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| So we were driving one day and we saw this... needless to say, we did not knock on that door. hahahaha |
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| This is my area. Sometimes you just gotta make do with what you have! (: |
December 8, 2014 (Pictures)
December 8, 2014 (Stayin for a 3rd!)
Hey Family!
It sounds like you
guys have had a pretty eventful week. That stinks that some of you got the
Flu... :( I am glad everyone is getting better and that things are calming down
there. Being sick is the worst! Mother. You really better be careful! haha No
more hospital visits... (; But while we are talking about the flu.... I FINALLY
got my flu shot this week. So that is good. Just trying to stay healthy over
here. You guys should probably do the same! haha
So things here are
going pretty great! I am staying in New City for a 3rd transfer with Sister
Hindman. I am actually really excited about it! We have a lot to get done this
transfer and a lot of people we are working with right now! Plus it would have
been kinda crazy to get transferred just a little bit before Christmas! Sister
Hindman and I have had a pretty busy week. We are preparing for a
"Christmas Devotional thingy" on December 14th that all of the
English missionaries are putting on. (The Spanish had theirs yesterday) So we
are just making sure that we know our songs and all of that fun stuff... I am excited
to see people from my other areas that will be coming to watch! It should be
really cool. But other than the craziness of this month we have been working
hard. (: Can you believe that? haha We taught our investigator Jackie on Friday
evening and we have been trying to put her on Baptismal Date and when we were
sitting down to teach her, before we were able to say anything to her, she
said, "JANUARY 18th". She had chosen the date that she wants to be
baptized!!! We were so excited! I jumped up and down a little bit...I am just
so excited for her and this decision that she has made! It is so cool to see
how much happier she has been since she has been learning about the Gospel. She
is like a different person. And I know that she will continue to change as she
draws closer to Jesus Christ.
On a different
night we were trying a few former investigators and nobody was home and we just
weren't seeing very much progress so we decided to go knock some doors. We
knocked this one door and a boy about 18 years old answered the door. He
quickly let us in and we were able to meet his mom and his grandmother. They
are all from Haiti and have been in the United States for about 7 years now.
They were sooo awesome and they loved talking about Jesus Christ and the gospel.
We were able to teach them the first lesson and it was so powerful! The spirit
was so strong. The 18 year old boy really wanted us to come back so we are
going to go back and continue to teach them. Part of me feels like we were
there for the boy, but I hope that his mom will continue to listen as well! So
things are going really well over here. We are just continuing to find people
who are ready for the gospel in their lives now. God is definitely placing us
in their paths.
It is so crazy to think
that I will hit my year mark and my 13 month mark all this transfer... Gross.
Also, I got your package today! Sorry my email today is late... We met as a
zone to say goodbye to one of the sisters who got her visa to go to Holland! So
we had to do emails later today. But I got to get my package there! You guys
are so stinkin great! I love it all so much! And holy cow. That nativity set is
adorable! I am so excited! (: You guys seriously are just the best! Greatest
Family EVER. So yes I am staying here in good ole' New York. So you can
continue to send mail and things to this address! (: Well fam... That is about
all of the things I can think of right now... I feel like my thoughts are
scattered everywhere... Shoot! (you can probably tell by this random email...awkward...
I hope it at least makes a little bit of sense...) But I hope you all
have a great week and that you guys keep getting better and healthier! (:
Thanks again for everything! YA DA BEST.
LOVE YOUS
TO THE MOON & BACK! WE GOT THIS!!!
Love,
Sister Woodland
P.S. Chad
sounds like he is struggling a little bit... Poor thing. I wrote him an email!
He will be fine... Those first few weeks are always the hardest! He is going to
be such an incredible missionary!
