BAPTISM!!!!!

Wow, when one thing happens, everything happens. We have done so much this week and I am so glad that I was apart of it all. I am going to start with Monday, because there is so much to write.

On Monday, we woke up at 5:00 in the morning, caught the bus, and went to Rosario!!! We were able to go to the Monument for the Flag here in Argentina! It was so beautiful and huge!! I loved it! The best part was we were able to go to the very top of the monument and look over all of Rosario. It was so beautiful! Rosario is huge! The weather was perfect because it was a little overcast, so not a lot of people were there. We were also able to look at the Parana River. I just loved the whole day. It was a much needed 'vacation' and we had so much fun. :)

On Tuesday, we heard some very sad news. Do you all remember the woman named Maria Luisa that was really sick that we were visiting before? We found out that she passed away from her sickness. :( We walked for about an hour and got to the funeral home to go to the viewing. It was veyr sad to see her like that because we honestly have grown to love her so much. :( her whole family was there and we were able to meet some of them. We weren't able to stay for very long because after that Maria had her baptism interview. It went really well and the district leader said she could get baptized on Saturday! On Wednesday, we went to the funeral of Maria Luisa. The cemetery is so different here! Almost all of the graves are above ground. Or they make little houses and put the coffins inside. It was very different. We had a nice service in the morning and then we drove to the cemetery. She was actually buried underground. It was very different from the states because they lowered her into the ground with rope and threw all the dirt on the coffin while we were all watching. It was very drastic and really hard to watch, but I know that we will be able to see her again and now she isn't suffering. My testimony of the plan of salvation grows every day.

On Saturday, we had the baptism of Maria!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) Her whole family and Pablo were able to come to her baptism! It actually went very smoothly and the spirit was very strong. I am so grateful that she made this decision to be baptized. She is setting huge example for her family that I hope they will follow. :)

On Sunday, so many amazing things happened. Maria was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and received the Holy Ghost. She honestly looked so different. She looked so content and peaceful. Everyone commented on how bright she looked and how happy. I loved to see the change. Also on Sunday, the stake president came and changed the bishopric. We have been working with this family the, Branchini family. About two months ago they started coming to church. On Sunday, Hermano Branchini got put in as the first counselor in the bishopric! and they invited us in to listen to the setting apart. It was so awesome to see how ready he was to have this calling and how excited he was to work. I love the change the gospel makes in people'e lives. Missionary work is so rewarding and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Thank you all for your love, prayers, and confidence! I love you all!!

Love,
Hermana Wood :)

And even more rain...

Selfie
Amalia gave us her cigarettes!
KID DAY! All of the other pictures are from this activity.

Well, this week has gone by pretty fast. We had a lot of progress with our investigators this week and we are working toward the baptism this Saturday! Update on Amalia! We were able to visit her this week! We had a super powerful lesson with her. She told us she believes Joseph Smith is a prophet and that is why she accepted the Word of Wisdom! We asked her to stop smoking and she gave us her cigarettes right on the spot! We gave her the program from the church to help her stop smoking and she is very excited. She hasn't stopped completely, but she is smoking a lot less and progressing really well. Yay! Maria is the one that wants to get baptized this Saturday! It is a little sad, because her husband, Pablo, isn't listening very much and isn't ready to be baptized this Saturday. But Maria wants to get baptized, sí or sí, so we are going to help her. She will have her interview today and we will go from there! Wish her luck! Pray for her!

We had a super cute activity this week! Here in Argentina, they celebrate Kid Day. But they celebrate big. We had this super huge activity where all the little kids dressed up and all the adults as well! We dressed up as princesses with wands. But by the end of the night, we had given our crowns away to some cute little girls. We had lots of less actives at the activity and Maria came with her little kids! It was adorable and every time we feel closer to the ward. It is super fun. :)

It has been raining a ton, but thankfully, nothing has happened to us. We are safe and sound. None of the members in our ward got flooded, but many many people did. It is hard to watch the people suffering, but there are so many people that are helping. I am grateful for the service they are giving and I know that they will be blessed. That was my week! Have a great one!

Love,
Hermana Wood

PS we are in Rosario right now because Hermana Christiansen and I are going to go to the Monument here in Rosario!!!! Pictures to come next week!!!

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

Good week!

Well, here's to another week! My companion was really sick for a couple days, so we weren't able to work as much as we wanted, but we still visited lots of people and they are progressing a lot!

The people that are progressing the most are Maria and Pablo. They are adorable. We talked a lot with them about the plan of salvation and why we are here on the earth. Background story. Maria has 8 siblings. Her parents and 7 of her siblings are members of the church. A year ago, her parents went to the temple in Buenos Aires and got sealed together and to 6 of her siblings. Maria and Pablo went with them to the temple. Although they couldn't go in the temple, they loved the feeling they had outside the temple. They told us they both have the goal to go to the temple and be sealed as an eternal family with their three children. It was adorable to hear them both say that. I know that families can live together forever! Maria was able to come to church with two of her kids, but Pablo couldn't because his pants weren't dry because they washed them the day before...but he promised us he will come next week. :) We had a good lesson with Mica! She told us she loves the feelings she has when we are talking with her and she is learning about the gospel. However, she said it is hard to motivate herself when we aren't there. So we are trying to help her bring the spirit into her life by reading and praying and coming to church. I hope that she will be able to find the desire and really progress! Her boyfriend, Lucas, is now coming to church all the time, so I hope he will be a good influence on her.

Honestly, we weren't able to do much else this week because my companion couldn't leave her bed. But I learned a lot this week. I read about 200 pages from the book of mormon and I read a lot of Jesus the Christ and Preach my Gospel. I know that this is the true church and it has been restored to this time just for us. I know that Jesus is my brother and my Savior. He loves me and only wants the best for me. I hope you all have a great week!

Love,
Hermana Wood

NOS QUEDAMOS

p-day especial para las hermanas

Cousin "IT" She does it better than me...because she has WAY more hair than me. ;)

Inside of the house

Well....something completely crazy happened this week. Hermana Christiansen and I both stayed here in Acevedo! We were both completely sure that one of us would leave and we were telling all the members and investigators that one of us would leave...but then we both ended up staying for another transfer! Haha, we are super excited to be together! Obviously there is more we need to do here together, so we are going to do it!

We had a crazy week! On Tuesday, we went to Rosario and had a special p-day for the hermanas! There are only 36 of us in the misssion now. It was awesome to get to see some of my old companions and meet new people! I feel really old in the mission. We learned that we shouldn't compare ourselves and we are all special daughters of God. Sometimes that is hard in the mission because you look at all the great things the other hermanas are doing...but you need to remember tha God has a special plan for you and you are learning exactly what He wants you to learn. I don't know if you all remember Claudia from Cañada, but Hermana Cerna told me that she is pregnant! How crazy! I miss all the people in Cañada so much!

Then on Wednesday, we painted a house for a member family! It was lots of fun and it turned out really nice. :)

We had some super great lessons this week. We are aiming to have lots of baptisms this transfer because all of our people are progressing well and I really feel like lots of them can make it to baptism this transfer.

The first one was with Amalia. She is amazing! She was basically testifying to us about the family and how important it is to have a close family and to defend the family in this crazy world. We read 2 Nephi 31 with her and we started reading one verse each..but she just kept reading and reading. Then she apologized, but she said she just couldn't stop because she loves reading the Book of Mormon. She is awesome! We are also trying to help her stop smoking. It it awesome.

Maria is doing great! She is all moved and everything is a lot calmer. We programmed her for August 22 and she asked us..."Can't I get baptized sooner?" We want her to come to church a couple more times, but I am sure she will get baptized. I have never had someone that wants to get baptized as much as she does. We also found this man named Ignacio! We talked to him the other day, but we were able to have a lesson with him this week. He is awesome. He has a daughter, but she doesn't live with him because he is separated. The elders passed for him before and he remembers a lot from what they said. He really wants to change his life. In the first lesson, we told him that if he could be baptized by someone who holds the priesthood authority of God, he would see changes in his life. He quickly agreed and accepted a baptism date as well. Super exciting!

We had 13 less actives at church this week! I don't know why, but in all my areas I have had lots of less actives that come to church. I feel like they are more important because they have already made special covenants with their Heavenly Father and they need to keep them. It is super awesome to be a missionary! I love you all!

Love,
Hermana Wood :)

Where did this year go?

When we got to our house, there was a picture of the Virgin Mary outside our house, so we took it out and put in Jesus. :)

This is Toby. He is our neighbor's dog. He is so fat and so short and so cute. He is the best!

My shoes at one year....my shoes are invicible. ;)

One year!

Super awesome graffiti! Barrio Acevedo!

I don't know if you can see it...but that house is round. It's like a sphere. There is a whole street completely full of these houses! They are awesome!

I honestly can't believe what I am about to type. I have been in the mission for 1 year!!!!!!!! It has gone by so fast. I can't believe that I only have 6 more months to be here, teaching people, learning, growing, preaching the gospel, sharing my testimony every day of my Savior. But honestly, what I have learned is that the mission is just a training for the rest of my life. A missionary that really learned how to be a representative of Jesus Christ will never stop sharing the gospel. There are people all around us that are waiting to hear the sweet message of the restoration of the gospel. I know that we have the truth and that we can always share the gospel with everyone. :)

First off, we were able to teach Cintia and Mica! They are amazing girls! When we started the lesson, they both had lots of questions because they both read the pamphlet and the introduction of the Book of Mormon! They really want to learn more and we were able to help them understand more about prayer and the importance of Jesus Christ in our lives. We invited them to church, but they weren't able to come. :( However, Lucas, one of the less active sons, came to church!! We are helping all of them, and I am super grateful to know them.

Maria moved this week and lives a lot closer now, so we are going to be able to teach her a lot easier. Carmelo and Susana are becoming really distant, and it is sad. We had a really strong lesson with them this week and invited them both to pray again about the Book of Mormon so that they can remember why they are trying to make this change in their lives.

We have been trying to find lots of new people. We found a few new people that we are going to visit this week, Lorena, Gregorio, Ignacio, and Elva. A while ago, some elders passed by this kid named Hugo, so we decided to pass by him yesterday. We got there, and he quickly invited us in. We got to know him and his mom, Yolanda. They are super great and Yolanda told us that she really feels like God sent us to her door. I am excited to teach them!

I am excited for tomorrow because we are going to have a 'special' p-day for all the hermanas in the mission! I am so excited to see everyone and to have lots of fun! Next week also is transfers. We have no idea who is going to leave and who is going to stay because Hermana Christiansen and I have the exact same time here in Acevedo and in the mission....so this week will get super interesting. :) I hope you all have a great week!

Love,>br> Hermana Wood :)