Treinadora

Ok Ok, so this week I got a huge shock. I received a call Monday morning from one of the assistents telling me that I had been called to train a new American sister who arrived Tuesday! Imagine my surprise! I´ve only been senior companion for 1 transfer and now I was called to train an American! I about died of anxiety. Americans always get trained by Brazileans, and Brazileans by Americans...the only case I know of is when I was trained by Sister Young. Anyway, I got so nervous because usually the Americans arrive from the CTM not speaking alot of English. So yesterday I arrived in the mission office at 9am to be trained with the other trainers by President and Sister Hall. 7 or 8 elders were there to be trained as well and I was so happy to see that almost all of them were my good friends from other areas in the mission. The training was amazing. The Halls are the coolest people ever. It is such an awesome experience just being close to them. They immediately bring the Spirit into any meeting they attend. After the training I ate lunch in the Presidents house with Sister Hall and her daughter. They were my companions for the day! Neat huh?! After lunch we picked up President Hall and his assistents and went to the airport. It was so cool to see my new companion coming out of the plane! She looked so excited and I couldn't wait to meet her face-to-face. When we met all the missionaries we all took a picture together and then went back to the mission office for another meeting. This meeting was really awesome and during the meeting President Hall did something really cool that made me feel good about myself. He told the new missionaries to look at their companions...and then he said---These are the best missionaries in this mission. I chose the best missionaries in this mission to train you guys, learn from them and follow their examples. I felt so humble when he said that. President Hall told me many times this week that he trusts me a lot and everytime he says that I feel the desire more and more to never lose that trust. Anyway about my new companion! Her name is Sister G and she is super cool. Shes from San Jose, California--. She went to BYU for 3 years and studied journalism. She is such a cutie and way excited to start working. This transfer will be awesome. I´m still here in Tibiri---so I´ll officially have at least 6 months here after this transfer---but I´m excited. I wanted to stay. I love this area and the people. It is a great area to train. The only sad thing that happened this week was saying goodbye to Sister De Oliveira. When she packed up her backs I started crying. I really loved being her companion. I hope one day you can meet her. She is just one of the coolest people ever. She was transfered for an area on the other side of the city so I´ll get to see her in zone meetings and conferences. goodness I forgot to finish about what happened yesterday. All of us missionaries ate dinner in the mission home and it was just awesome. The mission home is soooooo beautiful. It is on the 9th floor of a super nice apartment building and has views of the ocean. During dinner I had so much fun talking to all the missionaries. It is rare that we all get together so I was running my mouth the entire night. I´m going to miss these people so much after the mission! Sister G and I spent the night in the Presidents house and left this morning for our area. It is weird. I only spent 1 day in Joao Pessoa, but I missed Tibiri a lot. I think I will stay here a long time. Anyway things are going great. Pray that I´ll be a good trainer...honestly pray hard. I´m still a little scared. well I hope you guys dont die in the heat up there. it is cold down here...like 70 degrees....which honestly is cold for us. I got used to the steaming hot weather and now that it is 70 degrees with an ocean breeze I´m using a sweater at times. Stay cool up there and continue to help the missionaries. Tell people to write me! Until monday!!!! LOVE YOU!!
love, sister wood