December 1, 2014 (Pictures)
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| TURKEY BOWL! |
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| TURKEY BOWL! |
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| Sister Jean-Louise and I! |
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| Sister Hindman and I! |
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| The party for our Relief Society Pres. |
December 1, 2014 (Thanksgivin)
Hello. (:
Okay so first
things first. I am soooooooooooo relieved that Mom's surgery went well and that
she is doing good!!! Let's be honest. We all know that I was a nervous wreck
over here... haha And just for kicks and giggles, to make everything so much
better, everything didn't go very smoothly the day of Mom's surgery. So we went
on exchanges with our Sister Training Leaders on Tuesday to Wednesday. I went
to Caldwell, NJ and Sister Hindman stayed in our area. I sort of accidentally
lost the Sister Training Leaders phone on Tuesday night... awkward... I think
it fell out of the car when we went to an appointment, but by the time we
realized that we didn't have the phone it was too late for us to go out and try
to find it. So we decided that we would go look for it the next morning. So
here we are without a phone and we finish our studies on Wednesday morning and
we look outside and it is snowing! And it is coming down pretty hard... So we
just had to laugh about it! I mean what else can you do at that point... So we
decided to still go try to find it before we had to get to a meeting, but right
as we were headed out the door our Zone Leaders were coming up to the door.
hahaha Everyone thought we had died because no one could get a hold of us
because we had no phone... Anyway, So they told us that our cars were
"grounded" and that we weren't going to be able to exchange back
until they got the "okay" from the Assistants that we could drive. So
then we had to go back inside the apartment and figure out what we were going
to do for the day. Meanwhile, here I am basically flipping out inside because I
want to know how Mom's surgery is going and how she is doing.... BUT we don't
even have a phone. WORST TIME IN THE WORLD TO LOSE A PHONE... I felt like we
were living in the dark ages.. hahahaha So Sister Coulam says that we could
walk to a member's house and use their phone. She said it is only like a 10
minute drive to their house. So we get all bundled up and we head out the door.
2 hours later, after being SOAKED by a bus driving by us, we arrived at this member’s
home. They seriously were the best EVER. They let us come in and use their
phone so we could figure everything out and so I could find out how Mom was
doing! We got to hang out with these members for a while and we helped her make
some pies for Thanksgiving. So now I know how to make homemade pumpkin pie and
banana cream pie and coconut cream pie! We finally got to okay that we could
drive and exchange back with our companions! So that was definitely a crazy
day! haha BUT such a great day! I am so thankful that everything went well with
surgery! God is definitely watching over each of us every single day! And boy am
I grateful for that!!!
So now the next
thing. Thanksgiving was a ton of fun! Definitely a very different day in
missionary life, but I loved it! We got to go to Rutherford, New Jersey and
play some FOOTBALL. We actually went to this field that is right by the place I
lived when I served there! IT WAS NUTS. It was fun to go back to my first area!
But we got to play some football with about 3 other zones for a while on
Thanksgiving morning and yes, we did play it in the snow! (: It was freezing,
but eventually we all started warming up once we got playing! After our
"Turkey Bowel"' we got to have dinner at the McCarter's home with the
Baldwin's and the Carlson's and also the elders that serve in our Ward here.
The food was really yummy and it was fun to spend part of the day with some
members! It definitely turned out to be a great Thanksgiving! (:
On Saturday, a Less
Active in our Ward threw a party for our Relief Society President who has been
fighting Breast Cancer for about 4 years now. She is really an incredible woman!
It turned out being really cute and I think it was a huge surprise for Sister
Mendez! I think it was really good for her to see that she has so many people
who love her and care about her! So it was fun! It definitely reminded me of
Mom and how grateful I am that she kicked cancer's butt! (: In all reality this
week has definitely reminded me that I have SO much to be grateful for! I am so
grateful that I have such an incredible family! Seriously, I feel so beyond
blessed. I am also so grateful to know that even though I am away from home,
God is still watching over you guys and blessing you! I am so grateful for this
opportunity that I have to be here in the New Jersey, Morristown Mission. I am
grateful to be serving now in the New City area. Really I am just so grateful
to be a missionary. (even with all of the bugs (: ) I LOVE this gospel and I am
so grateful for it. And I am extremely thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ and
for everything He has done for me.
