Brad's Boise Blog

Welcome Home Surprise

2010-04-15T15:37:00.006-07:00

So last Wednesday, April 7th, Steve and I flew up to Boise to pickup Brad. He wanted to surprise everyone, so sorry for the deception.

We kept him under wraps and off to Disneyland!!

It is great to have him home.

President & Sister Yardley

So, grandparents didn't know who was coming to visit. It was so fun to see their responses.

Off to Disneyland

Back together again at the Happiest Place on Earth

TTFN

ELDER WOODS!!!!!

2010-04-14T19:36:00.002-07:00

I love our matching badges!!

Elder Woods & Elder Woods

More pictures tomorrow!!!!!

No News is Good News?

2010-04-06T19:27:00.002-07:00

So once again Brad is trying to ignored the fact that the end is near and didn't send a blog post. Steve and I are getting excited to go and get him and spend some quality time with him. I have dusted off his drums and we are fixing all those things that we said we would do two years ago. Poor Steve will totally be worn out by next week. I'm hoping for more news next week. Until then.....

The Mom

The Best Letter EVER

2010-03-30T17:53:00.004-07:00

Hey everyone!

So this week has been great. We've had some really good progress with some awesome people out here and a few are close to baptism.

This morning it was snowing pretty hard. Which is WAY insane, but cool to see again since it didn't stick around.

So yesterday I received to best letter I've ever got on my mission. (no offense mom - non taken). I got a letter from an investigator we baptized in Weiser inviting me to go through the temple with him and his wife as they are sealed for time and eternity. That is the real goal of baptizing families, to see them together forever. I was so excited to get that letter and will be even happier to walk with them through the Boise temple. I think it's like April 23rd or something. I dunno, but I'm really excited.

Well the 3rd companion thing never happened so it looks like it will just be Cobb and I tearing it up.

Well I hope everyones week is good.

I love ya all!

-Elder Woods

Brad's No Blog Blog

2010-03-23T19:22:00.007-07:00

3/10

Look how much they have grown.

Brad won't recognize Lexi and Landon.

5/08

3/10

So, once again Brad sent a very short email and no blog post. This is what he instructed me to share:

"if you wanna write something on the blog, write we have been working SUPER hard and have seen success. And that either this week or next week, we'll be getting a 3rd companion. A good friend of mine I'm excited to see again. I'll have a good blog next week.

I love you tons Mom!

Love-Elder Woods"

Eight Thumbs Up

2010-03-16T14:51:00.004-07:00

Hey everyone!

So this week was really good. The major highlight was on Saturday, we had a baptism. IT was really cool. IT was two young boys (11 and 8) who were really excited to be baptized. The bishop baptized both of them, and Elder Cobb and I spoke. Then they surprised us by saying that they would be confirmed that day and they wanted us to
do it. haha. We each confirmed one. The best part of it, was yesterday we saw one of the boys playing with some neighborhood kids and he came up to us and told us how cool it is to have to Holy Ghost and how he feels so different. IT was awesome.

The area is doing awesome too. We have a ton of work and more baptisms on the way. Well that's about it for this week.

I love you all!

-Elder Woods

P.S. The pics

1) Baptism

2) the top of a mountain here in Marsing.
Pretty cool pic I thought.

Come join us at our home for a welcome home party for Elder B-rad, Saturday April 17th 5:30 to 8:30 pm (email for directions).

Elder Woods will be speaking in the Augusta Ranch 1st Ward on Sunday, April 18th @ 1:00 pm. The building is located on the corner of Madero & Crismon Rds., in Mesa.

A Baptism "Home Run" in Homedale

2010-03-09T19:23:00.009-07:00

I can't believe it's been 2 years since this letter came.

So the tiny emails continue and this week B-rad didn't even send a blog post. So, here is the majority of the email we received. As the weeks get shorter, so goes the information.

Thats cool about speaking on the 18th, I'll start
preparing...on the 17th. haha. The bbq on the 17th sounds cool to me.

Homedale is awesome. We have so much work, ITs way tight. We cover 4 wards and a branch. We haven't made it out to the branch yet cause I guess it's pretty far. Comp is way cool. He's been out like 13-14 months. We have one baptism this Sat. and a few more coming up. Man, that's crazy about Jen being 30. I'll have to send her a card. Well hey, I'll get you more info on the going away deal. (Steve and I were invited to his going away dinner and are personally escorting Elder Woods home).
Actually, You'll probably be getting some in the mail this week from the Mission Office now that I think about it. I had to fill out some info about the Bishop and Stake Pres. and stuff so that might have a schedule or something. I dunno.
But hey, I actually have to get running. We got some appointments real
soon. I love you mom!
Love -Elder Woods

In Home-deezy fo sheezy

2010-03-02T18:53:00.002-07:00

Hey everyone!

So I got transfered to my new area in Homedale with Elder Cobb and we are having a blast. It's actually kinda fun shotgunning an area. We have to search out the bishop and ward mission leaders and stuff. But we are working like crazy that's for sure. haha. We got into the area and found that there is a healthy amount of work here. So really that's what we've been doing. Just trying to find our way around. haha. But so you all know, its going awesome.

Love ya!

Elder Woods

Brad sent this in his very short email to me -"You'll probably see my emails get shorter and shorter, but it's cause I really don't wanna think to much of home, plus I'll be able to talk to you non-stop in a few weeks.

haha."

I'm going to hold him to the non-stop!!!!

Golfing in the Canyon

2010-02-23T13:24:00.012-07:00

The Wonderful Gardner Family they have really taken good care of our

Elder Woods

Hey everyone.

So I'm still in Twin. I get transfered tomorrow morning.

This week we've mainly just been seeing our investigators, members, and others, and saying our goodbyes. We also took some time to get some good pictures of Twin. In fact, last p-day we drove down in the canyon to take pics of a really nice golf course, and the owner came out and was like, "you boys wanna play?" We told him none of us had money, but he insited that he cover our fees and rent us clubs for free! SWEET! So we gotta play a round of golf for free in the canyon. It was a once in a lifetime oppurtunity thats for sure.

That's actually pretty much it. We've just been getting the area ready for the next
elders and vice versa.

Hope your week is awesome!

Love ya all!

-Elder Woods

Coming Home....dale.

2010-02-16T14:44:00.002-07:00

Hey everyone!

Sorry about the no blog post last week. The pics were of Elder Tapia's 18th month mark. He's a good friend of mine.

So yesterday we got our transfer calls. Which came WAY early. But 1st, last week we had interviews. They were way good and President made it sound like both Twin Falls Zone Leader areas would be shotgunned (all missionaries taken out and new ones put in), but also made it sound possible that the two Twin Falls Zone's would be combined and some missionaries would stay as ZL's to combine them. Anyways, transfer
calls came yesterday and announced that all the zl's would be leaving, but the zones would not be combined. Elder Gebhart is going out to Meridian North to be the zl there and I am out to Marsing Homedale to be a regular old missionary. I'm SOOOO excited. haha. Not only do I get to be a regular missionary, Homedale is an awesome area (in the Caldwell Zone a.k.a. the best zone), WITH one of my favorite missionaries Elder Cobb. I'm REALLY excited. I plan to work my heart out. Which is what we've been doing this week in Twin Falls. Now we're gonna have to work harder to get the area ready for two new missionaries.

Next week I'll either be here or Homedale so if I'm there I can give you a pretty good update.

Anyways, that's about it.

I love ya all!

-Elder Woods

Old Timer's Disease?

2010-02-10T17:03:00.003-07:00

So Brad sent an email, 2 pictures but NO blog post this week. I don't know who the Elder is in the picture but leave it to my fire loving son to always have his camera ready for a burning ceremony. Brad did say his knee is feeling better. He said that his companion Elder Gephart and former Zone Leader Spencer Wentzel want him to go to BYU with them. BYU??? Wow Brad has changed (his ASU alumni sisters will be so offended)!!!

I hope his old parents forgetfulness doesn't hit again next week.

64 days and counting down. YEA!!!!!

The Big News

2010-02-02T20:09:00.004-07:00

Hey everyone.

So last week I told you today I would have a big announcement, and I certainly do have one. It is crazy awesome and might make your head explode. ready?...Coheed and Cambria are releasing their new cd on April 13th! WOAH!!! haha. So obviously that's not the real big news, but still pretty amazing right? The big news has to do with the next day. The 14th. That will be the day Elder Woods, becomes Brad Woods again. Yep, I will be released on the 14th of April. Which means I'll actually probably get home on the 15th. Still pretty crazy. (So this is what Brad wrote to me: "if you are wondering why so early, Presidently Yardley is sending quite a few people early because of school and a couple of other reasons 1. He wants to get ready for the new mission president by moving up all new leadership. That way when the new president comes in, he won't have to worry about leadership or transfers for a while or sending people home. and 2. there is a pretty big influx of missionaries during the time. We'll have over 200 if everyone stays and there's not near enough room for that many. So it's not cause I stink or anything, don't worry.") That's probably all I'll say about that for a while though. I try not to think too much about going home, but I thought you might all like that update.

So this week was pretty awesome. Wednesday we had zone conference. It was SWEET. We also had a guest visitor for Zone breakout that Elder Gebhart and I found. His name was Matt Foley, and he was a motivational speaker. He taught us all about planning so we didn't waste our time having to track out the people living in vans down by the river. haha. It was WAY funny, but we also learned. It was a good time.

Yesterday we had a small zone activity trying to make our own rootbeer. Had I known it takes a WEEK to make I never would have signed up, but hopefully it will be worth it. Unfortunately last night at around 11, we heard a large explosion in our apartment and found one of the bottles had exploded. So after an hour of cleaning, we got back to sleep. I gotta say this better be the best rootbeer ever. haha. But it was fun and we had a cool district meeting while making it so I guess it was worth it.

Today we were able to go down to Burley and go to the Distribution Center. It brought back a flood of memories of serving down there for a while. I wish Oakley wasn't so far or I would have visited there. Other than that, the work is going awesome.

We picked up some new investigators and they are REALLY progressing. It's awesome.

Well, hope you are all doing awesome.

I love ya tons!

-Elder Woods

Only In Idaho

2010-01-26T18:27:00.005-07:00

Brad hurt his knee today and said he wasn't going to get around to writing a blog post today, but he did say next week he is going to have BIG news!!! So I thought I would post some new pictures from the SD card he sent home last week.

The mom

Boise and Back

2010-01-19T17:37:00.003-07:00

Hey!

How is everyone? So one of the big things that happened this week was our trip to Boise for Zone Leader Council. It's really weird, I've served in the Idaho Boise Mission for 20 months, and I don't know ANYTHING about Boise. haha. Luckily my comp had served there so he showed me around and told me where to go. The meeting was amazing. There were some pretty 'mission changing' anouncements, but I'll fill you guys in on those when they come to pass. haha. It was a good trip though.

Another good thing, I found a place called '5 Guys Burgers and Fries'. haha. We stumbled upon the grand opening of one in Twin. Wow. Place is amazing. (We got a call from the owner, a Brother Neider, and he said, "I am calling to give you a report on Elder Woods, and the report is good", he said all kinds of good things about Brad, so it was FANTASTIC) We were able to talk to someone and go see them later. It was sweet.

The work is still going good. We helped some people move and did some service walking Dogs. Like, for the pound. I guess they really needed help with that. I dunno, it was fun. haha. But it has been really good.

Well, I gotta run. Hope all is well for ya'll.

Love-Elder Woods

Brrrrrrr Birthday

2010-01-12T18:18:00.004-07:00

Hey

Thanks everyone for making my b-day extra sweet. So this week was pretty awesome. It started off with the Gardners throwing me a b-day party. It was sweet. Then some investigators bought me some chicken wings (which I haven't had my whole mission) and they were AMAZING! Mr. B's worthy. It was awesome.

Other than that, The main cool thing we did this week was we got to help out with bishop store-house deliveries. We met in a church parking lot and unloaded a truck full of crates. Each crate had a bunch of food and products that a family requested. So we organized them into piles and helped give them to people when they showed up. I don't know if I mentioned but it was SOOOO cold! Even my companion (from Minnesota) said it was way cold. I had to go home and put on a few more layers. In the end I looked like an Eskimo but hey, I was pretty good. You can see by the picture how a person from Arizona (me) dresses in cold compared to someone who's
used to it (Elder Crook). Over all a GREAT experience though. People were so thankful and kind. To see the joy on their face knowing that they could feed their family tonight was a very good learning experience. It was kinda like a reverse Christmas where you give gifts instead of get. It was really really a great experience.

Other than that, we met with all our investigators and are getting everyone back
on track. So we're pretty busy. Hope you guys are all doing good.

I love ya all!

-Elder Woods

Twenty Ten and Twenty One

2010-01-05T17:43:00.004-07:00

( In honor of B-rad's 21st birthday here are some oldies but goodies, enjoy)

Hey!

