July 6, 2015 (4th of July Pics)

The picture of the ocean is where we got to watch the fireworks!!! It
was so pretty!

This is the Villanueva family. I just love them sooo stinking much.
They had us over for dinner last night and fed us some good Filipino
food!

July 6, 2015 (See Yous in 2 Days!!!!!)

"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept

the faith." -2 Timothy 4:7

I cannot even believe that I have made it to the end of my mission. It all still seems very surreal to me. It has been the best 18 months for my life. I have learned so much out here and I am so grateful for all the many experiences I have had as a full-time missionary. I really love the people over here in New Jersey and New York! I just want yous to know that I now know more than I ever have before, that Jesus is the Christ. I know that He really does love us and that He watches over us constantly. I know that the Savior has a perfect love for everyone everywhere. I have loved being able to feel a teeny tiny glimpse of how the Savior must feel for all of God's children. I love this Gospel with all my heart. I cannot wait to see all of your faces at the airport on Wednesday. Thanks for being THE BEST family a girl could ever ask for!!!

     See yous in 2 days!! 

​

Love yous to the Moon & back!!! WE DID IT!  

Love, Sister Woodland

July 1, 2015 (Pictures)

July 1, 2015

Hey Fam!
 So this last week and a half has been absolutely NUTS. It has been the most emotional couple of days I have had in my entire mission... It has been such a spiritual experience to have the opportunity to go to the Temple with President Taggart, Sister Taggart, and the other departing missionaries. I love the Temple soooo much! It was the perfect timing to go because it helped me to receive revelation and peace about all the changes going on in my crazy life. It was exactly what I needed. Then I had my departing interview with President Taggart after the Temple and that was SO GREAT. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to serve with President Taggart the last year of my mission. He is such an incredible man and I know that he is supposed to be here in the New Jersey Morristown Mission. He has helped me so much throughout this year!
 I feel like I am on this HUGE emotional roller coaster and it won't let up... haha These departing trips have been super fun, but I am SO exhausted! I feel like I am just never going to get energy ever again... But I am going to work so stinking hard this last week!! Even though I am pretty sure I could fall asleep anywhere... Hahaha We had a tender mercy happen a couple of days ago... We received a call from a former investigator named Tedi who was on baptism date before I got to this area, but she sort of fell off the earth. She called and told us that she wanted to meet with us again. We were able to teach her this morning and it was such a powerful lesson. She has still been reading from the Book of Mormon and she has been able to find so much peace as she has read from it. She wants to start meeting with us regularly. She is so awesome!! We are excited for her to come to know of the truthfulness of this restored gospel. :) It was super fun to go to the Statute of Liberty! I will have to send yous the pictures next week!! I can't believe how fast this time has gone and how fast this last week will go! Thanks for all yous do!!!

June 22, 2015 (IPads.... They might be the death of me‏)

Hey Fam!

     So this week has been a pretty good week! It has been a little overwhelming because we are trying to get use to the IPads. We now have to put all the information we have in our Area Books into the IPads and it is super time consuming! I feel sort of like a pioneer because I won't actually get to see it finished and I won't be able to really use it. But I want to help the other missionaries out so I am trying to learn how to do this so we can get things updated! It has been such a crazy process though! From Thursday on, we haven't had much time to do anything else except work on the IPads.... I am trying to not let it make me crazy! hahahaha 

     So next thing is... I hit a bunny.... Oh my goodness sakes! SO SAD. :( We were driving home one night and I was actually on an exchange with another sister and this dumb bunny ran right out in front of me! It was like a suicide bunny... There was no way I could have slowed down. So yep... that was side. Poor bunny... he didn't even have a chance! haha 

     Our investigators are doing pretty good! We have a lot that are progressing right now, but they are progressing slowly. We taught Mike and Robyn this week and the lesson went really well! The Spirit was SO strong in the lesson! Mike and Robyn have been having a hard time lately knowing if this is right or not and being worried about rushing into things too quickly! Mike told us that if he is going to do this he is going to do this 100%. So he wants to make sure that he knows this is true. So we had a powerful lesson on praying to know if The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. We were really bold with them during the lesson, but we know that they needed to hear it and understand that they have to be willing to go to God and ask him themselves. The Spirit was definitely the teacher in that lesson! They said that they would pray that night! We are excited to follow-up and see how they are feeling!  

