May 30, 2011

dear dad,

it is beautiful out here!!! its like being in flagstaff. right in the middle of the mountains and pine trees everywhere. i do think that the Lord was being merciful. they said that this was the longest winter they have had. they had snow up until about 2 weeks before i got here. and there were a little bit of snow drifts the first week i was here. ya time is going pretty fast!!! i cant believe i have already been gone a month!!! its been really good though. tell tanner that is awesome that he is playing jv as a freshman!!! tell him to keep up the work and good luck on thursday. i think i might move back up here in two years!!! i absolutely love it here. you and me will have to come back up here and go hunting. the bucks are starting their antler growth and I'm getting anzy!!! but then i remember why i am actually here. there hasn't been a day here i haven't seen a deer or an elk. its crazy!!! the deer just feed in peoples yards and you can almost get close enough to pet them and they don't even move!!! how is softball going? i wish i could be playing with you. i hope all is well.

love

elder woodard

May 30, 2011

May 30, 2011

dear family,

well today is p day agian. its nice to get to email and see your letters on how things are going. umm i guess you could say that im in a training period. they never told me i was. but i am with a trainer. so i guess i am. but im not sure... anyways. we had kinda a rough week. we didnt get as many lessons as we wanted to this week. and our investigator lessons fell through. and they didnt come to church or the baptism. oh which reminds me... i forgot to tell you that we were going to have a baptism on saturday. well we did and it was GREAT!!! the spirit was so strong there. so before i came out. elder harris(my companion) and his companion elder frame were teaching kiara. she is twelve. but then elder frame was transfered and i finished the lessons with her. she is the only member in her family now. and she asked me to confirm her!!!! i was nervous. but it went good!!!! her parents came to the baptism and were crying pretty much the whole time. it was a great spiritual experience for everybody at the baptism. hopefully the rest of her family will start taking the lessons soon!!  well the weather is really weird here cause it was hot the beginning of last week. we had two days of 22. and we need at least three days above 22 for us to take our jackets off!!! we were so close!!! but on june 1st we can take them off. but last thursday it snowed!!!!!!!!! it didnt stick very much or stay that long. but it snowed for most of the day!!! and than it just rained untill sunday pretty much. i miss the arizona weather where it rains really hard for 10 minutes than it stops and is sunny!! not here it rained off and on for like 3 days straight!!!  but its warming up now. which is nice cause i dont like the cold very much. mom that is great that you are in the relief society now. its been a while since you have been in there.  that does sound like a good presidency. tell hayden just dont ride like i used to!! or he will have more broken bones;)  oh how did emily's date go???? was he nice??? well we are going to cranbrook today and staying the night. we have a special zone training tonight. and than we have district meetings tommorrow so we are just going to stay the night with the missionaries out there. it will take us about an hour and a half to get out there.  i really am enjoying myself out here. the work is kinda slow. but we are finding things to do. oh there is a member of our bishopric here. his name is rick brown. he went to the same mission as brother james tanner. so could you ask brother tanner if he knows him. bro. brown remembers brother tanner. well i hope all is well. oh i would like to give you another challenge. find someone for the missionaries to teach in 7 days. we call it the 7 day challenge. we give it to the members out here. but we really havent had much success with it. but it will come.

love elder woodard

May 23, 2011

Josephine Falls near Elkford, B.C.

dear dad,

 elkford, fernie and sparwood are amazing!!!!!  they are at the base of the rockies!!! there is deer and elk everywhere!!! i almost want to move back!! they remind me alot of rim country and up that ways. my companion is elder harris. he has been out for 10 months now. he is from orem, utah. we don't need a bike. everybody in the mission has cars.  there are about 150-200 people that come regularly. but that is a little less than half of the members that are in the area. a lot of them work at the mines. so they either can't come. or they just don’t want to. we have tried to visit a lot of them(or it felt like it) but no one hardly answers the door here!!! and if they do they tell us they aren’t interested. but the people are really nice here. i'm kinda jealous that you are hiking the grand canyon with out me!!  guess we will have to do it when i get back. we taught 18 lessons this week. and got 2 new investigators!!! we are pretty excited about that. i have been obedient to all the rules. make sure that the boy is nice to emily!!



Lower Elk Lake...Mt. Elkan in the Elk Lakes sort of near Elkford B.C.

love

elder woodard

Fernie Mountain, The Three Sisters Mt.  near Fernie, B.C.

