January 26, 2015

Hey family!

     So my heart burn has gotten much better this last week. That has been SUCH a relief! I still have it sometimes, but I have been trying reaallllyyy hard to eat better things and I just don't eat at all after 8 pm. It has seemed to help a ton. I sometimes still get really bad stomach pain, but it doesn't last very long and that is also going away slowly! So all is well. No need to worry about me over here! I am doing just fine. (:

     My new companion's name is Sister Robinson and she is so great! She has been out for almost 5 months now! It is so crazy though because she has almost been out for 5 months and that is how long I have left on my mission... haha I really like having a younger companion though. It helps keep me motivated and it helps keep me going. Young missionaries have such great faith and such drive to work so hard and to see miracles. So I think it is a really good thing that I am companions with a younger missionary at this stage in my mission! We have very similar personalities and so it has been a lot of fun! I am excited to serve with her! 

     JACKIE GOT BAPTIZED YESTERDAY!!! It really happened this Sunday. It was so awesome. Man I just stinking love being a part of these incredible people's conversion processes. When Jackie came up out of the water she had the biggest grin on her face. She put her hands in the air and said, "I did it!" haha it was the cutest thing ever! Then when she came out of the font we were in the bathroom waiting for her with her towel and she tells Sister Robinson and I that she wants her son and her daughter and her husband to follow her! She was crying and you could tell by just looking at her that she knew she had made the right decision. She was so happy. I love Jackie so much and I am so grateful I got to experience this with her. I feel so blessed on my mission to teach these people who are SO prepared. I feel like they teach me so much more than I teach them. I am one lucky missionary, that's for sure! (:

​

     This week has been a little bit crazy again. We found out that we do have an infestation of bed bugs... I have never seen so many before in my entire life. SO GROSS. I was flipping out... hahaha We had to call our landlord and they have to have someone come in and spray our entire apartment. But for some reason our landlord hasn't called us back to let us know when that is going to happen... weird. We really want to just get it over with as soon as possible so that we can kill the eggs before we have a whole other round of bed bugs... I guess bed bugs are one of the hardest bugs to get rid of. Just terrific... hahaha I DEPISE THESE BUGS. 

     Miracle of the week! Sister Hindman and I had contacted this guy at Dunkin Donuts one time and we wrote down the address to the church and the time church is at because he said he wanted to come. Then just a couple of days ago Sister Robinson and I ran into this guy again. We invited him to come to church on Sunday and he said he would. I told him that we were going to hold him to that promise. I honestly wasn't expecting to actually see him in church, but HE CAME! I seriously couldn't even believe it. I feel like that never happens! He seemed to enjoy church and told us that he would be coming next week! We are going to stop by his house this week and start teaching him hopefully! (: 

     So things are going good for me! Life as a missionary is crazy, but so completely worth it! I am so grateful for this gospel and for the example that our Savior has set for each of us! Thanks for everything you do for me fam! Best family ever. (: I hope that you all have a great week this week! 

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

Love, Sister Woodland

January 19, 2015 (Another Transfer Done!)

Hi Family!

     Glad to hear that things are still going well for everyone! I am glad you guys are having spring weather over there... We had some intense weather over here in New York! We woke up Sunday morning and went outside to head to Ward Council when we realized that everything had a layer of ice on it. The roads were seriously like an ice skating rink! We went about 3 miles per hour all the way to the church with the hazard lights on. (everyone else was doing the same thing) As we were driving to the church we saw like 10 car accidents. People had slid off the road into trees; people had run into each other, it was SO crazy! Luckily we made it to the church safe and sound. There were about 8 other people there and our Bishop said that we needed to cancel church because he didn't want to chance all of our members driving from all different parts of the area to get to church and possibly getting into an accident. It was better if people were safe! So we had a mini little sacrament meeting with the few people who were at the church and then we all just hang out at the church for a while until the roads got better. It was a weird Sunday, that's for sure. It threw our whole day off! Jackie was supposed to get baptized that day, but she couldn't because of church being cancelled due to the crazy weather... And I seriously mean crazy.... I have never seen anything like it! It was like an ice storm... But Jackie will be baptized next Sunday! And we looked at the weather and it is supposed to be a pretty nice day that day! So hopefully nothing else goes wrong! haha So other than stressing out about the craziness of missionary life and trying not to die of heart burn I am doing pretty good! hahaha I am hangin in there! Even if I feel like I can sometimes breathe fire... (; 