     OH MY GOODNESS SAKES. The coolest miracle JUST happened like not even 2 minutes ago.... We heard someone knocking on the window at the Church where we are emailing and so we went to go and see who it was and it was the Elders Recent Converts and a Member who has fallen away from the church. They came inside and we got to talk with them. WE WERE SO EXCITED AND KINDA SURPRISED THAT IT WAS THEM! They told us that they were just driving by the church and they felt like they needed to stop by. They went back to the Catholic Church for a while because they felt the Spirit there, but have been thinking a lot about the church lately. We were able to testify that there is truth in ALL churches, but the only church that has the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is found here in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They all said that they really believed that and they really want to come back. They told us that they will be at Church this next Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! People.... THE CHURCH IS TRUE. THE SPIRIT IS REAL. AND MIRACLES DO HAPPEN. Holy Moly.... AAAAHHHHH!! That was so cool. (: (: (:

MIRACLES.

     Well family... I just stinking love you guys so much and I am so grateful for every little thing you do for me! I hope that everything continues to go SO great for all of yous! (: I am glad that Dad had a great Father's day and that Bryce had a great B-Day! Good luck with having a new driver on the roads! (; Have a great week!!!!!

LOVE YOUS TO THE MOON & BACK!!! WE GOT THIS! 

Love, Sister Woodland

June 15, 2015 (Pictures)

Zone conference and Exchanges!!

just drivin in the car!

June 15, 2015 (Tender Mercies)

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey.

     So this week was another super busy week. Thank the heavens above that we are so busy over here! We had a good week. We are trying to help our new Senior Couple with our ward list here. We have a ton of members on the list, but not very many are active and so the senior couple wanted to find these people and see if they have moved or if they are interested in missionaries coming over or home/visiting teaching. We have got to find these lost sheep!!! (: There is a quote by Elder Ballard that I love! He says, "Brothers and sisters, stay in the boat, use your life jackets, and hold on with both hands. Avoid distractions! And if any of you have fallen out of the boat, we will seek you, find you, minister to you, and pull you safely back onto the Old Ship Zion, where God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are at the Helm and will guide us right." I LOVE THAT QUOTE. That is something I have come to love so much since I have been out here. It helps me know that this really is The Lord's true church and that He will find His lost sheep! We saw some cool miracles this week from working with the ward list. We were trying a man and his sister answered the door. She told us that her brother was out of town until the 20th... So we decided to talk with her. She was super friendly and let us come in and teach her. We were able to set up a return appointment with her and when we went over they were having a big old party. 3 other people decided to sit in the lesson with us and they all want to learn more!!! So we were able to find 4 new investigators this week! And they are all from the Philippines!!! Filipino people are some of my favorite people! So we were super excited about that! The other highlight of this week was being able to help out some less active members of our Ward. Brother Mosely had been in the hospital for months and had been in a coma from open heart surgery and he wasn't supposed to make it, but HE MADE IT and he is doing sooooooooooooo great right now! He is staying with a member named Sister Argust who has been helping him out SO much. She is seriously an angel! He doesn't have any family around here so she has been taking care of this man. Brother Mosely is seriously the sweetest guy ever! I think he is in his 60s, but he looks like he is in his 90's because of everything his poor body has been through. We got to help get him out of the house for a while and went shopping with him and Sister Argust. He has the funniest sense of humor! He is super sarcastic and I just love talking to him. He also has a super thick Alabama accent! He was so grateful for our help and just kept telling us that he loves us soo much! 

