Well here is the plan for the next couple of days. Tomorrow, we drive up to the mission office and then head up to Kirtland for the afternoon. We get to go through there one more time and go to the School of the Prophets. Following that, we head to the mission home and have dinner there and I don't know what else, but then the departing interviews happen then. We spend the night in the mission home and then head to the airport after breakfast Thursday morning. President and Sister Brown are going to be around until the 29th of June and they fly home. They get to spend the last week moving stuff out of the mission home and getting things ready for themselves to go. Their homecoming talk is going to be on July 15th and I'm planning on going to that. As for transfers, Elder Luckett is staying as expected and he is going to be companions with the other missionary in Medina. Because of the shortage of missionaries coming out, they are combining the areas so they are just going to be companions. They will have the whole ward to themselves, and everything will move forward. We kind of expected it to happen so it was too much of a surprise, but they also told us that our apartment was also going to be closed. So we have to get everything cleaned and moved out to the other elders apartment before tonight, so we spent some time doing that yesterday because it has taken a lot of time.
This last week went by really quickly and it doesn't even feel like any time went by. I thought it might feel like a long time, but it flew by, just like the last two years. Did some service and had exchanges with our zone leaders and help them find a couple of new people to teach. We were walking around and talked with a lot of people and one of them told us to come back the next day and so we did. We were able to teach her and talk to her about the Book of Mormon and about the church. She is a super cool lady and like to talk, but was really interested in reading the book of Mormon. It was a good day all around and we were invited to go to Institute that night and fellowship with the young single adults, and there were a couple of people from Youngstown there that I got to see and fellowship with the young single adults, and there were a couple of people from Youngstown there that I got to see again. But that's about it for my last email to ya, I'll see you in a couple of days! It's been two years and it's time to go. I've had the time of my life and I know the OCM was the place for me. The mission's now just a memory. Ohio is a great place, and lots of good things have happened here.
Love, Elder Woodward
.
Wednesday, June 20, 2018
Friday, June 15, 2018
Medina, Ohio - June 13, 2018
Another week gone in what seems like the blink of an eye! It's crazy how fast time goes by out here, and every week comes and goes and it's hard to remember what we did each day. But I do remember that last week was a good week for us here in the good old land of Medina! Thursday we had a meeting with our zone and a member of the mission presidency on some specific things the stake leaders would like us to do to help them know more about the people we are teaching and different members in the ward, and that's mostly the reason why we got the technology that we have. Makes things easier if it's used correctly. Afterwards, we were driving home and made a spur of the moment decision to treat ourselves to Buffalo Wild Wings. Never a bad decision I might add. We had some time before we were going on exchanges with the district leader, so we got our stuff together and headed over there. They only live about 5 minutes away so not a super long trip. Had a good day with that, and after dinner Elder Sopeña and I were helping at a member's house dig in their backyard to do some work for them, and that was some hard work because the ground was so hard. You use a pick axe to loosen up the dirt and then shovel it into the wheelbarrow, but you can use the pick axe for too long because then the dirt gets loosened up and there's too much dirt for it to be effective. It was a fun time though. Friday was the end of the exchanges and it was a slower afternoon, but we ended it with some super amazing ice cream. Can't go wrong with ice cream. Had our Book of Mormon Study at the church with people from the ward and anyone we are teaching can come, so there were a few people at that this last week.
Saturday was the day we were looking forward to because we found a bunch of people that all told us to come back on Saturday. We had the potential to find 7 new people to teach, but like most of the time in missionary work, that didn't work out perfectly. There was one guy that we talked with for a long time on Monday, gave him a Book of Mormon and when we went back, he said he had read quite a bit of it and learned a lot of new things. We talked for a while again and were able to teach him a little bit more and talk about church, and he said he wanted to come to it this upcoming Sunday. So hopefully he is there. Most of the other people didn't answer or were busy, and there was another person that said for us to come back on Sunday instead. We went back and she let us right in and so we were able to talk to her for a little bit and she said she would want to come to church too this Sunday, so we might have two people at church this week! That would be a blessing for us if it happens. It was a good end to last week.
