Anadarko, Oklahoma -June 16, 2014

Hey there everyone!

So lots of exciting things have been happening here in Oklahoma!  Transfers, new area, new companion, new district, new missionaries.  How many new things are there going to be each transfer?  It is ok though because I really needed to have some things change. 

It really sounds like things have been going well since the wedding got over.  I am still waiting for that tie that Kelsey said she was going to send to me to wear so I could at least somewhat feel like she thought about me during all the wedding excitement.  I did get the pictures that you sent through email. They all looked very nice.  Braeden could have used a haircut before the wedding though.  It is really exciting to have another sister married.  Luckily at this point I won't have to worry about missing and nephews or neices being born without me.

Things sound like they are going well with soccer.  I didn't know that Darcy and Emmie were going to be playing on two teams.  That is really exciting though.  They are definitely good enough to be playing at that level though.  I will just let you know right now that you won't have to update me on the France Honduras match that happened yesterday.  We went to visit a family we have been working with and we got there just before the end of the game.  TV can be such a big distraction as a missionary.  I don't know if I have ever said that before, but it really can be a distraction.

Ok now to answer all of your questions about everything.  So my new companion's name is Elder David Tanner.  He came out to the mission the same time that Elder Birch did so he has been out for a little over 10 months now.  He lives in Centerville and went to Viewmont with Elder Birch.  I was just showing him pictures of Kelsey's wedding and he knows Uncle Gary.  So that was pretty cool.  He has only been here in Anadarko for one transfer so he is still pretty new to the area.  Elder Tanner is a great missionary!  I have really enjoyed getting to work with him so far.  We are going to have a really good transfer. 

Anadarko  is a really great area!  It is definitely different then the other areas I have served in.  There are a lot of Native Americans that live in this area.  One of the members here said that there are seven different distinct Native American tribes living here in the Anadarko area.  It has been really cool.  There are a lot of other reasons that this is a special area to be in.  Satan is really working hard in Anadarko to stop the work from progressing and a good amount of it comes from the perspective that is spread around the mission about Anadarko.  At transfers I heard so many negative things about Anadarko from other missionaries, but I have yet to see any of those things.  Anadarko is a great area though!  There are so many good things that are going on here.  There are so many things I want to tell you about the area, but they are all so special that it would be hard to do over and email.  I can tell you though that the Lord has an amazing plan for this area and that is why Satan is working so hard here to stop that work from progressing.  I really can tell that there are great things that are going to happen.  

So last night I had a pretty cool experience at the end of the evening that I thought you might like to hear about.  So since I am District Leader every Sunday evening I call the other companionships in the District and get their numbers for the key indicators from the past week.  In our case here there is only one other companionship that is in our district so I called the Sisters and got their numbers.  So after I had all of the district's numbers I called to Zone Leaders to report numbers to them.  I started out by telling them the goals that our district had set for the upcoming transfer and when I gave them the Sister's transfer goals they asked me what I thought about their goal for how many members presents the Sisters had thought the could get.  I told them I thought the Sisters goal could have been higher so on and so forth with the conversation until the Zone Leaders suggested that I should think about calling the Sisters and tell them that as their District Leader I thought that they could do better then the goal they had set and to maybe rethink their goal and possibly set a new one, or I could do what I had thought of doing and just encourage them throughout the transfer and try to help them exceed their goal.  It seemed kinda like the Zone Leaders wanted me to go with the first option to try and get them to reset their goal, but I didn't really feel good about that and it wasn't what I wanted to do, so I told the ZL's that I was just going to engourage the Sister to exceed that.  I really felt like that was the best solution and that is what would get the best results.  After I told the Zone Leaders this Elder White spoke up and told me that they both had felt the Spirit testify to them that that was the right desision to make.  I thought it was quite amazing how it all worked out and to have been able to see that the Spirit was there to help me decide what to do.  I am so grateful that I had the Spirit to help guide me to make the right choice.  

Things went well for Elder Tanner and I this week.  We were able to see quite a few of our invesitgators and some of the other people we have been working with.  We had several experiences where we saw that being in the right place at the right time was an answer to prayer.  We had a lot of good lessons and good visits.  I am really enjoying this area! Like I have already said there are a lot of good things happening!

