What goes down, always comes back up...

Oi Familia!

Well this week was better. Last week I was really down and out. When your body gets tired and out and the mosquitos are biting and the sun is burning...it is easy to get a little down. BUT this week went well. We arrived in the house of one of our investigators this week and before we said anything she asked to be baptized.....why can't everyone be this easy to baptize? She had a dream after we taught here the first lesson that she was going to church with her neighbor and arrived at the chapel here in Tibiri and told her neighbor she was a Latter-day Saint. Cool huh? She came to church so beautiful in modest clothes (EXTREMELY RARE) and immediately was fellowshipped. Severina helped her learn how to sing the hymns, the bishop welcomed her with open arms, the young women immediately crowded around here to help her feel at home, and even Leandro and Leandro (two of our recent baptisms) took down here phone number so that they could invite her to activities. She is very excited for her baptism this next Sunday and we are too. She will most likely be baptized with another awesome girl! We ended up having a bunch of investigators in the church as well, so that was nice. This week we had a conference with Elder Godoy (1st counselor in the area presidency of Brasil) and it was AWESOME! He has so much energy and spunk! He talked about a lot of cool things but the thing that really stood out to me was a story he told or actually an analogy. He drew a picture of a tree trunk that had been cut so that you could see all the rings on the trunk, or the years of the tree´s life. Some rings were darker than others and some rings you could tell had been damaged. He went on to talk about how one of these dark rings happen because a forest fire struck the forest that year and another ring showed that insects had invaded the forest that year. Through all these events the tree lived on until it was cut...and you could see its history perfectly....everything it passed through. He related this to our lives and said we are a little different than the tree. He said as we go through our lives it is almost inevitable to escape without a mark or blemish from sin...they just happen. We are imperfect and as the years and years of our lives go on, like the tree we acquire these marks....and then we are cut (aka die) and stand in front of our Maker....where He doesn't even need to ask us a single question...he just looks at our trunk (body) and our lives are completely laid out in front of Him....but the good thing is, unlike the tree these marks can be erased. The damage or mistakes can be completely erased in a way that we can stand before Heavenly Father without a single mark. He continued to talk about that this is possible because of Christ, this is the gift he gave us. That despite how many marks we have, we can stand pure and clean in front of God because of the atonement. I loved this analogy because it made me remember a time when we were all together at chimney rock. We were all walking down the trail when Dad stopped us at an old tree trunk and talked about the life of a tree. Ahhh what great memories we all have together! I cant wait to have more when I come back in 6 months!! Ahhh can you believe this week marks 1 year!! Goodness time flys!! Well I gotta go preach the gospel and baptize the folks aqui em Tibiri. Espero que vocês estâo bem! Te amo de mais!

September 13, 2010

Oi Familia!
This email is going to be extremely lame, but I´m just not with the highest of spirits today and think it is better to say nothing than to murmur. Dont worry I´m good though and I love you guys so much. This week will be better. Elder Godoy will be at our zone conference this Thursday and I will probably get my package so I´m getting excited about that. I pray for you guys always and love you.

Staying put for now☺

So guess what?!!! I stayed in Tibiri. Yep I will have officially 5 transfers (7 months) in this area! WHOOOO. I was actually really happy I stayed. The thought of packing all my things up was just tooooo scary. I stayed with Sister G which I´m content about. I kind of miss having Brazilean companions, but President knows best. This past week and a half flew by and there really isn't that much to report. I´m really tired today. We spent the morning in João Pessoa looking for a dress for Sister G. Sister H stayed as well which means I´m happy about life. We are two peas in a pod and she wants me to date her brother when I get back. Since she goes home to Utah in December I told her she can be my ``João Batista`` and prepare the way for my dating life. Things are going well though. The temperature is starting to heat up and soon summer will be in full swing....which 100-110 degree weather for a few months. Yeah I´m excited about that. I feel like Tibiri is my home though...I know so many people here and could walk these streets with my eyes closed. I love the members, but stress about them a lot....taking care of the Lord's flock really can wear down on you. BUT I´m excited for 6 more weeks in Tibiri and know there is a reason I´m staying here. Until next Monday!
LOVE YOU ALL!
Love sister wood

The font runneth o'er!

