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