Youngstown, Ohio - November 28, 2017

It's weird that it has been such a short time since we emailed last, but that's what happens with transfers. So, not really sure what has happened since last week either. But Thanksgiving was so good! We were at a member's mom's house for dinner because that's where they were all going, and the turkey was fried. I've never had a fried turkey before, but I would definitely recommend it. It doesn't change how it tastes, just keeps it juicy so it doesn't dry out. The food was all really good for real though. I ate too much because of course you have to stuff yourself on Thanksgiving, but it was well worth it. Lots of stuffing and turkey and candied yams and more turkey and stuffing and then more stuffing after all that. Sadly, no mashed potatoes, but so much other food that it made up for it. 

We had exchanges on Friday right after Thanksgiving and were blessed with a second Thanksgiving for lunch from some members here. Sadly still no mashed potatoes though, but more turkey and stuffing which are the best part of Thanksgiving anyways. It was a good thing because the elder that I was with didn't end up getting a Thanksgiving dinner so he just got it the day after. We were able to see a few people during the day, went tracting for some time, and had a good time. 

 

The only not so good thing about Thanksgiving was that Elder Klinglesmith was sick. He started to get sick on Wednesday and is still sick but getting better. Lots of people are getting sick out here because of the stupid up and down of the weather. 60 degrees today, and it's supposed to be down to 37 degrees tomorrow. It's annoying but at least I'm not sick, so I don't mind, but Elder Klinglesmith is powering through and still working even though he is sick. 

 

I guess I will let you know about transfer information now even though there's not that much to update you on. Elder Klinglesmith and I are both staying here in Youngstown for one more transfer until he goes home, and then I'll be getting a new companion. But we got all the transfer information last night and got everything taken care of, so things are going to be good next transfer.

 

I decided to pull out the Christmas tree we have in our apartment and set it up on Sunday during our time for dinner. It's just a four foot tree, but we got lights and the weird shiny stuff put up on it, just no ornaments. It's kind of a sad tree, but it's better than a Charlie Brown Christmas tree! Maybe we will get some ornaments for it today, not too sure. It doesn't really feel like it's time for Christmas though because there isn't any snow here yet, and today it's warmer than it should be at the end of November. I don't know if I want it to get cold or not, but I definitely want snow for Christmas. We will have to wait and see what happens. 

 

Saturday we spent a lot of time knocking on doors and were able to talk with a few people, tried to get some people to watch the Light the World video, and did everything we could. The Campbells are doing well, we are just going through the new member lessons with them and working on getting them down to the temple when we can find a ride for them. 

 

There's a few people that we meet with every week that I don't think I've told you about, but we have a 10 year old investigator who's parents are both members but they want her to make the decision to be baptized, so we have been working with her. The only problem is they let the Jehovah's Witnesses missionaries also come over so the daughter can make her own decision of which church to join. We talked with them about Kirtland when we saw them yesterday because around Christmas they set up over 1,000 nativities from around the world up there and we might be able to go see them with this family. Hopefully it happens because that would be awesome to get to go to Kirtland again. 

 

We have some service opportunities coming up this week helping a less active put up Christmas lights at their house. Whoda thought that I wouldn't ever help at home but I volunteer to do it out here. How things have changed. I might just surprise you when I get home in 7 months to the day. Things are going well here in Youngstown and we are still just working hard and doing everything we can to help everyone here!

 

Love Elder Woodward

Youngstown, Ohio - November 23, 2017

Well first off, Happy Thanksgiving everyone! So many things to be thankful for each and every day, especially missionary work! Too many miracles go on and great things happen that I'm thankful for.

Just so you all remember, we are going to be emailing on Tuesday instead of Wednesday because it is already time for transfers again. This last transfer has gone by so fast I can't even believe that I've already been here in Youngstown for over a month. I was thinking about that on Monday night and realized that a week from then we would be getting all the transfer calls and time is just going by too fast. Hard to believe that after this one, there are only five more transfers before I'm home. Craziness if you ask me. I don't think I'll be leaving Youngstown just because I've only been here for one transfer, and I also don't think that I will be getting a new companion because Elder Klinglesmith's next transfer is his last transfer, so we will probably be staying together another one. 

