Monday, June 30, 2014

Getting Ready for the New Mission President


June 30, 2014 

Dear Family: 

Monday must not have been too eventful, cuz I didn't write anything down to put in my email! Just a regular P-day. People were getting transferred in and out, so that made it so we had less time. We went with Bro. Cassio to give one of the Sister's investigators a blessing.  

Tuesday we didn't have DDM because we had ZDM on Friday. We taught Karen. We had her say the closing prayer. Something she said in the prayer made me laugh out loud a little bit. She said bless us that we may have a "good one". and that is it. I just thought about all the times I said that and getting teased for it ha. I dunno maybe it isn't as funny as I thought ha.  We also taught Martha. I really need to start keeping better notes I don't remember anything else. I got to call and talk to some of my converts from Hemet on the phone. Elder Feist called Patty Cole and then gave me her number. It was good to talk to her. They are doing super well, still going to church and Elder Feist and I will be going with them to the temple Aug 12 or so! We have been trying since she got baptized to go to San Diego but they might just go to Redlands. That is OK, it is good that they are going to make it there! I am just super happy I am going to make my goal of going to the temple with one of my investigators while still on my mission! I called the missionaries in the Fruitvale Ward (they have Sisters now which is weird...) and they got me Charlotte Cross' number. Shar and Issac moved so they are trying to get some ward members to chase that one down too. I called Charlotte and she is doing awesome too! Still going to church! The Sisters actually have home evenings with her and a bunch of other single sisters in the ward every week so they keep an eye on her for me!  

Wednesday morning we did service for the Parohinog's (the members we live with). They had some bushes in the front they didn't want any more so we ripped them out for them. It was kinda nice to get some dirt on my hands... Its been a while. We finally got a hold a Nick and Cassandra! Nick doesn't really want to meet with us, but Cassandra still does. We had a good lesson with her and Mickayla so hopefully we can start meeting with them more consistently. We met with Martha as well. I was there with a team up. We pretty much went to Martha's house every day. She is super cool. Mid day we found a less active member who refuses to come to church because somebody made a rude comment about her sons shoes 2 or 3 decades ago. So if at church if you like or dislike somebody's shoes make sure you don't say anything to them because they might let it get in the way of their salvation. Be careful though! If you don't say anything to them they will get offended as well (the other concern she had)! I know more often than not things like that are excuses people give because there is either a deeper concern or they just don't want to come to church, but I think stuff like that is so dumb... We walked all day Wednesday. The reason why is because our new fleet coordinator would have fit in with the Pharisees I think. Hopefully he lightens up a little bit, he is going to slow down the whole mission by taking everybody's cars for just barely going over miles. It was super hot that day, but it was good to be out in the sun. Elder Hugie got burned because he is a ginger haha. We only used 12 miles that day. Which was good because Thursday we had to drive all over the mission. 

So Thursday driving all over the mission! We had a meeting in Riverside and one in Moreno Valley. One in the morning and one at night. That morning we went to Duglas (a restaurant) to get out traditional breakfast burrito before MLC. We do that every month. We are lucky because the missionaries at MLC are the last ones that got to see President Smart before he goes home. Actually at MLC we found out that he isn't going straight home he is actually taking a detour to Hawaii! I can only imagine why he would do something like that.... haha. We kept it short because he has a suspicion that President Mullen will want to gather the zone leaders again this week. To keep it short we didn't do the normal accountability and trainings from the AP's and President. We spent most of the time making sure everything was going to be good for the transition. We went through a bunch of stuff we needed to make choices on the have them prepared list, but be willing to change if Pres. Mullin wants to. For example the time we have to be inside on the 4th of July. That night all the zone leaders were asked to go to a meeting in Mo Val to help launch the "Just Serve" program. It was pretty cool. We will see if President Mullin wants to use it in this mission. Elder Highem from the 70 was there. We got home late cuz of how long the meeting was. That pretty much consisted the whole day. We got to see somebody team roping. I never thought I would see that in southern Cali.  

