Cheers, My Dears

Hey, this week has been hard because we are still trying to find new people to teach! It is hard because I know that everyone needs the gospel and I want to help everyone, but they need to have a desire to learn and listen, or else we can't help them. It is difficult, but I am learning patience a lot this week. :) We had a couple great activites this week! On Satuday night, we had the farewell party of Nico! He is the kid that received his mission call to Columbia. He is leaving tomorrow! It was super difficult because I really am going to miss him a lot. He is a super good friend and he is so strong in the gospel, and I know that he will touch so many hearts in Columbia. He will be great!

This week was also my companion's birthday! It was on Thanksgiving! She turned 26! It was lots of fun and we got to know each other a lot more. Things are going a lot better and I am excited to work with her and to find the people that are ready to hear the gospel! We are focusing a lot this week on less active families and recent converts. In all reality, they are more important because the have already made these covenants with Heavenly Father and they need to keep them.

We are starting this new video all over the world! Probably some of you have heard of it, but we are starting to share it in our mission and I love it! It is found in Christmas.Mormon.org. It is a video about Jesus Christ. Especially during this Christmas time, it is a lot easier to share your testimony about Jesus Christ and tough people's hearts. Please go to that website and share the video! Yo puedo testificar con todo mi corazón y sé que Jesucristo vive. Jesucristo es mi Salvador y mi Redentor. Jesucristo es mi hermano. Él sufrió para mi individualmente y me conoce personalmente. Yo sé que Él es la Dádiva de nuestro Padre Celestial. Estoy muy animada por este tiempo en el año y yo quiero compartir mi testimonio con todos! Les quiero mucho!!!!!!

Con amor,
Hermana Wood :)

New Week, New Transfer

This is been a very long week! I am trying to remember all that happened this week. Well, first off...I had to say goodbye to Hermana Thornton on Wednesday. That was hard because she is my trainer and we became really good friends. We planned lots of things that we are going to do together when we are both home, so I am excited to see her again later. :) And now I have my new companion! Hermana Cuchiparte! She is from Ecuador. She is going to have one year in the mission in December. Her and her two sisters are the only ones in her family that are members of the church. She got baptized 9 years ago. She is a great example to me and she can relate to all the investigators really well because she knows how they feel. We are learning to work together and help the people here in Mayoraz. :)

We dropped a lot of people this week because they are not progressing. It is hard because I really care about these people and I can see their potential...but they don't want to change or progress right now in this moment, so we have to find new people that are ready and waiting to hear the gospel. I think a lot about in 3 Nephi 11 when Jesus is coming to the Americas and Heavenly Father speaks from heaven two times and the people don't understand the voice...but the third time they understand and they accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. Maybe this is the first or second time these people have heard the gospel and they aren't ready to accept the gospel. We are searching for the people that want to hear the gospel right now so that we can help them. :)

The people we are super excited about right now is a family that we found while we were contacting. Their names are Nestor and Fernanda and their children are named Kime, Abril, and Amanda. We gave them a Book of Mormon to read and they are reading and praying as a family. They are now praying about getting baptized and if it is the right move for them. We are praying for them every day and we hope that they receive an answer this week. They are super aweseome!

We found 12 new people this week, so we are hoping this week to have more lessons and see who we can really help. We are excited for this new week. :)

I love you all!

Love,
Hermana Wood :)

La lucha con las lauchas (The fight with rats)

Transfers were this week! I am staying here....but Hermana Thornton is leaving! She is going to a little tiny pueblo named Cañada de Gomez in Rosario. So I am getting a new companion tomorrow! Her name is Hermana Cucheparti. She is a latina! That means that every waking hour will be Spanish. Hopefully that means that I will improve and I won't sound so much like an American when I speak. ;) I am super excited for this change and I have heard so many good things about Hermana Cucheparti. It will be good. :) We were very sad this week because Carina was not able to be baptized. :( We had her interview scheduled for Monday and she had to go to the hospital for her ear. So we moved it to Tuesday, but she couldn't get off work, so she couldn't have it. :( We have tried to stay in contact with her, but it has been very difficult. We are very sad because she was so close to making these precious covenants with our Heavenly Father. But we are going to continue to try and work and teach her. :)

This week overall has been very hard. We dropped a lot of people this week and we have had a hard time finding new people. And our schedule changed. We now wake up at 7:00 and go to bed at 11:00 because of the heat. It is getting so hot here. It is just super great. :)

We had some super great experiences with the rats this week! We now have 5 rats...at least that is what we have seen. We have Rufus, Ramon, Blanca, Churripan, and Maria. We have tried everything to kill them! We trapped Rufus in our bathroom and we are feeding him poison every day, but he is still alive. We are thinking that the poison doesn't really work. ;) We have tried to catch them and "baptize" them in water. Our plan was that we would just baptize the whole family and we wouldn't be sad if they weren't alive to get confirmed. ;) But if they were alive, baptism by fire isn't a bad option either. ;)

I am super excited to start a new week and a new transfer and find new people!!! I am super excited to talk with everyone and share the gospel of Jesus Christ! I am super excited for the opportunity I have to be a missionary and to bring the spirit and joy from Heavenly Father that can't be found anywhere else! I am just super excited! I know that through the spirit, we can accomplish all the things Heavenly Father has in store for us and we can continue to learn and grow and progress. That is the reason we are here on this earth. Through the Atonement, we can repent and change and become better every day. I love you all!!!

Love,
Hermana Wood :)