Hey, Elder Wood, talk to this guy... (6/15/14)

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been a great week in Pinili! It rained almost everyday this past week, which made it a bit of a problem to get our laundry dry, but it did get dry. We now have water pressure in our apartment too because of the rain! And it isn't s hot anymore.

So the best part of the week was our MLC and Zone Conference with Elder and Sister Ardern. Elder Ardern is the Area President of the Philippines Area. They are from New Zealand so they have awesome accents. I didn't have a hard time understanding them luckily, having now been around New Zealanders and Aussies. It was such a great experience to get to be in both meetings and to hear their insights and testimonies about the gospel and missionary work.

During MLC, Elder and Sister Ardern both focused on Christ-like leadership and becoming a master gospel teacher. Elder Ardern showed us how to "unpack the scriptures" no matter what our current situation or calling is. They were really focused on how we as leaders we are agents of change for the missionaries and the people around us. By focusing on obedience we are able to help others to bring the power of the Atonement into their lives and they can become the people and servants that the Lord needs them to be. I really love that phrase agents of change. It reminds me of the phrase in the scriptures that the we are agents to act for ourselves, and not to be acted upon. That gives us the opportunity to help others and to grow ourselves. Our life here on Earth is so important in our eternal progression. 

During Zone Conference with Elder Ardern, I had the privilege of conducting, so I got to sit on the stand between him and President Barrientos and assist with some of the trainings and demonstrations. during Zone Conference, the focus was how important the mission is for the rest of our lives and our eternal salvation. Elder and Sister Ardern both taught about how one of the greatest measures of how successful a missionary is is what their life is like after their mission. Being 3 transfers away from going home that really sank into my heart. Sometimes as missionaries we forget that there is going to be a life after the mission. Personally, I don't find that bad, since it help s us focus on the work at hand. But when we remember that, our work takes on a whole new aspect in it's importance. We are making choices and doing things that become part of who we are. We are showing to the Lord that we are capable of living in a higher way and being exactly obedient in all things. This is our training ground, though most of the changes are, in our perspective, small and slow. But they will make all of the difference in eternity. To sum up Zone Conference, Elder Arden said "Now is the time. This is the place. We are the ones!" I have been working hard to apply the things that we learned in my work and in my personal life.

But wait, there is more! We also had stake conference this weekend and we got to watch a live broadcast from Salt lake that was broad cast to all of the stakes and districts in the Philippines. It was such a great conference and the testimonies and stories from Elder Cook, Elder Teh, Bishop Davies and Sister McConkie really touched the people listening. Especially the talk by Elder Teh, since he is from the Philippines and the stories that he shared were specifically from people in the Philippines. We had two investigators, some less actives and a bunch of recent converts come. Everyone was spiritually uplifted I personally came away with many things that I can do to improve. 

As for the work in Pinili, we are starting to make progress! The Aq family is doing well and Bro. Sher wants us to teach at their home. There is also a family who is friends with them who wants to be taught since they are seeing the changes in their lives, especially in Sher. We will try to teach them this week. One of our recent converts, Mony, is going on the youth temple trip this week and is so excited, She has been packed since Thursday, but they travel today. We have a goal this week to focus our finding on prospective priesthood holders, since that is what the branch needs. As a short note, Elder R told me that CC in Gonzaga just passed her baptismal interview. And I just saw one of my investigators from Laoag who is getting baptized this weekend. I know that the work we do in the service of God is beyond what we realized. Every person with whom we share the gospel is touched by the Spirit and the seeds of faith are planted in them. We may not see the harvest in this life, but it will come. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that he is our way back to our Heavenly Father. There is no other way nor name given by which we can return. 

Thanks for all of the support and prayers!

Love,

Elder R Wood

I will explain the title next week....

From Sea Side to Moutian Valley (6/8/14)

Dear Family and Friends,

It has only been a week since transfers but so much has happened in this past week that I don't have time to think about Gonzaga any more except in my prayers. I have settled into Pinili now and Elder Se and I are very excited to be working hard. The missionary I replaced wasn't the most obedient missionary in the world, so things were a bit hard in Pinili last transfer. But we are moving forward and have made some great progression.