So this is a very special edition of the blog. It is my 21st birthday. So immediatly following this email, we are going to the bar and driving to Vegas. haha.

New Years was pretty sick though. We hung out with the Zone and had a blast. Some played basketball (those of you who know me know that I was NOT one of those players haha) and some had a snowball fight. haha That was me. It was really a good time and we got to know the members of the Zone really well. We couldn't really work the next day, so we hung out with some other missionaries and played Beyond Boulderdash (greatest game ever) and Jenga. (by the way, I totally forgot how fun Jenga is. If you too have forgot the joy attached with this game, I highly recomend you go out and reconnect with it. Loads of fun. haha)

The other big thing that happened was the Fiesta Bowl. Oh man. If anyone knows about soccer, they know how intense the fans get in South America and stuff. That's how people in Idaho are about their BSU. They go CRAZY! haha. We coulnd't watch the game, but dinner had the game playing IN the dining room and so did our appointments, so it was hard to avoid. But the state basically exploded when BSU pulled it off and won. Oh man, people are talking about it as I write this. haha, It's pretty awesome.

But this week had been good as work goes too. Alot of our investigators told us to come back later after family left and stuff, but we were able to see some people we've wanted to. Transfer calls come tonight. I hope I stay, but we'll see what the Lord has in mind.

Well, I gotta run. Hope your New Year's was good and the year follows suit.

Love ya all!

-Elder Woods

Niagra Falls - Idaho Style

2009-12-31T14:42:00.002-07:00

Happy Chrismahanakwanzaka!!!!

2009-12-22T16:09:00.002-07:00

Hey everyone!

Happy holidays and Merry Christmas! Hope every ones Christmas season is going great. I know mine is significantly better than 2 years ago because I'm not working at Target this time of year. Which was insane. haha. But despite how incredibly busy I was, I loved it. Now I'm twice as busy and love it way more. It's awesome. We're always out doing something or helping someone.

On Wednesday we had Zone Conference. It was our Christmas devotional and it was WAY sweet. There was a talent show, a great dinner (actually it was amazing!!), a very spiritual Christmas devotional, and Santa even came! Hooray! haha. One of my favorite parts was just hearing President Yardley speak. I've heard him like a thousand times, but it never gets old cause it's SO amazing. It was fun to see old friends and talk mission areas. Santa even gave out presents! I got a robe, to which I said, "wow, I hope I get the flu so I can wear it". haha. But
it was really a good time.

On Thursday we had interviews with our President. WAY weird to have interviews right after Zone Conference, but kinda cool too. He didn't drop any hints if I'm staying or leaving. My guess would be leaving, but who knows. I'd love to stay cause this area is amazing. But I'll go wherever.

Another really cool thing that happened this week, was we (as a Zone) were invited to do service at the Temple. Like, cleaning the inside yesterday. It was SUCH a cool experience.

Yesterday we also helped an investigator move and met with some new investigators who are WAY cool. We're pretty excited.

Well, that's probably it for now. Work is going awesome and we're having a blast.

Hope every one's Christmas is going to be sweet!

Love ya!

-Elder Woods

"...but I will be thy servant" - Ammon

2009-12-15T14:45:00.003-07:00

Hey everyone!

Hope your all doing great! For those of you celebrating (Jesse) it is curently the 4th day of Chanukah. So... La Cheim.

Anyways, this week has been awesome. We've been doing TONS of service, and have been pretty blessed for it. We helped a family move, shoveled show, moved wood, and even volunteered at Deseret Industries. It was pretty fun. I was even able to score a pretty sick V-neck shirt AND a REALLY sick hooded long sleeve shirt. Its like an old Ocean Pacific from the early 90's. haha.

But the real reward was just being able to help people. We're really excited for some upcoming projects with the Lions Club and armed forces. It's been awesome.

We were even blessed to meet two new investigators who are really interested in the church. Both lessons went really well. All our other investigators are doing awesome. Some have told us to come back in January, but most are still cool with us coming by.

Well, that's about it for this week. Next week should be WAY crazy. So stick around cause its gonna OWN!

Love,
-Elder Woods

Frozen Falls

2009-12-08T17:38:00.002-07:00

Hey everyone!

This week will prolly be a little short. We started a new transfer and learned that my Zone has been cut in half. The Elders out in Jerome are now there own Zone (again) and our Zone is now 1 District of 6 Elders. (8 including us). So pretty crazy small. But all the Elders in it are WAY good so we're excited.

We made the Zone vision and calender and are focusing this transfer on doing service for others. Just getting out and helping those around us. Because not a lot of people really want us during this time because of family over and stuff. So, just like Ammon to King Lamoni, we're hoping to do service and spread holiday cheer.

We went out to Twin Falls (like, the actual falls) and took some pics. It was pretty cool. actually, really cold. haha. But pretty. I would like to see it when the water is running.

The next day it started snowing and hasn't really stopped. So I am getting more practice at driving in snow. It's actually really fun. haha.

Well, that's about it. All in all everything is going awesome!

I want to end this entry to saying Happy Birthday to my mom. I love you so much mom and I'm so thankful for all you do. It's hard to believe your already 30.

Love ya!

-Elder Woods

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

2009-12-01T18:45:00.005-07:00

Hey everyone!

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. Ours was awesome. We went to a few different families and ate until we got sick. Literally! haha. We started our second dinner and Elder Chain got pretty sick. He had to go home and lie down. I seriously can't think of a better way to spend a holiday. Sleeping. Oh it's a missionary dream come true. haha. But later that night, we went out and visited a good friend named Spencer. a.k.a. Elder Wenzel! YA!!! It was so good to see him. He was down for a basketball game in Twin Falls the next day.

Which brings me to the next day! After we went to a Zone Meeting (more like Jerome meeting since the other District didn't show up. lame), and took some awesome pictures, we all went to go see Spencer play. (Don't worry, it was approved by President. In fact the assistants brought some people down!) It was awesome. They played Riverside Community College (too bad they didn't bring there AMAZING drumline with them). It was a good game with some really cool plays.

On Sunday, I got to speak in one of our wards on (surprise surprise)
missionary work! and testimonies. It was really well. Yesterday was transfers, which ment that we were up late packing. But I get Elder Gebhart (look up this time last year). He's one of my favorite
missionaries out here. We get along REALLY well and work hard
together. awesome! So I'm pretty excited about this transfer. That's about it for this week. With Thanksgiving and transfers, it slows stuff down. But we're still workin hard and doing our best.

Well, I love ya all!

-Elder Woods

The Little Town That Could

2009-11-24T19:16:00.005-07:00

Hey everyone!

So this week has been pretty awesome. Once again I don't have my planner so the events will all be out of order. But who cares. haha.

On Thursday we picked up a really good investigator. He is like, 17 and really interested in learning about the Book of Mormon. What it is, what's in it, why we have it, all that good stuff. We had a really good lesson about it and he wanted us to come back and talk more. Way cool.

Friday we had interviews. I wore my brown pinstripe suit (my mom's favorite - I refer to it as the hideous brown suit) and President Yardley said I looked like Robert Redford in the Sting. Best compliment I've ever been given. haha. (There will be no living with him now). He old me I'm staying and gave me some possibilities on who my next comp. would be. They were only maybe's, but if it were true, it would be SOOOO awesome! haha. So we'll wait till next week to find out. Well, I guess this week. Probably today!

Anyways. Saturday we went to Murtaugh. Now, I took two pictures of the Murtaugh sign on both sides. You'll notice BOTH sides say "Welcome To Murtaugh". Well that's because that's how big the town is. haha. It is very very small. But we did meet a really nice family who wanted us to teach their kids and baptize them. Score! haha. That doesn't happen too often.

Sunday we met with another new investigator. We taught him the 1st lesson and he really wants to learn more. He's interested in coming to church too. Sweet! Right after that, I had the opportunity to speak at a Priesthood Preview meeting. It was really cool. I didn't prepare anything at all, so it was pretty cool to be led by the Spirit in what to say. At least I hope it was the Spirit. haha. I know I said something about BSU and that's pretty close to carnal sin to talk bad about BSU. I saw a man get the death sentence for talking bad about them. haha.

That's all the big points of this week. It has been awesome and we are so thankful for the Lord's blessings. Especially Thanksgiving. Hooray turkey! haha.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Love -Elder Woods

I asked Brad what he was going to do for Thanksgiving - his answer: Thanksgiving we can't do much. Just eat a lot. Which is what we do
everyday. "Here in the Idaho Boise Mission, you don't eat when your
hungry, you eat when your fed" haha.

Special 18 Month Mark Edition

2009-11-17T16:26:00.005-07:00

Hey!

How is everyone?

So welcome to the special 18 month mark edition. A year and a half ago I began this amazing journey. It's flown by so fast, but luckily I still have a good amount of time to get some work done. You'd think that doing the same thing day in day out every single day for a year and a half would get boring, but everyday is amazing. It has become the only thing I know. Missionary work. It's awesome.

So......
to commemorate this occasion (as most Elders do) I burned a pair of pants. (well, just one pant for those who want to be correct with English. haha). I've burnt a tie and a shirt, and they went fine. But the burning pants created the WORST smell ever! It like soaked into the suit I was wearing and now can't wear it until I get it dry cleaned. (I hope it was the hideous brown suit) haha. It was horrible. But they lit up and burnt fast. We did it at the Gardners and they doused it in gas so it only took a few seconds for that thing to become ash. haha. It was pretty awesome.

Other than that, this week has been pretty swell. We picked up some new investigators and were able to do some service setting up Christmas stuff. (It really made me think of my mom when we were setting up a tree and Christmas music was playing.) But it was fun. It also made me realize how close Christmas really is. haha. Sweet.

So I threw on some random pics. One of Chain driving the crazy car. I don't know if it made it on the blog ever. At district meeting, Chain and I dressed up because we didn't last week. It was pretty fun. haha. and a few of the District Meeting last week. Which was hilarious.

Coming up this week is interviews. We're pretty excited. Thanksgiving weekend
should be pretty wild, but I'll talk about that when we get to it. haha.

Well, I hope all is well for you.

I love you all!

-Elder Woods

Another Elder Woods in Boise!!! Steve and I flew up to Boise on Sunday to hear our former neighbor Devin Larson speak in church. He is heading to Mexico and will be a fantastic missionary. Brad is 130 miles away in Twin Falls, so no, we did not go and see him but we did enjoy seeing some of the area Brad has yet to serve in. It is COLD there.

Remember, remember the 5th of November, the gunpowder treason and plot.

2009-11-10T18:17:00.005-07:00

A Big Thanks to Richard Simmon's Mom (Diane) For Sending Me This Awesome Picture

Elder Brace stylin' a perfect Brad

Hey everyone!

So this week has been pretty awesome. Zone Conference was on Wednesday and I ended up watching Bolt. It was better than I thought it was going to be. But due to my lack of movie watching over the past year and a half I think I could have enjoyed watching a Micheal Moore film. Ok, that's a lie, but you get the point. haha. At Zone Conference, we talked about car safety since 3 cars have been totaled. One was in Burley and sat in the parking lot. They could still drive it (somehow), but it was gone. The passenger side was smashed in and was missing the fender. It was destroyed.

I mention this car because it needed a place to stay until the insurance people came to look at it. It also needed someone to drive it to said location. That, was us. Elder Chain drove the beat up jalopy :) and I drove our car.(yeah,it was weird. For 3 minutes I was alone.). Anyways, I was driving behind Chain, when all of a sudden, the hood on Chains car decides to fly up like on Tommy Boy. Instead of slamming on the brakes and skidding like most panicked people would, Chain instantly puts his head out the window to continue driving like on Ace Ventura. haha, It was soooo funny. I managed to snag a pic, but don't have my camera on me so I'll try to put it on later. haha.

Anyways, since our missionaries didn't really get to dress up on Halloween, we thought we'd give them the chance on Guy Fawkes day (Nov 5) during District Meeting. Well the Twin Falls District didn't dress up, but the next day, the Jerome District totally did. Elder Naylor dressed up as Richard Simmons, Elder Smith dressed up like Flava-flave, and the best costume, Elder Brace dressed up like...ME!!! haha. It was pretty funny. The best part was the Coheed and Cambria Belt buckle he made. haha. It was way funny.

After District Meeting, I went on exchanges with Elder Naylor. It reminded me of being back in Caldwell. Except with a lot more farmland. haha. We had a great time and saw some miracles.

Other than that, this past week has flown by. Work is going good. We're hitting it hard cause its a little slow, but that's ok.

Hope you're all doing great.

Stay tuned for next weeks very special

18 month mark celebration blog!haha

Love ya all!

-Elder Woods

Hey Hey Halloween

2009-11-03T19:44:00.003-07:00

Happy Halloween everyone!

