Dear Family,
I was happy to hear that Mom had a good time in Provo and Arizona these past two weeks. I'm sure that Christian is enjoying all of the free cinnamon rolls and house cleaning that comes with a visit from Mom. Also, this last Tuesday I got the package that Mom sent me and have already managed to eat all of the food. The CTR ring does fit quite nicely.
In response to Dad's email, I called Gustavo again yesterday, and we should be meeting sometime on Tuesday in the afternoon. I'm supposed to call him tonight to find out the actual time that we can do it.
This past week was a good week though we didn't manage to make any huge strides with anyone in the way of missionary work. We have been pushing to try and get referrals from the members in this area in the hopes of finding some new people to teach. We had some success with this, but we haven't found anyone so far that is on their way and progressing towards baptism.
This week is the last week that we have before we find out about transfers on Saturday. I will most likely be staying in Edinburg, but my companion has been here for a while and will probably be leaving. Transfers are basically the biggest deal in the life of a missionary besides baptisms. Saturdays before transfers are normally a pretty high-energy day with everyone stressing out to find if they're going anywhere or not.
We had quite a large miracle this week with our recent convert Juana Maria. She has been struggling to pay the rent on her trailer lot for while now, and is currently living without electricity or water. During this last week she wasn't going to be able to pay the rent on her lot, and they were going to kick her out unless she paid. She was ready and willing to live out of her car, as she has done before, but for the nine people that live in that trailer it was a bit of a scary situation. So, we brought up her situation in the ward co-ordination meeting that we had, and the ward put itself to work finding a way to help her. The members pooled together here and gathered $300 to pay her rent for this month. She was very thankful and expressed her gratitude for the miracle that she received to the members. She is also determined that once she's back on her feet more, she'll be searching for an opportunity to pay back the miracle that she received and help others in the ward with their problems.
Overall it was a great week filled with missionary work, miracles, zone conference and a lot of fun. I'm sure that next week won't be too different. I hope Mom stays safe as she goes back home and also that everything goes well with Mel and the pregnancy. Thanks for everything! Oh, and be sure to wish Dad a happy birthday for me. All of the other missionaries already know about my amazing, quirky father and the many stories he has given me to tell.
Love,
Elder Wood
April 15, 2011
April 14, 2011
March 21, 2011, email from Edinburg
Dear Family,
Well, these past few days have made up a pretty great week. This week was mostly highlighted by Alex's baptism this last Saturday. I've put in some pictures of her baptism, as well as some pictures from the baptism of Juana Maria, Katy and Jiliana because I'm not sure I ever sent those home. Interestingly enough, I am not sure I ever mentioned that Elder Raynor, my old companion from Donna, is here in Edinburg, too. He is in the Central area, but about a year ago he also served in the North area of Edinburg. When I left from Donna I was leaving him behind and going to his old area here in Edinburg. He gave me the names of some of the people he taught while he was in Edinburg that he thought I should go visit. Alex was actually one of those people that he told me to go visit. He taught her about a year ago, but at that time she wasn't quite ready to accept the Gospel. Now she is fully converted to the Church and is currently trying to decide what temple she wants to go into when she gets married for time and eternity. She left the baptism on Saturday with a picture of the Houston temple which she now keeps in her room to remind her of her goal a year from now.
Looking back on what happened with Alex, the pivotal moment for her was when we got down on our knees with her and prayed to know the truth. As we spent time with her to create an atmosphere where she could feel the Spirit, taught her how to pray and helped her know how to recognize the Spirit, then her conversion came through the Power of the Holy Ghost. She is confident that she knows that this is what God wants for her. I'm truly convinced that on a mission, we convert no one. We can only do our part to help them feel the Spirit, and by the power of the Spirit can they truly become converted.
We haven't had anything else really happen this week in the way of fantastic news, but we continue working and doing our best to help other people make the same steps that Alex just took to follow the Savior. Transfers will becoming up in just a few weeks, but again I suspect that I will be staying in Edinburg a while longer. I don't really expect any changes there, besides maybe a new companion.
