Sean's E-Mail....April 27, 2009

*** First, Sean is fully informed on the Swine Flu problem in Mexico. His Mission President and Mission doctors have also been contacted by the Missionary Department of the Church. As of Tuesday, April 28th, no missionaries in Mexico had been diagnosed with the Swine Flu. Further, all missionaries in Mexico have been given specific instructions on how to protect themselves from exposure to the flu.

Sean's E-Mail:

Hey Everyone,

Well first off before I forget to tell you dad, I won't be able to do a video call. I will just be able to call you like normal. I will let you know the week before what time and stuff I will be calling. It will probably be in the evening that Sunday.

This week was a pretty interesting week. It was a normal week like any other week until Thursday night when the other elders came over to our house at like 10:30PM. They told us that the zone leaders wanted to talk to us. So we called them and they told us that we had transfers. They told me that I was going to be getting transferred out of my area and I would be going to another area in Cancun to wait for my "kid" to get here. Ya, I will be training again this next transfer. I am only here in Cancun for one more week and then I will be going to Merida to pick up my new companion and then we will be going to Tizimin. Tizimin is a little town that's between Cancun and Merida. I am excited to see another area of the mission. The even cooler thing is that its really close to the ruins of Chitzenitza. So I will probably be going to visit there one of these Mondays.

We had interviews this week and president told me that I will be training an American Elder. I am pretty excited about that. So ya, this week has been pretty interesting and different but really good. We will be having a baptism this week in the area that I am in right now.

I just want you all to know that I know that the church is true! There is no doubt in my mind about that. I know that if we pray and read EVERY DAY, we will have the spirit with us to guide us to help us make good decisions. Read the Book of Mormon. If we are not reading it everyday we are not growing spiritually. If we are not growing spiritually we are falling spiritually. There is no way we can grow spiritually if we are not studying the Book of Mormon. I love that book. It really has changed my life and how I look at the world.

I love you all and hope that you have a wonderful week! I probably won't write again till next Tuesday because I will be in Merida on Monday. So don't freak out if I don't write on Monday.

Love,

Elder Sean Wood

Sean's E-mail....April 20, 2009

Hey Everyone,

Wow I can't believe that this week is already over.

This week was really busy for us. We had a baptism this Thursday and also one on Saturday. The family that got baptized on Thursday is a married couple and the sister of the lady that got baptized. They are really awesome. The husband got ordained as a Priest this Sunday and as I was leaving the church, I saw them in one of the classrooms paying their tithing. It was really special for me to see how strong they are. The baptism that we had on Saturday was the daughter of a part member family. It was a good baptism. I got the opportunity to baptize her and also the husband of the family that got baptized.

We have been really blessed with a lot of people to teach and baptize. We are now focusing more in looking for new investigators. We found a few this week that we can work with. We are hoping to have 2 more baptisms with the group of people that we are teaching right now, one this coming week and another the week after that.

Things are going really good with my companion. He is a little different but he is cool. We get along good. The weather here is still hot, as usual. It is always hot here. I have gotten used to it.

I don't really feel like I am training, I mean I don't really feel like it's much different from having a normal companion. He is learning as he goes and is learning really well. Well, in two weeks we have transfers. The Zone Leader was talking to me the other day and told me that if not in this transfer, then the next transfer, I will be made a District Leader. I was pretty surprised to hear that. I hope that if I do get called to be a District Leader that I will be able to fulfill the calling.

Thanks so much for all of the pictures and for writing me this week. I can really see the Lord blessing our family when we are obedient and do his will. I was studying a bit in the book of James this week. It talks a lot about faith and works. I know that this is true. Our faith is nothing without good works.

I love this gospel and I love being a missionary. I was talking to one of the other Elders the other day and I told him how excited I will be when it comes time to go home, but at the same time how sad it will be to leave the mission.

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!!

Love,

Elder Sean Wood

Sean's E-mail.....April 13, 2009

Hey Everyone,

Well another week come and gone. The weeks really just seem to fly by. I can't believe that I will be talking to you all in just a few weeks. I am glad to hear that all is going well and that you all had a good Easter weekend.

