Be Brave Bradley, Don't Be Chicken

Hey everybody!

How are ya!

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

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

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

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

Well, I hope all is well for you all.

I love ya tons!

-Elder Woods

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

Hello!

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

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

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

TONS of snow!

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

haha. It was pretty fun.

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

Love ya tons!

-Elder Woods

"Keeping our sights set high!"

Throwing Up and Hiking Down

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

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

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

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!!

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