Like I mentioned last week, we have quite a few service opportunities this week. One of them was on Monday and it is at the local Salvation Army, and every weekday through the summer starting on Monday, they are having free lunch for anyone between 0 and 18. So they needed a few volunteers and we were able to go and help since we volunteer there quite often. It just started so it was a little bit of a slower day, but we were able to help grill some crazy good grilled cheese and made hot dogs and other random stuff to go along with them. Sadly I won't be able to help there a ton, but it was good being able to be there and helping out others that are in need, helps you to remember what we have that we take for granted. And then yesterday, we got to help a member in our area do some yard work. Her husband was the one that passed away a few weeks ago that the funeral was last week, and she is a super great lady. We had dinner there and then she had a bunch of big rocks about the size of a soccer ball delivered to her house and we were able to move them from her driveway to one of the planters in her backyard to make a border around it. It was more work than we thought it was going to be because the wheel barrow had a flat tire, so it was a lot of back and forth trips, but we had a blast. Her 8 year old great-grandson was there and he really wanted to help us, so he was what kept it fun. He would get a rock that he could carry, and then we would get one rock for both hands, and then he wanted to race back and forth to see who could get places faster, so we were just running back and forth carrying a bunch of extra weight. It was a good workout and we were exhausted after, but it was fun and it kept him busy too. We took a little break to play some basketball with no hoop (don't ask, we just had fun) and then finished the project. He's a super cool kid and loves the missionaries, comes to church every week with his great grandma and is so funny. Good to be around him, and he even asked if he could wear my nametag, so I let him. And it wasn't super hot, wasn't raining, just perfect to be doing that kind of work.
It's almost to the end of my time here, gotta save some stuff to write about next week, so I'll save some more for then! One more week and I will be getting my last tour through Kirtland as a missionary and seeing old companions again, and then flying home! Can't believe it's already that time!
Love,
Elder Woodward
Saturday was the day we were looking forward to because we found a bunch of people that all told us to come back on Saturday. We had the potential to find 7 new people to teach, but like most of the time in missionary work, that didn't work out perfectly. There was one guy that we talked with for a long time on Monday, gave him a Book of Mormon and when we went back, he said he had read quite a bit of it and learned a lot of new things. We talked for a while again and were able to teach him a little bit more and talk about church, and he said he wanted to come to it this upcoming Sunday. So hopefully he is there. Most of the other people didn't answer or were busy, and there was another person that said for us to come back on Sunday instead. We went back and she let us right in and so we were able to talk to her for a little bit and she said she would want to come to church too this Sunday, so we might have two people at church this week! That would be a blessing for us if it happens. It was a good end to last week.
Like I mentioned last week, we have quite a few service opportunities this week. One of them was on Monday and it is at the local Salvation Army, and every weekday through the summer starting on Monday, they are having free lunch for anyone between 0 and 18. So they needed a few volunteers and we were able to go and help since we volunteer there quite often. It just started so it was a little bit of a slower day, but we were able to help grill some crazy good grilled cheese and made hot dogs and other random stuff to go along with them. Sadly I won't be able to help there a ton, but it was good being able to be there and helping out others that are in need, helps you to remember what we have that we take for granted. And then yesterday, we got to help a member in our area do some yard work. Her husband was the one that passed away a few weeks ago that the funeral was last week, and she is a super great lady. We had dinner there and then she had a bunch of big rocks about the size of a soccer ball delivered to her house and we were able to move them from her driveway to one of the planters in her backyard to make a border around it. It was more work than we thought it was going to be because the wheel barrow had a flat tire, so it was a lot of back and forth trips, but we had a blast. Her 8 year old great-grandson was there and he really wanted to help us, so he was what kept it fun. He would get a rock that he could carry, and then we would get one rock for both hands, and then he wanted to race back and forth to see who could get places faster, so we were just running back and forth carrying a bunch of extra weight. It was a good workout and we were exhausted after, but it was fun and it kept him busy too. We took a little break to play some basketball with no hoop (don't ask, we just had fun) and then finished the project. He's a super cool kid and loves the missionaries, comes to church every week with his great grandma and is so funny. Good to be around him, and he even asked if he could wear my nametag, so I let him. And it wasn't super hot, wasn't raining, just perfect to be doing that kind of work.
