I am so tired

Zone Conference
Yesterday, I turned 16 months! And since I turn months on the 16th, it was my golden birthday month. My companion made this adorable pop-up book for me. I love it!!!

Oh my goodness, what an amazing week we have had. I am so tired, but I am so happy. I'll tell you about the highlights of the week. We had interview with Presidente Zanni this week. He helped us all feel the desire to baptize more in our mission and have more baptism this year than the year before. He is really changing our mission and I am grateful the time I have had to get to know him and feel the spirit work through him. I know that he is called of God to help us. Our mission is a little hard, but I know that this is God's work and He will work the miracles He needs. I am happy to be a part of it!

We had an amazing family night this week the whole ward! Lots of people came that we invited. Melisa and Guillermo came with their son, Francisco! They are doing amazing! They loved the activity and met lots of the members. The members received them really well, so we are grateful for that. After the family night, everyone set up chairs to watch the soccer game of Argentina vs. Brazil. So funny, I love Argentina. On Sunday, we found two women that are so amazing! They are Carina and Gabi. We found Carina the other day contacting and she invited us to come and talk to her on Sunday. When we got there, she said she invited her sister-in-law, Gabi, to listen as well. They have both had really hard lives, but they both believe in God so much and have hope that everything will be better. I loved to see the light in their eyes when we said that the same church that Jesus Christ established is here on the earth today. That there are prophets and priesthood and miracles and that they can be baptized by someone who holds the power of God. They both accepted to be baptized and we are so excited to work with them. I know that God put them in our path and we can help them make these changes in their lives.

And yesterday, we had a SUPER special p-day! Our zone went to the mission home and we played games all day. We played vollyball, basketball, lightning, 4 square, soccer, tug-of-war, egg toss, relay races, double dutch, and so much more. It was so fun. I am so tired. We also watched Meet the Mormons. It was such a fun day! I am glad we could take part!

I hope you have a great week!

Love,
Hermana Wood :)

RAIN!!!!!!!!

It has rained SO much this week! I honestly can't believe how much it has rained. There are so many houses that have flooded and so many people that have had to been evacuated. Gratefully, we are doing okay. My umbrella broke, so I bought a new one today. Hermana Christiansen's umbrella got stolen, so she bought a new one too. Not a lot of people came to church on Sunday, because everyone that needs to walk to church couldn't make it through the rain. Maria and Pablo's house didn't flood, but every where around it is flooded, so they didn't come to church. But they told us they were all ready to come and really want to! I hope they can continue to progress and reach their baptism date!

We had interviews with President this week. We had them as a companionship, not individual. We talked about all the goals we have for this month and how we are going to get them. He talked to us a lot about vision, goals, and then plans. You need to start with the vision. What do you want to accomplish in general? Where do you want to get to? And then you make specific goals. How you are going to accomplish the vision. Finally, you make the plan of how you are going to accomplish the goals. It is so important to plan ahead and not just shoot and hope for the best. Heavenly Father is a God of order. He does everything for a reason. I know that this is how He wants us to plan and progress, and I'm glad I am learning this now in my mission.

Like this:
VISION
1.

GOALS
1.
2.
3.

PLANS
1A.
1B.
2A.
2B.
3A.
3B.

The other thing that is important to remember is WHY we do the things we do. For example, in Alma 43:9, it talks about the purpose for why the Nephites were fighting. I only have a book of mormon in spanish, so I'll just write it in spanish. It says, "Ahora bien, el propósito de los nefitas era proteger sus tierras y sus casas, sus esposas y sus hijos, para preservarlos de las manos de sus enemigos; y también preservar sus derechos y sus privilegios, sí, y también su libertad, para poder adorar a Dios según sus deseos." We do these things to protect our families and our freedoms from this world that is going a little crazy. We need to plan now for the future because Satan is working ever harder. I know that we need to be strong and ready to fight for the things we believe in. The gospel gives us the eternal vision necessary to progress. The prophets help us make the goals. Our personal study and prayer allows us to know the plan, the how, in order to accomplish all we need to do. Jesus is what makes it possible. We just need to keep moving forward. No matter what the problem is, we can know the answer. Heavenly Father will always answer our prayers. I know this is His work and we are just instruments in His hands. I am where I am supposed to be and everything I am learning will help me in the future. I 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!

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 compañera 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!!!

Happy Christmas!!

This SUPER AWESOME slug. It was huge!

Hermana Knapp, my favorite. ;)

You know you speak too much Spanish when you directly translate "Feliz Navidad" into Happy Christmas and tell your latina companion that that's what all the people say in the United States. Oops...Merry Christmas!! ;)

Wow, so much stuff happened this past week. We had lots of activities and lots of amazing lessons. The spirit is so much stronger during this time of year.

The one investigator I want to talk about this week is Belkys. She is so prepared and amazing!!! I love her!! We had a lesson with her this week. We told her that there were certain ordinances that she has to perform here in this life so that she can live with her husband again. We held up a picture of Jesus Christ being baptized. She took one look at the picture and said, "¿Vos sabes que yo quería bautizarme en este forma todo mi vida?" Translated: "Did you know that I wanted to be baptized this way all my life?" Wow!!!! We quickly told her that she can be baptized this way and her face just lit up. She has a date now and she is SO excited to be baptized!! She is 70, and she is still super healthy. She is going to walk to church with us this Sunday. She wrote it down in her calendar. ;) She is so cute and so great and so ready.

Last Saturday, we went to an old people's/disabilitated home with our whole zone and Presidente Zanni and his family to clean and sing songs. While we were there, it started to rain super hard and the home started to flood! It was super good that we were all there because we all started bailing water and helping the workers. It was sad to see, but it was good we were there. :) Then we ate cookies and sang and talked to all the people. Afterwards, we ate empanadas and played games in the stake center. Super fun!!

We also had our ward Christmas party! It was super duper fun! We had 18 investigators come to the party!!!! :) It was amazing and super delicious! I had my first pollo asado! It was so good and so fun. :)

Tonight, we are going to have a cena with some members in our ward and with the Elders, and then tomorrow I am going to skype!!! It will be 7:00 a.m. in Utah. I am super excited!! I love you all!!!

Love,
Hermana Wood :)