Friday we had ZDM. As a zone we focused on Baptisms with the 3 action plans of My Purpose, New Investigators and On Date, and Dominate Chapter 8. Elder Hugie and I had a grand idea of changing them to a more western style. So it was changed to Down with the old man, up with the new (Kenny Chesney song about baptism) actions plans were Get-er done Chapter 1, Round-em-up and Tie-em with a date, and Don't put your boots on for nothing. All the missionaries were boring during the trainings though.  

Saturday we did service. In the morning it was for a ward family who's son got out of the hospital. After that we helped Daniel, Connie, Alex, and Cindy move. They still live in the ward boundaries though!! After that they took us out to eat. Then we showered and then ate again. I was pretty full.  

Sunday was good. Connie and Jessica came because we helped them move. Hopefully they come from now on. Martha was there too. We had a good lesson with Martha and Bro Cassio. It was a super good lesson.  

I am out of time!! We get to meet President Mullin on Saturday as a zone unless he calls the zone leaders in for MLC earlier than that. He is doing zone tours all week. Well that is all I have for this week! Love ya! 

Elder Wood

 

P.S. I think Elder Hugie wants to say something. I DO! lol. Our miles, we walked one of the days, so we have had lots of fun. I make sure that Elder Wood is exercising and eating healthy. We've actually had some really good lunches lately. Oh! on Saturday, Elder Wood, me and Kimo all went and ran around the block twice. Me and Kimo were both shocked that Wood wanted to come with us. We both laughed. haha. We had ZDM this week, and so me and Elder Wood had a pretty good time with it. Talk about some cool zone focuses. haha. Well have a good week everyone! bye #worldcup 

Monday, June 23, 2014

Helping Other Missionaries

June 23, 2014

Dear Family:

Hey I don't have a ton of time! It is transfer P-day. I and my comp are staying, but we are just busy today. I also had the craziest week I have ever had ha. 

Monday was normal until about 10 at night (we are supposed to be in by 9 or 9:30 if teaching). We were already home and got a call from some missionaries who were still helping someone and were forever away from their car, so we went and got their car for them. At the same time we got a call (they waited until the last possible minute in case they got out) other missionaries were in the hospital because one of them got on a motorcycle, fell off, and busted his knee. That started our crazy week. I don't think I have ever talked to President Smart on the phone so much in my mission haha. 

Tuesday was one of those "rainy days" except it didn't rain. You know one of those days where everything that could possibly go wrong did? Looking back we have some pretty funny stories, but they were not funny at the time.  
 
Elders Hugie, Figuroa and Wood
 
Email hijacked by Elder Hugie now! lol. Hey Wood family. This week we have been trying really hard to get Michael baptized. But were still having to push it back a week. But for the good news, transfers just happened, and Elder Wood and I are still together, for another 7 weeks. I'm not sure if he's happy to have to be with a great and awesome comp, but I'm ready for another one together! We're both trying to keep each other sane. I'm making sure that Elder Wood takes his cra cra pills, and he's keeping me from punching something. lol. So we're gonna pray for a specific family to find, and pray that we can find them this transfer. It's gonna happen. We really want to teach a family so we can go to the temple together with them. Even though it would be after the mission. Still cool. I'll let Elder Wood write about all the other stuff we did this week, but I'll share the cool stuff. Elder Wood has been doing really good at working out with me. Even though we're both tired, he still goes hard. lol. So now we both have 7 months to go, it's coming really fast though. So excited. haha. but still doing work. Elder Wood showed me the picture of the new boat. That's such a cool boat! Congrates!! It keeps us motivated to know that there's cool things that are waiting for us after the mission. lol. It's getting hotter and were drinking more water! lol. If we didn't then we really would be crazy! lol. Have a great week. bye. Elder Hugie. 
Elders Wood, Muir and Elliott
 
P.S. #dontletlittlepinochiodown! haha. #baledthesistersoutanddrovetherecarbacktothem #Sickboat #Wakeboardinginvitation?:)    

