There and back agian...and again (7/7/13)

Dear Family and Friends,

The week is over. It was long and hard, but it was one of the best weeks of my mission. There is never a dull moment during transfer week, especially when you have 28 arriving missionaries! Yeah!! There were moments of utter chaos and insanity, but it is part of life and it is something that we learn to live with and love. We have currently broken even on this transfer, with 28 missionaries departing and 28 incoming. Only 8 of the 28 leaving went home, the rest went to the Baguio mission with two of our zones. Basically we lost 28 Elders and got 20 sisters and 8 Elders (numbers are approximate). Among our new Elders was Elder B! He was in my district in the MTC almost a year ago but returned home. He is back out now and it was great to see him. Elder VB and I were the first missionaries that he saw and the look on his face was priceless. Man that was awesome. And his trainer is Elder T, who was his companion in the MTC! Crazy world!

One of the adventures that was part of the week was riding from the Airport to the Mission home, on the back of a jeepney full of luggage, in the pouring freezing rain. We needed to have a jeepney for the missionaries and a jeepney for the luggage and Elder B, Elder A and I rode on the back of the luggage one. It started raining as we left the airport parking lot and two minutes later it was dumping buckets and we were soaked to the bone. It was handy though, since we could help the new sisters get inside the mission home without getting anymore wet ourselves. I love new missionaries. They are so full of energy and enthusiastic about the work. The important thing is to stay that way for the duration of the mission.

The reason for the title of this email is that we went to Aparri an Buguey and back again, again. Just over a week later us four office Elders made the trip again, though this time it took two days, since we got a late start on Friday. It was a long yet enjoyable trip. The other Elders here in the office are awesome and it makes the time go fast when you are in a truck for over 10 hours.

On Thursday we did personal study with the new missionaries and I learned a bunch from Alma 34:8-16. This short passage is of course about the atonement and why it is central to everything Heavenly Father has planned. It is through the atonement that repentance is possible and we can return to life with God when this life is over. We have to prove our selves by exercising faith unto repentance so that we may be encircled by the arms of mercy. Christ has already paid the price for our sins. That is the more excellent way talked about by Moroni in Ether 12. " In the gift of his Son God hath prepared a more excellent way". I know that Christ is our savior and that by his infinite and eternal sacrifice we can return to the presence of our Heavenly Father. All else in the gospel hinges on this fact.

Keep up the faith everyone and keep looking for missionary experiences. Mahal kita!

Elder Ryne Warren Wood