Monday Message: August 25, 2014

This week has been pretty good! We had a great day on Saturday with the baptism of Romario Peters. He is 15 and one of my favorite people that i get to see and teach! He is really down to earth and wants to know about the Gospel and be apart of it! he will be a great Priesthood holder and strength to the Branch! Also this week we have been preparing Sonya Bissundial, Brian Linde, Derrick Edwards, and Aleaha Blair for there baptisms that we hope to have go through this week! we are really working on helping them understand the Book of Mormon and they are really excited and we are happy for them! i hope that we can help them in anyway possible and that i can do my part as their guide to help them make and keep this promise!

So i have to say that this week has been a little bit of a trunky one! but i got past it and i am hoping to be able to focus back for the new week! i guess it is probably the 11 month mark and i have been looking forward to the year mark for so long that i just realized its still only 11 months and i still have a month left haha! oh well! i am doing good here and really working harder and harder on my teaching skills. me and elder brown are really working to hit our 10 baptism goal but we have a lot of catching up to do!

So everything is going good. just trying to avoid getting sick with all the sickness going around like the Chickengoonya ( however you spell it). i am staying pretty healthy i think the only thing is my face has decided to break out like i am going through puberty haha and i have zits and scabs all over my face! Everybody points it out to its pretty bad and embarassing but oh well! they always say is that mosquito bites? ha but other than that i am surviving and doing good! i hope that you are to! and have a good safe week! i love you!

Love

Elder Woodruff

Monday Message: August 18, 2014

This week has been pretty crazy, slow, and tiring. Elder Brown had to do some visa things this week so he was gone on wednesday from 6:30 am to 4:00 pm and then on thursday from 4:30 am to 4:00 pm. which means that i had to wake up at 5:30 and then 3:30 both days so that he was ready to go! then on wednesday i stayed with Elder Laufette because he was sick and Elder Hendry had to go with Elder Brown. and on thursday i worked here in New Amsterdam with Elder Palavi. We are still working hard at reaching our 10 baptism goal, but every time it comes to the week of the baptism the people bail out and we are having a real struggle finding out their concerns! I caught myself wondering if our goal was really by the spirit but than i changed my mindset because we know that if we dont have Faith than God cannot do any Miracles (Ether 12:12). So we are working really hard to find their concerns and to help them have a stronger testimony of the Book of Mormon, because once they know that than nothing will stop them from accepting the Gospel and then Baptism!

So i had a great testimony builder yesterday! And i have had many but the one yesterday really made me think a lot about myself and it made me do a little self examination and soul searching!  We met a lady who is seventh-day adventist. And we know that they usually like to fight with us and use the objections of the Ten commandments mainly the 4th to keep the sabbath day holy! so we were answering her questions and usually when someone is bashing with me i just bear my testimony of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith ( usually after i have to stop my self from getting angry and bible bashing with them!). so i did and i told this lady that  " I Know the book of mormon to be true because i have prayed and fasted and pondered and studied it over and over. So I KNOW IT TO BE TRUE!" and then she did something that made me truly think.and it wasnt anything big but she asked me " Do you really know that?" i said "YES" and she said "are you positive?" i said "YES" and then she said " Really? truly?" and i said "YES" but after the lesson when i took a minute to reflect i asked my self those questions again. and thought what if i couldnt answer  those? what if i really didnt have a testimony? and i thought for a long time. I am grateful for the testimony that i have gained about the BOM, and for the witness that God has given to me! and i am grateful that i was able to look Her in the Eye and say " I KNOW IT IS TRUE WITH ALL OF MY HEART" i am also grateful that i listened to the spirit and didnt get into a bible bash with her because we all know that that leads to no where and it just drives the spirit away! and i hate when the spirit isnt there it makes me feel uncomfortable!

So this coming week we have a planned baptism. we actually had 5 but 4 didnt come to church and 1 of the 4 is still struggling with a small word of wisdom problem! but we are super excited for the 1 his name is Romario Peters and he is 15. he is awesome and will be a great priesthood holder and young man to strengthen the branch! our little branch is growing and we are working with a lot of the less actives and they are starting the process of reactivity in the gospel! we are so happy for them and they are such amazing people! i love it here and i love the gospel.

I hope that you have a great week and to hear from you soon! Please be smart and safe!