     So it is transfer time again! That went quick! I am staying in New York for another transfer! Sister Hindman is getting transferred. It was so weird to get that text message last night especially since we could have sworn that if any of us were getting transferred it would have been me... She has only been in this area for 2 transfers... I really loved having her as a companion! She is an awesome missionary and I am definitely going to miss her! I am grateful we got to spend the holidays together though! So once again I get to introduce another sister missionary to good ole' New York State! (: haha It is always fun to see the expression on the sisters faces when they realize that they won't be serving in Jersey! So I am onto my 4th transfer here in this area! I will officially be here for 6 months! I am actually SO relieved that I am staying in this area! I love it soooooo much! I was really hoping that I would get to stay. Heavenly Father definitely does answer prayers! (: 

     I stinkin love the people here and I love this crazy little ward! Our Bishop and his wife came and got us yesterday and we went over to their home for a little bit and it was good to visit with them and to know how we can help our Bishop and the ward out more! They really are way too good to us! Don't forget to love the missionaries back at home! They need to feel loved every now and then! It helps to keep us going! (: Our Bishop here has two HUGE great danes. I am grateful to be here with these amazing people for another transfer!

     Well sorry for the short email this week. I ran out of time. But I love you guys so much and I am so grateful for everything you do for me every day! I hope that you guys have another great week and I will fill you in on everything next Monday! 

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

Love, Sister Woodland

January 12, 2015 (I found a dead man...)

FAMILY.

     Another week down. It went by so quick! Glad to hear that everyone is adjusting... Or at least trying to adjust back to the routine! Tell G-ma Chris that I say Happy Birthday please! (: I will try to get her a letter sent this week. Also, I will keep Ray Nelson in my prayers and the whole Nelson family! Sounds like Dad is staying super busy. That is good for him. (; haha 

     This week was a great week. It was a little crazy, but I tend to like the crazy weeks the most. We got to help out our Bishop's wife this week by helping some members in our Ward clean their house. They are hoarders. I think Heavenly Father has been trying to tell me something on my mission because I feel like I have helped SO many hoarders since I have been out. All I know is that I will NEVER hoard things. Nope. Not ever. Anyway, it was pretty bad. We had to wear masks and gloves and like body suits... They sent off these bug bombs to kill any bugs that were living in the rooms we were cleaning. Hopefully it worked and hopefully we didn't bring home any other bugs... haha So we started to clean one of the rooms. It was so overwhelming. There was stuff piled above my waist. We had to just climb on top of everything and start throwing stuff in garbage bags. We filled sooooooooooo many garbage bags! It was so cool when were finally able to see the floor. We were working in a room that they really hadn't gone into for years. There were some REALLY old stuff. We got the room clean and we were finally able to open the closest and there was a box that our Bishop's wife asked me to open to see what was in it and if they would need it anymore. I opened it up and there was the member's brother's ashes.... The members daughter who is less active was watching us work and she screams downstairs, "Mom the missionaries found your brother!" hahahahahahahaha I was scarred.... They had no idea where he had been for years. So... yep... I found someone's dead brother. That will definitely be an experience I will never forget! haha The next day we were working on the other room and as we were standing on this bed putting stuff into garbage bags the member came up to see how things were going and just as casually as she possibly could she says, "That is the bed that my father died in." I was just like, yep, I am done, I am totally over this. Let's go home now please! hahahaha So that whole experience was a lot of fun! 

