Monday, May 25, 2015

Week in Bed

Alright, this week was full to the brim of miracles. I am going to start with last Monday in the afternoon and work my way to today. Don't anyone freak out because obviously I am still here and everything will be fine.

Monday in the night we got back from special P-day, which was lots of fun. I got a call from Presidente Zanni and he told me that he received a letter from the mission doctor that said..I needed to go home to my house. The doctor saw the x-ray and said I needed to go to the states to get more studies and figure out what was going on. Obviously, I started crying a little and I was completely in shock, so I didn't understand much of what he was saying after that. We live with two other hermanas, so he asked to talk to Hermana Calderon, from Argentina. She started talking to him. She looked into my face and then sternly said to Presidente, "Hermana Wood is not going to her house. Give us one week and I will help her get all the studies she needs so that she can stay." Presidente paused for a while and then said..okay! So this whole last week we have been doing study after study.

Tuesday in the morning Hermana Calderon and I went to Rosario to go to a special knee doctor. Presidente Zanni went with us to the doctor. He told me that I needed to get an ultra sound on my knee to look at my tendons and then come back. Hermana Calderon started calling in Pergamino to see who could give us the ultra sound Wednesday because we only had one week to get everything done. No one had any openings. She decided to call the bishop in her old ward and he told her there was a good clinic in San Nicholas. He gave her the number and she called. They said they could squeeze me in the next day! So we came home from Rosario and slept in Pergamino.

Wednesday in the morning we went to San Nicholas. They did the ultra sound really quickly, but they weren't going to have the results until 6 in the afternoon. So we waited in the house of the hermanas from San Nicholas all day. Then we got back on the colectivo barely in time and slept in Pergamino. Thursday in the morning we went to a really good knee doctor in Pergamino and we brought him the x-ray and the ultra sound. He said he coudn't see anything wront with my tendons, but obviously something is wrong because it is still hurting me really bad. So he told me I needed to get an MRI. The doctor told us to go to this other clinic in Pergamino and ask if I could get the MRI done right at this very moment, without appointment. So we went and they said yes, but is was $2000 pesos. We didn't have $2000 pesos...so we called the other hermanas and all the elders in our district. Everyone brought some money and we were able to pay for it. I got the MRI and we went back to the doctor. He said that my knee is just really inflamed, but there is no permanent damage! He wrote up a report that said that I don't have to go to the states!!!! you have no idea how blessed and happy I am!!!! We called Presidente Zanni and told him what the doctor said. He crumpled up the letter from the doctor and told me I could stay. :) I am so grateful and blessed and I love miracles.

I am going to be starting shock therapy for my knee this week and I haven't left to proselyte for more than a week. I will be in bed until Friday this week and hopefully I will be able to leave. I am grateful for the members that are leaving with my compaƱera and the other hermanas and all the help they gave me. I am so grateful that I am going to be staying here in Argentina and finish my mission strong. Thank you all for your prayers and love! The gospel is true!!!! I love you all!!!

Monday, May 18, 2015

Dedication of the Cordoba Temple!!!

This week was a little slower because I had to stay in the pench a couple days to help my knee heal, but I am doing a ton better and I actually walking now...so that's a plus. I am grateful that we are still helping and finding new people, despite my injury.

Update on Carmelo and Susana. They are doing good! They love everything we are teaching them...but they are having a problem. They are actually from Santa Fe and their address is still in Santa Fe. So they need to change their address to Pergamino before they can get married here, or they need to go to Santa Fe to get married. So...they aren't going to get married June 13th, but they are excited to progress and figure out the best way to get married. It will be good for them because now they have to fight and progress and really put in an effort to get married. It will be good. :) And Susana is scheduled to have her baby girl this next week! We are excited for her!

We found this adorable woman named Amalia. She has two adopted sons named Damian and Angel. Damian is 19 and Angel is 15. We taught her about the restoration and about the book of mormon and she loved it. She said that so many things in her life make sense now and she is excited to keep reading and learning more. She accepted a baptism date too, so we are excited. This week, she invited us to each lunch with her, so we went and met her kids. We invited them to the activity we had Friday, and they came! They instantly became friends with the other young people in our ward, and they had lots of fun. We are excited to work with this family. :)

We had such a cool and spiritual experience yesterday. We were able to attend the dedication of the Cordoba temple in our chapel! We watched all three sessions of the dedication and it was so special. Everyone in Argentina is so excited to have another temple here. I feel spoiled rotten. From my house in Kaysville, I think I have about 8 or more temples within an hour of my house. The people here were crying with joy because they have a temple 4 hours away now instead of 8 hours. We are so blessed to have so many temples so close and we NEED to go to the temple as often as we can. Please go as a family and find your ancestors that need your help. I know they are waiting for you to do their work. The temple is so special, and the dedication was super beautiful. "Hosanna, Hosanna, a Dios y al Cordero!" It is so beautiful.

I think that is it for this week. I have so many pictures to send...but we had to come to Rosario last night for special p-day today with the other hermanas and I forgot my cable...so next week, I will send them. I love you all!!!!

Love,
Hermana Wood-

Monday, May 11, 2015

What a week!

First off, skype with my family was so great yesterday! I love them all so much and I was so grateful for the opportunity to talk with them! Granted it was a little choppy because I am in Argentina, but I still loved it. And Happy Mother's Day to the best mom in the world! :)

We have had some amazing experiences this week. Granted, we couldn't leave very much because my knee has been hurting me, but when we could leave, Heavenly Father put the prepared people in our path so that we could find them.

The first people is a couple named Carmelo and Susana. They are a young couple, they aren't married, and they have 2 kids and one on the way. We were planning this week as to what we would teach them and we decided we were going to give them a baptismal date for 13 of June. We had a lot of faith because usually to have a date to get married it takes a long time and Carmelo and Susana hadn't made the decision to get married either. So we put June 13th with faith that they would be able to be baptized on that day. We went to their house the next day and Susana told us she had some big news. They decided they wanted to get married, so they went and picked a date to get married..........June 12th!!! They said they could pick June 12th or they had to wait until next year for a date to get married. WOW!!! We were so excited! We didn't have words. We are going to have another wedding!!! yes!! I am super excited to help plan again and to help them get married and get baptized. They also came to church yesterday. Yes! They are so preprared. I love it. :)

That is the biggest story for this week. We are going to keep finding more people and I know that we are going to have a lot of success here. I love this gospel and I love being a missionary!

Love,
Hermana Wood :)

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

TRANSFERS!

We had transfers this week! I am now in an area called Acevedo. It is in the provincia of Buenos Aires! I'm no longer in Santa Fe or Rosario, I am in Buenos Aires! And it is beautiful. I will send pictures next week. I am in a big city. It is really different from my other area. And you will never guess who is my new companion??? HERMANA CHRISTIANSEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHOO!!!! We are offically companions! We are so excited to be here together. The other thing a little crazy is..we are doing a white wash. That means that we are both new to this area and we have absolutely no idea where anything is or who anyone is. There were elders in the area before, and now we are here. It is going to be VERY interesting and we are basically starting fresh from the beginning. Wish us luck! We met the bishop yesterday and we have a meeting with the ward mission leader today. It is a good place to start. I don't really have much more to say because nothing much has happened. But next week will be full of stories of our adventures. I love you all!!

Love,
Hermana Wood :)