Dear Family,
I'm glad to hear that Mom's vision has improved after kind of a scary incident. Being able to see really is something that we take for granted. I can't imagine how much harder life would be if I couldn't see.
This week I want to relate one of the greatest mirales that I have seen on my mission. We were walking around on Saturday on our exchanges with the zone leaders trying to find someone to teach, when we felt impressed to knock on a door in a street in Cameron Park. A man named Emilio opened the door and invited us right in. He had just gotten back from rehab 3 days earlier. When we knocked on his door, he was sitting there wondering if he should become part of a church. As we began talking to him, he expressed to us that his desire was to do God's will and to help other people, because he didn't want them to have to go what he went through. We taught him a lesson about the doctrine of Christ, and when we invited him to accept he replied, "Yes! I am willing, I am ready and I accept." We started talking to him about how he would need to read, pray and meet with us to prepare for baptism to which he replied, "Oh yeah, I'll do anything. You tell me to jump and I'll say, 'how high?'" We started talking to him about church and we asked him if he would rather attend church in Spanish or in English and he said, "Well, I speak both. I can go to both if you want..." Ahhhh! I don't think I had ever met anybody in my whole mission that was that prepared. And it gets better. At the end of the lesson we left him with a Book of Mormon and invited him to read. When we went by to check on him in the morning on Sunday to see if he was still going to come to church he started talking to us about what he had read. From the afternoon on Saturday to Sunday morning he had read up to 1 Nephi 19! He had been highlighting it and making notes as he read too, and he was telling us all about Nephi's vision and how he used to be one of the people lost in the 'mists of darkness'. He came to church on Sunday, loved it, and then we had a lesson with him afterwards about the restoration and prayer. When we invited him to pray to know that the church is true he said, "Oh, I already think I know the answer, but I guess I can just go and confirm it anyways." I'm super excited for him and I know that really soon he'll be ready to be baptized. Miracle!
We also met another family of five a few days ago that seems to be progressing really well. The husband is a member, but hasn't gone for a long time, but has some really strong desires to come back. The mom and two of the children are of baptismal age and are excited to take the step. My guess is that I'm going to have some great stories to tell about them in the coming weeks.
We've actually got to get going cause we have a lesson with Emilio set up and he's already confirmed the appointment, so I've gotta go! But thank you so much for your support and your prayers, I feel them every day. And don't think the prayers aren't going the other way as well. Take care, work hard!
Love,
Elder Wood
Oh, and yes Mom, I got the chocolates.. they were delicious =)
As far as the registration for fall term, I'll think about it this week and tell you next week what I've got in mind. When do the signups for classes start?
