Hola!
I'm now here in Texas, and I have my new area and my new companion. However, first I guess I should go over what happened in the airport. I bought a phonecard at the MTC, and it said it had like 300 minutes on it or whatever. Apparently, pay phones, due to extra charges by the FCC (editorial note: but mostly due to added on charges by the issuers of phone cards, and the pay phone providers themselves), ate up my time super fast, and when I tried to call some of my siblings in my layover in Fort Wort, it said that I had insufficient funds. It was a bummer, but I'll be all right. It happened to quite a few of the elders who were in my travel group. Some of them got down in the dumps because they were planning to call their girlfriends. I felt bad for them, but I will admit it made me kind of happy that I didn't have to deal with any issue like that.
The flights were both fine, and neither of them was over three hours, so they were easy to get by. I didn't really get a chance to nap on the plane, but I did get a chance to do some scripture reading which led me to something very interesting. I was reading in Doctrine and Covenants 105:25 which basically says, "There has been a day of calling, and soon will be a day of choosing. and those that are chosen will be those that are worthy." This scripture stuck out to me because I found it when I was on the plane to my mission field. It just made me think, all missionaries have been called, but today is the day of choosing. It is my duty to work hard, obey and be worthy so that I will be "chosen". I will be able to have the Spirit of the Lord with me, and with that, I will find greater success and happiness in the mission field. I'm certain that I was led to that scripture on the plane, to give me more motivation these first few days in the mission field.
So, I arrived yesterday in McAllen, Texas. The weather here is actually very similar to that in Virginia. (Editorial note: NOT REALLY, he just arrived during a hurricane.) Many of the Elders stepped out of the airport and were shocked due to the humidity in the air, but I just smiled and felt just a little bit at home. The weather here is similar to Virginia, but the terrain is VERY different. It is flat, like God just took a giant rolling pin and flattened out the whole region, and there are palm trees everywhere. The skyline here just goes on and on, uninterrupted by hills or trees and you can just see for miles. It is really quite cool (Ed: as in awesome) and the view of the endless sky is quite amazing. This is the first time that I've actually seen palm trees with my own eyes (Ed: Not really, he's forgetting Arizona and Florida and Alabama) and they're quite a pretty site in my opinion. Surprisingly, it rains here quite a bit, a lot more than I was expecting. (Ed: Hurricanes do that!) A small hurricane passed through the far Eastern and Northern parts of the mission last night and today, but so far it has just rained here. Apparently there was a storm last night, but I was so exhausted from getting up at 3:30 AM in Provo that I just slept through the whole thing.
We met the mission presidency here, President and Sister Trayner, who are both very nice. On an odd, random note, Sister Trayner reminds me very much of Aunt Nancy. She looks a little bit similar, has the same kind of humor, and the same personality as Nancy. President Trayner was a lawyer but I either forgot to ask or can't remember what type of law he practiced. However, he did know Dad was a lawyer and proceeded to apologize profusely for that, which I thought was pretty funny. They were both very kind to us, and we had a wonderful barbecue dinner at their house.
The area I have been placed in is Donna, which is just East of McAllen. My new companion is Elder Nevara, from Nevada. I cannot remember what the exact town he is from, but is is North Nevada, nowhere close to Vegas =). He is half Mexican but doesn't speak Spanish, as his father never taught it to him at home. He seems like he is here to work hard, and I'm excited for the opportunity to work with him and start to improve my Spanish. Donna is in the "valley" as they call it, even though there are no mountains around, and there are many, many Spanish speakers here. Mostly everyone speaks Spanish and English, so that is both a blessing and a curse for me in a way. If I choose to be lazy, I can talk to most everyone in English and get my point across, but if I push myself I should be able to speak mostly Spanish and really start to improve. I don't think I'm going to have the lazy problem, but we'll see. At the moment I've committed to speaking my Spanish.
Anyways, it's getting about time to go I think, so I'll wrap this up. I'm excited and ready to be in the field, and grateful for the opportunity to serve the Lord here. I hope everyone has a good week and hopefully I'll have some good stories in a week or so.
