Monday Message: April 20, 2015

He said he was doing good today except he is sick again. Said he had a runny nose so I  told him to shove some toilet paper up there and his response was that he needed a tampon to get it stopped! Funny kid! This Saturday will mark 19 months down with only 5 to go! He will be home before we know it!

Well this week has both been fast and slow. The first half went so fast i didnt even realize it but the last part drug on. I got a small cold that hit me last night and then today it is still there! but other than that we had a great week!

So this week has been good in teaching two of our investigators their names are Abiola and Kazia. they are from a partmember family named the Shepards and they are doing great. They are preparing themselves to be baptized this week on wednesday the 22nd. I am so happy and excited to see them make this step. Elder Pollard and I have been working on our unity in teaching as well and we even had Elder Christensen with us this week and we have made a commitment to use at least 1 scripture each in the lessons that we teach. It truly helps in the lessons and the way that the investigator feels and gets things out of the lesson!

So my funny daryl moment for the week happened on wednesday. So the current here is a little different some times the wall plugs are 120 volts and sometimes they are 240 volts. And good old me coming from barbados where everything is 120 didnt think to check and we had just bought a new fan that cost us $10,500. for you in us that is about 55 dollars. and i got home and was so happy to finally have a new fan plugged it into the wall. it started so fast and me and elder pollard were confused and it ran for about five minutes and shut off. we thought it was jsut a black out because that happens often here. but then we smelt something burnignb and low and behold it was the bran new fan! it had burnt up. i guess it couldnt handle the double power haha. so we ended up getting a 240 volt fan that only cost $6000 this time.

So that was basically my week. i hope you had a great week! i love you! have a good week. ps i hit 19 months this saturday! wow!

Love

Elder Woodruff!

Monday Message: April 13, 2015

So I have totally been slacking on this blog. I wanted it to be more than just copying and pasting his emails so this is my attempt to do better!

While talking back and forth yesterday I asked about his new companion,  Elder Pollard. He said they get along fine. They tend to keep to themselves and stay out of the way of each other which is probably a nice change from the last companion. He said he was able to go and visit the Kirton's for a little bit which he loved because he said it's the closest thing to family there. I'm glad they take such good care of him and love him like we do! I haven't taken any pictures off Dropbox yet but will do that later this week. Until then here is the email.

Wow well this week has been such a busy one. I arrived in guyana on wednesday at around 3 pm. then went to the office and then to my area which is over the river. You would think that it would be a city but it reminds me a lot of New Amsterdam. It is spread out pretty far but it is a nice area. I love it already and i love the people. I have got to meet a few of them and the Branch is a decent size! We have a huge chapel though. i honestly think it is bigger than the one back at home! i will get a picture and show you! 

The thing of the week is that elder pollard actually grew up in guyana so his parents then moved to tortola. but his brother lives in georgetown. so he had a baby and his whole family got the permission of pres mehr. and came to our branch and elder pollard got to bless the baby. it was cool but also weird to know that he was able to see his family. they were really sweet and had to take a picture with me because i was the prophets relative haha.

other than that my week was normal as usual i stopped by the Kirton family to say hi today and that was the best ever. Sorry it is short this week. hope that you have a great week> i love you!

Love 

Elder Woodruff!

Monday Message: April 7, 2015

Wow can you believe it has been another transfer already, because I cant. this has really flew by and now I only have 4 of them left. I will be transferred tomorrow to Guyana back to my homeland ha. Only this time I will be in the Georgetown area in a place called La Grange. I do have to say that I have Truly Loved every minute (thick and thin) here in Barbados and I am really sad I have to leave. I will be honest I almost was crying when I found out and since them I have cried at least once ha. DONT JUDGE! I guess when I told president Mehr that I would go back at anytime he took it in to thought quickly and Im headed back!! I know I will love it there because I love Guyana so much!

  So this story that I am going to tell you next may scare you and make my momma really worry but you don't need to because I am fine. It is something that I laugh at now even though for a time I was hyped up on adrenaline!