Ours was good. We couldn't do anything because I guess some people in Twin Falls dress up like missionaries and do bad things. So we were on lockdown. This didn't stop us from dressing up though! Both our costumes were random and un-explainable. haha. I was like...an old High Priest guy, and Elder Chain was a guy
decked out in plaid. It was pretty sick. We wore some pirate costumes at someones house who fed us dinner. Pretty fun, but I liked our originals more. Earlier in the morning, we went to the baptism of Colby Gardner. It was the 1st time I went to Stake Baptisms. Pretty cool experience. The coolest part of Halloween, was that we went to the Gardners later (to show off our costumes) and kids started showing up to trick-or-treat. Jokingly I said, "hey Nate (the other young Gardner son), you should pass out "pass along cards" with your candy". he was like, "OK!" so we gave him a stack of pass along cards and he handed them out. haha. It was pretty sweet.

As far as work, we are in the process of finding still. It's a long and sometimes boring process, but we stay positive that the Lord will bless us. Tomorrow is Zone conference where we watch a movie and basketball tournament. Most of you that know me know of my "love" for athletic sports (since I suck), so I am looking forward to the movie. haha.

Hope your all doing good.

I love ya tons!

Elder Woods

P.S. I don't think I explained a picture last week of an older gentleman. He's playing the saw. Apparently he's in the top 5 saw players in the world. I think its pretty easy though to be in the top 5 when there is only 5 saw players in the world. haha

A Chain-ge of Pace

2009-10-27T19:06:00.002-07:00

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

2009-10-20T19:32:00.005-07:00

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

2009-10-13T15:14:00.003-07:00

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)

2009-10-06T14:27:00.002-07:00

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!"

Throwing Up and Hiking Down

2009-09-29T16:18:00.003-07:00

Yep,

You could prolly guess from the title that I got sick AGAIN! It's so ridiculous. But this was only a 24 hour thing. I'll talk about it later.

Last week I talked about how we was gonna have us a baby.

Well, on Tuesday, we did. His name is Elder Homan. He's from Salem Utah and is waiting for a visa to go to MONGOLIA! Holy man! haha. Talk about crazy. He says the only thing people eat it sheep. Maybe I should be a little more thankful for getting Lasagna (I'm sure it reeks havoc on his IBS) 80 times a week for dinner.(I can no longer eat that meal. Sorry mom. haha). He is actually really cool for a greenie. I was impressed. But I was more impressed with when he taught. We spit up and taught a lesson and he taught like he had been out for over a year. He's a REALLY good teacher. Being in a four-some is really interesting. I've never heard of it ever happening before, so we can only guess what to do with it. We end up splitting up a lot because showing up to someones door with 4 missionaries would prolly look like the mafia. haha.

So on Wednesday, we had Zone Conference. It was REALLY good. The whole thing was focused on the Book of Mormon and using it to resolve concerns. During Zone breakout, we gave every companionship a concern, and had them look up multiple scriptures to use for that concern. We set up empty bottles with those concerns written on them and after they used that scripture, they shot the bottle down with a dart. If they missed, their comp used a back up scripture to help them. It was pretty fun,but more importantly, we learned that ANY problem can be resolved using the Book of Mormon.

Thursday, we went didn't go to district meeting because it got cancelled...I don't know how you cancel a district meeting...but ok. We did have some really good lessons that day and moved our two baptisms from sat to Fri. (the 3rd got moved to the 17th). Pretty cool.

Friday we went to the other district meeting,and visited a bunch of people after. That night, I began to feel a little woozy. But I didn't think anything of it because it happens alot.

On Saturday, we went out and picked tomatoes for this family. We ended up picking 40 BOXES of tomatoes! I don't even like tomatoes!haha. But, throughout the whole service, I just kept feeling worse and worse. We left and Elder West and Bergquist were both feeling like crap too. We got home and the puking began. West and I were the only ones puking like crazy. Bergquist just had a way bad stomach ache. Homan was perfectly fine. (we think it was because he just got out of the germ infested MTC after being there for 3 months and built up an immunity). But we were hating it all night.

Luckily a really nice member (I don't know who it was since I was passed out on the floor when they came) came and brought us soup and medicine and stuff.

We were pretty sick Sunday too. We ended up going to a little of church and taking the sacrament. But by the end of Sunday, we were good.

Monday was good. We met with a bunch of families and went to a bunch of meetins.

Today, (after going to the temple) the Gardners (way cool fam) took us out to Balance Rock, Niagra Springs, and other cool sites. It was really cool and I took some cool pics that I can

hopefully post.

Well, that's about it.
Thanks for all you do everyone!

I love ya All!

-Elder Woods

Heavy Metal

2009-09-22T15:14:00.005-07:00

Hey everyone!

So this week has been much calmer than others. But still wild - a bird made out of metal. Which we saw a ton of yesterday. Very random. (pictures will be included). haha.

Anyways, Wednesday we planned for Zone Conference (we are in charge of planning a "Zone breakout" which is really just an hour long Zone meeting), so we thought of some fun activities plus helping to resolve investigators concerns. We also put our bikes together and put them in the backyard of someone in Kinberly. (we actually cover Kimberly but live in Twin Falls, which is 5 miles away... I have no Idea either.)

We met with a new investigator (11 year old girl in a PMF - mission speak for part member family) and set a baptism date for Oct 3rd! So we'll have three that day. Probably 2 before Conference and 1 between sessions. Should be an awesome day! Except for conference means we have to wear suit-coats again. Ugh...oh well, its kinda cold now that the wind picked up.

Thursday I went on an exchange with some other Elders into their area. Its was pretty awesome. We taught like 6 Napolise (I have no clue how to spell it. People from Napal) families. They are so receptive and amazing. Someone had givin them some anti and they told us, "give us a Book of Mormon. They made us take their fake movies so we'll make them take this true book!" haha. So tight! It was a really cool experience. Except hardly any of them could speak English so I had a very hard time following the lesson. haha.

Friday we went to a District Meeting where Elder Bergquist exchanged with a greenie in Jarome. So West and I got the Greenie. haha, oh Greenies...haha. Anyways, we went to a ward Luau where they had coconut (good), pork (good), pinapple (good), and Bar-b-cue sauce to put ALL over it...(what?!) haha. It was pretty good though.

Saturday (after doing progress records) we were informed that we would be getting a Visa waiter straight from the MTC. So we would be in a four-some...with a greenie...oh boy...haha. We have no idea why it's happening or why the AP's thought this would be a good idea, but we'll run with it. haha. We get him later today.

Sunday we went to church all day and had some REALLY good lessons...fall through. haha. We did have one REALLY good lesson at the end of the day with 2 new investigators. pretty awesome.

Yesterday, we were on bikes. Ugh...haha. This is how I saw the metal bird statue things. Pretty interesting.

That about sums up the week. This upcoming week should be REALLY interesting though. haha.

I love ya all

-Elder Woods

PARTY X3

2009-09-15T10:49:00.003-07:00

Myself, Elder Naylor and Elder Mickelson wearing our stunner shades. haha

The Hoggs. One of my favorite families on the planet.

Surprise visit from Grandpa Lehman! haha

Hey everyone!

So this week has been WAY awesome. I thought I was busy in Caldwell, but I'm like 3x more so here in Twin Falls. I actually don't cover Twin at all. I cover Kimberly, Hanson, and Murtaugh. Ever heard of them? Ya, me neither. But they are awesome.

Wednesday was transfers and I rode the van all the way to Twin and met up with Elder Bergquist and West and the party began. We all get along SUPER good and all have a desire to work hard so it's tight. We contacted some awesome people and began to know the area.

Thursday, we went to a district meeting in the morning. Pretty good. Then we went out and put in fence posts for a guy named Max. We just saw him doing some work, offered to help and we were there a few hours. It was actually way fun. Our dinner appointment gave us 3 referrals, we contacted all of them right after and they all wanted us to come back. YA! That night we met with some younger investigators and set a baptism date with both of them. It was amazing.

Friday we went to another district meeting and then went out to a leadership training meeting with President. It was a really good meeting. President pulled the rug out from under all of us and said "no caffeine drinks". (Brad and the good Dr. have a long friendship, this should be interesting) CRAP! I had totally just bought a twelve pack of Dr. Pepper that morning! AH! haha. oh well, thank goodness for limeade's at sonic! haha I'll survive with that. That night we met with some more people who were just awesome.

Saturday, we woke up and did service painting a house. This was a HUGE project. We painted FOREVER. It was pretty fun though. After that we worked on progress records and the zone vision/calender. It ended up being really cool. I'll try to get it on the blog. Prolly next week. Also that day, Phil a.k.a. Elder Lehman, stopped by. Way cool to see him again. He is so tight.

Sunday we had a great day. Went to like 6 sacrament meeting and had some awesome lessons. We set another baptism date. WAY COOL! (It was really a re-set, but hey! a dates a date! haha).

Yesterday we did some planning and other stuff, then had District Leader Council where we presented the Zone vision. It was a good meeting. That night we got two new investigators who are SOOO cool! One of them is a skater who plays drums and loves music. Sound familiar? haha. Way cool.

We started today off by going to the temple. Great start. I missed the temple so bad. It's amazing.

Well, that's all the time I got.

I love you all!

-Elder Woods

Just a Few More Pictures

2009-09-10T08:15:00.005-07:00

Thanks to cute Diane Naylor (Brad's companions mom) who sent me these bonus pictures. (I love it when this happens!!!)

Caldwell Apartment

(Shared By The Wonderful Hogg Family)

Caldwell Apartment

Falls That Look Alike!!

2009-09-08T12:48:00.003-07:00

The drumset - beautiful color

Jammin with Shafercotter. He's WAY good and we had a blast!

The Caldwell Zone

A BSU jacket a really want. Maybe christmas?... haha. Ya, I'm a BSU fan now. I think it's impossible not be in this state. EVERYONE is. I still love ASU way more. I just gotta rep Boise. haha

The Tuckett Family. Way cool

Hey everyone!

So this week, not as monumentally insane as last week, just busy. I'll just hit the big things. Transfer calls came in and I am heading out to Twin Falls to be with Elder Bergquist (check the blog like last October to hear about him. We became friends in Burley) and Elder West (from Mesa AZ. We were in the MTC together and became good friends)! So this should OWN! I am way excited!

This week however, meant I had to say goodbye to alot of cool people/families. Such as the Tuckett (two T's? I dunno) family. Way cool family. Brother Tuckett is the Ward Mission Leader of 8th ward and is one of the best I've ever met. It also meant saying bye to the Hogg's (picture next week), whom we live with.

Yesterday, the other Elders we lived with finally found housing (they didn't find it, the wards they cover were supposed to find it for them) and we helped them move out. It was weird last night actually being able to go to sleep on time. (Any missionary reading this that has ever spent time in a four-some apartment will know what I'm talking about. haha).

We had our last District Meeting which we combined the Districts and had Zone Meeting and went out to pizza afterwards.

That's about all I got. I'm sure other stuff happened, but that's all I can remember.

As an update, Elder Tanner (Oakley Companion) returns home at conference. His homecoming should be around than. He's an awesome guy.

Well, I love ya all tons!

Have a good week and next week I'll be broadcasting live from Twin Falls!

-Elder Woods

The 1000000 Degree House

2009-09-01T20:59:00.005-07:00

Brad wrote in his email this week that his apartment is 1000000 degrees at night (but the family they live with is awesome). This past week Brad's companion's mom contacted me. It is so fun to be able to share this experience with mom's all over the country. The Naylors live in San Diego - LUCKY and it has been great to share pictures and information on our Elders. I swiped, I mean borrowed these pictures of Brad's house that reaches 10000000 in their top apartment off her blog. Thanks Diane (her blog is totally cute, just like her and she has the cutest hair and shoes).

Oh C_ap!!!!

2009-09-01T11:02:00.006-07:00

Hey everyone!

So this week has been hilariously busy. Some of the pictures may be a little graphic. And by some, I mean one. You'll heart he story soon enough. But let's start at the beginning of this crazyweek.

Wednesday, we had a zone service project. We stacked like 20,000,000 pieces of wood. It was pretty insane, but fun because so many people were there.

Thursday, I went on an exchange with my zone leader Elder Shafercotter (WAY cool. and I think I spelt his name WAY wrong). I went to his area (Middleton. Hooray!) and had a blast. He is the district leader of the other district which meant that we went to 2 district meetings (man I feel bad for zone leaders! haha). I did get to see some people I knew last year and it was really fun.

Friday was mission tour. This is like zone conference only it's in Boise and someone big comes. We had Elder Kenneth B Johnson of the 70 from England (Hey Jake!). It was pretty intense. It was fun though because I got to see so many of my missionary friends all at once. After driving back to Caldwell, we had dinner and went BACK to Boise for a fireside Elder Johnson held. It was pretty good.

