Week 92 (Tours - Repost)

(Reposting after the original one had issues)

What a crazy week. And something tells me it's just going to get crazier!

In case anyone is worried, no I don't have the Corona virus. But we did go shopping today to prepare ourselves for a 14-day quarantine! Hopefully it won't come to that, but President wants us to be ready just in case. And honestly, I almost hope it happens, some of that food we bought looks really good!

We visited a nice couple this week, the wife is a less active member and the husband isn't a member. They made us a nice dinner, and topped it off with a blue pear cake! They told us they put Smurfs in it :-) But they told the story of how a missionary back in the day had really offended the husband, and as a result, he didn't want to see another missionary for years. Luckily, he changed his mind, and we had a great evening getting to know them and talking about the gospel.

But what hit me is the impact this one decision had. That missionary probably didn't mean to offend him, but because of what he said, this man was kept from the gospel for a long time. So we all need to be careful when considering what consequences our actions may have.

Ne tombez pas malade! Prenez bien soin de vous!

Elder Wood

Avec un éclair

Elders McLeod, Wood, Schombs, and Black at Chateau de Chambord

Elder Schombs (during exchanges) walking down a French countryside road

Food photo: The blue pear/Smurf cake

A slice of the Smurf cake, showing off the blue coloring

Shopping for staples

Their pantry filled with lots of canned goods

Week 92 (Tours)

(Quick note that this post appears to have issues with photos for some reason. Please try the "Repost" version instead: http://eldermichaelwood.blogspot.com/2020/03/week-92-tours-repost.html)

What a crazy week. And something tells me it's just going to get crazier!

In case anyone is worried, no I don't have the Corona virus. But we did go shopping today to prepare ourselves for a 14-day quarantine! Hopefully it won't come to that, but President wants us to be ready just in case. And honestly, I almost hope it happens, some of that food we bought looks really good!

We visited a nice couple this week, the wife is a less active member and the husband isn't a member. They made us a nice dinner, and topped it off with a blue pear cake! They told us they put Smurfs in it :-) But they told the story of how a missionary back in the day had really offended the husband, and as a result, he didn't want to see another missionary for years. Luckily, he changed his mind, and we had a great evening getting to know them and talking about the gospel.

But what hit me is the impact this one decision had. That missionary probably didn't mean to offend him, but because of what he said, this man was kept from the gospel for a long time. So we all need to be careful when considering what consequences our actions may have.

Ne tombez pas malade! Prenez bien soin de vous!
Elder Wood

Avec un éclair

Elders McLeod, Wood, Schombs, and Black at Chateau de Chambord

Elder Schombs (during exchanges) walking down a French countryside road

Food photo: The blue pear/Smurf cake

A slice of the Smurf cake, showing off the blue coloring

Shopping for staples

Their pantry filled with lots of canned goods

Week 91 (Tours)

I don't even know where to begin, there's so much that happened this past week!

After arriving in Tours, it only took a day or two before we left. We went off to Le Mans for a day trip to visit the Austins, a senior missionary couple. They had asked for our help to teach someone since our French is better. They're really nice, Sister Austin even made us some cookies for having come all the way out there!

We also had Stake Conference this weekend. It was over in Paris, so we had to hitch a ride with a member Sunday morning. It took 2.5 hours by car each way, so it was good to have someone taking us. The conference itself was amazing though, totally worth the trip. There was an Area Seventy there, Elder Hurst, and he gave a great talk. He shared lots of funny stories and somehow ended up realating them back to the gospel and to each other.

One of the stories he shared was about a man who was worried about his wife's hearing. His doctor told him to test how bad it really was. He started on the opposite side of the house from her and called her name. Then he worked his way closer room by room until she responded. He ended up getting all the way to the doorway of the room she was in. When he called her name she responded, "What in the world is it? I've answered you five times now!"

He related this to how we need to be careful when we perceive faults in others. We need to make sure that it isn't really a fault in ourselves. And if it is, we need to be humble enough to admit it and do something about it.

