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| Sher's Baptism |
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Finishers Wanted (9/28/14)
Dear Family and Friends,
Well we went without a bagyo this week. So Sher's baptism
was able to go forward! I attached a picture of it below. It was such a
wonderful experience to get to be a part of the conversion of this wonderful
family. Sher's testimony was very powerful, even though he was very nervous
about sharing it. Being a part of this families journey to covenants has been a
great blessing to me. I have seen the power of the Atonement in their lives and
it is a strong witness to me of the hope that we can all obtain through our
Savior. Sherwin also had an interview on Sunday to receive the Aaronic
priesthood and will be ordained next week. The whole family already have their
sights set on their next goal- temple sealing in 2015.
This past week we also had some success in
"completing" some of our investigator families. The Flos, one of
the part member families who we are trying to get to baptism, is now all
learning together. Bro. Flos used to hate the missionaries and from the
sounds of it wanted to burn the Book of Mormon that they had, but when he got
sick he started to have a greater interest and is now reading from the Book of
Mormon. His wife really wants them to come to church, but they did not come
this week. we are going to find out why tomorrow. We also have started teaching
the father of another investigator family, the Mo family and we are aslo
working to get them to come to church as a family.
We also finally had the chance to teach to one of our recent
converts. I have been trying to teach this little girl for almost 4 months now
and we just had success this past week. We went to their house and Lue (RC)
and her parents, who are less active, were all there. They committed to have
family scripture study everyday and to come to church, but they didn't come to
church. We will be following up with them also. We have many recent converts
that we are trying to help come back to full activity in the church. Most of
them are part member families or less active families. The work of the rescue
is as important as the work of baptizing and it is all done by the same power-
the power of the Atonement.
Well I am heading in to my last week in the field. Everyone
in Pinili keeps reminding me of that, but they are all very sad. There is
nothing that I can do to slow time down or stop it, so the only thing to do is
to use the time that I have been given to the best of my ability. There is much
that I need to do to prepare the people that I am working with to continue to
live the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that the best thing for me to do at
this time is to follow the example of the Savior and to push on, no matter how
hard, until I can say " It is finished". I got an email form Sister
C in Latvia today with a great talk by President Monson titled
"Finishers Wanted". It is an awesome talk. And it came at a great
time. I know that as we all follow the example of the Savior and finish the
work that we have been given. As we follow the example of the Savior and endure
in faith, keeping an eye single to the glory of God. we will see miracles
occur. The Atonement is the way that we will be able to do that. I know that
Jesus Christ is our Savior and His Gospel is the Way. Let us all press on in
the work if the Lord!
Love,
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Super Mario (9/21/14)
Dear Family and Friends,
Right off the bat, I have news about Sher. Unfortunately,
he did not get baptized this last Saturday. His baptism is now this coming
Friday. It wasn't because of anything that he did though. It was because for
the second week in a row, we...
Got hit by a bagyo! Yeah it rolled in Friday night rather
unexpectedly and just tore everything apart. It was the strongest bagyo that I
have experienced on my mission and some of the members say that it is one of
the strongest that has ever hit Ilocos Norte. It was a signal # 2 or 3, we
aren't sure which. But it tore down trees and power lines and some roofs in
Pinili. We got a text from the APs at 5:30 am Saturday morning telling us to
cancel all of our appointments and stay in side. That is why we call it Super
Mario. We had no power from early Saturday morning until earlier this morning.
I have never seen wind so strong. It uprooted trees on one of the main roads in
Pinili. Luckily our apartment didn't flood, but just about everyone else in our
zone did flood. Hopefully this is the last one before I go home.
So like I said Sher's baptism will be this coming Friday.
He has also asked me to be the baptizer. My last one as a full time missionary.
I really love this family so much and I have seen that they have come so far in
the time that I have been teaching them. They are so happy now and all have
such strong testimonies that they love to share with others. I know that the
power of the Atonement has been at work in their lives and that they will
continue to be blessed by it. I have lost count of how many times I have taught
them endure to the end, but they really have a sound understanding of the
importance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as a way of life.
We had zone conference this past week. This was my last got
to bear my departing testimony. I will probably do it again in MLC next week.
It is so strange thinking about all the departing testimonies that I have heard
in the past 24 months. I loved hearing the testimonies of the Elders that were
in the MTC with me and seeing how this has changed all of us. This Elders are
all like brothers to me. Zone Conference was awesome. The focus was on teaching
and President and Sister Barrientos both said many times that teaching is a
skill that we need not just as missionaries, but throughout our lives. All of
the things that we learn, whether in life or on a mission or as a family, are
part of what Heavenly Father teaches us so that we can become like Him. And
that is the most important thing to remember, that we can become like Him, and
everything He does is to that end. That is why he sent his son Jesus Christ. All
things hinge on the Atonement of Christ. That is why He is our light and life.
I know that without a doubt. And that is where I sill stand my life forever, on
His rock.
The work is rolling forward in Pinili. Elder Jun and I
are working hard to get set up the coming months. I love this work and I love
the Savior. I am excited (not trunky) to finish. but I will also miss it with
all my heart. But there is still time to go! Thanks for all of your prayers and
support!
Love,
Sunday, September 14, 2014
WE Thought They Said Signal 3 (9/14/14)
Dear Family and Friends,
We just had a bagyo hit the mission. It was a signal # 3 for
all of northern Luzon. They rate typhoons by wind speed on a scale of 1 to 4.
Signal # 3 is winds of 101 -185 kph. Yeah it is big. But we were all rather
surprised that not much happened. We were on lock down for two days, but here
in our zone, there wasn't any flooding, down power lines, fallen trees or such.
