Week 3 (MTC)

 No direct message this week, but Elder Wood has now finished his time in the Missionary Training Center and is in California! His flight left Salt Lake City early Monday morning for Phoenix, where he had a layover and then on to the (very small) Bakersfield airport. He told us later it was so dinky that it only had a single baggage claim. We got a quick text with the photo of him and his mission leaders, confirming that he arrived safely.

Photos from his last week in the MTC and his travel to and arrival in Bakersfield.

With his mission leaders, President Blair and Sister Vicky Burton

A photo from a kind soul at the airport. Elder Wood second from left; not familiar with any of the other missionaries

Saying farewell to MTC friends: Elders Lunt, Hersel, Wood, and Clove

A view of their room; he appreciated the free-standing ladder

View over BYU and Provo, with snow on the mountains

The MTC grounds with lots of trees lit up

Bird photo of the week

Week 2 (MTC)

 Jared / Elder Wood has been a missionary for two weeks now. I don't know that he'll be writing blog posts for me to copy and paste, but he is sending me pictures and a few answers to questions, so I will include those here.

Spiritual things he learned this week: Sometimes the most mundane scriptures hold the greatest wisdom; stop a moment and think while studying. Baptism or the Sacrament complete the repentance process, hence why they're so crucial.

"The boys are here" - his district after arrival at the MTC, meeting with their teacher.

A senior missionary, Sister Marcy Topham, kindly sent me this photo after she and her husband met up with Elder Clove & Elder Wood, who helped them with a lesson

The district in front of the Provo Temple

Jared likes birds and is also apparently testing the zoom on his camera. Can you spot 5 birds?

Tree apparently lit up at night

Week 1 (Home MTC)

 Jared spent the first week of his mission at home, meeting with his missionary companion and others online via Zoom. This is new since the pandemic, and is a nice way to ease into the missionary life. You start at home in familiar surroundings, and then when you arrive at the MTC (Missionary Training Center) in Provo, you already know your companion and other members of your district from your week of meeting together online.

This morning (Wednesday) we took Jared to the airport for his 6 AM flight to Salt Lake City. From there, the church provided a shuttle to Provo and dropped him off at the Missionary Training Center. We got a quick message from him confirming that he arrived safely, along with a photo.

He will be at the MTC for another 2 weeks, after which he will go to California. I hope that he'll email some letters that I can share on this blog, but it may end up just being me documenting what I've learned from him and sharing photos. Stay tuned to find out!

Arriving at the Portland Airport early Wednesday morning

A final PDX airport carpet photo before he headed to security

Arriving at the MTC in Provo (not sure who the other two missionaries are; probably they were on his same airport shuttle)