A Chain-ge of Pace

Hey everyone!

So this week has really been INSANE.

So Tuesday we carved pumpkins before Elder West would have to leave to next day. I carved a Trogdor one. haha. They all turned out really cool and it was a lot of fun. Usually I get frustrated with carving since I suck, but I was pretty proud of this one.

On Wednesday, I got Chain BEFORE we dropped off Elder West. Which meant for 2 hours we were in a 5-some! Ya, absolutely crazy!!! haha. So I had to say bye to Elder West (which sucked cause Elder West has been one of my favorite comps) and return to the house with my 3 other comps. Luckily Chain is really cool. Unfortunately, Chain came to us at the tail end of having the swine flu. Which meant that we didn't get a TON of work done this week.

Friday we went out to Boise for Zone Leader Council, which was SOOO cool. We gotta hear from President which always owns. The drive to Boise is really long though so we were really tired when we had to go to Elder Naylors District Meeting in Jerome. It was good though. We played a good "get to know you game" which are always good.

Saturday we made the Zone Vision and calender. This transfer we will be celebrating "National Zombie Appreciation" week. I'll let you know when it comes up so you can participate in the fun. haha. That's one thing we're really excited about, is that this transfer is going to be way fun.

That's about it for the update. Other than that, Chain is recovering and we're doing good.

Hope you are all doing great.

I love ya all and don't catch the swine flu!!!

-Elder Woods

Will Work for Pizza

Hey everybody!

This week has been good. Last week of the transfer already. It has FLOWN by! Every new transfer has been the fastest transfer. haha. Its crazy.

Wednesday was really cool. We had a baptismal interview for Ashley and Eric (one I talked about last week)came to mutual. I promised him I'd go if he came. Mutual however, was kinda lame. All they were doing was watching the BSU game. LAME! (I called and asked for permision don't worry, and BSU won for anyone that is interested). But he said he still had a good time.

Thursday we had to take the car in to get the door fixed so we had to sit in a waiting room for like 2 hours with a million old people watching soap operas, court room shows, and celebrity tv. SOOOO awkward. I REALLY don't miss day time TV. haha. We later went to an investigators house and did some service. It was pretty fun. We had a really good lesson with Noah and Sharde (baptized a little while back) and met with Dallis and Eric (read last week). It was really cool. We talked about the Word of Wisdom and Priesthood and stuff. Pretty cool.

Friday we had our last Zone Meeting. It was way fun. The whole thing was about testimonies and letting people know that we're not just missionaries,we are representatives of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It was a pretty powerful meeting. After that, we had a taco fry and watched "The Phone Call" a.k.a. the greatest movie the church has ever made.haha. We did service after that, clearing someones garden, they in turn, took us out to a wicked awesome pizza place. WAY good.

Saturday was a big day, we had the baptism of Ashley and Blake Miller. Blake was 8, but Ashley was 11 so she was a convert. But it was so cool to see both of them get baptized. They are soooo fun to teach.

Sunday was really cool. Eric's family came to church (minus the dad and one of his brothers). We even convinced Eric to go to classes. So cool. After church, we had a lesson with them on the Temple grounds. I snagged a picture with Eric there. It was a really good lesson. So over all, it's been a pretty good week.

Next week should be insane. I get my new comp. Elder Chain, and it looks like we're gonna need to start finding some new people since we baptized all of them. haha. and for all you keeping tabs on Elder Bergquist's trunky'ness, he has 9 days left.haha.

I hope you all have a great week!

Love ya!

-Elder Woods

Be Brave Bradley, Don't Be Chicken

Hey everybody!

How are ya!

So last weeks blog was as long as a Stephen King book, so I'll try to keep it down today. Plus I don't have my planner on me so I can only hit the big things that happened this week in no particular order. haha.

Friday we had interviews. They were pretty awesome. Talked alot about conference in the training and mainly focused on Elder Hollands talk. Cause it was amazing. During my interview, President hinted that Elder West and I wouldn't be together again another transfer. Pretty sad. But from Elder West's interview, it still sounded like a maybe...until we got transfer calls yesterday. Elder West is being transfered out to Boise North zone, and I am getting Elder Chain, whom I served with for 3 days while we were waiting to get our greenies. It should be pretty fun. I'm glad I got a cool comp for this transfer since the holiday transfers are the hardest.

Bergquist is going home in 16 days (you better believe he's trunky! haha) and we still have no clue what's happening to Elder Hohman (our visa waiter). So it should be pretty wild.