July 19, 2010

Well this week was...I dont know...normal I guess. Not much to report. The work went well all week. Last P-day we spent the day in Joao Pessoa with Sister Hall. She is such a sweetheart! Returning to Tibiri was a little hard after the splendid day we all had together. Tuesday started out normal, but turned out to be a day full of laughter. Sister H decided to dye her hair blonde during the time we have for lunch. She chose the best salon possible, but lets just say things didnt turn out that great. SIster De Oliveira and I were resting after eating lunch when Sister H and Sister Machado walked in. Goodness what a sight! The lady dyed her hair ORANGE. I´m not joking. When we saw her we almost had a heart attack. literally. Luckily Sister H knows how to handle difficult situation like these and didn't freak out. We returned to the salon, but the woman refused to fix her hair for free. We went to every salon in Tibiri, but no one would dye her hair on the same day because there was a risk that her hair would fall out. We ended up buying hair dye in a box and dying her hair at home. Before Sister De Oliveira started to dye Sister H hair, we all prayed very fervently that her hair wouldn't fall out and that she wouldn't be bald. ..and luckily the prayer worked! Her hair is kind of destroyed now because of all the chemicals, but at least it looks normal. We were very grateful that her hair returned to a normal color because on Wednesday we had interviews with President Hall. Imagine what would have happened if she had arrived in the mission office with orange hair. Goodness....but honestly it was hilarious...but just made me that much surer of the fact that I never want to dye my hair. So this week we had another close miss. We were teaching a young man that lives in an area of Tibiri that doesnt have a lot of lights.....in reality it is almost completely dark after 5:30pm. When we left his house we started walking towards the dark street that we always walk in to get to another part of the city. When we started walking towards the opening of the street, the Spirit told us to turn around and go the other way. We listened of course, because we´ve had a lot of close calls recently. The next day when we returned to the house of this young man his mother was so happy to see that we were okay. She told us that 5 minutes after we left her house she heard gun shots. Turns out that 5 minutes after leaving her house a gang of drug dealers showed up on motorcyles and murdered a man in the same street the Spirit told us not to enter. If we hadn't heeded the whisperings of the Spirit, we might have been in the middle of the street when this all happened. I´m very VERY grateful for the promptings of the Spirit. Honestly the Spirit is everything in the life of a missionary! Unfortunately a lot of people here end up being murdered. It is kind of an area/state/ country without law. Another interesting thing happened this week in the house of Leo, our investigator. I found out his dad´s profession is to assassinate people. His dad kidnapped a gringo a few years ago and ended up murdering him....BUT luckily he doesn't live with his dad. He only sees his dad once every month or so! Que bom eh?! Hmm....what else happened...this week. OH Sister De Oliveira and I were walking in the street when we passed by a man and his wife fighting in the street. the Man threw a T.V. out the door and yelled a lot of things I didn't understand and when he saw us laughing at him he called us jehovah witness prostitutes. It was very amusing. Well. the mission is great. My mission president is awesome. My interview with him had me feeling the Spirit immediately. Honestly he is called of God to lead this mission! This week will mark 10 months on the mission. It is all passing by so fast. I will be forever grateful for the opportunity I have to serve a mission. Because of this mission I know more than ever that the church is true. that we have a living prophet on the earth today, and that God hears and answers our prayers. Stay faithful, happy, and enjoy the weather up there in the States!

A busy and happy missionary ☺

THis week was great...as always right?! The beginning of the week was a little difficult because I ended up working two areas. Sister Hayes and Sister De Oliveira were sick and I ended up teaching with Sister Marchado for 2 days. She has 3 weeks on the mission, but teaches well so it turned out to be great! In celebration of World Cup, last monday us 4 missionaries played soccer with some members and investigators. It turned out to be awesome! I actually played really well and now have a little bit of a reputation as a soccer player! It was great though because our baptism for this week, Lidiane, played with us and brought her brother Lindenberg and 2 cousins. She ended up making a goal even! Lidiane was baptized Saturday night and it turned out to be a wonderful service. We baptized her brother 3 months ago and he is preparing for a mission! He cant go until next year, but is going to start accompanying us on our lessons along with Lidiane! Another recent baptism, Severina, is just a dear and is progressing rapidly in the church. She just shows up at church every Sunday and automatically looks for a way she can help. I really have fallen in love with this area.. Who would have thought?! Oh Severina showed us how to make truffles this past week! So I have officially learned how to make truffles that look chique de mais or professional! I made mint chocolate truffles and gave them to the bishop, president and sister hall, and many other people. Everyone who has eaten them has LOVED them! I´m really picking up some amazing good recipes that I´m excited to make for you all when I return. So as you know I´ve been working on spanish recently. I´m officially reading El Libro de Mormon everyday and understanding 95%. I have progressed a lot with spanish because it is extremely similiar to Portuguese. I hope to be semi-fluent when I return to the U.S. hmmm....what else can I say?! Oh today we spent the morning and early afternoon with Sister Hall. We helped her organize some things and afterwards we all made empadinhas together---a type of dessert that I cant wait to make for you guys! She also gave us all lunch! It was great! Afterwards we met up with Elder Engh and Elder Oliveira to eat açai .Elder Engh was in my district in the CTM and is like my brother! I was so happy that President Hall let all of us eat açai together! Afterwards I bought some fabric to make 2 dresses. The rainy season has been a little hard on my clothes. THe major part of the clothes I brought on the mission have been ruined by mold or random stains. When it isnt raining it is sunny and windy and the wind throws sand and dirt on your clothes. I´ve been using the same 4 outfits for the past month or so, but recently have been buying fabric to make new clothes. A lady in my area makes dresses for 15 reais...about 8 dollars. . I´m doing well though. We have a couple baptisms for this week and they are all awesome! Well got to go! Have a great week and know that I pray constantly for all of you. I love you all so much!