I haven't received Mom's package from Arizona yet, but I'm sure it will get here soon. I hope Mark is doing well in Peru and that James is enjoying his time home. I'm sure Mel will continue to do well as the Lord protects her and that soon we will have another wonderful nephew added to the family. Give my congratulations and best wishes to Khand on her marriage. I hope Mom doesn't stress out too much over another reception in the back yard. I hope everyone has a great week!
Love,
Elder Wood
Well, these past few days have made up a pretty great week. This week was mostly highlighted by Alex's baptism this last Saturday. I've put in some pictures of her baptism, as well as some pictures from the baptism of Juana Maria, Katy and Jiliana because I'm not sure I ever sent those home. Interestingly enough, I am not sure I ever mentioned that Elder Raynor, my old companion from Donna, is here in Edinburg, too. He is in the Central area, but about a year ago he also served in the North area of Edinburg. When I left from Donna I was leaving him behind and going to his old area here in Edinburg. He gave me the names of some of the people he taught while he was in Edinburg that he thought I should go visit. Alex was actually one of those people that he told me to go visit. He taught her about a year ago, but at that time she wasn't quite ready to accept the Gospel. Now she is fully converted to the Church and is currently trying to decide what temple she wants to go into when she gets married for time and eternity. She left the baptism on Saturday with a picture of the Houston temple which she now keeps in her room to remind her of her goal a year from now.
Looking back on what happened with Alex, the pivotal moment for her was when we got down on our knees with her and prayed to know the truth. As we spent time with her to create an atmosphere where she could feel the Spirit, taught her how to pray and helped her know how to recognize the Spirit, then her conversion came through the Power of the Holy Ghost. She is confident that she knows that this is what God wants for her. I'm truly convinced that on a mission, we convert no one. We can only do our part to help them feel the Spirit, and by the power of the Spirit can they truly become converted.
We haven't had anything else really happen this week in the way of fantastic news, but we continue working and doing our best to help other people make the same steps that Alex just took to follow the Savior. Transfers will becoming up in just a few weeks, but again I suspect that I will be staying in Edinburg a while longer. I don't really expect any changes there, besides maybe a new companion.
I haven't received Mom's package from Arizona yet, but I'm sure it will get here soon. I hope Mark is doing well in Peru and that James is enjoying his time home. I'm sure Mel will continue to do well as the Lord protects her and that soon we will have another wonderful nephew added to the family. Give my congratulations and best wishes to Khand on her marriage. I hope Mom doesn't stress out too much over another reception in the back yard. I hope everyone has a great week!
Love,
Elder Wood
March 18, 2011
March 14, 2011, email post from Edinburg, TX
Dar Family,
Another week has come and gone here in the mission field, and this one went faster than most it seems like. I'm sure that trend will only continue and before I know it I'll be running out of time here in the field. We haven't had too much in the way of news here in Edinburg, but we do have a few stories to tell that I'll try to get down.
The first story is with Alex. She has been preparing for her baptism this Saturday and is doing very well. This past Wednesday was Ash Wednesday and when she showed up to school she was surprised to see so many of her friends going around with crosses on their foreheads. One of her friends during the day asked her, "Why don't you have a cross on your forehead? You're Catholic aren't you?" To which she replied, "Not no more. I'm getting baptized as a Mormon." Needless to say I had quite a smile on my face when she told me the story. Also this past Sunday she had her baptismal interview which went over very well. The Elder who conducted the interview was very impressed because Alex brought her goal of re-activating her inactive husband and getting him to the temple so they can be sealed as a family. She came to church by herself even when the rest of her part member family didn't come because they chose to sleep in during the change to daylight savings time.
Other than that the only great story from this week that I have is that we have been teaching this eight year old girl, Esmer. Her mother is a member, so really she is a child of record baptism, but her Mom wanted us to teach here since she hasn't had the chance to go to church much and learn about God. So, as we've been talking with Esmer she has managed to say some pretty funny things. For example, when explaining what commandments were, we told her they were like God's rules for us. Later in the lesson she told us that she enjoyed following Gods' "commandrules". But, I think her quote that takes the cake is just from yesterday. We were talking with Esmer about prayer and how we can ask God questions and receive answers. When we asked Esmer, "Have you ever asked a question of God when you were praying?," she replied, "I've asked Him how to get skinny." I pretty much lost it and just started laughing, and her Mom who was sitting next to her just followed suit. Oh the world we live in where eight year old girls are asking God how to get skinny!
