Dear Family,
This has been a tough week back here in Donna, but nonetheless we are continuing to work hard. Many of our investigators have fallen off this past week, and we've struggled to continue finding new ones. Some of our investigators that were progressing towards baptism have had issues or challenges come up with family relationships that are preventing them from coming into the Gospel. Or they have hit a commandment that they aren't willing to obey. It's sad to see people fall off of the path when they were started on their way, but I'm confident that some seeds have been sown, and maybe the Lord will send missionairies to them again when their circumstances are a little more ideal.
The week has been hard with investigators, but not all of this week was a disappointment. These past few weeks we've been putting a lot of effort into re-activating less actives and doing what we can to get them back to living in accordance with the covenants that they've made. Not all of the less active or inactive members we've worked with have been willing to come back, but we did find a few who are now making their way back into the church.
I will continue to pray for Mel and the baby. I'm sure that the matter is well within the Lord's hands, and that all things will turn out for their good. I'm confident that when real trust and faith are put in the Lord, He can work miracles, and I have no doubt of the presence of miracles within our family.
Congratulations to Avalee on her birthday and her baptism. She is setting a great example for the rest of the grandkids, who I'm sure will have quite the foot steps to tread in.
Thanks so much for sending me the set of the ward newsletters from home. That was pretty cool. It's awesome to see just how much fellowship and co-ordination there is and the growth that is going on back home. I also really like it because ward unity is something we've been trying to work on here in Texas. The activities reports and announcements give me some great ideas on what we can do to help the ward and recent converts mesh together.
Everything went over great this past holiday season. I really appreciated all the warm wishes and Christmas presents sent by everybody. Needless to say, most of the candy has been consumed, and I've probably gained 5 or 6 pounds, but running will soon get rid of that, I'm sure. I hope everyone figured out what they wanted to improve on and focus on during this New Year and were able to set some meaningful goals. I hope every has a great week and continues to have a fantastic start to the New Year!
Love,
Elder Wood
January 17, 2011
January 11, 2011
Monday, Dec. 27, 2010, email from Donna, TX
Dear Family,
Not too much happened this past week on account of the fact that a few of our work days were scrapped due to holidays. We still did what we could to try and talk about the gospel with anyone we could, but you can only find so many shut-ins that will let you have a lesson with them on Christmas Day.
This past week was also rough because we had to turn a few of our investigators over to the Lord, to give them some time to open their hearts or be in more opportune circumstances. Most of that happened on Tuesday or Wednesday, so I was a little bit discouraged about that, but then a good Christmas day made up for it and helped to lift my spirits.
I don't have too much time to write today, so I just want to say that I was very glad to be able to talk to you all on Saturday. I hope that everyone has a great week. Congratulations to Avalee with her upcoming baptism. I'm super proud of her and it's awesome to see the first grandchild (or for me niece/nephew) setting the example for the rest and making her first promise with our Heavenly Father. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and Happy New Year!
Love,
Elder Wood
Not too much happened this past week on account of the fact that a few of our work days were scrapped due to holidays. We still did what we could to try and talk about the gospel with anyone we could, but you can only find so many shut-ins that will let you have a lesson with them on Christmas Day.
This past week was also rough because we had to turn a few of our investigators over to the Lord, to give them some time to open their hearts or be in more opportune circumstances. Most of that happened on Tuesday or Wednesday, so I was a little bit discouraged about that, but then a good Christmas day made up for it and helped to lift my spirits.
I don't have too much time to write today, so I just want to say that I was very glad to be able to talk to you all on Saturday. I hope that everyone has a great week. Congratulations to Avalee with her upcoming baptism. I'm super proud of her and it's awesome to see the first grandchild (or for me niece/nephew) setting the example for the rest and making her first promise with our Heavenly Father. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and Happy New Year!
Love,
Elder Wood
Monday, Dec. 20, 2010, email from Donna, TX
Dear Family,
I hope everyone is having a great Christmas season as the kids get out of school and the holiday is right around the corner. With only a few days left before the big show, I hope everyone has all of their gifts together. More importantly, I hope everyone has had a bit of time to contemplate exactly what we're remembering this season.
There are few times better than this season to remember our Savior and exactly all that His life entails. Now we remember the birth of the only person who can open the gates of heaven for any one of us. As a missionary it has been hard to really convey to people the significance of the life of Christ. If we could only understand what he went through for each one of us, then perhaps we could understand just a part of the magnificence of his atoning sacrifice for the whole world.