May 23, 2011

dear mom, (and family)

well today is pday. and i did survive my first week. my trainer is elder harris. he is from orem, utah. he is real nice and pretty cool. we live in an apartment just the 2 of us.  we live in sparwood, british colombia, canada. it is beautiful here!!!!!!!! we are at the base of the rockie mountains!!! there are deer and elk everywhere!!!! we went to a nonmembers house that we go to often.(we aren’t teaching them cause they have taken the discussions before and they don’t have the desire to be baptized yet... but they are really nice and let us go over when we want. sometimes we share messages and sometimes we don’t) but they had a buck in their yard!!!! they just started their antler growth so he wasn’t very big. but he was just feeding in their yard and i got within 10 yards of him!!!! i was getting real antsy. but i know that i cant hunt for two years!! but we are allowed to fish on pdays!!! im so excited about that!!!! but the rivers don’t open till june something. anyways that is a little bit about b.c.  we cover 3 towns. elkford, sparwood, and fernie. elkford is about 40 klicks (kilometers) to the north. and fernie is about 35 klicks to the south. so we have a car that we get to drive. our mission has a goal of 20 lessons a week. and this week we got 18. i was pretty excited. the members are really nice. we have only had to cook lunch twice and dinner once! i think im going to get fat!!!  there are a lot of inactive members in the ward. and its hard to get in and teach them cause they either dont want to listen or they work at the coal mines and have shift work and we dont know what their schedule is. but we will keep trying. tell emily happy birthday for me!!!!! and tell this boy on friday that he needs to be nice to her, and have her home by 930...915:) i cant believe that you are almost done with school!!!   i forgot to bring the mailing address... but it is in that booklet that came with my call. it’s the mission office address that you send it to. oh can you give my email address to chris stalder please. i didn’t talk to him at the airport. and tell him i found us a guide to take us hunting in 2 years!!!

love

elder woodard

Canada!

May 18, 2011

Dear Mom and Dad

            Well, I made it to Canada!  My first area is Sparwood, British Columbia.  We stayed the night in the mission home with President and Sister Archibald.  Last night we went to a baptism.  It was really good.  It was a family of three that were baptized.  I can’t wait to go to B.C.  On the way to the baptism I saw lots of deer and elk.  I am grateful for everything you guys have done for me.  For teaching me how to work hard.  And just helping me prepare for this mission.  This is the only true gospel.  The Book of Mormon is real.  Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.  He really did see God the Father and Jesus Christ.  I am grateful for my Savior.  Without Him I wouldn’t be able to live with Heavenly Father again. 

Elder Woodard 

Elder Woodard * Pres. and Sis. Archibald * Elder Contreras
Airport in Canada

 

Sis. Archibald * Elder Woodard * Pres. Archibald
Mission Home

I believe this was written while he was in the Mission Home.  It was on the back of a postcard of the Calgary Temple which we did not receive for several weeks after he mailed it.

May 13, 2011

Dear Mom and family,
Well I got your dear elder letter today.  I probably enjoy your letters more than you like mine.  I don't know what it is but something about getting letters make my day.  I really enjoy them!  I am sorry about the bunny .  Tell Emily I will get her one when I get back.  Tomorrow is my last day of classes. (and last Saturday)  We have infield study all day Monday.  I am not looking forward to it!  So tomorrow we are going to be packing and washing clothes, except when we have class and stuff.  I can't wait to get out of here.  I gotta go to bed, but I will finish tomorrow.  Well, I am sitting here doing laundry wishing we could get on email.   But, I can't I guess I will have to when I am at the airport.  I can't wait to leave.  We only have 30 minutes on the computer then it kicks me off.  What did you send in the package?  I hope I get it before I leave.  There was this kid in Sis. Lopez's nephew's district that wanted to go home yesterday.  He had all his bags packed and everything.  Sis. Lopez's nephew said that he was just having a mental breakdown or something.  It's sad that he doesn't want to do it anymore.  He only has 3 weeks left, too!  Well, I hope all is well.  Oh, I will send you my address when I get there.  You do have my mission home address in that book that came with my call.

Mother's Day

(written on May 6, 2011 and mailed)

Dear Mom,
Happy Mother's Day!!!!!!
Sorry you didn't get this in time, but, all the days are blending together!  This week went by so fast.  I leave the MTC on May 17.  I have to be at the travel offices at 4:00 a.m.!  My flight leaves SLC at 7:10 a.m. I arrive for my connecting flight in.........Sky Harbor!! I'm not sure why they did that.  Maybe it's so you can come see me!  No, I'm just kidding!  I arrive at Sky Harbor at 7:50 a.m. your time and then my flight to Calgary leaves @ 10:18 a.m.  Then I get to Calgary at 2:26 p.m.  They said I will be able to call from the airport.  Oh, I have to pay for my bags so I will use my M&I card for that.  Well keep writing and I will write back.  Oh, I am in a competition with an Elder in my district from New Zealand to see who gets the most letters!  You can use dearelder.com.  It's free and I know how much you are on the computer or (facebook).  Well, I love you and miss you lots.  Hope Mother's Day was great! 
Love,
Elder Woodard
p.s.  These are pedals from the tulips here at the m.t.c.  Hope you like them.

