Where did this year go?

When we got to our house, there was a picture of the Virgin Mary outside our house, so we took it out and put in Jesus. :)

This is Toby. He is our neighbor's dog. He is so fat and so short and so cute. He is the best!

My shoes at one year....my shoes are invicible. ;)

One year!

Super awesome graffiti! Barrio Acevedo!

I don't know if you can see it...but that house is round. It's like a sphere. There is a whole street completely full of these houses! They are awesome!

I honestly can't believe what I am about to type. I have been in the mission for 1 year!!!!!!!! It has gone by so fast. I can't believe that I only have 6 more months to be here, teaching people, learning, growing, preaching the gospel, sharing my testimony every day of my Savior. But honestly, what I have learned is that the mission is just a training for the rest of my life. A missionary that really learned how to be a representative of Jesus Christ will never stop sharing the gospel. There are people all around us that are waiting to hear the sweet message of the restoration of the gospel. I know that we have the truth and that we can always share the gospel with everyone. :)

First off, we were able to teach Cintia and Mica! They are amazing girls! When we started the lesson, they both had lots of questions because they both read the pamphlet and the introduction of the Book of Mormon! They really want to learn more and we were able to help them understand more about prayer and the importance of Jesus Christ in our lives. We invited them to church, but they weren't able to come. :( However, Lucas, one of the less active sons, came to church!! We are helping all of them, and I am super grateful to know them.

Maria moved this week and lives a lot closer now, so we are going to be able to teach her a lot easier. Carmelo and Susana are becoming really distant, and it is sad. We had a really strong lesson with them this week and invited them both to pray again about the Book of Mormon so that they can remember why they are trying to make this change in their lives.

We have been trying to find lots of new people. We found a few new people that we are going to visit this week, Lorena, Gregorio, Ignacio, and Elva. A while ago, some elders passed by this kid named Hugo, so we decided to pass by him yesterday. We got there, and he quickly invited us in. We got to know him and his mom, Yolanda. They are super great and Yolanda told us that she really feels like God sent us to her door. I am excited to teach them!

I am excited for tomorrow because we are going to have a 'special' p-day for all the hermanas in the mission! I am so excited to see everyone and to have lots of fun! Next week also is transfers. We have no idea who is going to leave and who is going to stay because Hermana Christiansen and I have the exact same time here in Acevedo and in the mission....so this week will get super interesting. :) I hope you all have a great week!

Love,>br> Hermana Wood :)

Be Strong!

Happy 4th of July from Argentina!

Oh, I totally forgot what we did this morning! We went with the other hermanas and we ate waffles!!! And smoothies!!! It was absolutely delicious and lots of fun!

The Relief Society celebrated my birthday!

Susana, Estefania, and Mailen

And we 'milked' an alfajor. That means that you suck milk through the alfajor. It didn't work very well, but it was delicious.

This week we were able to work a lot and we found lots of people that we haven't seen in while! We were able to find Susana AND Carmelo! It was super great to see them. Carmelo is pretty stressed out about work and money and things like that, so he was a little distant...but I hope that we can help him. Susana is doing well! She is reading and praying every day. She always loves to listen and learn more about the gospel. They are still waiting to have more money to start the papers to get married, so it is just a waiting game. It is hard, but I know we just have to put it in the hands of the Lord and He will make everything right.

We found Amalia!! It has been forever. She was super sick, she was in bed for 15 days straight. However, that gave her a LOT of free time, and she started reading the Book of Mormon! She is about half way done. We taught her about the plan of salvation, and she loved it. Her husband passed away about 3 years ago, and she found a lot of peace to know that her husband is okay and that she will see him again. I was able to share my testimony of the plan of salvation because I know that I will see my grandpa again and that we will be a family forever. I love teaching her because she accepts everything so easily. It's like she already knew it. I love it. :)

Silvina had her baby! So we are finally going to be able to teach her this week.

And Maria. First off, we were able to talk to her and with her husband and her husband wants to be baptized as well! We are excited for them to progress bother. But..Satan works so hard. When the investigator makes the decision and truly wants to be baptized with a date and everything, he starts working. First off, we were going to have a family night with her and her cute family this week, but her little baby got a bad ear infection, so they couldn't leave. Then Sunday in the morning..her dad had two heart attacks and passed out twice. They took him really fast to the hospital and they started helping him. They think he has a clogged artery. They told us it was super scary and obviously that is the reason they didn't come to church. It is very difficult.

