Feb 23, 2009

Well this week was a crappy one. I got a nasty case of pink eye this week.!! HOLY SKID that sucks.. Might as well jab a pencil in my eye. Luckly its been cloudy this week because the sun REALLY bothers it. What a blessing. i have some eye drops that cost like 20 dollars for a small bottle. They really help...

We have a few babtisms this week Enrique caño, Beatriz caño, and lesly caño. We babtised antonio a few weeks ago and now i will finally get my family. they are really golden.. Also Ismael Rodregez. he is a 18 year old kid who had his GF dump him so he has had it rough. he is scheuled for the 28th with the family but we have an appointment with him today to verify. Jeackalinne is finally getting babtized.. She is the sister of our babtisms in december and she FINALLY wants to get babtised.. She is for sundey. Anyway.. Other than a cold, pink eye, and other things, things are fine. Thanks for all the letters (Nikki i cant get your songs.. i rarly have head phones and its hard to download them But thanks for writing me)
Thats all for this week..

THanks! Wood

Conversation between Kim and Tay

Taylor,
I really hope I haven't missed you already this morning. Especially since I've held you in suspense all week. So here's the news you've been waiting for: The new bishop is Bishop Channan Day, First Counselor: Scott Sandavol, Second Counselor: Ron Arrington. That's all of the changes for now, but we expect several more in the coming weeks.

Colton woke up very sick yesterday morning, but Josh had to be there to be released and I was needed to play the organ. We decided to take him just in his street clothes, and Josh would take him home right after he had born his testimony. Colton didn't make it that long. He gaged on the bread during the sacrament and threw up in the chapel. Josh was on the stand, and I was still at the organ with no clue this was going on. Mindy McBride and Ron Arrington took him out and cleaned him up. What a day. I'm hoping that next week marks the start of easier sacrament meetings as Josh will now be able to sit with us and lend his assistance.

Colton's preschool teacher, Mrs. Kathy died last week. I went to her memorial service on Saturday. It was the first Catholic service I have ever attended. I was surprised to learn that the service was uplifting and focused mostly on the resurrection of the Savior. But the spirit wasn't the same, and the insense made me sick.

Oh, and here's some news. I don't mean to rub it in, ok well just a little. Last week Bashas had this crazy deal. You could buy a 5 pack of mac & cheese for a reduced price and it came with a $2.50 off coupon for tombstone pizza. Not impressed you say? Well tombstone pizza was on sale for $3.50 so the coupon made it only a dollar. Still not impressed? Well, they ran out of tombstone and were substituting Dijorno. That's right. Dijorno for $1. No we did not stock up on them for you. That's a lot of mac & cheese to buy. But we did think of you as we enjoyed our pizza.

So, on that delicious thought, I will let you go.
Love you,
Kimberly

Pizza for a dollar THATS REDICULOUS!!!!
What are they like. How many people usually attend? My ward there are 200 each week. In SALAMA there is 100 in the branch.
Are they wards or branches? depends on the area.. if your out there is always a branch.
Are there several strong members or do a few carry the majority of the responsibility? here the members are amazing
What is your relationship with the ward as a Missionary? Its not like UTAH.. EVERYONE knows the missionaries
How often do you interact with the members? Daily!!
Do you get asked to speak very often? NOPE!! THANKFULLY!! Etc...
Elder Taylor Wood

Taylor's House back Home

Bad time of year for a picture but here is the front of the house. The view from the front windows are even worse at this time. It's just dirt where green fields will soon be.

Taylors Hot Wheels 2006

Sorry these are old pictures. I haven't got new ones taken.