We found a small hidden neighborhood in our area which is mysteriously populated with a lot of inactive members, so we plan to be working in there a lot during this week. We also found some new investigators in that area. If we get everyone in this three street neighborhood active and baptized we'll have a little Zion on our hands here, soon. I should have pictures and stories from Alex's baptism and confirmation for this next week, which should make for a bit longer letter.
I'm glad that Mel is continuing to do well, that Dot is still growing and I hope everything goes well for mom's trip to AZ. Strangely enough, my companion lives in Mesa as well. Maybe Mom could go visit his parents for a kick. Anyway, I hope that everyone continues to do well and has a great week! Oh, be sure to send me some notes from James' talk if you can. Thanks!
Love,
Elder Roland Wood
Another week has come and gone here in the mission field, and this one went faster than most it seems like. I'm sure that trend will only continue and before I know it I'll be running out of time here in the field. We haven't had too much in the way of news here in Edinburg, but we do have a few stories to tell that I'll try to get down.
The first story is with Alex. She has been preparing for her baptism this Saturday and is doing very well. This past Wednesday was Ash Wednesday and when she showed up to school she was surprised to see so many of her friends going around with crosses on their foreheads. One of her friends during the day asked her, "Why don't you have a cross on your forehead? You're Catholic aren't you?" To which she replied, "Not no more. I'm getting baptized as a Mormon." Needless to say I had quite a smile on my face when she told me the story. Also this past Sunday she had her baptismal interview which went over very well. The Elder who conducted the interview was very impressed because Alex brought her goal of re-activating her inactive husband and getting him to the temple so they can be sealed as a family. She came to church by herself even when the rest of her part member family didn't come because they chose to sleep in during the change to daylight savings time.
Other than that the only great story from this week that I have is that we have been teaching this eight year old girl, Esmer. Her mother is a member, so really she is a child of record baptism, but her Mom wanted us to teach here since she hasn't had the chance to go to church much and learn about God. So, as we've been talking with Esmer she has managed to say some pretty funny things. For example, when explaining what commandments were, we told her they were like God's rules for us. Later in the lesson she told us that she enjoyed following Gods' "commandrules". But, I think her quote that takes the cake is just from yesterday. We were talking with Esmer about prayer and how we can ask God questions and receive answers. When we asked Esmer, "Have you ever asked a question of God when you were praying?," she replied, "I've asked Him how to get skinny." I pretty much lost it and just started laughing, and her Mom who was sitting next to her just followed suit. Oh the world we live in where eight year old girls are asking God how to get skinny!
We found a small hidden neighborhood in our area which is mysteriously populated with a lot of inactive members, so we plan to be working in there a lot during this week. We also found some new investigators in that area. If we get everyone in this three street neighborhood active and baptized we'll have a little Zion on our hands here, soon. I should have pictures and stories from Alex's baptism and confirmation for this next week, which should make for a bit longer letter.
I'm glad that Mel is continuing to do well, that Dot is still growing and I hope everything goes well for mom's trip to AZ. Strangely enough, my companion lives in Mesa as well. Maybe Mom could go visit his parents for a kick. Anyway, I hope that everyone continues to do well and has a great week! Oh, be sure to send me some notes from James' talk if you can. Thanks!
Love,
Elder Roland Wood
March 7, 2011, email post from Edinburg, TX
Dear family,
I'm glad to hear that James got home okay from Japan. I'm excited to read whatever notes people take during his talk next week. I wish I could hear him speak Japanese, but I figure it will be a while before I get to hear any of that. I'm sure Marsali is glad to have him home safe and sound. Also, I was happy to receive the news that Paul got into BYU Provo. He'll have a fun time there, I'm sure. He'll be in a great environment to start preparing for his mission.
This last week proved to be a refiner's fire, as far as the mission goes, having lost most of our investigators and only retaining one who continues to progress. She should be getting baptized on the 19th of March, and she seems ready and excited for that day. She missed church this last Sunday due to some extenuating circumstances, but she plans to be there next week, so she should be all ready by the 19th.
