May 27, 2014 (Pictures!)

Me opening my presents and reading my letters! (:

One of my new outfits! 

This was something Sister holyoak and Sister collins hung in our apartment! So cute! Sister Holyoak also put signs up all over the apartment with compliments and stuff... it was really nice!!!

Parade

Us and the Elders at the parade!

This is Sister McCready and Brother McCready. The people we live below. They are members and they are seriously the best to us!

Parade

May 27, 2014 (We got this!)

Family,
I loved absolutely everything! I had a great Birthday! I went on an exchange on Thursday to Friday morning so I was with one of my Sister Training Leaders and she made me pancakes and a smoothie for breakfast that morning. When I got home around 11 am on Friday, Sister Holyoak and Sister Collins had decorated our apartment! It was really cute! TONS of missionaries texted me Happy Birthday and President Jeppson and Sister Jeppson called and sang Happy Birthday to me later that night! Sister Holyoak took me out to lunch and we went to a place called Bobby's Burger Place. IT IS SOOO GOOD. Then we had another great day of missionary work! This really sweet family in our Ward made us dinner that night and they made me a cake! I had a great Birthday on the Mish! (: So thank you ALL for everything! I really appreciate it so much! I had a great day!
     We are still struggling at finding new investigators so we are trying to get really creative with different finding ideas! It should be a lot of fun this week... It might get a little crazy, but at least we will have lots of stories to take from this weeks adventures! We had a couple of Potential Investigators, but none of them were interested. The one man who had read the news paper article was an older man and he told us right off the bat that he didn't want to be converted he just wanted to know how we were doing... hahaha He told us that his nephew has already tried to convert him so we really shouldn't try...! That is always hard to hear... but something I have really learned on my mission is that people have their free agency. Even though I want to force them to know that this is true.... I can't! Bummer... hahaha But I know that things are going to go well! We have seen how willing the members in our area are to help us out! They are doing all they can to find those who are prepared and ready to receive the Restored Gospel. I know that it is going to take a little time before things start to pick up, but I know that they will! I was reading a talk given by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland titled, "Missionary Work and the Atonement." I wanted to share three quotes that really have helped me this past week and still are helping me. 

·         "Missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy."

·         "I don't believe missionary work has ever been easy, nor that conversion is, nor that retention is, nor that continued faithfulness is. I believe it is supposed to require some effort, something from the depths of our soul."

·         "The Atonement will carry the missionaries perhaps even more importantly than it will carry the investigators. When you struggle, when you are rejected, when you are spit upon and cast out and made a hiss and a byword, you are standing with the best life this world has ever known, the only pure and perfect life ever lived. You have reason to stand tall and be grateful that the Living Son of the Living God knows all about your sorrows and afflictions. The only way to salvation is through Gethsemane and on to Calvary. The only way to eternity is through Him-- the Way, the Truth, and the Life." 

So I have realized that even though it has been tough and discouraging at times my Savior knows exactly what I am going through. He is going to help me through this and I know that as I continue forward with faith things WILL work out! (:
     I hope all of you had a great Memorial Day! I had a really fun day! We got to go to a parade in downtown Main in Hightstown with the McCready's (the family we live below). It was a lot of fun! One of the members in our Ward, Brother Lee, was the Grand Marshall this year so that was fun to see him in the parade! Then we had a Ward picnic and we got to go with the McCready's and with Sally, the recent convert from Tai Wan. It was a blast! We played lots of games with the other missionaries and with the families and my arms got fried! hahaha They are soooo red... Whoops! It was so much fun though! I was exhausted afterwards! Then the McCready's made me dinner for my birthday because they had been out of town. We had dinner on the patio because it was a beautiful day! They also got me an ice cream cake! They take such good care of us! If we didn't get fed one day she ALWAYS makes sure we have had a good decent meal.
     So, things are still pretty slow here, but I am excited to see how things will go this next week! I hope that things keep going well for all of you! I love hearing how things are going back at home! You guys are seriously the best and I don't know what I would do without you! So thanks for you examples and for everything you do for me! I hope that you have a great week!
I LOVE YOUS TO THE MOON AND BACK!!! WE GOT THIS!!!
Love, Sister Woodland
P.S. That is so crazy that everyone is spraining or breaking their ankles... Tell everyone to be careful!! haha I will definitely keep everyone in my prayers!
I LOVE YOUS!!!