     THANKS FOR THE SWEETEST LETTERS IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!!! Man... Elder Schultz is so awesome! It was so sad because the day before we had our District Meeting Elder Schultz got emergency transferred and so his companion gave us the letters that Elder Schultz asked yous to write us. It was such a cool moment on my mission. I cried so stinking hard. It was cool to see God's hand in my life because that training and those letters were EXACTLY what I needed at that exact moment. I am so grateful for people like Elder Schultz who follow the Spirit and I am so grateful to have such amazing parents! 

     Thanks again for all yous do for me! I hope that you have another great week! (:

LOVE YOUS TO THE MOON & BACK!! WE GOT THIS! 

Love, Sister Woodland

June 8, 2015 (Time goes too fast!)

Hi.

     So I am glad that yous had such a great week last week! Mal is officially a High School Graduate.... SO CRAZY! Your kids are growing up so stinking fast Mom and Dad! How do you feel about all of this?! Now it is Bryce's turn to get old. haha I can't believe that boy will be 16 years old in like 2 weeks! So much change is happening in such little time! It is too much for the heart to handle! (: 

     Things are just moving right along over on the East Coast. We taught Mike and Robyn this last week and we had invited them to pray to know what Heavenly Father wanted for them. It turned out to be a little different from what we were expecting, but we also kinda knew it was coming. They both are gaining SUCH strong testimonies of the Gospel and they know that it is true! They told us that they want to get married and be baptized, but they don't want to rush things too quickly. We definitely understood where they were coming from. Even though they don't want to have a big wedding by any means, they do want to have their children there. I felt a little selfish for a second because I really wanted to be at their baptism as a full-time missionary, but when it really comes down to it, it doesn't matter if I am there or not as long as they progress and have the opportunity to enter into God's Kingdom. I really just want the best for these two INCREDIBLE people! It was a weird feeling knowing that I won't be in the mission when they get baptized... haha They kept saying that they were going to fly Sister Quinlan and I out for their wedding and their baptism! haha These people here are just SO amazing. It really is way too much for my heart to handle! 

     I have been thinking a lot this week of the scripture in 3 Nephi 5:13, "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of Him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life. “I am just so stinking grateful that I have had this chance to be a representative of my Savior for a year and a half. I LOVE BEING A DISCIPLE OF CHRIST. And even when I come home from my mission I will still be a disciple of Christ. (: 

     I just love you people so stinking much! Thanks for everything you do for me every single day! I am so grateful for your prayers! Keep those up! (: Imma need them these last 4 weeks! (: I hope you guys have another great week! 

This is my district! (:

LOVE YOUS TO THE MOON & BACK!! WE GOT THIS! 

Love, Sister Woodland

June 1, 2015 (Week 2 of 6!! Aaaaah.)

Hi.

So this week has been a good week. I had my first meltdown of my last transfer a couple of days ago... Hahaha I thought I was doing juuuust fine, but then I had to cry for just a second about it. I have since pulled it together and I am good now.  I promised myself I wouldn't be that missionary who cried all the time during their last transfer... Too bad I take after my mother. (: I have decided that I will probably just cry randomly for the rest of the transfer. Hahaha My poor companion! I am glad that things are going well back home! I cannot believe that Mal is graduating this Wednesday... She is soooo old! Send me lots of pics please. (:

We had the best Sunday I have ever had my whole entire mission yesterday!! We had 5 of our investigators at church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was soooooooooooooooo amazing! The spirit was so strong in all of our meetings. Also, one of the recent converts here CAME BACK TO CHURCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He had texted us at the beginning of last transfer and told us that he didn't want anything to do with the church anymore. It broke my heart into a million pieces. He wanted to be left alone and he wanted a break from this whole "mormonism thing". So we let him have his space. Then yesterday when he walked through the church doors, I almost died. I was so stinking happy to see him in the church building again I could have hugged him. MIRACLES HAPPENIN EVERYWHERE. It was such good day.

Things are going good over on the east coast. We are havin weird, misty, rainy, weather over here. I am waiting for it to actually down pour! Jersey thunderstorms are the best. (: I hope that yous have a great week this week! Thanks for all you do and for being such great examples to me. (:

May 25, 2015 (Pictures)

The Jersey Shore house is actually in my area!!!