Com amor,
sister wood

p.s. continue to help out the missionaries in any way possible and tell people to write me letters!!!!

Well, I´m already breaking my promise to right long, edifying emails, but this week President Hall wanted us to write him an email telling him about ourselves. My email to him used up a lot of the time! BUT I´m doing great! This week was awesome. We taught a lot of really cool people and were protected from harm AGAIN! Sister De Oliveira and I were walking home this past week in a street that was really dark when three men started to walk towards us. No one else was in the street and it really was very, very dark. When started walking towards us I KNEW they were with the intent to rob us, but at same moment I felt an energy shoot through my body that I can’t explain....I felt that yes they wanted to rob us, but that the Lord was with. I honestly felt Him protecting us. When they started to surround us and one of them pulled something out of his pocket (couldn’t tell if it was a knife or not...it was too dark) I still didn’t get scared. I somehow knew they wouldn’t succeed in robbing us. When the men were within 3 feet of us, they all of a sudden decided to leave us alone. They didn’t say anything....just walked away. As soon as they left Sister De Oliveira asked me---``Wow. Did you feel that? The Lord just protected us big time.``It was an interesting experience and another testimony to me that the Lord protects his servants. Yesterday was an awesome Sunday. One of my recent baptisms passed the sacrament for the first time. He showed up at church in his white shirt and tie and got so excited for the opportunity to pass the sacrament. He did such a great job and I was so proud of him! I got even prouder when he bore his testimony afterwards. It is one of the best things in the world to see the people you baptized bear testimony about the church, the Book of Mormon, and Joseph Smith! We have a few baptisms for the next week, one of which is Elenilson. We came to his house with the intent to teach his mom. We ended up teaching his mom, him, and his 2 brothers. During the lesson I realized he was paying a lot of attention to our message. When I talked about the First Vision I looked at him and it was as if his eyes were being opened. He got so excited. He spent this past week talking to his friends about the gospel. After our first visit we told him we would pass by the next day at 6:30 to talk with him again. When we arrived at his house at 6:30pm his mom told us he woke up at 7:00 am and ran into the kitchen so worried that he had missed our visit. We laughed and told him we don't even wake up until 6:30 am and don't leave the house until 10:00! It was so cute to see who worried he was! He really is an elect! Anyway. things are going great. I have a new mission president--President and Sister Hall. THEY ARE WONDERFUL! There aren’t words to explain how great they are. They´ve only been here a few days and I already LOVE THEM! Well anyway have a great week. Love you all, Sister Wood