We spent most of this week out on some of the longer, more sparsely populated roads in our area, using our bikes a lot (maybe more than I would have liked). But the bikes do prove to be the most efficient way when the houses are a little bit spread out. We had a couple of days with no set appointments whatsoever, so were were able to spend a good chunk of time searching our area for those who are prepared. This past Saturday, we went out in the morning on our bikes and got caught in a pouring rain storm accompanied by lightning and hail. So, we finished the street we were contacting on, returned to our bikes and then started home. We got thoroughly soaked and upon arriving at our house parked the bikes in the garage and the storm ceased and blue skies appeared. It was my first time getting caught out in a storm on the bike, an experience I do not soon hope to repeat. But, all is well and I figure I will go through many more Texas storms.
I hope Mel continues to do well and that the baby does well since he will probably be coming along in these next few weeks. Be sure to tell James "hi" for me and give another congratulations to Paul. I hope everyone has a good week and that Mom has a good experience with her service expo and doesn't overstress too much =) .
Love,
Elder Wood
I'm glad to hear that James got home okay from Japan. I'm excited to read whatever notes people take during his talk next week. I wish I could hear him speak Japanese, but I figure it will be a while before I get to hear any of that. I'm sure Marsali is glad to have him home safe and sound. Also, I was happy to receive the news that Paul got into BYU Provo. He'll have a fun time there, I'm sure. He'll be in a great environment to start preparing for his mission.
This last week proved to be a refiner's fire, as far as the mission goes, having lost most of our investigators and only retaining one who continues to progress. She should be getting baptized on the 19th of March, and she seems ready and excited for that day. She missed church this last Sunday due to some extenuating circumstances, but she plans to be there next week, so she should be all ready by the 19th.
We spent most of this week out on some of the longer, more sparsely populated roads in our area, using our bikes a lot (maybe more than I would have liked). But the bikes do prove to be the most efficient way when the houses are a little bit spread out. We had a couple of days with no set appointments whatsoever, so were were able to spend a good chunk of time searching our area for those who are prepared. This past Saturday, we went out in the morning on our bikes and got caught in a pouring rain storm accompanied by lightning and hail. So, we finished the street we were contacting on, returned to our bikes and then started home. We got thoroughly soaked and upon arriving at our house parked the bikes in the garage and the storm ceased and blue skies appeared. It was my first time getting caught out in a storm on the bike, an experience I do not soon hope to repeat. But, all is well and I figure I will go through many more Texas storms.
I hope Mel continues to do well and that the baby does well since he will probably be coming along in these next few weeks. Be sure to tell James "hi" for me and give another congratulations to Paul. I hope everyone has a good week and that Mom has a good experience with her service expo and doesn't overstress too much =) .
Love,
Elder Wood
Feb, 28, 2011, email post from Edinburg
Dear Family,
I don't have too much time this week to write, but I'll try to get down what I can.
First, an apology to Dad over my tardiness contacting Gustavo Valadez. I will be calling my mission president today and discussing it with him. I'm sure that sometime soon I'll have the opportunity to meet with him and discuss whatever he wishes to talk about with me. He had better be certain I'm going to be sharing at least a part of the Gospel with him when we meet.
Again, another week has come and gone in Edinburg without too many changes. The new transfer cycle has started and my old companion, Elder Raynor is up here with me for a period of at least six more weeks. We haven't found anyone incredibly solid yet, but we have had a few experiences that I guess I could share. A few weeks back, we had been in a part of our area and we met a man named Louis. We talked with him for about an hour or so at his door because he was familiar with our church through a strong interest that he had in family history. He is a frequent user of the Family Search website, because of the wealth of records that it has and the wonderful quality it has of being free. So that is how he became acquainted with our church though he had never talked with the missionaries before. We talked with him for a good space of time about the mormon.org website which he had also heard of because of the ads on TV, many of which impressed him very much. So, we left him with a mormon.org card and an invitation to find out why we focus on genealogy so much by learning about temples and baptisms for the dead.