Love,
Elder Wood
September 13, 2010
September 6, 2010
August 31, 2010 (letter via post to 4510)
Dear Family,
I forgot to say in my last email, but Happy Anniversary to Mom and Dad! It's great to see so many years of happy marriage and to have such a great example for parents. As I've been here I have come to see many of the different circumstances that people come from. It has made me just that much more grateful for my parents and the chance I had to be raised in the Gospel.
Thanks for the package sent from Christian's house. The tie and the pillowcase are both really cool. The food is all really good, so I'm grateful for that. I managed to steal a whole lot of candy from the "Old Testament Table." (It's the ironing board where the departing missionaries leave or "sacrifice" anything that they don't want to take to the mission field. It's all up for grabs.) So, I basically have half my desk covered in Starburtsts, Jolly Ranchers, cookies and PopTarts and the like. I've been making an effort to pass it around to the other Elders in order to spare my health and also to just get rid of it all. I'm pretty sure that with just an hour a day back at the residence, there's no way I'm getting through those treats all by myself!
We're getting another new district on Wednesday, many of whom are going to the Spokane, Washington Mission! I'll only be their Zone Leader for about four days before I leave, but hopefully I'll make enough of a good impression that they'll remember me and say "Hi" to Rose-Ellen for me if they ever run into her. I should get released as ZL on Sunday and then be off on Monday. Oh, and also, just as a heads up for when I'll be calling: We leave for the airport at 5:30 -6:00 a.m. or so, and or flight is at 8:25 a.m. so I'll only have something less than an hour to call. It will probably be between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. Provo time, Monday, September 6th. I can buy my own calling card thing, but that's around when I should be calling.
There's just one last story I'd like to tell from this week. On Thursday we went to the Referral Center (RC) here at the MTC. It's basically just a big calling center where you call people who have ordered things like Books of Mormon or Bibles from the Church. You make sure they got it and then see if they want to meet with the missionaries. I was a ward missionary in my BYU ward and we went there fairly often. When I found out we would be doing calls, I wasn't as nervous as a lot of the missionaries were. However, that all changed when he said that we would be doing the calls in Spanish! Upon arriving we found out that we could still make some of the calls in English, but we were challenged to do at least two Spanish calls. We were there for about an hour and a half and I got mostly answering machines, but a few people did pick up. The first was Janine. When I called her I was actually looking for her sister, but apparently she wasn't home so I just talked with Janine, instead. She was on her way out the door to work, so I didn't get to talk for too long, but I bore my testimony, offered her a Book of Mormon, and asked if she would like to meet with the missionaries. She said YES! I hope the missionaries who contact her will bring her to her Savior, Jesus Christ. It was a really neat experience just to find someone willing to hear the Gospel. I was so excited after that (it was in English) that I got up my confidence to start the Spanish calls. However, the Lord must have seen fit to humble me after that experience because the first Spanish speaker that picked up immediately began to chew me out. She was yelling and speaking so fast in Spanish that I was dumbstruck and couldn't think of anything to say or even understand what she was saying She had just been straight yelling at me for about 30 seconds when I picked up, "No me llamada mas!" or "Don't call me anymore!" and then she hung up. Needless to say, I was humbled, but I took it with a good attitude and just started laughing because I realized I had been chewed out for the first time in Spanish. This was one of my big fears for the field, but now that it's happened, I'm not afraid of it anymore. So overall, it was a great experience at the RC and I learned quite a lot that day.
Anyways, it's been a really good week here and the time has flown by. I feel like I walked in here yesterday. It is really true when they say, "The days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days." I hope things are going well at home and that everyone is doing OK. My next letter home will probably be from the field so wish me luck! The Gospel is true and the Church is the true Church of Jesus Christ. I love you all. Have a good week!
Elder Wood
I forgot to say in my last email, but Happy Anniversary to Mom and Dad! It's great to see so many years of happy marriage and to have such a great example for parents. As I've been here I have come to see many of the different circumstances that people come from. It has made me just that much more grateful for my parents and the chance I had to be raised in the Gospel.
Thanks for the package sent from Christian's house. The tie and the pillowcase are both really cool. The food is all really good, so I'm grateful for that. I managed to steal a whole lot of candy from the "Old Testament Table." (It's the ironing board where the departing missionaries leave or "sacrifice" anything that they don't want to take to the mission field. It's all up for grabs.) So, I basically have half my desk covered in Starburtsts, Jolly Ranchers, cookies and PopTarts and the like. I've been making an effort to pass it around to the other Elders in order to spare my health and also to just get rid of it all. I'm pretty sure that with just an hour a day back at the residence, there's no way I'm getting through those treats all by myself!