On a fun note, we did lots of other stuff this week! We helped paint a house! It was lots of fun. We also had divisions this week. I was with Hermana Robinson. We came to our area so that we could use the bikes...but she is about as tall as I am and she didn't reach the pedals on Hermana Christiansen's bike...so we walked. I actually felt pretty good! What a blessing! I hope that everything will keep getting better and I will be able to walk normal. That will be a great day. We also had the 4th of July! Haha, we actually had to stay in the pench in the afternoon because there was a soccer game. Argentina vs. Chile. But...Argentina lost. So..that was kind of bummer. They went into penalties and everything. Maybe some day we will beat them. ;) The relief society also had a fun activity and they celebrated all the birthdays of the people in June! So they celebrated my birthday! That was awesome!

And good luck to all my friends that are ending their mission this week! I literally can't believe it has been two years! You are all awesome!

Love,
Hermana Wood :)

Go Acevedo!

This week was super long because we were trying to help Maria get to her baptism date...but Satan was working really hard this week. Background on Maria. She is 23 years old. She offically got married in January of this year. She has three little kids and they are all from her husband. She got married so that she could get baptized, but then she didn't have time to go to church because her littlest kid was born and he had complications with his birth. But now, she has everything under control and she wants to come to church and get baptized. So we were super excited and trying to get everything ready...but her mom stepped in. It was a little interesting. Her mom is a member as well. But she said she wants Maria to more consistently go to church and have a really strong testimony before she gets baptized. Obviously, that makes sense. So we told Maria to pray about when she should get baptized. She didn't tell us the answer in time this week in order to get her interview done, but she told us she really wants to get baptized and that she is ready to do everything to get baptized. We are super grateful that she feels this desire so strong to make these covenants with God. So we were waiting for her at church...but there was a HUGE storm Sunday and she gets to church by walking. And she can't walk in the rain and thunder with her three little kids, so she wasn't able to make it to church. But we are going to visit her this week and hopefully wihin the next couple weeks she will be baptized. :)

We haven't been able to find Carmelo for a very long time because now he works all the time. Susana is a little discouraged because she can't be baptized until they get married, but Carmelo doesn't have any time. I am learning how important families really are. If you and your husband and wife aren't on the same page, no one is happy. Neither of them can progress without the other. The family and marriage is ordained of God. It is super important. :) You can pray for them both.

We have been visiting lots of people that are less active...but not because they want to be less active. There are lots of members here that are old and sick and literally can't leave their houses. It is so sad to see them suffering and being sick. Imagine someone old that is sick and times it by 5. And Argentina is about 60 years behind the united states medical wise. And most people's children here don't support their parents when they are old. It is super hard to see the people. But I really feel the love that Jesus feels for them. I know He is aware of them.

Here is just one example from this week. On Thursday, we met this woman named Maria Luisa. She has been confined to her bed for the last two years and will be until she dies. When she was younger, all she did was serve the Lord and the people around her. She is a very good person. She feels very sad to have to end her life because of the awful sickness she has that the doctors can't cure here. We were just talking to her and we told here that everything would be okay and that she was a daughter of God. And she just started crying. Without even thinking, I immediately got up from my chair and started stroking her hair. I wiped away her tears. I told her it is okay to cry. She was so grateful that we came because she told us we were sent directly from God. I loved that experience and the love I felt for this woman I have never met in my life. I love being in the Lord's hands and doing what He would do if He were here.

Fun part of the week. I was trying to ride my bike, like I always do..and I ran into a barbwire fence. I have a really nice scar now.

Love you all!
Love,
Hermana Wood

11 Months!

Today I have 11 months in the mission! The time just flies. It is so crazy to think about.

Yesterday was transfers and Hermana Christiansen and I are staying together in Acevedo! That means that we are going to be in the Rosario Argentina mission! I am super excited about that and to have my same mission president. Presidente Zanni is the best and really helps us learn and grow in the way that the Lord wants us to. He cares about us and only wants the best for us. I am happy to stay here in Rosario!

First off, last P-Day, Hermana Calderon colored my hair. She dyed my hair to my natural hair color! I haven't been my natural color since like 9th grade, so it was weird to get used to, but I dyed it that way because I don't want to dye my hair anymore. So I went all natural. I actually really like it now. Everyone says I look exactly like my mom now....so you can all be the judge of that. ;)

This week with Carmelo and Susana has been very interesting. Carmelo and Susana are not from Pergamino, they are from Santa Fe. So they can't get married in Pergamino because their address is from Santa Fe. So they went to Santa Fe about 3 weeks ago and picked a day to get married, June 19th. We were super excited and everything. However....something awesome and very sad happened this week. Carmelo found a job!!!!! He works in a store that sells chicken. He has been praying and praying to find work and he finally found it! We were so excited when we found out! It was a huge answer to prayers. But...now that he has a job, he can't leave Pergamino to go to Santa Fe to get married. :( So...it is a big bummer. They can't get married for quite a while now. We are going to ask him to pray for the courage to ask his boss for a day off so that they can go to Santa Fe. It is going to take a lot of faith and courage on his part, but we know that the blessings are real and God wants them to get married. So if you could pray for him, that would be great!