Transfer - Nothing New

I thought i would make my letter be more drastic with the CAPS LOCK on changes.. Well Its not that drastic. I stayed in my area with my companion.
Anyway i got a killer cold wednesday.. I still am hacking p my lungs with the mucus attached.!!
WEll nothing else is happening .. Remember my last babtism? Antonio Caño? well we are gona babtise his mom, Dad, And sister The 28th of Feb. Also a 18 year old kid who i worked with about 2 months ago. He never wanted to go to church but now he does.. Ismael Rodregez. his is also set for the 28th. next Christen (not sure the last name right now) He is the cousin of Oscar (babtism in Dec) (and Antonio) babtism in Feb. he is about 15 years old.. other than that, Im sick, I dont want to do ANYTHING, i hate talking to people in the streets. AND last week we got NO NEW investagators...
Other than that, O wait. And its FREEZING (about 68 degrees) but other than that i dont know what else to write.. Thanks for the letters !Wood!!1Elder Taylor Wood

Manti Temple

Salt Lake Temple

St. George Temple 2

St. George Temple

Missing Cowboy Life in Utah

Guatemala Scenery

Lasers in Guatemala

Feb 9, 2009

Well nothing much happened this week.. We had divisions, and 2 babtisms in our ward. one was ours..Antonio Caño he is 14 years old and pretty golden.. We put a babtism date with his mom and dad for the 28th but it will probably be the next saturday.. We are still working with his sister (age 17) but she is a SR this year and has alot of work.. Its hard to find them .. Anyway there are changes this next monday so i might be in a new area and i might not. No one knows..
Well i got more letters from Girls and x missionaries than i did family. Nikki is probablly my only faithful writer THANKS NIK!!!!
Anyway, sounds like everythings good (accually i dont know about ANYTHING.. so let me change that..) Im Assuming that everything is good.. Thanks for the letters (wait... i need to change that also) Thanks for your support.. Untill next week.
ME!!

Bus Race

First i have a list of things to write about.. I need a photo of the house and a photo of my hotwheels.. ..

We had a meeting with elder Rasmand from the 70. it was a good little devotional.
Modern transpertation. dont worry mom we dont take the buses (anymore) . Well their objective is to go as fast as possible so they can get more into the bus and earn money. well they like to ¨Battle for passage¨ or race so they can get in front of the other bus.. Needless to say.. a bus hit a truck, then rolled.. killing the bus drivers wife, and the bus helper.. He said .. GO GO Dont let them win the race.. dont worry.. Anyway.. they flipped and 2 died, 6 in the hospital.

anyway.. i was getting into a hichike today and i ripped my pants.. We got off at a members house (not near our destanation) and they had a sewing maching.. just so happens my companion is a tailor.. He fixed them in less than a minute and within 5 minutes we were took our next hichike to our destanation.

anyway we have a babtism this friday.. NAme Antonio. he is 14 years old and the cousin of a babtism from DEC.. that will go good.
anyway.. thanks for the letters.
TELL steve thatcher i wanted the steelers to win but i thought they played NEXT WEEK.. Needless to say he owes me a candy bar and a MT DEW (I accept VISA, or packages)Elder Taylor Wood

Blow Out!

Kims letter
- No questions for you today. Just the usual.
Baptisms? Yes one on friday,. a 14 year old kid who is the cousin of a babtism i had in Dec?
Neat Spiritual experiences? Not really
Funny life experiences? so you know how we NEVER TAKE BUSES¿? maybe not.. today i was asking for my normal hitch hike when a truck stoped. We jumped in as normal just when i hear a RIP!!!! yeah my pants ripped.. about 6 to 10 inches... I thought about sewing my pants in the truck (because i had a needle and thread because i just sticked my name in my bad.. BAD idea.. didnt want to do it. anyway.. we got out of the truck and we werent quite in our destanation... stopped at a members house. and there it was A SEWING MACHINE.. just so happens that my comp is a tailor.. who´da thought¿? What happened this week thatyou might want to remember someday? PANTS RIPPED
Find out that kids name that knows me..
DONT SLAUGHTER PEOPLE.. (The family played Catan and Kim slaughtered us) you need to be humble like ,me... I´m the most humbile person i knowElder Taylor Wood

