The Atonement

Wow, I learned a lot this week. We had some awesome experiences and we had some really sad experiences. I'll start with something happy. This week, on March 3, 2015, Andres turned 65!! He lives alone, so Hermana Cerna and I made a cake and put a huge candle in the middle and went to his house and sang happy birthday to him!! He started crying and said that he had been all alone and that he was so happy that we remembered and that he loves us. It was so touching and I was so glad to be a missionary and to help him feel loved. :)

Our hunt for menos activos has once again been a success! We found a menos activo named Estela. She has been inactive for about 11 years. She has a daughter named Sheila and she has 18 years. Her mom went inactive right before she turned 8, so she was never baptized in the church. However, Estela has a super strong testimony that this is the true church and the only way we can live with our Heavenly Father again. We talked about how the gospel gives us clarity and purpose in our lives and we asked Sheila is she wants to be baptized, and she started crying and said yes!! No one has ever asked her to be baptized. She is so humble and so ready. She is so great. We are super excited!!!!!

But something really sad happened just after that. We had an appointment right after this lesson with Sheila with Jorge. They live on complete opposite sides of Cañada. We were so happy and full of the spirit when we left Sheila's house. We knew that we wouldn't make it to Jorge, so we called a taxi and payed $50 pesos to get to Jorge. We were so excited to see him. Earlier that day, we had started planning for his baptism this upcoming Saturday. We made invitations and the program and everything. I had all the faith in the world that he was going to be baptized this week. But...we got to his house and he was drunk. :( my whole world fell. I felt so sad. I couldn't believe that he had made so much progress, and then he threw it away and drank again. I felt all my faith leave me. I was so sad. When we got home, I just prayed and prayed. I wanted to know how this could happen. I was so sure that he would be able to overcome this trial and be baptized.

The next day, we had a service project for Jorge. All the members came to his house and helped cut his grass. As we were helping him, I felt such a strong love for him. I realized that my faith had all been centered in him. I had faith that he, alone, could overcome this trial. I realized that I only should have faith in my Savior, Jesus Christ. Honestly, Jorge can't overcome this trial alone. The only way he can do it is through our Savior. I learned this week I only need to have faith in Jesus Christ, and He will make all things possible. I know that the atonement is real and that Jesus Christ knows us personally. He knows how Jorge feels and how to help him overcome. He also knows how I feel, as a representative of Him, and how to help the people that have confidence in me to receive revelation from my Heavenly Father specifically for them. I have a big responsability, but I know that through my Savior, everything is possible. I love you all so much and I hope you have a great week!

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 :)