wants me to learn from the experience is worth it, and soon we'll see the blessings I'm sure. Good luck to everybody this week, I hope everything goes well!

Love,

Elder Wood

October 1, 2011, email post from Laredo, TX

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

September 26, 2011, email from Laredo, TX

Well, it seems like you had a pretty busy week Mom. It's tough when the people you rely on have conflicts and you've got to pull off an activity without a familiar support system in place. If anybody could do it (with a whole lot of stress along the way mind you) it would probably be you.

We had a bit of a rough time this week. We had not too much change in the area, which was a bummer. Hopefully things will be getting better soon though. I'd like to have Elder Stewart see some success early on in his mission. I think I struggled a lot at the beginning of my mission because I got used to not seeing success. Heck, I'm probably still that way, but at least its gotten a little better.

I've been trying to get pictures of the things on the list that Rene sent me. I think I'm just missing a few more now, and hopefully I can get a letter off with the pictures in it this coming week. I feel bad because Rene has probably been the person who's been the most faithful in writing me without getting any responses, haha. Soon I'll get one off and that way she can at least get something from south Texas.

I got contact lenses this week. They're working all right. It's weird though because I have an astigmatism (spelling??) in my left eye, but not my right. So the right contact works better than the left. It feels like the left one slides around my eye sometimes which messes up my vision. They are nicer to have when you're on a bike though. I'm not sweating all over my glasses every day and getting sweat blown into my eyes instead of evaporating.

It looks like there are a lot of birthdays coming up. Congratulations to everybody, another year gone. Kind of freaky huh? Time just keeps shooting by faster and faster. I guess this is how old people feel, but like x10.

I'm excited for General Conference. It's always a nice spiritual uplift in the mission field. Hopefully we can pump up some of our investigators on hearing the prophet and apostles this week. I wonder what temples will be announced, that's always an exciting part of the conference. So many people waiting for temple blessings and they're just waiting to hear the word from the prophet.

Well, I'm a bit lost on what to write this week, and my brain is pretty tired so I might just end it a bit early.

I hope everybody has a great week. I love you!

Elder Wood

September 19, 2011, Email from Laredo, TX

Wood News

Monday, September 26, 2011

September 19, 2011, Email from Laredo, TX

Dear Family,

First off, thanks for the birthday wishes! I had a pretty good birthday, which was actually on one of the days that we had the three day training here in Laredo. Basically the mission president and the APs had trainings with us from 9 am to 5 or 6 pm. For the rest of the night on my bday we just worked, but we found a pretty cool family, and that's good enough of a present for me.

I got the package from mom with the camera and everything, and I've been taking pictures like a fiend. Thanks so much, the camera is great. Unfortunately I can't send anything in this email cause the library doesn't let you upload pictures, but maybe I can print some off today and snail mail them. If not, they'll get emailed whenever I get moved to a new area or if we go to the college to email one of these days. We heard about transfers on Saturday, and I'll be staying here for at least another six weeks with Elder Stewart.

We had kind of a rough week with our investigators. We have a lot of cool people that seem to be doing very well, but none of them came to church this last week, which was kind of a bummer. We're going to focus more this week on doing our best to explalin to them the importance of church attendance, and hopefully we can see a bit of improvement in that aspect this next Sunday.

However, one investigator we have been teaching that has been investigating for a few months now gave us some good news. She started investigating with the Sisters and was committed to the church but had some fears about baptism. Just this last week we asked her how she was feeling about it, and told us that it was a 'surprise'. With some digging and talking to some members and other missionaries she talked to, we found out she's planning on getting baptized in October. Hopefully she can commit herself to that step and take it soon. She'll be a solid member once she's baptized, we just need to help her commit to that day.

My companion and I are doing very well and I'm loving the area. Anyway, I've got to get going since I spent a lot of time writing to Christian and Paul. Thanks for the birthday messages from Mel & Warren, Jonathan & Emily, Mom & Dad, Christian and Paul. If I forgot anybody, sorry, and if you didn't write, it's okay. I know you meant to :P.

