Monday Message: September 14, 2015

 Well i have to apologize for the shortness of this email. I just realized that i took all the time replying to others and saying goodbye that i forgot i hadnt sent this email yet. But I will be coming home next week and then i will be able to talk to all those that want to see me. I hope to see all that want to come at my Homecoming talk on the 27th of Sept. Other than that my week was fast and i just hope that this last week will be full of miracles and happy goodbyes. 
We had our Zone conference this week with Elder Hugo E Martinez of the seventy and it was so amazing i hope to talk about it in person and tell the stories when i have more time to talk about it! Well Have a great week and Be safe and Happy!

Love 

Elder Woodruff!

Monday Message: September 7, 2015

Wow it finally has hit me this past week how close things are actually coming to a close. When i look at it we have a lot of investigators who are finally planning on getting married and they are coming up with dates for the end of the month and the coming months and it makes me sad because i realize i wont see them get married. but hey at least they are making the steps ha. Plus the fact that Elder Hunsaker loves to tell people how long they get to see me till i leave and to most it is like " You only get to see Elder Woodruff 2 -3 more times before he leaves" The upside is they all plan on feeding me before i leave so i am happy ha!

 This week has been really good. we have finally got some support from the members and we recieved a numorous amount of Referrals from them and the come to the lessons that are planned so it is a huge help to us. We are seeing the progress of the investigators because of it and i Know elder Hunsaker will be able to see a lot of the rewards from this final push with them. I am loving this last transfer and at times i wish i would have got two transfers with Elder Hunsaker because of how well we get a long!

 This week we have my last zone conference on friday and then a district conference on Saturday and Sunday! So you can say that this week is already almost over for us because of how busy we are going to be and next week is about the same so who knows maybe the last two weeks will actually fly by and not drag? I hope that i will just be able to hold my focus and not get lost in all the day dreams. They seem to be creeping in at night now and it is so hard to fall asleep. 

I hope all is well with you and that you have a safe week. I love you! 

Love

Elder Woodruff!

Monday Message: August 31, 2015

Well this week has been better toward the end of the week. We had the baptism of sister Ramchand and her son. Brother Ramchand was able to do the performance of the baptism as well which was really cool to see. The spirit was so strong and we had some what of a decent turn out of members to support them! 

The way we found sister ramchand was interesting she had been coming to church for a few weeks and then we found out that her and Bro ramchand finally got married. They had been living together for quite some time which prevented her from being baptized. But we went by a few times and she always told us she didnt want to feel rushed into it so we backed off. But when elder hunsaker came we went by and talked about prophets and she actually asked us what she needed to do to be baptized so we told her and she was baptized.

This week i dont want to focus to much on the sickness but i failed to mention that on top of the dengue fever i also had strep throat and have been on pills for that! Even though i am feeling much better this week the doctor told me there is a fine line between over doing it and not doing enough for it. She said to get some sleep and slowly work back to the 8 hours a night and to excersize but i should know the limit of my body. Other than that i am just tired and the joints are a little week but i am getting healthier.

This coming week i am hoping to get a lot more done. We really have to focus on finding new investigators because all the recent ones we have had are now members. But we have been recieving a lot of referrals lately and they are all from the members which means we will be able to use those members in the teaching process! i cant wait to see what happens.

Elder Hunsaker now knows the area well enough that he is able to lead it out and that means that he knows the people and what they need. I of course still am helping and doing the teaching with him but i am not as nervous to leave him here. I know that the area is in good hands and he will do a great job when i leave. Just a few short weeks left for me which include a zone conference with president egbert and then my exit interview and that will go by quick. I am looking forward to it and cant wait to see you. I LOVE YOU!

 Have a great week and be safe!

Love 

Elder Woodruff

Tuesday Message: August 25, 2015

He wasn't able to email until Tuesday this week. Now we know why...crazy kid can't keep himself out of the hospital! But good news is...only ONE MORE MONTH!!

Well once again i am back and the topic of the week is more hospital visits! i think if i get enough out of the way here then when i come home i wont have to go to the hospital for 30 years! This week came out with the illness of Dengue Fever. It is spread by mosquitos (Which are everywhere here) and causes Muscle aches and pains and Fevers. the worst is the pain though the doctor gave me some pain relievers and i am doing better but still weak. They told me to drink more liquid because you can loose most of your body liquid through sweat and also the constant use of the bathroom which it also causes. I just feel bad for Elder Hunsaker who is having to stay at home with me and play caregiver haha! but he is doing a great job he is very caring and humble about it. 

We did however have 3 baptisms this week of the young men. And elder hunsaker got the opportunity to baptize one of them and i was privilaged to do the other two. We are very happy for them and they will be recieving the priesthood this coming week. We are also hoping for the baptism of a part member family named the ramchand family the father has been a member for 15 years and the mom wants to be baptized with the 8 year old son. We are doing great together and he is really helping me to see joy in the work even through my trials and illnesses. we are always laughing and love to crack joke i love the kid! 

Well i am short on time this week but i hope to feel better next week and get more to email. Have a great safe week! LOVE YA! 

Love 
Elder Woodruff!

