Finale

Elder Wood (now just Jared again) is home! His last week as a missionary he enjoyed saying farewell to the Brimhall ward. On Thursday after transfers, he and the other missionaries heading home were able to have lunch together, participate in some "deorientation" talks, and have dinner with President and Sister Burton. Then on Friday morning, President Burton made them breakfast - he said it was the best member meal he had the entire two years!

His homeward itinerary on Friday took a little while, routing from Bakersfield to Denver and then home to Portland, but his flights were all on time, and we were excited to meet him at the airport! We met our Stake President at the church building on the way home, and he released Elder Wood from his service as a full-time missionary. Then we returned home, where our dog Inka most definitely remembered him and was likewise excited to see him again!

Thanks for following along the past two years. I asked Jared whether it felt like it went by slowly or quickly, and he said he thought quickly. We're looking forward to seeing where the next years take him!

Welcome home!

You have to take a picture with Mom

The departing missionaries with Elder and Sister Burton

Farewell at the airport

Inka says hello!

Week 105 (Brimhall)

Elder Wood has finished his final Preparation Day in the mission, final Sunday, final church meetings, and all sorts of final milestones. But he still has a few more days and is looking forward to his last times of being a full-time missionary.

This past week they only had one lesson, with Ryder (the recently baptized 9-year-old). But Elder Wood said it was a great lesson, and that sometimes people have to go at their own pace, so it's okay that others of their friends have cancelled or otherwise not prioritized lessons. The missionary's job is to be available and to testify. They did have a nice little experience when they were out one evening and a few teenagers stopped them to ask why they were so dressed up. The missionaries were able to share a short scripture message and give them some pass-along cards. And who knows what will come from the encounter? He said they seemed genuinely curious, not just being obnoxious teenagers.

The past few days have been good ones in the life of a missionary. On Thursday, the missionaries who are going home this transfer were able to visit the Los Angeles temple for an endowment session. Elder Wood says it was a great experience, and he was happy to be able to go again after being at the Fresno Temple in August. Then this weekend they had, as he puts it, two and a half member meals. That meant they had lunch at a member's house on Saturday and on Sunday, and then on Sunday night they had the Costco lasagna that they were given on Saturday.

And, of course, Saturday and Sunday were General Conference. He reports that it was awesome! They made cinnamon rolls to have for breakfast, and had snacks during the conference sessions. He said that it was awesome and that he loved it! I asked him which talk was his favorite, and he chose Elder Patrick Kearon's talk, "Welcome to the Church of Joy".

For today's Preparation Day, the district went bowling and then had lunch at In-N-Out Burger. Now there are 2.5 more full missionary days. Then on Thursday morning they'll meet everyone else for transfers, but the missionaries returning home don't meet a new companion and go to a new area. Instead, they'll have lunch together, have what Elder Wood called a "deorientation meeting", and enjoy dinner with President and Sister Burton at their house. Friday they will all head to the airport - he said at least per the missionaries he's talked to, they may all be on the same flight to Denver, and then spread out from there. Elder Wood's family is excited to see him in Portland!

At the Los Angeles temple

District Council meeting, with the two Zone Leaders in attendance

At In-N-Out Burger for a district lunch

Bird photo - in the tree at the temple

Bird photo - in the sky over the temple

Of course Moroni has a bird hanging out with him

Week 104 (Brimhall)

With General Conference coming up next weekend, Elder Wood has now attended his last church meetings as a missionary. Such a strange thought! They had a good Sunday, since their friend Ryder was baptized! They were happy to get to attend and see him make covenants with the Lord. Although the event wasn't without minor hiccups - the missionaries were responsible for printing the programs for the baptism, and as soon as they had done that they got a text requesting a change to them (and they also noticed a typo) so they had to print them again. They were pleased that the turnout was great - there were probably 60 or more people in attendance.

