Happy New Blog

Happy holidays! I hope everything was well with you all! I had my 1st white Christmas. I think it would have been alot cooler if it hadn't been snowy for like weeks, so it kinda just looked like another day that sucked to drive in. Except WAY cooler! I got to call home, which was WAY awesome. I am currently preparing to be transfered out to Payett with my new comp Elder Reese. So I finally have to say good-bye to Paul and the Burley Zone. Paul has officially been my longest area. 2 transfers. haha. (I get moved alot and love it.) But I've been in the Burley zone almost 6 months. Pretty awesome. So now I'm going to the complete other side of the mission. I'm way excited. A major plus is everyone says, "oh, its warmer out there and they have less snow" WOOOHOOO!!!! haha. I've gotten pretty good at driving in snow though. Well, I gotta run. Hope all is well for all of you. Love ya tons and talk to ya next year!

-Elder Woods

p.s. Pictures 1. Burley Zone 2. The Andersons, coolest people in Idaho and 3. My fearless zone leaders elder Felesi and Selden. haha

A Very Bradley Chrismas

Brad didn't send a post this week so I thought I would post a few pictures of Christmas' past. Enjoy the journey of the good, the bad and the UGLY hair!! (We did talk on Christmas and he is so, so great)

10 Degrees and Freezing

Elder Cowand

Elder Lehman

Hello everyone!

My time is very limited today, but I'll do my best. We've been very blessed to do service every day. We have been working at a thing called "cassia christmas council". We've been putting baskets together and handing them out to less fortunate families. Its absolutly amazing to feel a piece of the giving and charity that Christ so freely gave us all. On monday, we had a mission Christmas devotional. The 1st half was a talent show. There were a TON of awesome talents ranging from Piano solos, to poems, and even a song on guitar about the movie Hook! Way awesome. I did a drum solo. (Happy birthday mom!) I'm going to try to get a video out somehow. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cj2NAiyuvvk It was pretty cool. The second half was all about Christ. We sang christmas songs and told the story of his birth and life. It was amazing. I really am blessed to be here during the Christmas season. Hope all is well. Sorry this blog is short.

Love ya tons!

-Elder Woods

Snow!!! Hooray?

Hello everyone! How is everyone? I hope well. This week has been pretty awesome. Last Tuesday, we went to the temple (amazing) and we did a scavenger hunt I put together. I lost my original so I'll try to find it and put a copy on here. It was way fun. On Wednesday we went and set up for this thing called "festival of trees". It looked pretty awesome. On Thursday, we went to it! haha. Way cool. Tree's sold for $1000's and all the proceeds went to the local hospital. Pretty amazing charity. Friday we had zone conference. I had to watch Elder Cowand and Elder Lehman give there final testimony. It was hard, they are two of my favorite elders. But, I also got to watch Kung Fu Panda. Way funny. It felt weird to just sit and watch a movie. The whole time I was like, "man, I have somewhere to be" haha. But it was awesome. On Saturday, we had stake conference. Priesthood and adult session were great. Sunday was really really good. We had stake conference and than the Christmas devotional. Which I thought was just amazing. I could listen to Utchdorf for hours. He should narrate books. haha. Other than all that, we have had some great lessons and got some new investigators. Its been amazing. We're getting hooked up with a free tree too! WOO!! haha. Well, I lova ya'll tons!

-Elder Woods

Happy December

Hey yall! How's dem dare tankgiven stuff treatin ya? haha. I hope well. My thanksgiving was super fun. In the morning, all the elders in the zone met up and played volleyball, then we came back to our apartment and made waffles. Then we did something I never thought or imagined I would do on a mission. We (all 19-20 year old guys) played hide and seek. Holy mad it was fun though! haha. We played tons of variations like sardines, and zombie, and man it was crazy. haha. (I know, it sounds super weird. But trust me, tons of fun.) After that, my comp and I went out to the McCurdy's and ate some turkey. Way good. They were watching Wall-E while we put a HUGE puzzle together. It was pretty fun. Than my comp and I met up with the Rupert elders and went out to a family named the Shirts and ate there. TONS of fun. Played board games and air hockey. So my T-day was really a lot of fun. The next night, we met up with the Rupert elders again and went out to the big Rupert Christmas celebrations. This is where the pics are from. The 1st is blury you might say, true. But doesn't it remind you of the saturday night live opening? haha. The next one was the firework show and christmas tree. Santa came and turned all the lights on. Pretty swell. The last one is me and Elder Gebhart. You might notice I look like an eskimo and he is wearing a light jacket. ya, I'm from Arizona and he's from Minnisota. haha. He's an awesome kid though I love him. Other than the parties and stuff, the work is going great. I'm loving every minute of it ( I think I'd love it MORE if it wasn't so cold) but hey, I'm hoping I'll get used to it so when I get home I can wear shorts year round. Whoo! haha. Well, I love ya'll tons and hope all is well for ya!

