Week 88 (Brimhall)

Elder Wood says hello from the Brimhall Ward! He was transferred there this past week. It is in the Bakersfield Stake, which means he is right back in the heart of Bakersfield. Sadly for him, that also means back in the heat of summer. But he says he's getting used to it, and didn't really complain about the heat at all, so good for him! And I suppose it's the right attitude, since he thinks most likely this is where he'll finish out the last 3 transfers of his mission.

As far as his living situation, his apartment is right next to the mission home, and about 3 miles north of the site they've announced for the Bakersfield temple. (The temple site is in the ward just to the south.) It sounds like the temple is currently facing some community concerns before it can get started, so the local leaders are working to try to understand and help to resolve those. Elder Wood says he thinks the neighbors just don't understand yet what great things a temple does for nearby property values.

His new apartment is shared with another set of missionaries, so there are four of them there. His new district consists of those four, plus another two elders for a total of six. The new area is technically a bike area again, but the other elders in their apartment are kind, so they share the car, meaning he only has to ride his bike in the heat for half the week.

As far as missionary work, Elder Wood has only been in the area for a few days, so he doesn't know much yet, but he's looking forward to getting to know the area and the people. The ward he's serving in is a good size, so there are lots of people to meet. It's in a much nicer part of Bakersfield than he was in before, with lots of big houses.

Picture-wise, I was happy that the mission leaders posted photos from transfers on Facebook, so I was able to get three different pictures of him on transfer day. I'll post all of them to make up for last week's dearth of photos.

Transfers - Elder Wood far left

Transfers - Elder Wood 3rd from left in this one

Bigger group at transfers - Elder Wood is on the far right of the front row

Bird photo #1 - An osprey nest with a chick peeking out

Bird photo #2 - Probably the parent osprey

Bird photo #3 - Not sure whether the same bird, but a nice shot of a raptor framed by the wires

Bird photo #4 - Rocky, a cockatoo that he met when they were visiting a ward member at his job

Week 87 (Kern Valley)

First off, an apology because there are exactly 0 pictures this week. I asked Elder Wood during our call whether maybe he'd just forgotten to connect to Wifi and upload them but he said no, he just hasn't taken any. Not even a single bird!

This week not much happened, partially because both of Elder Wood's companions were sick for a few days, so they were confined at home waiting for them to recover. He said that he did manage to stay healthy himself, which he attributes to his year at college where he didn't keep his environment spotless and thus built his immune system. Maybe! He did not have such good luck with his foot, since while they were doing some cleaning and moving of furniture, he managed to drop his portion of the bedframe directly on his bare foot and big toe. Ouch! He says he thinks it'll be okay, he's just limping a little right now. Hopefully he's right, and it'll heal quickly.

In missionary news, they did receive two referrals this week, which they were able to contact via text. One of them shows some promise and they hope to have an appointment to meet him soon and have a lesson. The other apparently is in a rough spot and is hoping the missionaries can give him money. While that isn't going to happen, Elder Wood did say they will connect him to their ward, which may be able to help out in small ways.

The other event of the week was that they were able to attend a fundraiser. The ward held a spaghetti dinner and silent auction to raise money for youth programs and camps. The members refused to let the missionaries pay, so they waived the suggested donation for their dinner. One member even gave them some money to use to bid on auction items. They ended up taking some chocolate-covered strawberries and a chocolate cake home with them to enjoy.

That was about it for this week. Transfers are this coming week, so Elder Wood should find out on Tuesday the transfer news for Thursday. He suspects that he and Elder Allen will be transferred elsewhere, since Elder Egbert is going to be training a new missionary. But perhaps he's wrong - tune in next week to find out!