(11/18/2013)

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was a very polar opposite of the past week. For me it is a testimony of the love of our Heavenly Father and the importance of being patient in all things.  Just as was told to the Prophet Joseph Smith when he was in Liberty Jail, all things shall give us experience and be for our good. Joseph also once said "Every wave of adversity has only wafted me closer to divinity". I can testify of the truthfulness of that, not just in the past weeks but throughout my mission and my entire life. 

We taught this week! We had six lessons, so almost more that the past two or three weeks combined. We had a good mix of investigator and member lessons and I have so much that I wish I could tell you about all of my experiences, but if I did there might not be an end to this email, so I will hit on a few parts.

First G came to church after we invited him and taught him once. he really came with the intention of looking at the job openings posted by the ERC, but once he got into class, that seemed to leave his mind. He participated in all the classes, although I didn't get to see that since I was doing a baptismal interview during Gospel Principles. He and one of the sisters investigators (R) seemed to hit off well and I think that R explained to him some things about church that he didn't understand. He loved the experience so much. But as we found out last night, he is moving this week, still in Laoag but not in our area. He still wants to be taught by the missionaries though. He is one the path now and the Spirit is moving him.

Next was the Sim. We taught them 3 times this week are are planing to teach them daily. They have been struggling to keep their commitments, so we taught them about repentance, and we could see the Spirit testifying to them of the importance of repenting and trying to do better. And they have been! They have been doing their reading and praying and are coming to church all 3 hours now. T has made sure that his schedule at work does not have him working on Sunday. The Sister missionaries in our ward told us that during Relief Society all the sisters in the ward were telling Sister Sim how much they love her and want her to have the blessings of marriage and baptism. There was lots of tears shed during that lesson they said.

In connection with the Sim family is our new investigator, Th. She is the neighbor of the Sim family and they invited her on Sunday to sit in on the lesson. We taught the Restoration and she loved it! She is going to be joining in every lesson, so we have the interesting challenge to teach lessons that will apply to all the different needs, since that is going to be 2 long time investigators, 1 newer investigator and 3 recent converts in one lesson. With the Spirit it is possible though, as was shown last night. We focused on N and T and taught fasting. At the end of the lesson Th said she had never heard of fasting and wanted to try it. So we committed her to fast to know our message is true this coming Sunday and committed her to baptism on December 21.

Last quick notes before I close, we had an office meeting the other day and President basically told the APs and us that we are in charge of everything but food for Christmas Zone Conference. So we got to work and have planned out almost the entire thing. Super excited! And yesterday our zone began learning our folk dance for it, which is Itik-Itik or the Duck Dance. We also went sand boarding yesterday to close our activity and that was a blast! I will include a picture of our zone at the dunes. 

I know that this is the work of the Lord and that He is guiding and protecting all of his servants. My experiences are a testimony of that, as are all of the missionaries from the Tacloban Mission who are being reassigned due to Typhoon Yolanda. None are coming here, but all are accounted for and well. I love the Lord and his work. Nothing means more to me right now than my calling to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and he knows all of our trials, pains, sorrows and needs. Thank you for all of your love and support! Mahal Kita! Kita Kits!

Elder R. Wood