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. (: