Week 56 (Plum Canyon)

Elder Wood reports another fairly quiet week in the Plum Canyon ward. He said the highlight of the week was when they were going to In-N-Out for a quick meal, and the person ahead of them in the drive-through line paid for their entire meal. As they drove out, he waved and gave them a peace sign. It's nice to hear about people doing nice things for the missionaries!

For their district meeting this week, they were joined by the APs (Assistants to the President) so their group photo was a little larger than it normally would be. I heard about how they continue to meet with and teach members. and teach lessons to those that are interested. The weather there in southern California is finally starting to cool down a little. It's still close to 80 degrees most days, but at least it isn't 90 or 100!

I asked how often they get meals with members of the ward. They can eat dinner with them on Saturdays or Sundays, but on other days only if there's someone that isn't already a ward member there for them to meet and talk to. This week they did have a member of the ward invite them over on Tuesday, because his dad was there, who isn't a member. This weekend they had one kind woman invite them over on Sunday, but he says it wasn't their best meal. She has her aged uncle living with them, and therefore the food needs to be quite soft, and also with no added salt, so Elder Wood reports it as not so flavorful. They did have a nice meal on Saturday, though, including a delicious meatloaf and potatoes, so he said overall he appreciated the weekend meals.

Spiritual thought of the week: "We are commanded to come to church on the Sabbath. Why? Most importantly, at church we can receive the sacrament, helping us to remember Christ and keep the most important things prominent in our lives. But why can't we just worship God at home? We come because at church, we have an organization where we can easily help, strengthen,  serve one another. Church is an opportunity to love and serve one another"

The district together, with the APs on the far right

The yard of one of their friends, who really gets into the Halloween spirit!

Bird photo: A nice clear one of a bird in the grass

Another bird photo: A raptor soaring overhead

Week 55 (Plum Canyon)

This week had the fun of preparing for and attending the Plum Canyon Ward Halloween party! The missionaries did their part by helping to hand out invitations to those that they met. Elder Wood says that he enjoyed the party, which included a chili cook-off (ie dinner!) and a Trunk or Treat activity for the kids. He especially enjoyed seeing everyone's costumes, since on Halloween itself the missionaries return home early and don't answer the door to avoid getting themselves into trouble. He says his favorite costumes are the inflatables, and he really liked one that was an Among Us inflatable.

The missionaries continue to teach and share the gospel with everyone that is interested. They have especially spent time with some of the newer members of the ward, and the 7-year-olds that are preparing for their baptisms. They also started this week with a scripture study night, a session that will be weekly at a ward member's home where they can discuss scriptures together. The first one was attended only by ward members, but they were encouraged to bring a friend along next time. It sounds like they are, at least to start, focusing on the Come Follow Me reading, which is getting towards the end of the New Testament now.

For their Preparation Day this week, the missionaries met at the church building and carved some pumpkins. It was BYOP (Bring Your Own Pumpkin) and they had bought some pumpkin carving tools at WalMart to share. Elder Wood shared a picture of his - I told him that he should show some of the others as well, but at least thus far I only got his. It is definitely cute, though!

A carved and lighted Halloween pumpkin

A funny sign they saw while out and about. No, they didn't call because "we weren't missing a chicken"

Bird photo #1: In the grass

Bird photo #2: On a fence

Week 54 (Plum Canyon)

It sounds like the weeks are starting to blend together for Elder Wood in Plum Canyon. He's been there for 2.5 transfers now (15 weeks) so think it's likely that the next transfer period (3 weeks from now) he will go elsewhere in the mission. But only time will tell. And for now, he's focused on the good people in Plum Canyon.

They continued to have a good number of meetings and messages and lessons with the members of the Plum Canyon ward. They also had a few lessons with families where one spouse or the other is not a member, so they can teach them more about the gospel. Their record this week was 5 lessons in a single day! Saturday ended up as a busy day this past week, too. Their district leadership had been sick earlier in the week, so they moved their district council meeting to Saturday. And, they had lessons scheduled that day. And, they were also invited to the birthday party of a child in the ward for that day. Elder Wood wasn't totally sure why they were invited (he also wasn't sure how old the child was, his only estimate was "under 10 years old"). But, they enjoyed the party and he said they connected with another member of the ward there and set up a lesson with them, so it was time well spent.

I believe it was that same Saturday evening, but it might have been another night this past week, that they had a ward activity which was a BBQ and included a "cookoff" competition. The chefs BBQed and attendees compared and voted for the tri-tip vs. the ribs vs. the chicken. The ribs were declared the winner, and Elder Wood said that was the right choice!

Elder Wood was complaining a little today about how hot it remains there in Santa Clarita. I was telling him it was in the 70's and raining here, and he said he'd much rather have that than the 95 degrees and hot they have there. They did their district activity today indoors to avoid the heat, meeting at the church to play some basketball and other indoor sports.