     We woke up on Saturday morning and it was freezing cold! Our thermostat said that it was 57 degrees in our apartment. We called our land lord and he didn't answer... He finally got back to us later that day and told us that the boiler had gone out, but that it was now fixed. Because our apartment is heated by floor board radiators it took a little longer to get the apartment heated again, but we are good and warm now! Good thing I got so many hand warmers and toe warmers for Christmas though! (: 

     We also locked our keys inside our apartment by accident this week. Usually I can get through the front window, but we had locked those ones as well.... So we had to get ahold of our land lord again... He probably hates us... haha But they don't even have a spare key to our apartment and so his nephew had to get a ladder and break into our apartment through our bedroom window so we could get our keys... hahaha It was very eventful. The guy did say though that having to break into our apartment made his day! (: That was a relief! haha 

     On a more less crazy note things are going good with our investigators! Jackie is still progressing and doing really well! She is getting really excited for her baptism date this upcoming Sunday! I can't believe that it is already here! I am so excited for her! It has been fun teaching her and helping her learn and grow closer to the Savior! She will have her baptismal interview this Friday. We also saw this huge miracle with a lady we are teaching. We have been trying to get her to progress, but for some reason she just won't commit to a baptismal date. We taught her about the Plan of Salvation and she loved it. She got really choked up when we were talking about repentance and how the Savior loves us each SO much that He died for us and made the Plan of Salvation possible. She had talked with us about things she is struggling to overcome and didn't know if God could still love her or if she could overcome those bad habits. As we talked more with her I felt prompted to watch the Mormon message about that guy who had a problem with drugs and had ended up in the prison system for 9 years. He was able to feel God's love for him and through the Atonement of Christ he was able to overcome his mistakes. The spirit was so strong and she opened up with us. She wants to have a better life for her and her family. We promised that if she truly trusted the Savior that He wouldn't let her down and that He would help her have that better life. It was such a cool lesson. It was a reminder to me that God really does love every single one of us. Our Savior also loves us SO much. He loves us so much that He performed the Atonement and went through all of the suffering and pain so that we can have the chance to become clean and return to our Heavenly Father's presence again one day. I am so grateful for that unconditional love that makes all things possible. I love being able to help other people realize that the Savior loves them unconditionally and that He has provided a way for them to become better and to return to His presence! This Gospel really is amazing. (:

     Thanks for everything you do fam! I hope that you guys have another great week! 

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

Love, Sister Woodland

January 5, 2015

Hey Fam! 

     Crazy that everyone is back to school and work! That was a long break... (; It probably went by so quick for everyone! haha I can't believe Megan is already back to school for her last semester... That is SO weird. Time is just flying right on by. I feel like it is just going to continue to get faster and faster! 

     This last week was a pretty good week for Sister Hindman and I. We are still teaching Jackie who is on date to be baptized for January 18th. She is still doing well and on track to be baptized that day. We were seriously so worried about her because she has been on vacation for a little over a week and when we tried calling her to set up an appointment we couldn't reach her... I was so nervous that she was ignoring us. BUT we finally were able to get a hold of her and set up an appointment to meet with her. Her phone wasn't working properly and she had to get it fixed. That was why she wasn't answering the phone. So that was a relief. She is such a strong women and she has such a desire to do what is right. It has been so cool to see her withstand the temptations that Satan is trying to put in her path. She has her mind set on one thing and that has been the Temple. I know that because her focus is on the eternal perspective she is going to be just fine. I am so excited for her! We have to teach her about 4 times this week and 4 times next week so that she is ready for her baptism. So wish us luck! (: 

     I learned this week that I need to learn creole. We have this awesome investigator we are teaching named Andrea, but she has a hard time understanding everything we are saying. Which has been rough... So we try our very best to bring a Haitian member with us to her appointments. It always goes much better when we have someone that can speak creole with us. Our Bishop here wants this area to have Creole Speaking Missionaries. It honestly would help so much! Too bad I can't speak it... I will pray for the gift of tongues! (:

     It has been a sad week for our ward this week. Our relief society president has been fighting breast cancer for quite a while now and she isn't doing well... One of our members called us and the elders on Tuesday to inform us what is going on. Sister Hindman and I were able to stop by on Wednesday and visit with her for a little bit. She has lost a ton of weight and was having trouble eating anything. She had been throwing up for a while. We found out just a couple of days ago that they have called hospice in. It has been so hard to watch. She is an incredible women and she has definitely been a trooper. The ward has been so supportive and helpful. It has been really hard for everyone, especially since there isn't much anyone can do. I am just so grateful for the Plan of Salvation which makes it possible for each of us to see our loved ones again. Because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ we can find peace when we are faced with these kind of trials. We will never be left alone in our time of need. The Savior really does know EXACTLY what each of us are facing and going through and He will never leave us to handle it alone. He loves us regardless of our decisions and circumstances. We honestly cannot even comprehend the love the Savior has for each of us. I am so grateful for that love!