Went to the Board Walk!

May 25, 2015 (iPads)

Family!

     So a lot has happened this week.... 

1. First things first. WE GOT IPADS. So that is weird... Also, I only get to use it for like 6 weeks... haha So I won't really have a lot of time to get used to it. ​But they are fun to use. It is nice to have them so we can show people videos and pictures. It helps make things more interactive! Our mission is moving up in the world! 

     2. We had an incredible lesson with Mike and Robyn on Tuesday! We finished teaching The Gospel of Jesus Christ and after it was over we invited them to be baptized. We were a little hesitant about inviting them because they aren't married yet and they would either have to get married first or stop living with each other. But the Spirit was SO strong in the lesson and after we asked Robyn broke down in tears. She and Mike looked and each other and then Mike high fived her and said, "Let's do this"!! WE WERE SO EXCITED!!! Mike then said that he had some concerns though... We were both a little bit nervous when he said that. He said that he knows they have to be married before they are baptized and they are both willing to do that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MIRACLES PEOPLE. MIRACLES. We talked about how our Bishop can marry them and that this can be very simple! They are both very excited!! It was one of the coolest lessons I have had my whole mission! (:

     3. I am now 21 years old and that is super weird! I had a good Birthday! The members were super sweet! I didn't really tell anyone that is was my birthday and everyone got mad at me for that... haha But everyone surprised me! We had dinner at a members home and they bought an ice cream cake! It was so nice of them! Mike and Robyn bought me an "Alex and Ani" bracelet and it is so pretty! They also bought us cheesecake! Our Bishop and His wife made cake too. It turned out to be a great day! (: The people took good care of me! 

​

     4. We got a Senior Couple FINALLY!!! Their names our Elder and Sister Ross and they came from Payson, Utah. I don't know if they know any of our family... I haven't actually asked that yet. They only lived in Payson for a year though before coming on a mission. They lived in Wyoming for 40 years before that. We are so stinking excited that they are here though! This ward really needs this Senior Couple! 

     So that was about the majority of what happened this week! It was definitely an eventful one, but also I really good week! It starts the beginning of my last transfer which is a really weird feeling! I am excited though to work hard and have fun this last transfer! Thanks for everything you guys do for me! I hope that all of you have a great week!!!

LOVE YOUS TO THE MOON & BACK!! WE GOT THIS! 

Love, Sister Woodland

May 18, 2015 (Picture)

I liked this shirt... hahahaha 

May 18, 2015 (God's Love.)

Heeeeeeey.

     And just like that another week is over. Nothing crazy happened this week, which is always a good thing. (: haha We have been spending a lot of our time this week trying to help the people we are teaching to progress now. We realized yesterday that the way we will be able to really do that is by using the ward. Which is something we are kinda struggling with right now. But we are makin plans to love these people to death....(: haha So hopefully that will work. I have realized on my mission how important it is for members and missionaries to work together or things just don't function like they should. I have seen the moments on my mission where we have really worked hard on functioning together with the Ward or the Branch and so many miracles come from it. The times when we try to do it all by ourselves everything tends to fall apart... President Hinckley always talked a lot about how members and missionaries can work together. He said, “The process of bringing new people into the Church is not the responsibility alone of the missionaries. They succeed best when members become the source from which new investigator are found." So that is what we have felt like we need to do now. So I am super excited to see what we can do to work better with this ward so that they want to work with us as well. I'll let yous know how it goes next week! (:

     We got to have a lesson with a lady who is partially less active yesterday. She told us that she doesn't know that God loves her and asked us why it would matter to return to live with Him again when she doesn't even know that He loves her personally. I got to share a cool experience I had a couple of weeks ago on Fast Sunday. I didn't really know what to fast for because I couldn't really think of anything big that I needed to help with. As I was studying in the morning I felt like I should fast to know that I was a Child of God and that He knew me personally. I think it was the first time in my life that I have actually plead with God to know that I, Amy Woodland, actually mattered to Him. It was the coolest experience the rest of that Sunday. I never had a big neon flashing sign tell me that I am a Daughter of God, but the whole Sunday I had an overwhelming feeling of peace. I felt soooo much comfort that day and I just knew that God knew exactly who I was and that I really did matter to Him. I was able to testify to this lady that God really does know each of us personally. He might not show us that He does with a big sign, but if we really have the desire to know He will always help us feel His perfect love. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I am a Daughter of God and that He cares about me personally!!! (: 

     So other than that this week has been a good week. I seriously love the people here so much! I'll be honest, South Jersey is kinda weird, but I love it! haha I will be so angry if they move me next week... haha I don't feel like they will, but you never know! Crazy things seem to always happen over here. (; 

     Sorry that this email is so short. I don't have much to say this week, but I hope that yous have a great week! 

LOVE YOUS TO THE MOON & BACK!! WE GOT THIS! 

     

Love, Sister Woodland

May 11, 2015 (I'M YO FATHER.‏)

Hey Yous.

     Well flip. It was sooooo good to see all of you yesterday on Skype!! Still super weird that that was the last time I will see you guys until we get to see each other in person at the airport!!! CRAZY. So I have basically told yous everything yesterday, but I will go over some of the miracles we saw this last week so everyone else can hear them too. (: 

     Exchanges were so great this week! Whenever we go on exchange so many miracles always happen... It is all because of these incredible sisters. They are the ones that bring the miracles to our area! For instance, with the sisters’ help we were able to find 6 NEW INVESTIGATORS THIS WEEK!! They found a family! So cool. I just love these sisters so much. I have learned a ton of things from them this transfer. 

     So funny story... I forgot to tell yous this over skype! I was on an exchange this week with Sister Tonga. (that is her in the pic) And we had decided to go contact in Trenton which is a sketchy area... And we all know I LOVE those kinds of areas... (: We found a lot of people there who were interested in learning about the gospel and when we were headed back to our car there was this black guy who told us Happy Mother's Day. Sister Tonga turned to him and said, without thinking, Happy Mother's Day to you too. Right after she said that this guy turned to face us and said, "Happy Mother's Day? I am a Father. Matter fact, I AM YO FATHER." hahahahahahahahahahahahaha We just kept walking, but I really wanted to turn around and say, ummm.... No sir no you're not. This girl is Togan, are you crazy?! But we didn't so don't worry. haha We just laughed and laughed and laughed about it the rest of the day! People are so fun. That is why I love the sketchier areas so much! You just never know what to expect! 

     But on Sunday after church we got to meet with this 26 year old who really wants to come back to church. His older sister came out with us and we were talking with him about the Atonement. As we were talking he told us that when he got up to bear his testimony in church last week he saw his sister sitting in the congregation smiling at him and it helped calm his nerves and he was able to realize that he is loved and he is exactly where he needs to be. Him and his sister started to cry and then he asked his sister if they could hug... OH MY HEART. Here we are, sitting in a tiny little motel room with this man who has made some really poor decisions in his life, he barely has anything right now, and we get the INCREDIBLE opportunity to be there and feel the love that our Savior has for him. I wish I could describe the feeling I felt in that small, humble, motel room that Sunday afternoon. Words just can't even begin to describe how grateful I am to have the opportunity to be a part of this man's process to come back into God's Kingdom! I got a little glimpse that day of just how excited and happy the Savior must feel and be when he sees us use His Atonement. Definitely something I will never forget. 

     I love being a missionary. I love serving my brothers and sisters every minute of every day. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be out here. I just want yous to know that I KNOW Jesus Christ lives. I KNOW that He loves each one of us perfectly. I KNOW that this is truly His Restored Gospel. The Savior really does stand at the head of this Church. I am so grateful for my Savior. (: 

     Thanks for absolutely everything you guys do for me. I know I say it all the time, but I really couldn't do it without yous. I hope that you have a great week!!!