It's been cold the last couple of days. Yesterday it was snowing a little bit, but nothing stuck, and it's just been cold. I wish it was 60 degrees out here for Thanksgiving, but instead it is half of that. On Sunday I just checked and it is supposed to be a high of 29. It's a very good thing I have an electric blanket or I might die at night. Quick update on last week besides the weather: We did some service raking some leaves for a member in the rain and the cold, but got it done super fast because I was trying to stay warm so the faster I moved that warmer I was. I ended up raking probably three-fourths of the yard because I didn't want to get cold and because we didn't have a ton of time, so we had to go pretty fast. The guy that we were raking leaves for has turned into one of my favorite people here, just super funny old guy that is always saying nice things to me, and he should be coming to church soon, so that's always a bonus. 

We had zone conference last week and even though we weren't supposed to do anything it was still really good! Such a good meeting and always a wonderful opportunity to learn from President and Sister Brown and feel of their love for the missionaries and the people here.  It's never a dull moment in a zone conference and it's amazing how much you can learn even if it is a repeat of what you've heard before. There's always ways to improve and grow as missionaries. Saturday flew by and we ended up being out in the rain tracting for a good while, but thankfully it wasn't raining all day here like it was in Cleveland. Just for when we were out tracting with umbrellas in the dark trying to stay warm and dry. Sunday we had a neat experience. We were sitting in our class for Priesthood and conveniently enough the lesson was on missionary work. About five minutes into the lesson, a member of the Bishopric walked in and said there was a non member that was in the family history center in the building and told us we should go talk to them. So it was great because we got out of a boring class and this lady had just walked into the church to do her family history. There is a small sign out by the road that she had seen a couple of times but everytime she tried coming no one was here, so she came on Sunday. We were able to help her a little bit with a member here that was in the family history center and got her an account and also started entering in some of her information on there. Super cool lady that has been wanting to do it for a long time now but didn't want to pay for it. So we are going to help her do that and also teach her more of why we do family history.

We were on exchanges on Tuesday and luckily weren't in our area, so there wasn't as much pressure on the day. We got to go to our district leader's area and work down there with them and both the elders down there are a ton of fun and good missionaries. Luckily it wasn't as cold that day, so it made it nicer to be out and about, but either way the work has to get done, and we did it. Saw a few people down there, got told we were going to get the cops called on us, always a fun time working in the dark. 

Hopefully it snows there as much as it did last year and it only snows here as much as it did last year so we can be saved from it out here. That would be the best, but luckily I won't be on a bike again like last winter. Or on the lake. It's already looking good for this winter. Also, make sure you go to mormon.org and check out the LIGHTtheWORLD video the church put out and look for ways that you can serve other people and do good. It's a great video and a great initiative to participate in. Have a good week and be safe!

Love Elder Woodward

 

Youngstown, Ohio - November 15, 2017

Well based off of the subject line, it finally decided to snow here! It's been cold for a while, but the snow finally came last Friday, and it was only 27 degrees. Don't know what it's like at home, but it's cold here. Luckily the snow didn't stick and it was only a little bit on the grass, but it means that winter is almost here and with that means the Christmas is almost here.  Also since it's been so cold I had to get out the electric blanket to put under the other two blankets to keep me warm at night. Oh the joys of Ohio in the winter. But one of the cities that we drive through all the time already has started decorating for Christmas with snowflakes on the street lights and stuff like that, so Christmas is coming soon. Almost less than a month. Oh before I forget, the mission is doing the same thing it did last year with preparation day being on Thanksgiving, so we won't be emailing on Wednesday, it's going to be Thursday next week.

We had a couple of exchanges this week with some other elders, and one of them I had already been on exchanges with when I was in Alliance. That's what happens when you don't move very far. But both days were pretty good with both sets of elders. I love getting to go on exchanges with so many other missionaries not only because you get to work with others, but now there are so many more opportunities to help the other missionaries and serve them. It's helped me to be able to truly learn to love all the other missionaries and want to do them, and it's crazy seeing them change from when they first come even just a few weeks later. Did some tracting, had some lessons, had some dinners, and got flamed a couple of times. But it's always good serving the Lord. 