     Well fam, that is about all I can think of to tell you... I am so grateful you guys and doing well. I hope everything goes smoothly as you get back into the "good ole grind of things". haha Thanks for all the love and support. I am so grateful for everything you do for me each day! (: Have a great week! 

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

Love, Sister Woodland

P.S. Did you get my letters??

December 29, 2014 (Pictures)

Our Christmas Tree with our presents underneath it! (:

In my Christmas Jammies cooking breakfast for the zone on Christmas morning!

December 29, 2014 (HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!)

Hey Family!

     Man. It was so good to see all of your beautiful faces. You all look so stinkin good! (: The rest of our Christmas went well! I loved all of the presents I received! Seriously I feel so loved. THANKS! Everything fit! I LOVE the dress. It does fit and it is super cute. (: I already did use all of the McDonald's money.... awkward... haha Juuuust kiddin. I am glad you guys got to go to Marisa's homecoming! That is awesome. So crazy still that she is already home. 

     So we had some cool miracles happen this week. The first miracle was on Tuesday night. We have been really focusing on getting 70 or more contacts every week and we were a little behind so we decided to take the time to knock on some doors. We chose an apartment complex and started knocking. The people there were all pretty friendly and we were able to get quite a few numbers and return appointments. We needed to get 3 more contacts and it was about 8:45 pm and we knew that we needed to head back to our apartment soon, but we decided to knock on one last door before we went in for the night. This family answered the door and they seemed a little hesitant at first, but then let us in so we could watch the "He is the Gift" video with them. As we watched this 3 minute video clip the spirit instantly filled their home. You could see their hearts soften and they were more willing to listen to us. We asked if we could come back and share more with them on Sunday and they agreed. We were able to teach a few of them yesterday and the appointment went pretty well! They had some really good questions and we were able to teach the Restoration and invite them to read the Introduction to the Book of Mormon and to pray and ask God if what we taught them is true. They agreed and you could see that they really want to know. They are such a good family and the mom just wants the best for her children. We are SO excited to have the opportunity to teach this sweet family. It is always so cool for me to see God's hand in His work. It reminds me of the story in Alma chapter 26 when Ammon is talking with his brothers and they are going to the land of Nephi to preach the gospel to their brethren, the Lamanites. But the Lamanites are laughing at them and Ammon and his brothers are getting discouraged. I love what it says in verses 27-30, 

     "Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success.

     And now behold, we have come, and been forth amongst them; and we have been patient in our sufferings, and we have suffered every privation; yea, we have traveled from house to house, relying upon the mercies of the world-- not upon the mercies of the world alone but upon the mercies of God. 

     And we have entered into their houses and taught them, and we have taught them in their streets; yea, and we have taught them upon their hills; and we have also entered into their temples and their synagogues and taught them; and we have been cast out, and mocked, and spit upon, and smote upon our cheeks; and we have been stoned, and taken and bound with strong cords, and cast into prison; and through the power and wisdom of God we have been delivered again.

     And we have suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul; and we supposed that our joy would be full if perhaps we could be the means of saving some."

So even when I am tired and want to just head home, I know that if I continue doing what I have been called to do, the Lord is going to bless us. He has promised that He will give unto us success. And He definitely has. 