Even though this
week was a little crazy and different we saw some really cool miracles. Sister
Hindman and I both thought that we weren't able to get very much accomplished
because of all the different activities going on this week, but when we were
looking back on the week last night we realized that we were able to see so
many tender mercies. We were able to find two new investigators and now we are
working with 7 investigators and not too long ago we only had 1. Also, Isaiah
was able to receive the priesthood and he gets to pass the sacrament next
Sunday! Things are going so well and I am so excited about it. It just goes to
show that Heavenly Father really is in the details of our lives and this great
work! (:
Well Fam, I hope
that you have another great week! Thanks for everything you do! YOU'RE THE
BEST! (: Remember to share the gospel!
LOVE YOUS TO THE MOON & BACK!! WE GOT THIS!
Love,
Sister Woodland
November 24, 2014 (Bed bugs and roaches...)
Hey Fam!
So this week has been so crazy! Just when I thought I was in the clear
from ever getting bed bugs again... We woke up Wednesday morning and I went out
to our living room to start exercising and all of a sudden I hear Sister
Hindman say, "Sister Woodland, could you get a tissue... there is a bug by
my bed." So I got a tissue and went to see what kind of bug it was... and
wouldn't ya know it was a bed bug!!!!! I HATE THOSE BUGS SO MUCH. Seriously. I
just can't seem to catch a break with them... I guess the only good thing from
having bed bugs multiple times is that you start to get good at knowing how to
deal with them! haha So I quickly stripped our beds and we threw our blankets
and sheets into the washer and dryer and we sprayed EVERYTHING DOWN. We actually
never found another bed bug. So that was a good thing! We only ever found that
one. But I still sprayed seriously everything down and we washed everything! It
is all good now. We haven't seen another one since so I am hoping that they
have all either died or we really only had that one bed bug! Then we were over
to a Less Actives house and she is being evicted from her apartment and we
offered to help her. We had just decided to try this lady because all it said
on our Ward List was that she is Less Active. So we decided to stop by and get
to know her more. She said that she would love the help moving and so we
brought her some boxes on Saturday night. When we went into her apartment
things were everywhere. We just stood there....probably with really shocked
faces... haha But as we were talking with her and her sister I kept noticing
these bugs crawling on the walls and ceiling. I didn't know what they were
until she killed one with her shoe. I asked her what kind of bug that was, she
acted like I was dumb or something. haha She said, “Have you never seen a roach
before?" hahahahaha I was like.... uuuuhhhhh nope! hahaha THEY WERE
EVERYWHERE. Oh my goodness sakes. I had to do everything within my power to not
completely flip out right then and there. I AM SO OVER THESE BUGS. I never
thought that I would ever have to deal with bed bugs and roaches before. haha I
feel like I am serving out of the United States sometimes! But I don't think we
have cockroaches in our apartment. After we left the less actives apartment we
checked ourselves to make sure we didn't have any bugs on us! So hopefully we
are good there.... I don't think I could deal with cockroaches too.
hahahahaha
It has definitely been an eventful week! Even though it was not exactly
what we were expecting we still saw some really cool miracles! We had an
appointment on Wednesday with a former investigator and we were a little bit
nervous at first in the lesson. We thought that he was going to just argue with
us at first, but as we listened to him and continued on with the lesson and it
actually went really well! I know that the only way we were able to answer his
questions and help him understand the Book of Mormon more was because the
spirit was there! It was so amazing. After we had finished teaching him we got
into our car and just screamed! haha We both couldn't even believe what came
out of our mouths. The spirit definitely filled our mouths with the words that
this man needed to hear at that time. It was definitely a testimony builder to me,
that if we are prepared the Lord with help out with the rest. We just have to
trust that He will. We are also teaching a lady right now named Jackie. Jackie
is so amazing. She is from Haiti! Her brother is our Ward Clerk. One of the
members who is really good friends with her told us that someone had tried to
tell Jackie that our church is wrong and that she should go to a different
church, but Jackie told them NO!!! She said to that person that she knows this
church is true. I was SO stinkin happy! We have been trying to help her find
out for herself if the church is true and we haven't been sure if she really
has known. But that was an answer to our prayers knowing that she really does
know that this is exactly where she needs to be. She was able to get a
priesthood blessing yesterday from the elders and it was so powerful! She has
been going through a lot with her family and different things and the blessing
addressed all of that. When the blessing was over she had the biggest smile on
her face and you could tell that she could feel God's love for her. She wants
to be baptized in January! So that is what we are going to be planning for! She
is so incredible! We are still working on finding more people to teach, but I
know that the Lord will continue to bless us with those who are prepared as
long as we our doing our part to find them! (:
Isaiah is doing good! We are teaching him his new member lessons right
now and they are going well. You can tell that he really loves the gospel! It
has been fun for me to get to know him and to help his testimony grow! We will
hopefully get his membership record soon so we can get him to the Temple to do
baptisms for the dead. Also, we are getting things ready so that he can receive
the Aaronic Priesthood! I got a voicemail this week from Elizabeth!!! She is
doing SO awesome! She is just so amazing. She seriously amazes me every time I
hear from her. She is doing really well and she gets to speak in Sacrament
meeting soon! She is loving her calling as primary pianist and she got to help
out with the Primary Program for their ward! She is also been assigned women to
visit teach! And she is just loving it all! I feel so blessed to be apart both
Isaiah's and Elizabeth's conversion processes! They both are seriously the best!!