Thank you for all that you guys do for me!  I hope you all have a great week with soccer, work and everything else you are going to do!  Be safe.

Love Elder Cameron Woodward

Anadarko, Oklahoma -June 9, 2014

Hey there!

So sorry this email is coming in a little bit late today.  We decided to switch things up a little bit for today.  The reason I am emailing so late today is because the four Elders in my ward had a member take us up to the Science Museum for P-day.  That was a lot of fun and I had a pretty good time up there.  I think this time we were able to see everything that they had there since we had a lot more time to look around.  Not much else to say about today.  It was a lot of fun to get to do something a little bit different for once.  

Our entire past week has also been a little bit different then it normally would have been.  So with Sisters coming into the Mustang 1st ward we needed to get a new apartment ready for one of the sets of missionaries because Elders and Sisters can't live together.  Originally the plan was for the Sister to move into the new apartment for obvious reasons, but Elder Garner decided to complain until President said it was ok for the Elders to move into the new apartment and the Sisters would move into the apartment we are in right now.  So pretty much our entire past week was spent cleaning and de-junking  the apartment we are living in right now.  Yes it really was a project that took us a week to do.  Before we started cleaning the apartment was DIRTY.  It wasn't a messy dirty it was a filthy dirty.  That is what you get when you stick four 19 and 20 year old guys in one apartment for 3+ years.  It was quite a chore to get done, but we did get it clean before transfers.  Now the only thing that we have left to worry about is explaining to the Relief Society President that it is against mission rules for her to come and inspect our apartment.  For some reason she has gotten it in her head that she has to inspect it before Sister missionaries are allowed to move in, but regardless of what she says they are going to be moving in there on Wednesday.  All of this really could have been avoided at this point if Elder Garner would have just let the Sisters have the new apartment.

So I guess that this now leads to what is going to be happening with our transfer here in Oklahoma.  Elder Faulkner, Elder Bolan, and I are all going to be transfered out of Mustang so that the Sisters can come in.  Elder Faulkner is going to one of my old areas.  He is going to Edmond 2nd South.  Elder Bolan is going to go all the way up to Alva, Oklahoma.  That is the area of our mission that extends into Kansas.  And last but not least I am going to be transfered possibly to my last area, Anadarko.  Another name I have heard for Anadarko is "In-a-dark-hole."  I don't have any idea what to expect with being transfered to Anadrako.  I haven't really heard a whole lot about it so it will be fun to get to go there.  My new companion is going to be Elder Tanner.  I have met him a couple of times and he seems to be a pretty cool guy.  He actually came out at the same time that Elder Birch did and I ended up giving him a ride back to his area after transfers.  I am still going to be District Leader down in Anadarko so that should be fun.  I can finally start to reuse some of my old trainings since five of the eight missionaries in my district currently have been here since I became the DL.  Do you guys realize how hard it is to come up with a different training every week for 4 1/2 months.  I will just tell you it is really hard.  I am excited to get to go to a new area and work with some new people.  It is going to be a nice change.

So now comes the big challenge.  It is time to pack again.  I have decided that is the worst part about transfers, but it is something that has to be done.  Most of tomorrow is going to be a packing day.  

Thanks for everything!  I hope that you all have a great week!  Love you guys!

Love Elder Woodward

Mustang, Oklahoma -June 2, 2014

Hey!

Things sound like they are just as busy as ever in the Woodward home.  It doesn't really help that there is a wedding coming up this week.  I am sure without a wedding to worry about things would have been a lot easier.  It is probably a good thing that soccer tryouts for Darcy and Emmie weren't going on this week because that would have probably taken priority over the wedding.  Ok maybe it wouldn't have but it sure would have been close to taking the priority.  It really should be interesting to see what is going to be happening with soccer over the next couple of months.

