A Savior is Born

No one ever thought they would see me with an apron... ;)
Alfajores!!!!!!!!!!

We put up the christmas tree.
Yay for Christmas!

In Spanish, it is "Ha nacido un Salvador" and we are sharing this video with everyone, just like we did last year with the little cards! It is so much easier to talk to people in the street when we have something in common. This is what we say? Missionary: Hi, we have a question. Do you celebrate christmas?
Person: ......yes.......
Missionary: Oh, really? Us too! We have a present for you. It is this little card. Right here is says, "A Savior is Born". For us, the Savior is Jesus Christ. And for you?
Person: Yes, Jesus, for me too.
Missionary: Perfect. Here is a web page that you can enter and watch a 2 minute video about Christmas and Jesus Christ. We would love to pass by and answer any questions you have...etc.

It works so well. Because they are basically obligated to say yes, and the spirit comes because we are talking of Jesus. The people really feel the spirit of Christmas, because here in Argentina it is really hot during Christmas and no one decorates, so it is different, but when we talk about Jesus, they feel it.

This week was my last fast sunday here in Argentina. I was feeling a little down and I fasted and prayed to have at least one investigator in church on Sunday. I was praying and praying, hoping that we would have one, because here it is hard to come by. When we got there, there were a TON of people that were in the church. It turns out that a company here had a work party in Rosario, and everyone from Buenos Aires came here for the party and the members came to church on Sunday. They invited some of their associates to come to church! 6 investigators! We also had a baby shower and some of their family members came that weren't members! Can you believe how much Heavenly Father answered my prayer and fast? I know He listens to us and hears our prayers. When we put in our part, He will always bless us. It was a miracle.

Carina is doing well. She was all ready to come to church, but her sister-in-law wasn't able to watch her shop, so she couldn't leave the shop. But she really wanted to come. We taught her the plan of salvation. I love teaching her because she loves to learn and understands. I think my favorite part of the lesson was when I asked, "So, Carina, were did you live before this world?" And she said, "I lived with God as a spirit and I came here to be tried and tested so that I can live with Him again." Wow. She is amazing.

Melisa and Guillermo are trying to figure everything out with the judges and policemen and I will tell you if we hear anything about them. I know this is His work and His glory. To help us become like Him. We already made the decision to become a God one day because we made covenants with Him...and that's why we have trials. So that we learn how to become like Him.

We were able to talk to our bishop about the new area plan and he was so excited to put it into practice! He is so humble and willing to work for the Lord. I am grateful to be here and help this ward.

Oh, the best thing that happened this week was Hermana Olga taught us how to make alfajores!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my gosh, they are delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I now have the recipe and obviously we are going to be making some alfajores. ;)

I love you all so much!

Love,
Hermana Wood :)

HERE WE GO!

Me and Hermana Olga
The view from the roof our our house.
In the terminal for transfers and I was with almost ALL my companions! I love all these girls!
My companion is too creative. She made me this cute box. :)

My companion, Hermana Ribeiro, made my last planner for me. She put this scripture on the back: "Wherefore, let us go to and labor with our might this last time, for behold the end draweth nigh, and this is for the last time that I shall prune my vineyard."

I can't believe that I am officially starting my last transfer. I am going to stay here in Echesortu with my companion, Hermana Cruz. I am so excited to work this last part of my mission. I feel prepared and ready to do exactly what my Heavenly Father wants me to do.

I don't know if any of you have realized, but this area is very different from my other areas. We are working so hard, and we are seeing miracles, but it difficult. This transfer we are going to focus all of our efforts in helping the ward here progress and work with us. Because us working here alone really isn't going to help much and it is very slow. But we know that working with the bishop and the members is the way to help this area progress. We have a bigger vision for those in the future that are going to come, and we know we need to help the ward now so that it is prepared in the future. I know that if we can work with them, the Lord will bless us in the way He needs to. I am just learning to work and work and put it all in the hands of the Lord.

Melisa and Guillermo are having family problems. Melisa has a son names Francisco, and he is three years old. He has another dad that isn't Guillermo and every weekend Francisco goes with his dad. This last weekend, the dad didn't bring Franciscio home and they still don't know where he is. They are working the police and trying to find out what happened. They are very stressed out and we are praying super hard for them. If you could pray for them, we would grately appreciate it.

We were able to visit Carina this week. I love the desire she has to learn. We were able to go with a member and she felt really good. It is hard because she lives really far from the capilla and she doesn't have a way to get there...so we are going to ask some members if they can pick her up to go. But she is really great. :)

We also have a menos activo family that is coming to church! The Family Fuentes! They are finally coming to church and we are super happy for them! I loved ponderizing my scripture this last week. I learned so much about the atonement of Jesus Christ and His love for us. He wants us to repent because He doesn't want us to suffer in the way He had to. He is the perfect example of love and patience and I know that He will always be there to love and lift us up.

Right now I am with Hermana Cerna! She is staying with us for 2 days because she is going to start training as well. She is super great and I love her! Haha, I am with both the hermanas that I trained. ;)

I hope you all have an amazing week! I love you all!

Love,
Hermana Wood :)

Rosario. Vamos.

That is a hot dog. Yes, it comes with fries on top. Hermana Ribeiro!

Well, I will be the first to say it is VERY different working in a big city than in a little tiny town. Really different. But it is a good different. I am learning very different things here that I wouldn't learn anywhere else.

To be honest with you guys...we don't have hardly any investigators. We are working a lot with menos activos and helping them come back to church. The problem is that when people live in a big city, they are always busy. They are always working or buying something and get home super late at night. So...they are never home when we go to visit them. It's not that they don't want to listen, it's just that they literally don't have time to listen. It is kind of a problem.

We are teaching the Fuentes Family. They are less actives. The mom is in the process of getting a divorce and in the whole process stopped going to church. The members didn't help her out very much, so she slowly stopped going. We are teaching them the missionary lessons so that they can remember the testimonies they have and remember the importance of keeping the commandments and coming to church. They are super great and I hope we can keep helping them. We also taught Hermana Olga. She has started coming back church, but she has a problem with smoking. It is super great that she has come back and wants to make the change because that is the first step in the process. I know that she will be able to do it and we are here to help her. :) We are also looking for a new apartment. Our apartment is really small and has no ventilation.......so we are searching. We found a couple that we like, so we are going to hopefully move pretty soon.

On Sunday, I was able to gave a talk here in my new ward. I talked about that the Book of Mormon always talks about the missionaries. It tells about the stories and the conversions of the people and the miracles that they performed. But......if there were missionaries that whole time...obviously there were members. And what did the members do this whole time? I talked about Amulek, Abish, and Aminadab. Amulek left with Alma the missionary and helped share the gospel. Abish ran from door to door sharing her testimony. Aminadab (Helaman 5:35-42), a less active, was able to testify what the missionaries said and the investigators were able to pray and get rid of the darkness. These people were normal members that shared their testimonies. I am grateful for the Book of Mormon and missionary work. It isn't just for missionaries. It is for everyone.

My companion is teaching me so much. She is so humble and willing to work. She will do anything the Lord wants her to do. She is so patient and loving. She told me she wants to learn english, so I am teaching her. This will be her third language. She is awesome!!!! That's about it. I hope everyone has a great week! I love you all!!!!!!

Love,
Hermana Wood :)