So this week FLEW by. I almost don't believe today is pday... again! This week was full of tons of great and funny experiences, but this computer keyboard is very retarded and I will just write the highlights! Yesterday we had stake conference and a member of the area seventy was there. His talk was so amazing and it talked about the importance of prayer. He explained many concepts about prayer that I had never thought about before and I felt extremely edified in the end. It was so nice to have stake conference and see everyone I know and love. It was impossible to talk to everyone I knew, so I ended up giving a lot of hugs and kisses on the cheeks. I think it might be hard for me to break the whole kiss-on-the-cheek habit when I go back home...but I´m pretty sure the single guys won't mind it. Anyway during the conference Lindenberg and Senhor José received the Melchizedek Priesthood! I was so so so proud of them. I wanted to jump up and clap and shout for joy when they were told to stand up and be recognized. I practiced self-control though and just sat in my chair with an ear-to-ear grin of happiness and tears in my eyes. It really is just wonderful to see someone go from....well what they were...and be baptized, confirmed, receive the Aaronic priesthood, receive a calling, and receive the Melchizedek priesthood....next step....THE TEMPLE NEXT MONTH!!! WOOOOO!!! Honestly it was wonderful to see the fruits of our labors! The day just kept getting better after the conference. Rafaela and Leandro were baptized last night and it was sooooooooo awesome. I wish you guys could have been there. At least 40 members arrived for the baptism, I made 2 cakes, Sister G and I prepared a special musical number, it was perfect!!!! (except for the fact I left the water running in the baptismal font and it flooded the chapel a little bit :) ....ha ha what can I say...I´m still Ariel, even in Brazil. But dont worry it got cleaned up fast! ) But honestly the baptismal service was awesome! Another cool thing...Leo (another Leandro--pec knows him!) who we baptized recently performed HIS first baptisms...yep he baptized his friends, Rafaela and Leandro. It was so cool to see someone Itaught that was baptized, baptizing others. Talk about awesome. Anyway things are going great. I´m happy and very much in love with Brazil. Obviously there are some things that I miss about the U.S., but leaving Brazil in 7 months will break my heart. I´ve gotten so attached to this place. Yesterday we were walking to Marcos Mouro ( an extremely poor area) and we went the back way. As usual, we greeted people along the way. We passed by a woman with 4 little children and when I passed by and said ``boa tarde` they started talking about my hair. Eventually one of the little boys (4 or 5 years old) yelled --`` druga, eu quero ficar com da gallega`` (dang it, well I want to stay with the blonde)....after saying this he ran up behind me and grabbed my arm and just started talking and talking and talking. The others soon followed after us. It was so cute walking to Marcos Moura on the tiny dirt path, in the midst of banana and coconut trees, talking to the cutest Brazilean kids ever. I´ve been very used to my life here and the people of Tibiri are used to me as well. A man this past week told me that Tibiri never would be the same when I left. What a compliment....I hope I´ve made my mark here. I feel like I know everyone...from the men who play games in the plaza, to the woman who sells batata frita, to the politicians, to the school teachers, to the boys who break dance next to the Catholic church, etc. I will miss this place so much. I don't know if I´ll be transferred or not next week, but I hope I stay here! Anyway, the Lord knows best where I need to go!

Time just flies...

