Dear family,
Well, I'm out of time to write for the day, so I'll give you a really quick sum-up and then send you a copy of the email I sent to President Trayner for the week. (It's in English don't worry.)
My companion, Elder Marble, will be moving to Harlingen tomorrow, and my new companion has already arrived. I'll be training a missionary, Elder Ross, from Spanish Fork, Utah, who is waiting for his visa to Mexico to arrive. He's assigned to serve in the Mexico, Mexico City West mission, but will be serving with me until his visa arrives. He's been with us since Friday night, which is when President Trayner dropped him off at our house. We received about 6 hours of notice before we had our new companion, which was a pretty funny experience. We thought he was going to arrive on Tuesday, but on Friday night we got a text from President Trayner which said, "We'll be at your apartment at 8:15 with your new companion." Pretty big surprise, but it was pretty fun along the way.
Interesting fact we found out, Elder Ross has the same birthday as me, but he was born in 1992. Weird, right?
Anyway, it was a fun week and I'm excited to train again. But, sadly as I said, I'm out of time, so here's the email I sent to President Trayner.
Dear President,
I would just like to report to you how amazing and miraculous this week was. I felt my testimony was greatly fortified as I was able to see miracles wrought in the lives of our investigators. The numbers for the week didn't turn out that well, but the things that I saw happen during the week were really significant to me.
This week we saw our investigators receive answers to their prayers as they offered sincere, heartfelt supplications to the Lord about concerns or problems that they had going on in their lives. One couple we are teaching was struggling with the rent. They didn't have the money to pay it as a payout they were waiting on was delayed. Desperate and depressed, the wife of the family sat down on the couch and offered a prayer to the Lord asking for help. After the prayer, she called her father, who normally never has money, and asked if he had $200 dollars that he could loan her until their payout got there. Her father replied, "Of course!" Relieved and amazed, she hung up the phone, only to receive a call from her husband at work who said that his sister had just called him and given them $300 that she had but didn't need until later on in the month!
Later that week, we stopped by the same family, and Maria, the sister of Nancy (the wife in the previous story) was there at the house. She had been meeting with the missionaries is striving towards baptism. We spoke with her at the door to learn that her husband had been looking for a job, without any luck, and that he didn't have much interest in the message of the missionaries. After speaking with her, we said a humble prayer on the doorstep, asking for the Lord to help her husband find a job and open his heart to the missionaries. When we passed by two hours later to try and find Nancy home, Maria was still there, and her husband had just hung up on a call with a job offer for him!
The Lord's tender mercies truly are all over all the earth, aren't they? This week I have found myself more and more grateful to Him, and for the things that, in His mercy, he has seen fit to give to me. I often feel like the people being spoken to in Mosiah 2:22-24. He has blessed me with so much, for which I will forever be a debtor, owing a sum so great that I could never repay, and yet all He asks is that I keep His commandments. Truly the Lord is merciful to all of us, even when we are unprofitable servants.
The district has been in the same kind of spot for the past few weeks now. We saw a rise in new investigators this week, but a significant drop in church and member presents. The focus this week will be getting our people to obey the commandment of the Sabbath Day so that they can show their gratitude and devotion to the Lord and His commandments. We've been struggling to have a balanced effort, as it seems some weeks we do well in some things, but everything else seems to take a dive. We will be striving this week to get our investigators to church while not losing the progress we have made in other respects.
Sometimes I feel weird being the district leader here, because I often feel inadequate to be training the other missionaries how to have success when I myself am struggling to find it. However, I trust in the fact that I'm here for a reason, and often try to remind myself of the words of Nephi at the end of his writings when he says, "And ye shall know that the Lord has commanded me to write them, in spite of my weakness." I have many weaknesses, but I trust that the Lord has called me here for a reason, and that if I do my best, it will make a difference. I wonder how Moroni or Mormon felt, working so hard and yet not being able to see the results of their labors; only trusting in the promise of the Lord that their writings would be of worth to future generations and their posterity. Their cause seemed so hopeless, and it must have appeared like their records wouldn't make much difference, after hiding them away not to be found. We know that the Lord fulfilled his promises and know one of the greatest treasures that I have is what Moroni buried in a lonely hill.
I'm grateful for the chance to be here with Elder Ross. I will miss Elder Marble, but I know he's moving on to greater things that the Lord has in store for him. I will admit I feel jealous of Elders like them who are just coming wide-eyed into the beginning of one of the key experiences of their lives, while the time seems to grow ever shorter on mine. I'm committed to doing my best and using all the time I have, I just hope I can make the difference the Lord wants me to.
I hope that I can be a better trainer this time around. I definitely have things that I want to improve from the last time that I was given this responsability. When I found out that Elder Ross was coming I had studied on what I wanted to do right this time, and how I could give my companion a start off on the right foot. I pray the Lord will help me follow through with the goals that I have set.
I'm excited for a new week. There are still so many things that I want to apply from this last week of trainings. We'll be trying to improve and apply as much as we can from the revelation that we have received.
con carino,
Elder Wood
Love you family!
Elder Wood
