Gallega bonita

This week was one of the hardest weeks of my mission so far, but in a good way. Sister Nascimento and I worked nonstop this past week and at the end of every day we were just almost too exhausted to take a shower. Our hard work paid off though. We baptized a man yesterday and will baptize another this next Sunday. Things are going well here though. The weather has been a little bit cooler....80 degrees ish...because of all the rain we've been having. The rainy season has arrived more or less and a lot of the streets have turned into lakes. Its great though. My chacos dry fast and I never have to do my hair anymore. Usually I just put it up into a ponytail or in a bun because anything else will just be destroyed in about 5 seconds. I'm sticking out a lot here unfortunately. Not a single day has gone by on the mission without someone in the rua saying ¡gallega bonita! (oh beautiful blond). Yesterday we were walking in the street and some young men started yelling some things at me and I turned around because I wasnt sure what they were saying. As soon as I gave them that little bit of attention ja era! (it was done)...they said o gallega linda, ?fica vermelho! (oh beautiful blond, don't get red (embarrassed)). They continued to shout: gallega donna de minha coracao, te amo....?(oh blond lady of my heart, I love you!) goodness gracious all I could do was laugh and ignore them. So until now I've never had a problem with dogs, but two times this past week my companion and I have almost been attacked. The first incident was when we were searching for the house of an investigator...we found it without any problems, but there was a dog parked right in front of the gate. As soon as we approached he seriously leaped at us...barking, and snarling and trying to bite us. It took us quite by surprise and me being the person I am decided to sacrifice Livro de Mormon instead of my leg. I placed the Book of Mormon between me in the dog so he wouldn't bite (horrible I know....almost basphemy!) , but luckily I stepped back just in time and his bite landed in the air. e decided to just continue on our way and not talk to our investigator, because the dog seriously refused let us pass. The second incident happened this morning. We were arriving at a house of an investigator and this dog in the front started running towards us barking and snarling. I thought we could pass by him, but as soon as we took a step forward he tried to bite us. Goodness this dog was ferocious. My companions legs were trembling as we backed away and we went on our way again. I think the dogs here honestly have something against us. ..don't worry though. I'm being careful. I really don't have too much to say this week....lots of miracles happened though. We found a lot of inactive people randomly and are working to reactivate them and we are teaching their families. The greatest thing about this week was seeing our investigator change. He gave up smoking and coffee in one week! He went from smoking a carton a day to nothing in less than a week. He is still is dealing with the withdrawls but is definitely seeing the blessings. It is awesome to see how fast people can change if they really want to. When I return home in a year you will just have to stock the house full of kleenex because I know I will cry a lot my first weeks back home after the mission. Goodness life is just marvelous down here really. Thanks for all the emails, pictures, and support. You guys can send pictures again because I have unlimited storage now....so start sending some recent photos!!!! I love you all!
love, sister wood

New city: Tibiri, New companion: Sister Dias

Things are going great here in Tibiri. ( Tibiri is close to Santa Rita or Rangel if you are trying to find it on the map...it is close to the Joao pessoa airport). My companion is awesome and we are having such a great time together. We work so hard during the day and walk back to our house at night completely exhausted, but somehow find the strength when we arrive home to joke around and have a good time with the two other sisters we live with. We are meeting a ton of great people here and we will definitely do a lot of good in this area. I forgot to tell you, in my last area (potengi) Sister Dias and I were the high baptizing dupla in the zone! Anyway I'm absolutely loving it here and can't believe in less than a year I will be home and back to a normal life. How strange. I was sitting in conference yesterday and suddenly realized how much I have actually changed during my mission. I'm still the same Ariel, but in many ways I've changed for the better. I started crying yesterday when I thought about that one day I won't be a missionary. This mission is everything to me. Elder Holland hit it right on the nail when he said there were two periods in his life--before the mission and after the mission. This mission is helping me more than any graduate school, study abroad program, etc ever could. This really is the work of angels. Everyday we leave our house and teach people about this wonderful plan that Heavenly Father has for his children...and honestly angels are our associates. We don't see them, but their presence is definitely felt. I know that missionaries really are blessed and protected by these angels. It is an undeniable fact. I dont know how many times I've been protected or warned of danger on my mission by the spirit....but I'm beginning to lose count. Anyway in less than a year I return.
Love,
sister ariel wood

Another great week!

This week's email will be a little shorter because I don't have a ton of time. This past week was another wonderful week and full of its own little miracles. We´ve been teaching an 18 yr old girl these past 2 weeks who is just amazing. Everytime we leave her house I say to my companion that one day this girl will serve a mission. We were a little worried about whether she would want to be baptized because she and her family are VERY catholic, but she really enjoyed church last week so we were hopeful she would accept the invitation to be baptized. Well when we arrived in her house this past week she said, ´´I want to be baptized and serve a mission.´´ We just sat there shocked for a few seconds before celebrating with her this awesome decision. She was baptized with another one of our investigators yesterday and couldn't stop crying from happiness. Goodness if you could just hear the prayers this girl gives! She is definitely an elect and my hope is that one day she will serve a mission! The Lord really is blessing us in this area and we have 2 baptisms marked for this Sunday. One is Andreilton! He is so excited to be baptized and be sealed to his family in one year. The cool thing is in almost exactly one year is the end of my mission and I will be able to watch the sealing of this beautiful family. We ate dinner at the house of Andreilton´s daughter last night and she just started crying when she started talking to us about the baptism. She said she never thought she would see her father get baptized...that she gave up hope many years ago. She just kept thanking us over and over and I felt really humbled that the Lord blessed us in helping this beautiful familiy. Anyway things are great. We found the house of the adventista missionaries that came to church last week. Goodness it was quite a sight. Two elders, my companion, and I in a house with at least 20 7th day Adventist missionaries. The elders bible bashed a little, but I just talked to a few of them about the Book of Mormon. One of them promised to read the Book of Mormon in 1 month! I told him it will change his life and that he better be prepared to become a member of the church! All he did was laugh! Anyway...it was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. Next week I won't email until Wednesday because we have transfer. I will most likely be staying in Potengi and receiving another companion. I hope you all have a great week! You are all in my prayers!!!!