There was no real update this week on any of their other friends beyond Ryder. They unfortunately had some cancellations and ended up with no real appointments. But they still did their best to work to find contacts and meet with people. One weekend day they went from having no meal appointments to having both lunch and dinner, which they much appreciated.

This week they had interviews with the mission president, and Elder Wood thinks it's likely that the Brimhall area will be "pinkwashed". That means that both of the current elders will leave, and the two new missionaries will be sisters. Elder Wood says they will probably be ASL missionaries, and also that there are some single and younger women that the elders have a hard time teaching that sister missionaries could connect well with. Of course, Elder Wood knows his plans this next transfer - he'll be coming home! He's looking forward to his outgoing temple trip, which will be coming up this Thursday. He isn't positive, but believes they'll get to visit the Los Angeles temple. There is 1 sister missionary and 8 elders who are going home this transfer, so they'll all get to enjoy the temple trip together.

Only one more missionary phone call, next Monday, for us to look forward to!

District meeting this week

I looked and looked for a bird in this picture, but it turns out it's just a house Elder Wood thought I'd like (which I do! it's a nice shade of green)

Birds on some electrical wires

A robin (?) on a lawn

Week 103 (Brimhall)

The best news of the week is that Elder Wood remained healthy and is completely recovered from being sick last week. It's nice to know he's feeling better!

This week the missionaries are looking forward to Ryder's baptism on Sunday. Ryder is 9 or 10 and should have gotten baptized when he was 8, but Elder Wood has enjoyed the chance to get to know him and talk to him.

Not a lot of other news related to their friends; Denise had to cancel their appointment this week, and the two brothers they'd talked to a little they need to track down again and try to get an appointment. But Elder Wood was happy that Robin, a recently baptized member, was at church this week. She was apparently baptized just a little while before Elder Wood was transferred to the ward, so the missionaries are happy to see her making progress. She was also able to go to dinner with them at a ward member's home so they could talk to her a little more.

I asked Elder Wood about meals with ward members, and he said they do get dinner most weekends, which he much appreciates. He laughed a little telling me they recently had the shortest dinner appointment of his whole mission. The member family wasn't very talkative, and they ate, shared a short message, and were out the door in about 30 minutes. Hopefully in the future Elder Wood will be talkative when he hosts missionaries at his house for dinner!

Their district at district council meeting

A bird photo - he said this was the first raven he'd seen in a while

Another bird photo - he said it's amazing how many more birds you see when you actually leave the house

Week 102 (Brimhall)

A bit of a short update this week, with few pictures, since poor Elder Wood ended up being sick almost all week. He says it was two different things - first a headache/sore throat illness, and then halfway through the week, his symptoms changed and he was positive for Covid. Thankfully, he's feeling much better now and looking forward to a more active week to come.

They did get a chance to meet with their new friend, Denise, on Monday before he started feeling sick. He says she asked great questions and looks forward to meeting with them again. They had to cancel their appointment with the teenaged brothers that they met recently, but hope to meet with them again soon. And, on an exciting note, their friend Ryder has set a baptismal date and plans to be baptized in a couple weeks on September 29. Elder Wood was happy he'll still be in Brimhall to attend.

Elder Wood and Elder Culbertson were able to do some service recently for some older people in the ward. They swept a driveway (apparently Bakersfield driveways get very dirty), watered plants, and also reset a tripped GFCI located in an awkward place that the couple couldn't reach. Serving others is great!

One photo this week of their combined district council meeting (ie everyone in their zone). This is the newly created Bakersfield West Zone. Sadly, no bird photos this week since Elder Wood said most of it was spent in their apartment staring at the walls while he was sick.

Combined District Council

Week 101 (Brimhall)

Elder Wood and Elder Culbertson are no longer in the California Bakersfield Zone. They are still in Brimhall, but with the organization of a new stake, the zone has followed suit and now they are part of the California Bakersfield West Zone. Such a difference! Actually, the main one is that Elder Wood is a little sad that the bishop of the Brimhall Ward is now a member of the new Stake Presidency, and thus a new bishop will need to be called. Elder Wood really liked working with this bishop, so he'll miss him.