     The other miracle that happened to us this last week was with another door contact as well. We needed to get our contacts in for the day and we were trying to decide where we should go contact or knock doors. Sister Hindman suggested a place that she thought would be good and so I put it into my GPS, but for some reason it wasn't taking us to the right place. And we were spending too much time trying to look for it so we finally decided we were close to an apartment complex and that we would just go knock some doors there instead. We knocked on the first door and a man named Eric answered the door. As we started to talk with him he didn't seem very interested and I kept thinking he was laughing at us and everything we were saying. He kept asking us questions like, why God would let bad things happen to good people and stuff like that. He seemed super discouraged and depressed. We continue to talk with him and testify to him that God loves him and that God really does hear and answer our prayers. It is just in His time and in His way. After about 40 minutes we asked if we could meet with him again sometime and he still seemed a little bit hesitant, but he did say yes. We gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon and invited him to read Ether 12. He told us that he would. We then asked if we could say a prayer with him and he said that it would be fine. I said the prayer and after it was over he thanked us for coming. He told us that he needed to know that night that God does still love him. He opened up to us and told us that his brother was killed in September and that he has really been struggling. I was really taken back. I know that God places people in our path and us in theirs, but we don't always get to know that. But with Eric we were able to realize that we had been sent to his apartment at that exact time because he needed to know God does still love him. Moments like that make contacting and missionary work SO worth it. I am so grateful that I got to help this man remember that he is of great worth. That he is a child God. And that he is loved. Even if Eric doesn't meet with us, I know that we did exactly what the Savior would have wanted us to do that night standing on Eric's doorstep. 

     I am so grateful to be here. I know that this Church and the gospel of Jesus Christ are true. I know that here is where we will all be able to know without a shadow of a doubt that God DOES love each of us. I am so grateful for that unconditional love. 

     I am so glad that things are going well back home! It sounds like the rest of your Christmas was good! I can't believe that the holidays are basically over either! It went by so quick! I hope that you guys are a great New Year's! Thanks for everything you do for me! Best family EVER.

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

Love, Sister Woodland

P.S. Funny Story. Sister Hindman and I wanted to get some Gelato at this Pizza place for a treat and we went inside and the owner kept looking at us funny and he asked if he could help us. We told him we just wanted some Gelato and he began to help us. Then he looked up and asked us, "Are you Jesus freaks?" You should have seen the look on our faces.... I was like...uuuhh... I guess you could say that... haha I thought at first that he was going to rip us a new one... But then he said, "I am a Jesus Freak too!" haha He showed us all of the things he had in his restaurant and gave us a hard time... And at the end of it he told us that our Gelato was on him!! Wasn't that so nice of him! Anyway, it was kinda fun! (: 

December 22, 2014 (MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!)

Mi Familia.

     There is so much going through my mind right now; I don't even know where to start... This is all crazy. hahaha I can't believe that I have been out for over a year. I can't believe that it is almost Christmas. I can't believe that I get to see all of your beautiful faces so soon. I can't believe that so many people are home from their missions. I can't believe how fast time is flying by. I feel old. Alright, now that I have that off my chest... Things over here are going great!! (:

     We got to go to the Temple on Tuesday. I LOVE THE TEMPLE. I wish that we could go more often, but I know that as missionaries we need to help those that are living to accept the gospel. I am just grateful that we get the opportunity to go twice a year! It is always an adventure though, taking the subway through New York City. We probably look so weird to other people... Just a bunch of confused missionaries! haha I have definitely developed a love for New York. (: 

     On Friday we had our big Christmas All Mission Conference. It was a lot of fun! So much time and effort goes into these conferences! They made us lots of yummy foods and we got to play some minute to win it games! A bunch of different missionaries performed different Christmas songs. It was so good! President Taggart spoke to us at the end of the Conference and it was exactly what I needed to hear. It is so cool to see Heavenly father answer your prayers through different people. It was definitely an answer to my prayers. He talked about just being in the "here and now". Wherever you are in life to just love it. Not to be focused on the past and past mistakes or the way we used to be, but to focus on what we are doing right now in our lives. He also talked about not looking forward to the future and worrying about what we needed to do next in our lives. JUST BE HERE. Wherever you are. Make the most of it and be the best you can possibly be. (: I definitely needed to hear that for these last 6 months of my mission. I want to just be here and not be worried about the past or the future. Isn't there like a quote from Kung Fu Panda or something about that? I think it says something like, Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is the present, that is why we call it a gift. I probably butchered that, but you get what I mean! (: Anywho, President Taggart is so inspired! So it was definitely a fun day! I loved being able to see so many missionaries and to see how everyone is doing!! 

