Week 50 (Plum Canyon)

Missionary work in Plum Canyon continues to go as before, without a lot of quick progress but some good meetings and lessons. Elder Wood really likes their ward mission leader, who is helping them out a lot. His family also invited them over for dinner during the week. Normally they only have dinner with people who are learning about the gospel, but since they also invited a less active member of the ward, it was okay. They enjoyed their enchiladas and were able to teach a nice gospel lesson. His other favorite lesson this week was with a men they met named Anselmo. They found him while knocking on doors a couple weeks back, and he was interested enough to set up an appointment with them where they could teach him more. He's even invited them to come back and promised to make them dinner!

In other random news, they are thinking about starting a Bible study group at their ward's building now that it's re-opened after mold remediation. And a ward member invited them to her house to make cookies, which was a lot of fun. The only downside was that Elder Wood forgot and left his flour there, so was at a bit of a loss the next day when he wanted to cook something! But they did get it back, so he's all set now. It sounds like quiche is one of his favorite meals to cook - very fancy.

The other event of this week was a trip to the Los Angeles Temple on Thursday. He hadn't been able to attend the temple for about 6 months, back in February or March, so he was looking forward to an opportunity to attend, especially since they've added a few things to the endowment since he want last. He says he really enjoyed his visit, and also the chance to walk around the beautiful temple grounds. Of course he also saw a few birds there.

They also finally want to play miniature golf as a district today before I talked to him. They'd planned to go a couple weeks ago - it fell through for some reason, but this time it actually happened. He reports that he's not really very good at it, and had some pretty bad holes, including a quintuple bogey. I think he said he was, in total, 16 over par. They didn't keep score for the group, so there was no declared winner, but he said one of the sister missionaries was doing really well, including a hole in one on a difficult hole. Good for her!

Spiritual thought: "From the scriptures we learn that all blessings come from obedience. If we want to receive blessings, we should not be surprised when obedience is necessary. I know God is no tyrant. God asks us to be obedient because He knows things we often do not. Each commandment we are given is for a definite reason."

A really cool sky with neat clouds

They saw a coyote behind the church building

Also saw a cute bunny - I think this was a pet at a house they visited, but it lives outside

Bird photo: A hummingbird near the reflecting pool at the temple

One more bird photo

Week 49 (Plum Canyon)

Elder Wood and his companion had an appointment cancelled on them this week - she left a message the night before the appointment saying sorry, she'd have to cancel for the next day, because she was heading to the hospital to give birth to her baby! Seems like a pretty good excuse to me, and one of the most unusual they've had. Other than that one, they did have some lessons that actually took place this week. Their favorite was with a newly baptized member of their ward who is 8 years old. He entertained them during the lesson by showing off his Spiderman wall climb.

The elders continue to do some service and help out at the nearby ranch which has lots of animals that are trained and used for various movies and photo shoots. They do have fun while they're serving, though. See the pictures below for the lizard they found and captured (momentarily) while they were moving some cinderblocks around. Elder Wood also got to meet a bird this week (I know you'd never guess that he loves birds). This one was a trained raven who, among other things, can say "I love you".

In church news this week, they finally got to start meeting at their own chapel, which is not far away from the missionary apartment. They had been meeting elsewhere for the last couple months because it was having some work done for mold remediation (sounds fun!) I'm sure both the missionaries and the ward members are happy to be in their own building again. Elder Wood is also looking forward to their upcoming visit to the Los Angeles Temple, which is scheduled to take place this coming week.

I asked about some of their day to day details. He reports that temple trips are scheduled about once every 6 months, and they go to either Los Angeles or Fresno, depending which one they're currently serving closer to. The recently announced Bakersfield Temple has a location identified, but no groundbreaking or construction started yet. In other details, one of his errands for this Preparation Day was to go and get his watch fixed; the hour hand and minute hand have gotten out of sync. I also asked about eating habits - the four of them in the apartment all occasionally cook something and eat it together. But usually they just eat whatever they scavenge up on their own.

Finally, Elder Wood gave another talk this week, meaning I have some additional spiritual thoughts that he shared. Here's one: 'Obedience is an eternal principle, one that Christ exemplified throughout his life. As Christ Himself said in John 8:29 "And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him." In all things Christ exemplified the principle of obedience, always doing the will of the Father. We, too, are expected to be obedient to the will of the Father.'