Wednesday we had multi-zones. This was President Smart's last one... :( I get to see him one more time at MLC. We got to teach Martha, Michael, and the Micini's. 
Multi Zones
Thursday I don't really remember 

Friday I had exchanges with Elder Perez. He is from Puerto Rico. We had a good day. We had to run to Menifee to get our oil changed. Taught Michael, Martha, and Thomas. He is Daniel and Connie's brother who is a member. Daniel and Connie and Cindy and Alex are all moving but they got another place that is still in our area luckily. We want to help them move. I am glad they are still in our area, because they are cool investigators. We just need to get them going. 

Saturday was really slow. We got to go to Brother Scott's baptism. He is the one I got to teach on exchanges. It was cool to meet a bunch of the people who have influenced him in the past. The missionary that baptized his wife was there and he got to see a whole big family full of RM's and active people. It was interesting to look at Bro Scott's life and how many people had an influence on him. I really didn't do anything. In reality neither did they. It was all the just God working with him through other people.  
Old Missionary Bike some homeless guy was riding
 
Sunday Martha surprised us at church. We didn't think she came, about half way through we got a text from her saying behind u. She had been there for a while somehow we didn't notice though.  
 
Sorry this letter is really short. It is getting harder to be motivated to write. I promise I will do better next week!! Have a good week. Take a ride in the boat for me!!  Love Robby

 


Monday, June 16, 2014

Move the Mozels


June 16, 2014 

Dear Family: 

Well this was just another week in good old Lake Elsinore!!  

Monday I don't really remember.  

Tuesday We had DLC and DDM. Other than that a pretty slow day. We taught Michael. We are getting appointments set up so he can get a legal marijuana card and a prescription from the doctor because he needs both for the church to accept it. We did service and helped the Mozel family get ready for their move. I don't know if I have talked about them, but they are super cool. They will feed us whenever we need. Elder Hugie has known them his whole mission so he is pretty close to them. We got a call from some missionaries who were with President Smart and got locked in the church parking lot, and needed us to come and let them out. We weren't doing anything wrong, but it did feel weird not being in a shirt and tie and just in regular clothes.  

Wednesday We had a crazy lesson with Pat and Michelle. They were having a really hard time focusing. We were teaching the restoration got everything started and then just a bunch of stuff started happening. The dogs started running amuck. Then the kids found the hose and tried spraying Michelle. The hose made mud and they were covered from head to toe. The rest of the story is part of Elder Hugie's Email so I don't have to type the whole thing. Next, we had to keep their attention by making them feel like they were in students. So I said, "Class, pay attention". lol. It was needed. They focused and we were back on subject. And then, the dogs started biting each other and one of them was eating something on the ground, and it made Michelle start to gag, and we tried to help her so she didn’t throw up. Nope. She ran for the bathroom. We kept teaching her mom. But then the kids were playing in the mud so much that the grandma had to go and make them turn off the water. At this point the lesson was pretty much washed! lol. The kids both had mud on them, and how the lesson was ended, was, her son didn’t want to strip down before going inside, in front of us. So during the prayer, when our eyes were all closed, she told him to strip down and hurry and run inside. haha. I’m just hearing all this during the prayer. After the prayer he was gone. 
Now how is anybody going to tell these two Elders apart?
 
