November 10, 2014 (SERVICE.)

Hi. (:

    So this week has been super great, but I feel like it has been a little bit of an off week! I guess you have to have some of those every now and then! We were planning on Thursday and we felt like we needed to drop most of the investigators that we had. They just aren't progressing and they have been investigators for quite some time. So we are going to be doing a whole lot of finding and increasing our teaching pool right now! We definitely have a lot of work cut out for us! But I am totally ready for it! (: I FINALLY feel like I am getting my energy back! It has been a weird few weeks! Ever since I got a cold I just haven't been able to get back to normal! I have just been so tired all of the time. So the mission doctor wanted me to go in somewhere to make sure things were okay. The doctor was really awesome and super thorough! I had an EKG done and it was normal and then they took some blood to be tested. He had me also go in and get a chest x-ray and a sinus x-ray. I kinda felt like a lab rat... haha We were at the doctors quite a bit this week! But the chest x-ray was normal and the blood work came back normal as well. The sinus x-ray showed that I had a lot of inflammation so he put me on some antibiotics for the next two weeks! I seriously am so over sinus infections! I seem to get them allllllll of the time! It is all good though! I feel like slowly but surely I am getting more and more energy! 

     We were able to do a ton of service this week! That was basically all we did on Wednesday! We went over to a members in the morning and helped her rake her leaves! She has a HUGE yard! Also, there are like a bajillion trees here so there were like 50 times a bajillion leaves! hahaha It was fun though! We then got to go over to a Less Actives home and help them clean. They are hoarders and have had a lot of financial troubles and so they have to move out of their home. So we are helping them throw things away and clean things up. I think there are a lot of hoarders on the east coast. Or at least I have helped a lot of them so far on my mission. I'll probably come home and become a hoarder...(; On Wednesday night we got to help a family move in! They moved here from Arizona and they are so great! I am excited that they are here. This ward really needs strong families! They are definitely going to be a blessing for this ward! I think the wife was a little bit in shock coming from the west coast to the east coast though! It reminded me of how in shock I was when I first got out here! But I have come to love the east coast SO much! It will always hold such a special place in my heart! Serving is probably one of my favorite things! I think that is one of the biggest reasons I love being a missionary so much! I just love being able to serve those around me 24/7! There really is no better feeling! (:

     So I was supposed to teach Young Women's yesterday, but it got changed and so I am teaching them next week. The lesson that I was asked to teach on is "Why is work an important gospel principle". I think I am really the one that needed to hear this lesson. IT IS SO GOOD. There is a talk by President Uchtdorf titled "Two Principles for Any Economy" and he talks about the principle of work. He says" How I admire men, women, and children who know how to work! How the Lord loves the laborer! He said, 'In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,' and ' The laborer is worthy of his hire.' He also gave a promise: 'Thrust in your sickle with all your soul, and your sins are forgiven you.' Those who are unafraid to roll up their sleeves and lose themselves in the pursuit of worthwhile goals are a blessing to their families, communities, nations, and to the Church." The Lord expects us to work. He wants us to do our part so that He can do His! He then goes on to say, "When our wagon gets stuck in the mud, God is much more likely to assist the man who gets out to push than the man who merely raises his voice in prayer-- no matter how eloquent the oration. President Thomas S. Monson put it this way: 'It is not enough to want to make the effort and to say we'll make the effort,... It's in the doing, not just the thinking, that we accomplish our goals. If we constantly put our goals off, we will never see them fulfilled.'" I definitely know that I need to be better at this! I am so grateful I was able to prepare for this lesson! 

     Well Family! I just stinkin love you all SO much! I will be keeping Mom in my prayers especially on the 26th! I know that things will be just fine! (: I know that the Lord is watching over all of you! (: Thanks for everything yous do for me! I hope that you have a great week this week! 

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

Love, Sister Woodland

November 3, 2014 (Pictures)

Pictures with Sister page!

Pics with random missionaries at transfer conference! (:

MISSIONARIES! 

November 3, 2014 (HERE WE GO!)

FAMILY!