Trying out an artistic photo pose in the park

Elder Krumbah showing off their lizard friend

A closeup of Mr. Lizard

Bird photo: In the park

Another bird photo: In a tree

Week 48 (Plum Canyon)

Elder Wood has been happy for some cooler weather in southern California recently. He even got to wear his trench coat (sans liner) one day when it was raining. He's definitely not a warm weather fan, so I'm sure he'll enjoy the winter much more than he has the summer.

I asked him what interesting notes I should include in the blog, and his response was "There's not a lot to say most weeks in this area." They are teaching a couple families, although progress has been pretty slow, but they are hoping to connect with them and encourage them for future lessons. They didn't do a lot of door knocking this week, but have been following up with previous contacts to see whether they'd like to meet some more. He also appreciated the fact that the bishop of the Plum Canyon ward invited them over for dinner last night - it sounds like they enjoyed the meal!

I asked about Preparation Day plans, and they were going miniature golfing this afternoon. That had apparently been the plan last week, but it was just too hot to go out, so they did activities inside the church building instead. With the weather cooler (and not raining today) they'll get to spend some time outdoors.

A selfie showing off his trench coat

The entire Santa Clarita Zone

Someone had set out a bunch of Ensign magazines to give away at the church building, so he took a panorama of them all lined up

Bird photo: Blending in with the ground

Another bird photo: Not so much blending in with the house

Week 47 (Plum Canyon)

This week the Plum Canyon ward had a new ward mission leader sustained. Elder Wood really likes him and is excited to work with him. He reports that he's doing a great job of getting people excited to work with the missionaries. In other mission news, they had Zone Conference this week, where the missionaries from multiple zones get together to receive instruction and inspiration. I like them because the mission leaders post photos from them to Facebook where I can find pictures of Elder Wood.

Elder Wood was also happy to report that they were able to teach some lessons this week to some of their friends who aren't (yet!) members of the ward. They especially like meeting with a friend who apparently owns a large ranch. The missionaries volunteer and help out on the ranch sometimes, and they get to meet the animals. The family that owns the ranch work in show business training animals, including birds (of course), dogs, and even emus!

For their Preparation Day this week, the district met at a church to play some four square. They even managed to take a few pictures of themselves afterward. The elders in the four-man apartment also played a game of Expeditions, the new board game that Elder Wood asked us to mail to him. It sounds like they all enjoyed it!

The missionaries at Zone Conference

Lunch at Zone Conference

The entire zone

The district after playing four square

Bird photo: One of the macaws trained by the ranch family

Week 46 (Plum Canyon)

Another week, another update from Plum Canyon! The mission had transfers this week, and as expected, Elder Wood remained in the Plum Canyon ward. Somewhat surprisingly, though, he has a new companion - Elder Dunaway was transferred elsewhere for his final six weeks. His new companion, Elder Krumbah, has been a missionary for one transfer less than Elder Wood has. They enjoyed determining that, of the 4 missionaries in their apartment, they have been serving for 6, 7, 8, and 9 transfers - a nice ascending sequence and what sounds like the start of a logic puzzle! In other fun transfer news, Elder Wood was tickled to see that his previous companion in Lone Pine, Elder Wright, has been transferred and is now companions with another Elder Wright, no relation. He jokes that with Elders Wright & Wright they must be the "most true and correct" companionship in the entire mission!

The big news this past week has been the hurricane approaching southern California. On Sunday after church, all of the missionaries in the mission were instructed to "shelter in place" meaning stay in their apartments. Elder Wood claims that it did rain pretty hard, and there were flood warnings in place, but nothing much actually happened, and he wasn't concerned. Of course, some other areas of California do have a lot of flooding, but I'm grateful that he wasn't impacted. There was also a smallish earthquake (magnitude 5.0 I think) somewhat nearby, which they did feel, but again nothing that caused damage or was concerning. As of Monday morning it was cloudy, but not actively raining, and some of the streets were drying out already, so it sounds like they're through the worst of it.

