Certainty of Death. Small chance of Success. What are we waiting for? (6/23/13)

Dear Family and Friends,

This is the week before transfers and while I know that we will succeed, couldn't help but fire off a Lord of the Rings quote for what may end up to be the busiest week of my entire mission so far. I will be traveling everyday to deliver furnishings and what not as we prepare for the biggest transfer in the history of the Philippines Laoag Mission, 31 missionaries next week with 6 more in 4 weeks. And there are plenty more well on the way. I'm excited! Are you?

This week has been busy also, as every week is here in the office. I love being busy though. We did a bit of traveling around this week for apartment contracts in preparation for the transfer. I also got to go down to Candon zone for the first time and just in time since it will become part of the Baguio mission next week. We will be losing 20 missionaries to down south, but we will gain more than that back. I haven't yet seen the Special Broadcast about missionary work, but I am hoping to get to see it some time soon. I have heard great thing about it and I am excited to get to watch it at some point. It is a great time to be alive and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints and it is our privilege and responsibility to take the gospel to all the world in preparation for the Savior's Second Coming.

Once again our teaching was limited this week and it will be for the next few weeks. But I got lucky, and have been able to go on exchanges with Elder VB since our companions have office work and we have finished everything we have to do. We were in the MTC together and he is a great missionary. He is from Missouri and is wanting to go to BYU after the mission. I may or may not have had a hand in that. I plead the fifth. 

We had mission tour this week and it was amazing. Elder Teh of the Seventy was the Presiding Authority and it was awesome. It was centered on obedience and how it effects our work as missionaries. Every missionary here in the mission feels more determined to be exactly obedient and to escape the PNC or Pwede NA Current, meaning that area between exact obedience and complete obedience. Elder Teh talked to us office Elders and thanked us for doing a great job in the office and helping the mission run smoothly. It was a great week overall.

Just a quick story before I close out the email. Last night Elder VB and I were our working and we went to go give the sacrament to a member. We stopped at the apartment to get bread and decided that it looked nice enough outside to leave our umbrellas at the apartment. Bad idea. During the closing prayer of our last lesson, it started to pour rain, so we walked to the office in the rain and then arrived in the middle of office meeting soaking wet. President let us go back and change. And by the time we got back to the office it was no longer raining. Typical.

Keep up the faith everyone and keep on praying for missionary opportunities. The Lord is preparing people for us to help enter the gate of baptism and he will lead us to them as we open our eyes and mouths to share the Gospel. Thank you all for your examples to me. Mahal Kita!

Elder Ryne Warren Wood