ZLs Take Over

May 28, 2013

 Dear Family:

Hey! Well Elder Feist and I have had a pretty good week. I need to say sorry about last week and my super lame letter. I was in a really bad mood because my ZL's were being difficult. They crashed their truck and so they made other elders give them a ride everywhere all of P-day and they pretty much ruined my whole P-day and it made me pretty mad. So I just didn't have much to say, sorry ha. They tried to do it to us again this week so I called them and told them it was somebody else’s turn to be burdened by their mistake, and then some other things. So I kinda had a Sharee moment that she told me about in her last letter when she talked to Mr. Price. Maybe our last name is Wood? It’s ok though, they were exercising unrighteous dominion and taking advantage of the dumb missionaries that aspire to be mission leaders so it’s not like they can do anything about it anyways. They don't have the ability to hold my Driver’s License back. So Mom I am wondering what it is called when you get vertigo really bad because you have those rocks loose in your ear? Sister Snow sounds like she is having the same problem she just doesn't know what to tell her doctor it is.

So Monday after I sat in my apartment doing nothing all day we went and had a picnic for dinner with some ward members so it was fun and we got to throw the football with the kids a little bit. After that we went and taught a recent convert lesson to Char and Isaac. Right after the opening prayer I got a bloody nose. I didn't have a lesson set up with Elder Feist cuz it was P-day I just had a couple things in mind I was going to do. So he ended up teaching his first lesson by his self, on my way to the bathroom I told him to flip to Exodus 20 and read it so he got it figured out. I felt bad though cuz we were at the Drake family's house and the kids were being crazy. After I helped Isaac and the Drake’s son with their pinewood derby cars. The Drake’s son took first place by the way, so that was pretty fun. I wanted Isaac to win, but his car was shaped to un-aero dynamic.

Tuesday Elder Feist told me I talk in my sleep a lot. He said he thinks I talk for a while cuz the alarm doesn't wake him up in the morning and it would take me a minute of talking to wake him up. I guess the first time I kinda freaked him out ha which I think was last week. Monday night I guess I sat up and said something about the atonement like I was making the person I was talking to sound dumb and then I rolled over frustrated like. Also on Tuesday I destroyed my comp in getting “wife points” and “Bettys”. I dunno if I told you guys about that or not. We play a lot of different games all day to keep it fun. Bettys are PT-Cruzers because someone’s investigator named Betty had one and something. Anyways there is a ridiculous amount of them in Hemet and San Jacinto. We probably see like 20 a day. They are all worth different amounts of points. Solid colors are all the same points, black Bettys you have to say Blama Lama Lam after so it sounds like the song. Flames, Woodys, convertibles, and other things are all worth like 3 times as much. So that keeps it fun. It is ok though because he destroyed me the next day when he called out a white stretch Betty. I dunno who would even want to buy a limo Betty, but there is one! Wife points are a lot of things, but mostly just sprinklers that didn't go back into the ground and the first one to push it down gets it. I think we had two bike run-ins this week because of them this week. But no crashes, neither of us went down haha.

Wednesday I finally got in contact with Susan again. We are still on good terms but she just thinks with this new business she is trying to start she doesn't have time to meet with us or go to church. Our “team up” for our lessons that night (Alfonso Castillo) offered me a job for when I get home ha. He is a salesman I guess and he likes RM's because they are good teachers and can describe the product well and stuff. I don’t really know what exactly he does though, pretty much sells like different insurances I guess and maybe 401k's? I dunno, it would be something I could do at school if it actually sounded like a legit job, but not enough that I would do it in the summers or before college. I think I still want to try and get my CDL when I get home. So I told him I would let him know when I got home, he is moving to Provo anyways, so it’s not like it would be hard to get in contact.

Thursday we had a lesson with our new investigator Charlotte Cross. She enjoyed the restoration but had a lot of questions. So that is awesome. She went to our last baptism with a friend from our ward so that is how we got in contact with her. She came to church yesterday. We committed her to be baptized and she said yes, so all I have to do is keep helping her along. We also had a lesson with Robert and Laura. Robert didn't really agree with me about prophets and the restoration. I ended up using a lot of things out of the bible and it helped him a lot. I surprised myself with the things I was using and decided Elder Allen helped me out a ton there. So Brett, in reply to your last letter, my interest in The Bible doesn't have to do with bashing, it is for situations like that. Bashing around here isn't actually that common. It’s not really a problem here. If I went to a nicer place like Murrita I guess it is a lot more common. A lot more educated people. There is actually a Bible college there so I guess it gets pretty bad. People come after the missionaries just for the fun of it there. But that is getting cut out of the mission here after this transfer so I don't have to worry about it there hopefully.

Friday we ate with the Greathouse’s so that was fun. They have one or two friends they want us to teach we found out about so that is cool. We had a lesson with Gary and taught him the restoration and he liked it.

Saturday we helped Robert and Laura move. That turned out to be super nasty. There were some dust bunnies in there I thought that were going to come alive. It didn't look like they had really cleaned in there for a while. The back yard was pretty bad too. They are the kind of people who won’t ever throw anything away. There was this couch in the back with mouse poop all over and he still had us put it in the moving van. He said it can be cleaned.