We're getting another new district on Wednesday, many of whom are going to the Spokane, Washington Mission! I'll only be their Zone Leader for about four days before I leave, but hopefully I'll make enough of a good impression that they'll remember me and say "Hi" to Rose-Ellen for me if they ever run into her. I should get released as ZL on Sunday and then be off on Monday. Oh, and also, just as a heads up for when I'll be calling: We leave for the airport at 5:30 -6:00 a.m. or so, and or flight is at 8:25 a.m. so I'll only have something less than an hour to call. It will probably be between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. Provo time, Monday, September 6th. I can buy my own calling card thing, but that's around when I should be calling.
There's just one last story I'd like to tell from this week. On Thursday we went to the Referral Center (RC) here at the MTC. It's basically just a big calling center where you call people who have ordered things like Books of Mormon or Bibles from the Church. You make sure they got it and then see if they want to meet with the missionaries. I was a ward missionary in my BYU ward and we went there fairly often. When I found out we would be doing calls, I wasn't as nervous as a lot of the missionaries were. However, that all changed when he said that we would be doing the calls in Spanish! Upon arriving we found out that we could still make some of the calls in English, but we were challenged to do at least two Spanish calls. We were there for about an hour and a half and I got mostly answering machines, but a few people did pick up. The first was Janine. When I called her I was actually looking for her sister, but apparently she wasn't home so I just talked with Janine, instead. She was on her way out the door to work, so I didn't get to talk for too long, but I bore my testimony, offered her a Book of Mormon, and asked if she would like to meet with the missionaries. She said YES! I hope the missionaries who contact her will bring her to her Savior, Jesus Christ. It was a really neat experience just to find someone willing to hear the Gospel. I was so excited after that (it was in English) that I got up my confidence to start the Spanish calls. However, the Lord must have seen fit to humble me after that experience because the first Spanish speaker that picked up immediately began to chew me out. She was yelling and speaking so fast in Spanish that I was dumbstruck and couldn't think of anything to say or even understand what she was saying She had just been straight yelling at me for about 30 seconds when I picked up, "No me llamada mas!" or "Don't call me anymore!" and then she hung up. Needless to say, I was humbled, but I took it with a good attitude and just started laughing because I realized I had been chewed out for the first time in Spanish. This was one of my big fears for the field, but now that it's happened, I'm not afraid of it anymore. So overall, it was a great experience at the RC and I learned quite a lot that day.
Anyways, it's been a really good week here and the time has flown by. I feel like I walked in here yesterday. It is really true when they say, "The days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days." I hope things are going well at home and that everyone is doing OK. My next letter home will probably be from the field so wish me luck! The Gospel is true and the Church is the true Church of Jesus Christ. I love you all. Have a good week!
Elder Wood
August 31, 2010
August 31, 2010 (Email from the MTC)
Editor's note: Roland will have but one more email opportunity from the MTC as he leaves for Texas on September 8th. This is your last chance to write him a letter before he leaves the MTC. Also remember that his birthday is on September 14. You should post any packages to him to the McAllen Mission Home. I will post that address after I look up the appropriate zip code. (At the end of this letter Roland says he won't have another email opportunity at the MTC, but if he leaves on the 8th as his address implies, he should have one more email opportunity.) If you send your letter via DearElder.com, they actually post the letters immediately to the MTC and he gets your email letter via Provo post. So, that is one way for you to be sure he gets your letter before he leaves Provo, even if he doesn't have another email opportunity.
Roland's letter:
Dear Family,
This week has been pretty normalish, except for a few instances, I guess. Most of them were at the beginning of this last week, right after I sent off my last email.