Saturday (WARNING:This day was SOO insane, those not capable of reading beyond crazy things should stop now). I don't even remember the order things happened on Saturday. But we'll focus on Elder Naylor for now. We went to Los Betos for breakluch meal thing, and he got this huge bacon burrito. After that, we went to Sonic to get happy hour and he always jokes around saying, "you can get anything you want in a drink right? I'm gonna get bacon!" Well...he actually did it. He ordered a Caramel milkshake with bacon. I guess it is against Sonic policy to put Bacon in a milkshake, so the guy brought out his milk shake and gave him some free strips of bacon. Which he put in the shake and ate. Later that day, we had an All-you-can-eat corn feed. Elder Naylor decided that he could out-eat anyone there and be like his hero Johnny Chestnut. He than proceded in eating 10(!!!!) ears of corn. Along with a burger and brownie to finish it off like a champ. That night we went home (elder Naylor being a pretty sick boy at this point) and since it was early, decided to hang in the back yard where the temperature was nice. Well after a few hours and planning and stuff, we decided to head in and go to sleep. This did not end up happening, because as we headed in, Elder Tobin fell off the swing and it somehow came back around and hit him in the head. We didn't think it was a big deal at1st until massive amounts of blood started running down his face. I grabbed the car keys as fast as I could and we BOOKED it to the hospital. (I think angels were distracting all the cops, keeping them off that road. haha) He ended up getting 7(!!!) staples in his head.So crazy.

Because of the head injury, he couldn't attend church so I stayed home with him the next day. Kinda boring since he couldn't do anything. But really that sums up this crazy week. My only questions is why are we still using staples in peoples heads? haha. You'd think we'd have some super technological way to seal the cut, but nope. Common staples probably purchased at a $1 store. haha.

Well, Hope yourday is awesome.

Love ya all!

-Elder Woods

In Addition:

I forgot to tell you something very important that happened on saturday. A good friend of mine named Spencer A.K.A Elder Wenzel came to visit. It was a short visit, but he brought me a movie he put together that we made last transfer. Hilarious and amazing. I'll try to send you a copy. Just know its the greatest. haha. Love ya!

Shared photo book from Woods

2009-08-27T12:10:00.001-07:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

The Late Bird, Er, Elders Speak in Church

2009-08-25T09:22:00.014-07:00

Elder James Grant Visits Brad's Hideous Suit

Brad's new SHORT Hair and Elder Naylor

District Game

Hey!

SO this has been a great week.

Wednesday we had interviews with the Mission Pres. They were way good. He kinda hinted that I would be leaving, but other than that I have no clue. haha. After that we continued the amazing tradition of going to Golden Dragon (a Chinese buffet guaranteed to make you sick for 3 days) haha. It was way fun.

Thursday, we had District Meeting. This was pretty fun. So I made this game like a board game where people were the pieces. We rolled a spinner thing and it determined were you landed. Each space would get you a different challenge. Dark Blue- Scripture Concerns. Brown- Quotes. Light Blue- Preach My Gospel. Pink- A Recitation Activity (this led to some REALLY funny videos), and Black-Totally random hard questions. haha. It was Way fun.

Sunday was a pretty big day too. We both spoke (we walked in late and they said "and now we'll hear a little from the Elders" so we just kept walking to the front. haha) and we had another zone devotional. This was about setting goals. The Stake Pres there set a goal for 300 baptisms this year. Sounds crazy, but he broke it down to 4 baptisms to every group in every ward and it was way more than 300. 4 is such an easy number. Pretty cool.

Yesterday we did some crazy service staking wood. The whole Zone was there for several hours and we still didn't finish. haha.

Well, I love ya all.

Have a good one!

-Elder Woods

Area, District, Banana Split

2009-08-18T11:05:00.003-07:00

(This picture is of Bro Belnap. The coolest Ward mission leader ever. He was a drummer, in a band, in Warped Tour. Officially the coolest. haha. But I had to say bye because I lost that ward to the new Elders. haha.)

Hey everyone!

So Crazy week.

Everything will make sense in the title...except the banana. Sorry. No explanation there. haha.

So on Wednesday I went on an exchange with Elder Mickelson in Marsing/Homedale. While ON the exchange, I got a call from the AP's telling me that my area is going to be split. Two more elders (McMurdie and Tobin) will be coming in and covering three of our 7 wards. Unfortunately, they wanted me to pick which wards they cover. This was difficult since I wasn't in my area and didn't have a map or anything. So I had to call my comp and get him to describe what the area looks like. I drew a map of what I thought it looked like (it looks NOTHING like the real map. haha) and picked 3 wards that are really close together and pretty small. This is because the other elders are on Bikes full time. Those three wards were actually the wards we dedicated the most time to. Oh well.

So on Thursday after district meeting (which was way fun. We had "Caldwell's Got Talent" haha), the other Elders moved in. They have yet to get a home for Elders to live in in the wards they cover so they moved in with us.(very cramped). Also unfortunate, it the fact that we live at the very North point of our area and the Elders area is the opposite side. So we have to drive them to their area everyday. ITs not as bad as I make it sound. They are both cool elders and we have a lot of fun. But that's what we've been doing.

Along with the area being split, they made a new district. My district is now the Sisters in Middleton, us, and the bikers. So a good deal smaller, but it should still be fun.

Well, that pretty much sums up this crazy week. Work has been really good though. No dates set yet, but alot of good things.

Hope your all doing awesome!

-Elder Woods

PARTY! PARTY! PARTY!

2009-08-11T14:38:00.005-07:00

Elder Wenzel

Elder Mickelson

Random Gifts

Very Random Gifts

(Death by seriously ugly pants)

Hello everyone!

So the birth/death day was a success. It was really fun. I ended up getting them both a ton of random gifts and Sister Draper (hooray!) baked two cakes. One for each. I also ended up buying an Optimus Prime pinata and filling it with candy. But instead of bats or anything, we made them punch it. haha. This meant that I have some hilarious videos of both. haha. (Elder Wenzel for instance ended up giving Optimus the peoples elbow and dunking it in the basketball hoop) haha.

Wednesday we had a few comp. seminars with a few of the Elders and met with a lot of our investigators.

Thursday was district meeting in Middleton. It was the Zone Leaders turn to be in charge. It was good and we all went to pizza afterwards. yeah! haha.

Friday it rained like crazy but we worked through it. In fact, it rained ALL day. Pretty crazy.

Saturday we did progress records and visited a bunch of families. Pretty good day.

Sunday was a pretty long day. I had gotten used to 8 hours of church, but for some reason last Sunday seemed to drag on. Except for Sunday School. The gospel principal classes were some of the best I've ever been to that day. Dinner was way fun. Had some authentic Carne Asada. Yeah! That night we had a Zone devotional in Middleton with Stake President Evens. He taught us about Sincere Prayer. It was really cool and insightful.

Yesterday was a pretty packed day too. Besides weekly planning and planning for District Meeting (which should be way fun. I'll take pics. haha), we saw the majority of our investigators. This week should actually be really crazy. We have something everyday this week so it should be fun.

Stay tuned!

Love ya all!

-Elder Woods

Investigators Here, There and Everywhere

2009-08-04T19:30:00.004-07:00

Henry's Baptism

Hey!

So this week has been a good kinda crazy. We've been REALLY busy. On Wednesday, we had transfers early morning. My new comp is Elder Naylor from San Diego California. He's pretty cool. Kinda quiet, but it's alright. We tried to contact all our ward mission leaders that day, but only caught like 3 home. But those three had people they wanted us to see. So it was pretty awesome.

Thursday was district meeting, which is really just zone meeting since there is only one companionship that isn't in our district in the zone. So we all combine and had a good meeting. We had a lesson with Henry (you'll hear about him later) and met with a ton of other people.

Friday, Elder Wenzel came with us. yeah! haha. We had a really good lesson with a New Member, who dominated Elder Wenzel at Ping Pong before the lesson. We met with two new investigators and talked about baptism so they are currently praying about it. Way cool.

Saturday was the big day. At 9 am, we had the baptism of Henry Helkowski. It went awesome. He was confirmed at the baptism and was so happy he was crying. (he's a pretty tough guy too. haha). At 11am, we had the baptism of Angela Anderson (no picture). A lot of people came to show support. She felt really good too. After that and progress records, we met with another new investigator and talked about church with her. She committed to go, but ended up being sick on Sunday. But she is pretty excited about baptism already.

Sunday was really busy too. After church we had a ton of people to go see that kept us moving that day.

Yesterday we had Area Leader Council (really just a replacement of district leader council since there is only 2 district). It was a really good meeting and after we went to Red Robins...which I'd never been to...which is AMAZING! haha. After that we were pretty busy contacting and teaching.

It's been WAY good so far. That's it for this week.

Love ya all!

-Elder Woods

101 And Having Fun

2009-07-28T16:26:00.005-07:00

The Caldwell District

Hey!

Hope everyone is enjoying the heat. Its not too bad here. People kinda go crazy if its anything above 100*. "Oh my goodness its 101*! The streets are gonna melt" but when I tell them where I'm from they're like, "oh...ok..." haha.

This week has been alot of good byes for Elder Peterson as he gets trasnfered to Declo (right next to Burley) and Elder Naler moves in tomorrow morning. I don't know anything about him.

We had our final district meeting as the Caldwell zone. It was way fun. I actually made a missionary version of scatagories. Pretty fun!

Sunday was the highlight of the week. We had two baptisimal interviews that went great. Both are really prepared and are both getting baptized this sat. (actually two hours apart. Man that's gonna be some crazy timing!) This week has been great.

That's it for today though. Short and sweet (better than sour right [for Jesse Johnson]). Next week I should have a pretty good update on comp, district, and everything else/

Love ya all!

-Elder Woods

I uploaded some new videos of Brad from Payette and La Grande

Marble Magic:

http://www.youtube.com/user/ilovetoflyswa#play/uploads/3/JalsG2ZrcVo

Payette Tour Part II

http://www.youtube.com/user/ilovetoflyswa#play/uploads/5/kjauCunpByg

Oh Hail

http://www.youtube.com/user/ilovetoflyswa#play/uploads/4/tlkf4nzkoZY

2009-07-21T16:29:00.004-07:00

Brad and Elder Wenzel (Fall '08) Elder Wenzel Wearing The Best Band EVER!!! (Fall '08)

Hey!

So last Tuesday I think I told you about the scavenger hunt we planned to do, or we had just done it. I don't remember, anyways, we did the scavenger hunt and it was WAY fun. We didn't have time to review pictures though so we ended up doing that on Thursday after district meeting. It was pretty close, but my team won by 1 point! pretty crazy. and I know what your thinking, "hey, the guy that made the scavenger hunt won!" well...that's true. haha. Its was fun though. Everyone had a good time.

On Friday, Elder Finau and Wenzel celebrated there two year mark by burning a suit each. This was REALLY REALLY cool.

The work has gone great this week as well. We picked up a new investigator who's praying about a date and have two baptism dates set for August 1st. That's gonna be one crazy day! haha.

Other than that, not much happened. I caught some bug that made me not feel good for two days. I still worked, but it sucked. I think its gone. haha. Crazy.

Anywho, hope everything is good for you!

Love ya tons!

-Elder Woods

(Sorry I don't have a picture of Elder Finau)

Still Crazy After All These Months

2009-07-14T15:35:00.005-07:00

Scavenger Hunt Fun

Caldwell

4th of July with the Drapers

(Check out Brad's shorts, socks and most of all shoes?)

HEY!

How is everybody? Those without bodies, good day to you as well.

This week has been pretty awesome. I don't have my planner on me and I have a terrible memory so its a deadly combination. This means I can't give a day by day, but can give some cool highlights in no particular order. To prove I don't care about order, today we went to the temple (always amazing) and then had a huge zone scavenger hunt. Made by me. It was somewhat similar to the one I made in Burley, I just made it alot harder. Which ended up being way fun.

This week we also had interviews. It sounds like I'm stayin, but ya never know. Rumors are also goin down that (since we cover the whole Caldwell East Stake) our area might get split. I wouldn't mind this. Our area is really big and our mile allotment is not so big.

Yesterday we moved. This is always a LOAD of fun. Especially when you have to move 4 times in one transfer!haha. But seriously. District meeting this week was pretty fun. An Elder had to go through a chair maze blindfolded with 6 peoples shouting bad directions and one whispering the right ones. This was pretty hilarious, but we also learned alot. haha.

I went on an exchange with elder Wenzel and I got to go get my hair cut by sister Jones in Middleton (the Jones are a really cool family I met in Middleton last year) so it was cool to see them.

This week the work has gone REALLY good. We have two baptism dates set and plan on doing more. It's going awesome.

Well, I gotta run. Thank you all for all you do!