So this past week was a pretty mellow week for Elder Faulkner and I.  We were finally able to get back in and see the Oakley family again.  It has been such a long time since we have been able to have a lesson with them, so I was pretty excited about that.  We went over and saw them last night and that ended up going really well.  We talked to them a lot about scripture reading and the blessing that can come from reading.  Brother Oakley (he is the non-member in case you forgot) was really involved in the lesson and he seemed to really want to start reading the Book of Mormon again because he had notice how his days went differently when he did and didn't read.  So things are starting to go better with them.  He seemed to have a desire to start to read again, so we will follow up with them in a week to see how their reading is going.  

Things are going better for us though.  We are looking forward to another week here in Mustang.  Transfers are going to be coming up next week on the 11th.  It is hard to believe that is has almost been another transfer out here in Oklahoma.  Time is going by really fast and the work is going great!  I will be sure to let you all know what is going to be happening this next transfer.  Anything could happen at this point.  Things are going great and I am doing really just as well.  Thank you all for everything!  I hope that everything goes well this week with soccer, the wedding, and moving the 30,000 baby chicks into their new home.  I love you all!  Have a great week!

Love Elder Woodward

Mustang, Oklahoma -May 27, 2014

Hey there everyone!

Things sound like they are going great and everyone is doing well with the anticipation of everything that is going to happen over the next couple of weeks.  It is always exciting to hear about everything that is going on for the family.  It will defiantly be interesting to hear what will be happening with soccer for Darcy and Emmie, so I am sure that you will keep us updated.  Everything sounds like it is going well and you are all enjoying the begining of your summer break.  Be sure to keep working hard though and help Mom and Dad around the house.  

Not very much has changed for me this past week here in Mustang.  We have been making very little progress in our area and are still having as hard a time as ever finding new people to teach.  we are also having as hard a time as ever finding ways to keep ourselves busy.  I think we will probably just need to do more tracting outside in the pouring rain and pray that someone will take compassion on us and let us in.  That shouldn't be too hard to do tracting in the rain since it has been raining for the past 4 days.  Now we just need to start doing the tracting.  We are still going out and are doing everything that we can to meet with the people that we have been working with and help them progress, but there isn't much we can do when we can't even get in contact with them.  It is almost to the point where I am ready to just erase everything off of our white board and start over again.  It wouldn't be too much erasing cause there isn't very much there right now.  We will see what happens this next week though.  

So we have know this for a while now, but the Mustang 1st ward is going to be getting a set of Sister missionaries this next transfer.  The part that we didn't know about was which area they were going to be put in or any of the logistics actually, but after interviews with President this morning we are pretty sure they are going to get put in the East area which is where I am.  So this will now mark the second time that I will be getting replaced by sisters if everything happens the way we think it will.  So I guess there will be more news on what is going to happen with that in a future email.  It won't surprise me at all if sister do end up getting moved into my area.

So that is really about all that happened last week.  We just been hoping and praying to see a miracle happen here.  Actually I am just really hoping that we will see anything good happen here at this point.  Last week was really discouraging for me because it was such a slow week with numbers, and we spent most of it having no success.  But we are looking forward to this upcoming week and looking forward for a miracle to happen.  

Life is good!  Getting to be a missionary and serve the Lord is great!  Thank you all for everything that you do.  Someone find a way to sabotage Kelsey's wedding so that it can be moved back to November!   In fact I might be willing to bribe someone to do that and I am sure Shannon would go in on this bribe as well.  Ok maybe not sabotage it, but get it moved back to November.  Thanks again!  I love you guys!

Love Elder Woodward

Mustang, Oklahoma -May 19, 2014

Hey!

Well things are going good with the missionary work.  There hasn't been a whole lot that has happened for Elder Faulkner and I this past week.  Probably the most exciting event was our trip to the ER on Friday for Elder Faulkner.  Thursday morning Elder Faulkner woke up not feeling very well, so we didn't get to go out and work at all on Thursday, then by Friday morning he wasn't feeling any better, so we got to make a trip to the ER to get him all taken care of.  He is doing a lot better now so we should be able to get out and do some more work this week.  So because of Elder Faulkner getting sick we weren't able to do any work on Thursday, Friday or Saturday.  That put a real damper on our week, but oh well that is life sometimes.  