I want to just tell you about Pinili for a minute. It is set off the main road a good 15 minutes and is very mountainous. Lots of hills. I love the terrain so far. I really have missed the mountains and I am currently right in the middle of the mountains. I do miss the ocean though, since Gonzaga and Buguey were right there by the sea. It has also rained almost constantly since Saturday night, so the weather is very cool. It is just bad news for our clothes drying today. Pinili is the place where the Independente Filipino Iglesia was founded, which is just a schism in the Catholic church, so that is the dominant religion. As for the members of the Church in Pinili, they are all really good and the faithful are really faithful. Pinili is not a branch. It is also not a group. It just kind of is, if you understand what I mean. I asked the Stake President about it and he said that they just need 1 or 2 more full tithe paying Melchezidek Priesthood holders to make it a branch. A member of the closest ward's Bishopric, comes every Sunday and presides at the service. We are small in numbers but large in faith. It reminds me much of our little branch in Owyhee. My goal is to do all that I can to bring Pinili closer to becoming a branch before I leave.

We have been doing a lot of finding in the past week and we have found a few great potential and new investigators. We have also found some long time less actives. My favorite so far, is the Aq family. They are not new, but they are our investigators who are preparing for baptism in July. Sister V and her two kids are set on the date of July 12 (Sister V had a dream that she was being confirmed which to her was the answer to her prayers). Sher, the father of the family is coming much slower because he has a serious alcohol addiction, but he is coming along. He says that the day is going to come when he will join his family, but he wants to kick his addiction first. He told us last night thought that he wants to be with his family in the Church. I know that the Lord will work a miracle in his life and that he will be healed from the scars of his addiction through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

I just want to share a short thought from my personal study this morning. I was studying about the gospel of Jesus Christ and had a realization. So often we talk of the Gospel as just faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. But as I was reading in the scriptures and preach my gospel I realized that the very first doctrine of the Gospel is that Christ is our Savior, that he"came into the world to do the will of the Father and the Father sent him to be lifted up". The whole gospel is centered on Jesus Christ and what he did. I suppose that is why the Prophet Joseph said that all else in our church is appendages to our belief in the Atonement. The Gospel is given us by Christ because he satisfied the law through his atonement. Thus he is the mediator of the covenant that will allow us to return to our Heavenly Father. It all comes down to him in the end. He is our Savior and Redeemer, the Son of God. I know he lives and loves us, and because he lives, so will we.

Time to wrap up. We have MLC and mission tour with Elder Ard on Tuesday and Wednesday and then Stake Conference on Saturday and Sunday. Apparently the Stake conference is going to be presided by Elder Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve. Not sure if it is live or just a broadcast, but everyone has said it is live. Guess we will find out! Thanks for all your suport and love!

Love,
Elder Ryne Warren Wood

From Gonzaga to Pinili, Most Likely Never to Return (6/2/14)

Dear Family and Friends,

This is going to be super short. It is a really hectic day since we are in Aparri to withdraw and it is also withdraw day. Transfer calls went out last night and we got called. I am being transferred down to the southern part of the mission, to a small town called Pinili (in English- was chosen). My new companion is Elder S and we are the Zone Leaders of the Batac 1 Zone. He does indeed have along name. I know him from my time in the office and am super excited to get to work with him. I have always wanted a Polynesian companion and now I have one! Also, it is very likely that Pinili will be my last area, since I am now down to three transfers.

All of the people in Gonzaga were very sad to hear that I would be transferred. We didn't know for sure until last night, but we had told everyone that there was a chance that I would be leaving. We had an FHE earlier in the week and we had almost the entire community there. The members that hosted it said that everyone really wants there to be another one soon. We are hoping to have some good finding opportunities from the FHEs. We also met a new family, the Ase family. We only taught them once, but they are really interested, especially when we talked about eternal families. I love teaching families and seeing how the gospel brings them closer together. 

We have been doing more work with the Less Actives in our area. One of them is a neighbor of a bunch of members (active and less active) and she came to church with the daughter of one of our less active focus families. It is kind of ironic since the two times that we taught the family, the daughter who came to church was never there for the lessons, but the rest of the family who we did teach didn't come. We have some really awesome recent converts in our area too and almost all of them came to church. I am going to miss Gonzaga, but I am looking forward to new adventures in Pinili, Ilocos Norte. I am looking forward to new opportunities to learn and grow. There is always much to do and so little time in which to do it, or so it seems.

Just a quick insight from personal study to close off. I read in Alma 33 and I realized that it is just as great a discourse on faith as Alma 32 is. I love how simple and clearly Alma teaches that all our faith must be centered in Jesus Christ and his Atonement. That is where all of our hope comes from and the only way by which we can be safely guided through this life to eternal life in the presence of our Heavenly Father. We must never lose that focus of the Savior, for if we do, we lose all. I know that Christ is the Savior and that there is no other way for us to return to our Heavenly Father and to get through this life while receiving all the blessings God has in store for us. I know that He lives. 