It's almost to the end of my time here, gotta save some stuff to write about next week, so I'll save some more for then! One more week and I will be getting my last tour through Kirtland as a missionary and seeing old companions again, and then flying home! Can't believe it's already that time!
Love,
Elder Woodward
Thursday, June 7, 2018
Medina, Ohio - June 6, 2018
Well another week has come and gone and not exactly sure what happened. It was a good week though. After the nice warm last week, it cooled down and it's not very warm right now, but it's warming up again in the next few days. It rained a bunch like normal at this time of year in Ohio, and life is good. We've been doing service and staying busy, knocking on people's doors, and we have a bunch of appointments set up for Saturday, so pray that they work out for us!
There was a member from the ward that passed away a week ago and his funeral was on Monday. We went to it and we were able to talk with some of their family members that weren't members of the church and they had a bunch of questions about the church. We were able to sit with them at lunch and talk to then and answer their questions and they said they want to learn more. They don't live in our area, but it's a good thing that we were there at the funeral and were able to talk with them.
We have a lot of things coming up the rest of this week and next week with exchanges and service projects that will make these last few days fly by. Still talking with Frank on the phone and he's doing well, life is good out here. Two more weeks!
Love,
Elder Woodward
Friday, June 1, 2018
Medina, Ohio - May 30, 2018
You know how everyone says "Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite"? Well growing up, I always just thought that bed bugs were a fake thing that people talked about. Lo and behold, they are not fake, but they actually do exist. And they come out in full force in the summer here in Ohio. They just don't live out in Utah because it's too dry out there and they need humidity. They really are nasty little creatures that are super hard to see, hide in your bed, then at night come out, suck your blood, leave marks all over you, and then lay like a million eggs for more to continue on. They sneak through outlets in apartment buildings to get to adjoining apartments, just things you don't really want to mess with. Or let into your house. So, over the weekend, we were meeting with someone and part way through our lesson, I looked down at my pants and saw a little bit crawling on me and it kind of looked like a bed bug, so I flicked it off and kind of freaked out a little bit. A few minutes later, there was another bug crawling on me, and one that was crawling up my leg and was on the top of my socks. Luckily, Elder Luckett is a master with bed bugs because he has had them a few times on his mission, and he knew exactly what they were. So then after we left, we made sure to go and change and put our clothes in the dryer and give a thorough inspection of our clothes and shoes and there was a little stow away on my shoes try ing to find a new home. We got it all taken care of and haven't got them, so I think we are all good. But it was scary when it happened because they don't go away.
But other than that, we had a pretty good week. Interviews last week with President and Sister Brown at the mission home and it was really sad because it is the last time that most missionaries will get to see them before they go home. If they aren't getting transferred then it is the last time for them, so it was sad for just about everyone. Luckily they will still be here when I leave, so it wasn't super sad for me, just everyone else. We got an updated map of the surrounding missions so you can see what will happen with the changes. After that, we went on exchanges and I was with the district leader and we had a good time. Did a lot of work, and at the end there is a guy that they have been talking to that completely redid a 1971 Monte Carlo and he gave us a ride in it around town and it was so cool! Had about 450 horsepower and he did a couple of burnouts, and it was way cool.
It rained a bunch last week and then jumped up to the 90s on Monday and yesterday making a very warm memorial day and I think it set a record for temperature in May. Kind of crazy to go from winter to full blown summer so fast, but that's how it is out here. Only a few weeks of spring. There was a family that invited us to their memorial day party on Monday that we went to and there were a ton of people there but they had a ton of food.
Our investigator Stephen moved out of the blue so we don't know where he is or what he's doing, so it's kind of a bummer because he was super cool, and the holiday weekend kind of messes up a lot of things, so we weren't able to see a ton of people, but still had a good week out here. Life is good, just like always.
See ya in three weeks!