Yesterday, we were in his neighborhood again, so we figured we'd swing by and see how he was doing, and to follow up to see if he visited the website/read the pamphlet we left with him. He had read a bit of the pamphlet but hadn't visited too much of the website. So, instead of referring him back to the website, we just took it upon ourselves to explain why we did genealogy. After explaining to him about baptisms for the dead and the purpose of the spirit world, he looked at us and said probably my most favorite words I've ever head, "I've always had that question and you guys are the first ones that ever answered it." He is, however, very reluctant to jump into a church until he knows it very well. We left him with a Book of Mormon to read. He assured us that if we came back in a few weeks he will have read through it, marked it up and have little tabs coming out all of the sides. So we are planning to swing by him again towards the end of the transfer and check up on his studies and prayers. We spent a good hour and a half with him at his door answering the mountain of questions that he had and ended up by pointing him to studying the Book of Mormon and praying to receive an answer from God. it always excites me to find people that have questions who are willing to search and find answers.
Again, I'm excited to hear that Mel and the baby are doing well, and I hope that continues to be true. I hope Mom has success in preparing for her service fair, and I'm sure that all will go well. I hope everyone has a great week and that everything goes well! Oh, and give Paul a big "congratulations" for me on getting into BYU Provo. It's better than Hawaii!
Love,
Elder Wood
I don't have too much time this week to write, but I'll try to get down what I can.
First, an apology to Dad over my tardiness contacting Gustavo Valadez. I will be calling my mission president today and discussing it with him. I'm sure that sometime soon I'll have the opportunity to meet with him and discuss whatever he wishes to talk about with me. He had better be certain I'm going to be sharing at least a part of the Gospel with him when we meet.
Again, another week has come and gone in Edinburg without too many changes. The new transfer cycle has started and my old companion, Elder Raynor is up here with me for a period of at least six more weeks. We haven't found anyone incredibly solid yet, but we have had a few experiences that I guess I could share. A few weeks back, we had been in a part of our area and we met a man named Louis. We talked with him for about an hour or so at his door because he was familiar with our church through a strong interest that he had in family history. He is a frequent user of the Family Search website, because of the wealth of records that it has and the wonderful quality it has of being free. So that is how he became acquainted with our church though he had never talked with the missionaries before. We talked with him for a good space of time about the mormon.org website which he had also heard of because of the ads on TV, many of which impressed him very much. So, we left him with a mormon.org card and an invitation to find out why we focus on genealogy so much by learning about temples and baptisms for the dead.
Yesterday, we were in his neighborhood again, so we figured we'd swing by and see how he was doing, and to follow up to see if he visited the website/read the pamphlet we left with him. He had read a bit of the pamphlet but hadn't visited too much of the website. So, instead of referring him back to the website, we just took it upon ourselves to explain why we did genealogy. After explaining to him about baptisms for the dead and the purpose of the spirit world, he looked at us and said probably my most favorite words I've ever head, "I've always had that question and you guys are the first ones that ever answered it." He is, however, very reluctant to jump into a church until he knows it very well. We left him with a Book of Mormon to read. He assured us that if we came back in a few weeks he will have read through it, marked it up and have little tabs coming out all of the sides. So we are planning to swing by him again towards the end of the transfer and check up on his studies and prayers. We spent a good hour and a half with him at his door answering the mountain of questions that he had and ended up by pointing him to studying the Book of Mormon and praying to receive an answer from God. it always excites me to find people that have questions who are willing to search and find answers.
Again, I'm excited to hear that Mel and the baby are doing well, and I hope that continues to be true. I hope Mom has success in preparing for her service fair, and I'm sure that all will go well. I hope everyone has a great week and that everything goes well! Oh, and give Paul a big "congratulations" for me on getting into BYU Provo. It's better than Hawaii!
Love,
Elder Wood
February 28, 2011
Feb 21, 2011, email post from Edinburg, TX
Dear Family,
Well, to start off, I am greatly pleased by my newly given title and if possible would like it placed on all of the letters addressed to me. Elder Roland Wood, a mature, sober, manly warrior-servant of the Lord. Just kidding about that, but I might be writing that in the signatures to my journal entries now.