A miracle in Potengi

Goodness I don't > know where to start. This hás been one of the best weeks of my life.. There > are tôo many details to this story so this will be a shortened version. > We´ve been working a lot with a man named Andreilton. HIs wife is the > President of the Relief Society and his son-in-law is the bishop in our > ward. Two of his sons are stake presidents and all of his children and > grandchildren are members. His family joined the church 21 years ago, but he > never wanted to hear the discussion until about 4 weeks ago. Well for the > past 4 weeks we´ve been teaching him and he hás been going to church, but he > kept saying that he was only taking the discussion because he was curious. > He kept resisting the invitation to be baptized and Sister Dias and I didnt > know what to do. This last Friday we had conference with President Fernandes > and Sister Fernandes (two of the most wonderful people in the world) and > President Fernandes talked a lot about faith. He said that we need to do our > part and have the faith that the Lord will do His...and that through faith > miracles happen. Anyway I left conference inspired and ready to apply all > the counsels we received. The next morning I woke up early and tried to fall > back asleep, but my mind was restless and I couldn't stop thinking about the > things President Fernandes said. I finally decided to get out of bed and > went into the other room to say my morning prayer. I pled with the Lord to > help us in this work here in Potengi and to let us be instruments in His > hands. And of course I prayed for our investigators and asked the Lord to > let us know how to help them. After praying I opened my scriptures and > started preparing for a talk I gave yesterday. While I was preparing my talk > my mind kept wandering thinking about Andreilton and how we could help him. > He hás been waiting for the Lord to tell him if the church is true or not. I > knew it would be a miracle for him to decide to be baptized and I kept > thinking about the scriptures in Moroni 7:27-29:> > `´Wherefore my beloved brethren have miracles ceased because Christ hath > ascended into heaven and hath sat down on the right hand of God, to claim of > the Father his rights of mercy which he hath upon the children of men? For > he hath answered the ends of the law, and he claimeth all those who have > faith in him; and they who have faith in him will cleave unto every good > thing; wherefore he advocateth the cause of the children of men and he > dwelleth eternally in the heavens. And because he hath done this, my beloved > brethren, have miracles ceased: Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither have > angels ceased to minister unto the children of men. ``> > After reading this scriptures I prayed and said, `´ Heavenly Father we need > a miracle!`` After the prayer I returned to preparing my talk. I was > searching in the book of Alma and turned to Alma 5 and read verses 45, 46 (i > won't write it out for lack of time). Those verses say that Alma fasted and > prayed many days to know whether these things were true. When I read this > the Spirit hit me like a load of bricks and the impression/revelation > started. The impressions I received were first that we needed to fast for > him again and invite him to fast with us and second, that the Lord would > give him an answer so clear this week that he couldnt possibly deny it. The > Spirit continued to flood my mind with impression and thoughts of what I > should say to him and what my companion and I should do. At this end of > this special experience that last impressions I recieved were that I needed > to exercise faith and believe that the Lord could work this great miracle in > the life of Andreilton. With this faith, I needed courage to say to him that > he will receive an answer to his prayers this week and know with 100% > certainty that this church is true. As always after the impression of the > Spirit, the adversary tries to enter into your mind and make you doubt. I > started to thinkg--´´who am I to force the hand of God and say to Andreilton > that this week he will receive his answer?´´ and `´what if he gets angry and > decides to stop listening to the discussions´´ and do you really think after > 21 years of people trying to baptize him that you will succeed?´´´...Many > thoughts like these kept entering my mind, but then I remembered what > President Fernandes said about faith and what it says in Moroni 7. I hád > asked for a miracle and the Spirit told me what we needed to do for this > miracle to happen, now the only thing that I needed to do was have the faith > to follow this counsel and believe that we could be instruments in the Lords > hands. Still weak in the spirit, I said the words similar to the father > cited in Matthew--´Lord I believe, help though my unbelief´´ --and asked for > one more confirmation that we really needed to do these things to help > Andreilton. I opened my Bible to look for a scripture to answer this prayer, > but I didn't even need to turn one page...my Bible fell open to Isaiah 58 and > my eyes immediately went to verses 5-9. If you read these verses you will > see that they talk about what a fast is and the importance of a fast. When I > read verse 9 the Spirit hit me again with the same impression I received > earlier. Verse 9 says--´´then shalt thou call and the Lord shall answer; > thou shall cry and he shall say, Here I am.´´> > Well that was enough for me. I closed my scriptures, stood up and went into > the other room where my companion was, sat down of the bed and told > her..`This week we will see a miracle.´ I related to her everything that had > happened and we decided to pass by Andreiltons house after lunch. Sister > Dias had also had impression that we needed to invite President Fernandes to > speak with Andreilton. We called President Fernandes and he said he would > pass by the next day (Sunday night) as he was traveling home to João Pessoa.> > Anyway after lunch we stopped by the house of Andreilton and I related to > him the things that had happened. I talked to him also about the love I had > for him and his family and how I wanted him to be able to be with his family > for eternity. As I was saying all these things I couldnt help but tear up > and he started to tear up as well. I told him that the Lord would give him a > feeling/answer so clear that he would recognize with out a doubt that this > really is the Lord's church on the earth and whether he decided to follow > this response was up to Him, but whether he likes it or not the Lord will > give it. We asked him to have faith and told him we would be fasting for the > next 24 hours and for him to fast a few hours if possible (he hás health > problems that dont permit him to fast for very long). He said he would try > and we left not knowing what this week would bring but with faith that we > would see a miracle.> > The next day (yesterday) Sister Dias and I were in church and Andreilton´s > wife, Fátima, ran up to us with a big smile on her face and said-- > ´´Andreilton will be baptized´´. At first I didn't want to believe it because > he said nothing to us about it and acted like everything was normal. We > decided we would know for sure in the afternoon when we stopped by with > President and Sister Fernandes to talk with him. When we all arrived in > Andreilton~s house yesterday afternoon and started talking to him my faith > started to waiver. Andreilton kept talking about how he never wanted to be > baptized in the past, never wanted to listen to the missionaries,etc. He > kept talking about the Catholic traditions in his family and there was a > point when I just had to zone out of the conversation and start praying. > After 15 or 20 minutes of talking about why he never joined the church he > paused and then said to President Fernandes, ´´BUT, I~ve decided to be > baptized on April 3rd`. When he said this I just started crying. I couldn't > stop the tears. It is impossible to describe the joy I felt in that moment. > I completely agree with Alma when he said in Alma 26, `´ I cannot say the > smallest part which I feel´. President Fernandes gave him a big hug and said > that he should do it sooner because Sister Dias and I may be transferred > soon...so he decided to move the baptism to March 28th. His children will > come to Natal and even President Fernandes said he would try and come for > the baptism. As we left the house many hugs and handshakes were given, many > tears shed....and the verse in Moroni 7 came with great force into my mind > and the spirit said, ´`´have miracles ceased?...behold I say unto you Nay; > neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men`´> > Sister Dias and I walked with President and SIster Fernandes to their car > and President Fernandes said before leaving that Andreilton had been waiting > 21 years for us and that this was the reason we were here in Potengi....to > complete this beautiful family. After he left, Sister Dias and I wanted to > sit down and just cry because of the gratitude and joy we felt, but we hád > to run (literally) to the chapel to watch the baptism of one of our > investigators.> > After the baptism we returned to the house of Andreilton and talked with his > wife, Fátima. She told us because Andreilton hás dificulties fasting, and had asked her to fast in his place. So she ate lunch on Saturday and after an > hour or so threw up, but decided to continue her fast until the next day. > She said when she awoke Sunday morning she felt perfectly healthy and hád > lots of strength. When she went to say good morning to her husband he > said, --I will be baptized. As she related what happened she started to bear > her testimony to us about the power of fasting. As we stood in the kitchen > talking she started to express her gratitude for us and told us that since > we arrived and started teaching her husband he hás changed completely. She > continued to say many things and kept saying we were angels sent with the > purpose to help her family. As we returned home I couldnt help jumping for > joy (again, literally). My feelings in that moment can best be summed up in > the words of Ammon. – I do not boast in my own strength nor in my own > wisdom, but behold my joy in full, yea my heart is brim with joy and I will > rejoice in my God. Yea I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am > weak; therfore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for > in his strength I can do all things; yea behold many mighty miracles we have > wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.`´> > Goodness I know this email was gigantic, but I just wanted you all to know a > miracle happened yesterday.> > Other things that happened this week that I dont have time to write about:> - Baptisms!> - the three 7th day Adventist missionaries we invited to church. They showed > up and participated in all three meetings. They are very curious about our > living prophet. Invited them to watch general conference.> - my talk that I gave yesterday—The entire audience was in tears including > our investigators and the stake president. I received countless hugs and > ´thank yous`after the meeting.> - This week I was told my português is better than that of many of the zone > leaders in this mission. Sweet!> > I~m trying to represent our family > well down here in Brazil. Have a wonderful week!> > > LOVE YOU!> > Sister Wood> >

"Keep on keeping on"

I~m doing well down here in Natal. This week had its ups and downs, but I~m staying happy and upbeat. The weather down here has been miserable this week, but I~m getting used to feeling like I live in a furnace. Yesterday morning we left our house at 7:00 to pick up our investigators for church and the sun was HORRIBLE! Everytime Sister Dias and I saw a patch of shade, we ran for it as fast as possible! There is a saying they have here--the sun may rise first in João Pessoa, but it burns first in Natal. Natal has a high rate of skin cancer, but don't worry I~m piling on the sunscreen. So last P-day Sister Dias and I went to the centro in Natal with two girls in our ward and it was so much fun! We pretty much just walked around the city and window shopped. To get back to Potengi we needed to pick up a bus. At the bus stop we tried twice to catch this bus, but because it was 5:00 (when everyone got off work), there were hundreds of people trying to catch this one bus. I watch the first 2 buses with my mouth literally wide open in amazement. I have never seen so many people crammed onto a bus in my entire life. It was seriously miraculous to see. After missing the first two buses we made a grand effort to catch the third and after a lot of pushing and shoving we succeeded. I thankfully got a spot close to the window, but the majority were unlucky and were crammed in the middle of the row. But goodness I~m not kidding you. this was a bus built for 50 people and it had over 200. While we were traveling we hit a lot of bumps, but no one moved because we were packed in so tight. I wanted to get a picture, but my arm and bag were pinned up against another person. It was CRAZY, but I couldnt help but laugh. Oh the worst part was that since it was rush hour we were stuck on this bus for 2 hours! Imagine 2 hours, with 200 people in this bus in 90-100 degree temperatures. awesome. BUT I got to see the beach and it was absolutely stunning. There was a fullmoon and it lit up the water and beach. I tell this place is just absolutely gorgeous. I found a story in the Ensign this week and I want to share only a little bit of it with you: John Stephen Akhwari, a marathon runner from Tanzania, competed in the 1968 Summer Olympics. Even though he suffered along the way from fatigue, leg cramps, dehydration, and disorientation, a voice called from within to go on, and so he went on. Exhausted and staggering, John Stephen was the last man to enter the stadium. When asked why he would complete a race he could never win, Akhwari replied, `My country did not send me 7,000 miles to start the race; they sent me 7,000 miles to finish the race´. In life, we are not brough to earth just to be born into mortality. We came with a mission and a purpose, and that is to endure to the end. Remember the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. All of them served the Master , and all received an equal wage. It did not matter that some arrived after others, only that each one finally came. If you have taken missteps in your youth, don't let discouragement overcome you. The Lord's judgements are not spiritual grade-point averages--with past sins and mistakes averaged into the final grade. He has promised that ´ he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I the Lord, remember them no more.´ So, if you are not where you want to be, decide today to get there. Our lifetime degree will be graded on how well we live up to the covenants made in our saving ordinances--baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, etc. You CAN cross the finish line with everyone else. `´Go forward and not backward. Courage,...and on, on to the victory!´´Anyway I really enjoyed this article by Elder Ballard in Fev 2007. I meet lots of people who think because of the things they've done in the past they can't be forgiven or have a good life in the future. What an outright lie this is that Satan tells people. I knew this before my mission, but I know it more now than ever---through the Atonement everything is possible. Jesus Christ suffered for us...bore more pain than we can begin to comprehend...like it says in Nephi, he literally has us graven on the palms of his hands...it is impossible for him to forget about us. I wish more people would believe in the power of the Atonement. I wish more people would believe that they can change and be better. It is a thing very frustrating at times about missionary work...sometimes people just think they are a lost cause and don't even want to try to redeem their lives. Anyway, I have to go. I hope this email makes sense. English is becoming more and more foreign to me every day.Love you all! Have a great week and stay safe!Com carinho e amor,Sister Wood

Short but sweet...