Ok I´m officially repenting. I´ve decided to start writng longer emails because so many things happen that I know you guys would like to hear. We had another great week in Tibiri. Sister De Oliveira and I worked at our maximum this week and it was wonderful. We met so many wonderful people and had so many spiritual experiences. Yesterday was an awesome day...we really saw the fruits of our labors! Five less active people that we are working with showed up at church and it was so great! 3 of 5 of these people had served missions and one had been a counselor in the bishopric many years ago before going less active. I wanted to cry from happiness when I saw them all show up! Also to add to the joy and happiness we had two baptisms--one a man named Leandro and the other a woman named Severina. I´ve been working with Severina since I arrived in the area and really wanted to see her baptized. Her daughter, Tercia, is a strong and faithful member of the ward and was taught by guess who?! Patricia, who is the daughter of Andreilton who we baptized in Potengi! Small world huh?! Anyway the baptism was just wonderful! I wish you all could have been there to witness it! The Spirit was extremely strong during the meeting. Tercia and another member of the ward did a special musical number and sang a song that actually was a testimony at the same time. It repeats the words, ``I know God lives, I know he loves me, I know he listens to me when I pray`, many times and it is just absolutely beautiful. They got so choked up while singing, but it you could really see how much they knew the words of the song were facts. Everyone was crying, including all Severina´s nonmember friends who were present and now want to be taught! Yay! Severina´s daughter was just glowing with happiness. Imagine how many years Tercia waited and how many prayers she said to see her mom be baptized. During the meeting I got a little teared up and I just kept thinking---This is why you left everything and everyone in the U.S.....to have moments like these. I can´t explain the joy the comes when you see someone repent...I just think about the joy God has when we repent....now I can see why he does everything in His power to call us to repentence. Anyway the missionary work brings an undescribable joy. At times I feel like my heart will literally burst because of the joy I feel. During the baptisms I also felt a great sense of humility and gratitude. How grateful I am that God gave me this time to serve a mission. How grateful I am that he calls and qualifies the weak and simple things of this earth. Another great experience this week was with Leo, Lindenberg´s cousin (a man we baptized recently). Since I´ve been here I´ve always talked with, laughed with, and teased Leo. We never really taught him because he never showed interest in the church and smokes, drinks every once in a while, swears, etc... A few weeks ago he ran up to us in the street and said he was trying to stop smoking. Since then we´ve been checking his progress, but honestly never thought he would take an interest in the church....BUT this past week we were teaching his cousin Lidianne and he sat in on the lesson. We talked about repentence and the power of the Atonement. As we talked, to our GREAT surprise, Leo´s eyes started to fill up with tears. I was extremely surprised. Here in front of me was a young man who I knew as the guy who swears, smokes, is vulgar, but somehow he had changed over these past 2-3 months so gradually that I hadn't paid attention. When he heard about the atonement and that repentence is possible it was like a heavy weight was lifted off of him. I think he realized hope exists, and that repentance is possible. After the lesson he said he wanted to go to church with us and wanted us to mark a part in the Book of Mormon for him to read. We marked Mosiah 28 about Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah. He is really excited to read and I hope he will continue to change his life for the better.

So this past week marked 9 months on the mission or my 1/2 way point and I started realizing how fast this mission is passing by. I started to fell sick when I thought about the fact I have only 9 more months to serve the Lord 100%. It was a horrible feeling. Don't get me wrong. I love you guys but I will miss the mission so much. I am forever changed because of this mission and President and Sister Fernandes. This past week was their last zone conference and I definitely wasn't ready to say goodbye to them. My new mission president, President Hall, will arrive this Thursday! I´m excited to get to know him and his wonderful wife!

Well thanks again for all the great emails and support. I love you guys so much! Stay strong and always to looking for ways to build your testimony!
Have a great week!

