WEEK 5

Dear Mom,

The weeks are all mixed up here. The 6th week starts today on P-Day, so I am writing about what happened in week 5, but technically this is our last week in the MTC!!! It absolutely blows my mind! The weeks slowly sped up and now they are going by so fast. I hope they slow down a little bit once we get to Argentina, but I am realizing how fast time flies. I only have 17 months left on my mission. I have to make the most of it and continue to learn and grow. I had lots of great experiences this week and I am going to share some of them. :)

We finished up with TRC and we had a great last lesson with Javier. We asked him why he wanted to be baptized. He started to give us some doctrinal answers, but that's not what we wanted. We asked him again why he specifically wanted to get baptized and he shared with us his the testimony he has gained about faith and that Jesus Christ is our example. Then Hermana Leavitt and I were able to share our testimonies as well and it was a very spiritual lesson. I learned a lot from TRC: love, lots of doctrine, spanish, teaching well with a companion, and following the spirit. The spirit is the third companion and we need to prepare.....but we need to follow the spirit. I realize that these are very basic things that I learned, but the MTC is the foundation for the rest of your mission and I feel like the MTC has been very good for me. Lots of fun times and happy memories. :)

We had some awesome devotionals this week! Jenny Oaks Baker, Dallin H. Oaks' daughter, is a very famous violinist and she came and talked to us on Sunday. She told us of some experiences where she has learned about her relationship with Heavenly Father and then she played us some songs. My favorite was "Amazing Grace". They were so beautiful and I loved the spirit that they brought. Music can be used for such amazing things.

On Tuesday, Bonnie L. Oscarson came and talked to us!! How cool is that? It was so great and she told us about her mission and the missions her children have served. They had some awesome stories as well. The best thing I learned was when you pray to Heavenly Father for something, the situation usually doesn't change. But what can change is your attitude. Heavenly Father can help you to feel happy or peaceful in a terrible situation. You can remember why you are serving the Lord and find the tender mercies in your life. Heavenly Father's hand is always there, you just have to look for it. For example, I wasn't having a very good day yesterday and we were walking along and we saw the cutest little hummingbird flitting around these beautiful flowers. It made me so happy. It just reminded me that God's hand is in everything and He knows me. He is always with me. In a talk by Brad Wilcox, he said the grace of Jesus Christ isn't some light at the end of a dark tunnel. It is the light that is with you that leads you through the tunnel.

I have had an awesome last week at the MTC!!!
My District's Motto: Stay calm and go to Argentina!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,
Hermana Wood :)

P.S. At the end of the devotional, Hermana Leavitt and I went and talked to Sister Oscarson because Hermana Leavitt knows her nephews. After talking, Bonnie L. Oscarson GAVE ME A HUG!!! How amazing is that!!!!! It was so great! :)

WEEK 4

Dear Mom,

This week was a little bit longer because I was sick a little and we have a ton of new investigators. We are teaching both our teachers, a missionary from our district, and our TRC progressing investigator. A little bit more about TRC. So on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, we go to his "house", which is another apartment because we are on West Campus, and we teach him. Everyone in my district has different investigators. When my companion and I found out that we were teaching Javier, lots of people were worried for us because he is known as a hard investigator. He knows the ins and outs of the bible and he is actually a mormon, so he knows that questions are difficult to answer. We have been praying, studying, and thinking about Javier the most out of all our people. On our lesson last Friday, we taught him about faith in Jesus Christ. He says that he has faith. So we asked him to act on his faith and be baptized........and he said yes!! The unteachable has been taught by us! The spirit was so strong and I felt so great. He still asks us some crazy questions, but he accepted baptism and lots of people are blown away that we were able to commit him! It was a great experience. :)

Another interesting thing was Hermana Leavitt and I got a letter in the mail that said we were going to have to switch investigators because the times weren't matching up or something. When we first started teaching Javier, I would have been just fine with switching. But when we got this letter, I realized that I didn't want to switch. Javier meant something to me and I wanted to help him. We went and asked to keep Javier. They did a lot of work, but they made it so we could teach him again!! I was so happy. I never thought I would have begged to keep teaching Javier. It was a big learning moment for me. I didn't realize how much he meant to me. It was a cool experience. :)

I am very grateful that you were able to get in contact with people in Salt Lake about my visa and my fingerprints! We got to ride in a police car to the police station and they used this super advanced machine to do my fingerprints. No ink or anything. It was lots of fun and we are now friends with Officer Judd. :)

This week, we had a district meeting and we went around and shared a cool experience or a testimony. I shared my testimony of the Book of Mormon. It goes all the way back to ninth grade. I have always loved the Book of Mormon and all the stories. At the end of the school year, my seminary teacher wrote "I am a witness of the Book of Mormon" up at the top of the board and said to come write your name on the board if you are a witness of the Book of Mormon. I thought and thought about it, and then I decided that I was a witness and that I could write my name on the board. I loved that feeling. I have never lost my testimony and it continues to grow stronger every day.