Love ya tons!

-Elder Woods

Pics. 4th, 4th, 4th of july, and other stuff. Also one from the scavenger hunt today that you'll love

Appendi-out-site-us

2009-07-07T13:06:00.006-07:00

Hey!

Sorry for the lengthy absence. If you haven't heard, I just had my appendix taken out in Caldwell. Consequently, I have also been transferred to Caldwell. This is not bad at all.

Reason #1 Elder Wenzel is my zone leader and Elder Gebhart (another really good friend of mine) is in my district. The rest of the members of the zone are all REALLY cool too.

#2 I am FINALLY by a Sonic again! It's like not watching Star Wars for a really long time and than watching all 6. It's that amazing. haha.

#3 I was in Middleton (next town over) last year so I've run into alot of familiar faces. There is a lot more reasons, but I think 3 is enough.

So how was everyone's 4th of July? Mine was AWESOME. (oh by the way I tried to put pics on and it wouldn't let me so next week I'll have a ton).

(So I added some for him)

3rd of July I went with Gebhart to Homedale to watch there firework show. For some reason they do there show on the 3rd... I really don't know why, but it was really cool. We knew the people running the show so we kinda got back stage. WAY cool! The show was tight. I have alot of it filmed.

4th of july, we went to Middleton and watched the parade and had a BBQ at (drumroll) THE DRAPERS! Crazy! I was at their house last 4th of July. It was way fun. We had a water balloon fight and had a blast.

Some other great things have probably happened this last week but because of a little thing called Vicodin, I can't remember. haha. But right now I'm back to 100%. FINALLY. It's awesome

Thank you for all your prayers. Tune in next week for pictures like crazy!!

-Elder Woods

p.s. I heard in the hospital that Micheal Jackson died. and than I heard Billy Mayes died. What is happening to the world?! haha

Elder Wenzel's the TALL one!

2008 4th of July (all but Brad are home now!!)

July 2008 The Awesome Draper Family (Brother Draper was at work)

Ouchy Land

2009-06-30T21:58:00.002-07:00

This week has been tough. Its gone by unusually fast though. I can't even remember like the past 3 or 4 days. Its so weird. I remember being in the hospital and everything else is a blur. I think its the drugs. It knocks me out pretty hard. But I'm getting better. I can walk ok now. It still hurts like crazy, but I can push through it pretty good. Thursday I have to go back to the hospital and do a follow up. I don't really know how thats gonna go. I have these HUGE scars! Oh man they ripped me open. They hurt like crazy. But the drugs help. It knocks me out though. Um...oh ya.

I'm getting transfered to Caldwell East. My new comp is Elder Peterson. I'm by a Sonic! Its amazing. they have this new drink called a...mango something. I dunnno. Its really hard to think right now. Typin is hard too. mmmmm.

Love you -

Elder Woods

p.s. The picture is of elder Gebhart visiting me in the hospital.

Operation - Appendicitis

2009-06-27T14:07:00.002-07:00

OK, so here is the latest - Bradley went to his Zone Meeting on Friday and President Yardley was still very concerned about him. He took him to a Dr. in Caldwell, who is also a Bishop. He had all of Brad's tests sent down to Caldwell and really didn't like what he was seeing, so he called a surgeon he knew, scheduled the hospital and got Brad into surgery. We talked to a very drugged, ouchy son last night (but he was still laughing). I am so grateful for all your concern, prayers and support. I told Brad that he had better be taking pictures for the Blog!!! I talked to his ZL's today and they stayed at the hospital all night with him and said he slept well and was up and walking, pushing his IV (picture please!!!). I am so grateful for valient men who listen to the spirit and know what to do. He is surrounded by the "Angels" that President Reeder promised him if he obeyed the rules. I am looking forward to Brad's take on this on Tuesday. (Emily and I were in Disneyland the last two days following the rule, "No news, is good news". But we got good news yesterday and had much more fun then Brad!!)

Brad Update

2009-06-24T19:36:00.004-07:00

I got a call from President Yardley this afternoon. He informed me that the pain returned and Bradley went back to the hospital. They were going to do an x-ray and if they could confirm the appendicitis they would take him into surgery. I haven't heard back, so I don't know his status. President Yardley will keep me posted. Thank you for all your prayers and support. (I have really wanted to jump on a SWA plane and check out the situation, but he is in great hands!!)

8:00 pm. President Yardley called, no surgery. They sent him home with antibiotics. The scan didn't seem to show appendicitis, they they are going to watch what happens in the next few days and if he doesn't improve, President Yardley well take him to Boise for further tests. Thanks again for your prayers.

Hi Mom, Don't Freak Out or There's Really Far Away, And Then There's John Day

2009-06-23T14:56:00.008-07:00

Hello everyone!

So this week=CRAZY! Oh man. Its been pretty jam packed with crazy.

Wednesday, we get a phone call from Elgin saying, "hey a young woman up here wants to get baptized and has been taught all the lessons" (sound familier? Look at the blog when I was in Oakley and we baptized a girl named Tyree Carson). So we went up and met her. She's pretty excited.

Thursday was district meeting. It was my 1st time leading the meeting so I was pretty nervous, but it went really well. After that is when the crazy started. Anderson went back with the other Elders and I stayed with the Elders in Baker. I had to go with them all the way to John Day to do a baptisimal interview. Oh man. John Day. This is a total bustling metropolis. haha. On the cool side, it IS the western-most part of the mission and Grouse Creek IS the eastern most part of the mission. So it' pretty cool cause now I've been on both. Time for North and South. haha. (I actually think McCall is north). I had a lot of fun with elder Kaler and Doan on the way there. It's a long trip, but very beautiful. The interview was great. The young lady was very prepared and ready for baptism. (she was baptized Sat)

Friday we drove back to Baker and the Zone Leaders picked me up and took me back to La Grande so they could interview someone for us. KAREN! Hooray! The interview also went good and she too was baptized on Saturday. a Great baptism. Elder Anderson gave a talk on baptism and I spoke on the Holy Ghost. Her friend David Drake baptized her. I don't know if I've seen anyone as nervous as he was. haha. (He's a recent convert)

On Sunday, we drove up to Elgin and set a date (JUL 11) with the girl getting baptized and drove back down to La Grande for Karin's confirmation (which Elder Anderson performed).

Yesterday was top crazy. We had a pretty full day. A lot of service, some great lessons, etc. Anyhoo, at 6:00, my stomach started hurting REALLY bad. But I was like, "eh, this is nothing new". So we went to dinner and I thought it would get better. WRONG! Way worse. In fact after dinner I had to have Elder Anderson drive me to the emergency room (I hate that term. It makes everything sound so much worse. There should be like a mediocre pain room. Emergency room sounds like your head is ripped off and your carrying it in. That's an emergency! haha) and I got all checked in.They think it might be appendicitis, but maybe not. I'm ok now. But if it starts hurting again I gotta run back. I had to get blood drawn.(Brad HATES needles, when he was little he would hide under a chair to get away from the shots. I think he is too big to do it now, or he would have). I went to a doctor and all he did was take blood from me. Don't go see Dr. Acula! haha. But all was good. Prayer works and miricles happen. even if you dont know how to spell miricle. haha.

Love ya all!

-Elder Woods

A big thank you to President Yardley. He called Brad this morning and told him to give us a 5 minute call to let us know what was going on. When the phone rang with a long distance # and "LDS Mission" on the caller ID, I knew it couldn't be good. Brad's first words were, "Hi Mom, don't freak out." I did of course. He was more worried about my reaction then how he was feeling. I am so grateful for wonderful Mission Presidents and the power of Priesthood blessings. When he went to Urgent Care (The Holy Rosary Clinic) last time I only found out because it was on his debit card. I am grateful for the heads-up and we look forward to talking to Brad again at Christmas.

Howdy from Oregon

2009-06-16T15:56:00.004-07:00

Big Fish
Awesome Darrin

Oregon Cowboy

Hello everyone!

How is yall? I hope well. This week has been pretty unpredictable. Which is good. It keeps ya on your toes.

Wednesday, we went to go meet with Darren and when we got there, his neighbor was there. and Darren is like, "ya, I invited me neighbor over to come hear the good word!" haha, oh man. He's so awesome. So we picked up a new investigator because of our recent convert. That is neat!

Thursday after district meeting in Baker, we drove out to Elgin and did some service. We also met with a man who's wife is going through Chemo. The doctors found a cancer spot on an x-ray, later that day she had a Priesthood blessing, they went in to do a second x-ray and the spot was...[lame pun warning] spotless! haha. But it was really cool to hear about that.

Friday, ok, Friday...we went to a family to go do some service. They told us on the phone that it was cleaning up the lawn. We thought, "how bad can that be? plus there will be four of us". So we get over there and he gives us 4 weed eaters, 2 lawn mowers, battle ax, helmet, tommy gun, ok, not the last things, but we could have used them. It was SERIOUSLY like walking into the amazon jungle! oh man! I was cutting weeds and I got attacked by Aborigines, lions, tree huggers, it was crazy! It ended up taking 4 HOURS!! After that, we went and painted someone's office for them. This was a little more fun. Other then the fact that I was SUPER tired. For dinner we had an Elders Quorum BBQ and Darren and his neighbor came.

Way cool.The rest of the week I was with Elder Murphy. He was getting transferred Monday morning so he was with me since we're closer to the transfer spot.

Sunday we met with Karen and began to set up her baptism for this SAT!!! ya!!! Her interview is this Fri. She's so awesome.

Well, I gotta run. This up coming week will be one of the craziest of my mission. So get excited!

Love ya all!

-Elder Woods

Picture-less Again.

2009-06-09T11:58:00.004-07:00

Here are a few pics from

Brad's SD Card

?????
Only in Idaho

Emily at Disney World 2009

Bradley Disney World Idaho 2009

Hey!

1st off, I don't have the cord so I can't send pics this week, but I am sending them home so hopefully they will be on later this week(?). They are pretty neat.

Wednesday, we tried to meet with everyone are working with. We saw alot of them and had some great lessons. But it proved to be a VERY busy day. Darrin had his interview that day and Elder Sanders (the person interviewing him) was super impressed with Darrin (just as we were haha). Sanders and his comp ended up staying with us that night because they had to come up from Baker. Which is where we went the very next morning for district meeting. It was also one of our zone leaders (Elder Banta)'s birthday, so we got and filled it with candy and broke it open. that, we went out to a mexican food restaraunt and the waiters and people sang"Happy Birthday" to Elder Banchita. haha. I also found a really cool skate shop in Baker, but that's not important. haha.

After driving all the way back to La Grande, we kept driving to Elgin and worked there for the day. We had dinner with the Limbaugh's (not Rush, but are a relative! haha) and had some great lessons up there. Work up there is slow, but picking up.

Friday we did a ton of service. We helped people move and fix a house, it was pretty fun.

Saturday was the big day. Saturday was Darrin Kelly's baptism. He was the happiest person in the world. It was amazing. He asked me to baptize him which was a complete honor. After that, we made progress records and met with a really cool family named the Buckley's. Super nice.

Sunday, Elder Anderson confired the Holy Ghost upon him and I confered the Priesthood to him. It was awesome.

Yesterday was pretty crazy. We went with one of our investigators to his cabin up north (still in our area don't worry) and help him fix it up. In exchange he taught me to fish. I actually caught one! It could probably feed a family of 4!...ants. haha. But it was pretty cool.

Today, we are tye-dyeing shirts. haha. Thats about all we have planned.

Well, hope all is good for you!

I love you all!

-Elder Woods

Idaho Pet Tricks

2009-06-04T15:50:00.002-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1SjCqSmobc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m37yWogC3Bk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTiY0-lRZhw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f2GjVKnY_w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDPqwUm36hw

Pictures Finally!!!

2009-06-02T16:44:00.003-07:00

Hey! So I figured out how to put on pics!

"Jesus Gangstas".(from left to right) Forsyth, Beard, Woods, and Murphy. This was after the "spring fling" in Middleton last week.

Double Rainbow

So we were driving home from church and totally saw this house fully engulfed in flame. Turns out it was a fire fighter training, but still, really really cool.

Morgan Lake. We had a lesson there with an investigator. Its actually only 10 min from our house! Pretty awesome.

This pic is for Emily. Tell her its a Blue Blooth Banana. "Theres always money in the bananastand". haha.

A Man named Derrin

2009-06-02T13:19:00.002-07:00

Hello!

How is everyone doing? Since I can't read or hear your responses, I'll assume everyone said "totally awesome!" at the same time. haha.

