Another week has come and gone here in Youngstown and there's lots of news. As you probably guessed by the subject line, I am getting transferred this week, leaving not only the Youngstown ward, but also the Youngstown Stake! Been in the same stake for 11 months and now moving on. My next area is going to be the West side of the Medina Ward in the Akron Stake, and my new companion is going to be Elder Sargent. He was the district leader out here when I first came to Youngstown, so we have been on a couple of exchanges and been around each before. He has been out a little over a year (for reals, he hit his year mark last month so really just over a year) and I know he is from Tooele Utah. Can't remember too much else about him, but that's some of the big news. Also, but news for Elder Schwartz, the sisters in our ward are being moved out (more on that later), so him and his new companion will have the whole ward as their area. It's going to be fun for him to have a massive area that he mostly knows nothing about. It'll be fun for him, but also good for me. I'm excited.
So to answer your question about missionaries coming to this mission, they actually aren't sending anymore missionaries to the Ohio Cleveland Mission because it's getting shut down. The transfer in February was the last real transfer we had, and the only missionaries coming to the mission were the Sisters going to Kirtland that already had their mission calls before the announcement was made. There is one sister coming out this transfer (today) and then one during the transfer in May, and other than that, no more elders or sisters coming here. So that is why the sisters in our ward are getting moved out because there are still missionaries going home, but none coming out, so they have to do some readjusting. And now that it's getting close to the change, missionaries are kind of starting to figure out what mission they are going to end up in as they move around. Most missionaries want to end up in the Columbus mission because it will still have Cleveland and also because it will have Kirtland. I don't think I've heard a missionary say they wanted to be in Pittsburgh or Cincinnati, pretty much always Columbus. If I was out for any longer, I would want to be in the Columbus mission.
But holy cow General Conference was SOOOOOO good! It was an amazing conference, and it was even better because I'm still out here in Ohio! (PS did you all hear Elder Cook talking about Kirtland? That's right, pretty cool place) But the sad part is that it was my last conference on my mission. But conference is always great. The changes were all so cool, and the announcements of the new temples were awesome. I think the most surprising was Layton, and when he started to say Richmond Virginia, I thought he was going to say Utah and then I just would have died laughing. But he didn't. Okay, India and Russia were definitely bigger shocks than Layton, but still. 19 temples in Utah. Kind of ridiculous. President Nelsons talk in the Priesthood Session was super good, kind of roasted everyone, but still so good. One thing that I noticed was the emphasis they are putting on the youth. With Sister Oscarson's talk on how to use the young women more in the ward's and allowing them to be ministering companions, and then Brother Holmes in the Priesthood Session about using the Young men more. Both of those talks, along with the ministering announcement and the statement that Ministering is to help the Bishopric focus more on the needs of the ward, and then the youth were specifically mentioned. That's what stood out to me. But it was all so good! We watched it all at different members houses or at the church, but we did get to watch it all.
This last week went by really fast though, mostly because General Conference took up the weekend. We had exchanges up in Ashtabula and that was a good time, got completely soaked up there out knocking on doors in the pouring rain. Always a good time. Sunday was kind of an interesting day, not gonna lie. We weren't sure if I was leaving and we knew we would find out Sunday night because President Brown would call to release me from being a zone leader. I guess he just really likes calling me late because it wasn't until about 9:50 that he decided to call. So it got to the point that I thought I was staying, and then as soon as I decided that, President called. Must think he's funny or something. JK I love President Brown. Then I just had to wait until Monday to find out where I was going. So yesterday wad a stressful day as well. But it's all good, now I just have to pack and hope and pray everything fits. Not quite sure how much stuff I've collected in this area, but it'll be good. I'll smash it in there if I need to.
Got some pics with some people before I left, and those two are two of my favorite people in this ward. Gonna miss this place but it's the last transfer that I'm moving! I will probably be with Elder Sargent for only one transfer and then I'll get a new companion, but I don't know yet. We will find out. Saw some people, taught some lessons, found some new investigators, sad to be leaving Youngstown. It's been a good place.
Thanks for everything!
Love Elder Woodward
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