My testimony in Spanish:
Yo se que Dios es muy amoroso. Yo se que Jesucristo es mi salvador y mi redentor. El Libro de Mormon es veradero. La iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias es veradera. Mediante la fe en Jesucristo yo puedo volver de Dios otra vez. Te amo!!!!

Te amo,
Hermana Wood :)

Week 3

Dear Mom,

This week was so great! We had lots of fun this week. Some of the things we did were we moved all of our beds out into the living room so that would have sleepovers every night. It is so much more fun to be with all the Hermanas and to bond more while we are at home. However, we did fail our cleaning inspection because of it, but we told the branch presidency what was going on and they fully supported us in our endeavors. :) Another fun thing we did today was go Brigham's Landing with our whole district! It was so fun and I love when people stop us and talk to us. I feel so cool. It definitely reminds me that I am a representative of Jesus Christ and I always need to act like it.

This week was full of music for me. A district that left for Mexico on Monday asked me to accompany them on Sunday at the devotional that is broadcast to all the other MTC's and is in front of both main campus and west campus. They sand, "If You Could Hie to Kolob." I loved playing for them. However, after this experience, I got called to be the Music Coordinator for our branch. I never get any callings besides music callings. So I guess I should get used to it. ;)

We got a new investigator this week. His name is Javier. We teach him on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday for two weeks. Let me tell you, he is brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. He is a professor at BYU and he is a Mormon in real life, but he is a really hard investigator. For example, all in Spanish, he asked us how we know there wasn't an apostasy after Heavenly Father called Joseph Smith to be a prophet and if we need to have a testimony of each individual prophet in the latter-days to make sure that the doctrine hasn't been lost. It was crazy and we told him we would study his question and get back to him on that. We realized we should have talked about the authority of the priesthood and how it is the same priesthood since Jesus, but obviously we didn't know to say that in Spanish to this man. These next two weeks will be interesting, but it has already been a big learning experience.

We got another district of 12 elders today!!! There are us four Hermanas and 40 Elders. It is so crazy. We get picked on all the time, but it is so fun. We are getting a new zone and district leader this week, so there will be lots of change.

Yesterday, Bruce C. Hafen talked to us about the temple and how much power it brings into our lives. We are beyond blessed to live in Utah where we have at least 5 temples that are an hour away. So many people do not have that blessing and I hope we are all using it to the fullest extent. I went to the temple and did sealings today and it was such a great experience. I am so excited to go to the temple in the future!!

I love you!
Love,
Hermana Wood :)

July 30, 2014

Dear Mommy,

Hi! It's p-day again! I can't believe I have been here for two weeks! I am so glad that I have chosen to serve a mission at this point in my life. Someone at a devotional did the stats from 1930 until now, the probability of living in the latter days is 1 in 100,000. The probability of being a hastening the work missionary right now is 1 in 1,000,000. That blew my mind. Heavenly Father has saved us for this time. He trusted us enough that we would choose to follow Him with our whole souls. It isn't even a question to me as to why I am on a mission. I love my Heavenly Father more than words can describe. I will not let Him down.

The devotional this week that really hit me was the talk we got to watch after the devotional. It was given by Elder Bednar in the MTC on Christmas a few years ago. He taught us about the character of Christ. In every situation in Christ's life, when the natural man would turn inward and care about Himself, He turned out. After He had gone through the hardest trial ever, the Atonement, He reached out and healed the guard's ear. When Jesus was dying on the cross, He made sure His mother was taken care of and asked God to forgive them. when any normal human would have turned inward, He turned out. For me, there is no more "I want." I am trying very hard to focus on others, especially when things are hard.