Love your Elder

Elder Woodruff

Monday Message: August 11, 2014

This week has been pretty good! we had a great day on wednesday and we
taught ten great lessons! it was such a busy day for us we had an
appointment every hour and the Lord helped us by guiding us to the
people that were home and ready to see us! We have some great people
who we are teaching right now and many of them are progressing towards
baptism! we also had 10 of them attend church with us yesterday! we
are really trying to work hard in achieving the goal of 10 baptisms
that Elder Brown and I set for ourselves this transfer! we hope to
kick it off on the right foot this coming weekend with the baptism of
Nickola Greaves. her mother is a member and she has been a former
investigator who we just picked back up and she is prepaired! also we
have two other families who are coming up in the coming weeks and they
are great i love when we get to go and see them because they always
have great questions and are easy to talk to and teach! i love this
area! This week we also met two girls whose last name is Woodruff! it
was so weird to see someone from guyana with that name! who knew huh?
So other than that it has been an ok week. just depends on the day
that im on! now that i am getting closer to the year mark things are
slowing down again but the week seemed to go by somewhat fast! it is
also hard to see people getting home AKA Skylar haha;) He is one lucky
boy haha! just now i will be like that though so im in no rush! i have
been studying D&C and i hope to have it done by my Year mark! if i
read 2 sections a night i will finish right at 1 year which means that
i will make my goal to have finished it in the year! next i will read
jesus the christ and the new testiment! i am improving or trying to
improve my studies as well so that its not just reading it but i am
actually gaining knowledge of the gospel and i love it when we dont
get to study the full time some days i feel like something is missing
and it sucks. crazy how the "hood rat" can say that huh? haha i love
the gospel and i love you! have a great week! i cant wait for next
week! be safe I LOVE YOU!
Love your Elder
Elder Woodruff

Monday Message: August 4, 2014

Well this week has seemed to fly by pretty fast. I almost forgot that it was monday today when i woke up i thought it was a normal day and was getting ready to go out to work haha! i have truly began to love the work and have been trying really hard to improve my people skills and be able to talk to anyone! we have been teaching a lot of new people and we have set a goal Elder Brown and I to baptize 10 people this transfer! so we have been working really hard to reach that! But i think the Lord humbled us a little and showed us that its not on our time but his time. we went out on friday and it seemed like everything that we had planned for fell through and all of the people that we have set a baptismal date with couldnt meet with us for one reason or the other! and all of them had some unexpected thing come up the night before church to the point that they couldnt make it to church. for example one of the kids of the gilbert family fell off the steps and broke his femur (he is only 2 years old) and so there aunts and uncles who we are teaching had to go to the hospital and werent able to make it to church! but that is only a minor set back they are gaining a testimony of the gospel especially the Book of Mormon. and they have accepted baptism for the 30th of August. We are excited and plan on striving to work with the lords timing and not forcing our timing into things!

Other than that it has just been pretty hot. it has rained off and on this week but not anything really to talk about. just flooding. Haha jk no floods here as of now! I am really getting along with elder brown and i think that we are seeing the success of the unity that we have together. i have never felt the presence of the spirit in my work as i have with elder brown. we strive to be exactly obedient and even when we are dead tired we push each other to get better. The good thing about our relationship is that we both have played sports and know the importance of hard work. we dont settle for anything but the best from each other, so the time that one of us wants to give up and turn back the other is there to back them up. so that helps and we are both striving to meet the same goals we arent divided in what we want. so i am having a great time with him. 

I am getting closer and closer to 11 months and soon after 1 year it is crazy that it has gone by so fast and yet slow at times too! i use to wish that i could just be done by now but as i have been here in Guyana things have really changed! of course i have still hit a lot of challenges and yes i have had MANY challenges so far in the past year but i can honestly say that i wouldnt change it for anything in the whole world! i almost wish that i would have realized how much of a learning experience this is earlier on! i have ran out of time for the things that i wanted to accomplish before my year mark. i wanted to read all of D&C before and to do that i just started the other day and now i have to read 2 sections a night and some of them are supper long haha! i dont go to sleep till like 11 sometimes! and i also have started to read "jesus the christ" it is a huge book but it is so helpful in learning things! i wish i could study all day sometimes! also sleep all day to haha! but i will make it and then i will set new goals at 1 year such as read the bible and The infinate atonement. i love the gospel and studying it i cant get enough of it. i incourage you to always study and pray it truly brings the spirit and that is what makes us happy. doing evil can only bring happiness for a season then we realize that we have wronged and wish to change. Wickedness never was happiness. Do all you can to have the spirit is my prayer!