  So on Tuesday night we were walking home on a road that we walk all the time but we were running a little bit late because of the buses. So I had started to make phone calls to the other missionaries when we heard a loud "POP POP" then elder ort asked if it was gun shots but it didn't register to me that it was so I kept walking and then another "POP POP PPPPOP POP" came and yup it was gun shots. elder ort took off running and I waited a second then all of the sudden a young man came running around the corner running for his life. You could just see it In his eyes. So then I started to run but I quickly realized that I was behind this kid running and if someone was shooting at him I didn't want to be behind him so I cut off to the right and elder ort was on the left hiding. We waited a few minutes and met back on the road and then a really suspicious man walked between us and he was definitely holding something hiding in his hands and later people described him as the shooter. we were definitely watched over. We quickly said a prayer and went home back the way it had happened. but it was fine. When it was passed over we asked what happened and the man was mad at a boy and shot him in the Foot. Can you just say I love my mission and all the fun exciting experiences I get to see!

( MOM DONT BE SCARED OK HA:) )

 Conference was by far my favorite. I truly felt like many of the talks were very personal to me and it really answered many of my prayers! Even though half of them also made me way to trunky with all this marriage talk but they still had good insights for my mission as well. I have never felt like something was so directed towards me yet! I love the prophet and all the leaders of the church. Next conference I will be at home to watch in my pj's finally haha! Cant wait.

Well that was my eventful week hope you enjoyed it with me I love it. I LOVE YOU! hope to hear from you soon and have a great and safe week!

Love

Elder Woodruff

Monday Message: March 30, 2015

So this week I guess I will try to fill you in a little bit more on the week because of some complaints I have received! :) haha. It is finally come and gone for my first 18 months and the funnest thing I get to do now is point out all of the planes that go by and yell 6 MONTHS BABY!! haha I love it. I hope I don't make anyone mad when I do it though. I am one of the older missionaries here in Barbados right now but I still feel like the youngest it is so weird.

  So this week was an interesting one. we had a little run in with a members son and he was not happy with us at all for some reason. we don't know why but he just started yelling and as we tried to shake his hand and just talk with him. he told us he was going to call the police and charge us. So who knows what came over him. We tried not to get upset but sometimes it gets out of our grasp. but we are ok and no harm done. I have never had someone so mad at me before though and it was definitely a first for me.

  We also have a cool story about a boy named Khalil. he was baptized almost 1 year now and he is back and forth between activity. but lately we have really been working with him and I have seen a huge change in him. Even his non member family see the change and his mom wants to come to church to see what is making him change. We hope to start to teach her as well. He comes out teaching with us most days now and he participates. last night he told a man that was praising us for how young we were and he said ya and im only 14 and love to share the gospel. he is the best. He has also accepted a challenge to read the BOM by next Tuesday and we promised to buy him lunch. he started to read immediately!

Other than that my week was plain. i still have the cold a little bit and it has been pretty tough to get over. But i am good and happy and trying my  best to stay healthy haha! if that is even possible. Also this week is the week that we get transfer calls and we are 99.9 % sure that Elder Ort is leaving to suriname so i am trying to see and guess who my new companion is going to be haha. We will see what happens in a week and what happens in preperation for the mission split. 
Well that was the week haha. sorry it was slow but i hope that you have a great week and i hope to hear from you soon! I love you!

Love

Elder Woodruff

Monday Message: March 23, 2015

Wow I cant believe it is already here. It has come so fast and yet not really haha. This week seemed to just drag on because I ended up getting sick with a head cold and it doesn't seem to want to leave. I have had it for about 6 days and it doesn't want to let me go! But it isn't as bad now so I should be able to have a great week. Now my only stress is having to decide what to teach tomorrow and how I can help my missionaries. We have had a small adjustment to the companionships. we got a missionary from blackrock and sent one there. Just a mini transfer you could say!

 We had a fun little excursion today and took a road trip to the top of the island to the wildlife reserve. it was fun we were able to see some snakes, alligators(nothing different then Guyana ha), deer (not like ours at all),turtles, and monkeys haha! I have been driving here for a couple of weeks and now we have the old truck which is a stick shift. it is the best thing to drive after the fact that you use your left hand to shift and the right to put the blinkers on. plus the fact that you are on the left side of the road. it is so fun though and I get excited anytime I get in the car.

 I don't think much more has really happened. sorry I think missionary life repeats itself a lot so not very many new things happen in my day to day life. I wake up and get dressed to go and sweat all day long. then come home and shower and call five different people then go to bed haha. But I love my job. and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I am sad that it is going by so fast but also happy and excited to go and start the next stage of my life. I want to go to school really bad but also I just miss being in the states sometimes. And I really miss hunting so much and cant wait for that. I hope that you have a great week and I cant wait for next week. I love you!!