Yesterday after the devotional, we got back to our classroom. This is how our seats were before the devotional.
H. Sheppard      H. Christiansen      me      H. Leavitt      E. Slavens

E. Nord      E. Frandsen      E. Bluth      E.Jackson      E. Manning

I sat in the very front and I loved it. When we got back:
H. Sheppard      H. Christiansen      E. Manning      E. Slavens      H. Leavitt

E. Nord      E. Frandsen      E. Bluth      E.Jackson      ME

Everyone else stayed the same, except for us two that moved. Our teacher moved us because E. Slavens and E. Manning haven't been trying at all so he moved them to the front and put me in the very back corner. I sat down and I couldn't even see! I'm assuming I was already a little stressed out and this hurt me more than it should have. I was starting to cry, but I was hold it in. Then Brother and Sister Price, branch presidency, came over and saw I was struggling. They took me in the other room and I started crying a lot. She cave me a big hug and told me it was okay. They understood that this wouldn't work. Brother Price gave me a blessing of comfort and also he blessed Grandpa inadvertently, which comforted me too. They said they would help me figure it out. After I tried to turn out they way Christ did I wrote all the girls letters and they liked it. I probably should have tried to react differently, but the natural man is very real. The choice to be like the savior is a hard one sometimes, but always worth it.

Now for your questions:
1. Yes, my whole district is going to Rosario. We are finding out that this is very rare, so we are grateful. :)
2. Yup. I'm leaving August 25. And I found out I'm supposed to come home Jan. 12. School starts Jan 11.....so you better have some classes picked for me. I promise that I will have some input when it gets closer. You accidentally put 815 on one of the dear elders. Make sure you put 814.
3.No word on my Visa.
4. I wrote the Bishop a letter.
5. Thanks for including Taylor, Devin, and Clouse! I want Tanner and Ryan to be on there, but I don't know their addresses. I'll find out. And Liz said she didn't get my letter, so could you check that?

Those pants are both perfect! Thank you so much! I'm going to try and send some pictures...hopefully it works.

Te amo para siempre!
Hermana Wood :)

WEEK 2

Dear Mom,

This week flew by! I learn so much every day and I'm just trying to retain it all. We have officially learned everything I learned with my three years of Spanish, so now I have to study even more to make sure I still understand what is going on. I'm very grateful I took Spanish.

This week was great. We have been teaching our teachers. Haha, that sounds so funny. Our teachers pretend to be investigators that they have taught or have known in the past and we teach them discussions. Then they turn back into our teachers and tell us what we did wrong. It's kind of funny, but it is going pretty well. My companion, Hermana Leavitt, and I committed two investigators to baptism this past week! It was crazy to feel the love Heavenly Father has for these people. If I feel this good about teaching my teacher, I can't even imagine how amazing it will be to teach a real-live person. We are starting TRC tomorrow, which is a program that the MTC has come up with. We get new investigators and it is role play too, but some of the investigators are real. It kind of scares me, but I know that the Lord will help us. We will always be inadequate until do our part and then leave it all to the Lord. He knows that person and will teach them through the spirit.

I sang in the choir this week. We sang, "Hurrah for Israel." The choir director explained to us that we, as missionaries, are gathering the 10 tribes of Israel. They are everywhere and they are waiting for us and we need to find them. If we listen to the spirit, then He will guide us and direct us. John H. Groberg, the author of "The Other Side of Heaven", came and taught us about bearing our testimonies. It doesn't have to be over the pulpit on Sunday. We can bear our testimonies by:

1. What we say

2. What we do

3. What we sing

4. What we pray

5. What we write

6. Who we are

Bear your testimony through everything you do. I promise you will help someone around you. Thomas S. Monson said, "You can't measure the influence of good."

I love you!

Love,

Hermana Wood :)

WEEK 1

Dear Mommy,

I can't believe I am here at the MTC and that it has already been a week!!! It is so amazing and I am so glad that I made the decision to serve a mission. I am so excited to continue to learn and progress in the gospel and in Spanish. I live on West Campus because everyone here is learning Spanish. All we do is talk in Spanish. My teacher has never said a word in English to us, unless we ask him what a word means. It is crazy of how quickly my life has changed for the better. I am so glad that I am here! I am very glad that I took three years of Spanish. They are definitely coming in handy.

We go to three classes a day. I love when we have personal scripture and companion study. I learn so much from the scriptures, pamphlets, preach my gospel, and all the other tools they have given us here to learn from. We also go to two devotionals a week. They have both been awesome!! I sang in the choir for the Tuesday devotional. We were broadcasted to all the other MTCs across the world! We sang, "Lead Kindly Light" with the choir from the main campus and us. I also saw a tons of people that I know from Davis High! I saw Sister Linford, Seour Nelson, Elder Oldham, Sister Jordan, Elder Wilcox, Seour Watkins, Sister Southwick, Hermana Palmer, Elder Martineau, Sister Mackelprang, and lots others. It was so great to see all these amazing people that decided to serve missions! I'm so glad that all my friends are so great. I look up to all of them so much. :)

At the devotional, Sister Ellis, the wife of a seventy, gave the most amazing summary of missionary work:

Faith=Power

Obedience=Price

Love=Motive

The Spirit=Key

Christ=Reason

Joy=Reward

There you have it. Missionary work in twelve words. It was so powerful and I know there is a lot I have to do on my part to have the best experience I can, but I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for being so merciful and helping us. He let's us labor with Him, and He lets us feel the amazing reward that comes from it. That is definitely the most powerful thing I have learned here so far.