Another great week in Natal. Goodness I love it here. This past week sister Dias and I got lost on the bus and ended up at one of the most beautiful beaches in Brazil. Talk about luck! Of course we didn’t get walk on the beach, only saw it from the bus, but my oh my was it gorgeous. What a blessing it is to serve close to the beach and have that cool ocean breeze everyday! Also This last week we worked our tails off, but didn’t have any baptisms yesterday. We are working with a lot of families right now and it is wonderful to see how their lives are changing. One man we are working with is just awesome, but frustrating at the same time. His wife has been a member for 21 years. All his children and grandchildren are members, but he never wanted anything to do with the church. This past week he told his wife he wanted to be taught by the missionaries. This is the first time he has asked that in 21 years!!! My companion and I taught him several times this past week and it went well, but he is waiting to know for certain that the church is true until he is baptized. Hopefully he will continue with his prayers this week and feel the spirit testifying that all the things weve taught him about are true. Goodness I have no time this week. I´ve spent the last 30 minutes trying to upload photos, but nothing is working. Frustrating! Ím doing great though. Loving the missionary life and staying out of trouble….for the most part. ;) Thanks for the emails! They always make me smile! Love you all!!!!Love,sister wood

Awesome members, devil plant, chicken at midnight

Goodness the weeks just fly by! Tomorrow I will have officially been a missionary for 5 months! Can you believe it?! Somedays it feels like I said goodbye to you only a few weeks ago! Things are going great here in Potengi/Natal. The ward is AWESOME! We have a big chapel and a piano that plays all the hymns by itself—cool huh?! And behind the chapel there is a spare lot that the church owns that has goiaba and caja trees---so we are never hungry during church. The only bad thing is that there is a plant that also lives back there that I call—a planta do diabo. IF you brush up against it it feels like you´ve been stung by a couple wasps! It is so painful! Red boils immediately appeared on my legs when I walked through one of these plants but luckily they went away after a day. Unfortunately my comp. walked through one the same day and is still suffering the effects! Devil plant! The members here are awesome, Awesome, AWESOME! Yesterday at lunch we listened to a member tell stories about the violence in Rio de Janiero and it was so interesting, but I~m glad I~m not serving a mission there. After lunch we had a dessert made from a special fruit, cupuaça, that only grows in the Amazon. It was heavenly! I may be a little biased, but I think Brasil officially has the best fruit in the world!So if I return from the mission and cant find anyone to marry in the U.S. I can return to Brasil and get married without even trying. Yesterday a guy ran up to me in church and told me his friend liked me and decided he was going to wait for me until I finished my mission. Ummm…thanks? 5 months ago if a person said that I would have really been weirded out, but now it is just normal. This week our investigator was saying the prayer at the end of one of our lessons and asked Heavenly Father to ´´please let Sister Wood come back and teach me many more times.´´ Talk about awkward/hilarious! Im not sure what my companion though about that prayer! So yesterday in church we had an elder who was traveling around the mission with his dad visit our sacrament meeting. His dad didn’t speak Portuguese so I decided to speak English with him. Oh goodness gracious what a disaster! I officially can't speak English anymore. My companion just laughed and laughed as I struggled to communicate in my own language. So this week I was talking with some people about Easter and asked them what traditions they had here in Brazil. One guys said oh just the normal ones—the easter bunny, the chicken at midnight, Judas in the street.. O que?! Chicken at midnight? Judas in the street? They have a tradition here that during Easter at midnight you steal your neighbors chicken and the next day you eat it.. Im not really sure what that symbolizes, but to each their own. Also people dress up scarecrow type of people to look like Judas Iscariot and place him in their yards and in the streets. Judas is a little modernized and usually just looks like a drunk with a cigarette hanging from his mouth. Again…not exactly sure why they do it, but I find it hilarious. O.K. enough about the funny things in my life….now for the spiritual things. Lots of things have happened in these pasts months that have made me realize that the little choice everyday make people who they are. The little choices seem to make more difference than the big ones at times. I see so many people missing out on the blessings God has for them because they refuse to do the small things—like reading the scriptures everyday or saying your daily prayers or going to church. These little choices we make everyday, every hour make up who we are in the end. It is amazing the negative consequences of not saying a prayer in the morning…when a person does this they are choosing to forego the opportunity to thank God for their blessings, to ask for the things they really need in their lives, and worst of all they are distancing themselves from God without really knowing it. On the other hand the choice to say your morning prayers (even if it is 1 minute long) has infinite blessings. If I say my prayers I show many things to God—(1) that I am making time for Him, (2) that I am grateful for the blessings I have, (3) my reliance on the Lord, (4)my faith that the Lord will bless me, etc. The consequences of this small choice, to say a prayer everyday are overwhelming. When a person pray—he shows humility and reliance on the Lord. As a person prays for others anger, hatred, selfishness are replaced by love and a desire to serve and bless the lives of others. The most important thing people will learn when they make this small choice is that they have a loving Father in Heaven who wants to bless them. Anyway I am thoroughly convinced that the big things really are the small things. I see people making these small choices between the good and the bad every day and as a result I see many people finding a happiness that they never realized existed and others unfortunately finding an unhappiness and sorrow that cannot be conforted. The scripture in Alma—wickedness never was happiness—is a thing I see first hand everyday. Watching people make these small choices are where my greatest happiness and sadness come from. It breaks my heart when I hear a person say they don’t want to pray to know the Book of Mormon is true, or when a person says they know the things we have taught are true, but don’t want to be baptized. However my heart rejoices everytime I hear a person say they prayed to know Joseph Smith was a prophet or everytime a person decides to forego the beach or soccer game and go to church. A lot of times people focus more on the big choices in life than the little ones and forget that only through the little choices will eventually make up who we are. Anyway Im not exactly sure why Im writing this... Just woke up this morning and felt like I needed to write about this today. Just remember to always be examining your lives and think about what little choices you are making everyday and where these choices are taking you. Love you,Sister Wood

Transferred again...

February 17, 2010

I was transferred today, but I’m still in Natal. I have a new companion, Sister Dias, and she is absolutely awesome! We are going to have a lot of fun together and I’m really looking forward to working with her. My new area is Potengi (before I was in Nova Republica) and my apartment is the cutest thing ever. We live on the second floor and have a big balcony and lots of space. Today I spent the day in the bus station with the majority of the missionaries in Natal. Some were waiting to catch buses to other areas and others were waiting on their new companions to arrive. It was a lot of fun to hang out in the bus station, as weird as that sounds, because I got to talk to and meet a lot of the missionaries in Natal. I’m serving with some awesome people! This last week was interesting. It was Carnival here in Brazil and pretty much everyone partied (except the missionaries) and I have to say it was a very interesting experience. We weren’t able to do a lot of work because of all the partying, but managed to teach some people. Things are going well though. I love being a missionary. This week several people told me I am fluent in Portuguese. Yay! I was talking to some elders in the bus station this morning and they couldn’t believe I only have 2 transfers in the mission field. They also said I will be called to be a senior earlier than most because I am learning the language extremely fast. Hmm I’m trying to think about what else happened this week. A man in our ward died. He was murdered in the street..gunshot to the back of the head. I also saw two motorcycles collide right in front on me. It was unreal....one of the guys flew off and traveled quite a distance. Well I’ve got to go. Love,Sister Wood

Sousa to Natal

Welcome to Natal!

Oi! Well this week was Just plain interesting! After emailing you guys last week I partied up my last pday in Sousa—hung out with all the elders in my district, ate açaí, etc—before packing my bags . Our bus headed for Natal didn't leave until 9:30 pm so we had a lot of time to say goodbye to people. About 20-25 members showed up at the bus station to wish us well. It was quite a party. We all laughed, joked around, and took pictures until our bus came. It was really sad to say goodbye to everyone. I really loved serving in Sousa a lot and the members there will always have a special place in my heart. We traveled overnight by bus to Natal and it was horrible. Worst night of sleep on the mission hands down...but I survived it. We arrived in Natal 5:00 am and our district leader picked us up at 8 am to take us to our house. I loved our new house...big and spacious, but of course nothing fancy! The elders took us on a quick tour o four área. It is a lot different than Sousa. A lot more houses, a lot more hills, a lot more rain, BUT we have a SUPERMARKET!!!!!!!!!WHOOOOOOO HOOOO!!! I about died when I saw it. Oh and we have a chapel too!!!! Ok ok...the most exciting thing about my week was this: WE GOT ROBBED!!! On Thursday we had interviews with president Fernandez during the morning and when we returned home a man was waiting outside our house. He turned out to be the first counselor in the ward and said he received a phone call saying our house had been robbed and that the Police caught the thief. We didn't believe him at first because our house hás a cement wall around it, with glass shards on top of it and about 6 or 7 locks that you have to open before you can get into our house....anyway as soon as we entered our house we knew immediately that we had been robbed. Our things were EVERYWHERE!!!! (see the photo attached) Honestly every bag, box, book had been torn open. Goodness gracious it looked like a tornado hit the place. It didn't take long for us to identify things that were missing...money, câmeras, wallets, ipods, etc. BUT luckily the Police caught the thief. The Lord really protected us....because we weren't in our house at the time (a few missionaries have been robbed while they were in the house ), the Police only caught the thief because they were looking for another thief, and the Police returned everything including the Money we lost. It truly was a milagre because the Police here are extremely corrupt! But anyway I~m fine, we are all fine. We are living in another part of the city now with some other sisters. 6 sisters, 1 bedroom and 1 bathroom...it is fun. Anyway...THe work is going well. We are in the top baptizing zone in the mission. We baptized an awesome girl named Willyanne yesterday and the baptism was beautiful! A little 9 yr old boy sang a primary song for her and it was Just the cutest thing ever! Well I~m out of time. Enjoy the pictures and continue to pray for my safety! LOVE YOU ALLL!!!!!love, sister wood