This week has been really good...and not so good. Not so good only because I caught some flu bug. Not fun. But now that parts over. It was REALLY good because of a man named Derrin. We've met with him only a few times, but each time is one of the most spiritual experiences ever. The 1st time we taught him he said, "I know what your saying is true because I can feel it. I can feel a warmness in my chest and an overall good feeling". The next time we taught him he said, "I prayed and read the scriptures SO much and know for a fact that they are true (see Moroni 10:4). I have NEVER felt this happy before in my life!" The next time we taught him I just straight up asked him, "do you wanna get baptized?" He responded with, "yes. I know its true and I need to be". We were about to ask him to pray about a date for it to happen when he said, "I feel like next Saturday is when I need to be baptized". So this Sunday is his baptism. I've never seen anyone more excited for baptism. He came to church and I was like, "there are three classes each an hour long so, but they're all awesome" (fearing that he would think 3 hours is WAY too long) but he said, "oh man, its only 3 hours?" He's awesome. He asked me to baptism him and elder Anderson to give him the Holy Ghost. It was amazing.

This week we did a ton of service and went up to Elgin and Enterprise.We went to Enterprise because we're trying to get work moving up there because President is thinking about putting a set of missionaries up in Enterprise. That would be cool. I'll miss that drive though. haha.Its beautiful.

Saturday we went to the wedding of Trish and Weston Somonis. Trish is about to get baptized by the other La Grande missionaries and Wes is the guy I got to jam with on P-day (member).

Well, that about sums up this week, Happy June everyone! Hope everything is "totally awesome!" haha.

-Elder Woods

No pictures again so here are a couple of video clips he sent home.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2y5-q__Vus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQOFVEvLGvk

There and Back Again - A Missionary's Tale

2009-05-27T17:46:00.006-07:00

The GIANT Cinnamon Roll

(Feb 2, 2009 Post, Up to McCall: We than went to a place called the Pancake house. Famous for there large portions. I ordered a breakfast sandwich and was like, oh look, a "giant" cinamon roll is only like $2. I'll get that too. We wait a while for our food and the waitress brings out the most massive cinimmon roll I or any othe the other elders had ever seen. They all busted out there cameras and took pics. ITS WAS HUGE!! As Jim Gaffigan would say, 8 pounds of cake. But I did finish it and paid the price. haha.)

1st off, this computer wont let me put pics on, so sorry for two weeks without pictures. I feel bad too.

This week has actually been MAD crazy! Wednesday we went out and did a bunch of service painting someone's house. (Don't let me fool you into thinking I'm some kinda Bob Ross, I just threw down the primer coat. haha). We also met with a former who wanted us to teach her again. hey oh! Way cool.

Thursday (let the crazyness begin) after district meeting, we drove up to Elgin to visit people there and the ward wanted us to see Annie (the musical about the little orphan girl) in the Elgin opera house. So we drove up and NO ONE! I repeat, NO ONE we tried to visit was home. This makes planning very useless. Than we found out that they are not doing a showing of Annie that night so I was just like, "we should just drive up to Enterprise"...so we did! That really took up the rest of the night because its a long drive. We stayed at the bishops house and had a great time.

Friday, we tried to visit people in Enterprise. Deja vu, NO ONE was home. UGH!!!! That was frustrating. But! the end of the night made it worth it. We drove all the way back to La Grande and had dinner and watched Testaments with our investigator. After the movie,we talked for a while and committed her to baptism. She is being baptized on June 20. (Ya, its a way's out, but the person baptizing her is gonna be gone until that day). But its all awesome!

Sat, we went to play basketball with a bunch of investigators, but learned quickly that they canceled. We got a call from someone in Elgin telling us to go to the afternoon Annie show and have lunch with the cast, and since we do what we're told, we watched Annie and had lunch with the cast. haha. It was pretty awesome. We met some people that want us to come by and that we've needed to contact for a while. So good did come from it. haha.

Sun we went to church and did the regular Sunday thing. After that, we got a referral to go see this guy Derrin.We did and he is AWESOME! totally wants to hear everything we have to say and knows its true. Really cool. there was also a fireside that night from the Ogden (?) family. Guy broke his neck TWICE and he's STILL around. It was all about pushing through hard times and relying on Christ. It was REALLY cool.

Monday was p-day pt 1. (you'll see why). We were told to check email and shop. Well, no libraries are open on memorial day, so obviously one of those two things didn't happen. That night, we drove down to Ontario again (I got to stay with Forsyth again. Woo hoo!. It was way fun) because the next day, we had interviews and the spring fling. It was a TON of fun.

Everyone in the Middleton zone conference got together and just played sports and stuff. I even played a game of basketball (learned I can grab the rim and almost dunk) and played Crockett! It was super fun. That we drove all the was back to La Grande and it was like 8:30, so too late to email.

So here I am Wednesday morning emailing. haha. Its been pretty crazy but a TON of fun. Well, hope your memorial weekend was safe and fun.

Love ya all!

-Elder Woods

A New Car and a New Diet

2009-05-22T14:33:00.006-07:00

Hello everyone!

So its been one year since this blog was started. Wow, that's worth celebrating. Go buy yourselves some ice cream on me. Just throw out my name. If they give it to you for free, awesome, if not...I can't help ya. haha.

Anywho, pretty crazy week. I don't have my planner on me (we just got done playing raquet ball) so I don't remember what happened Wednesday. Probably something amazing though. haha.

Thursday we had district meeting in Baker. So we packed up and drove way down to Baker (an hour and a 1/2). We had district meeting, (which was cool because Thursday was actually my one year mark and Elder Kaler is in my district and he was in the MTC with me. So 365 days before that we met. haha, pretty cool). After district meeting and a comp seminar, we than drove all the way to Payette (sound familier?)
haha. We stayed down there because the next morning we had zone conference in Middleton.

So we reached Payette (another 2-2 1/2 hours) and stayed with Elder Forsyth and his comp. It was pretty fun. The next morning we drove all the way to Middleton and had zone conference. It was AWESOME! We talked alot about health and stuff, and
Sister Yardley challenged us to eat healthier (plus elder Tryon said I look fat. which is true. haha). So today I bought a ton of healthy stuff. I even surprised myself. After that, we drove back in our new Chevy Malibu...well...new to us. It was the zone leaders car but it's ours now. Yeah! haha. Its fun. But it was a WAY long drive.

Sat was pretty good, nothing amazing.

Sunday we DID talk in church and had a bunch of investigators there. That was awesome.

Yesterday we tried to conserve miles by walking all day. This turned out to be a terrible idea. We pick the one warm day with no breeze to walk. But it was good. Its helping with the health thing.

Anyways, thats this week!

Sorry there isn't a ton of details, like a I said, I forgot my planner. Love ya all and stay safe...but not too safe to not have fun! haha. jk.

Elder Woods

(Sorry this is posted late but the girls and I were celebrating Emily's graduation by going on a little cruise. Since Brad didn't send pictures I'll post some)

Little Towns and Funny Signs

2009-05-12T13:32:00.008-07:00

The Bakers

On the way to Enterprise

Driving to La Grande

Jeremy Jensen

Happy late Mothers Day again to everyone out there...that is a mother.

This week has been pretty hectic. I don't use that word lightly either. haha. So here's the run-down.

Wednesday was transfers and so we woke up wicked early and got to the transfer spot...and the AP's were WAY late. But there's no surprise there. haha. My ride however, was a brother from La Grande who had volunteered to take the missionaries up there. I don't remember his name or anything, but if your reading this, thanks again. Anywho, after departing from my son we made the LONG drive to La Grande. It is very different from any place I've served before. Very green, woodsy. A place one would imagine ents or hippies living. But I met Elder Anderson...he's WAY tall. I think I'm gonna have to carry a chair around to stand on when we take pictures so I don't look like Gary Coleman standing next to Sean Bradley. haha. Anyways, we met some cool people and got unpacked and stuff.

Thursday we went to Elgin (a little town we cover between Enterprise and La Grande). So we were up there contacting people and what not and we had planned to do service. So we go to the Opera house to help paint the set for Annie. I'm no Bob Ross, but it was pretty fun. The crazy part - (buckle your seat belt)..... So this lady is working on a piano in the pit and started talking to us. You know, the typical missionary questions. Well she asks me where I'm from and I respond Mesa AZ (go Mesa!), and she's like, "oh, my brother-in-law is from there. I know Mesa is huge and you probably don't know them but do you know any Forts? Like Milton and Elaine?" I'm like, "oh SNAP! That's my Aunt and Uncle!" So than she calls her brother-in-law Jason (my cousin) and I totally got to talk to him. I tried to convince him to come down to Elgin and "accidentally" meet up. haha. It was a really cool experience.

Well we stayed the night in Elgin and the next day heard of a service project going on so we're like, "ya we can do service". It was helping a family move. No big deal. To make a long story short, 5 hours later we left Elgin to drive back to La Grande. and your right, it shouldn't have taken 5 hours. We were kinda stuck though seeing as how we bummed a ride from someone.

ANYways,

Saturday was pretty awesome. After doing progress records and stuff, we made our way up to Enterprise. Very beautiful drive and place. I had heard ALL about the drive and city in previous areas and it did NOT disappoint.

We went to church Sunday in Enterprise and had lunch with a way fun family. We drove back to La Grande and had dinner with a way cool family. Hooray for cool families!haha.

So

Sunday was also very cool because I got to call home. This was WAY awesome. It's always so fun to hear from home on what's going on and stuff, and its SOOO much easier than writing. haha.

Yesterday we picked up a new investigator who is SUPER prepared. She loved everything we taught and was really really cool.

Well, that's my update. It might be the biggest one yet.

I love ya all and thanks for all you do!

-Love Elder Woods

STOMP - Woods & Forsyth Style Part II

2009-05-07T21:16:00.003-07:00

Here is STOMP PART II
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nRjkXX_6jo

Payette Tour

2009-05-07T14:11:00.001-07:00

Brad sent home a new SD card - This is the lovely town of Payette.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI7MnTIuSjo

They were not making fun of Andy Griffith. This cannot be stressed enough.

2009-05-06T13:57:00.004-07:00

Hey everyone!
So I lucked out and got a last day in Payette. I leave tomorrow morning for La Grande Oregon...oragon...orange. I don't know how to spell it, but that's where I'm going. Its in a different time zone and WAY far from anyone else missionary-wise. My new comp is Elder Anderson. I've only met him a few times. He's 6'9". Crazy tall. I might be wearing a neck brace in a few weeks from looking up. Oh well. I look pretty forward to it. It should be fun.
But this week has been Pretty insane. (pretty with a capital P). Its been a lot of good-byes and pictures with people. I really will miss Payette. Its been my longest area and a TON of fun. There should be pictures of the Berrymans, the Youngbergs, Brother Fricke, Elder Boyes (going home thursday) and elder Wenzel (not going home Thursday, but one of my favorites), and...I can't remember what the other picture is. But it should be good. I'll include other pictures (of other families I gotta see tonight) next week. So I'll get down to the good story of the week. This Sunday (ya, another crazy Sunday). Jeremy came to church with us and we had a good time. It was pretty fun. It rained a little throughout the whole thing, but not too bad. During the second ward we went to is when the crazyness happened. So we're in class and the rain gets harder and harder. Then is the loudest rain I've ever heard. Why you ask? well, its because it was crazy huge HAIL and crazy strong wind! So I'm like, "yes, this is a really cool storm." I got some cool video of the hail. Anyways, this guy comes up and he's like, "well,there is a tornado warning for this area so we need to gather in the gym away from the windows". My companion (being from Missouri) is like a tornado expert and the hail all of a sudden stops and he turns to me and is like, "...its here..." OH MAN! I was so excited! It was totally gonna be like Twister. But, the tornado passed us. It was still pretty wild. After church on our drive home there were trees sideways,and branches in the road. It was pretty crazy.
Well, I gotta run.
I hope you all have a wonderfun mothers day and I'll talk to ya from LaGrande!
-Elder Woods

STOMP - Woods & Forsyth Style

2009-05-06T11:57:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLNpemxjsr4
I just feel sorry for their neighbors!!!

A Banjo, a Fat Guy and a Baptism

2009-04-28T14:22:00.003-07:00

Hello one and all!

This week has been a week of many ups and downs. Its cool though. The work will go forth.

We had interviews on Wed and it sounds like I'm leaving. I have no idea where though. I'm guessing Boise or Nampa, which probably means I'll get sent to Oakley again or somethin. haha. That day we also had three baptismal interviews set up for our candidates...one showed up. One of us forgot another had a baseball and the other just straight up ditched us. It's ok.

Thursday and Fri we actually did quite a bit of service. We got roped into Friday's service by attending the scout auction dinner thing. It was actually way cool. This is where I played the banjo and looked like and idiot doing it.(but who can really look cool playing the banjo? You can give Van Halen a banjo and make him look like George McFly).

We helped some members in our ward move a shed. A whole shed. haha. It was pretty crazy. I don't have pictures because I didn't bring my camera. I thought we were moving stuff IN a shed. This was not the case. We had to lift it and put it on a trailer. It was pretty fun. haha.