Thank you for all of your prayers and support!

love,

Elder R Wood

Photos (5/26/14)

Baptism of MJo

Baptism of MJo

Gonzaga Zone!

We really need to get potatoes today- Elder R (05/26/14)

Dear Friends and Family,

Whoa it has been quite the week! I will start with the best part of the week though, MJo's baptism! I have attached pictures from it below. It was a very nice, simple baptismal service. We had 5 investigators there (almost all of them are related to MJo or close friends). Bro Da, the second counselor in the Branch Presidency performed the ordinance. He has been fellowshipping with us a lot and is related to most of our investigators. Elder R and I also put together a musical number and sang. Good thing there wasn't many people there. Just kidding. It turned out really well and everyone felt the Spirit the whole time. 

We also found a few new families this week. We were finally able to make contact with a referral and ended up teaching the whole family. The Su family is awesome and have really been well prepared for the Gospel. There are 6 of them total, and the youngest boy reminds me of my little brother (Yes Ty that means you). He is just that goofy funny kid who makes everyone laugh all of the time. I guess every family has one of them. They are committed to baptism, but not on a set date yet, since Brother and Sister Su wanted to talk about it. We will be going there again on Wednesday and we will reextend o them a date for baptism.

On Wednesday we had exchanges with Sta Ana A, one of the district leaders in the Zone. I worked with the DL, Elder Ru, in Gonzaga. Elder Ru is hilarious! We had great success, especially in teaching to another family, out in Sta Clara. We have taught the mother of the family before, but this time, we also got the father to sit in on the lesson. We got him in because his wife told us that he had a question about what happens after Resurrection. Score! We taught about the Plan of Salvation and how God wants all of his children to have eternal families. They all agreed to a return appointment and we were going to go back on Saturday, but there was some extenuating circumstances that prevented us from going. Really sad, but there was nothing we could do.

We have also started to look for and teach more less actives. We have found some, and almost all of them have been less active for a long time. As in over 10 years. So we have some hard work ahead but we know that the Lord will soften their hearts and will open the way for them to come back and resume the path they begun to eternal life. Some of the reasons that people have for going inactive here just do not make sense at all to me. I know that God loves all of His Children though and never gives up on them. I never will either. It will not be easy, but to see them again enjoy all of the blessings of the Gospel will make all of the struggles worth it. That is where I find great joy and after the trial comes the witness. 

I know that this is the work of the Lord. I have never done anything in my life that is more rewarding and fulfilling than serving the Lord by inviting others to come unto Christ. I have learned that there is always more to learn and more to do and ways to improve. We are to become as our Heavenly Father and that requires constant action and faith on our part. It is possible in the end because of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know he lives and he is the Only Begotten of the Father. He is the Way to our Father in Heaven. I look forward to the coming weeks and months and love eery second of this work. I know that we will all find great joy in doing whatever part we have been given in this work, no matter how small it may seem to us. Thanks for all the support and prayers!

Love,

Elder R Wood

Did you see those Huns? They just popped out the snow. Like daisies! (5/18/2014)

Dear Family and Friends,

Hmm. Where to begin for this past week? I guess with the best part of the week and of every week, the Work! Elder R and I were working hard this week to hit the standard of 32 lessons. We were close with 29, but the numbers don't mean much in comparison with the people that we taught and invited to come unto Christ. First of is MJo, who passed her baptismal interview yesterday and is going to be baptized on May 24. She is super ready and Elder D was really impressed during the interview with her. Well, she was coming to church and reading to Book of Mormon on her own before we ever met her. It is funny when we follow up on her reading and she basically says everything we were going to teach her or asks a question that is exactly what we were going to share. She is also referring lots of people to us, friends, family every one.

People have also began to refer themselves to us though members. The people who live around MJo and the Da family (Active Members), keep asking them if we can teach them too. We now have many baptismal dates in that area and 6 of our investigators from there came to church on Sunday (2 before we had even met them). They all just came in a group and loved it. One of them, CC, who we met last Sunday, just asked if we can move her baptism forward. We may consider it if she keeps coming to church. The Da family is really helpful also. Bro. Da is the second counselor in the branch presidency and he comes with us several times a week and they have also opened their home for us to teach there. June is going to be a big month in Gonzaga.