I
am doing so great! I am feeling TONS better and things are going great over
here! I am glad things are going well back home! I will be keeping mom in my
prayers for this Wednesday. I know things are going to be just fine! (: WE HAVE
TOTALLY GOT THIS! <3 I hope that things go great this week for everyone! I
think it is so great that everyone decided to stay at home and be with Mom for
Thanksgiving! I mean seriously. We have the greatest family. Take good care of
Mom for me! (:
HAPPY
THANKSGIVING!
LOVE
YOUS TO THE MOON & BACK! WE GOT THIS!!!
Love,
Sister Woodland
P.S.
We get to play some football in our Zones "Turkey Bowl" on Thursday
at 9 am and then at 3 pm we are going over to a member’s home for Thanksgiving.
There will be like 3 or 4 families in the ward there and then us and the
elders! So it should be lots of fun! (:
November 17, 2014 (Havin some fun in New York!)
Hey fam!
So first things
first... Our mission president has come down with some new rules and we are not
allowed to email back and forth with anyone. :( So that is a bummer, but I know
that it is all for a good reason. SO ya'll are just going to have to send some
more letters with more detail about what all is going on in your lives. (: Next
thing, I WILL HAVE BEEN OUT FOR 11 MONTHS TOMORROW. This is nuts.
Anyway, let's not talk too much about that one... That is so crazy that it
snowed in Utah. Well actually it isn't that crazy, but I AM SO EXCITED FOR THE
SNOW. haha So I guess what I am trying to say is that I am a little jealous! I
am ready for the winter! I know I won't like it after a couple of months, but I
am ready for it now! (: It is definitely getting extremely cold here though. I
am starting to remember just how bitter the humid cold is. I have now been here
to see all of the different seasons so that is crazy... I am glad things are
going well back home! As for what I want for Christmas... I still don't really
know... haha Um.... I would like a new CTR ring. Maybe a new dress or something...
I LOVED that blue striped dress that you got me for my birthday! It is super
comfy so maybe something else like that. Surprise me! (:
It was a crazy week
this week! I think I had a "mid-mission crisis"... Is that possible?
hahahaha I have kind of felt like I was stuck in a rut, just going through the
motions as a missionary for a while. I think I was just doing things because I
knew that I "had" to do them, not because I "wanted" to do
them. So this week I have been really trying to figure out how to get that
desire back. Thank goodness for the Lord's hand in all things! For the first
time in a long time I FINALLY found it. I realized that I wasn't truly enjoying
being here. It was more like I was forcing myself to be happy and not really enjoying
the small and simple things. So props to you Mom on that spiritual thought and
scripture! Because that is exactly what has helped me to really love being a
missionary again and not to just "go through the motions". We can
always find something in our lives to be unhappy about or that discourages us,
but when we can look beyond all of that and just be in the here and now we will
always find joy! When I woke up on Saturday morning I decided that for the rest
of my mission I was going to find JOY in every aspect of missionary work. No
matter what. And I did. When we went out that day I talked to people on the
street, not because President Taggart has asked us to, not because I want
impress any missionary, but because I want to share the gospel with my brothers
and sisters. I want to do what the Savior has asked me to do. And I was so much
happier!! It was so crazy! After the day was over and we went back to our
apartment both Sister Hindman and I were so happy! We saw so much success
because we know that we did everything that the Savior would have done that
day. We found "Joy in the Journey". So yes. As a missionary you can
still get stuck in ruts... hahaha SHOOT. It is a good thing though that because
of the Gospel of Jesus Christ we can always get out of those stinkin things! (:
WHAT A RELIEF. We saw some really cool miracles this week and we found 2 new
investigators!! We are working a lot with calling and contacting former
investigators and we are getting a lot of appointments from that. We are meeting
some really incredible people. I think for the first time in my entire mission
I have actually liked going out and knocking on doors... haha Things are
definitely starting to pick up here and I am so excited to be in this area with
Sister Hindman! There is just so much to do in this area and so little time!
