Week 51 (Plum Canyon)

Plum Canyon seems to be an area with less news than others, or maybe it's just now that we're basically at the midpoint of his mission, there are fewer new things to talk about. They did have a nonmember lesson this week, when they had dinner with a family with both members and non-members in it. I believe he said the wife is a member of the church, but not the husband. They also have a lesson scheduled later this week with Anselmo, the man they met last week. That was about all the missionary-specific news he had.

In more random notes, they had played volleyball this morning with their district - not his favorite activity but he was a good sport about it. He prefers board games, but sadly for him the current group of 4 in their apartment is not as interested in them as the ones who were there when he first arrived 12 weeks ago. There are transfers coming up this week - he should find out today what the changes are, and then they actually happen on Thursday. He said that anything could happen, but the most likely is that he and Elder Krumbah will both stay in the Plum Canyon area.

In financial news, they went grocery shopping this morning, and the church has replaced their previous pre-paid debit cards with credit cards. It sounds like Bank of America discontinued the debit card program the church was using, so now they get Mastercards instead. I know some missionaries are unhappy since they can't be used at Costco, although Elder Wood never has a chance to go there anyway, or a membership.

Quick extra notes on the photos - the owl is one that they met at the ranch where he's met other exciting animals/birds before. He was quick to clarify for me that it's not just an owl, it's a Eurasian Eagle Owl. Now you know! The lizard is a small (I think baby) one that they caught and tried to bring home as a pet, but it wouldn't eat so they released it back outside pretty quickly.

Spiritual thought: "We are commanded to pray often. Why? Because God is our Father, and what Father wouldn't want to hear from their child? Some argue that God already knows the thoughts of our heart, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't want to hear it from us. Any good father loves to hear the tale a child has to tell, even if they were there watching."

With his new lizard friend, it apparently hung out on his shirt for a while

The Eurasian Eagle Owl

Bird photo: He's seen a lot of hummingbirds recently

One more bird photo

Week 50 (Plum Canyon)

Missionary work in Plum Canyon continues to go as before, without a lot of quick progress but some good meetings and lessons. Elder Wood really likes their ward mission leader, who is helping them out a lot. His family also invited them over for dinner during the week. Normally they only have dinner with people who are learning about the gospel, but since they also invited a less active member of the ward, it was okay. They enjoyed their enchiladas and were able to teach a nice gospel lesson. His other favorite lesson this week was with a men they met named Anselmo. They found him while knocking on doors a couple weeks back, and he was interested enough to set up an appointment with them where they could teach him more. He's even invited them to come back and promised to make them dinner!

In other random news, they are thinking about starting a Bible study group at their ward's building now that it's re-opened after mold remediation. And a ward member invited them to her house to make cookies, which was a lot of fun. The only downside was that Elder Wood forgot and left his flour there, so was at a bit of a loss the next day when he wanted to cook something! But they did get it back, so he's all set now. It sounds like quiche is one of his favorite meals to cook - very fancy.

The other event of this week was a trip to the Los Angeles Temple on Thursday. He hadn't been able to attend the temple for about 6 months, back in February or March, so he was looking forward to an opportunity to attend, especially since they've added a few things to the endowment since he want last. He says he really enjoyed his visit, and also the chance to walk around the beautiful temple grounds. Of course he also saw a few birds there.

They also finally want to play miniature golf as a district today before I talked to him. They'd planned to go a couple weeks ago - it fell through for some reason, but this time it actually happened. He reports that he's not really very good at it, and had some pretty bad holes, including a quintuple bogey. I think he said he was, in total, 16 over par. They didn't keep score for the group, so there was no declared winner, but he said one of the sister missionaries was doing really well, including a hole in one on a difficult hole. Good for her!

Spiritual thought: "From the scriptures we learn that all blessings come from obedience. If we want to receive blessings, we should not be surprised when obedience is necessary. I know God is no tyrant. God asks us to be obedient because He knows things we often do not. Each commandment we are given is for a definite reason."

A really cool sky with neat clouds

They saw a coyote behind the church building

Also saw a cute bunny - I think this was a pet at a house they visited, but it lives outside

Bird photo: A hummingbird near the reflecting pool at the temple

One more bird photo

Week 49 (Plum Canyon)

Elder Wood and his companion had an appointment cancelled on them this week - she left a message the night before the appointment saying sorry, she'd have to cancel for the next day, because she was heading to the hospital to give birth to her baby! Seems like a pretty good excuse to me, and one of the most unusual they've had. Other than that one, they did have some lessons that actually took place this week. Their favorite was with a newly baptized member of their ward who is 8 years old. He entertained them during the lesson by showing off his Spiderman wall climb.

The elders continue to do some service and help out at the nearby ranch which has lots of animals that are trained and used for various movies and photo shoots. They do have fun while they're serving, though. See the pictures below for the lizard they found and captured (momentarily) while they were moving some cinderblocks around. Elder Wood also got to meet a bird this week (I know you'd never guess that he loves birds). This one was a trained raven who, among other things, can say "I love you".

In church news this week, they finally got to start meeting at their own chapel, which is not far away from the missionary apartment. They had been meeting elsewhere for the last couple months because it was having some work done for mold remediation (sounds fun!) I'm sure both the missionaries and the ward members are happy to be in their own building again. Elder Wood is also looking forward to their upcoming visit to the Los Angeles Temple, which is scheduled to take place this coming week.

I asked about some of their day to day details. He reports that temple trips are scheduled about once every 6 months, and they go to either Los Angeles or Fresno, depending which one they're currently serving closer to. The recently announced Bakersfield Temple has a location identified, but no groundbreaking or construction started yet. In other details, one of his errands for this Preparation Day was to go and get his watch fixed; the hour hand and minute hand have gotten out of sync. I also asked about eating habits - the four of them in the apartment all occasionally cook something and eat it together. But usually they just eat whatever they scavenge up on their own.

Finally, Elder Wood gave another talk this week, meaning I have some additional spiritual thoughts that he shared. Here's one: 'Obedience is an eternal principle, one that Christ exemplified throughout his life. As Christ Himself said in John 8:29 "And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him." In all things Christ exemplified the principle of obedience, always doing the will of the Father. We, too, are expected to be obedient to the will of the Father.'

Trying out an artistic photo pose in the park

Elder Krumbah showing off their lizard friend

A closeup of Mr. Lizard

Bird photo: In the park

Another bird photo: In a tree

Week 48 (Plum Canyon)

Elder Wood has been happy for some cooler weather in southern California recently. He even got to wear his trench coat (sans liner) one day when it was raining. He's definitely not a warm weather fan, so I'm sure he'll enjoy the winter much more than he has the summer.

I asked him what interesting notes I should include in the blog, and his response was "There's not a lot to say most weeks in this area." They are teaching a couple families, although progress has been pretty slow, but they are hoping to connect with them and encourage them for future lessons. They didn't do a lot of door knocking this week, but have been following up with previous contacts to see whether they'd like to meet some more. He also appreciated the fact that the bishop of the Plum Canyon ward invited them over for dinner last night - it sounds like they enjoyed the meal!

I asked about Preparation Day plans, and they were going miniature golfing this afternoon. That had apparently been the plan last week, but it was just too hot to go out, so they did activities inside the church building instead. With the weather cooler (and not raining today) they'll get to spend some time outdoors.

A selfie showing off his trench coat

The entire Santa Clarita Zone

Someone had set out a bunch of Ensign magazines to give away at the church building, so he took a panorama of them all lined up

Bird photo: Blending in with the ground

Another bird photo: Not so much blending in with the house