Thursday we taught Karen. It was at 4 and she was drunk. Normally when that happens I just leave, but she made it hard. We ended up being there for the normal time of a lesson. She was having a hard time with her words haha. On the plus side she said she wanted to be baptized because of how much we have done for her! She told me she loves me more than Elder Hugie because I have been there longer and then she kept telling me that she had been reading my book. I kept telling her it was God’s book, but she was too out of it! Once we got out of there we had a lesson with Bro. Jacobson. He is a less active guy with 3 boys who haven't been baptized. When Elder Ringwood was here he said no, he was in the process of getting his names removed from the church. When Elder Hugie went with Elder Maxfield when I was gone the wife said she would ask the kids if they wanted to get taught. We went back over and Bro. Jacobson shut us down hard. He just said “No way, we don't have anything to do with the church anymore”. We wouldn't let it sit so we kept digging while we were talking to him at the doorstep. We found out it wasn't a problem of whether them knowing the church was true or not he doesn't believe in Jesus Christ. We dug further and found out he doesn't believe in God at all. That he and his wife are straight up atheists. It was about this time he gave in and let us in the door. While we got inside we made sure we defined everything and taught things very simply about feeling the spirit and reading the scriptures, things like that. We found out later he has a pretty good understanding. He kept leaning back on this stupid excuse of well I know you guys believe it now but once you get educated and going to school you might start seeing things different. So we dug out of him he believes in the big bang. I thought that was awesome since they keep changing that theory. Long story short we know that he felt the spirit while he was there, and he has somehow convinced himself that that can't be from God that it is just in his head. The part that made me the most frustrated was that he went on a mission. That’s right he is a hypocrite. He went out telling people this is true and now doesn't believe it anymore. I told him I would never waste two years of my life like that. A mission is way too hard to do if I only half know something is true. That I don't just think it is right like he kept telling me I was like that I knew that it is right. So we got him to commit to reading out of the Book of Mormon. He refuses to pray about it, probably cuz he is afraid of getting an answer, but we will work on that.  

Friday we moved the Mozels. That took a good chunk of the day. Taught Michael again. Still trying to get things set up. I am really not liking the whole weed card thing. I would much rather just have him quit. I think this is all stupid, but he says he "needs it".  

Saturday Elder Hugie took the ACT. I was just planning on sitting in the classroom or the hall or something. I had a bunch of stuff in my backpack to read. When we walked up to the door I couldn't get in the school cuz I didn't have a pass so I just sat in the car for like 4 hours by myself. That was weird. It didn't bother me though. Probably because I pretty much live in that thing. I had to pee twice so that was the only awkward part. I drove down the street to Taco Bell and just prayed I didn't run into any members cuz that would be a really hard one to explain. The second time I noticed the library connected to the school was open so I just went in there. Before I went I talked myself into going to Taco Bell I was considering the empty water bottles in the back seat haha. I read a lot. Took a nap (that was awesome I miss not being tired so bad!!) We had a good day after that.  

Sunday Michael and Martha came to church. We got Martha to stay to Relief Society. She refused to let me introduce her to somebody. So I just left and let her sit down. As I left a few women came and talked to her. I guess that was too much for her so she bailed before it even started haha. She told us in our lesson that night that she will try it again. Our lesson started really good but got super sidetracked. She is super funny. I could not stop laughing. Well that was it. Have a good week! I hope Dad had a good father’s day, I sent a card! Love ya tons! 

Elder Wood

 

Monday, June 9, 2014

Back on the Farm


June 9, 2014 

Dear Family:

Monday was a normal P-day. At night we went to Pat and Michelle's house. A guy there who's name is Wayne was there. He comes and helps them fix stuff around the house. I had met him before. We taught him and put him on date. He told us in the past he has asked missionaries he has randomly saw to pray that he would find a nice brunette. We taught him out of the pamphlet to help him understand better. We asked him as we about to leave to give the closing prayer and he didn't want to. One of the ways it is easy to get people to pray who are uncomfortable is using the last page in the pamphlet. When he opened to that page he busted up laughing cuz the picture was of a brunette and he thought it was a sign. If it was to him that is great.  I guess ha. He lives in the Ortega ward so we passed him over to them. He was super excited. Michelle was a big help in the lesson. After we left she taught the Word of Wisdom and he really wants to fix things in his life so that was cool to hear.  