Oi! Well today we had transfers and guess what?! I stayed in Tibiri again, but with a new companion---Sister de Oliveira!! We´ve been living in the same house for the past 3 months and have grown to be great friends....no...awesome, AMAZING friends! When we heard that we would be companions we just started to jump up and down and screamed at the tops of our lungs for happiness! I also was called to be senior...the only difference is that I walk with the cell phone...BUT I am super excited that I stayed in Tibiri. I really love this area and I know Sister de Oliveira and I will continue to help the church grow here. So this last week was good. We baptized a young man, Janielson, on Sunday and it had to have been one of the most stressful/ hilarious batismal services that I´ve seen in my life. He was baptized at least 10 times (not kidding) and at one point we thought that he would just get sick of being dunked in the water and give up, but eventually all his limbs stayed in the water at the same time and he was baptized! Whooo hoo! He was so happy after the baptism and said the closing prayer which turned out to be an absolutely beautiful, humbling prayer. He changed so much during this past month and he loves to talk about the things he will do on his mission. I still can't believe that I´m a missionary...helping people come to Christ and change their lives. It really is a humbling experience being an instrument in the Lord´s hands, but it is absolutely wonderful. This past week we also had many sucesses with inactive members, but I will just share one. We´ve been working a lot with a man who´s been inactive for 4 or 5 years. When he left the church he was a counselor in the bishopric. Luckily when he left the rest of his family stayed in the church, but since that time he hasn't returned to set one foot inside the church....until this past Saturday! We had an activity in the church and he ended up coming! When I saw him entering the church I just got so happy! He really is making great progress and soon we will get him to go to church on Sunday. Well I don't know if you guys know that World Cup is going on right now..but it is and I´m telling you Brazil is the place to be during World Cup! The people down here are crazy, no INSANE about soccer. Yesterday Brazil played against South Korea and the streets were vacant during the game. Businesses shut down, schools shut down, everything was closed! To help the missionaries avoid the temptation to watch the game, President scheduled our zone meeting 3:00pm yesterday. When we showed up for the meeting all the elders and sisters were anxious and many prayers were said for Brazil to win. During the meeting we heard tons of fireworks when Brazil scored and people screaming. Honestly soccer is more than a religion down here. It sounds like you all are doing great. I love reading your emails every week. They bring me so much joy! This next week I will have 9 months on the mission. Can you believe it? I´m half way done?! It feels so weird...time is passing by too fast. I really love it here so much and feel like I´m at home. I think it will be difficult to return home in 9 months and return to normal life. Anyway, Have a wonderful week and know that I am praying for you all! LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU!

Love, Sister Ariel Wood

Old pictures from the CTM

These are from the CTM posted by Luciana Fonseca Fiallo.

A new direction

This week was great! We had conference this week and it helped me out so much. Before conference started I was just a little put-out that I didn't know why I wasn't baptizing in this area. In my mind I had done everything to help the work progress, but during conference I was humbled. Everyday I pray to do the Lord's will in my area, but I realized during conference I wasn't doing His will. The Lord didn't send me to Tibiri to baptize a lot of people, but to strengthen the ward and the members. When I was called to work in Tibiri, President Fernandez told me that my purpose there was to help the members get excited about the work. Since I arrived there I just tried to baptize, baptize, baptize. During the conference I felt the impression many times that right now wasn't my time to baptize, but to help out the ward. After receiving these impressions my companion and I decided to change how we were working .Now we are working more with less active members and recent converts. Things are definitely doing better and I know that the Lord will bless our efforts here in Tibiri. Até próximo semana!Love, sister wood

"Endure to the end"

Well this week was...good for my spiritual growth. In reality I spent many nights crying and praying and just asking for the strength to get through the next day. This area is trying to kill me, but it won't suceed. I know I'm here for a purpose and I think I will remain here for some time. Things will get better, it just is difficult at times to work with everything you have and no see the results. I worked in the torrential rain, I worked in the burning sun, I worked with the hundreds (literally) of mosquito bites I have on my body, and I worked with a horrible flu that is still lingering and it appears that all my work has been in vain....but honestly I know that isn't true. The Lord is just trying my faith and trying to help me be a better person...this is something that He always will do. He will stretch us, mold us, pound us, shape us until we are the people He wants us to be. Yesterday after lunch I shared a thought with the irmã about Joseph Smith´s experience in liberty jail. I read the first part of D&C 121 for her and talked about the brutal and at the same time wonderful fact that the Lord will always gives us these hard times. An apostle (I forget who) said in conference a few years ago, `God in his wisdom shields no one from hardships´. After reading these verses for this irmã I talked about the Lord's response...Joseph..peace be unto thy soul, thine afflictions shall be but for a small moment and if thou endure it well God shalt exalt thee on high. When I read this scripture comfort came immediately to my soul...I felt the Lord saying to me Ariel, or Sister wood, have peace these things will pass, just endure them well. I'm trying my best not only to endure, but to endure these trials well. I know the Lord has not left me alone in this area, He never leaves us alone...He just gives us the things we need to be a better, holier people. are all continuing to do well Have the best week ever.