     On Saturday we were able to go to Ellis Island and Volunteer there with two other sisters! I always love being able to go to Ellis Island. It is so great. It is so beautiful there. We will have to go as a family! (: Saturday night was our Ward Christmas Party. I think it turned out pretty well! It was really fun! We had a family that we are teaching come which was SO awesome! They are so cute and I think they really enjoyed the party as well. We were also able to get a few numbers from people that our Ward members brought! It was a really great missionary opportunity! Our Ward is so awesome! They are so great to help us out and they also do so much for us missionaries! They got us a bunch of things for Christmas! It was so nice of them!!

     We were finally able to have a normal day on Sunday! It was a busy day, but we saw so many miracles and we were able to catch up on the days we were able to teach as much. We got to see 3 of our investigators on Sunday. We are teaching a younger Haitian family. It is a mom and her 3 boys. One of the boys is 14 years old and he is so interested in learning about the gospel, but the mom seems to be getting in the way. We were trying to teach the whole family yesterday, but the mom wouldn't sit down so we just started to teach the 14 year old boy. I had almost finished telling him the First Vision, when the mom asked if we could come back another time because she had a screaming baby and needed to get dinner ready. It was so sad!! This poor boy wants to learn SO badly. So hopefully when we go over on Christmas Eve it will go better! We are also teaching an older Haitian lady and she is so awesome! She absolutely loves talking about Jesus Christ. It was a little bit awkward at first because she brought out her Jehovah Witness stuff... But it was good because we were able to clear up that we are not Jehovah Witness. I can't even tell you how many times I have gotten mixed up with the Jehovah Witnesses on my mission... But she is really excited to learn! She committed to be baptized if she comes to know that this is all true. Haitians are so friendly! God is definitely in the details of this great work. And boy am I so grateful He is! (: 

     I have been studying a lot lately about Grace and the Atonement and I was ready a talk by Brad Wilcox titled, "His Grace is Sufficient". In it he says, "The grace of Christ is sufficient—sufficient to cover our debt, sufficient to transform us, and sufficient to help us as long as that transformation process takes. The Book of Mormon teaches us to rely solely on “the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah” (2 Nephi 2:8). As we do, we do not discover—as some Christians believe—that Christ requires nothing of us. Rather, we discover the reason He requires so much and the strength to do all He asks (see Philippians 4:13). Grace is not the absence of God’s high expectations. Grace is the presence of God’s power (see Luke 1:37)." The grace of Jesus Christ really is sufficient for each of us. No matter what. I am so grateful for the Savior. I have loved being able to strengthen my relationship with Him and really focus on his birth and life this Christmas Season! He really is what Christmas is all about! 

     Well family. That about sums up my week. It was a busy week, but a really great week all wrapped in one! I have received all of the packages and lots more! I feel so stinkin loved! (: THANKS! I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOUR FACES ON CHRISTMAS. I will call you probably around 7:30 or 8 pm on Christmas Eve super quick to figure out the details. Thanks for being so amazing! I am so glad things are going well back at home! (: Have a great week and I will see you on Thursday! (:

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

Love, Sister Woodland

p.s. Mal's hair is adorable!!!

December 15, 2014

Hey Fam!