To start off, last Tuesday night we had Jeffery R. Holland come speak to us! It was awesome! One, because Elder Holland is known for his rousing speeches, and two, because he is the first member of the Quorum of the Twelve we've had speak to us. His remarks were filled with great quotes and inspirational reminders. He stressed that there are three things that missionaries don't do well. First, they don't study well together with their companions. Second, they don't plan well enough, really scheduling every bit of space and having backup plans for appointments that fall through or if something goes amiss. Third, they don't teach with the power and authority that is given to them in their calling. This past week I've been trying to work on all of these and really do as Elder Holland directed, and waste none of the Lord's time. He stressed the importance of exact obedience and how in order to teach with power and authority we need to obey all of the mission rules, so that the Spirit of the Lord can be unrestrained when trying to work in us. Probably the best two quotes that he gave were first, when speaking about mission rules, "You can't do it your way! This isn't Burger King! We don't hold the pickles!" And second, when speaking about diligence, "You've got to work hard and talk with everyone. Every step, every day, every person, all the way!". Those are just two among many, many good quotes that were given to us by Elder Holland, most of which are recorded in my study journal back in my class.
The other really cool experience that we had this week was our TRC (Teaching Resource Center) investigator. She was the mother of a young woman who comes regularly and volunteers at the TRC, but she herself had not come before. Elder Lybbert and I had a fantastic lesson with her about the Plan of Salvation and the Word of Wisdom. The Spirit was really strong, and you could visibly see it working in this mother. Her eyes would start to tear up and then she'd start crying when we were testifying of the life and sacrifice of the Savior, as well as the opportunity she has, through Him, to live with Him and her family forever. It was a great lesson and really was a great confidence booster for these last couple of weeks at the MTC.
I've only got a few minutes left on my email, so I'll relay one last short story and then send just one or two more in a letter home. I was talking to one of the Counselors in our Branch Presidency, who was talking about just how hard it was to walk so far every day in the mission field. Walking up to six or more miles a day really took a toll on his body, and he was trying to warn/scare us for how hard it could be. When I told him that I had done the Alonzo Stag hike in Virginia and had done 50 miles in a day, a surprised look popped onto his face and he said, "Oh, okay, well I guess you won't have a problem with that one ha-ha!" So, I'd just like to give a quick thanks to Rene and the Young Men leaders for getting me to go on that. And now that I have had that experience, I have no need to complain about how dead my legs are because I can always refer back to that experience and the fact that it doesn't hurt as much and I'll be able to walk the next day.
As far as the calling card goes, I can buy a $5 one here, which should be fine, but if Mom could send me the phone numbers and addresses for the kids that would be great. I won't have another chance to email before I leave, so I'll need that in actual mail. Also, the address for the mission home is: 200 W La Vista Ave., McAllen TX (and then the zip code for that area, can be Googled).
10 seconds, gotta go!
Love you all!
Elder Wood
Roland's letter:
Dear Family,
This week has been pretty normalish, except for a few instances, I guess. Most of them were at the beginning of this last week, right after I sent off my last email.
To start off, last Tuesday night we had Jeffery R. Holland come speak to us! It was awesome! One, because Elder Holland is known for his rousing speeches, and two, because he is the first member of the Quorum of the Twelve we've had speak to us. His remarks were filled with great quotes and inspirational reminders. He stressed that there are three things that missionaries don't do well. First, they don't study well together with their companions. Second, they don't plan well enough, really scheduling every bit of space and having backup plans for appointments that fall through or if something goes amiss. Third, they don't teach with the power and authority that is given to them in their calling. This past week I've been trying to work on all of these and really do as Elder Holland directed, and waste none of the Lord's time. He stressed the importance of exact obedience and how in order to teach with power and authority we need to obey all of the mission rules, so that the Spirit of the Lord can be unrestrained when trying to work in us. Probably the best two quotes that he gave were first, when speaking about mission rules, "You can't do it your way! This isn't Burger King! We don't hold the pickles!" And second, when speaking about diligence, "You've got to work hard and talk with everyone. Every step, every day, every person, all the way!". Those are just two among many, many good quotes that were given to us by Elder Holland, most of which are recorded in my study journal back in my class.
The other really cool experience that we had this week was our TRC (Teaching Resource Center) investigator. She was the mother of a young woman who comes regularly and volunteers at the TRC, but she herself had not come before. Elder Lybbert and I had a fantastic lesson with her about the Plan of Salvation and the Word of Wisdom. The Spirit was really strong, and you could visibly see it working in this mother. Her eyes would start to tear up and then she'd start crying when we were testifying of the life and sacrifice of the Savior, as well as the opportunity she has, through Him, to live with Him and her family forever. It was a great lesson and really was a great confidence booster for these last couple of weeks at the MTC.