Tuesday morning we had exchanges with the AP's. They came to our DLC and DDM to see how the district leaders are doing. I went into their area in Jurupa. A little back story. There is a place over in the Ortega ward called Wayne's World or Wayne's Wood or something like that. I have heard about it tons of times from lots of people the whole 4 months I have been here. It is a huge homeless community and the leader of them all's name is Wayne. Turns out when we told the Ortega missionaries about it that it is the Wayne we put on date, so we all thought that was pretty cool. When I was in Jurupa it was a really slow day. I was with Elder Figuroa (the one from El Paso) and Elder Moss. Elder Hugie was with Elder Maxfield. We have 3 AP's right now to help with the mission president change. At dinner we went to a ladie's house named Amanda Archuletta. Her husband isn't a member. They were super cool they had a big back yard with tether-ball and fun stuff like that we messed around on while he grilled. He made bacon wrapped hot dogs (which I just found out a few days before and was looking for someone to ask to cook it for me so I didn't even have to). I told Amanda where I was from and she about dropped her plate ha. She is from Duchesne. Her last name used to be Jensen. She asked if I knew Dina Farnsworth. She called her mom and I told her I was half Goodrich so she asked about Bruce and Betty and said she knew Mary Ann. Other than that the day was pretty uneventful. It was fun being in a trio. I could see how it could be a bad thing though. It is a lot easier to waste time and just mess around and joke with each other.  

Wednesday in the morning we exchanged back. We had a pretty slow day that day as well. We found a new investigator. Janelle Micini. She is the coupon one who gave us a ton of stuff last Sunday. She has been taught before, but I feel like with her kids being older and supporting her and able to answer questions and stuff she could get baptized. I got a call that night I was super excited about. I don't know if i told you but when I went on exchanges into Temescal Canyon Elder's area we taught a guy named Bro. Scott. He has been going to church forever and has been taught by tons of missionaries. The missionaries told me he was getting baptized on the 21st which is a huge miracle! I asked them what happened and they told me it was me! When I was there I talked to his wife about her conversion story and then asked him. I was just trying to get him to bear his testimony about something. I said something to the effect of just telling me about him knowing that Jesus Christ is his Savior. So he didn't even have to talk about the church. My plan was to listen careful and find something he said that let me knew he knew this was God's church and I just wasn't going to let it go. What happened instead disappointed me at the time. He was very standoffish about it and totally rejected me. I guess it got him thinking though. There was a huge announcement to the whole ward sent out mid day Wednesday to his ward and our ward (they used to be combined) and he wants everybody there. They have already bought plane tickets and everything for people to come down. Elders Montigue and Delvechio called right at the end of the day so that made me feel a lot better about how slow our day had been!  
Elder Hugie with his new pet

I don't know if I told you E. Hugie grew up on a ranch. so he likes stuff like this too. We went to a dairy today to buy milk called DeJongs. They have the best milk ever. You can freaze it and it will turn to icecream. So he wanted his picture with a pig cuz you can't get by the cows and you never see stuff like this in California. 

Thursday we were supposed to have Michael's baptismal interview but he was in the hospital all week. He was having pancreas problems. I don't know if I have talked about this much but he is 23 and has major health problems. He wasn't expected to live past 18. I think his biggest one is kidney failure so he is going to be on dialysis soon. If it wasn't for that we would have baptized him this weekend. We only have two problems to overcome first. The first one we will probably just leave for now and hope for the best cuz it is like pulling teeth to overcome these things with him. He just gave up and quit everything in the Word of Wisdom (excepts one that we knew about) and law of chastity but had the hardest time knowing if Joseph Smith was a prophet or not. What he says about Thomas Monson is that he believes he is the only man who can recognize who the next prophet will be who will tell us all when Jesus Christ will come. So we dig at it more and he says that the things he teaches are true, and he is here to prepare us for the 2nd coming (just like all the prophets). While he continues he describes a prophet's profile and responsibilities so I am going to call it close enough ha. The other thing we need to overcome is he smokes weed. If he does it completely legal (nobody actually does) meaning he has a card, goes to dispensaries and only uses as much as he is told he is still worthy to be baptized. I would rather just have him quit but he won't and bishop and President Smart both approved it if he does it all the way legit. I thought we were going to have to go around asking members for money to buy the 60 dollar card but bishop told us he will take care of it. I really didn't want to ask members cuz we would have to tell them what it was for and they either wouldn't donate (I don't blame them I wouldn't either) or they would but not want to. Either way that would be a really fast way to give them a bad perception of Michael. It has already been challenging to find him a fellow shipper other than Claudia ha. Bishop is a little hesitant to let us baptize him but he will let us. He told us I am trusting you guys. Remember I have to deal with this guy for 4 more years, you guys get transferred out. I have been telling a lot of people this in this ward and I told it to Bishop. Missionaries are always going to baptize. You can either let us teach your friends and we can have cool people in the ward, or you can leave the finding to us and we will continue to baptize the crazies we meet cuz they are the only ones who will listen! It makes them think a little ha. Elder Hugie and I have been praying for normal people. It is amazing how different it is when members invite people to do things. I know missionaries who have been tracting and gotten yelled at and doors slammed and baptized those same people that freaked out later when a member invited them.  