Sunday was good. It was the first time in my mission I could just sit back and enjoy the whole time. That and worry about my investigators. It was nice. No talks, no teaching class. I liked it.

I guess last night in my sleep I sat up yelled "Silence is golden Nathan! Go back to bed!" I think it is kinda fun now I have somebody that remembers what I say ha. Well got to go! I'm way over time ha. Love ya!
- Elder Wood
 

Awesome Cookies!

May 20, 2013

Dear Family:

Well we had a good week! Stayed busy, but no super exciting stories though. So make sure you keep a copy of those pics I sent you, those are from E. Feist's camera. By the way, that is his bike in the picture, it is pretty sweet. I like mine better to ride and it is pretty good looking, but I like how his is mostly white.

Monday was good, just your usual P-day.

Tuesday we picked up two new investigators Ty and Gary. They are like 20 or 21. I think I told you we met them last E-mail, but this was our first lesson with them. It went pretty well.

Wednesday we had In-and-Out with Jessie and Ruth and then a Book of Mormon lesson. They are probably my favorite people we are working with right now. They joke around a lot and keep it fun so I enjoy that, but they are also progressing in the gospel rapidly.

Thursday we met with another pair of investigators we just picked up. Robert and Laura. They are older. They seemed to accept the message pretty well, but Robert is a pretty strong Baptist so we'll see what he thinks about the restoration. We found some medium cookies on Thursday. We went to teach this inactive member Sister Sombrano and she had some lemon cookies that were pretty good.

Friday we had some awesome cookies. These were homemade lemon cookies and we were at a less actives home again.

 

Saturday I had a meeting set up with this guy named Johnny. He is a Mason. When we got there his wife said he was asleep but he wanted us to come back. I was pretty excited to meet with him. He knew about Joseph Smith being a mason and stuff and he seemed pretty interested in talking with us. He asked us if we had anything for us to leave him to read so I left him a Book of Mormon and ran back to the apartment real quick and got his some stuff on Joseph Smith and then the restoration. Bro Boyd actually just read a book about the similarities between Masons and Mormons and taught us some stuff. We are having him come to the lesson too.

Sunday was pretty good. I finally don't have to teach the Gospel Principles class anymore and Bro Boyd is doing it, I thought I was actually going to listen at church for three hours and then they made me and Elder Feist give talks. That is ok, it was only 10 minutes. We both talked on families. I used "The Family a Proclamation to the World" I didn't realize how awesome it was until now. I know it is hanging at the top of the stairs at the house but I had never really paid attention to it, much less read it ha. But I think that went pretty well. Sorry l have a short letter this week. There hasn't been too much that is that interesting to write about. I did just think of something that could be useful though. Instead of mailing me CD's maybe have Sharee try emailing me the file. I don't know if that will be too big so it might have to be the mp3, then I can just make the CD on this end so we could try that out. Well that is all for now, hope you have a good week!

Love ya!

Elder Wood

 

Elder Feist

May 13, 2013

Dear Family:

Hey will this week was good!  It was fun to get to talk to you guys! I really don't have to much to say about this week I didn't already tell you. That and my time is cut short cuz I got the slow computer and it took forever to get those pictures loaded to e-mail you.

Tuesday I was in Riverside to pick up my greeny Elder Feist. It was fun to go to the mission office again and get out of Hemet for a little while. Elder Feist is awesome. He is from Meridian Idaho (right by Boise I guess). He actually lived in Emmet but I don't think he went to high school there. He is really into baseball. He played at Dixie. We get along good, we both like to work hard but have fun at the same time.

Wednesday Elder Feist got to have his first lesson with Joseph. It was kinda a weird lesson. Wasn't really like a good sit down lesson. But then he got a good lesson with Ruth and Jessie.

Thursday E. Feist got to meet Char while I went through the baptism questions with her so that was good for him. We had some good lessons with Sister Sambrano and Roy Brown. 

Friday we had a bunch of meetings that wasted a bunch of time. Then I pretty much spent a lot of time getting stuff like the program made for the baptism. We had a few other lessons too. It was Elder Feist’s b-day and Sister Doke had us over for dinner. She made us chicken and mashed potatoes and stuff. Sister Doke and I were just talking it up at the first while we were dishing up and Elder Feist appeared to just be enjoying his meal. When Sister Doke and I got our chicken and started eating she noticed that hers was pretty much raw all the way through (she is a good cook but she was really tired and either the oven was on really low or something) so she took hers and mine after I had a few bites and put them back in the oven. E. Feist turns out he ate the whole thing before she noticed that it was raw. So that was pretty funny. I also got a package from Glenn on Friday. Thank you for that! I think my dad’s siblings are sort of competing, because I keep getting more awesome things each time haha.