-Elder Woods

Turkey Eating Pants Needed

So I have a new favorite friend from Paul, Idaho. Sister Deb Roundy has been sending me pictures of my cute son lately. Almost all of the pictures are of Brad eating (I hope he is fitting some missionary work in between meals along with learning how to put an elastic waistband on his pants). You just gotta love the members in Idaho!!!

Howdy mogwah!

Good day everyone! I hope all is well as we go into the holiday season. It's funny to think about last year as I was working at Target, and looked at the holiday season with great fear. (for VERY good reason). But now I'm super excited. Except for the cold thing. ugh....Anyways! This week has been good. We've taught a TON of great lessons and met some really cool people. Saturday was the baptism of Jessica Speth. We've taught her for a while and she's way way awesome. It was a great baptism. Thanksgiving sounds so awesome for us! Like 9 or 10 families have invited us over. So I think we'll have to roll home that night. haha. Sorry this entry is short. Hope Thanksgiving goes great for all of you. Love ya tons!

-Elder Woods

I Hope Lightening Doesn't Strike!!

Hey yall!

Things are pretty crazy here. Transfers were INSANE! We were told three different days we were gonna transfer. It was really confusing and a big mess. My new comp is Elder Lyle and I dodged the senior comp bullet cause he's the district leader. Fri was my 6 month mark, and a tie was indeed burned and is now in tie spirit world. It and Abinadi have a lot in common. P-day we found Kimima Wind caves. Pretty awesome stuff. After the entrance, it opens up and goes for miles. There was parts where we had to crawl on our stomachs, but it was pretty sweet. This sat we have a baptism. Its gonna be amazing. The work here is great. Sorry this entry is pretty short. I'm pretty short on time. Hope all is well and I love you all! -Elder Woods

I'm Thankful For...

I opened my email yesterday and received these cute pictures from Sister Deb Roundy. Brad looks like such a shrimp (is he shrinking?). He was on a split with Elder Wenzel and lucked into a goodbye brunch for him. Thank you Sister Roundy.

In other news, Steve and I received this yesterday and were set apart. We will be released the same time that Brad is. We have so much to be thankful for.

Bowled Over

Hello! This week has been so awesome! We've had some awesome lessons, met some super cool people, and did alot of service. But Saturday was really the highlight. It was basically the most fun day of my mission. We helped at the Special Olympics Idaho Bowling competition. We each covered two lanes and multiple bowlers and were there to encourage, help, and ensure a good time. Basically it was 3+ hours of cheering, clapping, jumping up and down (more so me. Not too many other elders did that one. haha), and hanging out with the coolest kids on the earth. The kid who is super happy [see picture] was one of my favorites and taught me a HUGE lesson. We would get that excited EVERY BOWL. The thing is, his score was about a 3. He couldn't have cared less what his score was, he just had an absolute blast being there and being able to bowl! He was so awesome! IT really was just a ton of fun. I made some great friends I can't wait to see again. Well, I hope all is well for all of you. I learned we have a new african american pres and that Prop 8 passed. I was so happy about Prop 8. Well, I love you all and miss ya tons!

-Elder Woods

Le Boag

Happy day one and all!

This week has been pretty dang sweet. We had interviews on thursday, in which president made it sound like I would be staying here in Paul and probably going senior companion. In the words of MXPX "responsibility, whats that? responsibility not quiet yet." haha. Oh well, I'll do whatever he wants me too. But we did a TON of service that day. We painted two houses cielings! It was way fun. Except for now my tag has tons of little white specks on it, but it kinda makes it look like its in space, so I dig it. haha. We set a date later that day too. YA! haha. Friday was WAY fun. It was basically like another p-day. We carved pumpkins (mine sucks so its not featured. but others did amazing...and not so amazing. haha)

We went to a few trunk-or-treat parties and it was a blast. Saturday was a big day. Infact, it was almost a national holiday. It was my 1 year mark of having short hair! Can you believe that one year ago my hair was almost to my sholders? haha. Crazy!