À la prochaine!
Elder Wood

Soeur Severson and Elder Wood finally saw each other at the train station during transfers. She is his second cousin and has been in France for 9 months, but they'd never crossed paths before.

District meeting, where Elder Wood made tiramisu! Elders Van Den Berghe, Darrington, Wood, Thomas, Rangassamy, and Karratti.

With the bishop of the Nivelles ward and his wife; Elders Van Den Berghe, Poulson, Wood, and Morrison

Animal photo: Visiting a horse

Elder Wood and Elder Van Den Berghe saying farewell at the train station

Visiting Chateau de Chambord in the Loire Valley

Inside the Chateau de Chambord

Exterior of the chateau

Front of the chateau

Week 90 (Nivelles)

For a second there I wasn't sure how to start out this email. Then I remembered it's transfers this week!

So who guessed it? Where will I be for the next six weeks? Turns out I'm headed to Tours! I've never been that far south, so it'll be a bit of an adventure. I'm sad to leave Nivelles, but I can't wait to see what lies ahead!

Our week was crazy though. We had two exchanges so time flew by. The other Elders took the car one exchange and met with a bunch of people. But all of these people had called us out of nowhere just a day or two before, so it was a true miracle. We on the other hand had all our rendez-vous fall through. So we walked around town talking to everyone. We didn't meet anyone that was really interested, but I felt that our hard work payed off with the others' success!

So as I say au revoir to Belgium and all my memories here, I look forward to a great three months in Tours. Three months full of miracles, memories, and French pastries :-)

À tantôt!
Elder Wood

District P-Day activity (aka Elders in bowling shoes): Elders Wood, Van Den Berghe, Rangassamy, Karratti, Thomas, and Darrington

Bowling with members of the Charleroi ward

District dinner at a real Mexican restaurant in Charleroi: Elders Karratti, Van Den Berghe, and Darrington, then the member who owns the restaurant (and is originally from Mexico), and Elders Rangassamy, Wood, and Thomas

With a Mexican flag at the Mexican restaurant

Food photo: Mexican food

Funny door mat

Week 89 (Nivelles)

We went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders and the Charleroi Elders this week. It was a pretty busy week! The Zone Leaders came to Nivelles, then we went to Charleroi. We talked to lots of people in the streets, and also visited some members. We shared President Nelson's invitation to prepare for the coming General Conference with many of them. It's really cool how the prophet is telling us to prepare like this, nothing like it had ever been done before! Then again, it's never been the 200 year anniversary of the First Vision before either! I hope your own preparation is going well, time is running out!

The other day we got a call from a private number during a rendez-vous with a family in the ward. They told us to answer it, and it turned out to be a lady who was interested in genealogy. She said one of her friends had given her our card because she had gotten stuck in her research, but she knew that the "Mormons" had a huge genealogical database. What's crazy is that this is one of the only times someone has called us because they had our card, and it wasn't even us that gave it to her! It goes to show that miracles do happen, and what's even better is that we were able to live the experience with this family and give them a taste of missionary work in action.

Passez une excellente journée!
Elder Wood

Elder Wood & Elder Van Den Berghe with an ami

Checking out a huge tree that fell during a windstorm

Elder Van Den Berghe with a tree downed in the windstorm

Funny panorama of elders in the Brussels main square

Carnivale celebration in Nivelles

Animal photo: Dogs playing tug of war

Food photo: A member treated them to dinner, including this raspberry cream dessert

Grand opening of a new grocery store right across from their apartment - easier shopping!

Week 88 (Nivelles)

This week was jam-packed with stuff to do! It always helps when you have a car at your disposal.

Thursday and Friday were full of back-to-back rendez-vous, so we were racing from place to place trying to stay on schedule. We also ended up teaching most of them in English which was cool. It's kind of crazy how English has become the international language, almost everyone here in Belgium speaks at last a little bit of English. And those who tell you that they speak a "leetle beet" often speak pretty well. A lot better than American high schools teach French!