THis week FLEWWWWWWWW by! Last Tuesday and Wednesday Sister Garrett and I went to João Pessoa for a training. All the zone leaders, district leaders, and trainers were there for two whole days of intense training. Sister Garrett and I were the only sisters there, but it turned out to be fun anyway! The training focus a lot on learning how to teach people, not just lessons. They talked a lot about different technics we should be using and then we just ended up practicing a lot. Like I said it was fun, but I missed my area and my investigators. I find it a little annoying to sit in an air-conditioned room for two days. My body isn't used to air conditioner and I just end up getting the worst headaches at these types of meetings. Honestly I think my body is just getting adjusted to a more humble way of living. When Sister Garrett and I slept at the Presidents house at the beginning of the transfer it took me a week and a half before I could sleep comfortably again. The bed at the President's house was an excellent mattress, but I´m so used to sleeping on a half-sunken mattress on wooden slabs that it just threw me out of wack. I´ve also gotten used to the hot weather. When the temperature dips below 75 degrees I pull out my jacket, wrap myself in whatever blanket in closest, and drink cevada (a barley drink that looks a lot like coffee). Honestly I think I might die when I return home. I´m hoping the weather will already be warm in Georgia when I get back! After the first day of training we went to Mangabeira (sister de oliveira´s area) to try out the things we learned...and it was awesome! I honestly felt like I had learned so much in the training and was ready to apply my new-found knowledge. We taught a lesson with Sister De Oliveira and Sister Gonzalez and it was just so so great. They made me teach the first half of the lesson and as soon as I started it was like I was just an instrument for the Spirit. I don't remember anything I said. I just remember that I was being taught at the same time I was teaching these people. Sister De Oliveira sat there with a face full of surprise and afterwards she just kept telling me she never heard a lesson taught so well! She told me I taught great when we were companions, but that night was just a whole other level! It was so cool to put the things I learned in practice and to be an instrument for the Spirit. After the night was over we stayed at Sister De Oliveira´s house and she and I just talked and talked and ate and talked and did our nails and talked and talked and talked. It was so great to see her. I just hope you guys get to meet her one day! She is just one of the coolest people ever and one of my best friends. THe only thing sad about the night was that Sister H wasn't with us....we are the 3 musketeers! At least I think you guys will get the chance to meet Sister H one day! She is just as cool and awesome as Sister De Oliveira...only difference is that she´s American! Goodness I´m writing way too much! Time is slipping away! Anyway...things are great. a recent baptism of mine got called to be a counselor in the Primary and a guy we baptized a few weeks ago received the aaronic priesthood. Everyone is doing great!

Sweet dreams

Well this week was normal for the most part! It was filled with tons of work, long hot days, and a ridiculous amount of walking, but it was fabulous! Hmm...where to start... we taught a lot of cool and interesting people this week. We met a missionary for the Baptist Church and he asked us to come to his house for a Bible Study. We accepted and when we arrived it was very apparent that he just wanted to prove our religion was false, but he was nice about it. He wanted to know about what we believed and since I knew he wouldnt go to church with us ( he really was just looking for dirt on us), I told him about why our religion was so awesome. I talked about eternal marriage, baptisms for the dead, the spirit world, the pre-existence. It was a really great experience though because I just gained a stronger testimony of how perfect the gospel is and how merciful Heavenly Father is with His children. For instance, a lot of religions believe if you aren't baptized in this life you don't have another chance, that you can't repent after this life and that we are all just going to be sisters and brothers, not husbands, wives, children, siblings,etc Goodness when I was talking about the spirit world and baptisms for the dead I realized that Gods plan literally is perfect. He has made it so easy for us to return to him...he gives us so many chances! Anyway, we left the guy's house on good terms.

So yesterday I found out that one of my converts is going to receive the Melchizedek.Priesthood in the stake conference in two weeks! I was so excited when I heard about his progress! Yay for converts that say firm in the church!

These past few weeks have been weeks of lots of politics. They are having some elections down here which means that every stereo system or amp that can be found is hooked to the top of a car or truck to blast propaganda to the good people of TIbiri. It has gotten to be a little annoying walking in the street with all this constant noise, but very funny at the same time. The politicians here use a lot of funny jiggles to pitch their platform. Well this last week we were in the square at the end of the night with the other sisters heading to an appointment together when one of these politicians came by with a parade of at least 10 cars honking and blaring music. People were hanging out of every car window and streaming and throwing confetti. It was quite the party. It was just such a ridiculous sight that I started laughing my head...well the politician saw us 4 missionaries and jumped out of the back of a truck and ran up to us talking about his platform. As soon as he arrived so did the cameras. He talked about all the things he would change and then asked us if we were from here....I was like....ahh no. It was hard to keep from laughing just because of the situation. Fireworks were going off over our heads, the ridiculous political jingles were playing in the background, and the paparazzi were in full force. He took a lot of photos with us so who knows if my face is in the local paper.

