Week 60 (Bakersfield 2nd)

This week was a somewhat shorter conversation due to Elder Wood's family having car trouble. Or, more accurately, tire troubles. We talked for a little bit in the midst of Les Schwab visits and tire replacements. Elder Wood shared that he's only had one flat tire so far in his mission, which we seemed to think was a nice accomplishment. The flat happened back in his first area, Rosamond.

For their Preparation Day this week the missionaries had some fun with a game called "Throw, Throw, Burrito" at the church, and of course spent some quality time grocery shopping. Elder Wood says he managed to get lost in the local WalMart - apparently it's set up strangely? We're glad he managed to find himself again!

This week was actually a really nice one for visits with their friends. They had a nice lesson with a family who are partially members of the church, and then both of them came to church this past Sunday. They also met with a referral lesson, Charles, this weekend. He apparently has had some experience with the church before and let them know that he is pretty much ready to be baptized and join the church. They hope he's right and that he'll be ready to make and keep covenants soon.

We left off talking as the missionaries headed to In-N-Out Burger for lunch. Apparently a kind member gives them gift cards occasionally (missionaries love gift cards). And the missionaries are always happy to enjoy a drive-through!

Spiritual thought of the week: "The second great commandment is to love others. God wants us all to be happy, and that usually involves us loving each other. As we love and serve others, we not only strengthen those that we serve, but we also strengthen our own testimony. This commandment also ties into coming to church. Although we come to church to strengthen our own testimony, we also come to church to strengthen and serve others."

Missionaries from the district meeting at the church building

A nice photo of a blue bird

Another blue bird (taken on a different day)

Week 59 (Bakersfield 2nd)

Elder Wood is really enjoying their work in the Bakersfield 2nd ward so far. He says that he really likes the bishop, and that they've had great discussions with him. For example, recently they discussed the differences between laws and principles. (Elder Wood loves deep thought discussions).

They have several friends that they're meeting with and teaching. He says that one, Lupe, is really close to deciding to get baptized. They had a great discussion this week with her about the Sabbath day, and he is definitely interested in baptism but hasn't quite set a date yet. Another is a couple, Ashley and Justin, who are moving more slowly but that he also really enjoys meeting with. He says it's great to let them move at their own pace, and he's happy to answer questions for them.

I asked whether they have plans for Thanksgiving dinner, and it sounds like no, nothing officially scheduled yet. But they aren't worried, because there are several families that would be willing to host them, even if they just dropped by last minute, so "we have some options."

Elder Wood was happy this week to play a board game for their P-Day activity. They had 9 people there total (including a visit from the Assistants to the mission president), and played a game called "Secret Combinations" - for those who know how social deduction games work, it is apparently basically that, but themed that you're trying to determine who sides with the Nephites or the Lamanites. He said it was a bit hard to play logically with the large number of people and all the chaos that apparently causes, but that everyone had fun.

Spiritual thought for the week: "When Christ was asked to rank the commandments, he called the greatest commandment to love God. Why does God command this of us? Christ is saying that whatever we value, or love, most is where we will keep our focus. As such, a love of God will help us to keep ourselves focused on being more righteous, focused on the principles of eternal life."

Zone Conference this week - Elder Wood is sitting across from Elder Peterson at lunch.

Group photo at Zone Conference - Elder Wood is middle row, fifth from the right side

Bird photo - A woodpecker

One more bird photo

Week 58 (Bakersfield 2nd)

Transfers this week! And Elder Wood is correct, he was indeed moved this time around. His previous companion, Elder Krumbah, stayed in Plum Canyon to hold down the fort with a new companion. Elder Wood is now in the heart of the mission, the Bakersfield 2nd Ward. He says fun fact, since their area includes the geographical center of Bakersfield, when they get a referral for someone who lives in Bakersfield but has an unknown address, it defaults to them, because they're in the middle!

His new companion, Elder Petersen, has been in the ward for at least a couple transfers, but he's a pretty new missionary; it's only been a few months since he left the MTC. Elder Wood already likes him - Elder Petersen was assigned as the driver by default (since he's been in the area longer) but prefers not to drive, so they're planning to switch that up. And he likes board games, so they already have that in common, too!

Elder Wood reports that the area is great so far, but he "feels a little bit lied to, since I've seen neither bakers nor fields since I've been here" :-) There are 4 missionaries (two companionships) assigned to the same ward, but there is still plenty of work to do. Unlike Plum Canyon, where they mostly met with current members of the ward, they have friends here who are not (yet) members that they can meet with and teach. Everyone is friendly, the ward is a good size, and he's enjoying getting to know everyone.

His new district has 8 missionaries in it. 4 are elders (the 4 that cover the Bakersfield 2nd Ward), and 4 are sister missionaries. Today they enjoyed playing some ball games at the local church building, including one called "Three Hit Kill" which I have never heard of, but is apparently a sort of volleyball / dodgeball hybrid.

Spiritual thought for the week: "Doctrine and Covenants, section 87, tell us 'Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not moved'. It is important for us to put ourselves in places that are holy and to recognize that the end can come quickly"

A still shot from a video he made for Facebook

Transfers - bidding farewell to Elder Krumbah; his new companion Elder Petersen is in the background

His favorite birds of the week - Bakersfield has flocks of wild parrots!

Another bird photo - a nice shot of a woodpecker

One more bird photo, although we don't know what this one is

Week 57 (Plum Canyon)

This may be the last entry from Plum Canyon - transfers are coming up this week, and since Elder Wood has been here for 3 transfers (aka 12 weeks or 3 months) he thinks it's fairly likely he'll be going somewhere else. But we'll find out next time!

There were a fair number of technical difficulties today; for some reason the elders' phones weren't getting good service so we had to hang up/call again/listen to garbled static several times. So this call was a little shorter than normal. It sounds like the days and weeks are blending together, though, so we didn't miss much.

The highlight of the week was a wedding that they attended on Saturday. A member of the Plum Canyon ward, who has recently started coming back to church, married someone from another ward. She was married by their local bishop in their church building, and Elder Wood and Elder Krumbah got to help with setup and cleanup. They were also asked to decorate one of the cakes (it sounds like there were three), but they agreed that this "was probably a mistake" :-) Apparently it went badly; I asked for photos and Elder Krumbah did have one but Elder Wood hasn't sent it to me. Maybe next week!

Other than the wedding, the quick hits I got this week were: They are continuing their weekly scripture study night and have had about 7 people attend each of the 3 weeks. He got to pet German Shepherds this week! (Strays apparently, but they looked friendly...) And for their district activity today they played 9-square at the church gym, and later Elder Wood and another elder in his apartment (Elder Brady, I think I heard) enjoyed playing a game of Scythe, which he thoroughly enjoyed.

A final note that sometimes I have pictures to choose from, but for your viewing pleasure below, literally the only pictures I received this week. Enjoy! And here's your spiritual thought for the week: "All of the commandments help us to be more receptive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. As missionaries we often emphasize three things: keeping the sabbath, studying scriptures, and praying. Shortened to CPR for Church Pray Read, they're the most efficient way to quickly build and maintain our testimonies. Not doing CPR causes our testimonies to wither."

Petting German Shepherds

Petting German Shepherds part 2 ("I am looking away but you can see the dogs better")

A photo of their scripture study night

Bird photo #1

Bird photo #2