Saturday was the baptism. It was really good. Matt (the guy getting baptized)actually said the talk on baptism. I've never seen that...ever! haha.It was pretty awesome.

We're still pretty hopeful about the other two and trying our hardest. One might be this Sat., but we don't know about the other.

Anyways, on Sunday, I awoke to learn what "hay fever" is. Um...this sucks for anyone who doesn't know what it is. Basically it's this disease that causes your face to explode. Not too fun. haha. I had never had allergy problems so it was all pretty new. I started taking this citrus burst flavored Alavert. But I've learned on my mission, that if medicine tastes good, it doesn't do crap. Which is the case here as well. But it does taste WAY good! haha.

Well, I gotta get running. Next week I will either be in my new area or about to be. I'll let you all know.

I love ya tons!
-Elder Woods

p.s. The fat guy is just some random fat guy elder Forsyth and I saw outside our window that made us laugh for like 1/2 and hour.

You Are In "Eye De Ho" (Think Music Man)

2009-04-21T12:07:00.002-07:00

The Drapers '09
The Drapers '08

Hello everyone!

This week has been pretty good. The main focus on this past week was taking part in a mission musical about Christ. Now I know what you might be thinking (I think it everytime I talk about it), its not a broadway type musical with singing and dancing. If it was they wouldn't let me be in it. Probably because I would show up to the auditions dressed as a cast member from CATS!. haha.

People were split into 3 categories: Singers, narrators, and testimoniers...testimony givers...bearers of testimony...whatever.haha. I was a narrator and had to have my part memorized. I also had the longest part to memorize. This was not too fun. We had a practice on Monday where we were allowed to read from the script if we had to. I tried to see how far I could get off my memory, and made it to about the 3rd or 4th word before pulling out the script. I tried my hardest to continue memorizing it until I had it DOWN!...or so I though.

Thursday was the 1st show in Nampa. A roaring crowd of 8 people showed up (which was good. you'll see why). I got up to do my part and said the 1st 3/4ths with super confidence. That was it. Just 3/4ths of it. After that I completely blanked. I'm not sure how long I was up there, but it felt like YEARS! I was just standing there totally blank. (I wish I could have been in the audience. It must have been hilarious. haha). An Elder behind me had to say the next few words and it all came back to me and I finished, sat down, and cried myself to sleep.haha. So I continued practicing...ALOT!

On Sunday was the Middleton show. Longtime fans of the blog you will note that Middleton was my 1st area. It was WAY cool because TONS of people showed up and I totally remembered a bunch of them. Including the Drapers, one of my favorite families in the world (see picture). Anyways, after much prayer, I got up to do my part and NAILED it. It was awesome. I spent the rest of that night thanking my Heavenly Father for giving me strength and not looking like an idiot again. haha. That was really the highlight of the week.

Plus this bus I found that says "Jews for Jesus". I'm baffled at it too don't worry. haha. Pretty entertaining.

This Saturday we might have 3 baptisms (we had to postpone one because our investigator broke his collar-bone that day). It should be awesome. But I gotta run.

I love you all.

Thanks again for all you do.

-Elder Woods

The Armor of Easter

2009-04-14T13:26:00.010-07:00

Me wearing the armor of Easter (haha, I'm retarded)

Native Idaho Zebra in its natural habitat

Little kid patroling the streets (sooo funny. I couldn't have gotten any luckier with this picture. haha.)

A crazy castle in Weiser

Red Sky

My companion chasing sheep

So this week has been awesome/INSANE!

Last Tuesday, we got to be part of a devotional type thing called "The Last Week of Christ". It was really cool. It was a walk through tour in the church with each room being set up to depict a different day in the last week of Christ. It was way cool. The crucifixion room was by far the most powerful. We watched a film called "The Lamb of God" and during the crucifixion scene in that movie, when Christ was being nailed to the cross, whenever the hammer would come down on Christ, someone in the back of the room actually hit a railroad tie into a thick block of wood on the ground. You could totally feel each hit and it was WAY powerful. We were in charge of the next room, the Resurrection and appearance in the Book of Mormon. We had the overflow and chapel, so we had all the lights off in the overflow (a tiny light for safety), a fog machine going, and read from 3rd Nephi ch 8, where it is complete darkness. We talked about how alone and afraid you would feel in this place for 3 days, we than said 3 days had passed and opened the door to the chapel where we had in "Testaments" playing where Jesus appears. It was pretty cool. But fog machine will give you the biggest headache ever if you're exposed to it too much. Oh man I coulda swore I had a tumor! haha. So if ever your thinking, "hey I should use a fog machine in this enclosed area. That's a good decision" think again! haha.

Wednesday, we had exchanges and one of my ZL's came named elder Finau. He's from Tonga, and he's awesome. haha. We had a ton of fun and got a lot done in Weiser, including finding this castle and trackting it out. Ya, people live there. haha.

Thursday night, Elder Forsyth decided, "hey, it would be a great idea to stab a knife through my thumb" so he did. haha. He was trying to fix his watch and it slipped and went in one side and out the other. CRAZY! So we found ourselves at the hospital.They said it didn't need stitching, but antibiotics. Crazy stuff. Haha.

We also are now a part of a missionary musical made my Elder Grant(yeah) and Elder Ely. We are both narrators and practiced yesterday. Its' REALLY cool.

Well, I gotta run. Baptism update is awesome. We have a baptism this Saturday, this Sunday, and next Saturday. haha. YES!

I love ya all!

-Elder Woods

Conference & Dayquil

2009-04-07T11:53:00.007-07:00

Elder Grant (Brad's trainer)

Zone Conference Pic's

Hello!

I loved conference, except I was pretty dang sick. I was living my life 4 hours at a time as I told the family we watched conference with. That was how often I could take the Dayquil I was taking. haha. I loved Perry's talk. Hooray member missionary work! haha. It was soooo awesome. I took a ton of notes because, like I said I was pretty sick and didn't catch everything so I'll have to go over my notes.

Our week has been really good. Really busy. We had zone conference the day before actual conference. Pretty awesome. Comp is awesome.

On the 18th is David Alano's baptism. On the 25th is Matt Wrights baptism. James Peterson and Whitney Cowgill are both praying about dates. Pretty awesome.

I DID get my easter package. It was WAY good. Thank you sooo much!

That's so awesome you talked to Elder Lehman. HE is the coolest! By far the best missionary in this mission.

Hey! The day in between when Emily meets the anti-christ and when she walks is my 1 year mark! Hooray! haha.

Well I gotta run.

I love ya tons!

Your favorite (and also least favorite) son

Elder Woods

"Luke? Who's Luke?" -Lenny

2009-03-31T17:12:00.005-07:00

Brad didn't send any pictures this week. Brad's companion Elder Forsyth is also a drummer and in honor of him and this being WGAZ-Drumline Season I thought I would post pictures of "Bradley the drummer". Hahah, they are funny.

Hello!

So this week has really been pretty hectic. We've been learning our new area of Weiser and setting up miles, dinners, and splits. It's really been a nightmare.

On the plus side, we got permission to still teach Shane and Whitney (even though they are out of our area). That's pretty awesome.

We went to church in Weiser on Sunday. I guess Elder Sagato had told people that Weiser wouldn't have ANY missionaries so we had to spend a good amount of time convincing people that we were actually the Weiser missionaries. haha. During the third ward, someone was bearing there testimony and all the power went out. Pretty crazy. No one knew what to do. It was pretty funny.

Well, I gotta run. Hope all it well.

Love ya!

-Elder Woods

March Madness?

2009-03-24T15:03:00.003-07:00

Sam and April Luna BaptismGolfing?

Brother Fife

Fruitland Ward Mission Leader

Payette, ID

Hello Everyone!

Good news and bad news time. We'll start with the good because if I started with the bad it wouldn't make sense at all. haha.

Good: Transfer calls came and I am staying with Elder Forsythe. Hooray! Only, some HUGE changes have occurred. Elder Sagato (our third wheel...er...companion) is going out to Emmett. This means that Elder Forsyth and I are now covering Payette and Weiser. Pretty awesome. BUT! That also means we are loosing our Ontario ward to the Zone leaders and our Fruitland Ward to the Fruitland Elders. We will now only cover 2 Payette wards and 3 Weiser wards. We are however getting permission to still teach Whitney in Fruitland. So not all terrible. But Fruitland is totally the ward we put the most work into only to lose it.

Pretty sad, but its all good. Weiser has a lot of good things going for it. We met an investigator and he's like, "ya, I'm a drummer in high school" YES!!!! hahaha. Pretty awesome.

Transfers are tomorrow so thats when all the changin will go down. Today we played a pretty fun game of golf. Actually, let me correct that, Elder Forsyth, Sagato, and Boyes played a fun game of golf while Elder Hunziker and I had a BLAST driving around in the cart. haha. Lot of fun.

Well, I gotta run. Thanks for stayin tuned. Alot of good stuff is going down.

Love ya!

-Elder Woods

Everything is Alright (Motion City Soundtrack)

2009-03-17T12:14:00.003-07:00

Me playing a tiny drum set
A sunset (reminds me of the cover of the movie Big Fish) Elder forsyth eating a raw onion (super gross)

Jordan Berryman's Court of Honor

Hey everyone!

This week has been also crazy. Not crazy enough to be part 3 though. haha. On Wednesday, I went to Ontario with Elder Hunziker. It was pretty fun. We went trackting and knocked on the door of a calvery chapel preacher. He had a few...choice...words to say to us. haha. But it was pretty fun being with Elder Hunziker.

We had dinner on a farm and this farmer grew pigs for a living and I swear these things would make the Cloverfield monster scared. THEY WERE HUGE!!! They had to be some sort of mutant pig. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera, but they were creepy.

Thursday and Friday we were in Weiser (pronounced like the band Weezer...who owns), it was weird to be in a new area, but kinda cool as well. We met some cool people. It's rumored we might cover both areas next transfer. I don't know if that's even true in the least bit, but I think it would be pretty fun. We'd be WAY busy.

Sat we met with Whitney and talked about baptism. She said it was something she really wanted, but didn't know when the right time was. We told her the only person that would know that is God and challenged her to pray about it. Pretty awesome.

On Sunday, we went to a court of honor for Jordon Berryman in Payette. He's awesome. It reminded me of mine and how much of an Eagle Scout I didn't look like with my crazy black hair. haha.

Well, I gotta run. Hope all is well for you and I love ya tons!

-Elder Woods

Crazy Week Part Deux!!!

2009-03-10T15:38:00.003-07:00

So we've had yet another crazy week. Which is awesome. Crazy weeks own. It's not as...graphic as last week. haha.

It started off, we got a broken car from La Grande shipped to us and we were given the responsibility to get it fixed. Out of nowhere. So we got it fixed Wednesday, and had Jerry's baptismal interview. He did awesome.

Thursday we did the best lesson of my entire mission with Whitney. We did a walk through of the church/ plan of salvation. It was SOOOOO cool. Ask me about it when I get home. It might take a while to explain. Just know it was beyond awesome.

I guess on Friday, Jerry and his wife got in a fight. When Sister Fields (his fellowshipper) asked him if he's still getting baptized, he said, "NOTHING is going to stop me from getting baptized". Pretty awesome. Sat was Jerry's baptism. It went really well. That night is when the real craziness began. The elders in Weiser (the neighboring area) got split up and one went to Boise and one went to us. We are now in a threesome. His name is Elder Sagato. He's from Samoa. We now cover Weiser and Payette for a few weeks. Insane.

Well, I gotta run. Hope all is well for you.

With Love- Elder Woods

This is how it all started just one year ago!!!

Jersey Birdy?

2009-03-03T16:21:00.005-07:00

Hello!

How is everyone? This week has literally been the most interesting week of my mission. Its been CRAZY! So I'll go day by day.

Monday- We picked up a new investigator named Whitney Cowhill. Her husband is a member and really a cool guy. I asked him what kind of music he listened to and he's like, "oh, I don't think you would know it. But have you ever heard of Coheed and Cambria or Chiodos?" hahaha.(two of my favorite bands ever) So we get along pretty well. It was really great.

Tuesday-P-day. Way fun. We went to some CRAZY pawn shop with tons of random crap. It was crazy! haha

Wednesday- We got a call to go do some service. They told us to "bring clothes you can throw away". So...kinda a red flag. They than told us their cow died. So we changed and go over to help and as we round the corner to there backyard, we see one of the most gross sights I've ever seen. There is a dead cow on the ground and some of his insides are now his outsides. But! They weren't completely out. That's where we came in. We had to help make ALL of is insides outsides. Not fun.After that, (I thought we were done) we had to hang it in a tree...cause I guess that's what you do...ew...So this guy comes over with his tractor and chains this cow to it and lifts it into the tree. It is than my responsibility to tie it into the tree. um...ya, crazy.haha. But we finally got the job done and luckily, we had an appointment to get to because they started skinning it. Whoa.