So the spiritual experience of the week has to do with our beloved investigator Rafaela. The first time we taught in her house we actually taught her parents not her. During the lesson the spirit was extremely strong and so we thought that Rafaela´s parents would turn out to be awesome investigators. After several follow-up visits the realization that they werent interested was very apparent and we were confused why we felt the spirit so strong in that house. Thats when we met their daughter Rafaela. Shes 20 years old and a complete doll. We´ve been teaching her for the past few weeks and marked her baptism for a week and a half ago. Unfortunately she missed her baptism because of work. She works on Sunday and can only go to church if she gets off early. We got a little frustrated because of this situation, but we didnt lose hope! This past week we met with her and she told us that she wouldn't be able to go to church this Sunday. We ended up getting a little sad about the situation, but continued to pray for things to work out. Yesterday we were sitting in the church when who should arrive but Rafaela! She told us she told her boss that she would be leaving work early every Sunday in order to go to church and that she had an experience and wanted to be baptized. Turns out she had a dream after we left her house last week and in the dream she heard a voice saying---Just follow, just follow. She awoke and according to the feelings she had she knew she had to be baptized. It was an amazing thing to hear and I started to tear up because of how thankful I was in that moment. I realized that the Lord really is preparing people for us and he is doing His part in this great work. It was just such a humbling experience to realize that the Lord can work with sometime so simple and weak as me. It really is one of the coolest things about the missionary work....the Lord uses the weak things of this earth to bring about the eternal salvation of His children. This week Rafaela will be baptized along with 2 others equally wonderful and precious investigators. ´

the work continues...

So this will be fast! This week was great! We marked 4 baptisms in 2 days so I was really proud of myself. I'm enjoying this area still and would be content staying here a few more transfers. The work gets to be difficult at times and the ward too, but the Lord keeps translating all the perfect people and I'm getting used to being left with the leftovers. No, but honestly I'm loving the people. They make me want to pull out my hair at times, but I still love them so much. This last week was full of ton of great experiences that I had time to write in the journal but not in the email. Sorry :(. Ok ok, I'll just write one experience really fast. We are teaching a young man with special needs. He is autistic. Slow down, slow down... I know what your thinking. I haven't gotten so desperate to baptize people that I'm throwing special needs people in the water! His mom and the bishop wanted him to be baptized, because he wants to pass the sacrament...and he can't pass the sacrament without the priesthood and cant get the priesthood until he is baptized. Anyway I learned a lot of new things about the official church manual that I never knew about. BUt anyway we taught him the plan of salvation this past week and during the lesson I just started feeling the spirit extremely strong. I honestly felt the love that God has for him. When I started talking about the Kingdoms of Glory and more specifically the Celestial Kingdom I started to get really choked up. This young man just got so excited about living with God and I just kept thinking about how innocent he is in God's eyes. As I talked about the Celestial Kingdom I told him that is it a special place where God lives and where we can live with our families forever in happiness. ..then I bore my testimony to him....telling him that I knew 100% that he would go there. It was an awesome experience teaching someone who is so pure, so innocent that you already know his exaltation is guaranteed. It really was awesome to teach him and I just left his house feeling how much God loves his Children,, how precious they are in his sight. Anyway...I'm out of time unfortunately, but I'm doing great. We are working hard and the sun has stopped burning my flesh! I love you guys so much! Have an awesome week!
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love, sister wood
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Well these first few days haven't been too bad. I feel a little bit like a full time mom or babysitter, but it is going well. Luckily Sister G is really cool and speaks Portuguese well for an American new to the field. We´ve been working really hard, but having few results which is extremely frustrating. I feel like everything, literally EVERYTHING depends on me. The pressure is extremely present and I lost 6 pounds this week from stress and stomach problems. But don´t worry about me. I´ll get the hang of things soon and everything will turn out alright. The mission is just a life of Ups and Downs. I´m getting used the constant changes and the constant trials that come. This past week I was feeling a little down and out when Sister H shared a really cool scripture with me in D&C 138:13 that talks about the righteous in the spirit world. The righteous were those who ``....had offered sacrifice in the similitude of the great sacrifice of the Son of God, and had suffered tribulation in their Redeemer’s name.`` Sister H talked to me a lot about that is why our lives are so hard. We are expected to offer great sacrifices in our lives in order to be worthy to be counted with the righteous. When I look back on my mission I´m pretty sure I´m going to think of it as the hardest and best time of my life. I definitely feel like I have suffered a ton during my time here, but I´ve also had some of the best experiences in my life...experiences that have honestly shaped and molded me into a better person. Anyway things are going well. I´m happy and safe, so no need to worry. Thanks for everything you guys do to encourage me to be a better missionary and person. You guys honestly are my angels and words can't express how much you mean to me.! Have a wonderful week.

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