Mais Um

Beach Day Pictures

Beach Day + Transfer

OI familia e todo mundo!!!
Goodness gracious....so much news...I don~t know where to start. Well last monday after I emailed us sisters caught a bus for Joao Pessoa. We arrived at about 8:00 at night and stayed in an apartment with all the sisters in the mission. As you can imagine we didn~t get a ton of sleep that night.... but it was SO MUCH FUN...except for the fact that we only had one bathroom!!!! 16 girls and only one bathroom...insanity!! Tuesday morning Sister Fernandes pick us all up and we headed to the beach. holy cow....this beach was hands down the most beautiful beach I have ever seen in my entire life!!! I honestly felt like i was in heaven! Sister Fernandes let us wade in the water....only up to our knees and it was just heavenly. We spent the morning playing capture the flag, taking photos, telling jokes, and picnicing on the beach. IT was just awesome. Around lunchtime we said goodbye to the beautiful beach and headed into Joao Pessoa for almoço. We ate almoço at a niceeeeee chinese restaurant and afterwards headed to Farol--the point in the americas that is closest to Africa. It was cool to look out into the endless ocean and know that somewhere right in front of me was Africa! Afterwards we went to a park that was on the side of a gorgeous river. This park had various stands where you could buy souvenirs and tourist type things. We window shopped until 5:00 when a show began. A man comes down the river every night at 5 to play jazz music for all the people in the park. Goodness gracious it was just wonderful! We all watched the sun go down listening to the sweetest jazz music every. Goodness I wish yall could have been there. It was just one of those things you dont forget. Anyway after the jazz music we headed to the Presidents house for dinner. Dinner was wonderful and Sister and President Fernandes even gave a short fireside for us. It was very nice. I absolutely love Sister and President Fernandes. They are absolutely wonderful in every way! After dinner we headed back to the apartment with all the sisters and went to bed. The next morning we woke up and went to the supermarket before catching a bus back to Sousa. Walking into the supermarket I felt like I was walking into another world. I~m used to buying my things from these little markets in the street....and when I saw all the things they had in this place. I just about went wild. I never knew i could get so excited about a supermarket. Anyway...us sisters had a fun time there. I bought dried apricots and wanted to die of happiness while eating them. Goodness. I have so many things to say, but no time!
After returning to Sousa we worked HARDDDDD the rest of the week. President Fernandes came to Sousa this weekend and before leaving he told us sisters that he was making some chances in the mission and to be prepared for anything. Well last night at about 9:30 we got a call saying we had been transferred to Natal! I have mixed feelings about this because I LOVE Sousa. THe people here are like my family and the members are absolutely wonderful, but at the same time I~´m excited to serve in a larger area and close to that lovely ocean breeze. I~ll probably be in Natal for a least a couple months, but who knows...the actual transfer is in 2 weeks and i could be transferred again. We are leaving today for Natal and will begin work tomorrow when we arrive. I~m excited to see what it will be like! wish me luck and pray for me! LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

love,
sister wood

Baptisms!

"A spider tale"

Tudo Bem??!!! This past week FLEW by...this mission is flying by!!!! Last Saturday marked 4 months on the mission! Can you believe it?! the time just flys! Thanks for emailing the photos. I enjoyed them immensely. Send photos of all your adventures!!! So I~m writing a little bit earlier today because in a hour or so us Sisters are headed to Joao Pessoa for ´atividade das sisters´ tomorrow.....pretty much our activity is going to be eating churassaco and playing on the beach. LEGAL eh?! It should be wonderful and relaxing. The sisters only have an activity like this once or twice a year...so it really is a treat! I~ll tell you all about it in the next email...but just think of me tomorrow...while all of you are experiencing the cold, frigid weather of winter..I will be running on the beach!!! We had another baptism yesterday...a boy who is just the cutest thing ever. His brothers are members and he has wanted to be a member for some time...it was our pleasure to baptize him! He came to church with his hair combed and scriptures in hand and was just so excited. As soon as church ended, he jumped to his feet and ran to the baptismal font. It was the most adorable thing ever! I am starting to see what it will be like to be a mother one day. Yesterday in church I sat with 5 kids and trying to keep them all quiet and happy was difficult, but at the same time tons of fun. I brought cookies for them and a book of pictures that I bought in the distribution center of the Sao Paulo temple. They loved looking at all the pictures of Christ and the Prophets. One boy was so excited, when he saw a picture of Christ, that he grabbed the book and bolted down the aisle to show his primary teacher. I love the members here and it definitely feels a lot like I am home. So the missionary work is going well. Sister Leal and I work HARDDD. This last week we walked so much we were literally limping home we were so exhausted....but it is wonderful. We are teaching a few wonderful families right now, but one of our families is requiring a lot more work and patience. The dad drinks and smokes com força and it is destroying his family. He wants to quit so badly and prays for the strength to be able to overcome these addictions, but at the end of the day he yields to the temptations of the devil. It is so sad. I really love this family like they ARE my actual family and spent many nights thinking and praying about what I can do to help them. Please please for my investigators! So remember that spider you brought home from Peru? The HUGE one that looks like it could take on a cat and win? Well I saw one in the flesh this week. We were walking home from an appointment and sister leal pointed to the wall next to me and said `look!´...well when I looked I saw this spider about 3 feet away from me chilling on the wall. It was honestly the size of my hand....NOT JOKING. AS soon as I saw it I let out of scream and ran. I hope i didn~t wake up the people of Sousa with my scream because it was loud...but anyway...you would not believe the size of this spider....it was unreal. I took a picture of it, but the picture doesn~t do it justice. Anyway the elders played with it for a couple minutes and then it ran off. I just hope i never see one of those in my apartment! Well family I hope you enjoy the pictures....hopefully they get to you. I bought a card reader for the camera card and hope to send pictures weekly. Let me know if you get them or not! I~m so happy that you guys are helping out the missionary effort so much in georgia. Treat those missionaries like they are your children...because the people down here are treating me like I am theirs! Obrigada!have a wonderful week!

My first baptisms!

SOOOOOO BATIZA!!!!!! Oi !!!!!!!! So after weeks and weeks of hard work we are finally seeing some results!!! I had my FIRST BAPTISMS this week. We baptized a couple (who we helped get married back in December) and a girl who´s aunt is a member of the church. We baptized all three of them on Sunday and it was just a marvelous day! The president of the district here baptized them and they were confirmed on the same day. It was wonderful to see how happy they all were and of course we were happy as well!! We have a couple baptisms planned for this next week so hopefully all will go well with them! Goodness I love it here! Yesterday we had zone conference in Mossoro, a city about 5 hours north, and goodness gracious was it hot! The conference was in a chapel and it was so weird. I´ve been having church in a classroom or house for so long it felt like I was entering a temple instead of a chapel. Conference was fantastic as always and the whole day I just kept thinking over and over…there is no better preparation for life than serving a mission. I have learned so much while I~ve been here….things that can~t be taught in classrooms or universities. I~ve learned about the joy that comes from hard work…I~ve learned about what it really means to love the people you serve. Goodness I love it here…I can~t wait for you to come down and visit at the end of my mission and see how wonderful this place and these people are! During conference yesterday Sister Fernandes talked a lot about the importance of familias and I think I will definitely hit the ground running with the whole dating thing when I return from the mission. The single life is definitely fun and I will miss it, but I need to grow up after my mission and forget about all the places I still want to visit and all the crazy things I want to do. It was good to think about the family I have and the family I will have in the future. President and Sister Fernandes are just absolutely wonderful in every way. It is impossible to say how much love and respect I have for them. They just love the missionaries so much and know exactly what to say to us to make us work harder and be better! I will definitely be sad when they leave in June! Well lots of other things happened this week, but I don~t really have time to write about everything…. I am keeping a journal though and taking pictures from time to time! I heard about the earthquake in Haiti. How sad! I wish I could help the people in Haiti someway, but all I can do is pray for them….but prayer definitely works. Well I hope you all are warm and cozy in the United States. I have to admit I~m glad I~m not experiencing the same temperatures as y´all. Stay warm, and I will try to stay cool. Love you all and pray for you daily!Com todo meu amor,Sister Wood

If it ain't grass, it's mud!