1_26_09

How you doing Tay?
Still losing weight? not sure.. i was at 262, then 202, then 215..
How was this week? alright.
What was your main accomplishment? I dont really know..
How are people progressing? a few are a little by little. I cant figure out one girl.. she doesnt want to get babbtized yet and i dono why.
How is the retention of your baptisms coming? huh?? i have 10 now
How about the progress of your companion? hehe is learning.. its hard when he wanders off onto templework when im trying to make sure they know what a prophet is..
Learning any Old Mayan words? nope--
this week was alright.. nothing much happened.. my comp did start our water heater on fire.. I redid the connections and we have hot water again.. Scared him though Anyway.. no one is online.. (still waiting for a belt buckle.. Grounded??) anyway.. things are good.. I dont know what else to write.. RELEASE DATE IS JAN 19 ayway.. catchyya lata

Candi, Taylor, Nikki and Scary Dude

Bowling King

Martin Luther King Day

How are things going with the greeny? he is good.. learning always. He's been out about a month. he is fluent in spanish and a mayan language

Do you get along with him? he is good.. I havent hated a companion yet
Where is he from? Totonickapan.. Guatemala
What are the challenges of training? I have to reteach everything
What do you like most about your days? Eating... or chilling in the church if we can.
What is the hardest part? daily¿¿ i dont know. just keeping busy
How long do you think you will be in your current area? who knows.. maybe 3 more months
Who are you teaching right now? Betty (needs to get married), Nestor age 17. needs permsission and he will be bautized the 3rd of feb, jeackeline, the daughter of a babtism in DEC the others arnt that close..

You spent money! What did you buy? i finally ran out of mission money. thoses 25 ties might not have helped (50 dollars)
How long is the weather usually "nice" for? its still hot and green... things will start to get wet in may (ish)
Anything new? Well we got permission to LEAVE our mission and go bowling. That was fun...

The server is down.. so i dont have pictures to send today.. Um we found a bunch of white chicks in the mall here (THATS RIGHT WHITE CHICKS!!!!) they are with the humanatarian services. We started talking for a bit untill a (LATINO from cali) started contaction in english. YEAH, she is jewish and doesn't believe in chirst... I know we should have read that section in preach my gospel!! anyway she asked if she didn't belive in christ but still did good things (like the humanitarian aid) if that would cancel out.. an elder kindly explained that Thats not how it worked.. We gave here 2 pamplets, and a BOM. and told her to talk to someone else when she sees us. she will be in guate for 2 years.

well this week went by alot smoother.. It was good. We had a babtism on saturday. LUIS EDWARDO de la ROCA... 9 años that went well..

I got my laser.. you can go ahead and get the red one now :). Did blaine get that belt buckle or not. I saw belts today but didnt know if he bought me a buckle or not. Anyway.. we went bowling today.. I scored 121... then i started doing tricks. I had to knock down 5 pins.. So i did it under the legs and got a spare... I have a video as well!!

So sounds like things are doing good at home.. MAybe you should invest in ALARM CLOCKS!!1 just put it in a diffrent place each night for candi!!! (shoot she can have mine!!) I think thats alll... thanks for the letters. Thanks Mom and Kim for the questions.

Elder Wood

Jan 12 2008

Who is your new companion? Elder Tzunux (sue noosh) from guatemala ( south coast)
Is he green? he has like 22 days now..
Which MTC did he come from? guate
How is training going? Holy skid... I have thought about home so much this week!!! but things are aight..
How well does he speak? well pretty much perfect spanishh.. Shoot if you through in a guatemala language he is bilangual.
Is he a scriptorian? havent really noticed yet
What is your area called? Called La Leyenda 1 (the legend) but more kown by Las villas How big is it? not to big.. nothing like salama
Can you keep your calendar full? dont understand the question. we have fairly busy days
Any new prospects? prospects_¿¿?¿?
Any good food we should know about? just cow tounge, stomach, and cow hoof. didnt try either of them . Stomach soup?? once or twice.. reconized it right off
How often does Sergio come to Utah? i asked the same question.. not sure yet.-.He seems to travel a bunch.
How is Guata's economy? not really sure.. the dollar is up to like 7.8 thats good for me!!
What is the greastest blessing the gospel brings into the lives of thepeople there? I´m not erally sure.. lots

OK mom last week i told you about the new office.. the number of the new office is 1202. not 202. Also my credit card expires in june..