The news came in for transfers this past Saturday and I will be spending another six weeks here at least with Elder Arens. In fact, our entire zone, except for one Elder, is staying entirely the same. And, weirdly enough, the Elder that is leaving, is going to the place which I just came from. he's going to Donna and my previous companion, Elder Raynor, is coming up to be in Edinburg Central, the area beneath mine. Weird coincidences going on with the movement of Elders, but it's an inspired process, so I'm sure it's what needs to happen.
Not too much in the way of news happened this last week besides the transfers. We have been working hard all week to try and help our investigators continue to learn and progress in the gospel. So far we haven't had too much luck, except with one of our investigators, Alex. I believe that I wrote about her a little bit last week, as well as reporting on the experience that we had praying with her about Joseph Smith. The only news that has really changed with her is that she followed up on her commitment to read 3 Nephi 11 in the Book of Mormon and prayed about it. When discussing with her how she felt about the book, she told us she felt it was true, and that she understands that if the book is true, this is God's Church once again upon the earth. We have started to teach her the commandments and everything seems to be going well so far. she also came to Church this past Sunday and is on track to being baptized in the coming weeks.
One thing that I have been thinking about recently that maybe Mom could help me with would be getting my line of authority card/printout. We often talk to people about how the authority of the Priesthood is real and isn't some mystical power that someone just takes to themselves on their own. I think that it might be nice for me to be able to show an example to someone of exactly how this authority is passed down and how ultimately it comes from the hands of the Savior. The Spanish Elder's Quorum actually talked about getting these cards for the Priesthood members a few Sundays ago. Apparently it is something about needing a few specific dates and then going to the Bishop and asking him. It would be great If I could get a copy of my line of Priesthood authority.
I hope everyone is continuing to have a great week and that everything is going well. For all the new babies and babies on the way, I hope and pray that everyone can stay healthy and that the Lord continues to provide as He has been doing. Good luck to everyone this week in work and all other endeavors you have. Don't forget to pray!
Love,
Elder Wood
Well, to start off, I am greatly pleased by my newly given title and if possible would like it placed on all of the letters addressed to me. Elder Roland Wood, a mature, sober, manly warrior-servant of the Lord. Just kidding about that, but I might be writing that in the signatures to my journal entries now.
The news came in for transfers this past Saturday and I will be spending another six weeks here at least with Elder Arens. In fact, our entire zone, except for one Elder, is staying entirely the same. And, weirdly enough, the Elder that is leaving, is going to the place which I just came from. he's going to Donna and my previous companion, Elder Raynor, is coming up to be in Edinburg Central, the area beneath mine. Weird coincidences going on with the movement of Elders, but it's an inspired process, so I'm sure it's what needs to happen.
Not too much in the way of news happened this last week besides the transfers. We have been working hard all week to try and help our investigators continue to learn and progress in the gospel. So far we haven't had too much luck, except with one of our investigators, Alex. I believe that I wrote about her a little bit last week, as well as reporting on the experience that we had praying with her about Joseph Smith. The only news that has really changed with her is that she followed up on her commitment to read 3 Nephi 11 in the Book of Mormon and prayed about it. When discussing with her how she felt about the book, she told us she felt it was true, and that she understands that if the book is true, this is God's Church once again upon the earth. We have started to teach her the commandments and everything seems to be going well so far. she also came to Church this past Sunday and is on track to being baptized in the coming weeks.
One thing that I have been thinking about recently that maybe Mom could help me with would be getting my line of authority card/printout. We often talk to people about how the authority of the Priesthood is real and isn't some mystical power that someone just takes to themselves on their own. I think that it might be nice for me to be able to show an example to someone of exactly how this authority is passed down and how ultimately it comes from the hands of the Savior. The Spanish Elder's Quorum actually talked about getting these cards for the Priesthood members a few Sundays ago. Apparently it is something about needing a few specific dates and then going to the Bishop and asking him. It would be great If I could get a copy of my line of Priesthood authority.
I hope everyone is continuing to have a great week and that everything is going well. For all the new babies and babies on the way, I hope and pray that everyone can stay healthy and that the Lord continues to provide as He has been doing. Good luck to everyone this week in work and all other endeavors you have. Don't forget to pray!
Love,
Elder Wood
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