But other than that, we had a pretty good week. Interviews last week with President and Sister Brown at the mission home and it was really sad because it is the last time that most missionaries will get to see them before they go home. If they aren't getting transferred then it is the last time for them, so it was sad for just about everyone. Luckily they will still be here when I leave, so it wasn't super sad for me, just everyone else. We got an updated map of the surrounding missions so you can see what will happen with the changes. After that, we went on exchanges and I was with the district leader and we had a good time. Did a lot of work, and at the end there is a guy that they have been talking to that completely redid a 1971 Monte Carlo and he gave us a ride in it around town and it was so cool! Had about 450 horsepower and he did a couple of burnouts, and it was way cool.
It rained a bunch last week and then jumped up to the 90s on Monday and yesterday making a very warm memorial day and I think it set a record for temperature in May. Kind of crazy to go from winter to full blown summer so fast, but that's how it is out here. Only a few weeks of spring. There was a family that invited us to their memorial day party on Monday that we went to and there were a ton of people there but they had a ton of food.
Our investigator Stephen moved out of the blue so we don't know where he is or what he's doing, so it's kind of a bummer because he was super cool, and the holiday weekend kind of messes up a lot of things, so we weren't able to see a ton of people, but still had a good week out here. Life is good, just like always.
See ya in three weeks!
Elder Woodward
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Medina, Ohio - May 23, 2018
This week has been so good, but it feels like it has gone on forever! But it's always good being here in Ohio. Transfers happened last week and like I said last week my new companion is Elder Luckett. He is from Grand Junction, Colorado and has four younger sisters, been out 16 months now. He is a super funny guy so we have been having a lot of laughs. He also plays the piano and was in the marching bad in his school, so he's played a few instruments in his time. It's also been good because his first area was Tiffin so we spent quite some time talking about that area and all the people that are there. Brought back a lot of good memories, still wishing that I got to finish off there, but Medina is good.
As soon as everyone got figured out what was happening with the mission splitting, they decided they were going to change it all up. So instead of the Toledo stake going to the Cincinnati mission and Youngstown going to Pittsburgh, now the Toledo and Cleveland Stake will join with the Michigan Detorit Mission and the Akron, Kirtland, and Youngstown Stakes are going to join with the Columbus mission. Not what was expected a little while ago, but that's what it's going to be now.
We had our mission conference on Monday with Elder Snow that I mentioned last week, and it was really good. He talked about a lot of different things, and it was all really good and insightful. Also saw a lot of other missionaries that it will be the last time I see them out here, so it was kind if sad at the same time.
The good news for this last week though is that we found 3 new investigators! One of them was a referral we got a couple of weeks ago that we called and texted and knocked on her door and left a card but apparently she didn't get any of the messages, so she said she was kind of giving up on us. But we were able to catch her at home one day and we talked with her for a little bit about the Book of Mormon. Then there was a former investigator that we went to see and he is really open and wants to come to church, but we also taught his new roommate who just moved on 4 days before we went to their house. He's a younger guy that said he wants to find a church and was really open to what we said. So things got a little bit better this last week.
Life is good, random storms come out of nowhere and soak us and then disappear, but that's how Ohio is! Such a good place. Doing some service for some people, having a good time, loving life. Interviews tomorrow and exchanges, then life like normal for another week! Gonna be good and gonna be warm! That's about it for this week, talk to you next week!
Love,
Elder Woodward
Tuesday, May 15, 2018
Medina, Ohio - May 15, 2018
Well another week has come and gone and it's the week of transfers. So I'll start off with the news for you. For my last transfer, Elder Sargent is going to be leaving and I'm going to be getting a new companion. Elder Sargent is heading out to Toledo and my new companion is Elder Luckett. Don't know much about him, but I do know that he came out last February, the same time that Elder Weekes did when I trained for the first time. So he's been out for a few months past a year. And he will be my last companion, so it's pretty crazy. I'll be staying here in Medina for that time unless something crazy comes up and I move for a short time.