This Christmas season is going well for us so far and we have had some success in teaching people about Christ and the Restoration of His church. We are trying to teach all of the people we meet what our purpose is as missionaries so they can understand exactly what we do and why we are doing it. As missionaries we are called to, "invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement, and teaching repentance, baptism and receiving the gift of the Holly Ghost." So far it has been a good experience for me to help people understand why I'm serving as a missionary. We have found a couple of good people from it.
I'm grateful for everyone who thought to write to me and support me on my mission. It can't be easily expressed how much gratitude I feel for those who have set an example for me and have given me a hope and vision for what new members of the Church can become. I hope everyone takes a renewed effort during this season to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with anyone that they can and to support the missionaries wherever you are.
I hope everyone is able to have an enjoyable Christmas season and spend time with those they love the most. Take some time to remember the Savior on Christmas Day and make some traditions that will help you and your children remember their Christmas experiences with the Savior. Merry Christmas to all!
Love,
Elder Wood
I hope everyone is having a great Christmas season as the kids get out of school and the holiday is right around the corner. With only a few days left before the big show, I hope everyone has all of their gifts together. More importantly, I hope everyone has had a bit of time to contemplate exactly what we're remembering this season.
There are few times better than this season to remember our Savior and exactly all that His life entails. Now we remember the birth of the only person who can open the gates of heaven for any one of us. As a missionary it has been hard to really convey to people the significance of the life of Christ. If we could only understand what he went through for each one of us, then perhaps we could understand just a part of the magnificence of his atoning sacrifice for the whole world.
This Christmas season is going well for us so far and we have had some success in teaching people about Christ and the Restoration of His church. We are trying to teach all of the people we meet what our purpose is as missionaries so they can understand exactly what we do and why we are doing it. As missionaries we are called to, "invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement, and teaching repentance, baptism and receiving the gift of the Holly Ghost." So far it has been a good experience for me to help people understand why I'm serving as a missionary. We have found a couple of good people from it.
I'm grateful for everyone who thought to write to me and support me on my mission. It can't be easily expressed how much gratitude I feel for those who have set an example for me and have given me a hope and vision for what new members of the Church can become. I hope everyone takes a renewed effort during this season to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with anyone that they can and to support the missionaries wherever you are.
I hope everyone is able to have an enjoyable Christmas season and spend time with those they love the most. Take some time to remember the Savior on Christmas Day and make some traditions that will help you and your children remember their Christmas experiences with the Savior. Merry Christmas to all!
Love,
Elder Wood
December 13, 2010
Mon. Dec. 13, 2010, 2:57 p.m., email from Donna, TX
Hello Everyone,
This past week has been a good week for us here in Donna. We're still working hard and trying to find and teach as best we can. Working to spread the message of the Gospel is often hard, but everything turns out okay because we're entitled to the Lord's help. The last seven days have been days of excitement and disappointment, but nevertheless, the work moves forward. some of the people that we've been teaching have lost motivation or had other reasons to not continue learning about the Gospel. (From now on that motivation/reason will be called 'ganas', which is probably my favorite word in Spanish so far.) some people have been hit by opposition from their families, or a passive demeanor has kept them from acting on what they know to be true. It's disappointing to see, but I'm confident that those people will soon have circumstances that bring them back to the missionaries and allow them to follow through on what they know and receive. Other people that we have been teaching have started making more steps to move themselves closer to Christ. They've found ganas for various reasons and have started coming to Church and progressing in the path of the Lord. I'm grateful for the support that the Lord gives me every day of this work. I could not do it without His uplifting hand. I can testify that the Lord is working here in South Texas. The number of people that have made their first covenant with the Lord from Corpus Christi to the border is staggering. It's not because the missionaries here are better than any others, but because the Lord has a plan and a purpose for the work in this area. I'm not sure exactly what that goal is, but the Lord is working hard in this part of the vineyard. I can only hope that as his servant I can provide some sort of help during this time of my labor.
I hope everyone is having a great Christmas season and that we can all start getting into the real Christmas spirit. The season here is getting more festive and I'm amazed at some of the decorations that are up here. For living in one of the poorer town of the mission, people really don't skimp on Christmas. I'll have to start taking some more pictures of the lights and everything to get some good Texas spirit out to everyone.