Saturday was the baptism of Charlene and Isaac. That was really neat. We started teaching them when I got here and it was just cool to be here for the whole process. The spirit was super strong and was a great experience for everybody. Char was funny, right after she came up out of the water she yelled Yes! and threw her arms in the air. We got permission to confirm them at the baptism because of family being there and stuff so that was neat. We did have one problem with that though. Somebody thought it was a good idea to pull the plug in the font even though I told them not too cuz I can open it with this metal rod that was there. So right in the middle of Char's confirmation it was making a sucking noise that everyone could hear cuz how loud it was. It didn't last too long though. Elder Cook had some neat investigators there that are really excited to be Baptized now. He is an ex-gangster that isn't questioning a thing and just making some huge changes in his and his families’ life. It was good to meet them and talk to them for a little while about the gospel. I am going to try and make it to his families’ baptisms. E. Allen got to come back for the baptism so that was fun too.

Sunday church was good. I taught my last gospel principals class I hope. They got it set up finally to have somebody actually be a teacher and not just have us do it every week. Everybody seemed to like E. Feist. In Elders Quorum we have this guy that is 57 that is awesome. He has a white duck dynasty beard and is ripped. He has a black shirt kinda like one Brett has. Anyways he wears it every week and it is super tight on him. During class he was asking why this ward didn't have any talent shows and talked about this girl who could do this inverted crab walk. Then he did it! We went and taught a really awkward lesson to this guy who didn't really listen but then he said his mom might be interested! Then we biked to Sam’s house to Skype with you guys. That was awesome. I really enjoyed that. I wish we got to do it a little more often. In my letter to  President I thanked him for letting us use Skype because of all the other missionaries you told me about that couldn't do it. For dinner we went with E Albright and E Kelly to a members house we helped lay sod. That was really fun cuz that family was awesome. At the end E Feist and I ended up singing and playing the guitar for them, so that was fun and they really enjoyed it (it was kinda random we had the guitar in the car ha)

Well that is all for now! It was good talking to you and I am excited for the next Skype! Love you bye!

Elder Wood

Elder Feist and Elder Wood

Baptismal Font

Elder Allen, Brother Boyd and Elder Wood

 

 

 

 

 

Elder Allen Moving On

May 6, 2013

Dear Family:

Well I had a good week. I forgot my notes from the letter and from the whole week so I won’t have as much to say. Brett your story was crazy, it was some good reading for sure haha. Sharee I heard of a cd you could send me. I guess there is an orchestra version of Skrillex that some missionaries have somewhere. Check it out for me and see if it is any good and if a missionary should have it (I doubt it will be a problem) If its good you don't need to ask me about it cuz that will take forever, just send it if it is good.
Tuesday me and E. Kelly went on exchanges which was way fun. We ran into E. Sparks on the street so we went to lunch with him. For lunch we went to an awesome barber and got a super fresh cut. This is the shortest I ever remember having my hair. Then we went to DQ cuz we get to eat there for free. I would send you picture of my hair but I didn't get my camera with my notes either ha. Just check the blog here in a while, I will be on it soon but I will tell you about that later. Then Kelley and I went and had some sweet lessons. I don't have my notes so the only one I can remember was sister Fantasia, cuz it was really hot, and it was nice to sit and drink some water in her house.

Wednesday I honestly don't remember what I did.

Thursday we helped move in an older couple that is pretty cool.  Then some lunch and then went and did some service for sister Doak. So we pretty much didn't get any good lessons in until that night.

We did a lot more service this week than we wanted to.

Friday I dunno either

Saturday we got transfer calls...  luckily I can actually remember Saturday cuz it was only two day ago. Normally how they go the Pres. calls all the leadership in the morning during study time aka ap, zl, dl, trainers. I was for sure we weren't going to get a call so I just didn't worry about it. So in the morning for breakfast we went with Elders Albright and Kelly to our free breakfast at the Kozy Kitchen and went and laid some sod. That was kinda fun because I got to play in the dirt instead of mowing somebody’s lawn or something like that we always do that messes with my allergies. They are in the San Jacinto ward so we went with Elders Kelly and Albright to do that one. We did a little bit of calling around and it turns out that nobody in any of the zones had gotten a call from the president so everybody was on edge cuz it is such a crazy transfer. After that we went with them back to DQ again for some free lunch. While I was ordering I had the phone and got a call from the Pres. so I gave the phone to Elder Allen. He got called to go back to being a ZL. He was one for 6 months before he trained me. He is going to Lake Elsinore. We thought we would be together for another transfer cuz he only has one left, so he isn't very happy about it. Then he said the Pres wanted to talk to me. I thought he was just going to say what”s up? He told me I was training. So I am headed to the mission office tomorrow to pick up my new companion. So that should be interesting. Allen was telling me the whole time it was going to happen but I didn't believe him. I am excited for it, but I feel a little bit inadequate.

Sunday we pretty much went and saw all our favorite people and taught a few lessons. It was a fun day but I am going to miss Elder Allen.

Well not much else to tell you, I am sure I will have plenty to tell you next week. I have a lot on the fire. but I am excited to talk to you!

See your face in 6 days!

Love ya bye!

Elder Wood