The claim to fame this week is that the missionaries visited 5 different chapels, including all 3 Bakersfield stake centers, this week. It sounds like there were various reasons, including the Stake conference that reorganized the stake, zone conference, mission president interviews, and so on. But he was pretty tickled that they visited so many different buildings. As part of this week's zone conference, Elder Wood shared his farewell testimony; apparently that's a tradition for missionaries in their last transfer before going home. It's hard to believe he has 0 more zone conferences in the mission!

Missionary work is moving along this week. They met 2 teenaged brothers who are interested in their message, or at least claim to be, and look forward to meeting with them again. They also had an appointment scheduled this evening with Denise, someone they found while knocking doors. She had been out of town since they first met her, so Elder Wood was excited to get to have a lesson with her.

Elder Wood found his street!

Zone Conference (combined with all Bakersfield zones). Elder Wood is top row, 10th from the left

Candid lunch photo from Zone Conference

A combined district conference; I think this is basically their zone.

Bird photo #1: A nice view of this hawk

Bird photo #2: Lots of hummingbirds at the feeder

Week 100 (Brimhall)

A bit of a catchup after missing last week while I was out of town, but according to Elder Wood not a lot has changed, and it's been hot so he hasn't seen many birds. We've reached triple digits - week #100! This week was also the last transfer of Elder Wood's mission. He is still in the Brimhall area, but since his previous companion, Elder Smith, finished his mission and returned home, he has a new companion, Elder Culbertson.

Last week there was a leadership conference, and the missionaries all got to meet together with an apostle, Elder Gary E. Stevenson. Elder Wood says it was a wonderful and inspirational meeting. Then, this coming week apparently the Bakersfield stakes are being reorganized, so they will have another church leader come to help with that, although he wasn't sure who yet.

In terms of mission news, they've enjoyed having Karen (the recently baptized new member) coming to church, and they've had a few other visitors as well. One member of the ward brought a friend that is interested in talking to the missionaries. They've also continued to meet with Ryder, the boy who is interested in being baptized, and think he may actually choose a baptism date soon (after confirming when his grandparents will be in town).

That's about all the news I got this week, since we were out of the country and I wasn't taking notes. But for the rest of the mission I'll be more timely and up to date!

Elder Smith, Elder Wood, and a family in the Brimhall Ward

The entire mission together at the leadership meetings with Elder Stevenson. (Elder Wood is second row from the top, third from the left.)

A bird on a roof

A bird in the sky

Week 98 (Brimhall)

This is going up a couple days early; the week isn't over yet. And we haven't actually talked to Elder Wood, since it's not yet Monday / Preparation Day. But, we will be out of town for the next couple Mondays, and I've gotten some nice pictures uploaded this week, so I thought it'd be nice to have some sort of blog post to cover this week.

All of the photos are from the trip that they had to the Fresno Temple this past Thursday. The mission leaders provided a nice group photo on the parent Facebook group, and Elder Wood uploaded some photos of his own. Hopefully it was a wonderful day at the temple!

Elder Wood and the Fresno Temple

Another temple pose

The group at the Fresno Temple. Elder Wood is far left on  sort of the second row from the front (depending upon how you caught the senior couples as rows).

TC, the Temple Cat. I know Elder Wood is a fan.

Week 97 (Brimhall)

This week was a better one than the previous. Elder Wood was happy that they got to have a baptism for Karen this week. She'd been taught by the sister missionaries who speak ASL, but will be a member of the Brimhall ward, so they all got to participate. Elder Wood said the opening prayer, and Elder Smith gave a talk about baptism. He reports that she was very happy, emotional, and excited, and that he was very grateful to be able to share in her baptism experience.