We have already started teaching people completely in Spanish. The woman we are teaching right now is named Cynthia. It was so hard and crazy! I felt so inadequate. As we got to talking to here, she told me that her grandma was sick and that she was really worried about what would happen to her. I told her in my broken Spanish that my grandpa was sick too and that it was really hard. I testified that families are eternal and she started crying. I am so grateful for the spirit to make up for what I cannot say in words. I am so grateful for my family and friends for the love and support I have already received. I know this gospel is true and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else!

Love,

Hermana Wood :)

First Letter Home

My dearest Mama,

I know exactly how Mallory feels. All they say here is 'Speak your language, speak your language!' We have to use every word we know in Spanish when we are talking. We have to ask for permission to speak in English. It's crazy and awesome. I've only been here for two full days and I have already learned to say prayers and testify in Spanish. We are teaching our first lesson this evening all in Spanish, so wish us luck! It is the most incredible feeling to be able to talk to our Padre Celestial in Spanish. Just knowing that He is the same and that you can talk to Him in any language and He will answer you with the Holy Ghost is so amazing to know.

My companion is Hermana Leavitt. I thought it was funny because I know Elder Leavitt up on Main Campus. She is the exact opposite of me. Surprise. She gets nervous and is a lot quieter than me, but she loves to get stuff done. Our studies are getting better because we are trying very hard to see each others points of view. But it's okay! I am definitely learning to love her and see her the way Heavenly Father sees her. She is from the North part of Las Vegas.

I love all food. It is so good. We are on West Campus, so we don't have as many options as there are on Main Campus, but it is good. They served halibut the first night and tilapia the next night. Pretty fancy. They also have sack lunches you can take back to your apartment with you after gym time. You have to be in missionary clothes to go into the cafeteria. But you can grab a sack lunch in your workout clothes and go home. I think they are a great inventions, but Hermana Leavitt doesn't...so we have to compromise. I'm really good at that. Haha

It's like 5-10 minutes to get to wherever you want on West Campus. It's really nice because they have this shaded area with a creek and nice grass in the middle. It is awesome to study there.

Yup, I'm all moved in! I left some stuff in my bags because I don't need it but it's all good.

Well, I don't want to complain...pero si. Those toothbrushes are killing my gums. I would love other toothbrushes that are better quality so that I can actually brush my teeth. And Hermana Leavitt needs a unicorn. Haha not really.

My p-day is on Wednesday, so I will e-mail you then. I'm really excited for that . Oh, I remembered another thing I would love a pair of long basketball shorts because tight exercise pants are sort of against the rules. But it's okay if you can't find any. The Elders have me playing volleyball during exercise time, and I'm actually doing really good. It's a ton of fun! We are super close as a district. There are 4 Hermanas and 6 Elders. I live with Hermana Sheppard and Hermana Christianson. We all get along really well and have a lot of fun. The Elders are Elder Slavens, Manning, Jackson, Bluth, Frandson, and Nord. It's awesome!

So we have a pretty great schedule:

6:15 Wake Up and Shower

7:30 Breakfast

8:00 Class/Teach

11:35 Gym Time

12:55 Lunch

1:40 Class/Teach/Personal Study

5:20 Dinner

6:05 Class/Teach

9:00 Planning

10:30 Bed

It's awesome. It really isn't all that bad. I have learned so so much already! I can already teach in Spanish! (I started this letter but I'm finishing it a different day, so I have now taught Cynthia twice. It was awesome! I'll give details in my e-mail. I have no idea how Taylor wrote me a 10 page letter.) I am beyond grateful to be here and to be la misionaria a la iglesia de Jesu Cristo de los Santos de los Ultimos dias. I am a representative of Jesus Christ and I will bring the world His truth. When we sing the Army of Helaman song, we sing "and we are now the Lord's missionaries." I loved it and I cried. I love you so much and I love everyone! I will write everyone on Wednesday.

Love,

Hermana Wood:)