Tudo bem com voces?! This past week went by so fast and was really different because of the transfers that happened. We have only 2 people in our apartment now and it is strange, but good. I love being companions with Sister Leal, but we both miss the other sisters. The first thing we did with our apartment was rearrange everything and make more space. Our apartment is much more enjoyable now than it was before! The missionary work is going well….still no baptisms. We´ve prepared over 6 or 7 people for baptism (taught all the lessons, had the district leader interview them,etc) but something always happens at the last minute and people back out. It is very frustrating at times, but I~m learning to deal with it. Feelings of frustration only come from the adversary and so I am determined to stay happy and continue to work hard! This last week Sister Leal and I worked so hard….as a result we met a lot of wonderful people that are ready to hear the gospel. I think we will have a lot of baptisms this transfer….I hope we do at least! I~m continuing to make friends with the people of Sousa. We know a lot of people already and make new acquaintances every day. I love absolutely love it here! I miss my friends and family for sure, but I will be so sad when I leave this place in 15 months. I honestly feel such a love for the people here, probably because they are such a loving and friendly people. The weather has cooled down a bit these past couple days. I think we are heading into the rainy season which I am looking forward to. I think I might have said this a million times already, but I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. I get to study the scriptures for 2-3 hours everyday and get to serve people for the rest of the day. BEST LIFE EVER. I am so thankful for the opportunity because it has changed my life and will continue to do so I am sure. So I have a million different stories to tell you guys when I return, but I thought I would share one funny story that happened to me this week. We (Sister Leal, 2 members from the branch, and I) were teaching a man whose wife is a member of the church and they live on the outskirts of town near the gypsies. After we finished with the lesson we were walking back and saw a bunch of kids playing soccer. Sister Leal said to me ´make a contact and invite them all to church´. I said `com certeza eu vou` (with certainty or heck yes I will). Just as I said this one of them kicked the ball over in my direction. Eager to get them to like me I decided to run after the ball and kick it back. Oh goodness…what seemed like a good idea was definitely a bad idea! I was running full blast after this ball which was rolling through an area covered with ´´grass`´…well it certainly wasn’t grass. Before I knew it I heard a big PLOP as my feet sunk deep into some mud. Unfortunately because of the momentum I had built up from my running my legs didn~t stop until I reached the middle of the mud pit that honestly looked like grass from a distance. Well as you can imagine I ended up being covered with mud..BUT I did kick the ball back to the kids. As I tried to get back to dry land Sister Leal and the two members were doubled over with laughter. I have to admit it was the funniest thing ever….but the story continues. After I was back with the others we had to decide what to do because I was absolutely covered in mud (luckily my skirt was black). We decided to return to the house we had been teaching at. As soon as we arrived they all started laughing and ushered me into the ´backyard´´ to wash off. The backyard was actually a chicken and turkey pen. Anyway… before I knew it I had four people grabbing my legs and arms and washing me down. Oh goodness I wish I had a picture of all of this…four people scrubbing me furiously, me standing there looking helpless…all while surrounded by tons of disturbed chickens and turkeys wondering what we were all doing. After the washdown…the woman who lived there brought out her perfume. I forgot to mention that the mud wasn’t just mud…it seems like it was also the place that animal excrement ended up at times. Anyway…I smelled before they washed me down, but not after….but that didn~t matter to this woman. She started spraying me down with this perfume (whoever made this perfume should be shot ) and I kid you not she sprayed me at least 30 times with this stuff...and it was STRONG! I tried to run after the first couple squirts but ran into a clothes line and then some chickens. Oh goodness..it was just hilarious. Everyone had to walk far away from me because I smelled so much. Anyway…this is just one of the stories of this past week and it isn’t even the best one! My journal is packed full of stories and I~m sure I will have many more to tell you before I return home! Serving a mission is definitely an adventure!....Gotta to go! Love you all so much!!!!!Tchau, Sister Wood

Same place, new companion

So today we had transfers, but I stayed in the same place with a different companion. Sister Leal is my new companion and I~m so excited that we were put together! We lived in the same apartment together this past transfer, but had different companions. She is the sister that massaged my feet my first few weeks here when I was still getting used to my shoes. I love her to death and am looking forward to these next 6 weeks. This last week was good….a little disappointing. We were all set to baptize a family and then they decided they couldn~t give up alcohol and coffee. And we had a man that was going to get baptized this past Sunday who was called into work at the last minute and couldn~t come to church and be baptized! How frustrating! BUT I~m in good spirits…even if people don~t care to know if the church is true, I know it is true! I love being a missionary and today I was thinking that my time here is passing by too fast. Before I know it I will be on my last transfer and then on my way home. How strange that will be! So the missionary work is definitely physically demanding and this week I felt it! Yesterday I~m pretty sure I had heat exhaustion. It was one of the hottest days I have experienced here and I was already sick with a fever and terrible tension headache before we left the apartment. After walking a couple hours in full sun I started to feel extremely sick and exhausted. I stopped sweating (which is definitely a bad sign here!) and tried to drink plenty of water, but felt nauseous every time I drank or ate anything. After a while I felt like I couldn~t walk any further I finally told my companion we needed to return to the apartment. I don~t remember much of our walk back to the apartment…I just remember I kept telling myself—don’t faint, don’t faint! Just put one foot in front of the other!. When we got home I collapsed on the bed and took my temperature (101 degrees…not too bad, but definitely a fever). My companion told me I needed to take a cold shower and cool down because I was extremely red. After taking a cold shower I took a 2 hour nap. I felt so bad about having to return home early…but I think I would have fainted if I had continued to work. Anyway…I am a lot better today. The fever is gone, but I am still nursing a bad tension headache. Health really is such a blessing. Hopefully I will return to full health soon! Despite the little health problem this past week, everything is great. We have made friends with so many people in Sousa and are preaching the gospel as much as humanly possible. On Monday Sister Young and I broke our record for number of lessons in one day. Goodness gracious we worked hard that day! It is wonderful to work hard everyday….when we aren~t doing anything it is so strange. I hope this work ethic I have acquired here will return home with me. Well I~ve got to go! I~m glad you all are well. I will write again on Monday. My pdays have been all over the place recently because of holidays, transfers, etc. Love you ALL!!!!! Boa semana para voces!Com amor,Sister wood

Just a little "fanfire"

Things are going well down here….except our baptism fell through AGAIN! We were all ready to baptize a family on Sunday, but the father got drunk the night before and the mom is having word of wisdom problems too. Satan really is working against us down here. This mission is already passing by too fast! I know I already said this, but the decision to serve a mission was hands-down the BEST decision of my life! I think I will cry for days when they tell me I have to go home in 15 months. I love almost everything about Brazil. I´m used to the weather for the most part and the food is bom de mais! ( that means WAY TOO GOOD!!!) Today I was thinking that missionaries have to have some of the best stories because so many random things happen on a mission. Today at lunch a fan almost caught fire. It threw sparks everywhere and was smoking BAD. The entire house was filled with smoke and it took a while for us to fan it all out. It was mildly funny. I have so many stories that ARE actually funny to tell you, but a lot of them will have to wait until after the mission and I think they probably won~t ever be posted on a blog. All I can say is that we have a lot of fun down here and nothing surprises me anymore! This morning I read Elder Wirthlins talk from conference last year—Come What May and Love it! I love that talk so much….mostly because the page in the Ensign has a chubby little boy smiling ..but he´s missing his two front teeth. So cute. That talk really does have a lot of great counsel though and helped me a lot today to just grin and bear things. Anyway…life is great. I am so happy to be blessed with such a wonderful family and perfect life!

It has been a great week!

Ola !How are you all doing?! I~m doing well. This last week was much better, in fact it was GREAT! I~m finally adjusting to the life of a missionary and really do love it! It is a lot easy to love life when you aren~t thinking about yourself. So this past week I stopped thinking about my pains and afflictions and focused on the work. It was awesome! I~m still exhausted every night and fall asleep before I hit the pillow, but the walking doesn~t bother me that much anymore. And I won~t ever get used to the sun so I just learning to deal with it! The hottest months here are October through January so I should be a little bit more comfortable after that! A 70 yr old investigator of ours said this was the hottest December she had seen in years and years. Nice. Things are going great though. I really love Sousa and absolutely adore the people here. We~ve made so many friends just by saying Bom Dia to every person we pass on the streets. The work is going okay. There are a lot of Catholics here who are very VERY into their religion so that makes things discouraging at times….but don~t worry all we do is allow people the opportunity to accept. In the CTM they told us a mission is primarily to convert the missionary and secondly to convert the people. I have to say I am more converted now than ever…which makes it hard when people reject the gospel. The other night we were teaching our last lesson of the day and I was teaching about the Book of Mormon. We asked the woman if she would read 2 chapters and pray about them, she took one look at it and said, `nope. sorry i~m catholic´. I couldn~t help but tear up. I held this precious book in my hands that has blessed my life more than any other book and people don~t even want to do something as simple as pray about it. It hurts, but my companion says I~ll get used to it. I love being a missionary though. It is turning out to be the greatest blessing of my life. The Lord has blessed me with so many tender mercies this week. He really does love and watch over His missionaries! This next Sunday I have to give a talk in church. 10-15 minutes of straight Portuguese!!!!! Ahh I hope I can do it! Pray that it will go well! My present to myself is to teach 6 lessons (which is a lot for here) and then eat Acai with my district. It should be great! So today is Pday and I have to tell you I just had one of the best meals of my life! The branch president here invited all 8 of us missionaries over for almoço and he made churrasco! Imagine the food at tucanos restaurant, but a million times better. All the missionaries were just in heaven. I seriously thought I was going to die from happiness…seriously…one of the best meals of my life. After we had all the beef and sausage we could eat, we ate tons of ice cream. It was just the best lunch ever! The members here are just the best. They feed us lunch everyday and always make themselves available to go with us to teach investigators. What a blessing! I~m getting used to the poverty here, but things still shock me from time to time. This past week we were walking through a neighborhood and had to watch our step because half of the road was straight sewage. It is going to be interesting when the rainy season arrives and all the roads are 1-3 feet deep in water. People still stop and stare at me when I pass, but I~m so used to it now that it doesn~t even phase me. I~ve learned to ignore the town drunks too. They only bother you if you acknowledge they exist. I don~t ever feel like I~m in danger though....Sousa is a very friendly place. I actually do have Pday next Monday so please tell everyone to write! love, sister wood.