LOVE YOUS TO THE MOON & BACK!! WE GOT THIS! 

Love, Sister Woodland

May 10, 2015 (Mother's Day Call Pictures‏)

May 4, 2015 (Pictures)

Welcome to Ocean County!

SO BEAUTIFUL.

THE OCEAN. (:

And my companion. (:

May 4, 2015 (MIRACLES.‏)

Heeey.

     It has been a week full of miracles and a week full of surprises! You think I would start getting used to all of the surprises and the craziness of mission life... But I just can't seem to get that part figured out yet... haha It always works out in the end though so I have stopped worrying too much about the crazy things that do happen. 

     I'll start with the surprises of this week... There actually was really only one big surprise this week and it happened on Friday. We were at Mission Leader Council and President Taggart pulled Sister Quinlan and I aside and told us that we would be going on an emergency exchange with a companionship of sisters that we are over. We had already gone on exchange with them last week, but they aren't doing well together and they are struggling getting along. It has been a pretty big ordeal and so I have been on exchange with one of the sisters for 3 days now. We are going to be exchanging back today after emails, but we have to sit them down and make them "talk it out" with us there so we can get stories straight. I think that this exchange really has helped them both. Now hopefully it will go well when we all talk this through and they will be able to get back to missionary work and loving being companions! I have lots of faith that it will. (: I am so grateful for the companions that I have had. I have loved each one of them and I feel so blessed to have been put with each of them. But this emergency exchange was definitely a surprise and was definitely out of the blue. So I haven't been with Sister Quinlan for 3 days AND we have another exchange tomorrow. haha I don't have time to sleep or think things through! hahaha I was thinking though that this is a tender mercy. Being so busy and having to keep my mind focused on the sisters and so many other things has really helped me not think about going home! haha (;

     This week has been such a great week though! We are finding so many people to teach and seeing so many miracles happen. First things first... I got to hold a chicken this week. So, that was fun. (: I also got to FINALLY see water!!! So I took a bunch of photos... hahaha 

     So, I want to share with yous what happened on Sunday. It was kinda crazy because I haven't been able to really meet the ward because we have had conference after conference after conference... So this was my first Sunday in this ward since I have gotten to the area! Everyone was so confused though because Sister Quinlan wasn't with me and so many people thought that me and the sister I am on exchange with got doubled into the area... haha I got to finally meet the members and get to know them a little more though. Which was so good for me because I love working with members! Our investigators, Mike and Robyn, came to church yesterday and they LOVED it! Fast and Testimony Meeting was SO powerful and both Mike and Robyn were crying as people got up and bore their testimonies! They are seriously so prepared. I know that the spirit was testifying to them that this is the Lord's true church. Then, a man walked into sacrament meeting a little late and got up to bear his testimony and talked about how he has been inactive for years, but that he is ready to come back!!! AAAAHHH! (: I was so excited. He is 26 years old and has been in prison, but he is ready to put his life back together. I am so excited for him. I always think about how God and the Savior must feel as they watch someone like this guy come back into the Kingdom. I cannot even begin to comprehend the love that our Heavenly Father and our Savior have for each one of us. SO EXCITING!!! After church was over I felt like we needed to stop by and see a less active earlier than we had planned. As we were driving into the apartment complex there was a car that was pulling out. The guy in the driver seat waved at us and I instantly knew that it was one of our investigators named Raymond. We have been trying to get in contact with him since I have been here, but he was never home and he wasn't answering our phone calls. He backed his car up to ours and we rolled down the window. I basically yelled at him... hahaha I was so excited to FINALLY meet him and that we were able to FINALLY find him!!! He has still been reading from the Book of Mormon and he still wants to meet with us he has just been super busy. He is in his early 20's, but he is the sole provider for his family so he works 2 jobs and is very busy. Plus, he hadn't paid his phone bill so that is why we weren't able to get in contact with him over the phone. We were able to set up an appointment with him for this Tuesday and his little brother Dondre wants to learn as well!!! MIRACLES. It has been an amazing week. My motto for this week was Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." And that definitely happened this week. With the surprises that happened and the business of the week I knew that I had to just trust in the Lord. He would help me know how to help our area and the sisters. I am so grateful that we don't have to EVER go through this life alone. I am so grateful that Jesus Christ lives and loves each of us perfectly. (:

