First letter! (9/25/12)

Dear Family and Friends,

Sorry about that email. I'm not sure what happened there. I must have hit a button or something that sent that. Since I'm still working on how best to do emails and I forgot the email that Dad told me to email to (sorry Dad), most likely not all of my letters will be like this.

 I hope that all is going well for everyone. Thank you all for the letters that I have received so far. If you don't get a letter back from me as soon as you would like I'm really sorry. There is so much to do here and it feels like there is so little time in which to do it. My P-Day is on Tuesday, so that is when I will be writing and sending most of my mail and emails.

 They really don't waste a second here at the MTC. From the time I walked away from the car with my escort and luggage my training had begun. I got my nametags, book and materials, dropped off my luggage and went to the first class. The teacher spoke only in Tagalog and no one in my district had any idea what the teacher was saying most of the time. There are nine elders in my district and guess what, we are all going to Laoag! President Smith, our branch president said that that is a rare occurrence and none of the other districts in our zone are like that. I am in a threesome companionship, which so far is much different that what the normal companionships seem like. My companions are Elder O and Elder B. Elder B is from Orange County  in Southern California and is 100% Navajo. He is really cool and super spiritual. Elder O is great too. He loves to share his testimony and always has a story or comment for everything. I love both of them. They have helped me grow a ton just in the week that I have been here. We have great Zone Leaders as well in Elder Bham (any relation to Uncle G?) and Elder H, who is from New Zealand. Or branch Presidency is great also, with President S, Brother H and Brother G. Brother H actually was missionary that helped open up areas of the Philippines. Brother G is no longer in our branch though. He and his wife just got their call to serve in the Alpine Germany Mission. I love all of my leaders and all that they do for me.

 Tagalog is tough, not going to lie. I've learned a lot since I've arrived, more than I had expected but I still have lots and lots to learn. Brother P who is our teacher is amazing and does a great job of helping us learn. He speaks only in tagalog unless there is something that is super important, when he switches to English. Most of the time I can get the basic gist of what he is saying. My Taglish is pretty good but I want my Tagalog to exceed my Taglish. It's mostly vocab and phrase memorizing right now. We haven't got to the grammar except for a quick over view. It is exactly the opposite of the way we structure in English.

This computer really hates me. We had a great experience at the end of our temple walk on Sunday. As we we're coming away from the temple parking lot a couple was walking up with their three year old daughter. When the girl saw the group of us, she ran up to us and looking at us with the biggest mile I've ever seen on a child said "Hi missionaries". We all said hi back and felt so good. It is truly amazing how she knew exactly who and what we were. That really made me realizes that the time is at hand when the Lord wants my heart mind, might and strength in serving him.

 I'm about out of time, so I hope that everything is going well for everyone. I hope to hear from you all in the future. Thank you for your prayers. I have felt the strength of your faith in the blessing the lord has poured out upon me. I know that this church is true, that Joseph Smith was a prophet and the Jesus Christ is my savior. This is his church and work. He loves each of us more than we know or comprehend. I love you all and hope for the best for all of you.

Love,

Elder Wood