There were a few more lessons this week as compared to last, which was nice for the missionaries. They met with Patricia, an inactive member of the ward, who was happy to talk with them and also shared some of Elder Wood's hometown Tillamook ice cream with them. It was even an Oregon flavor - marionberry. Their friend Leslie that they connected with via door knocking seems to be looking forward to their appointment next week, and she even responds to texts in a timely fashion!

It hit the news last week that there was a small earthquake near Bakersfield (magnitude 5.2). Elder Wood confirmed that they did feel it, but there was no actual damage anywhere near them. I told him now he can consider himself a real California resident, having made it through his first semi-major earthquake.

This upcoming week is also one that the missionaries are looking forward to. On Tuesday they have their interviews with the mission President (these happen once per 6-week transfer). Then on Thursday they get to attend the Fresno Temple, which they are only able to do every 6 months. And, this weekend an apostle (Elder Gary E. Stevenson) is coming to the area and all of the missionaries will get a chance to hear from him, as well as other church leaders, in a mission-wide meeting. It should be an eventful week!

Bird photo #1 - A gray bird

Bird photo #2 - A blue bird

Wait, that's not a bird, that's a horse! Apparently they turned a corner in their car and a horse was coming down the road towards them. Not something you see every day!

Week 96 (Brimhall)

It was a bit of a frustrating week for the elders of the Brimhall ward. I guess some weeks are like that, but it doesn't make them fun. First, of course, it continues to be HOT! Temperatures remain over 100 degrees every day, and that much heat is just tiring. So that's no fun.

And, there hasn't been a whole lot of success recently in terms of finding people who want to listen to their message. It sounds like there has been a lot of door knocking and a lot of quick rejections. It's apparently extra frustrating since the other two elders they share an apartment with, who are assigned to a different area, have had a lot of success, with lots of people to meet with and even more dinner invitations from members of their ward. Some weeks are just hard.

They did have a "combined district council" meeting this week, so there were some photos from that. Apparently there's a district council meeting each week, where all of the missionaries meet together. But occasionally they have a combined meeting, where everyone from their larger zone meets, and they have a bigger group for conversations.

We're back this week to having more than one bird photo, so that's nice to have some options to share with you. Enjoy the photos and hope with us that next week is more upbeat!

The combined district council

A bird on a fence

A bird on a lawn

Week 95 (Brimhall)

Elder Wood and Elder Smith got to attend a baptism this week, for someone in their zone. He said that was a neat experience. They were also able to meet with Karen, who is the friend getting baptized soon in their ward. She speaks ASL, so another pair of missionaries have been teaching her, but since she'll be in their ward, they also attended some meetings with her. Karen has now passed her baptismal interview and they're working together to plan her upcoming baptism in a couple weeks!

As another item related to Karen, the Brimhall Ward is looking likely to become the home of a new ASL group in the Bakersfield Stake, where multiple different people from the stake can attend together and receive interpretation of meetings. Assuming that happens, the mission president would also like to replace the elders there with some sisters who speak ASL; he is working to figure out how housing would work for that change. Thus, Elder Wood may end up being transferred elsewhere in the next transfer, which is still about 4 weeks away.

While working in their area this week, the elders knocked on a lot of doors and met a lot of people, but they weren't able to find any new friends who were interested in learning more. Elder Wood says they've talked about using a slightly different door approach, that may help those answering to think a little bit more instead of just giving a kneejerk "No" response. We wish them success! He did report some interesting conversations online with some people who connected with them via Facebook. In one case, the man asked some good questions about God and religion, and seemed surprised when Elder Wood actually had some thought-through answers to share with him. Elder Wood didn't think he'd changed the man's opinions on religion, but hopes that he's given him some things to think about.