That's about all the news of the week, and I'll apologize in advance since I got nothing but bird photos this week, and not many of those to boot. So enjoy the three best ones!

Spiritual thought of the week: "We are commanded to keep the Sabbath Day holy. Why? Because by setting aside an entire day for the things of God, we're able to more easily make the time to strengthen our spirits. Additionally, God knows that humans need rest. As such, he has ordained that we should all rest at least one day a week."

Bird photo #1: Pretty yellow markings in the grass

Bird photo #2: Mostly brown on a park bench

Bird photo #3: Raven/crow at the top of the tree, and a smaller brownish bird in the center of the photo

Week 53 (Plum Canyon)

Another week completed in the California Bakersfield Mission! I did check today with him about his official release/return home date, and due to some changes in the transfer schedule, he's actually not quite less than a year to go yet. His expected return date is 1 year, 2 days from now, on October 11. Have you marked your calendar yet? Mine is!

Luckily for me they had zone conferences this weekend, which means his mission leaders post photos to the family Facebook page, and I get to see actual pictures of missionaries instead of birds! I asked what Zone Conference was like, and he told me it's basically like Stake Conference, except for missionaries, and there's always lunch afterward. In the closeup of Elder Wood's table, you'll see him holding out a squashed water bottle. I asked him what the point of that was, and he says he's "following the prophet!" Apparently I don't pay enough attention at General Conference, but this was indeed mentioned in a talk last April (search for "water bottle" in the talk  at https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2023/04/16haynie)

Mission work lately continues to be mainly meeting with and teach members of the ward, but he says that their goal is to encourage the ward members to meet new people and provide referrals to the missionaries, and that their efforts are moving things in the right direction. Good to hear! He says their most inspirational story of the week was what happened after one of their meetings was cancelled last minute. They pondered on what they should do next and, while looking at the map of their area, felt inspired to drive to the very northernmost part of their area, which is near Castaic Lake (and only about a 20 minute drive; the area isn't all that big). Upon arriving, they found that there were a few widely scattered houses around and knocked on some doors. The third house they tried had someone who not only answered the door, but was also somewhat interested in talking to them. So they will hopefully get an opportunity to return, and he may also have some service opportunities for them. (Missionaries are always happy for service opportunities!)

I'll finish with a spiritual thought from the week from one of his talks: "We are commanded to study the Scriptures. Why? God wants us to grow in our knowledge of eternal principles. The scriptures are like the textbooks for the class we're all enrolled in—Eternal Life 101. God wants us to grow in wisdom and in knowledge, and the scriptures are an excellent source for both."

Everyone at Zone Conference. Elder Wood is standing in the back row, second from right.

Their lunch table at Zone Conference, including the smashed water bottle.

They stopped at McDonald's for Pokemon/Pikachu Happy Meals.

Bird photo: Crow atop a tree.

Another bird photo: I spotted 3 birds here in the grass.

Final bird: Zoomed in one of the three in the grass.

Week 52 (Plum Canyon)

I think week 52 officially marks the halfway point, especially since Elder Wood entered the MTC on 3 October 2022, also known as basically one year ago. Time both flies and crawls, depending upon the way you think about it!

Things continue to be pretty uneventful in Plum Canyon. Not that they aren't doing good work, but the weeks tend to mostly blend into one another. The most exciting thing that happened this week: They were doing their companion study at a park, and someone approached to talk to them (this happens sometimes, thus why they'll study in public places, to invite conversation.) Instead of having questions for the missionaries, though, this man wanted to testify to them about his conversion to an evangelical church and his experience in being born again. Elder Wood said they mostly agreed with a lot of what he said, and that he was very nice. But he didn't have any interest in hearing more about the gospel they would be happy to share with him. Overall, though, a new and different type of encounter to spice up the week!

In general, Elder Wood and Elder Krumbah have been spending a lot of time having lessons with the members of the Plum Canyon ward. They did have one lesson with a member who doesn't attend very often, so that was fun for them. They also watched General Conference this week at the church building. For the first session on Saturday morning, they realized they didn't have the correct cable to connect their phone (streaming the broadcast) to the television, so had to watch huddled around a phone. After the first session, they ran to the store to buy a cable and enjoyed the remaining sessions on the television.

This was a transfer week in the mission, but it isn't at the top of the blog because not a whole lot changed. Elder Wood and Elder Krumbah are staying together in Plum Canyon. Elder Wood is still the designated driver. They did get a new elder in their apartment, since the other companionship had a change. The new elder is fresh out of the MTC and says he likes board games, so that is apparently the beginning of a fast friendship.

In addition to being a minimal news week, this is also a minimal photo week. I got exactly two, shared below. I chastised Elder Wood when I talked to him on the phone about slacking off, but he says the birds (and thus the pictures) have their own schedules. So we make do with what we get.

Bird photo: A bird in flight

Another bird photo: He's there, blending into the tree, if you look closely enough