Real Holy Men Eat Bugs

Hello one and all!

This week has been a little crazy. But REALLY fun. We have been teaching some sweet lessons at the seminary! Its rockin! It reminds me of when I was back in seminary and how awesome Brother Ray was. It also showed me how much I've grown spiritually on my mission. Holy man! haha. But one of the things they did, was they had a lesson on John the Baptist and how when he was in the wilderness, he ate locusts and honey. So the sem teacher here made grasshoppers and some of the kids ate it with honey. It was pretty gross, but pretty awesome. So BIG news (that I can't really say anything for sure of), but it SOUNDS like, both Elder Tanner and I will be leaving Oakley. Nothing is for sure, but we had interviews on Thursday and it sounded like Burley and Oakley are going to be combined. There's just not enough work in Oakley. So I really have no clue what's happening. I'll let ya'll know when I find out as well. haha. Well, I think I'm pretty behind on pics, so I'll try to send a few. Thanks again for reading. I love ya tons. -Elder Woods

Elder Drummer Boy

(It's even a red set!!!!)

Put Your Shoulder To the Wheel (and foot off the gas)

Hello one and all!
This week has been pretty crazy. Alot of ups and downs. We had a lot of great teaching appointments and a lot of great teaching appointments fall through. haha. But it's all good. As for downs, the assistants called and told us they were taking 100 miles off of our car's allotment. With seven days left! And our area is SO big we need alot more miles to get out to Pella and View. So now with less miles, our work has just become about 800 times harder. But we'll just push along. With our shoulder to the wheel. Because if we push our car it can't track miles. haha. Just kidding. A few ups this week, we have a baptism in Grouse Creek! ya! haha. We are going down again with the Zone leaders this time, teaching her ALL the lessons and doing the interview...in one day! Crazy! But it sounds pretty awesome. Another cool thing, was just yesterday, we got a referral from someone who wants to meet with us in Oakley. wow! A Non-member in Oakley.(Oakley is 90% members) Sweet! So the work here is awesome. We of course have our difficulties and road blocks, but Joseph Smith once said, "We can go out into the world, and share our message unhindered and reach everyone. And we can go into the world sharing our message with opposition and people blocking our way, and reach everyone only faster". Pretty awesome. Thank you all and I love ya tons! -Elder Woods
p.s. Sorry about the no pictures. I have a bunch but I can't send them from the Burly Library. Lame!

Oakley in the News!!!

Hello everyone! I am in Burley doing email, so I am sans camera right now. So next week I'll have to get some pics up. It's really been a bitter-sweet week due to one thing. Our best investigator Stacy, is no longer our investigator. She was progressing amazingly, reading the Book of Mormon and studying and doing so good. Somewhere along the lines, we heard a rumor that she might already be baptized. So we gave her name to one of the clerks and learned...yes. She was baptized December 9th, 2000. But it's still very good that we brought one of God's children back into his fold. Not a whole lot else big happened. We've been working with a lot of less actives which is different, but I love it. This work is amazing. Before I leave, if you get the church news paper thing, you'll notice that Oakley is featured! ya! It's so cool. I got mine autographed! If not, I think its online. Pretty cool. Well, sorry this entry is pretty lame. But I love you all!
-Elder Woods



(Brad didn't send this picture, but he would have, if he would have seen it.)

The Harvest

This week was absolutely amazing. We had a lot of great lessons this week. Last week, we went to the Twin Falls Temple and did a session.

We were the 1st missionaries in that Temple. Pretty awesome. On the way back, I saw what looked like a barn, but it was actually a drive though grocery store!

Insane!

On Friday, we had an exchange, so Elder Cowand and I worked over in Pella. That night was the Pella harvest dinner.

This tractor actually makes ice cream. No joke! Pretty crazy! It was a lot of fun and a lot of good food.

This weekend was the biggest highlight of my mission so far. On Saturday and Sunday, I got the opportunity and blessing to meet and hear from Elder Quinton L Cook (of the 12) and Elder Hammond (of the 70). They were absolutely amazing. When they entered the room, the Spirit was felt about 4 times stronger. Elder Hammond is THE most eloquent speaker I've ever heard. He could totally be a college English professor or something. It was amazing. They reorganized the Stake Presidency. We lost two Bishops who were moved into the Stake Presidency, so...work is weird. Apparently (I didn't know this) when a Bishop if moved up to be the Stake President or Councelor (until they find a new Bishop) they are the acting Stake President /Councelor AND the Bishop over his ward. That's a crazy week! Sunday was amazing. We had our investigator Stacy come and watch Stake Conference. Elder Tanner and I were actually in the Choir. Alot of fun. But afterwards, we introduced Stacy to Elder Cook and Elder Hammond. (I love Elder Hammond even more for this), the 1st thing he said to her was, "Oh! This is THE Stacy Tannehill. We are so blessed to meet you today. Thank you SO much for coming. Do you have a baptism date yet?" haha. It was awesome. So Straightforward. At that time we didn't have a date for her, but we set one yesterday. We asked her to pray about the 27th. She's awesome. She made some great friends and they're reading through the Book of Mormon and stuff. Way cool.