I hope everyone can get some ganas to really put themselves in a giving spirit. And, to fulfill my missionary duty, D&C teaches us that "there is no gift greater than the gift of salvation." (D&C 6:13). So, during this Christmas season, we can share the gospel to the best of our ability, and give them the greatest gift that God or man can give. So I hope everyone remembers that the best gift that you can give to anyone during this season is your testimony and the number of the missionaries. Not everyone will accept it, that's true, but those that do will be thanking you now and throughout the eternities.
Christmas season is up and rolling here in Texas and I hope that everyone else can get the Spirit of Christmas with them. Espero que todos tengan una buena semana, llena de la paz del Espiritu Santo.
Les quiero,
Elder Wood
This past week has been a good week for us here in Donna. We're still working hard and trying to find and teach as best we can. Working to spread the message of the Gospel is often hard, but everything turns out okay because we're entitled to the Lord's help. The last seven days have been days of excitement and disappointment, but nevertheless, the work moves forward. some of the people that we've been teaching have lost motivation or had other reasons to not continue learning about the Gospel. (From now on that motivation/reason will be called 'ganas', which is probably my favorite word in Spanish so far.) some people have been hit by opposition from their families, or a passive demeanor has kept them from acting on what they know to be true. It's disappointing to see, but I'm confident that those people will soon have circumstances that bring them back to the missionaries and allow them to follow through on what they know and receive. Other people that we have been teaching have started making more steps to move themselves closer to Christ. They've found ganas for various reasons and have started coming to Church and progressing in the path of the Lord. I'm grateful for the support that the Lord gives me every day of this work. I could not do it without His uplifting hand. I can testify that the Lord is working here in South Texas. The number of people that have made their first covenant with the Lord from Corpus Christi to the border is staggering. It's not because the missionaries here are better than any others, but because the Lord has a plan and a purpose for the work in this area. I'm not sure exactly what that goal is, but the Lord is working hard in this part of the vineyard. I can only hope that as his servant I can provide some sort of help during this time of my labor.
I hope everyone is having a great Christmas season and that we can all start getting into the real Christmas spirit. The season here is getting more festive and I'm amazed at some of the decorations that are up here. For living in one of the poorer town of the mission, people really don't skimp on Christmas. I'll have to start taking some more pictures of the lights and everything to get some good Texas spirit out to everyone.
I hope everyone can get some ganas to really put themselves in a giving spirit. And, to fulfill my missionary duty, D&C teaches us that "there is no gift greater than the gift of salvation." (D&C 6:13). So, during this Christmas season, we can share the gospel to the best of our ability, and give them the greatest gift that God or man can give. So I hope everyone remembers that the best gift that you can give to anyone during this season is your testimony and the number of the missionaries. Not everyone will accept it, that's true, but those that do will be thanking you now and throughout the eternities.
Christmas season is up and rolling here in Texas and I hope that everyone else can get the Spirit of Christmas with them. Espero que todos tengan una buena semana, llena de la paz del Espiritu Santo.
Les quiero,
Elder Wood
Monday, Dec. 6, email from Donna, TX
Dear Family,
This week I will only be writing a short email because of lack of time on this P-day. Some opportunities for service came up that we hadn't planned for, so we're a bit short on time.
These past seven days have been very good, but we have had a bit of trouble helping our investigators to progress. We have a few families we're working with right now, trying to show them the truth of the gospel. Getting them to attend church has been a struggle for us. We're working on showing them how they can receive answers, blessings and support from honoring the Sabbath day, and I'm sure that they will soon begin to obey this law.
My new companion is elder Raynor, from Northern California. He's been out in the mission about a year and a half and is a great missionary. We're already getting along well, and I'm excited for the work that will get done with this new companionship.
I did receive the package that Mom sent today, and Elder Raynor is already jealous of my family. I may have to have a talk with him about the tenth commandment. I'm sure he'll turn out all right. Thanks so much for the package. It definitely helped put a Christmas spirit in the season, instead of every day just being the same when going out to tract and teach.
Everything is going well in Texas, and the Christmas season is really starting to get going. Yesterday we went to McAllen and watched the Christmas broadcast from the First Presidency, which was awesome. The talks were very inspiring and the songs by the choir were amazing. If it's up yet on lds.org, I'd encourage everyone to go and watch it.
I hope everyone is having a great start to the Christmas season and will remember to focus on the things that really matter and not get caught up in the material parts of this time of year. I love you all and hope that everything continues to go well and that the Lord continues to extend his protective hand in the lives of our family.