It seemed to have lost some of its momentum crossing the island. But we did
have some strong winds last night and we lost power for a while. The real
question is how did the rest of the mission handle and we have no answer for
that. Hopefully they held up better than last time we got hit.
So this week was a crazy busy week. But the best part of it
happened on Saturday. Sher passed his baptismal interview! His baptism is
this Saturday at 4. This is going to be my last baptism as a full time missionary,
but I couldn't have asked for a better one. IT is going to b e awesome to see
him go into the waters of baptism and join his family on their journey to the
temple. We have spent the past 2 weeks reviewing in depth all of the baptismal
interview questions. Elder Bont, our district leader, said that Sher is
super prepared and had no trouble with any of the questions and shared very
powerful testimony. I have seen great changes in this man's life and I know
that it is all because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. How else could men be
turned from the natural man to saints of God? There is no other way. I know the
power of the Atonement because I have seen it, but most especially because I
have seen it.
I went on exchanges this week with one of the Elders in our
zone. President Barrientos wants all of the zone leaders to go on as many
exchanges as possible each transfer, so we have exchanges with every
companionship. I was with Elder G in Batac on Thursday after district
meeting. We taught to one of their investigators that they have been trying to
get to come to church and prepare for baptism for a while. At first our lesson
on baptism didn't go so well. We weren't being simple enough and he took one of
our examples literally (so be careful how you use comparisons to fields with
farmers). But at the end of the lesson we decided that we could still extend
the commitment to be baptized. And he thought we were wanting to baptize him
right then and there! We explained that we just wanted to set a goal with him
for the 18th of October, and he said that he liked that idea! And the Elders
reported that he just came to church for the first time.
Elder Jun and I are still working hard to keep Pinili
rolling. We have had some trouble with investigators at church these past few
weeks,but we have some goals and plans that will help us get more of them to
come and feel the power of the Restored Gospel. We had 2 come yesterday, one of
whom we hadn't even taught. There is always more to do and more ways to improve
in this work. WE will be extending more baptismal dates this week and being
persistent in following up to bring people to church.
Well that is about it for the week. There was a lot of
unexpected things that happened that made it a crazy week, but I enjoyed it and
I know that the Lord is pleased with all that we accomplished. And this week is
going to be better! Thanks you for all of your love and prayers on behalf of
all the missionaries around the world. Keep doing whatever part of this work
the Lord has assigned to you and know that He is on our side!
love,
Elder R Wood
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
It’s Been a Long time since I’ve been here (9/9/14)
Dear family and friends,
This is going to be a short one.I am currently sitting at a
computer shop where the key board is a bit lagged, so it makes typing a bit
rough. The title of the email is concerning where I am typing this email right
now. I am in Manila, the capitol of the Philippines. We all of the departing
missionaries have to get finger printed at the immigration department, so all
15 of us had to get on a plane today and fly to Manila. It is definitely
different from Laoag. I can't imagine serving here it is so big. We are staying
in the same hotel that we stayed at almost 2 years ago. It is really odd, but
kind of cool at the same time.
This paragraph is not being typed from Manila but back in
Laoag. We decided to just email President Barrientos then go back to the hotel.
Manila is so crazy. Everything is so big and the traffic is insane. With the
exception of the short time at the computer shop, we just sat at the hotel the
entire time, discussing our missions and the gospel and related topics. It felt
really strange to not be out doing the usual work, but we weren't allowed to do
anything but just sit and wait. It was nice to get to spend time with all of
the Elders from my batch. And to eat Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
But it is great to be back in Ilocos Norte. It was a great
relief to get off the plane in Laoag again. It felt like going back home,
because I was. I wasn't even gone for 24 hours and I missed it loads.
Quick update on Pinili. Sher is having his baptismal
interview on Saturday! At that point he will have gone a whole month without
alcohol or cigarettes and is ready for the interview. We have been reviewing
the baptismal interview questions with him and he is super ready. he has been
reading and reviewing everything that we have taught him to be ready for the
interview. He may be a little over prepared haha. He has really turned his life
around and is now looking forward to his coming life with a covenant with
Heavenly Father. And they are keeping their eyes forward to a temple sealing!
We had a great experience this week in contacting a
referral. We got the referral a while ago, but they live so far away that we
were waiting until we could travel with a member to contact them. Bro. Ban,
our ward mission leader, worked with us on Thursday so we headed out to find
the referral. We found a teacher from that area that Bro. Ban knows and he
asked about the name we had. And there is no person by that name in that area.
But she directed to some one with a not so similar name, who turned out to be
the right person! Turns out she met the missionaries on a bus and so the
missionaries had a hard time hearing her. We taught her a short lesson and we
are going back this week to teach to her entire family. The Lord was watching
out for us and preparing the way for us to find this family even if we had the
wrong name. What a blessing!
Elder Jun and I are looking forward to continually moving
Pinili along in the work. We have been losing some investigators recently, so
we are going to up our finding efforts and look for more people to be baptized
in the coming months. We are also giving our Recent Converts a greater focus,
as part of President Barrintos goal to have all recent converts from Jan to
Sept 2014 retaught all 5 lessons by the end of the year. Yeah! We have much
work to do in Pinili, since there are a lot of RCs there. I am excited for this
new phase in the work for the last month of my mission and to have the chance
to give my self an extra big push. Here we go!!!
Thank you for all of your support and prayers! I know that
this work is the work of the Lord and that there is no great work. He is
directing it and He is the way that it works. I have seen indescribable
blessings and miracles in the past 22 months and there is more to be part of! I
love this work!! I know that Christ is our Savior and he lives. The gospel of
Jesus Christ was restored through the Prophet Joseph so that all families may
be together forever. So let us all be a part in these last days!
Love,
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