I've only got a few minutes left on my email, so I'll relay one last short story and then send just one or two more in a letter home. I was talking to one of the Counselors in our Branch Presidency, who was talking about just how hard it was to walk so far every day in the mission field. Walking up to six or more miles a day really took a toll on his body, and he was trying to warn/scare us for how hard it could be. When I told him that I had done the Alonzo Stag hike in Virginia and had done 50 miles in a day, a surprised look popped onto his face and he said, "Oh, okay, well I guess you won't have a problem with that one ha-ha!" So, I'd just like to give a quick thanks to Rene and the Young Men leaders for getting me to go on that. And now that I have had that experience, I have no need to complain about how dead my legs are because I can always refer back to that experience and the fact that it doesn't hurt as much and I'll be able to walk the next day.
As far as the calling card goes, I can buy a $5 one here, which should be fine, but if Mom could send me the phone numbers and addresses for the kids that would be great. I won't have another chance to email before I leave, so I'll need that in actual mail. Also, the address for the mission home is: 200 W La Vista Ave., McAllen TX (and then the zip code for that area, can be Googled).
10 seconds, gotta go!
Love you all!
Elder Wood
August 30, 2010
August 17, 2010 (P.S. to written letter)
Oh. Tell Dad that I'm the second cleanest person in my Zone here at the MTC. The only one ahead of me is an Elder out of the Naval Academy, so he doesn't count. :)
Love you!
Elder Wood
Love you!
Elder Wood
August 17, 2010 (Letter posted to 4510 N. 35th St.)
Dear Family,
I did the big event of my being called to ZL in the Email home today, so hopefully in this letter I'll be able to talk about what has happened so far this week.
In the past week's Devotional on Tuesday there was a really good message. The speaker was Elder Evans of the first quorum of the Seventy. His message was mostly about getting our investigators to read the Book of Mormon from the beginning, as well as encouraging us to not being afraid to invite someone to be baptized. However, for me, the coolest part of Elder Evan's talk was in his testimony at the end. He said, "It is not faith for me anymore my friends, now I know." As a missionary I am called to strengthen the faith of others in Jesus Christ and his Atonement, but we are also counseled in Preach My Gospel that "You cannot convert someone beyond your own conversion."
I am grateful for the fact that I can say, "I know". When I testify of the Savior and his Atonement, I can say "I know". When I testify of the Restoration, I can say, "I know". And I'm grateful for that because it will help me to be a better missionary and also to be better at serving the Lord and bring more people back to Him.
This last week when teaching our "investigators" with Hermano Maughan, he had us do splits where companionships split up and taught different investigators. It was pretty interesting. I taught with Elder Covington and his "investigator", Yoel who had a drug problem. It was quite a challenge to try and teach to a new investigator with a concern I haven't ever really researched or studied for, but it was a great opportunity to practice and went over fairly well.
The other thing that was pretty cool for this week is that we had a new teacher for about a week, Hermano Solberg, who also served his mission in Argentina. This past week he has acted for an investgator for us too, "Bernardo". Bernardo is a very prepared individual who readily accepts most of our ideas like prayer, a loving Heavenly Father and the Restoration, but lacks faith a little bit because he gets very upset over small principles. For example, he had a big hangup with Nephi killing Laban in order to get the brass plates, and refused to listen to anything else until we could explain it to him. We did a pretty good job of it and kept the conversation from becoming contentious. It seemed to resolve his worries. Ultimately, he accepted the commitment to be baptized, which is awesome! Also, this past week with Hermano Maughan's "investigator" Jorge, we taught him about the Restoration and invited him to be baptized, which he accepted. Overall a great week for our practice investigators. I have learned a lot about teaching and how to help my investigators.
That's pretty much all of my lesson news for this week and other than that the only cool thing that has happened that I haven't mentioned concerns soccer. When I got to the MTC, I was horrible at soccer. For the past week or so I've been playing during gym and I have gotten way better. So far I have two goals and my footwork and passing are starting to get better. Hopefully I'll be decent by the time I get to McAllen so I don't embarrass myself in front of the Hispanic members :).