Well, this entry has been pretty long. thanks for Enduring To the End. haha. I love you all.

Thanks again!

-Elder Woods

The definition of random...

...Is probably this blog entry.

Or at least the pictures in it. Let me explain them first:

1st - The Cow

This cow was in the middle of town. We saw it at the gas station and it walked across main into someones front yard. Yes, I thought it was really weird, everyone else thought it was totally normal. haha.

2nd - The Accordian

This was at a members house we had dinner at...its incredibly random. But she did let me play it, and it's as weird (if not more weird) than one could possibly imagine.

3rd - The Oakley Sign

I haven't taken a pic of an Oakley sign, so I thought I'd jump on it. My favorite part of this sign is the bottom, where it says, "Gateway to City of Rocks" a.k.a "You have to drive through here to get somewhere else. We're only in the way" haha. I love Oakley though. It truly is an amazing place.

4th - The Grouse Creek Ward Sign

Yes! This week we finally got out to Grouse Creek Utah. Elder Tanner and I were the 1st Idaho Boise Missionaries in Utah...legally. It was somethin' else. There was about 30 people there, the majority being Labor Day visitors. Elder Tanner and I both spoke. Afterwards, we had dinner with the bishop and his wife. The members in Grouse Creek are amazingly faithful. No distance is too far and no task is too hard for them. They were also super nice.

Well, that's it for my pics, which actually sums up this week nice. Wednesday we had a lesson with the Gee's (an inactive couple who want to go to the temple. Which is actually where we're going later today. We'll be the 1st missionaries in the Twin Falls Temple. yes!) and it was great. They are basically the nicest people on the face of the earth. Seriously. I love them. We've been working with alot of less active people, and they're all great. (a trend I'm starting to see). So work is picking up. Its awesome. On labor daybor (for Emily) we were able to do a service project for our neighbors...on our house. Yes! haha. Its was fun. We did alot on it. Next week we're gonna start painting and stuff. I'll send pics. Well, I gots to run. I love you all. Thanks again for all the love and support. -Elder Woods

Big Celebration - Big Sheep - Big Mountains

Tyrae's Baptism (see last post for more information)


The Home Where Apostle David B. Haight Grew Up (Brad passes it almost every day)

Pretty awesome week. Tyrae's baptism was great. Other than Elder Tanner and I both getting really sick. I had been up the whole night before being sick, and it hit him AT the baptism. Horrible timing. But I got a pretty good laugh out of it. He was so close to making it to the bathroom before he puked. haha. But it was a really good baptism. Work has been good. We've been visiting alot of families and doing some teaching. A lot of sevice too. Its been fun. Today for P-day, the whole zone went out to the City of Rocks. It was amazing. It actually looked alot like Lord of the Rings. I was very surprised. But we had a lot of fun. Check out that sheep though! It looks like it hasn't been sheared since birth! haha. Well, Oakley is a great place. I've grown to love it. This Sunday, Elder Tanner and I are going down to Grouse Creek (or Crik haha) for the 1st time. Its a town of about 16 people with 15 members. haha/ It should be awesome. Stake conference is the week after that, and Elder Quinton L Cook is going to be there. Awesome! So it should be really cool. Thanks so much for the love and support you all give.

Love ya tons. -Elder Woods>

I failed to mention some things in the last blog. 1st off, the Twin Falls temple was dedicated on Sunday. It was absolutely amazing. Plus President Monson is one of the funniest people in the world. The night before that, was the youth cultural temple celebration. It was amazing. The kids were so into it and it was great. There was even a pretty big part about Oakley in it. YES! haha. I don't remember if I mentioned this, but we had our Mission Tour. Elder Kukuchi came and talked to us from 10 am to 6 pm. It was absolutely amazing. I have over 7 1/2 pages of notes. If I missed anything else I'll try to get it next week. Love ya. -Elder Woods

Oakley - Dokley

Well, its been a pretty crazy week. But not near as crazy as this week is going to be. But anyways, this is a really cool story. So we were biking on Sat. and ended up riding 12 miles. Alot was on accident. The guy we went to see wasn't home. But! Blessings come from sacrifice. We were out looking for people (and since it was State Fair week NO ONE was home). So after alot of unsuccess (basically this whole week cause of the fair) we started to get a little discouraged. When all of a sudden, Brother Anhder (our ward mission leader in View 1st ward) calls us with the greatest news ever."Hey missionaries, I have some great news for ya""Awesome Brother Ahnder, that's my favorite kind of news. What's up?""Well, there's a girl here, who is getting adopted into an LDS family. She has already received the lessons and has been going to church for several months now. Well, she wants to be baptized before this Sat so she can go to the temple dedication with her family. I called your Mission President and we got permission to do it as early as Thursday"[this was the point were Elder Tanner and my heads exploded due to shear excitement and amazement]So we started teaching the next day. We went back yesterday and combined two lessons. It was crazy. Today she has her interview, and her baptism is Thursday. HOORAY! Well, I must be off. Stories like this really prove to me that D&C 4 is absolutely true. I love you all.
-Elder Woods
p.s. On the picture, "Look for flying airplanes", as opposed to those crawling or swimming airplanes. haha