Sister Hindman and I were talking the other day and we both agreed we could
stay in this area until the end of our missions... That probably won't
happen... But I am just so grateful to be here serving a mission! I just
stinking love it! (:
S.
Hindman and I knocking apartments... we were trying to figure out how to get
in... (gotta hate when the outside door is locked) haha
Well greatest
family in the whole wide world! Thanks for being the best EVER. I seriously
just am so grateful for all ya'll! Couldn't do this without you! I hope that
you have a great week! Keep sharing the gospel! (:
LOVE YOUS
TO THE MOON & BACK!!!! WE GOT THIS
Love,
Sister Woodland
November 10, 2014 (SERVICE.)
Hi. (:
So this week has been
super great, but I feel like it has been a little bit of an off week! I guess
you have to have some of those every now and then! We were planning on Thursday
and we felt like we needed to drop most of the investigators that we had. They
just aren't progressing and they have been investigators for quite some time.
So we are going to be doing a whole lot of finding and increasing our teaching
pool right now! We definitely have a lot of work cut out for us! But I am
totally ready for it! (: I FINALLY feel like I am getting my energy back! It
has been a weird few weeks! Ever since I got a cold I just haven't been able to
get back to normal! I have just been so tired all of the time. So the mission
doctor wanted me to go in somewhere to make sure things were okay. The doctor
was really awesome and super thorough! I had an EKG done and it was normal and
then they took some blood to be tested. He had me also go in and get a chest
x-ray and a sinus x-ray. I kinda felt like a lab rat... haha We were at the
doctors quite a bit this week! But the chest x-ray was normal and the blood
work came back normal as well. The sinus x-ray showed that I had a lot of
inflammation so he put me on some antibiotics for the next two weeks! I
seriously am so over sinus infections! I seem to get them allllllll of the
time! It is all good though! I feel like slowly but surely I am getting more
and more energy!
We were able to do
a ton of service this week! That was basically all we did on Wednesday! We went
over to a members in the morning and helped her rake her leaves! She has a HUGE
yard! Also, there are like a bajillion trees here so there were like 50 times a
bajillion leaves! hahaha It was fun though! We then got to go over to a Less
Actives home and help them clean. They are hoarders and have had a lot of
financial troubles and so they have to move out of their home. So we are
helping them throw things away and clean things up. I think there are a lot of
hoarders on the east coast. Or at least I have helped a lot of them so far on
my mission. I'll probably come home and become a hoarder...(; On Wednesday
night we got to help a family move in! They moved here from Arizona and they
are so great! I am excited that they are here. This ward really needs strong
families! They are definitely going to be a blessing for this ward! I think the
wife was a little bit in shock coming from the west coast to the east coast
though! It reminded me of how in shock I was when I first got out here! But I
have come to love the east coast SO much! It will always hold such a special
place in my heart! Serving is probably one of my favorite things! I think that
is one of the biggest reasons I love being a missionary so much! I just love
being able to serve those around me 24/7! There really is no better feeling! (:
So I was supposed
to teach Young Women's yesterday, but it got changed and so I am teaching them
next week. The lesson that I was asked to teach on is "Why is work an
important gospel principle". I think I am really the one that needed to
hear this lesson. IT IS SO GOOD. There is a talk by President Uchtdorf titled
"Two Principles for Any Economy" and he talks about the principle of
work. He says" How I admire men, women, and children who know how to work!