Thank You SO much for the Birthday gifts, letters, and cards!!! 

May 19, 2014 (Rough.)

Hey Fam,

     What a week! I think this past week has been the hardest week of my mission so far with actual missionary work! We have only had 2 investigators for awhile and they were both progressing for awhile too... One of them texted us earlier in the week and told us to not bring anyone else with us this appointment because she wanted to talk to us privately about something. We just knew that she was going to drop us. She had been slowing down on things like reading her scriptures and saying her prayers. I didn't think that it was going to be as hard as it really was! When we sat down with her on Thursday she told us that she had received an answer to her prayers and that this just wasn't right for her right now in her life. She did tell us that that doesn't mean she will never join, but just not right now! She cried through the entire thing which just made Sister Holyoak and I cry as well... haha It was so hard! She never got married and she doesn't have any children, but when she hugged us she said that it was like having to say goodbye to her daughters!!! That just made me cry harder! haha It was really neat though! She told us as we were walking away that she wanted us to know our teaching and the lesson we had with her were not in vain! I really needed to hear that and I know so did Sister Holyoak! Then we knew that we needed to drop our other investigator because she is not progressing anymore and we needed to spend our time somewhere else! That lesson was really crazy... She was not very nice! hahaha That made it easier for us to drop her though! It really needed to happen and it probably has been needing to happen for awhile now! Hopefully things will go well for both of these sweet ladies and that later down the road they will be ready to receive the restored gospel! We had some other crazy things happen, but enough sad news! We have also seen some AMAZING miracles come from the members in our Ward! One of our recent Converts named Sally told us on Saturday that she has a friend in High School who is interested in learning about our religion! Now let me tell you about Sally real quick. Sally is from Tai Wan and she has been a member of the church for about 6 months now. SHE IS SO SHY! I mean like really shy! hahah She ALWAYS comes out with us though! ALWAYS! And she has been getting better and now she will talk a few times in the lessons and she will help us contact people of the streets! I love her SOOO much! She is here on like a foreign exchange kind of thing... But she is all by herself! I really admire her! All of the young women's leaders are so good at making sure she is included and keep in contact with her! Anyway, we had taught Sally about missionary work and we had given her a pass-a-long card and a Book of Mormon and challenged her to give it to someone! We didn't know how it was going to go especially since she is so shy, but when she told us she had given the pass-a-long card to her friend at school we couldn't believe it!!! We gave her the biggest hug! People probably thought we were crazy! We are SOO excited to meet her friend! So I know that even though times may get extremely hard sometimes out on the mish, Heavenly Father is ALWAYS looking out for us and He is ALWAYS going to help us. It is just going to be in His time and not ours! We are going to be visiting with the members in our area and we are going to be teaching them about missionary work and hopefully we will get some more referrals from them! We are so excited to see the miracles that I know are going to happen this upcoming week! So don't be worried about me! I am just fine! (: Just a rough week! It happens though, right?! 

     I am really so glad that things are still going well back home! Tell everyone thanks so much for the cute birthday emails! I loved opening my email to see lots of emails from the ward! That was so sweet! (: So tell them all thank you from me! I will definitely keep Ethan in my prayers! Send them my love as well! MOM. I AM SO GLAD THAT THE DOCTOR TOLD YOU THINGS ARE GOOD WITH YOUR BREAST CANCER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't even begin to tell you how happy that makes me! I am so relieved and so grateful! PARTY!! WOOHOO! (: Goodness I love you guys so much and I am so grateful for everything you do for me all the time! Especially all you guys do to help me when I have had a hard week! YOUS ARE THE BEST! I hope that you all have the best week ever!!! LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK!!!! WE GOT THIS!!! (: (: (: Don't forget to share the gospel! 