At church on Sunday Elder Van Den Berghe gave a talk, and it was really good! The only thing is that we'd forgotten about it until Saturday, so he was hurrying to put something together. Luckily, he works well under pressure. In his talk, he shared an experience we had earlier in the week during one of our rendez-vous. We were talking to this really cool guy who's an adamant agnostic. He says there's no proof there is a God, but there isn't any proof there isn't a God either.

At the end of the rendez-vous we asked if we could pray. He said yes, so Elder Van Den Berghe went ahead and gave one of the most heartfelt prayers I've ever heard. He asked the Lord to help our friend through his current struggles and to let him know that He is there. Immediately he said, "That's the end of the prayer." It was the first time we'd had someone interrupt a prayer like that. We weren't exactly sure what to do, but he thanked us for coming and wished us a good evening, so we left without even saying "amen." As we walked down the steps from his door, Elder Van Den Berghe shared that he had heard the Spirit whisper to him when his prayer was interrupted, "He's afraid." The Spirit had been so palpably present during that prayer that he was afraid God might be real.

Even though he had rejected it, he still felt the Spirit. Some may think it was a failure of a lesson because it ended in rejection, but the fact that the Spirit was there meant it was a success. Something you learn on a mission is that your success doesn't depend on others' agency, it depends on your own. If you do your very best, you've succeeded. God cares very little, if at all, about our accomplishments because what He cares about most is our heart. If the desire of our heart is to follow Him and do what He has asked us to do, it doesn't matter if we stumble while trying our hardest to do so. We are human, we fall. But God loves us. So He picks us back up, brushes off the dust, and lovingly tells us to try again. If our heart is in it, we will get there eventually. And the same goes for sharing the gospel: if someone doesn't accept our invitation, we didn't fail, and nothing is stopping us from trying again :-)

À bientôt!
Elder Wood

Waiting at the hospital for Elder Van Den Berghe's checkup (he had an ear infection)

District dinner out. Elder Karratti, Elder Rangassamy, Elder Darrington, Elder Thomas, Elder Wood, & Elder Van Den Berghe

A nice family emailed me a picture of Elder Wood & Elder Van Den Berghe meeting with them and their children

Food photo! Burritos from Chez WaWa, a "Californian-mexican restaurant in Brussels"

"Pretty windmills"

Elder Wood's science project. He asked us to order him the  pictured plug-in transformer and used that plus other supplies (including the pencil) to make himself a soldering iron! To be used to create a light-up LED Frisbee.

"A cute Duolingo story"

Week 87 (Nivelles)

What a week, wow!

We had Zone Conference in Brussels this week! We explored the city a bit while talking to people about the gospel, and we met some that were interested. And during Zone Conference, it just so happens that we talked about finding new people to teach! Whether it's through members, activities, or just talking to people on the street, nothing happens in missionary work until we first find someone to teach, so it's super important.

One of the members in the ward owns a bunch of restaurants, so he invited us over one evening. We weren't sure exactly what it would be like, so we were surprised to find ourselves in a fancy Italian place. The food was great, and he didn't have us pay a cent! It was so kind of him.

On Friday we had exchanges with the Charleroi 1 Elders. It was a great day! Elder Karratti and I decided that morning that we would only speak French all day. It was pretty difficult at first, but by the end of the day it became more natural. We also had the opportunity to talk to so many amazing people. It was hard work, but it payed off. And that's the magic of it!

Bonne semaine!
Elder Wood

Zone Conference. I won't try to name them all, but Elder Wood is back row, 4th from the right.

Zone Conference lunch, with Elder Wood right in the foreground.

Elder Van Den Berghe and Elder Wood with an ami

In front of the Atomium in Brussels

Food photo: Fancy Italian restaurant

Another food photo: Fancy Italian dessert

Animal photo: A friendly dog they were playing fetch with