So I just wrote a long email and the computer messed up and didnt send it so this one will be shorter. Next week is my last Pday before Christmas because Pday is on Christmas day the next week after that. For Christmas you will have to call a chapel here in Sousa. Preferably in the afternoon or evening. In the morning we are busy with members and studying. Things are going ok in Sousa. These past two weeks have been the hardest weeks on my life..hands down. I~ve lost count of how many times I~ve cried, but I think the worst is over for now. It is just hard to remained composed when your feet and knees are killing you, you have horrible sunburns despite the fact you use sunscreen, and the people never keep commitments. They people are so nice here, but never read or pray about the things we teach. It is frustrating. BUT things are looking up. The last two days I~ve been slowly returning to my joyful, energetic, cheerful self. Yesterday was interesting. Fast sundays in branches are probably always interesting. There aren~t very many people to bear testimonies so of course almost everyone went up. I bore my testimony in broken portuguese, but it was good. Several people told me afterwards that they only bore their testimonies because of mine. That was nice to hear. The members here are great. Everyday we eat lunch with a different member and it is always delicious! We eat some interesting things at times, but i like trying new foods now. Sousa is definitely a different place....way different than anything I am used to. It is now normal for me to see naked children running in the streets and playing in piles of trash....we see this several times a day. Animals roam the streets....they are honestly everywhere! Horses, donkeys, cows, chickens, and this last week we were walking along and out of nowhere this big pig busts starts walking across the main street in town. It was adorable though because about 7-8 little piglets were following right behind her. The sunsets here in Sousa are indescribable....seriously beautiful in everyway! Also the moon is amazing here at night.. It is so close. at times you think you could almost reach out and touch it. The other night we were in a super poor neighborhood underneath the full moon watching the neighborhood kids do capoiera...a brazilian fighting/dancing type of thing. They were so good!!!!! A guy from town teaches them everyweek and he was AMAZING. It was just a lot of fun because they made us introduce ourselves and then we all started clapping and chanting to the beat of the music. It was just a great experience!Ok well I have to go. I hope you are all doing well. Love you all,sister wood some scriptures that have helped me out a lot! Moses 6:31-34 Romans 8:35-39 Job 23:8-12

New area: Sousa

Goodness gracious a mission is hard! This past week was good, but extremely EXTREMELY hard. I´ve never been this tired in my entire life. My first week at the CTM I thought I knew what the words `hard´ and `tired´ meant.....well i didn~t. We walk all day every day in full sun and ´get absolutely drenched in sweat. I don´t know how many miles we walk, but it is definitely A LOT. At night I fall asleep before I hit the pillow. I don~t really mind the heat too much though...I´m quickly getting back the tan I lost in the CTM. Don~t worry though...I wear sunscreen everyday...mission rule, but even with that I get darker. My feet are trying to adjust to the mission and they are taking their sweet time. I have been wearing my chacos and thank goodness I brought them. They are the best! However, I still have blisters and every night my feet are so swollen I can barely remove my shoes. Today I put on a different pair of shoes that were a little big at one time and had to squeeze into them because my feet are so huge and puffy from walking. The sisters here assured me that the pain and suffering will eventually pass, but that my first transfer will be difficult. One of the Sisters was nice enough to massage my poor feet a couple times this past week. What an angel! The people here in Sousa are very nice. Every person we have talked to is willing to hear our message...but at the same time everyone here is EXTREMELY wishywashy. People say they will do something and then don~t....it is the same story over and over and over again. THe poverty I~ve witnessed while here is Sousa is absolutely incredible. I about burst into tears several times this past week just seeing the things people go through...but don~t worry I~m getting better at holdly back the tears. Some of the children here look like they are about to die of starvation...they are just so extremely skinny and have the swollen belly that is a dead give-away for severe malnutrition. Some places have no doors and the roofs are very crude. However, in the actual city of sousa people get along ok. Yes they are still very poor, but they have running water, doors, and usually a metal gate in front of their house. I´m pretty sure I won~t see carpet until the United States...or feel AC again. THe members here are nice. We are in a branch of about 60 members and it is located in an old building that looks like it could fall apart any minute. A new chapel is being built and it will be completed next August. The members fix us lunch everyday and usually it is delicious....rice, beans, and chicken! There was one lunch this past week that scared me a little. I have no idea what I was eating and didnt dare ask. All I know is that the first bite tasted like vomit BUT I said a quick prayer again over my food and after that I enjoyed it immensely. THe Lord can definitely bless us in all things! The food here is pretty darn good, definitely different but very good. When we have had a hard day we go and get Acai sorvette, which iS AMAZING!!!! Oh goodness...words can~t described how good it is. It is kind of like a mix between sorbet and icecream and is made out of the acai fruit. They put it in a bowl and cover it in granola, bananas, and sweetened condensed milk. DELICIOUS! When you come down you have to try it! I~ve tried a lot of fruit juice down here that is really different, but good! If you havent sent off my package yet be sure to include some american candy! Load up my ipod with lots of church, christmas, and classical music. One girl down here has one and it is amazing how just listening to music for a few minutes can lift your spirit and somehow make everything all better. Well I just miss guys so much! I have to admit I cried a lot this past week, but how can we know the good without the bitter huh:??! KEEP ME IN YOUR PRAYERS!!love you,sister wood

Joao Pessoa-Here I come!

So they are letting me email today! Yay! I~m in my first real area, Sousa which is about 8-9 hours west of Joao Pessoa. I arrived in Joao Pessoa yesterday at about 1pm with about 6 others elders--4 brazilians, 2 americans who were in my district. Joao Pessoa is BEAUTIFUL! The pictures definitely don~t do it justice. I felt like I landed in a tropical paradise! After landing we went to the mission home where we had meetings until about 6:00. Then we had a wonderful dinner at the Presidents house where I met my first companion, SIster Young. Yes she is american. She has about 3 months left in the mission field and speaks amazing portuguese. I just hope she has patience with me! We spent last night in the mission home and then jumped on a bus at 9am this morning headed for Sousa. Sousa is in the middle of a desert and from what I´ve heard one of the hottest places in the mission. I guess I will find out tomorrow! I thought I new what poverty was when I drove through Sao Paulo, but this place is POOR. Many of the houses are about the size of our dining room, and some are just made out of sticks stuck in the ground and covered with black tarp or pieces of sheet metal. And I´ve never seen so many farm animals loose in my life. There are random horses, cows, goats, and chickens that just aimlessly walk the streets. It definitely is a different world down here. I´m very excited though and in good spirits....but please pray for me A LOT this next week because I know it is going to be tough getting adjusted to everything. My companion and I are opening a new area I guess and the church isn~t way big here, but it will be! We live in a nice apartment with two other sisters who are extremely nice! The only sad thing I have to report is that it sounds like Christmas will be late this year for me. The mail is slowwwwww down here and because the postal system is almost constantly going on strike all letters and packages are sent to the mission home in Joao Pessoa. (so my mission home address is my permanent address for my entire mission) I think we only get our mail every transfer...so every 6 weeks I guess. My companion has been waiting for a package for a month and a half! Ill be ok though...át least I get to call you on Christmas!!! Here we have full sun. Luckily at night the temperature goes down quite a bit and there is a light breeze...It is probably only 85 degrees outside right now...very nice compared to midday. My last week at the CTM was awesome! I was asked to give the closing prayer in the fireside on sunday and was worried because it is always a member of the area seventy or a mission president who speaks. Anyway I probably shouldn´t have worried about giving a prayer, but I was...During the fireside I tried to plan out what I was going to say, but then just decided to ask the Lord to bless me and pay more attention to the speaker. When the time arrived for me to say the prayer...I calmly walked up to the stage and the prayer. As soon as I closed the speaker and his wife along with the CTM president and his wife all jumped up to congratulate me. They kept saying, ýou are ready! you are ready. They said my accent was perfect and I was overjoyed, but the praise didn~t end there. As I went back to my seat to collect my things people kept coming up to me and complimenting me on my prayer. Several people said they opened their eyes during the prayer to see if I was really the one speaking...because I guess I sounded like a native brazilian. The elders in my district said as I walked off the stage the head of every brazilian elder popped up...they were all amazed i guess! ha ha.. Anyway, over the next 2 days, no less than 20-25 people came up to me and complimented me. Now I say this not to brag, because I really dont speak portuguese than well, but to show you that the Lord does bless his missionaries with the ability to speak this language! See what is possible with the Lord~s help???!!! Well I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Obviously they don~t have it down here, but it was never one of my favorite holidays...so I dont think I´ll miss it. Like I said I´m doing great. It is wonderful to FINALLY be in MY MISSION! It is awesome to know that I was called to teach these people for a reason. They all seem so happy despite their poverty. The Lord really does bless all his children with what they need to be happy in this life. ~Well I hope you are all in good health and doing great. Sorry that letters will be few and far between. At least emails will be weekly! Give everyone my love and have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I can~t wait to get your email next monday!!!

Last time in CTM

Photo from Luciana Fonseca Fiallo....(right of Ariel)

Sister Wood & Her District

November 18

This past week was good for the most part. We~ve progressed a lot in the language and I feel confident about leaving the CTM next Tuesday. Proselyting in Sao Paulo was an adventure. They dropped us off next to a Catholic Cathedral in the downtown area. Since it is next to a church you would think the area would be great for proselyting....not hardly. The street and plaza were full of illegal venders. Everytime a policeman drove through, everyone packed up their things and hid/ran. It was the most amazing thing to see about 50 illegal venders all of a sudden pack up in 5 seconds and then as soon as the police left the set up shop again. Compared to our proseltying in Casa Verde, Sao Paulo was SOOOOOO HARD. Wow...I~m crying just thinking about it right now. Hardly anyone would listen to our message and those that did only talked to us because we were blonde americans. I think I got more cat calls and vile looks than I~ve ever gotten in my life. I felt more like a piece of meat than a missionary. After 2 hours of getting cat-called, Sister Gricius and I just had a good cry once we returned to the CTM. It is so frustrating when you have a message that you know with all your heart is true and you know it will change a person~s life for the better, yet no one will give you the time of day. The mission will be full of days like that though. I will have my highest highs and lowest lows while on the mission....and I~m looking forward to them both. I~ve grown so much in these past 2 months and I know the next 16 are going to be just as influencial! I love the mission. I can~t believe there was a time in my life that I thought about NOT going on a mission. What a mistake that would have been. Well. My next email will be from Joao Pessoa...and I think my pday will be on Monday once I get there.