May 10, 2011 email

May 10, 2011

dear family,

i dont know if i want you to come see me at the airport. it would be too hard.  i leave one week from today so i wont be able to check my email till pday in the field. ya, tuesday is pday.  some of the other elders have knives with them. so if you are going to send it you better hurry so i get it before i get to canada!!! im glad you got your letter. sorry it was late though. the days start to blend after the first week and you don’t really realize what day it is. me and elder baldry have been teaching this guy in the training resource center(trc) he wasn’t a real investigator... but it sure felt real. we taught him the second lesson yesterday and committed him to baptism!!! we were so excited after that lesson. things are still the same here. teaching a lot and learning the lesson. we get to go to the provo temple today and do temple work. it is so beautiful there. i love the temple. we also get to do a temple walk on sundays after sacrament. ya last wednesday i was a host and got to pick up kallan from the curb and take him around!!! i was so glad i was able to do that. i don’t see him much though. we have different schedules. i do see seth daddabbo sometimes to. he leaves the same day i do so i will see him then. i also see dallin davis and chailles brother hunter sometimes. i am kinda bummed i have to fly to phoenix before. it might make me home sick.  and i didnt want to go back to arizona for another two years!!! but oh well. tell chris stalder to write me so i can write him cause i dont have any of his address's.  dont send any letters after like thursday cause i am leaving early tuesday morning. well i hope all is well

love elder Woodard

 

May 9, 2011

Dear Dad, Emily, Tanner, Hayden

Well the MTC is pretty cool.  It's almost like BYU baseball camp, except more spiritual, and no baseball.  :(  Oh well, I will get over it.  There are 8 missionaries in my district.  6 out of 8 are going to Mesa.  Me and Elder Contreras are the only two going to Calgary.  Elder Contreras is from Guatamala.  He lived there for a little bit then moved to Ontario Canada.  I get along pretty well with everybody in my district.  I was able to pick Kallan up from the curb last Wednesday!!  I was really excited when I got to see him.  My friend from work, Elder Kay, left early this morning. 

     A typical day for me is pretty long (and sometimes boring.)  We get up at 6:30 a.m. and get ready for the day and go to breakfast by 7:00.  Monday -Thursday we have class from 7:30-10:30 and 5:15-8:15 p.m.  In between classes we have personal study time, lunch, gym, dinner, and somtimes TRC (Training Resource Center).  That is where we go teach "investigators."  Most of them are members just pretending to be investigators.  But, it feels real to teach them.  Tuesdays are preparation day for us.  We still get up at 6:30 a.m., eat breakfast then go do laundry and write emails.  Breakfast, lunch and dinner are at the same time everyday...7:00, 11:30 and 4:30.  We have the opportunity to go to the Provo Temple after lunch.  We have free time to do stuff we need to like write letters and stuff.  We also have General Authority devotionals on Tuesdays.  Last week was Stanley g. Elis.  The two weeks before it was Elder Oaks and Elder Scott.  Hopefully we will have a Quorum of the 12 today!  On the weekends we wtill have 2 three hour classes, except on Sunday.  Sundays we have interviews, Priesthood and Sacrament.  Since we don't have class we have lots of time for personal study.  We have devotionals on Sundays.  After devotionals we can watch a movie.  The first Sunday we decided to watch "The Testament" and last Sunday we watched the Joseph Smith movie.  They were both really good movies.  I just love learning about Jospeh Smith.  It always strengthens my testimony.  I am grateful for this opportunity to be here.  Emily, thanks for this wonderful tie.  I really love it.  And so do the other Elders around here.  They wanted to trade.  But I told them no way jose!  Tanner and Hayden keep up the good work in baseball.  Play hard in games and in practice!  Also prepare now for your mission.  Save now so you can pay for it.  Dad, thanks for raising me to be who I am and for raising me in this church.  It is the only true church.  I know this to be true.  I love you all so much & miss you guys.  See you in a year 11months and 2 weeks.  But who is counting!!

M.T.C.

                                                                                                                                                  May 3, 2011

dear family.

well i made it through my first week at the mtc!!! the first couple of days have been really hard. me and my companion elder baldry taught on the second day and we did not as well as we had both hoped. well i guess that is why we are here so we can learn how. last week was really hard till sunday. sunday was great. we had a devotional in the morning, then we had sacrament in the afternoon. after sacrament we went on a temple walk to the provo temple. that temple is really beautiful!!! it is at the base of the mountains.  on friday we woke up to 2 inches of snow!!! but it was all gone by the afternoon. other than that the weather has been really nice. the food here isnt too bad. i am missing all of moms home cooking. it is way better. and yes mom i am eating my fruits and vegetables. today is my first p day. im sitting here waiting for my clothes to wash  so i decided to write an email to you guys. i got your letter from dearelder.com. i think that is the best way for you guys to write me cause i get it that day than i could write a letter back or email on p days. i have learned a lot this past week.  i have never prayed so much on what to teach and how to teach it. sister creager (shelby, kallan’s sister) was the coordinating sister in my branch. she left monday at 3 am. on our second night here she told us not to worry about to teach. just rely on the holy ghost. and we need to just open our mouth and it will be filled. after that night we had to teach the next day and did just that.  that was the best lesson that me and my companion have taught.  the power of the holy ghost is real! my testimony has grown so much since i have been here. i am learning lots. i sent a letter in the mail the other day i hope you got it. i can print pictures here at the mtc and will send you some in my next letter. i love and miss you guys a lot.  hope all is well.

love, elder woodard

p.s.  tell chris stalder that the chicken chimichangas are gooood