So This week has been great. 3 new invistigators, a date (almost 2) and alot of great work. Its awesome. Well, I gotta run. Hope all is well for all of you! Love ya tons!

-Elder Woods

One of our bishops dressed up

A sweet sunrise

A random death machine

What is this whole "winter" thing?

(I do NOT know where he got this suit, sun glasses and tie. Maybe he snuck it out of his dad's closet. It looks just like the one Steve wore the day we got married!!! Elder 70's Disco Halloween costume???)

So this whole past week has really been pretty awesome. We had a lot of great lessons (and even some blessings) the whole time. Wednesday was zone conference. It was amazing (as usual haha). We watched part of a documentary called "Journey of Faith". Its all about Lehi and Nephi and they're journey to the promised land. It was actually really really cool. I highly recommend it...if you like documentaries. But than we talked about how yes, it's really interesting and proves a lot, but will it help strengthen our testimony? no. We can look at all the facts in the world as to how the Book of Mormon is true, but we won't know for sure until we do as Moroni prompts us to. Which is to read and pray about it. Pretty awesome. On Thursday, we did an exchange with an AP (assistant to president). He came down from 4:30 Thursday to 4:30 Friday. We were in a three-some. It was really a lot of fun. There was a lot I can learn from Elder Hoxie. He's a great missionary. As soon as that exchange ended, we had another exchange where Elder Selden went to Rupert and Elder Wenzel came to Paul with me. We had a lot of fun. Elder Wenzel is super funny/awesome. And he's Canadian! eh! Our week was topped yesterday when we went to a lesson of somebody we've been teaching for a while, and the 1st thing she said to us was, "I want to be baptized. In three weeks. I've been reading the Book of Mormon and praying and I want to get baptized and change my life" WOW! So that was pretty amazing. Well I gotta run. Hope you all enjoy Halloween. I'm banking on people trick-or-potatoing here. haha.

Love ya all!

-Elder Woods

Bob Obla's Law Blog‏ (He name's 'um)

Hey!
So this week hasn't been the greatest week, but its still been great. I think this weird change in weather hit me because I was sick for a few days. No bueno. But! Work still did get done. We had some awesome awesome lessons with some cool people. And on Sunday we had a guy come up to us at church and say, "I want to be baptized" (it makes it more fun if you say it with a spanish accent and emphasize the i in baptize haha). But its been fun. I really wish I could put pics up, but this library is also no bueno. So I'll try to send some home or something. Sorry this weeks short. I love ya all! -Elder Woods


A quote from an e-mail to Jennifer "So I think I've changed my "no junk policy" haha. I don't get as much junk in this area as the last. In Oakley, every house was like, "here! have a pumpkin! and some pie! and candy! and one of our children!". But this areas different. haha.

Picture Update

We received Brad's SD card and a few new pictures. It is a "Holy Snows-us Batman" moment indeed as Elder Woods has said.

HOLY SNOWS-US BATMAN!!!

The City of Rocks
So transfers were on Wed, except we transfered Tuesday since I am in the same zone. I already somewhat knew Elder Selden (pretty cool guy), and saw our new area. We cover Paul/Heyborne. We met some of the people and they seem pretty cool. Alot of newly wed or nearly dead. haha. Friday was one of my favorite days of my mission because of one amazing event I'll never forget. We had taught Shawnee Hardman in Grouse Creek a few weeks back, and her baptism was on Friday. This was also my sister Emily's birthday. Happy Birthday!!! I went down to Oakley with Elder Felesi (from Hawaii. ya!) and we got to attend that. When we entered the door of the stake center, Bishop Tanner said to me, "Elder Woods. Are ya ready to get wet?". [my initial response] "what the crap?!" haha. Apparently, her Grandpa was going to baptize her, but broke his leg or something the day before and I was the next choice. I had the honor or baptizing Shawnee Hardman. A girl and event I will never forget. I hope I see her again some day down the road. So that was pretty crazy. But the next day and SUPER crazy! Almost 2 feet of snow!!! What?! IT was insane! I had received my warm clothes stuff a little earlier. Perfect timing! It snowed heavy the entire day! But the next day it had already began to melt. Today its almost gone. But it was pretty insane. Gave me a little preview of winter. So this weeks been crazy, but pretty awesome. I hope all is well for you all. I love ya tons.
-Elder Woods