Anyways, that's just about it for the week. I hope everyone is doing well. Thanks for keeping me informed on how things are going. I hope everybody has a great coming week!
Love,
Elder Wood
I did the big event of my being called to ZL in the Email home today, so hopefully in this letter I'll be able to talk about what has happened so far this week.
In the past week's Devotional on Tuesday there was a really good message. The speaker was Elder Evans of the first quorum of the Seventy. His message was mostly about getting our investigators to read the Book of Mormon from the beginning, as well as encouraging us to not being afraid to invite someone to be baptized. However, for me, the coolest part of Elder Evan's talk was in his testimony at the end. He said, "It is not faith for me anymore my friends, now I know." As a missionary I am called to strengthen the faith of others in Jesus Christ and his Atonement, but we are also counseled in Preach My Gospel that "You cannot convert someone beyond your own conversion."
I am grateful for the fact that I can say, "I know". When I testify of the Savior and his Atonement, I can say "I know". When I testify of the Restoration, I can say, "I know". And I'm grateful for that because it will help me to be a better missionary and also to be better at serving the Lord and bring more people back to Him.
This last week when teaching our "investigators" with Hermano Maughan, he had us do splits where companionships split up and taught different investigators. It was pretty interesting. I taught with Elder Covington and his "investigator", Yoel who had a drug problem. It was quite a challenge to try and teach to a new investigator with a concern I haven't ever really researched or studied for, but it was a great opportunity to practice and went over fairly well.
The other thing that was pretty cool for this week is that we had a new teacher for about a week, Hermano Solberg, who also served his mission in Argentina. This past week he has acted for an investgator for us too, "Bernardo". Bernardo is a very prepared individual who readily accepts most of our ideas like prayer, a loving Heavenly Father and the Restoration, but lacks faith a little bit because he gets very upset over small principles. For example, he had a big hangup with Nephi killing Laban in order to get the brass plates, and refused to listen to anything else until we could explain it to him. We did a pretty good job of it and kept the conversation from becoming contentious. It seemed to resolve his worries. Ultimately, he accepted the commitment to be baptized, which is awesome! Also, this past week with Hermano Maughan's "investigator" Jorge, we taught him about the Restoration and invited him to be baptized, which he accepted. Overall a great week for our practice investigators. I have learned a lot about teaching and how to help my investigators.
That's pretty much all of my lesson news for this week and other than that the only cool thing that has happened that I haven't mentioned concerns soccer. When I got to the MTC, I was horrible at soccer. For the past week or so I've been playing during gym and I have gotten way better. So far I have two goals and my footwork and passing are starting to get better. Hopefully I'll be decent by the time I get to McAllen so I don't embarrass myself in front of the Hispanic members :).
Anyways, that's just about it for the week. I hope everyone is doing well. Thanks for keeping me informed on how things are going. I hope everybody has a great coming week!
Love,
Elder Wood
August 17, 2010 (Email from the MTC)
AWW! I can't believe I had to miss one of Dad's talks. I always enjoy hearing him speak and learning from his experiences. He's a great speaker and I can always pick out something to work on myself by the time he's done.
I'm sorry for all your computer troubles. That sounds like an annoying hassle. I'm glad something good came out of Christian's computer problems and that he'll be able to get it mostly restored. The new semester is coming up so hopefully it won't be a distraction to him. I'll get on sending you the papers about Grandpa Hall. Just be sure that you put them somewhere where I can get to them when I get back. I've enjoyed reading them very much. Well, now I guess it comes to the events of the week.
