The Board is Set, the Pieces are Moving (8/24/14)

Dear Family and Friends,

It's Transfers again! And I am staying in Pinili! Elder Ab is being transferred and I am getting a new companion, Elder Jun. He is a Filipino and a new zone leader, so I finally get my wish to train a new Zone Leader. Pinili will be my last area then. During interviews last week, I asked President if I was going to be transferred. He asked me if I wanted one more area. He then told me to just text him if I wanted one more or not. I never texted him. Haha. I was rather surprised when we got the text yesterday telling us that Elder Ab would be transferred. I am excited for this new adventure in the coming 6 weeks.

We had an outstanding week in Pinili. With several surprises. One was yesterday when we showed up at the meeting house. I noticed that the inside looked slightly different. When we went in, to our surprise it was very different. We now have more chairs and a stand and stuff that is in meeting houses that wasn't there before. Apparently the furnishings from an old meeting house in a different district were put there since the other branch just got a chapel. So now the meeting house looks much nicer, but we are still trying to figure out how best to arrange the chairs. I will send a picture next week

We found a load of new investigators this week also. Some came off of our own finding efforts, but most came from a current investigator. We went back to a referral on Saturday and ended up teaching almost the entire family. They all just joined us. It was awesome! We were only expecting a few to join the lesson but we were pleasantly surprised. We are looking to get even more this week off of some other referrals that we contacted yesterday. There is a good number of people who have been coming to church who aren't even investigators yet. We have return appointments for all of them now, including the grandmother of one of our recent converts who is very excited to listen to us and loves church. There is also a group of primary kids who are the relatives of an active member who have now come to church twice that we will start teaching on Saturday. The Lord is opening the way in Pinili!

Sher is still doing great. He comes to church each week, participates in classes and is still living the word of wisdom. He always has stories for us of how people he used to drink with don't even bother trying to get him to drink anymore. He and his family are super strong and he is excited for baptism on September 27. We are also looking to get some referrals from them in the coming weeks. 

We met an RM this week who began his mission back when the Laoag Mission was just starting. It was neat to get to talk with him about his experiences and how things have changed since he served. He was in the 3rd batch to have the call to the Laoag Mission. He visits regularly and Pinili was his last area also. It is kind of odd talking to RMs thinking that that will be me in October. That is still far away though and there is much still to do!

We had interviews this past week with President Barrientos and during that we also received some training on emergency preparedness. Since this area is prone to typhoons and earthquakes, we all have a 72hr kit and practiced what to do in the case of an emergency. We found out that if there was a typhoon we would all live, but with how we responded an earthquake would kill us. Good thing we practiced. 

I feel like I easily run out of things to say in these emails. If anyone has any questions or anything that they would like to ask, just email me and I will answer them in my next email. I know that the Lord's hand is at work in these days and that through his living prophets and apostles he is continuing the work that has been going since the time of Adam. We are all so blessed to have a part in this work and to have the restored gospel in our lives. 

Love,

Elder RWood