Love
Elder Woodruff

Monday Message: March 16, 2015

This week has been much better. We had a lot of meetings and not a lot
of time to get the work done but i definately learned a lot. Also
coming up tomorrow we have another skype zone conference with elder
Cornish of the area presidency. he is in trinidad and will be talking
to us tomorrow. So guess what that means? No teaching district meeting
for me ha. I havent had to teach for over 2 weeks now sometimes i
forget what it is like. But next week i am expected to teach a great
lesson i guess.
  This week has also been one that really tests me on how well i can
help others solve their problems because the Six Roads Missionaries
have been getting into a lot of fights and i am trying to help them
but nothing seems to work. who knew that doing the Lords work could be
so difficult sometimes but then i just think that that is satans tool
to get us to give up and quite. But if i can help it no body will quit
this work and i just hope that we can solve the situation before it
gets that far.
The best part of my week so far has had to be talking with the christ
church sisters and seeing all the success that they have been having.
they are working so hard and the are two of the most diligent
missionaries that i know. While they were walking to church yesterday
they had a caravan following them of investigators. They had 3
investigators at church and should have had 4 but the doctor told him
he couldnt go with his bad foot. For us we had Lyn come to church and
it was great she really enjoyed it and this is the 2nd time for her.
She is getting closer and closer to knowing for herself.
  OH and the funniest story of the week is the other night we went to
bed at 12 because we were on the phone with the two elders who were
fighting and so i was dead tired. then the phone started to go off in
the morning. Thinking that it was the alarm and that it started to
ring really early i looked at the phone and it was little 8 year old
nicholai calling at 5:30 AM to tell us he was ready for church and
that he was having his grandma take him! Now at this time i was mad
cause i didnt know it was him and i wanted to know who in the right
mind would call so early. but i then realized that he was so excited
for church and that made me so happy. I wish the Gospel would have
that effect on everybody that we teach. he and his grandma are
hopefully prepairing for the 11th of april. I love how the Gospel
works and is able to change the life of others even to the point of
calling the missionaries at 5:30 just to say that.
I hope that you have a great week and please be safe. I love you so
much and Hope all the best for you. i pray everyday for you and hope
you do the same for me! Love you!
Love
Elder Woodruff

Monday Message: March 2, 2015

Well this week has definately been a long one? i dont really know why but the past two weeks i havent sleep at all! i lay awake at night and dont get to sleep. But i guess it is because i have had so much things on my mind. Elder Ort tells me that i worry to much about the other missionaries and i should let them solve their own problems but i feel like i cant just leave them! Also we had stress over the whole car situation because we desperately needed this car in our branch and what happens the day we get it? in 24 hours the sisters had crashed it into the back of a truck. No one was hurt but or hopes of a car to help the areas are dashed! Lets just say that i had to really hold my tongue and talk to the sister nicely because she already felt really bad. And for how upset i got i think i held it in and handled it really well. Dont get me wrong i think the sister missionaries are great because they do so much more than us elders could anyways but it really put us in this jam this time! 

So i have had a hard time really deciding what to teach on tomorrow and it is going to be so nerve racking teaching 11 missionaries i am only used to 5 ha. But i hope that i will jsut be able to teach with no problem. i pray really hard for it to come easy but it is so difficult. 

Oh and the funny story for the week. I have now been out of Guyana for almost 3 months and that is where you would think that you would get the most sick. Guess again in barbados i have been sick the most ever on my mission and now tomorrow i have to go to the clinic because i have a huge spot on my thumb that is infected and looks like a huge scab but it hurts like no other! The senior couple thought it was a fungus but it got worse so now i have to go to the doctor! sorry if that grosses you out but i just had to tell you about it. this is the reason that i want to go back to Guyana!

I sent pictures home this week so hopefully they will be updated to the blog. i got my hair platted and it looks so cute hahaha. by the way i dont know how the girls here can handle that in their hair it hurts so bad i was almost crying!

but basiccally that was my week and hopefully this week is better! i hope you have a great week! please be safe and i will email either next tuesday or wednesday! I love you!

Love

Elder Woodruff!