Love you all, have a great week!

Elder Wood

September 12, 2011, Email from Laredo, TX

Dear Family,

Before I forget, yes, I did receive the driver's license :)

I will admit that this week was a great week, minus one horrible disappointment. On Saturday there was the game between BYU and UT, and although I'm a fan for both teams, I was rooting BYU. We found out Saturday night that BYU lost after being up from the beginning of the match, and that they lost by 1. I had my BYU tie that Mom had sent me prepped for church the next day and I was ready to do a little gloating over some of the youth that are Longhorns fans. But, we were beaten and I wasn't afforded that opportunity, which in reality was probably a good thing. Anyways, I expect that game will probably come up this week as we're out knocking on doors and such.

Well, we had a pretty fun week here in Laredo. It got hot again, but the temperature did stay down lower that it has been over the past couple weeks. Fall is starting to roll in and we should be hitting some of the gorgeous weather soon. Later in the month is when the winter Texans start to arrive, so I wonder how many of them we'll see here in Laredo. In Donna, when I first came into the mission, there were trailer parks just full of older people. I haven't seen too many areas like that here in Laredo, but you never know. All of the sudden an empty field just becomes a giant trailer park with hundreds of people between 60-80 living there.

One of the Elders in my apartment is an avid picture taker, and I've been stealing copies of a lot of the stuff he has taken, but unfortunately the computers at this library are all just run off of one big server. There are no USB ports, so I'll have to send them later.

We had a pretty fun weekend. Another Elder that lives with us had his birthday yesterday, so a couple of the member families threw a Carne Asada for the both of us. It was pretty cool and had some great food as well. There are some families in our area that are very strong in the church and are doing a great job spreading the gospel. They are being great fellowshippers to our investigators. It's cool when you get to see people make some real friendships in the gospel and have a true friend they can go to with their questions.

Thanks for sending the birthday package, I can't wait to get it! The new camera will be put to some good use here in the coming days. The branches here are having a party on the 16th for Mexican Independence Day, and hopefully I'll get some good pictures of the festivities.

We have three investigators right now that are doing really well. Two of them were both very active in different Christian churchs. Since they attended our church and have felt the Spirit there, they've both made the decision that this is the church they want to attend and be a part of. Both of them have just a few fears over the commitment to baptism, but since they've had a witness from the Spirit of the truth of this work, I'm sure that soon they will be making that step. The other girl just came to church for the first time this last week and really seems to be loving the gospel. She's 18 and has a one year old son, and is caught in a hard time right now since she and her husband are getting separated. But the gospel is there to help her and it seems like she has some real desires to follow the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Elder Stewart is doing very well. He's coming up on his 5th week here in the mission field and is adjusting pretty quickly. His Spanish is still funny to listen to and he's had some moments that made some big laughs, but he is moving along and will get there soon =).

I checked the family blog and I will admit that I'm a fan of the pictures of Riggins. Whoever picked out his clothes has some good taste.

Anyway, thanks so much for the birthday wishes and everything, I'll let you know how everything goes next week. Oh, and I'm going to write them a letter, but also just say 'thanks' for me to the Simmons family, they sent me a package with cookies for my birthday. Needless to say we all enjoyed eating them.

Love you! Keep me updated!

Elder Wood

September 6, 2011; Email post from Laredo, TX

Dear Family,

Well, I just have to start off by saying that today is the most beautiful day we've had in South Texas in about four to five months! A cold front rolled in and the temperature dropped drastically overnight. Yesterday was about 105 (not counting the effects of being on a bike) and today it is hovering at about 80 - 85. We woke up this morning and just about shouted for joy when we opened the door. The rest of the week is supposed to stay like this, and it should be cooling off soon for the Fall.