Friday we ran to Riverside to the mission office to get some stuff for some missionaries. Going to the mission office now isn't any fun. Sisters Peirce and Ta'a are gone. Now it is just boring people. It used to be something to look forward to. I don't really remember what happened the rest of the day. One of these days we got Michelle and Pat gi-normous triple combinations so they could read them. I got those at the mission office when I was on exchanges with the AP's. Elder Hugie and I were messing around when we were on separate couches you could read the one the other person was holding. The letters are huge.  

Saturday we had exchanges again. I went into Wildomar's area with Elder Petersen. I almost died. We had 5 meals we went to. A huge breakfast, but that one was my fault cuz I set it up with somebody I know in that ward. We did service, after that they fed us lunch. Another service and another lunch. Invited to recent converts party with more food. and a big dinner. At dinner the other Elders talked the member into giving me and Elder Petersen huge pieces of cake for initiation (the other Elders ate there all the time). It is ok though, cuz I have been losing weight on accident. The senior couple Elder and Sister Nickle were at dinner with us as well. They didn't torture them with huge pieces of cake though. Sister Nickle's maiden name is Sherry Payne. She is from El Paso. Her brother just got done being a bishop there. His name is Erik Payne so maybe Grandma knows him. The most interesting part though is that she knows our new mission President. John Mullin because he grew up in El Paso! So that will be cool to talk to him about. We had a lesson with Bart and Donna Lindsey. We didn't have enough time to do what I wanted to. I am going to find a way back and try again. Donna's parents are coming down for father's day so she said they might take me out to lunch. That could be my way. We will see if she calls me or not.  

Sunday we got work done. We were pretty busy. We had splits that night. I was with Bro. Cassio. I think the best part was the everything fell through. All of our appointments. Because everything fell through we found two new investigators!! One Bro. Cassio is the fellowshipper and the sisters are teaching somebody in our area, so we are stealing that one. The other one I felt like we needed to go visit Gus again even though he has been pretty non committal. He didn't answer, but when I walked to his door I saw his neighbor in the yard watering his trees. A thought came into my head to go talk to him. I ignored it and knocked on Gus' door anyways. Nobody home. Walking back same thought. Bro Cassio and I walked past and at the same time turned around to go and talk to him. We talked about it later and we both felt the same thing and both ignored it the first time. 2nd time we both followed it. It was really cool. Anyways his name was José. Super nice guy. I talked to him for a minute to build the relationship but passed it over to Bro. Cassio. Normally I wouldn't do that. He is the only member I OYM with because he isn't scared. Nobody else will say anything. He started talking to him in Spanish. I didn't catch much other than him telling us where our church is but in no time he had a return appointment set up. It was super cool. It is different when members do stuff. It changes things for the investigator. It makes normal people like us haha. That and part member families are the only way in the area.  

Our homeshare is in Utah right now. So we are taking care of the house and the dogs. I tried getting in the car with them when they left, but they kicked me out. The house is big and lonely for just two missionaries and buddy (the dog). But it is fun too. I think that is all for the week. That was a much better letter this time. The last few weeks have been really short. It is hard to focus when I am writing. Have a good week!