Love,
Elder Wood
This week I will only be writing a short email because of lack of time on this P-day. Some opportunities for service came up that we hadn't planned for, so we're a bit short on time.
These past seven days have been very good, but we have had a bit of trouble helping our investigators to progress. We have a few families we're working with right now, trying to show them the truth of the gospel. Getting them to attend church has been a struggle for us. We're working on showing them how they can receive answers, blessings and support from honoring the Sabbath day, and I'm sure that they will soon begin to obey this law.
My new companion is elder Raynor, from Northern California. He's been out in the mission about a year and a half and is a great missionary. We're already getting along well, and I'm excited for the work that will get done with this new companionship.
I did receive the package that Mom sent today, and Elder Raynor is already jealous of my family. I may have to have a talk with him about the tenth commandment. I'm sure he'll turn out all right. Thanks so much for the package. It definitely helped put a Christmas spirit in the season, instead of every day just being the same when going out to tract and teach.
Everything is going well in Texas, and the Christmas season is really starting to get going. Yesterday we went to McAllen and watched the Christmas broadcast from the First Presidency, which was awesome. The talks were very inspiring and the songs by the choir were amazing. If it's up yet on lds.org, I'd encourage everyone to go and watch it.
I hope everyone is having a great start to the Christmas season and will remember to focus on the things that really matter and not get caught up in the material parts of this time of year. I love you all and hope that everything continues to go well and that the Lord continues to extend his protective hand in the lives of our family.
Love,
Elder Wood
Monday, Nov. 29th, email from Donna, TX
Hello Family!
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! My first Thanksgiving out in the field was cool, but definitely not the same as a Thanksgiving at home. I did get a chance to make a few of the things from Mom's package which turned out pretty good. Hector wanted me to make sure I gave Mom a big "muchas gracias" for the hymnal that she sent him. He enjoys it very much. We had two meals that day, the first of which was at a member's house in Weslaco. They had quite a few people over and as a result, had prepared quite a feast. They had three different turkeys, one traditional, one smoked, and one fried, all of which managed to get eaten. After the meal in Weslaco, we went over to Hector's house and had a Mexican Thanksgiving dinner, which is very different from an American one. The only thing that was the same was the turkey. The rest as all different; rice, spicy stuffing, beans and chilis being some of the foods I remember. I was sad I didn't have a copy of the Magna Carta to read to continue Dad's tradition. Tragically, it isn't a part of the missionary library. Maybe if I had one in Spanish I could get away with it.
The Christmas season has already started here with most people having all of their lights and reindeer up. We ended up doing a bit of service with our elderly neighbors, helping them put up their Christmas lights and all. In fact, now that I look at it, there's a giant Christmas tree, two wreaths and a garland with bows in the college computer lab I'm sitting in right now. The only place that gets more into Christmas than here might be the BYU campus.
Hector was confirmed during Church yesterday, and had a great experience with it. He asked me to confirm him, which I was happy to do. I was a little bit scared because of the blessing part of it in Spanish. The actual confirmation and the giving of the Holy Ghost isn't too hard for me because it's all rote. Thanks to my many years of memorizing quotes, I can get those down in just a few minutes. But, everything turned out all right and I don't think I made too many mistakes during it. I'm getting pretty comfortable with my Spanish here. The only thing that I'm really scared about now is getting too comfortable and plateauing in the language. I just need to keep focused on my studies and speak as much as possible in Spanish so I can keep learning.
I was able to send a few pictures home in this email which will hopefully make their way to the blog. One is a picture of my district, which will soon be changing, sadly. Two are pictures from Hector's baptism and the last one has a bit of a story. Most people here in the valley are Catholics, and there are very few that don't believe in God at all, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. Nonetheless, when I saw that billboard on the side of the highway I was pretty surprised, considering you'd probably never see one like that in Virginia.
I'm glad that our family is receiving many blessings. Mel is being watched over I'm sure as her pregnancy proceeds, and I know that the Lord will provide for both mother and child. I'm also very glad to hear that Christian is okay after his accident. A rolling car is a very dangerous place to be, and I'm amazed and very grateful that he and his friend managed to avoid any injuries and not involve anyone else in the accident. I'm pretty sure our family has some guardian angels flying around with all of the protection we've had.