Monday Message: August 17, 2015

Well this week has been pretty interesting. I got my new Greenie this week on wednesday and his name is Elder Hunsaker. He is from Mccammon, Idaho. He is the youngest of 8 kids and has a nephew that is older than him on a mission. He is very humble and is ready to work hard but he has a pretty goofy side to him. I have laughed so much already and i know that there is much more to come in the coming weeks and i know that i am going to enjoy this transfer.

  Well on thursday we started off the transfer with one of the best days that i have had in this area. We had Sister Ramchand set her baptism date for the 29th of august. This was a surprize due to the fact that everytime we talked about baptism she pushed us away, but she has had a change of heart and set the date herself! Then we met two boys who also commited to a soft baptismal invitation and we will be working on a date with them. Then the 4 boys who were suppose to be baptized this past week will be getting baptized on Wednesday. So you could say in one day we had 5 dates placed and 2 coming what a success! 

Much better than the next day when i found myself in the Hospital getting blood test to see how my throat was doing! I started to get a pain along with pressure a day after i got bit by a centepede. and i thought it was from the bite but it turns out that it was something like Floringitis??? idk what really but it was swollen and inflamed. i was told to stay away spices and also food or drinks that were to hot or to cold and also i have pills that i have to take for 30 days. Kind of another count down for me cause when they finish i have about 10 days left ha! #nottrunky!

Also i had a bad cooking day yesterday because i fell asleep cooking chicken in tomato sauce and burnt the sauce right out! so i ended up with only pasta:( 

 I am excited for this transfer and i know that Elder Hunsaker will help me to make sure that i have a great and successfull transfer. We also got surprized by President Egbert at church. he didnt tell anyone he was coming and just showed up! i am glad that we are Obedient and i was happy to see him. He is taking the zone out to lunch today and we will get to talk to him! i am excited and he is a great man!

I hope that all is well and that you have a great week! be happy and safe! I LOVE YOU!!

Love

Elder Woodruff

Monday Message: August 10, 2015 LAST TRANSFER!

 Well this week I am happy, Nervous, and also sad all at once. I found out this week that I will be getting a new companion for my last transfer which is really nice. But i found out that my new companion will be a trainie so coming right from the MTC which makes me nervous. It will keep me on my game though because i dont want to ruin his mission right before i come home off of mine. That is the scary part about it. I am excited though to see how things work out and it will be a great last transfer. 

The thing that makes me sad to say is that in the last week we have had 3 people die in Belle Dam which is the street that we live in. This brings the count to 5 people that have died since i have been living there. The thing about it is i have talked to the 3 people personally and two of them have family that are members of the church. The first one is our neighbor across the street. She was an older woman who had high sugar and she passed away. The next two came on saturday and sunday. Saturday morning we had a scary thing happen at the front of the dam (we live at the back) but a wooden house caught fire and within five minutes the whole house was on fire. There was a lady who was 90 that was trapped inside and was killed. The thing with the fire is it also blew up 2 vehicles that were near by causing the flames to catch the business next door on fire and that building was also gone in minutes. The owner of the business lost what is estimated 18 million Guyana dollars Apx. 900,000 Us dollars. They put the flames out just before they reached a gas tank that is like what the farmers at home use on there farms. That would have been even worse. And the last came yesterday with the Beharry's uncle who died yesterday afternoon. They say that he had been sick before and that he drank to much Rum in his life that it hardened his liver and insides and he passed away because of that. I dont know how to feel because we had talked to him last week and he said he really wanted to change his life and start coming to church!

 I am so grateful that i know about the Plan of Salvation and how it works. I just wish that we could get through to more people to teach them about it. It would make the pain of death melt away through the feeling of peace we get from the great plan. I know it is true and that families can be and see each other again! Its just heartbreaking to me to know that not everyone knows or even believe that. 

I have finally reached the last 6 weeks and it is all down hill. I hope to hear from you and if not i will see you soon ha. I love you have a great week!

Love 

Elder Woodruff!

Monday Message: August 3, 2015

 Wow you know those days when everything that people do make you upset in one way or another? Well today is one of those days! I have been trying to just avoid all the situations that would bother me and i think i have done pretty good. But i am sorry if my email is a little shorter than usual. It is just really hot where i am and i have a headache and just am tired and ready to sleep. So i will try to tell you some details about the week but to start off there wasnt much. It actually caught me off guard that it was already monday again. our week was full of getting the apartment cleaned and inspected and also Things fixxed on it like our door that wasnt locking!

 We did a service project on friday with our Branch President. the youth were suppose to come but no one did so it was us and him. We were power washing the concrete of the church so now it actually looks like concrete nice and clean instead of the black sludge that was on it! We started it at 10 am and got done well half way done by 6 pm and then they came back on saturday and did a little more. 

We also went to the funeral of a Recent converts Mother who passed away a few weeks ago. Elder Alitasi and I actually were able to give her a blessing on a sunday and she passed away the tuesday after. It was a good experience and spiritual as well because she had her eyes open after the blessing and they said that was the first time in a couple days they were open. The funeral was nice but kind of out there because it isnt our church or the way we normally do a funeral but it was a good tribute to her! 

 Other than than not much went on! this is the last week of the transfer and we will see what happens for the final one to come! I hope that you have a great week and i cant wait for next week.I love you. 

Love

Elder Woodruff