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