We were able to get out and have short visits with a couple of our investigators at the beginning of last week.  We weren't able to have any lessons though and we didn't get any new investigators either.  So overall last week was a rough one.  It has been really hard over the past couple of weeks because we haven't been having a whole lot of success with finding new investigators or really even teaching anyone.  There just isn't a whole lot that is happening for us right now.  I don't know what it is, but is seems like no matter what we try or what we do things are just steadily going downhill for us.  Hopefully we will start to see some changes happen this next week or it will be another tough one.  

Lois is still doing really well.  She has still been coming to church every week since she got baptized and she is fitting into the ward very well.  She is getting a lot of good support from everyone in the ward.  She is defiantly enjoying everything that she has been getting to do.  

Well I think that is about all for this week.  There isn't too much of an update on things that have happened.  We are looking forward to another week and for goo things to start happening.  Thank you for everything!

Love Elder Woodward

Mustang, Oklahoma -May 12, 2014

Well it was great to get to talk to all of you yesterday!  There has been quite a bit change over the past 19 months.  One thing has remained constant though.  Zander still wants to do nothing but play my PSP.  

So there isn't much of an update this week since I told you pretty much everything that has been happening recently.  I am still alive, which is a good thing.  Life has stayed pretty much the same for me out here.  The work is going great though!  We are defiantly keeping busy.  

Well I think that is about all.  I love all of you! Even if you are a pain.  

Love Elder Woodward

Mustang, Oklahoma -May 5, 2014

Hey everyone!

It is good to hear that things are going well at home.  There is always something to keep the Woodward family busy and occupied.  I can't believe that you let Gislene have that much Wasabi on her food.  I bet that her reaction to tasting the wasabi was priceless.  I really would have liked to see that.  Back when I was in Wichita Falls with Elder Kahawaii, the bishop's family has some sushi at their house with wasabi and he thought it would be a good idea to put an entire spoonful of wasabi on top of a piece of sushi.  Oh boy that was a really funny day!  I am sure Gislene's reaction was really funny though.  You should get a bunch of wasabi sauce and tell all of the kids that it is ice cream then give them all a bunch.  That would be fun.  

Things this past week have been pretty good.  They weren't always the best, but we made it through and are looking forward to another great week!  There hasn't been a whole lot of change from last week.  Our investigator, Jeff, hasn't made a whole lot of progress.  He is still having a big holdup with how the priesthood was restored to Joseph Smith.  His concern is mostly with Peter, James, and John being resurrected beings, and he wants to know why Christ didn't just come to restore the priesthood himself.  So I have just been lost on how to help him overcome these concerns.  At least he hasn't brought up anything about women not being able to hold the priesthood.  That would make things a lot of fun.  

Other then Jeff we were able to go see one other investigator this past week.  Her name is Tammy.  Elder Faulkner and I are really excited to get to start working with her.  Elder Faulkner and Elder Gunderson found her one day when I was on an exchange, so all that I had to go off of was what Elder Faulkner had told me.  We went over on Thursday evening and sat outside with her.  She had read through the Restoration pamphlet that we had left with her a couple of days before so she had some questions for us about what she read.  She had gotten a couple of misconceptions about what she had read, so we cleared those up for her.  One of the things that she thought after she read through the pamphlet was that the Book of Mormon replaced the Bible, so we explained that it didn't replace the bible or anything like that.  She told us that the Book of Mormon wasn't meant to replace the Bible made so much more sense to her and that she would really like to read the Book of Mormon, so we left her with a copy.  We will defiantly be going over to see her later on this week.

I am doing really well.  I am still trying to get a long with Elder Garner, but that is just how things go I guess.  I am still alive and well though.  Missionary work is great!  I love every minute of it!  

I will just send a separate email to try and figure everything out with Skype for Mothers Day.  You can defiantly tell that I have been on my mission for a while since I have no idea how to use any of that stuff.  I never had any interest in Skype when I was home, so I am even more lost now.  Go a head and laugh at me if you feel the need to.  

So thank you for everything that you guys do for me!  I love all of you and can't wait to talk to you all this Sunday!  It should be a really good day!  Thank you again!

Love Elder Woodward