Love ya!

Elder Wood

 

Monday, June 2, 2014

Working with Elder Hugie

June 2, 2014

Dear Family:

Well this week was good! We had a ton of lessons! But I am super tired. This morning we were watching some conference talks before we came to the church and I only made it about half way through the first one and then passed out for another half hour I think. We have been sleeping downstairs on the floor the last week. The AC is out at the Parohinogs so it is a lot cooler to sleep downstairs. Kimo (their son) and Bro Parohinog sleep down there with us too. And Buddy the dog. Buddy attacks you for the first half hour before you go to sleep. At night he will come and sleep on top of you. I guess he does it to me too but I never feel it. The only thing that has woken me up was Kimo farting once. He does that a lot. According to his dad even a lot in his sleep too ha.  

P-day Elder Hugie and I went on an adventure. We drove up the Ortega Mountain cuz we had extra miles from being on bike when Elder Ringwood hit that rock. We met some drunk people up there and they made me do the love you sign for my pictures. 
View from Ortega Mountain of Lake Elsinore

Elder Hugie

Elder Wood
 
Tuesday We didn't have DDM because we had ZDM this Friday. We had 7 lessons. One was with Cassandra. We taught the word of wisdom and I realized this is going to be a lot harder of one then I thought it was going to be. She said she had no problems at all with the Word of Wisdom and Nick told us a few days before that she is an alcoholic and it is going to kill her soon. She just straight up lied to us, and told us she doesn't drink anymore. Her little girl Mckayla put her hand over her mom's eyes during the prayer cuz she caught her with them open that was really funny.  

Wednesday another lesson with Cassandra. We had Mckayla say the closing prayer and it was super cool. She is 8 btw. Her little brother Joshua who is 3 or 4 came and knelt down and put his hands together and was super cute about it. We went and saw Daniel Connie Alex Cindy and Jessica. That whole big group. They were being fun and crazy as always. It is hard to keep them focused. They were headed to Texas again so they couldn't come to church this week. They thought we were mad at them cuz we didn't come last week. We gave Martha a cigarette box with a bunch of Jesus pictures on it so she wouldn't smoke. Also one picture of Elder  Ringwood to be funny.  
Inspiration to not smoke for Martha
 
Thursday was MLC in riverside. I was hoping Elder Perry would walk in. He was in the area for some meetings and a stake conference but no such luck. I asked Elder Figiruoa where in El Paso he is from. He lives on the east side. He went to Montwood High School. We talked a ton about the transition to the new mission president. I am excited, but at the same time I really don't want President Smart to leave! The meeting was good though.  

Friday was ZDM. Some of the missionaries are really down on themselves so we are trying to help build them up now. The zone is doing good as far as getting their lessons and stuff. It just isn't producing as many baptisms as it should be so we trained on teaching skills, role playing, following up, and using the Book of Mormon for conversion. Martha gave up smoking and sex now. We are getting closer, but we have a long ways to go. Michael was mad we hadn't met with him yet that week. We had tried but he didn't answer the door!  

Saturday I went into Temescals area and Elder Hugie stayed. They just lost their car so we had to walk all day. While I was gone Michael got his answer for sure and knows Joseph Smith is a prophet. Elder Hugie had to buy his chew off of him though. We didn't know until recently he was chewing. He wouldn't give it up though cuz all the other stuff he gave up, but we finally got him. He should be getting baptized soon.  

Sunday we went to the Micini's. It is a part member family. Normally she runs away from us, but this time she sent us home with like 2 huge big brown bags of food and laundry and bathroom stuff. I got that voice recorder dad got me. Thanks so much. Both Elder Hugie and I do the entry at night and it is pretty good. I will have a lot better record that way. I am just way too tired at night to write stuff down. and my letters keep getting shorter and shorter. Well that is all for now love ya bye!!  Elder Wood