Today is the last preparation day before transfers, which will happen tomorrow. I'm staying another six weeks at the least here in Donna, but my companion Elder Navarro, will be leaving for Laredo. My new companion, Elder Reiner will be coming into the area. It'll be my first time taking over an area, which makes me a little bit nervous. Everything will turn out fine, I'm sure. We're a little bit low on investigators right now, but with a bit of effort hopefully that will change.
I hope everyone is doing well at the beginning of this Christmas season and takes some time everyday to remember the Lord Jesus Christ. In this season we commemorate His birth, and we can all take the opportunity to grow a little closer to Him. A short scripture study in the morning, a sincere prayer or just keeping Him in your thoughts are all things we can do to make him a bigger part of our lives. So, during this Christmas season I hope everyone can take a little more time to get away from the lights and presents and do just a little something to remember our Savior and Redeemer. I hope everyone continues to do well and has a great (and safe) week.
Love,
Elder Wood
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! My first Thanksgiving out in the field was cool, but definitely not the same as a Thanksgiving at home. I did get a chance to make a few of the things from Mom's package which turned out pretty good. Hector wanted me to make sure I gave Mom a big "muchas gracias" for the hymnal that she sent him. He enjoys it very much. We had two meals that day, the first of which was at a member's house in Weslaco. They had quite a few people over and as a result, had prepared quite a feast. They had three different turkeys, one traditional, one smoked, and one fried, all of which managed to get eaten. After the meal in Weslaco, we went over to Hector's house and had a Mexican Thanksgiving dinner, which is very different from an American one. The only thing that was the same was the turkey. The rest as all different; rice, spicy stuffing, beans and chilis being some of the foods I remember. I was sad I didn't have a copy of the Magna Carta to read to continue Dad's tradition. Tragically, it isn't a part of the missionary library. Maybe if I had one in Spanish I could get away with it.
The Christmas season has already started here with most people having all of their lights and reindeer up. We ended up doing a bit of service with our elderly neighbors, helping them put up their Christmas lights and all. In fact, now that I look at it, there's a giant Christmas tree, two wreaths and a garland with bows in the college computer lab I'm sitting in right now. The only place that gets more into Christmas than here might be the BYU campus.
Hector was confirmed during Church yesterday, and had a great experience with it. He asked me to confirm him, which I was happy to do. I was a little bit scared because of the blessing part of it in Spanish. The actual confirmation and the giving of the Holy Ghost isn't too hard for me because it's all rote. Thanks to my many years of memorizing quotes, I can get those down in just a few minutes. But, everything turned out all right and I don't think I made too many mistakes during it. I'm getting pretty comfortable with my Spanish here. The only thing that I'm really scared about now is getting too comfortable and plateauing in the language. I just need to keep focused on my studies and speak as much as possible in Spanish so I can keep learning.
I was able to send a few pictures home in this email which will hopefully make their way to the blog. One is a picture of my district, which will soon be changing, sadly. Two are pictures from Hector's baptism and the last one has a bit of a story. Most people here in the valley are Catholics, and there are very few that don't believe in God at all, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. Nonetheless, when I saw that billboard on the side of the highway I was pretty surprised, considering you'd probably never see one like that in Virginia.
I'm glad that our family is receiving many blessings. Mel is being watched over I'm sure as her pregnancy proceeds, and I know that the Lord will provide for both mother and child. I'm also very glad to hear that Christian is okay after his accident. A rolling car is a very dangerous place to be, and I'm amazed and very grateful that he and his friend managed to avoid any injuries and not involve anyone else in the accident. I'm pretty sure our family has some guardian angels flying around with all of the protection we've had.
Today is the last preparation day before transfers, which will happen tomorrow. I'm staying another six weeks at the least here in Donna, but my companion Elder Navarro, will be leaving for Laredo. My new companion, Elder Reiner will be coming into the area. It'll be my first time taking over an area, which makes me a little bit nervous. Everything will turn out fine, I'm sure. We're a little bit low on investigators right now, but with a bit of effort hopefully that will change.
I hope everyone is doing well at the beginning of this Christmas season and takes some time everyday to remember the Lord Jesus Christ. In this season we commemorate His birth, and we can all take the opportunity to grow a little closer to Him. A short scripture study in the morning, a sincere prayer or just keeping Him in your thoughts are all things we can do to make him a bigger part of our lives. So, during this Christmas season I hope everyone can take a little more time to get away from the lights and presents and do just a little something to remember our Savior and Redeemer. I hope everyone continues to do well and has a great (and safe) week.
Love,
Elder Wood
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