FYI..
THis week was good. I FOUND A NEW BRAND OF SSKITTLES!!! its the brown bag.. it has brownie mix chocolate. ETC looks good ..
Other than that things area ok.. My new comp helps me work really hard.. In a good and a bad way. but its good encouragment.
We have a babtizm this week for a kid who is 9. his family are all members..
Well this week was good. thanks for the letters.. (i write by questions because i forget alot during the week)

Elder Taylor Wood

New Year, New life..the best life.

New Year, New life..the best life.

Since missionary work is the life blood of the church, missionaries must be the plasma. We received wonderful new missionaries who arrived egger to put into practice all they have learned in the Mission Training Centers. They are Elders Wixom, Chesley, Castro, Velasquez, Ralda and Tzunux, along with one very special sister, Hermana Castro. Welcome to the Best mission in the world!

Jan 5 09

Any new wonderful contacts? not that i can think of
Has Hermana Torres received her vinyl yet? not yet... but soon Should be coming.
Did you find any mapleine flavoring? i havent seen any..
Keep in mind you are probably the only missionary in the entire world, for the history of the world that has received this many packages.
2 elders in my district recieved 10 packages for december... I think im doing fine ;)

New Address
It will now be this... i thinkwe changed to tower 1 (there are 4 and it used to be 2), Level was 15, now 12, and it was office 1504 not office 202ç
this week was pretty ok.. we had changes this week and my little mexican companion (no its not racist im trying to use it in the state of love) left.. and i will be training this change. Im pretty sure he will be a latino but i dont know.. I will have him tomorrow.

Other than that nothing else is new.. Our investagater Betty still has to get married and maybe her husband needs a divorce.. But they have money and have bought us pizza and something like quiznos..

Other than that.. i dont know what i want in a package.. ressees penut butter cups, skittles, Just to name a few...
Anyway. thats all for this week.. thanks for everything
Elder Taylor Wood

Holy TIES

Mom has No Idea!

Christmas Dear Elder Herandez

I guess they forgot when Christmas was. Mid-November and they are opening up his Christmas gift from us. I made truffles and put them in the cream container so they would travel. Not very pleasant to look at though I am afraid.

Dec 29 2008

We might not be able to be online to visit with Taylor but that will
give him lots of time to put pictures on the site.

About that.. Today we went to the temple. We had to get up at 4 in the morning in order to get into the 7 oclock session. Needless to say.. I forgot to take my credit card to take out money for this month, and i forget my cable to transfer pictures.. But other than that everything is aight.

well we started this week good. We had to have a sister interviewed by the president.. Needless to say.. he forgot about us. and we waited for a good 2 hours till he arrived.. Everything worked out fine and was babtized on the 27th.. Name Violeta Aguilar.. She is the mom of Oscar whom we babtized earlier this month. She was confirmed on sunday along with our last 3 babtisms.

Well.. I¨m not sure what else to write.. There are changes next monday.. so who knows what will happen.. im pretty sure i will stay but you never know.


It was good to talk to everyone on chirstmas.. Hope you all had a good one.!!
Elder Taylor Wood

Ping Pong Guata Style

Goodnight, Sleep Tight, .....

too late!

