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! (:
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