How the Lord loves the laborer! He said, 'In the sweat of thy face shalt thou
eat bread,' and ' The laborer is worthy of his hire.' He also gave a promise:
'Thrust in your sickle with all your soul, and your sins are forgiven you.'
Those who are unafraid to roll up their sleeves and lose themselves in the
pursuit of worthwhile goals are a blessing to their families, communities,
nations, and to the Church." The Lord expects us to work. He wants us to
do our part so that He can do His! He then goes on to say, "When our wagon
gets stuck in the mud, God is much more likely to assist the man who gets out
to push than the man who merely raises his voice in prayer-- no matter how
eloquent the oration. President Thomas S. Monson put it this way: 'It is not
enough to want to make the effort and to say we'll make the effort,... It's in
the doing, not just the thinking, that we accomplish
our goals. If we constantly put our goals off, we will never see them
fulfilled.'" I definitely know that I need to be better at this! I am so
grateful I was able to prepare for this lesson!
Well Family! I just
stinkin love you all SO much! I will be keeping Mom in my prayers especially on
the 26th! I know that things will be just fine! (: I know that the Lord is
watching over all of you! (: Thanks for everything yous do for me! I hope that
you have a great week this week!
LOVE YOUS
TO THE MOON & BACK! WE GOT THIS!!
Love,
Sister Woodland
November 3, 2014 (Pictures)
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| Pictures with Sister page! |
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| Pics with random missionaries at transfer conference! (: |
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| MISSIONARIES! |
November 3, 2014 (HERE WE GO!)
FAMILY!
I am glad that
everyone had a great Halloween! That is a bummer that you didn't have too many
people come around this year... I feel like it just gets slower and slower each
year. Shoot! Halloween was good here! We had to be inside our apartment by 6 pm
on October
30th and 31st. It was fun to just hang
out inside and watch some movies. We got to watch Ephraim's Rescue and 17
Miracles! THEY ARE SO GOOD. So it was definitely a different Halloween, but it
was still a lot of fun! I am now companions with Sister Hindman. We were in the
MTC together and we also served around each other our first 2 transfers in the
mission! So it has been fun to be serving around each other again as
companions! She is super awesome! I am still trying to figure this area out...
I have only been here for 1 transfer and now I am leading the area... haha but
I think things are coming together! Hopefully... haha there is so much work to
do in this area! So I am so excited to really get to work and to work hard!
This last week was a little slower just because of everything going on and
having to be inside so early, but we have a lot to do this upcoming week!
Isaiah was able to receive the Gift of The Holy Ghost yesterday! He is so
great! I am so excited to start teaching his family! We were supposed to teach
them on Saturday, but they had to cancel last minute! Part of me feels like the
children will all be baptized before the parents. Who knows. I am just so
grateful that they have the desire to learn and to come closer to Jesus Christ!
We are also teaching a lady right now named Jackie! She is from Haiti and she
is awesome! She had been taught by missionaries a while ago, but something
happened and she backed out. She had a baptismal date set and everything. She
told us that she is ready now though. At our first lesson with her she said
that wants to be able to go inside the Temple! I was super excited. I told her,
"THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT WE WANT FOR YOU TOO!" We invited her to be
baptized, but she was a little hesitant. So we are working right now on
figuring out what is holding her back! She comes to church every Sunday though!
He brother is actually our Ward Clerk! We also have been working with a mom and
her two daughters, but we can't seem to get a hold of them and they don't return
our calls. So we are going to just stop by sometime this week! They are such a
great family and I hope that we will still be able to meet with them! We have a
lot of work now to do with increasing our teaching pool! There are so many
people here that are ready to hear about the restored gospel. We just gotta go
out and find them! (: So I am excited to do some finding activities this week!