3 Baptisms this week

I had three baptisms yesterday. so .. first jennifer martinez age 11. Brian martinez 14 years old.. Carlos Lopez.. 16 años
FOR SHORT here is a list of things i need..Maple syrup recipe..Thursday at 4 UTAH TIME is when we will talkI got a package from the derricks.. tell them thanks for me.Red laser pointer = american loveMom sister torres needs something in vinal.Needs to say in Maroon or black Come What May and Love ItIn small white in the bottom right Joseph B. Wirthlin (its a quote)it needs to be 32 inches long. (above the door frame) and 3 inches high.Anyway.. for p day we played soccer... i just run around yelling makeing everyone else who is playing hate the game.. I LOVE IT
Elder Taylor Wood

Tell us how the baptism was. no babtism.. scheduled for the 19th and 21st
How was your birthday? alright. Did you go order pizza or something fun? who has money for that.. we went cheep and made creamed eggs (missing the good cheese)
Did you get your present from us yet? SPEEKING OF THAT PRESENT... if you spent 45 dollars on a tie im gona beat you.!!! you hear me!! WITH A STICK.. how much did the yellow tie cost? and the red one?? YOU BETTER NOT LIE EITheER ( ross dress for less?? ))

Chef Wood

11 month mark

Happy Birthday Taylor

Dad and Nikki made the cake for Taylor. She spent a great deal of time decorating it into a farm: including pig pen, tractor/car, trailer etc. Then sprinkled little hard "break your teeth" balls all over the top. Hope your day was wonderful Taylor.

Happy 20!

Creamed Eggs - Yum!

20

Well i have alot of writting to do.. Just not to you guys (WINK WINK)We had our babtism this week it went well but i forgot my camera LOSER!!! . My comp took some but we have to develop it.
This week we are gona babtise Jennifer Martinez. age 12. (I put the date for my birthday HOW SELFISH!!) anyway..
We played basketball for p day.. and just kinda chilled.. I dont have much more to write.. I usually respond to questions if asked.. just do the columb style so i can awnser rapidly.
Got kims package, well i opened the letter right of the bat. then i read the box and noticed that i had tooth picks, poptarts, stickers and ETC.. well i laveled B'day and christmas needless to say.. I needed my toothpicks, had a deisre to eat poptarts, NEEDED Skittles, Opened one randomly ) stickers=, Some sweet hotwheels snacks and well i have some good gatorade stuff to drink(I Sorry kim.. might need to send me more to start over. BUT ... I still have 3 that are for christmas NO WORRIES!!
I let caros (our cook= barrow my laser.. someone stole it from his tent on a campout.. anyway.. still investagating.
Nothing more thanks,, Wood

Chef Herdendez

Guate Christmas Tree

Who would have ever thought Taylor was sooooo creative!!!?

Well another week gone. Today is elder Hernandez¨s birthday. This week was ok. I love the ward here. There are alot of active members.. we eat with an ex missionary and they are really fun.
We have a babtism this week. Oscar aguilar Lovez. He is a 16 year old boy who loves the church and the activities for the young men.

Mike, josh, Dad, and blaine. How was the tie situation in your mission. Could you find them alot. How much did they cost. Just hit me up with something so i can get a letter next week.

My area is pretty small. nothing like takeing a bus for an hour and a half and still being in my area like salama. But its still a good place. Elder hernandez is from northern mexico and pretty cool.

Anyway.. didnt have anything for thanks giving..!
Anyway.. i dont know about anything from home this week.. so thats all for now.. GO UTES!!! (cause they are wining)

Elder Taylor Wood

Great BAPTISM!

(USB thing broken so no pictures for a while)

Bumber... sounds like your thanks giving is gona suck just like mine..

We had a babtism this week. IT WENT AMAZING. this guy is so golden. he showed up at his babtism 45 minutes early. and its a good 45 minute walk from his house. Anyway, i bought him a hymn book and a triple combanation. we had about 75 members show up for the babtism. Imagine 75 members for a babtism when the church asistance is about 115.!! So far its the most members ever in a babtism.