This last week went pretty well. September has started and will shortly be coming to a close. We found quite a few people this last week who seemed very interested in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. One is the father of a part member family who has stayed away from baptism for a long time because of what his family thinks about Mormons. The other is a single mother of a one year old. We found her by knocking on doors. Interestingly, the father of the part member family is a little more excited now because he has a sister that got baptized after marrying a member in Mexico. That has helped to remove a lot of his fear about baptism because now he won't be the only member in his very Catholic family.

My companion and I are doing well. I don't know if I've mentioned this in the past, but my companion, Elder Stewart, has quite a talent for drawing. He draws in most of the free time he has and really produces some amazing stuff. I'll try to send some pictures home of some of his drawings as they are really quite amazing. As a greenie, he's had some funny moments. He took too big a drink of water in front of a member and his non-member girlfriend and swallowed it down the wrong "tube" only to look like he was throwing up violently on the side of the curb. I'm not gonna lie, that was a pretty funny first-impression moment. He' had a couple of baptismal invitations that were a little scattered as well, but he's getting better every day and is really doing a great job.

Now on to the matter of next week. BIRTHDAY! I really can't believe that this is going to be my last birthday in the mission field, but I guess the time is moving by really fast. I've thought about what I might want for my birthday and only a few things come to mind. The first is a vial for consecrated oil (one of the solid steel ones). I managed to lose mine a while ago and have been mostly relying on my companion, which probably isn't a good idea. Second, would be to receive a new camera. I managed to lose the charger for my old camera. In addition, my camera seemed to only take blurry pictures, anyway. I'd like to have something that isn't too fancy, but one that will take some good, solid pictures. I've managed to not take very many pictures the first year of my mission, and I'm hoping I can correct that in the coming months. Other than those things, I don't have any really big preferences on presents. Money for souvenirs is always nice =). In response to Mom's email, 32/32 is probably still good on pants size. If you get any, just make sure they don't have pleats in the front. I'm not a huge fan of pleats.

I hope Riggins is doing well and that Rose-Ellen's pregnancy is coming along fine. Keep me updated on the family and all!

Love,

Elder Wood

Email from Laredo, TX, August 29, 2011

Dear Family,

Another week has come and gone in the mission field. It seems like every day they come a little faster. I've come to realize that the mission seems extremely short when you think about it in terms of the weeks that you have left. Elder Stewart and I are doing very well. His Spanish is starting to develop, but he's still got a bit of a way to go. Probably part of that is my fault for not speaking it with him as much as I should have. We've set some goals for the coming week that should help us fix that problem.

I've come to learn that my new area (further north in Laredo) doesn't speak nearly as much Spanish as did my old area in the south. It's kind of a bummer just because it makes it harder to make yourself to speak Spanish. I have the Spanish/English switch in my brain, and depending on what language people are speaking to me or the language in the atmosphere, the switch goes one way or the other. I'm finding myself having to consciously change it, rather than having the people doing it for me. But, that's all right. I just need to learn to discipline myself more.

We have a couple of cool investigators that we are teaching right now. We found a young girl about a week ago who didn't believe in God at all. Because of the presence of the Spirit when we spoke with her, she now believes, is praying and is reading the Book of Mormon regularly. She's had a change in her countenance as well. I remember the first time we met her she seemed kind of sad and depressed, weighed down, you could say. But n ow, whenever we visit her, she's got a smile on her face and seems to be much more happy.

We struggled this last week in a few respects, but we saw some other parts of our area see some great progress. I'm excited for the week that is coming however, because I know that we're going to see miracles happen as we put in our part of the work. It's about time for me to get going, though, but I'm grateful for the pictures and everything Mom sent. It was good to see some updated pictures of the whole family.

On a last note, my thighs are getting ripped from this bike area. I will admit I'm a fan of racing the cars off of the stop signs around the streets now. They always give me weird looks when I keep up with them for a good little bit. Tell Mom not to worry, cause I can already tell she's thinking about asking me if I wear my helmet. Yes, Mom, I wear the helmet =). I hope everybody has a great week, and I hope that Riggins is having a nice welcome home.

Love,

Elder Wood