I love you so much and hope that you have a great week! Be safe and pray always! love the Lord with all of your heart! And REMEMBER I love you!!!!

Love Your Elder

Elder Nathanial Woodruff

Monday Message: July 28, 2014

I am writting this letter at the end of a very long and tiring week of hard work! this has been one of the longest, hardest, yet rewarding as well as tiring weeks of my mission! i spent plenty of sleepless nights waking up and sitting in my hammock to just ponder about my life and mission right now! who knew that at this point of my mission i would have been through the fiery trials (as president mehr put it) that i have at this age! he spoke to me and told me that he was proud of me and how i am able to handle adversity! he says that i am the youngest person that he has seen go through so much stuff in such a short time and still be able to smile through it and move on!! i told him that there are plenty of people out there that are younger and have gone through more than me! i truly am grateful for the trials that i have been through because they have turned me into the person that i am and that i am becoming! of course it hasnt been the easiest road and yes there has been tears and prayers offered up! i know that is the only reason that i am still out here because without the love of the lord and president mehr i will be honest i wouldve come home a long time ago and been doing something that wouldnt benifet anyone like the mission is! i am grateful for your support! i have also reflected on the story of Job lately and it has reminded me that my trials are nothing so why complain! It will all work out and be worth the struggle!

So this week we had 1 more baptism and 2 confirmed! that makes 4 in all the last two weeks and we are happy for all of them they truly have the desire to learn and follow Jesus Christ. also this week we have been finding many more that are prepaired to hear the word and they are preparing for baptism! i am so happy for them and i love teaching all of them! they are what keep me going and sharing the good word! this week at Zone Conference i learned so much about how to use the Book Of Mormon more in my teaching which i think will better my teaching skills as well! i always love zone conference because the spirit is so strong and is able to teach and touch your heart! we have been working really hard with the members in our area as well and we are seeing much success in having them help us! I love this work! 

other than that we have been riding alot on the bikes and it seems like every other day i have to fix something on them! they suck! the other day i had to replace the tube on the back tire of mine and then the very next day what happens? The dang front one pops on me as i am going down the road! i was pretty far from my appartment to so i rode all the way back to it on a flat tire! it was not fun at all! so that was basically my week! i know that you are all cheering me on! and i am doing better! thanks for the support it is much apprieciated! I LOVE YOU!!!! and dont forget it! have a great week!

Love your elder!

Elder Nathanial Woodruff

Monday Message: July 21, 2014

What a week! we had 3 baptisms this week end! we had Onika bentek and Nigel Gilbert on saturday and Shanta Sookdeo on sunday! they all went great! we did have a small struggle with onika because she is terrified of water! she did not want to go under and it took about 30-40 minutes to calm her enough for elder brown to help her all the way under! that was quite the adventure ha! and even better is that we have met some amazing new people this week they are so prepared for the gospel and have accepted baptism for the 16th of august! we have seen great success! we also have some for the 2nd and the 14th coming up! it is so nice to have such amazing people to teach and share this message with! the lord is truly preparing the people of New Amsterdam to hear the gospel!

So this week has been a good week! i also played the piano for church on sunday! can i just say yikes haha! it was ok but i got stage nerves and messed up a little but oh well. practice makes better right? so we see that satan works in many ways to destroy the work of the lord. just as we start to feel better and good about something, he turns around and attacks you in a different way! of course it makes me sad for things like this but i know that this gospel and this work has the answers! i will not turn my back on this work and the lord! i am out here for a reason and i am going to fulfil that purpose! there is nothing that will stop me from going forward and working! only death can do that haha and the mission has already tried to kill me many times! more than are mentionable;) 

i am strong and we all know that " What doesnt kill you makes you stronger" haha i miss county music BAD!!! so zone conference is this coming thursday and i cant wait. who knew that i ELDER WOODRUFF would ever be excited to sit still for 8 hours in a meeting and read scriptures! but it is true i love it! i love learning more about the gospel and missionary work! it is so great to learn from leaders and apply it in my life! this is the second best time of the mission right behind General Conference!!! 

i hope that you are all doing great and that you are all safe! i love you and i always will no matter what happens or goes on in this life! God LOVES US!!! and i KNOW that this Gospel is true! i have seen many miracles in my life and i am seeing many more! no matter what trial is placed before us we can over come it through jesus christ! i love you and have a great week! 

Love your elder!

Elder Woodruff!