     Well December is definitely a crazy month for sure! We have lots going on and this upcoming week is probably going to be the busiest one! Things are going pretty good here! It is always the worst because I can never remember what we did last week so when I come to email I can never think of anything... my mind just goes blank. Rough. haha It is a good thing that we have to carry planners everywhere we go! (: Things with our investigators are slowly but surely moving along. We have been so blessed to find so many people to teach that we now need to slow it down a little and really focus in on the investigators that we do have so we can help them to progress. We have more investigators right now than I have had my entire mission! This area is seriously incredible. The only problem is that we are struggling to get them to keep commitments. It can get a little hard when there is a language barrier though... So we really appreciate all of the Haitian team ups that we can possibly get. That is awesome Dad that you are working with the missionaries to get the ward more involved in helping to teach and go out with the missionaries. I know that the members are a HUGE help to us. They seem to be able to relate to the people so much better than we can! And then when an investigator does come to church or a less active they already have a friend that they can sit with! We can't do this work without each other! (: 

     Our Bishop here has asked us to knock doors in a specific area here so we have been doing that. It has been a really cool experience for Sister Hindman and I because we have been able to find a few new investigators there. We were able to find 2 there and then the elders that we work with in our ward gave us a referral and we were able to pick up another lady who is interested in learning more about the church. All but one of our investigators is Haitian. So it has been fun to get to know the Haitian culture! Jackie is still doing great! We are a little bit stressed with making sure that we can get all of her lessons in before her baptism date. We can't meet with her this week because we have a crazy schedule and also because she is working ALL the time. She is covering shifts for a co-worker and then the following week she is going to Florida. So when she gets back we are going to have to meet with her quite a bit so that she is ready for her baptism! She is so awesome though. You can see how much she really wants this and I hope she continues to follow the promptings and whisperings she receives from the Holy Ghost. You just can't go wrong if you listen to the Holy Ghost. (: 

     Isaiah got to pass the sacrament for the first time yesterday! It was so awesome. He was soooooo nervous though! haha He did a great job for his first time! It is so much fun to be able to be here to see him continue to progress in the gospel! He is such a great kid. In our last lesson with him he kept asking a bunch of question about serving a mission! He couldn't believe that we aren't allowed to watch TV. haha It was super funny. He kept saying, "Well then what do you do when you are bored?" hahaha Well... We just continue sharing the gospel! I don't think he could really believe it! I hope when he is older that he chooses to go on a mission! That would be so cool and so good for him. 

     We had our Christmas Program thingy yesterday in Morristown with all of the English missionaries. I think it turned out pretty good! The office staff put so much work into it. It was really cool. I got to see some people from my other areas! It was awesome! Sister Page came back to visit and came to the program! So I got to see her! It was so crazy because she isn't a full-time missionary anymore... haha But Sister Valdez was there and some other members from Hightstown! It was SO good to see them all! I seriously have been so blessed to love every single area that I have served in! The Valdez family is moving to Utah in 2 weeks! Crazy, huh? That is super exciting for them! Last night was a lot of fun! We have another busy week this week. We get to go to the Temple tomorrow! YAY! (: It has been soooooooo long! So that will take most of the day so we don't get much of a p-day today. Then on Wednesday we are going to be helping our Bishop's wife wrap present for our Ward's Christmas Party. They go all out! I'll tell you all about it next week! On Friday it is our Christmas All Mission Conference and then on Saturday we are going to Ellis Island and then the Ward Christmas Party is that night. So we have lots going on this week! It will be a fun week! (: 

     For Christmas we are going to go over to the Baldwin's for Christmas dinner and they said that we can skype at their house. So... We will be skyping on Christmas day! (: (: (: I am not sure yet what time... That probably will depend on when they are having dinner and all of that good stuff. I will call yous on Christmas Eve to figure out all of the details though! 

     I am glad you finally were able to get the Christmas card figured out! (; haha That is ALWAYS a struggle for our family! It sounds like things are going well back home! That is always a good thing for a missionary to hear! (: haha I officially hit my year mark this Thursday! So crazy!!! It will be fun to celebrate it with Sister Hindman though! We are going to have to do something crazy that day... (; haha There is not much you can do that is crazy as a missionary... haha Also, Mom... I have only received the package that said open immediately... So I have no idea about the other package... Did you send it to the mission home?? I did get my CTR ring! THANKS MEGGERS. I love it soooo much! (: I will call the office today and see if they have a package for me and if they don't I will have them call you! Thanks again for everything you do for me! I seriously couldn't do it without yous! I hope you have a great week! (:

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

Love, Sister Woodland