I can't remember if I told you about us going to play tennis last week, but for a district activity we went and had a good time out in the sun playing tennis and got sunburned, but it was good. This week just went by really fast and it doesn't even feel like it's been a week, and this transfer has honestly felt more like just an exchange with Elder Sargent. It's been crazy. We had a few things to do and exchanges with our district leader on Friday, so that also might be a reason why the week went by quick. We had a big service project come up for us that is going to take quite some time. There were some members that decided to cut down all the trees in their backyard and needed some help cleaning up, so we helped them a little bit. It seemed like we did a lot, but then every time we turned around and saw how much more we had to do, it felt like we had done nothing. So there's a lot of work to do.
There's a district picture of us from yesterday for ya. Also, we are having a mission conference this next Monday and Elder Snow of the Seventy and his wife will be coming to visit us out here. So that's happening on Monday up at the mission office, and then on Thursday next week we are having interviews with President Brown, and since this is the last transfer of them being here, they are doing all the interviews at the mission home. This is going to be most missionaries last interview with them, but I'm in the lucky group that gets to have two more interviews with them. Something kind of special they are doing so everyone can have one last interview at the mission home I think. That's really about all I got for you guys, so ya. Have a good week!
Love,
I can't remember if I told you about us going to play tennis last week, but for a district activity we went and had a good time out in the sun playing tennis and got sunburned, but it was good. This week just went by really fast and it doesn't even feel like it's been a week, and this transfer has honestly felt more like just an exchange with Elder Sargent. It's been crazy. We had a few things to do and exchanges with our district leader on Friday, so that also might be a reason why the week went by quick. We had a big service project come up for us that is going to take quite some time. There were some members that decided to cut down all the trees in their backyard and needed some help cleaning up, so we helped them a little bit. It seemed like we did a lot, but then every time we turned around and saw how much more we had to do, it felt like we had done nothing. So there's a lot of work to do.
There's a district picture of us from yesterday for ya. Also, we are having a mission conference this next Monday and Elder Snow of the Seventy and his wife will be coming to visit us out here. So that's happening on Monday up at the mission office, and then on Thursday next week we are having interviews with President Brown, and since this is the last transfer of them being here, they are doing all the interviews at the mission home. This is going to be most missionaries last interview with them, but I'm in the lucky group that gets to have two more interviews with them. Something kind of special they are doing so everyone can have one last interview at the mission home I think. That's really about all I got for you guys, so ya. Have a good week!
Love,
Elder Woodward
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
Medina, Ohio - May 9, 2018
Well this week was good, just like every other week it seems. Went by quick and doesn't feel like it's Wednesday already. For this Sunday, we are planning on calling at or around 5:30 or 6pm. Hopefully that works out for you guys. So 3:30 to 4 ish your time. I'm guessing you can get it all figured out with the other children elsewhere in the United States so it's easy to call, right? Ok, that'd be fantastic.
So on to this week, last week we had zone conference on Thursday which was really good. It was kind of a spiritual smack in the face with some of the stuff that was talked about, but just like always it's good to see President and Sister Brown. Even though it's close to the end, there was still a lot of good things that we learned. We got back a little late in the evening, so we didn't have much time before we were driving out to our zone leaders to go on exchanges which was good. They had some ghetto areas that we were in and it reminded me of Youngstown so much. Such a good place out there. It was a little weird though because I've got use to Medina and I felt really out of place there, but got use to it.
Saturday we got to do a little service project for a member here and we were able to do some landscaping for her. Covered up some grass and then dug some holes which I've decided I've become pretty good at because we do it so much, then planted some bushes and put mulch around it all. The member took some pictures so I'm gonna send them to you too. And some pictures from exchanges and a good looking sunset. Did more service for some other members weeding and mowing their lawn yesterday. It's been a week of service, and we got some more calls yesterday for more service opportunities coming up in the future.
We're still talking with Frank who we took to Kirtland three times a week and he is doing well, living the Word of Wisdom, so he's awesome. I've had some allergies the last few days since Saturday so it's been interesting and I always feel sick, but I think it's getting better? Not quite sure though. Sore throat, stuffed nose, all that good allergies stuff. Or it's a cold cuz I also have a cough, but I don't know. We'll see if I get better or not. Also, next week is transfers and Elder Sargent is probably going to be leaving. Going to be emailing on Tuesday with the transfer news, so keep that in mind! 6 more weeks.
Love,
Elder Woodward
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