On the down side. I got a change. I really liked it in Salama and didnt want to leave.. then again i did have 7 months there. Anyway i am in guatemala city. Zone 18 in a place called La layendo (the legend). you can google map it. zona 18 la leyondo in guatemala or something like that. The area is WAY small. My last area was just enourmas. As well as another new area i have a new companion. Elder Hernandez from mexico. he seems kinda cool. Guess i better get to this spanish speaking part of the mission.

Anyway.. Mom... talk to the Olcotts about them comming. I can get a good pair of shoes for like 80 dollars here (550 Q and its 7.5 to 1 dollar) anyway.. dont send the shoes unless its free. because i will jut by them here..

The members here are amazing (from what 2 members i have met here) the WARD.... not branch. has like 250 active members and our cook.. YEP THAT TOO... cooks for our 3 meals. It will be a good area but its small so i dont want more than 4 months here...

Anyway things are fine here... Something nasty happened in the newspaper.. A bunch of guys attacked a prison in guatemala and they chopped off their heads.., then they burnt their bodies.. The bad thing is, IT WAS ON THE FRONT PAGE.. anyway, Its not like the good ol USA!!
(Taylor also sent me the papers address. I babelfished it and Taylor was very kind in his description of the events.)

Mom did you want to pick me up from guate or not... didnt really get an awnser from ya..

Things are fine. i talked to my cook in my first area and that was fun.

Thanks for everything, WOOD

This Week in the Life...

How is the guy investigator coming along? he is good. we are gona babtize him this saturday. along with his 10 year old son. Tell us about him. What does he do for a living? he is a cheif for a reastaunt for a member How old? 45 50ishWhere did you find him? at a restrauntHow does teaching him make you feel. i dono.. teaching is teaching.. its never really diffrent
Are the non-church goers still talking baptism? she doesnt want anything.. im not gona babtize her.
So did I hear you were in Colban last week? I go to colban 3 times a change.. And know the area there quite well. we do Zone activities and confrences there. as well as divisions with the ZL´s (when i was with the District leader)
Stand up dude?¿ What picture are you going to use.??
This week was alright. we just sat around today for P-day and played some texas hold úm and went to the market to buy stuff. nothing too much. I only have one week more with this change which means i will probably be leaving Salama. But no one knows.
We had a member get attacked by her dog last friday. we went to visit her today and they were talking about killing their dog. They were pretty convincend to give me a pistol (or another elder he) and let us do it for them. But they are going to wait 7 more days to see if the dog has rabies or not..
Things are the same here.... i gained 4 pounds... lastima. I had lost 60 but now im at 56.Elder Taylor Wood

Mom's Support System

Quote:
Anner has left a new comment on your post "well another week gone. thought i would write ear...":
Boy, Taylor sure writes short letters! I need more info on him! lol He sounds like he's doing very well though. "

Annie, I second it. I hope Taylor reads this today and gives us a good letter.

well another week gone. thought i would write early so it can get sent through.

We had a babtism date with a girl but she went out of town. she comes back saturday.

We are teaching a guy really awesome. he comes to church and WILL be baptized. We are gonna baptize him and his 2 kids the 22nd. he is the chef.

A kid here next to me is playing counterstrike. YA.. he sucks. he is playing a map with no one on it. I had to tell him kindly that he didnt know what he was doing.. BUT you know how it is right.11!!! hahaha

anyway.. we will continue preparing these babtisms for the 22nd.

today for p day we played volley ball. it was pretty good.


Elder Taylor Wood

"Cool" Coban

"Cool" Coban

“Chipy chipy” is what the locals here call a constant drizzle of fine rain and we had plenty of this during our visit to Cobán to visit our missionaries for Interviews and Zone conference. The chapel was cold by Central America standards, but the spirit was warm and we enjoyed seeing our missionaries ready and willing to confront both the heat and the cold for the sake of fulfilling their callings. Our topic for Zone conference was Chapter one of “Preach My Gospel” Our Purpose. Another opportunity for chocolate came with the “polished Shoes” inspection where the missionaries were given a “Treat” for each shined shoe at the conference, which was a challenge given all the rain.