It IS true!

We had transfers and I stayed in Guarabira with the same companion--Sister Vênia! We both were super excited when we got the transfer news. The members here in the branch did a going away party in the chance that one of us 4 missionaries would be transferred. They made a HUGE cake for us and one by one went up to the front of the room and told us how much they respected and loved us. They thanked us so much for our work in the branch and even though I knew I was staying I still cried thinking that someday I will have to leave these people. At the end of the party we got the phone call. Elder Siqueira at first said that Sister Vênia and Elder Jay had been transferred, but then he said he was just kidding. Ahhh you just can´t play with our hearts like that! Everyone was super excited that all of us stayed and still gave us little `going away` presents...even though no one was transferred. I´m so happy I´m staying in this area. I really hope I end my mission here. Guarabira is a tiny city that has everything you need and our area includes a lot of other cute out-of-the-way towns as well. I´ve loved visiting these cute towns and the wonderful people that live there. I found out that my "daughter", Sister G, got transferred to Pombal. It is super close to Sousa and I just love the people there. When I was in Sousa the missionaries were just starting to work in Pombal and now they have a thriving branch there. I got the chance to visit Pombal at the beginning of the mission and am just so glad that my daughter will be working out there in the hot hot desert with such wonderful people! She will do a lot of good out there! So this past week or so has been good. We´ve been working a ton!! With the new chapel being built and nearing the end of construction President has asked us to work on increasing the attendence at church. We´ve been working a lot with less actives and new members and it has been great.

This last Sunday the Elders baptized a wonderful young woman who I just love to death. Her name is Raisa and we had the opportunity to teach her a few times with the Elders. The first time she came to church she stayed with me the entire time and we just really hit it off! She is such a mature and smart girl and really was looking for the truth. When the elders were teaching her, the pastor of her old church came and pretty much tried to lay a smack down on the church and call her to repentance. This made her a little uneasy about her baptism, but the elders talked with her a long time and she decided to be baptized. On the night of her baptism I got to share the message and shared 2 Nephi 31:20 with her. I told her it was mom´s favorite scripture and talked about how mom was an example of a woman who lives this scripture and because she lives it, it has blessed her life. I talked with her about the importance of enduring to the end. I told her that things would be hard and that there would always be opposition, but this is how we follow Christ--putting one foot in front of the other and following in his footsteps. After the message she was baptized. When she raised out of the water she had a stunned look on her face. As she walked passed us going to the bathroom to change, I gave her a thumbs up but she totally didnt see it. She didn´t look at anyone and looked just super stunned. After she returned and the meeting was over she called me outside to talk. She told me that when she came out of the water a completely new feeling swept over her...a feeling she had never felt before. She said she was just shocked that she could feel that way. She continued to talk about a peace and happiness that she had never felt in her life or even knew existed. As she sat there she just kept saying--``Sister wood, IT IS TRUE, IT IS TRUE!. I believed that everything I was taught was true, but now I know it!`` It is moments like these that I just never want to stop being a missionary. There is such a joy that comes when someone repents, or when the veil is removed from someone´s eyes and they gain a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel.

This past week one of the highlights of my week was teaching two young men who are atheists. Ok, you might think that it is weird that I enjoyed teaching atheists, but I did. Allan and Vinicio are two young men very disillusioned by religion and think that science and religion are opposites. The first lesson with them lasted 2 hours, but it was great. We talked about our purpose in this life, our potential, and our divine nature as children of God. I tell you I never thought I could feel the spirit so strong talking with someone who doesnt even believe in God. The Spirit was very present during the 2 lessons we had with them. Their biggest doubts have to do with wanting physical proof that God exists. I talked with them about the things that testify to me that God exists-- nature, my family, the hope and joy that we feel with each new day that begins, etc. I looked at them directly in their eyes and started to testify of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and of the love that They have for them. I told them that even though they didnt believe in God, He knows them and they chose to follow His Son in the premortal life. As I bore testimony to them I started to feel the love the Savior has for them....now this isn't abnormal because we often feel this with our investigators---but this time it was so powerful, so pure that I was just shocked. Here I was sitting in front of two young men who were proclaimed atheists and yet I was feeling God´s love for them. At the same time I felt, very clearly, that they were two very special sons of God. Honestly God loves everyone, even those that deny his existence. When I told them about the love I was feeling I could see it in their eyes that they had felt this love before.. from their Father in Heaven. I´m so grateful that God shows his love to everyone---the Christians, the Muslims, the atheist, etc. I don´t know if Allan and Vinicio will ever be baptized, but I have faith they will sometime in their lives. God´s plan is a plan of mercy and even though a person denies his very existence....``his hand is stretched out still``

Well this email is getting long so I´ll wrap it up with a few other things that happened this week. Sister Venia and I were invited to lunch at the Army Base/ Police Station by a member who works there. When we arrived in the dining hall I felt like all the eyes in the room were glued to us. Women are few and far between at this place and definitely two missionaries in the middle of a bunch of policemen and army officers would cause a stir. It was quite a lot of fun and the guys kept fighting to get a spot next to us at the table. The whole experience was a lot of fun and at the end 2 police officers gave us a ride home in the police truck. This is actually the 2nd time the police have given us a ride and I have to say it is nice because it is the only time we get to feel the air conditioner. Anyway the police have a lot of respect for us here in Guarabira. They always wave to us and stop to let us cross the road! It helps having friends in high places!

Well last thing! I promise! We watched the Other Side of Heaven this week with a few recent converts and I just never remember crying that much during that movie. I mean in the end when he is saying goodbye to the people on the island....I was just a complete mess. I just kept thinking that in a couple months, I´ll be saying goodbye as well. I still don´t know how I´ll be able to do it. I loved these people before I got here, before I even knew them....can you imagine the love I have for them now, after serving them for almost 16 months!? But, I love and I miss my family. Thank you all for the emails, letters, encouragement, and prayers. I feel them and am very grateful for them. This week I got the card you guys all signed for my birthday. I think it was one of the best presents I´ve every received. I keep picking it up and reading it and wanting to give you all big hugs and fatten you up with good-tasting Brazilian food. Pretty soon I´ll be able to. In the meantime, stay warm, stay healthy, stay strong in the church. Like Raisa said--IT IS TRUE, IT IS TRUE! It sure is. I love you all. Have a great week.


Love, Sister wood