Well I~m out of time. Thanks for all the cards in emails. I live for them.
Got to go. Love you all!!!

love,

sister wood

p.s. we did have a blackout here in sao paulo, but the CTM has a generator so we didn~t have light for about 3 seconds...the rest of sao paulo though was completely dark that night!

"Dancing in the Rain"

OLA! Another great week...and once again almost zero time to write.....this is going to be super fast! The CTM is still going great. We are down to about 130 missionaries here which is sOOOO different from when I arrived (400 missionaries). THere are 168 missionaries stuck in the Provo MTC waiting to come to Brazil. There are MAJOR visa problems going on and the president~s wife said many of them will be reassigned to state side missions. SO SAD. Anyway I am very blessed because the VISA problems started happening about 1 1/2 weeks after I left the U.S.! They are only expecting to get 1 american missionary before the end of the year! Crazy!

So since I leave to Joao Pessoa in less than 2 weeks I would probably start sending mail to my Joao Pessoa address! I~ve gotten two letters this week from missionaries serving in Joao Pessoa and they told me a lot about what I am to expect....HOT WEATHER, LOTS OF BUGS, and VERY VERY POOR PEOPLE. THis is really going to be interesting, but I am so excited!!!!

Today we went to the temple again and it was wonderful! I forgot to tell you mom that the temple is surrounded by gardenias...the smell is possibly the best smell in the world...and everytime I walk by one I think of you!!!!

THis Friday we are going proselyting in Downtown Sao Paulo and I am so excited. It is going to be quite an experience so look for to my email next week for the details!

I have brazilian roommates and they are the best! We speak Portuguese with them everytime we are in the room and it is really helping our pronounciation.

I~ve officially become the pianist my branch....and I~ve been playing for musical numbers! All those years of piano lessons are finally paying off!!!

THe poverty in Brazil never ceases to amaze me. Today I saw houses that roaches shouldn~t even live in. And then when we were driving on the highway we passed a boy sleeping on a piece of cardboard in a trash heap. So sad. I~m sure I~ll see worse in Joao Pessoa because everyone tells me Sao Paulo is the richest city in Brazil.

This past week has been pretty much nothing but straight studying. I wake up an hour earlier everyday just so I can fit all my studying in for the day. The amount of information we have to know is overwhelming!!! I~m exhausted everyday, but in a wonderful way. I love being a missionary though....I~ve never been happier or closer to my Savior. When I~m not studying, I~m eating, sleeping, or playing volleyball! We have an hour for gym and I~ve been playing volleyball since I got here. I~m still not very good, but definitely improving. I play with my district and a group of brazilians. SO much fun. My district is honestly my family and I can~t wait to hang out with all of them when I get back! They bring me so much joy and I~m going to be sad when I say goodbye to them in a couple weeks!

Since I~ve been here I~ve made friends with all the branch presidents and CTM presidency. This last Sunday so many of them gave me such wonderful advice about the mission and I just have to say I love elderly missionary couples! They are the best. One branch president told me a quote I really liked and that I think fits me:

Life isn~t about waiting for the storms to pass, it is about learning to dance in the rain.

Time is up! Yikes! I love you all and miss you!!!

love,

sister wood

"Getting my feet wet"

Another great week, but this email is going to be short... they give us so little time. I have LESS than 3 weeks until I leave this place and am getting nervous/excited.

One exciting thing about this last week is that we went proselying! Scary!! Actually it turned out to be an awesome experience. They let my district loose on the streets of casa verde with 4 Books of Mormon a piece. SIster Gricuis and I met so many cool people. Some were interested, some weren~t....it was just nice to get to know people. Our portuguese was pretty darn good and people kept complimenting us on our languages skills! SInce I~m an outgoing person I made sure as soon as we were done talking to one person, we immediately started talking to another. We talked to old ladies, old men, young men, mothers, fathers, children, teenagers....everyone! The best experience of the day is when we were walking up a hill and I saw a woman with her two children coming down. I was a little nervous to talk to her, but I quickly gained the confidence I needed. I stopped her and talked to her about her family for a few minutes and then talked to her about Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon. She was so attentive and had the cutest little girls---ages 3 and 8. During the message I looked down at them and there they were staring up at me with their cute little faces just waiting to see what I would say next. Towards the end of the message I started talking about the love of God for us. I looked into their eyes and all of a sudden felt a rush of warmth overcome me...and I realized how much God really does love his children...all of them. When I realized this I started to tear up and the lady did too. Through my tears I bore my simple testimony..it went something like this: I love you. I don~t know you very well, but I love you..because you are a child of God and he loves you so much. I know I don~t speak Portuguese well, but I just want you to know we have a God in heaven who loves us. Because of that love he sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us. The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. It is so very precious to me. It has blessed my life and the life of my family so much, and I know it will bless yours.

Well after I had us both in tears, she gladly took the Book of Mormon and told me she was going to read it with her family that evening. Before they left we showed the daughters the pictures of Christ in the front of the book. They were so excited. It is so easy to see why God loves the little children...they are so innocent and uncorrupted. Anyway it was a wonderful day. We gave away a total of 5 Books of Mormon ( i had an extra one) and 2 DVDs---finding Faith in Christ and The Restoration. I can~t wait to get out and proselyte again. A week from Friday we are going to Downtown Sao Paulo to do it!! yIKES!!!

Well I wish I could write more...but I~m out of time. I~m doing great...in good health, love this glorious work!!! Eu amo voces!!!

Ate proxima semana!
Sister Wood

A happy missionary!

Another great week at the CTM! I love it here and am sad that I~ll be leaving this place in 4 weeks! SCARY...not really. I~m excited to hit the streets of Joao Pessoa and preach the gospel. I loved the gospel before the mission, but since I~ve been in the CTM I~ve come to think of it as a precious gem that is sacred and brings so much meaning to my life. Without it I would be lost....but luckily I know about what God and Jesus Christ did for me. I know exactly why I am here on earth and where I am going after I die. What peace that brings to my soul!

Elder Scott came last Friday Elder Jensen came last Friday to speak to all the missionaries and I got to shake his hand....ok ok...all the missionaries got to shake his hand, but I still feel special. He taught us some hard lessons and after it was over I felt like I needed to change A LOT in my life. It was amazing though.

So Mom I forgot to tell you something! You know those two jumpers you made for me??!! Well you~ll never guess, but all the sisters here adore them! Everytime I wear them I get SOOOOO many compliments and people tell me I am so lucky I have a mother who sews for me and they are right! Also another thing that will make you happy....I~ve been playing the piano in sacrament meeting and next week I~m going to be playing prelude music for the devotional with a member of the seventy....pray that I don~t faint from fear!

You will both be happy to know I am still your sunshine. Every day we go around our district and gives compliment to someone. Every time I~ve been complimented it is always something like: you are so happy, you love life, I think it is impossible for you to frown, etc. Ha ha....I~m trying to stay as happy as possible and it is easy since I study the gospel and portuguese everyday.

Today we went to the temple again, but today was a little different. On my way into the session, I grabbed a pair of headphones so I could listen to the session in portuguese. When I walked in with them I could just see all the missionaries kicking themselves for not thinking of doing that before. After the session, which was AMAZING, I had so many missionaries come up to me and tell me that next week they were going to do the same thing. They were very thankful for the idea!

THis past weekend we had TRC (training resource center) where we had to teach members the first lesson. When we got to the door of the classroom where our members were, sister gricius said....I~ve heard that they sometimes put investigators in these. Well that made me so nervous, but I put a smile on my face and wished for the best. We went in and taught the first lesson and it went so great! After we taught the lesson we had to get feedback from a teacher and he said we did fantastic...but everyone has to do it two times...so the second time we went in to teach the same lesson and then one of the investigators asked about the plan of salvation...I looked at sister gricius and then at the investigator and went straight into the second lesson. It was amazing. 30 minutes of straight portuguese...with few mistakes. Our instructor was over the moon! TOday we are going to pass out a book of Mormon hopefully!


30 seconds....gotta go. thanks for the emails. LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!

I'm [glad] they called me on a mission!

E ai Belezas?!!!! (that means; whats up beautifuls?)

Another great week in Sao Paulo!!!! This last week we had a record number of strange food choices. I don~t even know what half of them were, but most of them were good. We ate some orange stuff today at lunch that one person thought was carrots, another thought was squash, and my companion was positive they were plantains. I thought they were potatoes with cheese....but who knows what they were....it will always be a mystery. Last weekend I was so excited to see they had popsicles for our dessert. When I sat down I realized they were corn flavored popsicles. the variety of food down here is endless. Luckily the corn popsicle was fabulous and I wish we had them in the U.S.!

So guess who is coming to the CTM on Friday??!!! ELDER SCOTT and a member of the presidency of the 70....I forgot who. Anyway, an apostle only comes once a year and I feel so privileged to be here when he comes! Better yet, Friday is also Sister Gricius's birthday!!! I~m so glad she is going to shake hands with an apostle on her special day. I'll tell you all about it next week!!So tomorrow it will be officially one month since I left the U.S.A! Crazy how time flies! I have a month left from this Saturday....which excites and scares me. Thanks for all the letters and support. I LOVE getting letters and every letter I get I cherish...so thanks for sending them regularly. I~m trying to answer back as quickly as possible...so be patient with me!!!So mom you~ll be happy to know I joined the CTM choir....I actually joined it about 2 weeks ago and it is way fun! It really helps out with the portuguese pronounciation!