In mission news, they were happy to find form their door knocking, someone who has become a "yellow dot" - someone who is potentially interested in talking to them further. When they knocked, he said he'd always been interested in reading the Book of Mormon and would be happy to know more. That was a couple days ago, so they hope to stop by again soon, and if they're lucky he will become a "green dot" - someone they're actively teaching.

The final bit of news was their car trouble this week. Apparently a bolt fell out of their car somewhere in the suspension system. The car went out of alignment, but taking it in to fix that didn't reveal the actual problem. Then a few days later the car went into "limp mode" meaning it won't go over 15 mph. They took it to the dealership who was able to fix it, although they said at a cost of far too much (paid by the mission) and a couple days where they had to make do without it. They're very happy to have it back and running again!

Taken at district conference while they were getting ready to pose for a photo (I didn't get the actual photo...)

Elder Wood's Lego creation from P-Day. This is apparently, his kitchen sink rocket, which contains all the non-Lego pieces he could find, including a kitchen sink.

Ack! This is indeed a black widow, although thankfully they spotted it near a fence as they were walking along, and not in their apartment.

Only one bird photo for you this week.

Week 45 (Plum Canyon)

No update last week since I was traveling, but it sounds like there continues to be not a lot really happening in the Plum Canyon ward. The missionaries spend most of their time doing some meetings and getting to know the members of the ward, or else knocking on doors hoping to find someone with interest in learning more from them. They were excited this week that they had a good lesson with one of their friends. It sounds like he may come to church with them soon to see what he thinks of the church experience.

It continues to be quite hot in Santa Clarita, with several days over a hundred degrees this past week. However, Elder Wood says no complaints because he could be in Bakersfield, where it's 110 or even more most days. Hopefully as the summer winds down things will cool off a little.

This week for their Preparation Day activity their district was meeting at the church (which has air conditioning and is out of the sun) for a pizza lunch and some Lego building activities. The companionship of sister missionaries in their district were in charge of the Lego, so he wasn't sure what to expect but thought it sounded like fun.

Transfers are coming up this week. With the new schedule, though, he doesn't yet know any details. They'll get those on Wednesday, and then the transfers happen on Friday. However, he's pretty confident that he'll stay where he is, since he's only been in Plum Canyon for 6 weeks so far.

Not a lot by way of photos this week, so again please enjoy the lovely birds!

Bird photo

Another bird photo

Week 43 (Plum Canyon)

At church this week, the Plum Canyon had a special lesson about missions and missionary work. It sounds like the youth (12-17) met separately from the adults, and Elder Wood and Elder Dunaway were able to spend some time talking to them and answering there questions about how to prepare to be a missionary. I think Elder Wood enjoyed talking to them and getting to know some of the youth in the ward better.

The friends that the elders are working with haven't been progressing all that quickly, or haven't been available to meet, so they've spent a fair amount of time knocking on doors, hoping to meet new people. That isn't always the best way to meet people, so they are always happy to have referrals, but when nothing else is available there are always doors to knock! It has been hot there, but Elder Wood says it's been "bearable" so I'm glad he isn't suffering too much.

I asked how their mission handles "junior" and "senior" companions - in a lot of missions they will designate one of the companions as the senior (usually more experienced one). It sounds like in this mission they don't, they are just both senior companions. When someone is new (their first two transfers or 12 weeks) then they are a junior companion, or a "trainee" but otherwise there's no designated senior companion. They do have the designated driver vs. phone person, though, so maybe that is sufficient.

This week the 4 elders in their apartment (or maybe their whole district, I wasn't clear) are celebrating "Hyper Christmas". They decided that since at Christmas time in December they should be more focused on Jesus Christ and his birth, in July they could do a more secular time and liven things up a little. So apparently they have hung Christmas lights on their apartment and even plan to exchange small gifts. That Hyper Christmas gathering was happening after I spoke to him this Monday / Preparation Day, so maybe I'll hear more about how it went next week.

Again a lot of bird photos for the week, but a few others for your enjoyment as well.

Elder Dunaway and Elder Wood, with ice cream on a hot day

A screenshot from a video he posted on Facebook with a short message

Bird photo #1: A woodpecker

Bird photo #2: Quail

Bird photo #3: Yellow birds (I think there are 2 of them)

Bird photo #4: A blue bird