     I am glad that everyone had a great Halloween! That is a bummer that you didn't have too many people come around this year... I feel like it just gets slower and slower each year. Shoot! Halloween was good here! We had to be inside our apartment by 6 pm on October 

30th and 31st. It was fun to just hang out inside and watch some movies. We got to watch Ephraim's Rescue and 17 Miracles! THEY ARE SO GOOD. So it was definitely a different Halloween, but it was still a lot of fun! I am now companions with Sister Hindman. We were in the MTC together and we also served around each other our first 2 transfers in the mission! So it has been fun to be serving around each other again as companions! She is super awesome! I am still trying to figure this area out... I have only been here for 1 transfer and now I am leading the area... haha but I think things are coming together! Hopefully... haha there is so much work to do in this area! So I am so excited to really get to work and to work hard! This last week was a little slower just because of everything going on and having to be inside so early, but we have a lot to do this upcoming week! Isaiah was able to receive the Gift of The Holy Ghost yesterday! He is so great! I am so excited to start teaching his family! We were supposed to teach them on Saturday, but they had to cancel last minute! Part of me feels like the children will all be baptized before the parents. Who knows. I am just so grateful that they have the desire to learn and to come closer to Jesus Christ! We are also teaching a lady right now named Jackie! She is from Haiti and she is awesome! She had been taught by missionaries a while ago, but something happened and she backed out. She had a baptismal date set and everything. She told us that she is ready now though. At our first lesson with her she said that wants to be able to go inside the Temple! I was super excited. I told her, "THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT WE WANT FOR YOU TOO!" We invited her to be baptized, but she was a little hesitant. So we are working right now on figuring out what is holding her back! She comes to church every Sunday though! He brother is actually our Ward Clerk! We also have been working with a mom and her two daughters, but we can't seem to get a hold of them and they don't return our calls. So we are going to just stop by sometime this week! They are such a great family and I hope that we will still be able to meet with them! We have a lot of work now to do with increasing our teaching pool! There are so many people here that are ready to hear about the restored gospel. We just gotta go out and find them! (: So I am excited to do some finding activities this week! It is always good to just knock on some doors sometimes! (: 

      I have been really focusing this last week and a half on strengthening my relationship with my Savior. I was reading in Alma 31:31-34 and in verse 31 it says, "O Lord, my heart is exceedingly sorrowful; wilt thou comfort my soul in Christ. O Lord, wilt thou grant unto me that I may have strength, that I may suffer with patience these afflictions which shall come upon me, because of the iniquity of this people." I loved that verse so much. I know that recently I have really been able to find comfort for my soul in Christ. And there really is no better place to find that comfort. It reminds me of the picture with the Savior standing at the door and there is no door knob on His side. We have to make the decision to let the Savior into our own lives. He is ALWAYS there, but we need to make that decisions to open up that door and let him in. I have really found a lot of comfort in that. There have been moments recently where I have been able to feel the Savior wrap His arms around me and carry me through the hard times. I am so thankful for Him. I have been able to realize now more than I ever have before that our Savior lives. I know that he loves me because I have been able to feel that love so powerfully. I know that no matter what happens in life, Jesus Christ is always right there beside us ready to help. We just have to let him. (: 

     Sorry for the short email! Thanks for all your love and support! I am so grateful for each of you! I hope that you have a great week! (: BEST. FAMILY. EVER. 

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

Love, Sister Woodland

October 27, 2014 (Pictures)

PUMPKINS!

Carving Pumpkins! (:

A member took us out to get some hot chocolate!

October 27, 2014 (Perfect Way to End a Transfer!)

Hey Fam!

     So it was a busy week making sure we got everything ready for Isaiah's and Rosie's baptism! We still had quite a bit we needed to teach Isaiah, but we were able to get through all of the lessons! We were both a little worried that we wouldn't be able to get through everything or that he wouldn't fully understand what we were teaching him, but when we went over the baptismal interview questions he knew and understood so much! It was so neat to see that God really did prepare Isaiah and that the real teacher in all of our lessons was really the Holy Ghost. I am so grateful that he has a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that he was ready to take this first step towards our Heavenly Father! The baptism went really well! Our Bishop really likes to have baptisms right after church is over so that everyone in the Ward can be there to support whoever is getting baptized. So basically our entire Ward was there and then some other people who were not members! Isaiah's whole family was able to make it! It was so great! It was really cool to watch Isaiah's parents. They were watching everything that was going on so intently. While we were waiting for Isaiah and Rosie to get changed we put in the Restoration DVD and watched through the 1st vision. You could tell that the spirit was really working on Isaiah's parents. We talked with Isaiah's dad after the baptism was over and he told us that he felt something different. Something that he had never felt before. We asked him if we could come and teach the rest of the family and he agreed!!! It has been so neat for me to see that by the example of a 13 year old boy, a whole family can embrace the Gospel! (:

     

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The other person that was baptized was a little girl named Rosie and we have been working with her family because they have been Less Active for a while. They have been coming back to church for the last 4-5 Sundays and the mom really wanted her older daughter to be baptized. So we got the opportunity to work with her as well!! Their family is from Samoa! So stinkin cool! Rosie is soooo adorable! I just love their family so much!

