Week 17 (Rosamond)

It sounds like this week was fairly eventful for the missionaries. Elder Wood's current companion, Elder Erickson, is the district leader, meaning that he's responsible for all of the missionaries in their district (about 10 missionaries total). That means that they do exchanges regularly, so Elder Erickson can spend time with each other companionship, and Elder Wood gets to do missionary work with the other companion. They also do exchanges occasionally with the zone leaders, who are responsible for the entire zone (usually ~60 missionaries although I think this can vary) and thus do regular exchanges with each district leader (and his companion).

Also this week was a Zone Conference, meaning the entire zone meets together for a day of meetings and inspiration with their mission president. This time there was also a visiting General Authority, Elder Mark A. Bragg, who is the Area President for the North America West area (more info about what this is at https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/learn/area-presidencies). Anyway, Elder Wood reports that it was a great conference, and also that he was able to be interviewed by Elder Bragg for about 10 minutes so got a chance to meet him a little more personally (photo below).

This week we learned about a new person that Elder Wood and his companion are teaching; he is a neighbor of a member of their current ward and very interested in learning more and likely being baptized as a member of the church. It sounds like they've had some great discussions with him.

I actually got a good number of photos of people this week, which was nice (but of course a couple bird ones, too). Enjoy!

Elder Wood and his companion, Elder Erickson

Elder Wood after meeting with Elder Bragg

The entire zone at their Zone Conference

Elder Wood and Elder Park (one of the zone leaders) on exchanges, after they made a wrong turn and ended up at Edwards Air Force Base.

Their district (plus maybe a few others? It wasn't clear) at one of their weekly conferences

This week's district P-Day activity - the sister missionaries in the district had been given some gingerbread house kits, so they all got to decorate one. This is Elder Wood's creation.

Bird photo: He was proud of this nice shot of a bird with iridescence showing

One more bird photo: A close-up of a little bird; this is on the fence that surrounds the yard of the house he's living in.

Week 16 (Rosamond)

It sounds like it was a fairly standard week in the mission this week, so Elder Wood didn't have a whole lot to share with us. He has settled in with his new companion, Elder Erickson, who is from Minnesota. They were able to make a lot of visits to members of the Rosamond Ward to introduce them to the new missionary.

They also managed to continue their standard missionary work, including finding some new contacts. I asked for an update on the man with the drug addiction, and was happy to hear that they've been able to keep meeting with him. They've given him some lessons about the gospel, and have also shared some resources with him that the church provides about addiction.

Elder Wood is finally doing a little on Facebook - he's not a big social media fan, but Elder Erickson has some experience there, so he was convinced to give it a try. He said mostly he was doing "responses", meaning reaching out to contact people who have liked or commented on posts that the mission has shared. It doesn't sound like he has had a lot of success yet, but at least he was willing to give it a try!

Spiritual thought for this week: "Gain witnesses of the truthfulness of the scriptures and the words of the prophets, so that you may defend your faith when it is challenged. And for those who already have these witnesses, continue to study the scriptures, and especially continue to study the Book of Mormon. Use the wisdom contained within them to deepen your conversion, and to endure to the end, always improving yourself."

Saying farewell to Elder Grunig

Bird photo: They apparently see this heron a lot; he got a nice shot of it flying over the lake

One more bird photo: A hummingbird in flight

Week 15 (Rosamond)

This week in the mission is transfers week, meaning everyone has finished up their current 6-week assignment and is potentially moving/being reassigned elsewhere. In the case of Elder Wood's companion, Elder Grunig, they knew in advance he would be leaving, because he's completed his two year mission and is heading home. It is not surprising, then, that Elder Wood is staying in Rosamond, to provide some continuity. His new companion being transferred in is Elder Erickson. He doesn't know a lot about him yet, but will get to know him during transfers on Tuesday.

It sounds like Elder Erickson will be kept busy, because they have 17 messages/meetings scheduled this coming week. That's apparently higher than normal, but a lot of the current members are excited to meet the new missionary, so they'll get a chance to visit with all of them.