It is always good to just knock on some doors sometimes! (:
I have been really
focusing this last week and a half on strengthening my relationship with my
Savior. I was reading in Alma 31:31-34 and in verse 31 it says, "O Lord,
my heart is exceedingly sorrowful; wilt thou comfort my soul in Christ. O Lord,
wilt thou grant unto me that I may have strength, that I may suffer with
patience these afflictions which shall come upon me, because of the iniquity of
this people." I loved that verse so much. I know that recently I have
really been able to find comfort for my soul in Christ. And there really is no
better place to find that comfort. It reminds me of the picture with the Savior
standing at the door and there is no door knob on His side. We have to make the
decision to let the Savior into our own lives. He is ALWAYS there, but we need
to make that decisions to open up that door and let him in. I have really found
a lot of comfort in that. There have been moments recently where I have been
able to feel the Savior wrap His arms around me and carry me through the hard
times. I am so thankful for Him. I have been able to realize now more than I
ever have before that our Savior lives. I know that he loves me because I have
been able to feel that love so powerfully. I know that no matter what happens
in life, Jesus Christ is always right there beside us ready to help. We just
have to let him. (:
Sorry for the short
email! Thanks for all your love and support! I am so grateful for each of you!
I hope that you have a great week! (: BEST. FAMILY. EVER.
LOVE YOUS
TO THE MOON AND BACK! WE GOT THIS!!
Love,
Sister Woodland
October 27, 2014 (Pictures)
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| PUMPKINS! |
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| Carving Pumpkins! (: |
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| A member took us out to get some hot chocolate! |
October 27, 2014 (Perfect Way to End a Transfer!)
Hey Fam!
So it was a
busy week making sure we got everything ready for Isaiah's and Rosie's baptism!
We still had quite a bit we needed to teach Isaiah, but we were able
to get through all of the lessons! We were both a little worried that we
wouldn't be able to get through everything or that he wouldn't fully understand
what we were teaching him, but when we went over the baptismal interview
questions he knew and understood so much! It was so neat to see that God really
did prepare Isaiah and that the real teacher in all of our lessons was really
the Holy Ghost. I am so grateful that he has a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ and that he was ready to take this first step towards our Heavenly
Father! The baptism went really well! Our Bishop really likes to have baptisms
right after church is over so that everyone in the Ward can be there to support
whoever is getting baptized. So basically our entire Ward was there and then
some other people who were not members! Isaiah's whole family was able to make
it! It was so great! It was really cool to watch Isaiah's parents. They were
watching everything that was going on so intently. While we were waiting for
Isaiah and Rosie to get changed we put in the Restoration DVD and watched
through the 1st vision. You could tell that the spirit was really working on
Isaiah's parents. We talked with Isaiah's dad after the baptism was over and he
told us that he felt something different. Something that he had never felt
before. We asked him if we could come and teach the rest of the family and he
agreed!!! It has been so neat for me to see that by the example of a 13 year
old boy, a whole family can embrace the Gospel! (:
The other person that was baptized was
a little girl named Rosie and we have been working with her family because
they have been Less Active for a while. They have been coming back to church
for the last 4-5 Sundays and the mom really wanted her older daughter to be
baptized. So we got the opportunity to work with her as well!! Their family is
from Samoa! So stinkin cool! Rosie is soooo adorable! I just love their family
so much!
So all in all
it really turned out to be a great week!! The week leading up to a baptism is
always crazy. It is definitely just satan...No worries though, we won!!! (: I
just love being able to help my brothers and sisters follow the example of
Jesus Christ. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. I am serious. Times like this make up
for every single hard time. (:
Sister Rigby
is getting transferred and so I will be getting a new companion tomorrow!
Transfers are always a little intense! haha I will let you know all about it
next week! I am glad that things are going good back home! Thanks for all the
letters and love! haha YOUS ARE THE BEST EVER!!!
LOVE YOUS
TO THE MOON AND BACK!! WE GOT THIS!!
Love,
Sister Woodland
October 20, 2014 (Pictures)
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| This is me and a member named Sister Jean-Louise and her mom! They are from Haiti! |
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| Me and my sister training leader! (: |
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| This is the grossest picture ever, but I was so excited to receive the Halloween package!!! Don't judge! |
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| So... these pictures are super funny... no one came and cleaned the church on Saturday so one of the Bishopric members when to get a vacuum to clean it up and it all back fired on him and just made more of a mess... How many church members does it take to clean the foyer of the church?? (; |
October 20, 2014 (In Full Swing)
Hey Fam!