We have a baptism this Saturday which we're pretty excited about, and 3 new ones on the horizon! It was the best/greatest lesson I've ever been at. The Spirit was so strong and man, it was just awesome. In a nut shell,
we're teaching these 2 kids Eric (14) and Dallis (11). Both REALLY cool kids. Their mom is a member who is re-activating herself and their dad is not a member who said he doesn't want anything to do with the church. Well whenever we go to their house and teach a lesson, he leaves the room and goes upstairs. He's super friendly though. Every once in a while, he will poke his head over the balcony and ask a question about something we taught. As soon as we answer it, he goes back over the balcony. Anyways, we taught a lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and when we taught about baptism, I challenged both kids to be baptized. They said yes! It was so cool. BUT, it only got cooler when the dad poked his head over and said, "is there some kind of process someone has to go through to be baptized?" We told him the process was just to take the missionary lessons. Mustering up ALL the courage I had, I said, "you know, I don't want to withhold this invitation from you." and asked him to be baptized. He TOO said yes!
It was SOOO amazing. I was sooooooo scared to ask him, but I learned a
valuble lesson about following the promptings of the Spirit. I think I learned as much that lesson as those we taught. It was SUCH a great
experience.

Well, I hope all is well for you all.

I love ya tons!

-Elder Woods

Baptism by Snow (and I get shocked by lightning...now)

Hello!

So this week was WAY WAY cool. Wednesday we went out to Murtaugh. My GPS took us on a shortcut which actually turned out to be a very scenic route. We caught a really cool look at the canyon as we drove next to it the whole way to Murtaugh. Well we ended up blinking and almost missing Murtaugh, but we found it.

We started trying to contact people but quikly learned that its a terrible idea to try and contact anyone in a farming community on a wednseday during harvest season. (Oakley anyone? haha) No one was home. We did get some referels though, so that was good. We had a really good lesson later that night with the investigator being baptized on the 17th. In addition to all this fun, wednesday was actually "National Act Like a Pirate Day". So celebrate, Elder West and I had a competition to see who could sneek in the most "piratey" quotes during dinner. We were both almost crying trying to keep a straight face the whole dinner. haha. It was pretty funny. Thursday, Noah and Sharde' (you'll find out who they are later) had there baptismal interview and did awesome. They are great kids and we excited for baptism. We also had district meeting, which was actually really fun. (I had kinda forgot what a fun district meeting was like. haha). We played this game called "District Master" patterned after some Dungeons and Dragonish game where you searched rooms and stuff. It was actually similar to Strong Bad's "Dungeon Master" or even "Peasent Quest" (for those unfamilier with the website, repent and to to it now. homestarrunner.com). As nerdy as it sounds (which it was) it was pretty fun. You could tell that the district leader put alot of thought, time, and energy into making it. Fridays district meeting was also surprisingly fun. The whole thing was about wearing the armor of God and how it helps up to receive revelation for our investigtors. Pretty cool. That night was Noah and Sharde' s baptism. SOOO many people showed up to support them. It filled the relief society room and people were standing outside. (we would have moved it in the chapel, but a wedding reception was going on in the gym so we couldn't, As much as I would have loved to hear someone give a talk on the Holy Ghost with the electric slide playing in the backround. haha). A fellowshipper named Brother Christianson bore his testimony and I think it was one of the most powerful testimonies I've EVER heard. It was amazing. There wasn't a dry eye on Elder Woods face. haha. Way good.

Saturday, we woke up to see a very odd thing.

TONS of snow!

On october 3rd! What the heck? It was insane! So of course we had a snowball fight.

haha. It was pretty fun.

Saturday was conference. WAY good. We watched it at the Gardners and they fed us like every 5 seconds. They are WAY cool. On sunday, We went to breakfast at the Allens (made AMAZING waffles. Peanut butter and chocolet syrup almost made me go into diebetic shock. WAY good) and since it was still snowing so much, there satelite reception was gone. So we listened to conference on the radio. I had never done this and always wondered how people who did, knew who was talking. The answer is, they don't (or at least I didn't) unless they recognize the voice. haha. IT was still great though. We watched the last session at the Gardners again hoping an investigator would watch it with us. She showed up late, but still got to hear the prophets voice. It was cool. I loved Conference. Holland is SOOO amazing. Just so straight up! If anyone hasn't heard his talk, I would challenge you to go watch it. Don't read it. Watch it. Its more powerful when you see in his face how much it means to him. He's way cool. Yesterday we did some service shampooing a couch. (c-o-r-are you going to the mall today?) haha. IT was pretty funny. Well, that about sums up this crazy awesome week. Hope all is well for you all!

Love ya tons!

-Elder Woods

"Keeping our sights set high!"