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