So I am glad that
Dad is okay and that things are going well back at home! Sounds like you guys
are pretty busy! It has been kinda weird to not be home for the Fall... haha
One of our members asked me the other day... "How much longer do you have
on your mission?" I went to answer him and told him 8 months! AAAHHH. Can
you even believe that I only have 8 months left?! It kinda shocked me when I
actually said it out loud. So crazy that I have been out for over 10 months
now! Things are a little crazy over here! We have been sooooooo busy with
teaching so many people right now! Which is SO great! (: I love being that busy
teaching people! We are getting our 13 year old investigator, Isaiah, ready to
be baptized this upcoming Sunday! Everything is lookin good and he is super
excited to be baptized! We were really focusing this week on making sure that
he received an answer for himself that the Book of Mormon is true. We invited
him to pray about it and we followed up with him on Tuesday and he had not prayed.
So we taught him just about the Book of Mormon again and really emphasized the
importance of it. We invited him to pray that night and ask God if the Book of
Mormon is true again and that we would call him the next day to see how it
went! We called him on Thursday and he told us that he received an answer and
that when he prayed he felt good and that feeling just increased. He said I
just KNOW it is true! It was so amazing! We were praying so hard that he would
receive an answer. AND HE DID! (: I was so excited for him!! So we are going to
be teaching Isaiah a lot this week to get him prepared for his baptism.
We are also working
with a mother and her two daughters right now. They are super awesome! They
have been struggling though and we have really been trying to figure out what
their concerns have been. They have been invited to be baptized and both times
they were very hesitant and they didn't want to commit to an actual date until
they really KNEW. Which is something we completely understand, but the mom had
been telling us that everything she has learned so far just seems right. She
said it all just makes sense. So it has been really hard to get her to
understand that that is the Holy Ghost letting her know that what she is
learning is true. She FINALLY told us one of her concerns this week. She said
that it has been a little hard for her to get used to how our church works. She
was raised Pentecostal and has been used to having a Preacher stand up in front
and teach with a ton of enthusiasm and to be really involved. She used the
analogy of the children's story "Jack and Jill". She said it would be
a little different for you to be told one day that Jack and Jill didn't go up
the hill to get water, but that they went and got juice. And that is where she
is right now. She has been raised all her life in another church and now she is
learning different things. She also said that she has been baptized three times
and none of those times were her decisions and that she just want to really be
sure of this one because it will finally be her decision. So we were soooooo
grateful that she was finally honest with us so now we can teach her according
to her needs and concerns and now we will be able to resolve them and help her
and her girls receive the answer that they are so desperately looking for!
Those are the
people that we are working the most with right now! We are also trying to get
into all of our members’ homes and give them the "Gratitude Journal".
We just really want to let the Ward members know that we love them and
appreciate them so much! This Ward really needs that right now! This Ward has
been really blessed with some incredible members that have recently moved in
and they are seriously helping to keep things running smoothly here! I am so
grateful for them! We got to go help out the Baldwin's this week move into
their rental home! It was fun to go help clean the home and move things in! It
is so good to be able to just do some service each week!
On a random note...
People here have the weirdest Halloween decorations... It is a little creepy...
haha I think some of these people take Halloween a little too seriously! I have
realized though since I have been out here on the East Coast that people either
go ALL OUT for different Holidays or they don't do anything. There really is no
in between...
THANKS FOR THE
PACKAGES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously you guys are the best EVER. I was
sooo stinkin excited to get all of that cute Halloween stuff! And all of the
soaps and hand sanitizers from Bath and Body Works! It was seriously the
perfect timing for each of those packages! I have the greatest family EVER! I
seriously do feel so blessed for all you do for me! So thanks again! I hope
that you guys have a great week!
LOVE YOUS
TO THE MOON & BACK!! WE GOT THIS!
Love,
Sister Woodland
P.S. I have started doing a journal on
my camera about my day and when the SD card is all filled up I am going to send
it home so you guys and watch it and laugh and how crazy I am! (: I think it
will be a cool way to remember my mission!
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