"Parent Trap III"

This week’s letter is going to be short. We spent all day in João Pessoa being interviewed by the president and receiving a training about lots of mission related stuff. Anyway I wasn’t so happy about spending our pday at the mission office, but such is life. Today is also my companion’s birthday. After emailing fast we are going to eat pizza with the other sisters we live with. This week was pretty good. Our spirits were high and we worked hard. Last Monday night we received word that a man we baptized was shot accidently by his friend. Luckily it was just in the arm. He was in the hospital for a couple days, but now he is back in his house recovering. Yesterday he took off the bandages and we got to see the wound. It was awesome!!! The bullet passed completely through his arm leaving an entrance and exit wound. The good thing about this is that he now has a stronger disposition to go to church regularly. Sister Nascimento and I live in a house with 2 other sisters--Sister Burton and Sister de Oliveira, and it is just the most fun thing ever. Seriously every night is just crazy because Sisters Burton and Nascimento are going home next week. We have already had a water balloon fight in the house and a water fight with buckets. Last night Sisters Burton and de Oliveira surprise attacked us with mousse in the face. Luckily they made a huge bucket of it and we had an all out war. Goodness the aftermath was horrible though because the mousse had egg whites in it and it hardened in our hair and clothes and on the floor of our house and everywhere....but it was soooo fun! Unfortunately we didn’t realize that out house was without water ( which happens a lot here) and we had to take a bath on the side of our house with buckets. We just about died laughing as we helped each other wash the mousse out of our hair. This morning, when we woke up and opened the back door a big mouse ran in and hid in the room that holds our suitcases are. After fighting for a few minutes about who would take care of the mouse...Sister de Oliveira and I finally volunteered and entered the room. We closed the door and Sister de Oliveira scared the mouse out from under the dresser and I started whacking away at the mouse...but I’m a horrible shot. (luckily Sister Burton filmed this all from the window) I kept hitting thin air or the floor next to the mouse...and every time I swung the broom stick for some reason we screamed. Honestly we were very much ´´girls´´ screaming and jumping on top of anything that was close and let us escape the mouse. Finally I killed it and afterwards we buried it in the backyard. The funeral was very sweet, few people attended, but tears were shed. Hopefully the mice will avoid our house in the future! So this past week Sister Nascimento and I were walking in the street at night and when we turned the corner a girl yelled ´´Sisters!!!´´. We didn’t recognize her, but started talking to her and she said she was a returned missionary who was inactive. She returned home 2 years ago and because of lack of friends in the church and other wrong choices she left the church. As she talked to us she started to relate all the problems that had happened to her since she left the church. She also said she was fervently praying for help in her life while walking in the street and we all of a sudden appeared out of nowhere. We talked to her for a long time and she has a lot of doubts about returning to the church. She really wants to return to the church, but thinks everyone will judge her and she is also very ashamed of how her life has turned out. She talked about how things were hard for her when she was going to church, but said it was the only time in her life that she was actually happy. She talked about since she left, that she only feels an emptiness that won’t go away. She tried to find happiness in many things--drugs, alcohol, men, etc, but she said her life is nothing but loneliness and unhappiness because of her decisions. We talked to her a lot about repentance and committed her to go to church this next week. She promised she would. Talking to her was really an awesome experience. While we were talking I felt very strongly the love and concern that God has for her. As we said our goodbyes and started walking home Sister Nascimento and I just started tearing up because of the testimony we gained about the love of God for his lost sheep. The scripture in Alma came clearly to my mind: “Now my beloved brethren we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in, yea he numbereth his people and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth.” I have a very strong testimony of this scripture. Every day we meet people who are ´lost´ spiritually and it is just the most humbling experience ever to meet these people and talk to them. Gotta go. Time is up! Love you, Ariel