We found a new investigator a couple of weeks ago that I kept forgetting to tell you about, but now it's not worth it because she texted us yesterday morning that she wants to focus on her Bible studying and will keep an open mind about the Book of Mormon. Hopefully one day she comes back around, but there's nothing more that we can do. But to replace that, we got a referral on Monday and were able to contact her yesterday after setting up an appointment with her. Ohio has this weird thing that I like to call OTS (Ohio Talking Syndrome) and this lady was a prime example of it. BUT we were able to teach her a little bit and we are going back again next week, so there's always some one to teach!

We have zone conference this week on Friday, but I lucked out this time around and Elder Klinglesmith and I don't really have anything to do in it besides him conducting the meeting. There was only one discussion for the zone leaders or sister training leaders to give, and the sisters decided they were going to do it so we just get to sit back and enjoy the show. Hopefully it goes well because it's kind of a repeat from last zone conference, but either way it's going to be good. 

One thing we've been doing recently with members is helping them do missionary work by sharing the gospel through social media, whether it be Facebook or Instagram. It's been crazy to see how easy it is to share the gospel and do missionary work using those sites, and the members here are so excited to do it! It's great because it doesn't matter if someone has only lived in the area for a month or twenty years, it helps people to share the gospel with anyone they know anywhere in the world, not just their neighbors. It's been going really well so far, so we are going to keep doing it! And everyone at home should do it as well!

Time has been going by too fast and it's not very fun because every week that goes by means that's one less week I have out here, which is not very exciting. It'll be Christmas before too long, and then before I know it I'll be heading home. It's crazy how much I've learned to love the people out here, and don't want it to end. Just trying to make it last and keep working hard!


Love you all!
Elder Wooodward

Youngstown, Ohio - November 8, 2017

Well this last week was another great one! The Campbells were baptized on Saturday evening and both confirmed on Sunday as the newest members of the Youngstown Ward. Most of Saturday was taken up by getting ready for the baptism and cleaning the font and then filling the font, and then the baptism as well. (There's a picture of me cleaning the font) There was a little bit of difficulty with the baptism itself because the font here doesn't fill up super deep, so it made it a fun time for baptizing the Campbells. Mike had to go down three times and Jenn got it on her first time, and then they both bore their testimony after they were baptized. It's always wonderful to have new members bear their testimony right after their baptism so others, especially family members, can hear what they know to be true and how they came to know it. They were baptized by a member in the ward here that knows them pretty well and everything went pretty well. 

 

This is going to be a bad email just letting you know. I don't really remember this last week, so sorry about that. But yesterday we were able to be on exchanges with the Assistants in their area and it was wonderful! It was a long drive up there and back because they are up by the mission office, but it was worth it. I was with one of my favorite people ever and we were able to do a lot of work. Super awesome missionaries and we just had a ton of fun doing some service, talking with tons of people, and tracting. Tons of miracles happened yesterday and it was so much fun. 

 

Oh ya, we also had interviews with the mission president which is always a good time. Such an amazing man with so much knowledge. President and Sister Brown are amazing. 

 

Still sorry that this is short, I might get on later today and email some more, just depends on how much time we have. 

 

Love Elder Woodward

 

 

Youngstown, Ohio - November 1, 2017

Alright, well this week was probably one of the fastest weeks on my mission so far. Between last Wednesday and today, we had two exchanges, some service, some good teaching opportunities, church, more good teaching opportunities, Halloween, lots of good food, and mission leadership council. The only bad news from this last week is the fact that it went from the 60's/70's to the 40's overnight, and it has been raining just about every single day, but I guess that's pretty normal for when winter comes. It has made it an interesting week, but it's always good. 