Love, Sister Woodland

p.s. I have been out for over 5 months now!!! CRAZY. LOVE YOUS!

p.p.s. we are going to go to a puppy place now and play with puppies to make us happier! We feel like we deserve that because of our crazy week.... hahahaha (: (: (:

May 12, 2014 (You People Are So Cute.)

Hey Fam,

     Alright... Getting to Skype you guys and see your beautiful faces yesterday was seriously the best thing EVER. LOVED IT. Well... 6 more months and we get to do it again! hahahaha That is so crazy though... In 6 months I will have been out for a year! TIME IS JUST FLYIN BY! As long as I don't think about it too much then I'm good! I am glad that things are going well for ya'll! That is always good for me to hear! I'm glad you liked your Mother's Day card Mom! haha We thought they were SO funny and we had to get them! You have to be a little creative out here on the mish! 

     I don't really have tons to tell you today because we got to talk yesterday, but last week was definitely a much slower week for Sister Holyoak and I! I am just SO glad that she is finally feeling better! I think that was the first time I have ever been in the E.R. So that was a pretty fun experience for me! I just wanted to know why everyone else was in there... hahaha We are doing good though! I am just so ready to get back to work! Being stuck inside all day as a missionary can kind of make you crazy... So it was good to get out yesterday and today! We are excited to finally get back to work this week! We have a lot of work to do here, and we are so ready to do it! I just know we are going to see miracles this transfer! We really need some new investigators so we have to put forth a lot of effort on our part and we need to have a lot of faith in our Father in Heaven that He will help with the rest. And I know He will!! He is the best! (: I wanted to share with yous something that I have been learning. I have been learning a ton about prayers. My prayers have always been answered, but sometimes I get too caught up in what I want right then and there and not what is really going to be best for me in my life. This was reiterated to me this morning when I was studying. I was reading President Monson's talk in the October 2013 General Conference, titled, "We Never Walk Alone." He says, "We were not placed on this earth to walk alone. What an amazing source of power, of strength, and of comfort is available to each of us. He who knows us better than we know ourselves, He who sees the larger picture and who knows the end from the beginning, has assured us that He will be there for us to provide help if we but ask." He is going to help us out with whatever is going on in our lives, but we need to ask. We need to have the faith to act on our part. Then I loved the poem he shared about prayer. It says, "I know not by what methods rare, But this I know, God answers prayer. I know that He has given His Word, Which tells me prayer is always heard, And will be answered, soon or late. And so I pray and calmly wait. I know not if the blessing sought Will come in just the way I thought; But leave my prayers with Him alone, Whose will is wiser than my own, Assured that He will grant my quest, Or send some answer far more blest." I know that that is so true. I love being able to talk to my Heavenly Father and I know that He answers my prayers!

    I hope you all have the best week ever!! I am praying for you and I think about you guys all the time! Even when you are growing up on me and stuff... (Mainly Bryce.... I mean come on little boy.... I don't think I will recognize you when I get home... hahaha) Keep being the amazing family that you are! We seriously have the best family EVER! LOVE YOUS TO THE MOON AND BACK!!! WE GOT THIS!!!! (: (: (:

Love, Sister Woodland

P.S. I would really love a new quad for my birthday... the one I have with me is from when I was baptized and well.... it is falling apart... hahaha Shoot! Other than that surprise me! (: I'M GOING TO BE SO OLD! hahah (: LOVE YOUS!

May 5, 2014 (Pics)

Maris sent me a moose from Minnesota... hahahah She thinks she is SO funny!!! 

The Young Women in our Ward made us homemade chocolate! We ate it in one day...

We were weekly planning on the porch in our backyard! We needed some fresh air! (:

I showed Sister Holyoak how to make a headband out of those flower thingies.... hahah I forgot what they are called, but she doesn't have them in Arizona! 

