Week 22 (Lone Pine)

Elder Wood says hello from Lone Pine! It is apparently (and not surprisingly) a bit colder than it was in Mojave. He says he's put the hand warmers we gave him for Christmas to good use. He's getting used to the new area. They apparently live in a trailer on a reservation in Lone Pine, which he says is warm and comfortable enough, and has its own washer/dryer, so it works fine. There is a lot more driving in this area, since it ranges from Darwin in the south up almost to Bishop in the north

The district here is only 4 elders, Elder Wood and Elder Haney, plus one other companionship in Bishop. They drove up there mid-week to help with some service at a food bank in Bishop, and then went up there again on P-Day. It sounds like there aren't as many outdoor games played in this area on P-Day, with only 4 of them there, but they will get to do some hiking in the area. This week they were planning to play some card games. He also told me a fun story about (apparently a little while back) when the bishop of the ward in Bishop had the last name of Bishop - so he was Bishop Bishop from Bishop!

Lone Pine is a branch instead of a ward, so it's a lot smaller. He said there were 23 people at church on Sunday, and there are only 100 total contacts (I believe that is both members and people they've taught recently) in their records. But the church does own a small building there, so they had a nice place to meet.

Spiritual thought for the week: Jesus is the one who paid the price for us, and because of that, He now has the right to set a new price for us. And He doesn't ask much. Rather than perfection, He asks us to become a little better each day. To get a little closer to Him each day. And He doesn't even ask us to do it alone. He gives us the power of the Atonement to help us make those changes.

A farewell to members of his previous district in Mojave/Rosamond. I believe they wore trench coats in his honor.

Apparently a semi-well-known site called the Rosamond Cross

A last photo with some friends in Rosamond

Not a great photo, but Elder Wood and Elder Haney in their trailer in Lone Pine

Two for one: A bird photo, and a view of the snow on the ground in Lone Pine

One more bird photo - we determined that this is a Brewer's Blackbird