We taught Carmen! We talked a lot about prayer and invited her to come to church. Her two kids are awesome, and I hope that they will be able to progress together. She is teaching her kids good things, so I think it will be good.

Amalia has been super sick for the past couple weeks, so we haven't had much contact with her. We are trying to help her, but we can't do much. We did a lot for the house! We bought mattresses, turned on the lights, and fixed the gas! I think we will be able to move Saturday! Lots of people have been helping us and it is finally all coming together! I also did tramites this last week, and they said I should be receiving my ID from Argentina within the next three months, so I am super stoked about that.

I have been reading lots of stories in the Book of Mormon lately and I have been applying them all to the mission life. For example, I read about Ammon and ths servants when they are taking care of king lamoni's sheep. The only way that the missionary (Ammon) could fight with Satan and protect the investigators (sheep) was if the members (the servants) helped by encircling the sheep. They calmed the investigators when temptations arised and they were scared. They were able to help every sheep come back to the king's pasteur. I know that the members are so important and every member needs to help in missionary work. Everyone needs to help so that every single one of our brothers and sisters can come back to Heavenly Father. I love you all! Thank you all for the amazing birthday wishes! It was a great day! I feel old now, but I guess that's okay. :) I hope my pictures works this week!

This Week

Well, since we have finally been able to leave and work, we had to spend a TON of our time buying everything for our new house. It was stressful because we had to wait in lots of lines and be adults and talk to professional people in a language that sometimes we still don't understand because we have never heard these big words before and use a lot of money. We are now really close to moving! We just need to buy mattresses and turn on the electricity, which requires lots of documents as well, but we are getting there. Obviously, I have learned a lot of patience and how to handle stress. Like my daddy told me this week, I am just preparing for the real world, so I guess it is a good thing. :)

Amid all the chaos of moving, we have been able to help people! When we visited Carmelo last week, he told us that he didn't want to keep listening, but Susana wanted to keep listening. We started praying like crazy for him and we also invited him to pray and read the book of mormon. We went back about 4 days later, and he told us that he wants to keep listening and their whole family was at church this Sunday! We are so grateful that the spirit touched his heart. I can see them as an eternal family getting sealed in the temple for time and all eternity. They are amazing and have so much potential.

We are also working with a woman named Maria Chaparro. She has three kids also and she came to church this week. We haven't had many lessons with her, but we think she is going to be baptized pretty quickly. She is super cute and loving.

I know that if I can put my faith and complete trust in my Heavenly Father, we are going to be able to get everything done and also we will be able to help these amazing people here progress and meet their goals. Heavenly Father has everything in His hands and He will help us out. I am grateful for this time to be in the mission and to learn what I need to know for the rest of my life. I love you all!

Love,
Hermana Wood

I love working...and working..and working on bikes!!

I WAS ABLE TO LEAVE MY BED ON FRIDAY AND WORK. LIKE A MISSIONARY WORKS. NO ONE CAN UNDERSTAND HOW HAPPY I AM!!!!!!! Maybe other missionaries can understand, but really, it is the best feeling in the world to be out on the street, talking to people, teaching the gospel, and loving the people. I am so grateful to be a missionary and to have this time in my life to serve Him and represent Him in all I do.

Well, Monday to Friday Hermana Christiansen and I played Uno...all day long. But we got bored of Uno, so we started playing every single card game that I know..with Uno cards. We played Mao, go fish, speed, spit, garbage, phase 10, B.S., happy slap, and Nerts. Yeah, we were quite bored. But..it was fine. We got pretty creative. And some other hermanas had the game of LIFE in their pench, so they sent it to us! I was able to play LIFE! My favorite game! I was so happy. And everything was in spanish, which made it all the much better.

Then on Friday we were able to leave and work!!! I was so happy! We went to the church and we found some bikes so that I don't have to walk. It is so fun to ride in bikes. I only almost got ran over by a bus once. So that was good. ;)

We were able to visit Susana this week. She told us that Carmelo is having some doubts about the church. We haven't been able to teach him, but Susana told us that she is never going to leave because she found the true church. :) She is so great and we are going to be working a lot with them this week. They are so great and we need to find out how to help Carmelo.

We found this new woman named Carmen! She is single and has two kids, one is 12 and the other is 8. She is super open and we are excited to work with her. It is hard to get back into the groove of working and helping our investigators progress when we haven't been able to visit them very consistently, but we are working really hard to try and help them. We are also STILL trying to move, so we are going to be doing a ton this week. Thank you all so much for your prayers and for helping me along the way. I know that this church is true and everything we have to go through is worth it. Heavenly Father has a plan for each one of us and I know that He is always watching over us. I love you all!!!

These are pictures of my shock therapy. :)

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-

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 :)