     So that was basically my week. It was crazy, but SO AMAZING. Miracles really do happen every single day. I am glad your week went well too! That is awesome that Ann got married! I CAN'T WAIT TO SKYPE YOUS NEXT SUNDAY!! I feel like that came sooo fast... haha I almost forgot about it... (; I will call you on Saturday to figure out the details. Thanks for everything you guys do for me every day! I miss you guys like crazy. 9 weeks... can you believe it? 

LOVE YOUS TO THE MOON & BACK!! WE GOT THIS! 

Love, Sister Woodland

April 27, 2015 (So. Many. Meetings.)

Hiiii

     So that is super scary about G-ma Chris. That lady better be careful! I am glad that she is doing better now though. I will definitely keep her in my prayers! You people better be careful over there... (: Time just keeps moving by so fast. That is crazy that the school year will be over soon. It is also so crazy that everyone is so grown up now. When did all of this happen!? It is so weird for me to think about sometimes... haha It'll be fiiiiinnneee though! It is all good in the hood... WAIT I'm not in the hood anymore... (; 

    So this week was definitely a busy week. I feel like we have spent SO much time just driving around in the car. We have had a TON of meetings this week. And to make it a little harder we are the South part of the mission so it takes us a good 2 hours to get to Morristown for our meetings. So it basically just ruins the majority of our days when we have meetings. I am tired of being in the car. We have to go to Morristown one more time this Friday and then I think we are okay for at least 2 weeks. (: hahaha But despite the many meetings we were still able to work hard and have a good week. We have been focusing this week on getting our area more organized so that we can implement all the things President Taggart wants us missionaries to be doing. So we were able to get things figured out so that we can move forward and see success with some of the new changes that have been made. President Taggart is definitely an inspired man and I am grateful for all he and his wife do for us! (: I just want to talk about this man and women we are teaching right now. I just think they are so amazing! They seriously are such a miracle. We had Regional Conference on Sunday and it was broadcasted in English in the Stafford, NJ Chapel, which is about 40 minutes away from where we live. We wanted Mike and Robyn to come to church this Sunday, but it is always hard to get investigators to church when church is farther away than usual. But they told us that they wanted to come! We asked them if we could get a ride with them because we have used so many miles this month driving everywhere. They were more than willing to take us. Plus this way they couldn't not come to church because they were our ride...(; haha But it was so cool on our ride back home after the conference was over. They both learned so much from it and they were so grateful for being able to go. It was so cool for me to watch them interact with other ward members. Mike was fellowshipping the ward instead of the ward fellowshipping him... IT WAS SO AWESOME! They are two of the nicest people I have ever met and they are ready to find what is missing in their lives. The only thing right now that would be holding them back is that they need to get married. But it was a miracle because on the ride back home we were all talking about what we had learned and they were both asking so many different questions and one of the questions they brought up was what it meant to be "sealed". We were able to talk about it and the spirit prompted us to let them know that in order to be baptized they have to first be married and they can just get married civilly and then a year after their baptism they can have the opportunity to be married for time and all eternity not just til death do you part. You could tell that is what they both really want. They want to do things the right way. AAAH. I just stinking love teaching Mike and Robyn. Mike reminds me so much of Grandpa Chris. (:

     This week has been really good. We got to go on our first exchange with the sisters for this transfer. It went pretty well. We are over 6 sets of sister missionaries which is more than usual so this transfer is full of exchanges! haha It will be good! It will help keeps things busy. (: Just hopefully I won't get too exhausted... I love going on exchanges with the sisters though! I learn so much from them! We are going to be working on putting more of our investigators on baptismal date this week. Which will be good! Things keep moving forward here. This is definitely God's work and He is in the details of it. I am so grateful that He is because we couldn't do this without Him. (:

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It is finally starting to look like Spring! <3

     I hope that you guys have another great week! I will keep yous in my prayers. Thanks for everything you do for me! I appreciate it soooo much.

