GUATEMALA 1st Change

things are going amzing for me in Guatemala. i am having the happiest time of my life. until we meet again

Addresseseseses

If you have to have to send me something. don't i'll be fine for at least 2 years :-)
Guatemala Guatemala City Central Mission
Provo Missionary Training Center
2005 N 900 E
Provo UT 84604


Pouche service.
please use pouche service for sending me letters. if you are wanting to write me a letter, write it down, fold 3 panels evenly and tape it shut. no envelopes.
please use this service when sending letters.
Elder James Paul Woods
Guatemala Guatemala City Central Mission
POB 30150
Salt Lake City UT 84130-0150
USA

if you want to send me a package
please use US Parcel post only.fedex DHL i will hae to pay an extra fee. then fill out a small list and amount the items cost that are inside the box.
Elder James Paul Woods
Guatemala Guatemala City Central MissionApartado 921-A Zona 9
01009 Guatemala City
Guatemala
Telephone 502-2331-8609

Called to Serve

I LOVE MY FAMILY AND THE GOSPEL

Today was the last sunday before i left. i woke up and went to go say goodbye to my nephew. the little guy is a hand full. but is so smart and funny. i love him as if he was my own son. maybe not quite as much but i love him a ton. i was taking him to his dads house. asking him what he thought about church. he did not know who heavenly father was. he understood we should love jesus. he knew who god was. but simple concepts LDS children know. it can be heart breaking to know someone you love who is young and innocent doens't know. usually i was upset by it. but i talked to him. i told him that we should grow up strong and smart. thats God's plan for us. we should learn about our selves and heavenly father. the more we know about those two things we can find happiness. i realized a huge blessing in my life. if i can teach the people in Guatemala as if i was teaching it to a child. and help them understand then i could be a great teacher. that is so often true in our lives. when things are hard they prepare you for the future. i told my nephew that today was a special sunday cause we had to think of heavenly father and our own dads. so he got excited and was saying "yes james it is special we need to get my dad a card. we need to stop at the grocery store." this little 5 year old told me how to get to the grocery store. he went inside and picked out a card. although his mom and dad are not on best terms and divorced. what a wonderful opportunity to show christ like love. so he got his dad a card. and such love was felt by anyone who can hear it.

so i left him and i had to fight back tears. not just for him but because of what the savior has done for us all. i love my savior so much. i love it when people convey their love for family and god through song. this song is for Aiden. i'll miss him so much.


i love music. i realized how you often can make awesome amazing music the more you understand yourself and culture. i noticed watching this movie and video of this band called Sigur ros. its truly beautiful music.

their music fits the wonderful landscapes of their home Iceland. i hear it and i can see where they get their motivation and feelings through their music. you can see their creativity and love flowing from voice and instruments. music is a thoughtful prayer to heavenly father. so this goes back to understanding and learning about ones self. learning about life, where we come from, and where we will go. the more we know about ourselves and about heavenly father the happier we will be. music is one way to show it. prayer is another. teaching is what i am attempting to do. hopefully i can convey the spirit to others. only hours away and i'll be a full time missionary.
thank you to my family. for all the kind words that were shared. thank you to the laughs and smiles. i will miss you.

Being Close to Jesus Christ

Tonight was a blessing. I love the promises that are in my patriarchal blessing. they come true every time. As I was got done eating, the elders came over and read me a scripture. I am not one to except help easily but this made me feel so great. The help and encouragement i have received humbles me so much. I can't be more blessed. I can't explain how much I feel the saviors love. Some how and in some way the almost impossible task for me to leave is almost here.
I am called to serve the Lord. It is the greatest thing to happen to me in my life. Its the most humbling. For all those who have helped me in anyway possible (good and bad) i thank you so much. You are in my thoughts and prayers so often. i hope the best for you and yours. God Bless.

Guatemala Maps

into the wild

i love my failures as much as i love my tears. some how it has been hard to except things in my future because i regret the past. its a shame to let past failures and troubles slow you down. it seems easier said than done but how wonderful it is to feel the past failures be your strength. it is true. it is more important to feel strong than to be strong. i think finally tonight i am at peace with who i am and will be. i have been forgiven as i have forgave others. the confidence i have is based on my faith. as i leave in a few days. hellos and goodbyes are pleasantries but are no further than timestamps. i'll love you all at any point in time.

i feel so...

comforted and happy

winning

today i put my knowledge of the gospel into work. with help from the lord. i had 2 letters in the mail today. one from my mission president, the other from the VA. both shined the light on my future. possibilities of what may come in my life are great. i will be paid in full for my tuition, housing, and books. even though i'm not with the person i feel so strongly for, life goes on. i finally got time to do something i wanted to do for along time. i watched a movie i've wanted to see for so long. it was not like i read, but still the movie was better than i could imagine. at any rate this is how i have always pictured married life without kids to be like

oh how beautiful life is when you are in love. no matter if the person is accepting, unknowing, or totally immersed as you are.

Losing

they say losing depends on how the person perceives it. how you handle it. when you take it and learn from it, no matter if you win or lose. the only difference in winning and losing is in how the outside world treats you.

when you win you can find joy
Alma 29:16 Now, when I think of the success of these my brethren my soul is carried away, even to the separation of it from the body, as it were, so great is my joy.

when you lose you can find joy
2 Nephi 2:25 Adam fell that men might be; and men care, that they might have joy.

when you lose its good to remember the ultimate goal
D&C 31:9 Be patient in afflictions, revile not against those that revile. Govern your house in meekness, and be steadfast.

when you win its good to remember the ultimate goal
Jacob 2:13 And the hand of providence hath smiled upon you most pleasingly, that you have obtained many riches; and because some of you have obtained more abundantly than that of your brethren ye are lifted up in the pride of your hearts, and wear stiff necks and high heads because of the costliness of your apparel, and persecute your brethren because ye suppose that ye are better than they.

As of tonight i feel like i lost my best friend in the world. i feel so very alone. but with a lose or win there is always one way to lean.

under the stones, water, and time are the words of god.

i made a trip to Utah. to see friends and confess i had a pure longing for some one special. i came back with friends that turned out to be amazing. although my feelings of longing were not accepted. i know that in my heart they were pure. that for me, is good enough. i now know who i need to be. especially for the woman i will be with. i have known for awhile, but i didn't in the past. but i will make the best of what i have and will have. i realized on the plane ride back something that i will carry with me forever. i promise to my heavenly father that i will do my best from now on.
as i took off from Salt Lake the plane hit a ton of turbulence. finally the plane banked to onside very violently. if you can imagine the planes wings being on a 90 to 90 degree angle it must have banked to the right on a 110 to 70. it soon corrected itself but banked to the left then straight down. soon everyone was nervous. we had a bumpy ride the whole way their. now through many things in my life i have notice it took a long hard road to be blessed. from having my family learn the gospel. my mission call, my service in the marines, to finding someone to marry. all the way to the greatest gift of returning home to my heavenly father. it maybe a bumpy hard ride, it may even bank violently. scare or even bring you to feel horrible about yourself. it maybe long hard and disappointing. but the joys of getting to where you want to be or even back home to eternal salvation. it will be worth it.