The next 10 weeks or so have some exciting things to look forward to. As mentioned above, there may be a transfer coming. And, this current transfer is their scheduled every 6 months visit to the temple, so he is looking forward to visiting the Fresno Temple again. Then, in the next transfer (his final one!) he and the other departing missionaries will also be able to do one more temple visit before they leave for home. And, sometime in the next few weeks, there is a leadership meeting in the Bakersfield area. The missionaries have been informed that there will be an apostle in attendance, and that he would like to have a meeting with all of the missionaries in the mission in attendance - Elder Wood is very much looking forward to that meeting!

Only a few pictures to share this week - it's shocking, but there was only one single bird photo taken! Luckily for the rest of us, there were Zone Conferences this week, meaning the mission leaders share some photos they took there.

Elder Wood's table at the Bakersfield Zone Conference

Group photo from Zone Conference - Elder Wood is 2nd row from the top, 9th from the right side 

The one and only bird photo!

Week 94 (Brimhall)

Transfers last week turned out to be mostly a non-event for Elder Wood. He was pretty sure he'd stay put in the Brimhall Ward, but he was happy that his companion, Elder Smith, stayed also. It had been a possibility to combine the Brimhall area with another one (Rosedale), but that didn't happen, either, so they still have a 4-man apartment. One of the other elders did get transferred elsewhere, though, and Elder Jo joined them, so at least something is different!

There was also not a lot of news to report about the work in Brimhall. Elder Wood was happy that there will be a baptism in the ward on August 10, though! It isn't someone they've been teaching, because Karen communicates using ASL, and so the missionaries who know ASL have taught her. But he's excited to attend her baptism and to have her as an official part of the ward. Their young friend Ryder continues to be close to baptism, but they didn't get a chance to meet with him this week.

In other news, the Brimhall missionaries now have a car! This fact makes them pretty happy, especially since the heat in Bakersfield remains (I believe it got up to 109 degrees at least one day this week). He also reports that their new car, a Volkswagen Tiguan, is pretty fancy, with lots of neat features that he enjoys. Elder Smith is the designated driver, so Elder Wood gets to be the copilot and navigator and play with some of the features.

The other mission-related news is that the church is apparently (or so the rumors say) going to release some specific recommendations for what exercises the missionaries can/should do. Right now they just say "exercise 30 minutes a day" which is not very helpful. Elder Wood says sometimes, depending upon his companion, they'll go for a run. He doesn't really like running, but he finds it efficient. Sounds about right to me!

Elder Wood and Elder Smith, from a video they created for the Bakersfield Stake Young Men's Camp

A crow with a beady eye

A bluebird

Week 93 (Brimhall)

This week has transfers coming up in the Bakersfield mission. They won't find out more until later in the week, but Elder Wood thinks it's likely he's staying where he is, but "I expect chaos around me". It's possible that his area will be combined with another, or maybe not, or maybe the district will change. He'll find out! Mostly he's just hoping at the end of it he'll be in an area that has a car!

He says the biking is going okay, although of course it's hot. He did say that it's less the heat and more the bright sun that really bothers him, so having his new sunglasses has really helped him out. He's definitely a fan!

In missionary work this week, they were especially excited that Ryder, a boy they're teaching, is close to choosing to be baptized. He's about 10, and apparently a lot of his family are members of the church, but he's never been baptized. Apparently he has a cousin who recently returned from a mission, and he'd like that cousin to baptize him. They'll see how their upcoming appointments with him go.

There are a few other people that they're teaching, or have appointments to teach, but that was the main news that Elder Wood shared. He also mentioned that the stake he's serving in has asked him and his companion (and possibly other missionaries as well) to make short videos that they can share at their Young Men's Camp, which is coming up later this summer. Elder Wood is happy to encourage them to prepare for missions and service.

Elder Wood with some graffiti they found

Elder Smith with the graffiti

A restaurant sign they passed - apparently the only choice for dinner is pizza!

Bird photo #1: A little yellow bird, a bit blurry, but they enjoyed watching him bathing in a puddle

Bird photo #2: A blue bird