LOVE YOUS TO THE MOON & BACK!! WE GOT THIS!

Love, Sister Woodland

April 20, 2015 (Pictures)

More Bike Riding!

This is Helen. She is the sweetest little old lady. We are teaching her! She is like a grandma out here. She ALWAYS feeds us whenever we come over! (:

April 20, 2015 (JERSEY SHORE!‏)

Hey!

     So I guess we might as well get to the first thing yous are probably wondering about.... I AM NOW SERVING IN MANCHESTER, NJ! I am finally serving by the Jersey Shore!!! 16 months later... That took long enough...(; The area is definitely different than what I am used to, but I already love it soooo much! I really was a little bitter that they moved me so quick out of East Brunswick, but I have realized over these last couple of days that I really need to be in this area with my new companion. I have already been able to learn so much! It actually has been an answer to my prayers because I needed to be somewhere with someone who would help me stretch so that I can continue to grow. Especially in these last few months of my mission. I am so grateful for moments like these on my mission because they really help me understand more fully that God really does listen to our prayers and he really does know the desires of our hearts. And thank goodness for that! Sister Quinlan is my new companion and we are still Sister Training Leaders. She is from Springerville, Arizona. She is a year older than me and she is sooo awesome! She is an incredible missionary! I feel super blessed to be her companion because she has already taught me so stinkin much! Her and her last companion have done some incredible work here in this area! I am really excited to be here and continue to see miracles happen.

  

     The next thing I wanted to talk about is.... THEY PUT ME IN A BIKING AREA! What in the world were they thinking..........................? hahahahahaha JUST KIDDING. Can you imagine me in a biking area? I would die. We just ride bikes on Thursday's so we can save some car miles and talk to more people! I was actually super excited when I found out our area had bikes. I have always wanted to be that sister missionary riding around on a bike wearing a skirt. I had too much fun with it. 

     So this area is amazing. I am already in love with it! The week before I got here Sister Quinlan and her companion felt impressed to knock some doors on a particular street. They found these two AMAZING people named Mike and Robyn. I got to meet them on Wednesday and the lesson was incredible. The spirit was SO strong and you could tell that God had prepared these two people. We got to teach them about the Plan of Salvation and it went really well. They had a lot of questions and the lesson was able to answer so many things for them. In part of the lesson Robyn was talking to us about how one of her family members had passed away and that her sister was telling her about a dream that she had where she saw that family member all in white just waiting in some kind of a waiting area. Sister Quinlan, me, and our team up just looked at each other and the spirit filled the room. We were able to talk to her and Mike about the Spirit World and that before Judgment Day there is a waiting period where we will go. We talked about how everyone will have the opportunity to Follow Jesus Christ. Robyn and Mike were both very emotional in the entire lesson. I love being able to see those people whose hearts have been prepared and who are ready to receive the Restored Gospel. Mike and Robyn are definitely some of those people. And even if they don't accept it all right now, I know they felt the spirit testify to their hearts that what they have been taught so far is the truth... And that is what matters. We were able to find 3 new investigators this week and we are excited to continue to keep finding more and to help those we are currently teach, enter into God's Kingdom! 

     Jersey is fun. (: haha No matter where I go there are always crazy people, but I love it here so much! I feel so blessed to have been called to this mission and to have made the decision to serve a mission in the first place. 

     I hope that you guys have another great week! That is crazy that you got some snow in April... But I guess it is a good thing so you can get some water over there! Thanks for all of your love and support. It means the world to me! 

MY NEW ADDRESS IS: 83 Walnut Street #91 Toms River, New Jersey 08753 (mail me...(; )

LOVE YOUS TO THE MOON & BACK!!! WE GOT THIS! 

Love, Sister Woodland