The service that we were doing over this last week was mostly just raking leaves, but there were a lot of them. We talked with a less active member that neither of us had met before and we asked him if there was anything we could help him with, and he said he needed help raking up his yard which was pretty big, and it's just him and his wife and their almost 2 year old daughter and 6 dogs. So we went back last week to help him out and one day we did the front yard, and then on exchanges Elder Klinglesmith and who he was with went back and helped in the back yard. After they finished on Friday, the member really opened up to the elders about things in his life and why he hasn't been at church and his family. He is a really cool guy and the service we were able to offer really helped him to open up. But as for me on exchanges, we were able to see a few people and then ended the night helping a family move out of their apartment. Since I've been here, we've helped two families move out, but luckily one was just moving from our area to the sisters area, so they are staying in the ward. The other family moved down to Alabama.

The other exchange I went on was on Monday, and that day made me appreciate having the opportunity to stay in the states on my mission. Every so often, there is a missionary that is supposed to go to another country but is not able to get their visa before they leave, so they have to be reassigned temporarily until the visa comes. On Monday, I was with one of these elders that is waiting to go to the small country of Suriname in South America. He was telling me all about the country, and there is so much crazy stuff down there. They have the worlds largest spider, the worlds most poisonous spider, ten of the most poisonous tree frogs, anacondas, piranhas, and alligators all over the place down there, they have to sleep in mosquito nets, they're always wet from the rain, humidity, or sweat, get woken up in the mornings by howler monkeys, there's a bunch of rare species of birds, and I'm sure there's a lot more than I was told. It would definitely be the experience of a lifetime, but I would not survive down there, especially with how big those spiders are. Freaks me out just looking at the pictures of them. I am so glad that I got the special blessing of staying in the states for these two years instead of fearing for my life every day, but it would be fun down there. We were able to do quite a bit of work on exchanges, mowed a lawn, taught quite a few lessons, had the best home made fried chicken I have ever had before, and just had a blast all day long. Exchanges with so many different missionaries is also part of the reason that every week is going by so fast, just because you get to work with so many different elders and get to learn and grow from each one. 

Yesterday was Halloween, but if it weren't for the idiots dressed up as idiots than I would have completely forgotten. Holidays on missions are strange just because they feel like any normal day, but to the rest of the world everything gets put on hold. Just not for missionaries. It's kind of hard to do missionary work on Halloween because President Brown doesn't want us out tracting when people are trick or treating for obvious reasons, so during the time when people are doing that we kind of have to figure out something else to do. Luckily for us, we had Mission Leadership Council and it just happened to fall on yesterday, so we were up at the Mission office for most of the day. For MLC, all the zone leaders and sister training leaders meet with the mission presidency to talk about the needs of the mission and what we will be teaching at zone conference, and then continue to learn how we can be better leaders. It was amazing to be in a meeting with so many amazing missionaries and learning from each other. One crazy thing about the mission is that 47% of the missionaries in this mission have been out for less that 3 full transfers, so we just have an extremely new mission. Puts a lot of pressure on us as the leaders because if we don't do something the correct way, then all these new missionaries aren't going to learn correctly. It's also a great thing with so many new missionaries because of the greenie fire that they bring. They all want to get to work and work hard, so it's been great for the mission. But we left at 9 in the morning yesterday and didn't get back into our area until 6:30, so most of the day was gone which was nice. 

The Campbell's are doing awesome! We've still been meeting with them and they are so excited for their baptism this weekend. We've just been going over a few things with them to review and getting everything worked out for the baptism, but it is still going to take place this weekend. We had a cottage meeting/fireside at a member from the Stake Presidency's house who is actually in the Alliance ward, and everyone from Youngstown was invited because they live closer to the church in Youngstown than they do the one in Alliance. The Campbell's were at it and it was all about the temple which is their goal to make it there one day. They were also talking with other members and said that they would love to have us over there every day to be able to talk with them and teach them more and more. It's so amazing that they know of the importance of the Gospel and are loving it all!

We've also found a few people to teach, but no real updates on them yet. I'll let you know more about them if we keep meeting with them. Pray that it warms up a little bit and the snow holds off. And remember to send me stuff in the mail so I don't forget that I have friends at home...

Love Elder Woodward