Thursday-I was in McCall with Elder Pineda. He is a spanish/english missionary. We did a ton of work. Only that work...was in spanish. If you wanna feel utterly useless in your life, go teach a lesson (or 4)with a spanish missionary not knowing spanish. haha. The reason this happened is because all the english appointments fell through. Oh man.It was tough. I could understand all of it, but couldn't put in any input. haha. It was pretty crazy. But, that night it snowed like CRAZY!!! like, a few feet. But it was WAY insane.

Friday- Due to the conditions at McCall (and teaching someone that was sick) I was sick. Just like a terrible headache/cough cold crap. Not too fun.

Saturday-Last day of the month so we had a TON of miles to kill. We drove our progress records out to every bishop and ward mission leader. It was pretty crazy. We got a ton of referrals and people to go see off of it. It was way good. I also decided, "hey, let's go to the chinese buffet here in town for lunch". As soon as we left (very full) our phone rang and it was dinner, "how do you boys like your steaks cooked and lobster?" DANG!!! But I did eat it and felt like a total pig. haha. The husband was a HUGE Beatles fan so we talked for a while.

Sunday-Church. We had 3 investigators show up. Crazy enough. Plus we taught a 1st lesson to a whole young men's group. (I had totally forgotten how annoying deacons are haha)

Monday- Dead cow part 2. We went back over to help with the cow, only now we were cutting it. They enlisted the help of their neighbor. We brought it into his house and began cutting it up into steaks and burger meat and stuff. The coolest part, is that their neighbor isn't a member and he asked about 4 million questions about the church with as solid interest. He was a really cool guy and he said he wanted us to some back and talk some more. Way cool.

Well, that was my crazy week. Its been WAY fun and insane. Hope all is well for you and I love you all tons!

-Elder Woods

New Videos

2009-02-27T07:58:00.001-07:00

Brad wanted me to upload some of his video for your enjoyment!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c03NZe561GY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rHbIxWqDng
I'll post more later.

A Mini Update

2009-02-24T13:02:00.003-07:00

Hey!

This will prolly be a little short. Today is pretty full. We're about to go do some service. So training is so Really Really fun. My comp is super cool and we have a blast together. Our baptism is still on target for March 7.
His name is Jerry Troello. His wife was a recent convert and so he decided he wanted to hear the lessons and BAM, now we're here. haha. He was being taught before I got here. He's awesome. Haha, ya, there is some funny videos on that cam. Did you see the one where we ate dog treats? haha. That was a funny story.
Ok, well, I have to run.
Thanks for all you do!
-Elder Woods

(This is the letter I got this week with Brad's permission to publish parts of it, thanks for reading)

A rosary and candles suggested but not required.

2009-02-17T14:22:00.006-07:00

Hey,

This week has been pretty crazy. (not as crazy as last week, but a healthy amount of insane for sure.) We've been able to meet with some really cool people and play Volleyball. I landed on my knee wrong and it hurt, but after getting X-rays, its all good. YAY! haha. Hey! that's tight. (He went to a clinic called "The Holy Rosary Clinic". Since he didn't change religions I hope they told him the truth. He and other Elders in his mission were victims of Debit Card fraud and lost all their cash for the month. His new companion, Elder Forsyth is from Springfield Missouri and Brad says, "Training owns! Its so fun. Prolly because I have a really really cool comp. He's a drummer, how could he be any thing but cool.)

Our investigator Jerry now has a baptismal date of March 7th. We're pretty excited. He's way cool. Well, sorry this blog is pretty short. In my defense I just emailed 4 days ago. haha.

I love ya all!

-Elder Woods

I thought I'd post a picture of Elder and Sister Woods with our official badges since Brad didn't send pictures. Being a missionary is AWESOME.

Tour of Oakley

2009-02-13T23:09:00.001-07:00

I got this back in October and just figured out how to post it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyPac7tV5MI

Elder Papa Woods

2009-02-12T13:10:00.007-07:00

What is up my friends?

I hope all is awesome. My week has been absolutely insane. Literally the craziest week in my mission. Don't believe me? Check this out.

On Saturday, Jeffery R Holland came and spoke to our mission. (told ya. crazy. haha). It was absolutely amazing. He is the funniest/most intimidating guy ever. But I was basically crying laughing the whole time. But on a spiritual plane, oh my goodness...he's amazing. I learned SOOOOO much.

That same day, was transfers. It makes sense because the entire mission was together so we just kinda switched. EXCEPT, I was getting a new missionary and they didn't come in until Tuesday. That meant I was paired up with Elder Chain in Fruitland (ya, it does sound gay) and we covered both areas. It was crazy. Since we had two areas, we kinda just decided to do 2 dinners instead of cancelling. We only did this once, since the meal was the EXACT same! Down to the drink options. hahaha. Pretty funny.

On Sunday, I spoke in Payette 2nd ward. I find speaking to be a crap load easier and actually enjoyable now. (I'm hoping he used his "church words") pretty tight. Anyways, on Monday, the assistants came and picked Elder Chain and I up and took us to Boise where we stayed the night and waited for our new missionaries. We got them Tuesday, and they are way good. My new comp is Elder Forsyth. He's WAY cool. He's a total drummer. Winter drum-line/drumset, the whole thing baby! Way tight. So I decided to get some very cool members (the Berrymans) to hook up a tight "greenie" dinner. Notice the picture. Very very cool. Pears, broccoli (I don't know how to spell that), green drink (not juice...drink. haha. Sugar, water, green), and other green things. It was way cool.

That basically brings us to today! Yesterday we were wicked busy with district meeting in Council and stuff. But I'm way excited. He's an awesome kid and is totally prepared. Next week I'll have pics and stuff.

Thanks again for all you do.

Love ya! -Elder Woods

Up to McCall - Big Buns and Bigger Dragons

2009-02-03T16:14:00.008-07:00

Hello!

So today was pretty crazy. We made the LONG drive up to McCall today as the AP's came and picked up most of our zone to go to the McCall ice festival. These are some of the carvings. It was pretty insane! That's not even half of them. (The theme was dragons. I'm not obsessed with dragons. haha). There were some slides and crazy stuff made out of ice. We than went to a place called the Pancake house. Famous for there large portions. I ordered a breakfast sandwich and was like, oh look, a "giant" cinamon roll is only like $2. I'll get that too. We wait a while for our food and the waitress brings out the most massive cinimmon roll I or any othe the other Elders had ever seen. They all busted out there cameras and took pics. ITS WAS HUGE!! As Jim Gaffigan would say, 8 pounds of cake. But I did finish it and paid the price. haha.

We had interviews and it sounds like Elder Reese is leaving. I'll get back to you more when I learn more.

Ok, so I have to share this before I gotta run. Last Sunday in Payette 1st ward, we had an entire meeting on missionary work. It was extremely powerful and brought a new excitment. We felt and saw that this Sunday, when we received 44 names to visit! Holy MAN!! So awesome. So we should be pretty busy for the next good while.

Well, I hope all is well for you.

Love ya all!

-Elder Woods

P.s. Hell didn't freeze over because the Cardinals didn't win, but Idaho still did. ugh...haha

Exactly inbetween the equator and the north pole.

Busy=awesome!

2009-01-27T15:38:00.002-07:00

Hey everybody! How goes life?

So, I want to start by talking about an "inversion". Ever heard about it? I hadn't either. But to sum it up, I haven't seen the sun in a month. No joke! haha, its super crazy. People here say you have to go into survival mode. So we've been trying to entertain ourselves, as you can see in the pictures. haha.

Well Payette is awesome other than the lack of sun-shine. We've got a lot of work rolling in Fruitland and Ontario. This up coming week is pretty crazy. We have interviews tomorrow, exchanges with Mccall (3 hours away), district meetings and stake meetings and a whole bunch of other stuff. I'm pretty stoked. Busy=awesome!

The other day we were tracting (yes, I went tracting. ugh...), but we met a man named Clayton, who invited us in and wanted to here our message. After hearing it, he wanted us to come back and give him more. He's awesome. He's a way good guitar player and we're looking for a place to jam sometime. haha. He's way cool.

Well, I hope you all have had and will have a great week. Enjoy the nice sun! haha.

Love ya!

-Elder woods

Idaho's not the only thing freezing over!!

2009-01-20T20:00:00.004-07:00

Hello one and all!! So first off, lets get this out of the way. Cardinals are in the Super-Bowl?! The team that hasn't won a play-off game in 30 years is now in the Super-Bowl?! haha. Thats sooooo insane! I think its the fastest I've ever jumped on the band wagon though. haha. Well the work here is good. Actually, its really good. Maybe even great! haha. We have a lot of work rolling in Ontario, which is cool because I get to go to another state. FYI, you can't pump your own gas in Oregon. Just in case you wanted to know. I pulled up to a gas station and was getting out and this random guy came up and asked for my credit card and stuff, I thought he was just a really nice mugger. haha. Pretty awesome. In other very random news, 1 year ago Sunday (the 18th), New York was attacked by the Cloverfield monster. I love that movie. haha. So that was way random, and probably means I should go. haha. I love you all and hope all is well! -

Elder Woods

p.s. Picture 1, this amused me. Its literally icicles on icicle lights. haha.

#2 is me with a tiny puppy. awwwwww...

Brad went to the temple today after throwing up all morning. Now that's dedication.

FLDS?

2009-01-13T11:50:00.002-07:00

Hello Friends!

How is everyone? I hope well. Payette is amazing. People are all really cool and friendly, and its not near as cold (or windy) as Burley was. We have a TON of great work going on and its really been a blast. Just Sunday, we had a HUGE multi-stake missionary meeting. It was for all the bishops, stake presidents, high councilors over missionary work, and ward mission leaders...and we came too. haha. Our Mission President was there along with Elder Walker of the 70. It was really great. Alot of great things are happening and its really cool to be a part of it. Well, my time is very short today, but I did throw in some pics. The first is the stuff my fam sent for my birthday. It was kinda crazy because Payette is literally known as "Home of the Pirates". I'll take a picture of one of the signs to show ya. haha. The second is one of our wards in Fruitland, I just couldn't miss such a great photo opportunity. haha. And the last one, we went to a dinner and the family was concerned about us getting spaghetti sauce all over our white shirts, so we got to wear these beauties. haha. It was pretty sweet. Well, I gotta run. I love you all and hope all is well!

-Elder woods

Happy 20th Brad and 1st Blog of the Year

2009-01-05T21:51:00.010-07:00

(I'm sure Brad would have picked these pictures if he were here - haha)

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!

It is officially 09 and I am officially transferred. I am now in Payette Idaho. Its right on the border of Idaho and Oregon. In fact we do all our shopping in Ontario Oregon. (no sales tax! ya! haha) Its a sweet little town with a TON of potential. My comp is Elder Reese from Glendale AZ. He's a pretty cool kid. We went to a ward party for New Years and it was alright. Yesterday was my birthday. I finally turned 15! yay! haha. No...I'm 20...I am no longer a teenager. But its all cool. Well, I gotta run. Sorry there is no pics, I forgot my camera, but you should be getting ALOT more pics soon when I send my camera home. Love ya all tons and thanks so much for all you do!

-Elder Woods

These are the questions I asked this week and Brad's answers. He only answers if I ask specifically and he doesn't elaborate.

How's your new companion? New comp is cool.

How is being a follow-up trainer? Follow up trainer is ok

How is being a senior companion? Senior comp is ok.

How is your new wards? Wards are WAY cool. Love missionaries.

How many wards do you cover? We only cover 4 wards.

Anyone to teach? We do have people to teach and they are all pretty close. Way cool.

How's your new apartment? Apartment is cool

How is your new town? Town is cool, I liked Burley a little more. But Ontario is pretty tight.

How was your Birthday?Birthday was good. I went to Taco Bell. This is the 1st area I've been in that's had one so I haven't been there in a while. Way good. haha.

Happy New Blog

2008-12-30T15:37:00.003-07:00

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

2008-12-29T07:51:00.005-07:00

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

2008-12-16T17:40:00.006-07:00

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?

2008-12-10T07:56:00.003-07:00

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

2008-12-02T19:35:00.003-07:00

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

2008-12-01T12:07:00.003-07:00

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!

2008-11-25T18:57:00.002-07:00

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!!

2008-11-19T13:33:00.002-07:00

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...

2008-11-17T16:20:00.006-07:00

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

2008-11-12T11:32:00.002-07:00

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

2008-11-06T10:14:00.004-07:00

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?

2008-10-28T12:16:00.004-07:00

(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)

2008-10-21T14:25:00.004-07:00

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

2008-10-17T18:17:00.003-07:00

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.