A few sad things that happened this past week. Two of our recent converts just moved for unknown amounts of time. We  have heard from different sources that they will be gone for at least a year, but we have had no sure word from them. One of them just moved in to the APs area in Laoag and Elder T told me that they are going to teach her and try to figure out if she will be going back to Gonzaga soon. The other one went to Bicol on vacation, but now may stay there to finish school. One of our investigators is also getting ready to join the military, so his progression has basically halted. I know that the Lord is looking out for them and will continue to provide the way for them to progress.

Well that is about all for this week. Nothing very out of the ordinary has happened in a while. Which is a big surprise, since here in the Philippines odd things always happen. It is really beautiful here. Almost every night we see lightning storms of in the east and we almost always get to see the very beautiful sunsets. Yesterday I read Alma 30, and I love the part where Alma cites all of creation as evidence that God exists and loves his children. I know that that is true and that all creation happened for one purpose, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. I know that we have a Heavenly Father, who every action is because he loves us. He sent his Son Jesus Christ to atone for our sins so that we may return to him. The way has been provided, but it is up to us to walk that way by obedience to the gospel. I know that the blessings of the gospel exceed our comprehension and that one day we will truly understand all that God does and we will all exclaim, "My God how great thou art!" Keep up the work you are doing and always look for ways to give more! Thank you all for your prayers and support!

Love,

Elder R Wood

"Hi, I'm an American. Do you need a ride?" (5/06/2014)

Dear Family and Friends,

So this week have been awesome and I will describe it throughout. And I will explain the title, since it is one of the craziest, coolest experiences that I have had on my mission. Right now we are all waiting for our bus to go back to Cagayan. MLC was yesterday and once again, it was amazing. The focus of this month is increasing expectations through faith in Jesus Christ. The mission here in Laoag as a whole is doing really good, but as President told us (quoting the President of the Philippines) "Good enough is not good enough". We had almost one hundred baptisms this past month, but we should be at almost 200. There is much that we have left to do to improve. We are really going to be pushing this month to have all of the missionaries hitting the Standard of Excellence by increasing and exercising our faith in Christ. One thing that I have learned on my mission is how powerful faith really is. There is nothing that is the will of God cannot be done though our faith in Jesus Christ. Elder R and I later gave the FHE lesson (almost on the spot) about how our faith requires work to bring the desired results. We are super excited for ZTM and the chance to pass the trainings from President and the APs on to the missionaries in the Gonzaga Zone

Our area in Gonzaga is doing great. We found quite a bit on new investigators this past week and some really solid potential investigators. One of our new investigators is a man named Al, who was taught by the missionaries years ago. He is now married and has a young family. He was excited to visit with us again and was wiling ti have us come back. But when we went back he had gone to town to get some stuff. We are trying to get to him again this week. We also taught the brother of an member, Vin, who has been taught on and off for several years. He is actually reading the Gospel Principles manual and we know that through the Spirit and the Gospel of Jesus Christ he will come to know the truth of the things that he has read and become converted to the Savior. 

MJo is also making good progression towards baptism on May 24, She got sick and couldn't come to church on Sunday, but she is still on track to be baptized before the end of May. Currently she is about the only investigator that we have that is making good progress. We don't have very many investigators with baptismal dates currently. We have plans to go out to an area that has been worked in the past and is prime for the Harvest from the sounds of it. The last sisters were not allowed to go there since it is very far, but President has given us permission to go in the mornings. We are still working to get the work of the members under way. There are lots of priesthood holders in Gonzaga who are willing to work with us, we just need to coordinate with them better. We are looking to have big weeks for the rest of the transfer. 

Now for a story to explain the title of the email. On Sunday we were traveling to Laoag for MLC with the Sister Training Leaders. We got off the vehicle at one junction and went to get on another one to head to the place we catch the bus when some one walked up to us and said "Hey, I'm an American. Do you guys need a ride?" The man's name is Av, he is an African American from Portland, Oregon who is here with his wife for the rice harvest. He is an Army reservist and he and his wife drove us the 25 minutes to the junction at Magapit. He was super friendly. When we got to Magapit, we gave him a restoration pamphlet and he swapped numbers with the Sisters whose area he and his wife live in. Hopefully we will hear more about him next month and he will accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that God works in mysterious ways and that  he works through many different means to prepare His children for and introduce them to the gospel. I have seen and met countless people here and I know that God is constantly at work preparing them to receive the restored gospel. So to close, I just want to invite you all to take the opportunity this week to share the gospel with some one you meet for the first time. I know that as you do this God will open their heart and they will feel His love and begin their journey to live with Him again. This is his work and we are all a part of it. 

Thank you for all of the prayers and support!

Love,

Elder R Wood