How was your week? Mine was difficult, but I got through it. This week was only a little bit of a disaster because our baptisms fell through and we had to cut a lot of people from our teaching group who weren't progressing. Also the weather has been a little difficult this week-- the beginning of the week it was hot and I received a nice sunburn and at the end of the week it was nothing but pouring down rain. Because I don't have an umbrella I got completely soaked one night and was actually a little cold for the first time on my mission. I was walking in a 1ft-deep river aka the street, and the thought came to my mind...wow I really wish I had a sweater..but after a few seconds I just started laughing because the thought of using a sweater here is just ridiculous. It was really fun to try and walk in the flooded streets though...luckily the majority of the streets empty fast after the rain stops. The rain will stay for the next couple months so I think today I will buy an umbrella. Well this past week I saw my first living tarantula in the wild and unfortunately I saw it in a house. I was teaching about the Plan of Salvation when all of a sudden I saw a ridiculously HUGE spider running on the floor behind our investigator. As soon as I saw it I screamed nossa!!!!` (the equilivent of oh my goodness) and scared everyone in the room. When our investigator saw it he jumped from his chair and smashed the tarantula with his shoe. Goodness it was quite an interesting thing to witness, but now I'm nervous that we will find one in our house! Unfortunately there are a lot of big spiders in this area and scorpions, but I have yet to see a scorpion.
Anyway things are going well. The mission really can be extremely difficult at times and physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausting, but it is also the most rewarding experience of my life. Many times this past week I just wanted to sit down and cry and give up, but I refuse to be a quitter. When times get tough a person really has to make the choice to give up or go on. If the person gives up one time it will be easier to give up the next time and the next time and so becomes the pattern of their life. The opposite is also true. If a person endures one difficulty they know that when the next hardship comes they can endure also and a pattern of endurance is set. I think this is one of the best lessons I'm learning on my mission---to not give up. When I have a difficult day thoughts always come to my head like --What are you doing here? Do you really think you can make a difference? Your life would be so much easier if you just went home....etc. Luckily I'm developing a "never give up" attitude. Many times this week I thought I just couldn't take anymore--when you are standing in the torrential rain, soaking wet and everyone is shutting the door in your face it is easy to have these feelings---but honestly giving up will get a person only one place---nowhere! Though it seemed almost impossible at times to go on this past week the point is that it was possible. Yesterday I was sitting in sacrament meeting a little discouraged when the words "You havent failed until youve stopped trying" entered my mind. It really is true. We really never have failed in our lives, in our missions, etc until we give up and choose not to endure to the end. Unfortunately I talk with people everyday who have given up on life. We are teaching a family that have a lot of problems with addictions---smoking, alcohol, crack. Many of these problems came because they thought their lives were too difficult to deal with and so they just gave up. They gave up in school, in work, they stopped going to church and now they are suffering from their actions. It is so sad to meet people who have developed this "give up" attitude and have slowly, over the course of their life, become subject to the temptations of Satan. Anyway the point of this email is just never give up...it leads to only one place. The only option, though at times it appears difficult and impossible, is to press on. Nefi says it better than me in 2 Nephi 31:20 --- Wherefore ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. WHerefore, if ye press forward, feasting upon the words of Christ, and endure to the end, behold thus saith the Father, ye shall have eternal life.?
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Oh below is the email address of my companion. This next monday is her birthday and she only receives emails from one friend. She is the only member of the church in her family and her family didn't agree with her decision to serve a mission. If you all could please send a short email to her wishing her a happy birthday that would be wonderful. She understands English and her name is Sister Nascimento. She is an awesome companion and I really want her to open her email this next week and have some emails wishing her a happy birthday.. Thanks.
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Love you!
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sister wood
mailto:sisterdaiananascimento@myldsmail.net

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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.