Yesterday we had our big baptismal program, it was really cool. Elder Mickelson, the area authority of Mexico, came and talked to us. He talked during the baptismal service and then talked to all the missionaries after the service. It was really good. We had two people that got baptized from our area. We were hoping to have 5 but 3 of them changed the day to this week. This coming week we are hoping to have 6 baptisms. We are excited about that. We have our work cut out for us this week. The time goes by fast when we are busy all day.

Our Mission President challenged us this week to start reading the Book of Mormon again and read it as a mission. I am excited to start over and find some new things this time that I read it. I have such a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon. I am blown away when some people have the Book of Mormon in their hands and they don't realize how much worth it has. I have realized that a lot of members of the church are the same way. They think that they don't have to read the Book of Mormon because they have read it once or twice. We will always find something new in the Book of Mormon when we read it because our lives are constantly changing and we find new things that apply to our lives in this moment. We are SO SO blessed to have to Book of Mormon as a part of our lives. So why do we not read it like we should? I challenge you all, no matter what your situation is right now, to pick up the Book of Mormon and read the most valuable thing that we have in this life. The Book of Mormon is powerful and it can change lives. It has changed my life 100%. I used to take it for granted. Here in the mission I have realized the real power it can have in our lives. It's simple, read it and watch how your life will change.

We were teaching a lesson this week to one of our investigators and we challenged him to get baptized this week. He told us that he didn't think he was ready. He told us that he needed more time to change some bad habits that he has. I got the feeling that I should read Ether 12:27 with him. We read it and he just sat back and said ¨wow you're right, I will get baptized this week.¨ I felt the spirit so strong at this moment and was so grateful that the Lord could use me to help our investigator progress.

I love you all and I know with all my heard that the Book of Mormon is true. It has the gospel in the fullness. I hope you all have a great week, and if you are not reading the Book of Mormon like you should be, I challenge you to start.

Love,

Sean

Sean's E-Mail....April 6, 2009

Hey Everyone,

I'm sorry that this is going to be really short but the computer that I am on is really bad and it's being stupid.

Wow, this week was such a great week! Conference was really really good , even though I only got to watch 4 of the 5 sessions. I think that my favorite talk from conference was the Sunday talk from Elder Holland. His talk about the atonement was amazing! We had 5 new investigators that came and watched conference this week in the church, they all said it was really wonderfull.

We have 8 people that we are hoping to get baptized this week in the baptismal service of 50 or more. We are really excited.

The time with my new companion is really good. He is learning a lot and I can really feel his spirit when we teach. He is a good Elder.

I want you all to know that I love you and I think about you all the time. I know that the Church is true and everything that we heard this weekend was from the mouths of the living prophets of our days. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. I love Him.

Thanks for all of your letters and support. Have a wonderful week!!

Love,

Elder Sean Wood

GO HEELS !!!!!!!

Sean's E-Mail.....Mar. 31, 2009

Hey Everyone,

Well another week come and gone. The weeks just seem to fly by so fast. We are working really hard and trying to find as many people as we can for our baptism this coming month. I am really excited about the baptism, it is going to be really cool. I can really see how the Lord prepares the way for His children to receive the gospel. I have also learned a lot about how my own faith and obedience is helping a lot of people receive the gospel through me. We have put a goal for 10 baptisms this month and the Lord really is preparing the way and putting people into our paths to complete that goal. We received 11 references this last week from the ward members. It is now up to us to teach these people that the Lord has put in our paths and help them come unto Christ.

My new companion's name is Elder Esparza, he is from Acapulco, Mexico. We did meet with the mission president this last Monday while we were in Merida, we took the bus to get there. We left Cancun at 6 in the morning on a 4 hour trip by bus to Merida, we were there until like 7pm and then we got back on the bus and came home. We were in the bus for a really long time. It was good though, I got to know my companion a little bit better. He has only been a member of the church for 2 years. He is really excited to be here and to teach the people.

I learned a lot about the power of prayer this week. How it is that, when we pray, we need to really talk to God and not just say the same things over and over again. I was reading a lot about how to recognize the spirit through prayer and how to receive answers.

I hope that everything is going good for everyone there. Sorry that this letter is short, I will send a few pictures. I love you all and thank you so much for the letters and the support. You are always in my prayers and thoughts. Remember that the work will never stop, we are always missionaries. This whole life is about missionary work. The whole church is centered on missionary work. Don't ever stop doing the work.

Love,

Elder Sean Wood