     So all in all it really turned out to be a great week!! The week leading up to a baptism is always crazy. It is definitely just satan...No worries though, we won!!! (: I just love being able to help my brothers and sisters follow the example of Jesus Christ. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. I am serious. Times like this make up for every single hard time. (:

     Sister Rigby is getting transferred and so I will be getting a new companion tomorrow! Transfers are always a little intense! haha I will let you know all about it next week! I am glad that things are going good back home! Thanks for all the letters and love! haha YOUS ARE THE BEST EVER!!!

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

Love, Sister Woodland

October 20, 2014 (Pictures)

This is me and a member named Sister Jean-Louise and her mom! They are from Haiti! 

Me and my sister training leader! (:

This is the grossest picture ever, but I was so excited to receive the Halloween package!!! Don't judge! 

So... these pictures are super funny... no one came and cleaned the church on Saturday so one of the Bishopric members when to get a vacuum to clean it up and it all back fired on him and just made more of a mess... How many church members does it take to clean the foyer of the church?? (;

October 20, 2014 (In Full Swing)

Hey Fam!

     So I am glad that Dad is okay and that things are going well back at home! Sounds like you guys are pretty busy! It has been kinda weird to not be home for the Fall... haha One of our members asked me the other day... "How much longer do you have on your mission?" I went to answer him and told him 8 months! AAAHHH. Can you even believe that I only have 8 months left?! It kinda shocked me when I actually said it out loud. So crazy that I have been out for over 10 months now! Things are a little crazy over here! We have been sooooooo busy with teaching so many people right now! Which is SO great! (: I love being that busy teaching people! We are getting our 13 year old investigator, Isaiah, ready to be baptized this upcoming Sunday! Everything is lookin good and he is super excited to be baptized! We were really focusing this week on making sure that he received an answer for himself that the Book of Mormon is true. We invited him to pray about it and we followed up with him on Tuesday and he had not prayed. So we taught him just about the Book of Mormon again and really emphasized the importance of it. We invited him to pray that night and ask God if the Book of Mormon is true again and that we would call him the next day to see how it went! We called him on Thursday and he told us that he received an answer and that when he prayed he felt good and that feeling just increased. He said I just KNOW it is true! It was so amazing! We were praying so hard that he would receive an answer. AND HE DID! (: I was so excited for him!! So we are going to be teaching Isaiah a lot this week to get him prepared for his baptism.

     We are also working with a mother and her two daughters right now. They are super awesome! They have been struggling though and we have really been trying to figure out what their concerns have been. They have been invited to be baptized and both times they were very hesitant and they didn't want to commit to an actual date until they really KNEW. Which is something we completely understand, but the mom had been telling us that everything she has learned so far just seems right. She said it all just makes sense. So it has been really hard to get her to understand that that is the Holy Ghost letting her know that what she is learning is true. She FINALLY told us one of her concerns this week. She said that it has been a little hard for her to get used to how our church works. She was raised Pentecostal and has been used to having a Preacher stand up in front and teach with a ton of enthusiasm and to be really involved. She used the analogy of the children's story "Jack and Jill". She said it would be a little different for you to be told one day that Jack and Jill didn't go up the hill to get water, but that they went and got juice. And that is where she is right now. She has been raised all her life in another church and now she is learning different things. She also said that she has been baptized three times and none of those times were her decisions and that she just want to really be sure of this one because it will finally be her decision. So we were soooooo grateful that she was finally honest with us so now we can teach her according to her needs and concerns and now we will be able to resolve them and help her and her girls receive the answer that they are so desperately looking for!

     Those are the people that we are working the most with right now! We are also trying to get into all of our members’ homes and give them the "Gratitude Journal". We just really want to let the Ward members know that we love them and appreciate them so much! This Ward really needs that right now! This Ward has been really blessed with some incredible members that have recently moved in and they are seriously helping to keep things running smoothly here! I am so grateful for them! We got to go help out the Baldwin's this week move into their rental home! It was fun to go help clean the home and move things in! It is so good to be able to just do some service each week! 

     On a random note... People here have the weirdest Halloween decorations... It is a little creepy... haha I think some of these people take Halloween a little too seriously! I have realized though since I have been out here on the East Coast that people either go ALL OUT for different Holidays or they don't do anything. There really is no in between... 

THANKS FOR THE PACKAGES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously you guys are the best EVER. I was sooo stinkin excited to get all of that cute Halloween stuff! And all of the soaps and hand sanitizers from Bath and Body Works! It was seriously the perfect timing for each of those packages! I have the greatest family EVER! I seriously do feel so blessed for all you do for me! So thanks again! I hope that you guys have a great week! 

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

Love, Sister Woodland

P.S. I have started doing a journal on my camera about my day and when the SD card is all filled up I am going to send it home so you guys and watch it and laugh and how crazy I am! (: I think it will be a cool way to remember my mission!