This last week has been so much fun mostly due to the fact I have made friends with a Brazilian sister from Fortaleza who is a SPITFIRE! Oh my goodness we have so much fun together. Don~t worry, we aren't irreverant or break rules, but we definitely have the loudest table at all the meals. She will try to joke with me in english and I joke with her in portuguese. As a result the languages are coming a long great for both of us. I absolutely love portuguese. last night I talked with this sister for a good 20 minutes without messing up too much.

Since I'm away from my family for 18 months, my district has become my family...and boy do I love them! We have the BEST district in the CTM and I~m not just saying that. Several people (missionaries and teachers) have told us that it is true. So this past Monday our district was teaching the 1st lesson in portuguese and one elder (Elder Omer) quoted the first vision. One part says: pairando no ar....which means above me in the air. Elder Omer accidentally said parirando no ar...which means freaking out in the air....then another person said ´parirando no ar....which means to give birth in the air...which is bad enough by itself, but considering the next words are: behold this is my beloved son...it could be taken wrong. Every day something like that happens and we get quite an ab workout laughing until we cry. My district is great though...we all help each other out with the language and work as a team on everything...its awesome.So I set a CTM record for the most flashcards any teacher has EVER seen. I have about 1800 flashcards and hope to have 2500 by the time I leave the CTM. I carry them around everywhere and constantly am studying them. They~ve really helped out quite a lot!!

My first week here I was given this quote that I thought you might enjoy: Many young women are serving missions. Many are preparing to serve. Not because they aren't married or have nothing else to do; but because they have a desire to serve and therefore are being called to the work. The reason so many are going is because in the next generation, Heavenly Father will be sending His Priesthood Army to earth and wants to send them to mothers who have been properly trained and taught in the gospel. What better training can a young woman have than that of serving a mission.~~Pres. Hinkley. Cool quote huh?!! This mission is definitely shaping me into a better woman and person!

Oh and just a suggestion. If you are out of ideas for what to do on monday nights for FHE....maybe you guys should start doing the Preach My Gospel lessons! They are simple, yet awesome!!!

K, my time is up. I love you guys so much and miss you, but I am so happy I'm hear. Last night at the devotional the member of the 70 who was speaking had us all sing: i hope they call me on a mission. I remember when I used to sing that in primary and can't believe I'm here. What a dream come true. The Lord truly answers prayers, the gospel is true. Have a wonderful week and keep the letters coming!!!

Love y'all,

Sister wood

This weeks email is going to be SUPER short because I have only 20 minutes today. Sometimes I think P-day the busiest day of the week! This morning we went to Policia Federal to get IDed and fingerprinted. It was quite an experience. While I was waiting I talked to a guy from Costa Rica. Unfortuntely my number was called before I could tell him anything about the gospel. Life as a missionary continues to go well. I can~t believe I~ve already been here 3 weeks. People say time flies when you are having fun, but I disagree....time just flies all the time. I~ve never worked this hard in my life and can already tell what a difference it is making in my life. This past monday I taught my first solo lesson in Portuguese. It was stressful, but as soon as I started talking the words just flowed. It is amazing how quickly the language comes. With the Lords help all things are possible! When I finished the lesson my teacher told me I did a terrific job on it compared to most of the other missionaries! I was so relieved. I~ve been feeling under the weather for the past week and I think it is due to the constantly changing weather. One day it is sunny, the next it is cold and stormy. The thunderstorms down here are so severe sometimes I wonder if the CTM will just get blow away! Anyway...I think the constant change in pressure is to blame for all these headaches I~m getting. Dang it, only 12 minutes until I get kicked off this thing! There are so many things I want to tell you about, but just don~t have the time. I have honestly grown so much in these past 3 weeks. Everyday I just wonder what I~m going to learn next. Sometimes I feel like I can~t be stretched anymore, but somehow I manage to with the Lord~s help. Last night we got to watched a talk that Elder Scott gave in the Provo MTC in August. It was awesome. It was mostly about obedience and listening to the spirit. He shared some absolutely wonderful stories and made me realize that I am going to be so safe in Joao Pessoa...as long as I follow the promptings I get. Let me tell you a little more about my companion Sister Gricius. She knows French and German, has an MBA, and is a professional celloist. She is ambitious and extremely driven and I absolutely love her to death. She tones down my craziness and I help her loosen up every once in a while. I still see sister dunn around. She and I definitely have a lot of fun together...sometimes too much fun, which makes me thankful we aren~t companions. Well I know I haven~t said much, but my time is up. I~ll try to exclude more details in next weeks email. In the meantime keep sending letters. I seriously almost cry from happiness when I get letters in the mailbox. I~m trying to write back letters, but i only have about 2 hours a week to write so many people! Thanks for all the emails and prayers. It is nice to know there are so many people praying for me!Love you,Sister Wood

CTM week 2

was so happy to get an email from you!!!! I tell you letters and emails are everything to me! Everyday when the mail comes all the missionaries crowd around the mailboxes just hoping that they received a letter. Life in the CTM goes on as usual. I love it here, but it is so hard. I would definitely say it is harder than college. I wake up at 5:30 or 6:00 everyday and go to bed around 10:30. By the end of the day I am so physically, emotionally, and spiritally exhausted that I fall asleep as soon as I hit the bed. The past two weeks have had their ups and downs. The first couple days I loved it, then I hated it,...now I love it again. Last week I was so frustrated that I broke down and cried in my classroom. Luckily my district had already left the room to go to other meetings so I didn´t embarass myself, but my teacher Sister Filhao was there. She comforted and told gave me some really sound advice about the mission. I absolutely love my teachers. They both served missions in Brazil and luckily Sister Filhao served in Joao Pessoa so she and I have been chatting it up constantly. I found out a few interesting things about Joao Pessoa this week: 1. that there are rats the size of dogs up there... no joke. rumor is cats and dogs get attacked by these rats all the time...and the get into people´s houses a lot!!!! 2. Joao Pessoa is tied with Belem and Manaus for the poorest mission in Brazil. 3. Joao Pessoa is CURRENTLY the highest baptizing mission in the WORLD!!! Crazy huh?!!! I~m so excited to go there!!So last night a member of the 70 came to speak at our devotional. In the beginning he was searching the audience for a person to bear their testimony about the first vision. He pointed in my direction and said ^you sister!` I kept looking around for who he was pointing at and to my utmost dismay he was pointing at me! Serves me right for wearing a hot pink shirt when I am surround by a sea of black suits! Anyway..he asked `how do you know first vision happened? were you there?` I told him very matter-of-factly that I wasn´t there and frankly that I didn~t need to be. I said it so matter-of-factly that now everyone thinks of me as the sassy sister missionary. Anyway Ive been getting nonstop compliments on my comments since then. Even though it played out well I~m going to wear a black shirt at the next devotional! So my companion and I have 3 pet dogs...named Pato, Gusho, and...well we haven~t named the last one. They live in an alley outside our window. Everyday I whistle at them and they affectionately bark back...actually they just bark at me...but it makes me happy. Today I got to go to the temple again. It was awesome. It takes about an hour to get there and on the way there I saw a lot of interesting things. The poverty here is amazing. We passed by a trashy park and I was amazed when I saw a large family sleeping on sheets of cardboard with a hardcart parked next to them all. The crazy thing is...Sao Paulo is sooo rich compared to Joao Pessoa....which is kind of scary. The smell in the air here is soooooo weird. Everyday the air has a different smell. Since today was P-day I was able to walk around the city a little bit and I got stared at everywhere. Honestly....i should dye my hair. The attention is getting a little ridiculous. We got to watch conference in english this past week and it was awesome!!! We also got to watch the Relief Society broadcast. It was all so inspiring and uplifting. The language is coming along very well. My companion and I study so hard and are really seeing a lot of progress. This past weekend we taught a lesson in portuguese which most people don~t do until their 4th or 5th week! We have quite a reputation for being studious....and oddly enough I also have a reputation for being crazy and a spitfire. I love it here though. Everyone is so nice and I love the portuguese language....so beautiful. My district is awesome. Last night we just decided to use some free time to sing hymns and it was so neat. They are seriously like my family!The food finally caught up with me. It tastes wonderful but does some weird stuff when it hits my stomach. I~m hoping that it will eventually stop making me sick. Oh dad will appreciate this...I~ve had a ton of exotic fruit since I~ve been here....papaya, mango, passion fruit, and a type of pineapple that is white and tastes 10X better than the pineapple we have in the states. The Brazilians at the CTM are so cool, but tend to get a little flirtatious. This past week a BRazilian elder wrote me a letter telling me how cool I was and then he said he didn~t have a girlfriend....yeah not really sure how to answer that one. The BRazilians and Americans have such a great time together though. The brazilians try to learn english for the 3 weeks they are here and some of them can form complete sentence. This last week one brazilian guy walk by me in the hall and said, ´Hi sister. I like your eye´. I was so confused for about 5 seconds and realized he wasn~t just talking about my one eye, but both....I had a good laugh over that one. Well I´m out of time. 30 minutes a week is such a small amount of time to tell you very much about my life. Oh please excuse any grammar mistakes or spelling errors. I~m losing my ability to write in english..and to speak it. So sad. yet. Also post my email on my blog so people can write me. People can email me at this email, but I can only email you from it. Well I just love you guys and miss you! Being a missionary is super tough, but so awesome! I love the gospel and absolutely 100% know it is true!!! Talk to you next week!!!Love ya,Sister Ariel Wood!!!!