We were studying in the car... We decided want to waste our miles and go all the way back home!

We get ALL that food for FREE from the food bank because we serve there every Wednesday! THEY ARE TOO GOOD TO US!

We redecorated our apartment because it used to be an elders apartment and we just made it cute! (:

This is one of the Members in our Ward! She is the best! We love her!!

This is one of our investigators!! Sis. Graham!

We went out to eat at Texas Road House!!

This is Brother Roehorig! He gave us that umbrella because he wanted to make sure we were dry! hahah He is the best!! 

May 5, 2014 (SKYPE TIME.‏)

Heyheyhey! 

     I am so glad that you all had a great week last week! I have been thinking about yous lots! I am also glad that Mal had a great Birthday! I hope you all partied hard... (: I AM GOING TO BE 20 IN LIKE 18 DAYS.... Now, that is crazy... I am not going to be a teenager anymore. I think I still feel like I am 13 years old... hahaha Anyway, that is nuts about the Linford's! Tell them congrats for me! I hope everything goes well for them! Next thing, I need someone to give every single Bradshaw a hug for me please! Tell them that they are in my prayers every single night and I will keep praying for them! That is so hard... I remember when Grandpa passed away and how hard that was! It is so sad to lose someone we love so much, but that is why this gospel is so amazing! We have the opportunity to know, without a shadow of a doubt, that we will get to see our loved ones again! I think that is the greatest blessing we could ever ask for! Life can really be so tough sometimes... I am so grateful to have the gospel because I know I wouldn't be able to get through the trials I have gone through without it! 

     This last week was a great week!! We were seriously just going and going and going all week long! It was a blast! I love being so busy that when we come home at 9 pm to plan for our next day, we literally drop to our knees to pray and then it takes every ounce of energy that I have left to get ready for bed! I think I have been more tired this week than I ever have been! It feels so good though to know that we are using the Lord's time to the best of our ability! We have decided to try and see a lot more members from our Ward than we have been this last week. We figured that this might help us find people who are prepared and ready to receive this restored gospel better than just contacting people on the streets! Little did we know that sometimes the active members really need to hear an uplifting message. We had the opportunity to hear one of the brothers in our Ward bare his testimony about the missionaries! We had decided to stop by and visit him on Saturday because we had written him a thank-you card and had been meaning to give it to him for awhile! All we did was sing 'A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief'. We had no idea that that was his favorite hymn and that he needed to hear it that day. It was a very humbling experience for me to listen to him bare his testimony about it. It was a reminder to me that God is truly mindful of each of us! He really does know what we are going through and he wants to help us any chance He can. Even if that means sending two Sister Missionaries to sing a hymn! I was so thankful that we listened to the prompting from the Holy Ghost to see him that day! I cannot even believe that I have almost been out for 5 months now... That is SO crazy! Time really is just flying by... Faster and faster every single day! I just want all of you to know though, that I LOVE being a missionary! I really couldn't imagine doing anything else right now in my life than being a full-time missionary! I love sharing the gospel with absolutely everyone we come in contact with! I get the opportunity to have a front row seat to the greatest miracle, seeing the atonement of Jesus Christ work in my brothers and sisters here in Jersey! I have never been happier than I am right now! (: I KNOW that this gospel is true. I have never been more sure of that in my entire life! I KNOW that because of the Plan of Salvation I get to live with all of you for time and all eternity, and for that I will be foreverly grateful. I KNOW that all things are possible because of the Atonement of my Savior and Redeemer. And I KNOW that "this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God."

     I hope that all of you have another great week!! Don't forget to party hard in the warm weather! (: I AM SO EXCITED TO BE ABLE TO SKYPE YOU BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE IN LESS THAN A WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (: (: (: (: (: (: (: No crying though, Okay?? (; LOVE YOUS TO THE MOON AND BACK! WE GOT THIS!!! <3

Love, Sister Woodland

P.S. I have to speak in Church next Sunday on.... MOM!!! (: haha Pray for me... Thanks!