They found a couple new people this week, including one man with an unusual story. The missionaries were parked in their car when a man recognized them and came up and knocked on the window. He asked them whether they would pray with him. Apparently he has a drug addiction and has realized he can't fight it on his own, so he's looking for all the help he can get. They of course agreed to pray with him, and also visited him later in the week to check in and share a message with him. He's invited them to come by again, so hopefully they'll be able to continue helping him.

A final small world story, in our meetings here in Portland this week, we had a visiting area authority seventy, Elder Slaughter. After the meeting where he spoke to us, he asked to meet the Wood family - they found us and he told us he is from Bakersfield, and recently he'd visited the Rosamond Ward, where he'd met Elder Wood and Elder Grunig! So it was fun to have him remember that and look for us, and show us a picture he took with the two missionaries (although sadly I didn't think to ask him for a copy).

Apparently this graffiti actually says "Doom" but upside-down it looks like "Wood"!

Visiting with a family in the Rosamond ward

Having fun posing on their Preparation Day.

A circle of missionaries

I asked whether they'd had any flooding in their part of California. He sent this picture and let us know technically yes, but it was pretty minimal.

Bird photo - a blue heron

Week 14 (Rosamond)

Elder Wood reports that this was a fairly slow week overall. They did someone new, but of all the appointments that they made on Monday, only one actually came through. He did say that one was nice, though, with a family of 4 who seem interested in meeting with them again.

We asked him whether he'd been served any interesting foods as a missionary. That can be a hard job, since you don't want to offend someone who's serving you something, even if it is strange or poorly cooked. He said they've been pretty fortunate, though. The most unusual thing he's had is a chicken mole, which isn't all that strange, just a little different since they have more Hispanic people there than at home. I did discover that all of the other elders in his district, as well as the two sisters, are all Spanish-speaking, so it's a pretty heavily Spanish area. He says he's happy to pass the Spanish speakers off to others, because he's just fine with English!

Spiritual thought for this week: We cannot assume that scriptures are true. To do that makes us vulnerable. If we merely assume their truth, what will happen when that truth is challenged? If we're just floating along under the assumption that the scriptures are true, how can we ever hope to defend them as being true? We must study each book and ask God, in the name of Jesus Christ, "are these books yours, or are they written by some other hand?"

Building a pyramid during their district activity this morning

Elder Grunig wanted to take a picture with this family before he went home. They've met with the family a few times. They are members of the church but don't really attend right now.

They met someone who wasn't really interested in learning from them, but did have an amazing model train setup that he shared with them.

Bird photo: Shockingly, I received no new bird photos this week so picked this one from the extras in a previous week.

Week 13 (Rosamond)

We enjoyed talking to Elder Wood a couple times today, around lunchtime and then again in the evening when they stopped by the church to meet some other missionaries who turned out to be in the middle of calling home. It sounds like they succeeded in finding someone again this week. They were in a trailer park and didn't manage to catch the person they were looking for. But someone else they saw outside his house said to stop by anytime, so they did so, and had a good conversation. They're looking forward to meeting with him again later this week.

The Christmas and New Year's holidays went well. As he reminded us, missionaries don't really get a day off, but they enjoyed celebrating and having dinner with some of the members in their ward. The weather continues to be cold, and he's managed to lose one of his gloves, so a new pair may be heading his way as fast as Amazon can get them there.

We enjoyed hearing his stories about the other missionaries in his district, as well as some of the families they're meeting with, and he enjoyed one last chance to talk to all of his siblings while they're still home from school and available to chat. It sounds like the elders are doing well and working hard, and he's looking forward to continuing to do so for the next two weeks, until his companion heads home after completing his two-year mission, and he'll get a new companion. He's guessing in the same area, but will find out in a couple weeks.

They met some friendly, apparently stray, dogs

Their weekly district conference

This elder was apparently cold and is showing off his look wearing his fleece pajama pants under his dress pants

He said this is all they bought during their weekly grocery run

Bird photo of the week: The bird caught a fish!

This one looks like a grumpy bird