"Hi, I'm an American. Do you need a ride?" (5/06/2014)

Dear Family and Friends,

So this week have been awesome and I will describe it throughout. And I will explain the title, since it is one of the craziest, coolest experiences that I have had on my mission. Right now we are all waiting for our bus to go back to Cagayan. MLC was yesterday and once again, it was amazing. The focus of this month is increasing expectations through faith in Jesus Christ. The mission here in Laoag as a whole is doing really good, but as President told us (quoting the President of the Philippines) "Good enough is not good enough". We had almost one hundred baptisms this past month, but we should be at almost 200. There is much that we have left to do to improve. We are really going to be pushing this month to have all of the missionaries hitting the Standard of Excellence by increasing and exercising our faith in Christ. One thing that I have learned on my mission is how powerful faith really is. There is nothing that is the will of God cannot be done though our faith in Jesus Christ. Elder R and I later gave the FHE lesson (almost on the spot) about how our faith requires work to bring the desired results. We are super excited for ZTM and the chance to pass the trainings from President and the APs on to the missionaries in the Gonzaga Zone

Our area in Gonzaga is doing great. We found quite a bit on new investigators this past week and some really solid potential investigators. One of our new investigators is a man named Al, who was taught by the missionaries years ago. He is now married and has a young family. He was excited to visit with us again and was wiling ti have us come back. But when we went back he had gone to town to get some stuff. We are trying to get to him again this week. We also taught the brother of an member, Vin, who has been taught on and off for several years. He is actually reading the Gospel Principles manual and we know that through the Spirit and the Gospel of Jesus Christ he will come to know the truth of the things that he has read and become converted to the Savior. 

MJo is also making good progression towards baptism on May 24, She got sick and couldn't come to church on Sunday, but she is still on track to be baptized before the end of May. Currently she is about the only investigator that we have that is making good progress. We don't have very many investigators with baptismal dates currently. We have plans to go out to an area that has been worked in the past and is prime for the Harvest from the sounds of it. The last sisters were not allowed to go there since it is very far, but President has given us permission to go in the mornings. We are still working to get the work of the members under way. There are lots of priesthood holders in Gonzaga who are willing to work with us, we just need to coordinate with them better. We are looking to have big weeks for the rest of the transfer. 

Now for a story to explain the title of the email. On Sunday we were traveling to Laoag for MLC with the Sister Training Leaders. We got off the vehicle at one junction and went to get on another one to head to the place we catch the bus when some one walked up to us and said "Hey, I'm an American. Do you guys need a ride?" The man's name is Av, he is an African American from Portland, Oregon who is here with his wife for the rice harvest. He is an Army reservist and he and his wife drove us the 25 minutes to the junction at Magapit. He was super friendly. When we got to Magapit, we gave him a restoration pamphlet and he swapped numbers with the Sisters whose area he and his wife live in. Hopefully we will hear more about him next month and he will accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that God works in mysterious ways and that  he works through many different means to prepare His children for and introduce them to the gospel. I have seen and met countless people here and I know that God is constantly at work preparing them to receive the restored gospel. So to close, I just want to invite you all to take the opportunity this week to share the gospel with some one you meet for the first time. I know that as you do this God will open their heart and they will feel His love and begin their journey to live with Him again. This is his work and we are all a part of it. 

Thank you for all of the prayers and support!

Love,

Elder R Wood