It was my first week not as District Leader. It's amazing how much more time you have when you're not running around doing interviews or filling out reports on Thursday night. However. . . that didn't last too long, because on Saturday night My companion and I (Elder Lybbert) were called as Zone Leaders. I thought that I would get a Sunday without any meetings, but the Lord has seen fit to have me humble myself in that manner and I'm now in even more meetings on Sunday than I was before! The ZLs before me, Elders Paulsen and Whitaker, were both really great Elders, and I learned a lot from their examples. Hopefully, I will be a better Zone Leader because of it. It's quite a change from being a district leader, in my opinion, because it really drives you to be the best example possible and to be friendly and loving towards everyone. I've always tried my hardest to get to know people and ben an example, but when you're responsible for introducing, befriending, comforting and training the new missionaries it gets a little bit more intense. I don't think I've ever been more concerned with how clean my room is, because as ZL my room is supposed to be the example for all the new missionaries that we will have coming in on Wednesday and also for anyone who chances to see it. So I've made a habit of never having a piece of clothing ouch the floor, and my bed is made as soon as I get up--which I'm sure Dad would appreciate. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to serve as a ZL because when I look back, the two companionships of ZL's I've had here were great examples to me and helped me to set the tone of my study and service for the first few weeks. I hope that I can do that same thing for the Elders we have coming in. I can remember just how much I looked up to the ZLs when I arrived.
That has been the big event of the week, and other than that it has been studying Spanish and teaching to "investigators". I'll relate most of those experiences through my letter home this week since I can write that with my journal on hand. it will help me to remember exactly who I've taught and what happened.
In other news for this week, on Sunday we had a big reunion and picture taking with the Elders in the MTC who were from my old BYU ward. It was quite remarkable to see twenty or so of my old friends who were now committing themselves to serving the Lord. I got a big group picture as well as one with Elders Moody, Johnson and Moss who are some of my really good friends. I'll send some copies of those pictures home this coming week to be put up on the blog.
Other than that, I'm not sure too much has happened this week. Due to my wonderfully limited email time, I'll be relating more of my experiences of the week in my written letter home. Thanks for writing me and keep encouraging others to write. I'm always happy to receive and reply!
Love,
Elder Wood
I'm sorry for all your computer troubles. That sounds like an annoying hassle. I'm glad something good came out of Christian's computer problems and that he'll be able to get it mostly restored. The new semester is coming up so hopefully it won't be a distraction to him. I'll get on sending you the papers about Grandpa Hall. Just be sure that you put them somewhere where I can get to them when I get back. I've enjoyed reading them very much. Well, now I guess it comes to the events of the week.
It was my first week not as District Leader. It's amazing how much more time you have when you're not running around doing interviews or filling out reports on Thursday night. However. . . that didn't last too long, because on Saturday night My companion and I (Elder Lybbert) were called as Zone Leaders. I thought that I would get a Sunday without any meetings, but the Lord has seen fit to have me humble myself in that manner and I'm now in even more meetings on Sunday than I was before! The ZLs before me, Elders Paulsen and Whitaker, were both really great Elders, and I learned a lot from their examples. Hopefully, I will be a better Zone Leader because of it. It's quite a change from being a district leader, in my opinion, because it really drives you to be the best example possible and to be friendly and loving towards everyone. I've always tried my hardest to get to know people and ben an example, but when you're responsible for introducing, befriending, comforting and training the new missionaries it gets a little bit more intense. I don't think I've ever been more concerned with how clean my room is, because as ZL my room is supposed to be the example for all the new missionaries that we will have coming in on Wednesday and also for anyone who chances to see it. So I've made a habit of never having a piece of clothing ouch the floor, and my bed is made as soon as I get up--which I'm sure Dad would appreciate. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to serve as a ZL because when I look back, the two companionships of ZL's I've had here were great examples to me and helped me to set the tone of my study and service for the first few weeks. I hope that I can do that same thing for the Elders we have coming in. I can remember just how much I looked up to the ZLs when I arrived.
That has been the big event of the week, and other than that it has been studying Spanish and teaching to "investigators". I'll relate most of those experiences through my letter home this week since I can write that with my journal on hand. it will help me to remember exactly who I've taught and what happened.
In other news for this week, on Sunday we had a big reunion and picture taking with the Elders in the MTC who were from my old BYU ward. It was quite remarkable to see twenty or so of my old friends who were now committing themselves to serving the Lord. I got a big group picture as well as one with Elders Moody, Johnson and Moss who are some of my really good friends. I'll send some copies of those pictures home this coming week to be put up on the blog.
Other than that, I'm not sure too much has happened this week. Due to my wonderfully limited email time, I'll be relating more of my experiences of the week in my written letter home. Thanks for writing me and keep encouraging others to write. I'm always happy to receive and reply!
Love,
Elder Wood
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