A really happy week :)

Mi familia!

This was such a happy week! Lots of highlights.

1. Mary and Laura are the best. We visit them practically every day and they are so excited for their baptism the 10th. When they are at church you would think they were members because they have friends, they make comments in their classes & ah they are just so ready. They've become some of our best friends :)

2. Junior. We have continued to teach Tiffany and Junior this week and they are definitely progressing. Tiffany is moving a little slower, but Junior.. whoa! Junior is a new person! He received his answer that everything we are teaching is true and he is so excited to be baptized. He read in 2 Nephi 4, the prayer of Nephi, and said that his answer came clear as day. He came to church yesterday and was so proud to tell the other members that his baptism is June 10th. Tiffany still has a few doubts, but this is the week that we are going to resolve all of the doubts:) Oh and their kids Luana and Benjamin are the cutest ever.

3. Leadership conference. We had a conference this week for the hermana leaders and all of the zone leaders in the mission with president. We all talked about how we can strengthen the work in our mission and it really made me so grateful to be a part of this mission. Our mission is super obedient and progressing lots & President Johnson is the greatest!

4. On Friday when we were heading to an appointment, we felt prompted to knock a door that was super out of our way. We met Yolanda. Yolanda is the cutest little grandma. We shared a brief overview of our message and Yolanda started to cry. Her son is really sick in the hospital and they don't think he is going to make it. She said she has been praying and praying for confort in her life, but just feels so alone. She told us we are the answer to her prayers and she knows that God sent us to her in the perfect timing. She left to visit her sister out of town Saturday and comes back the end of this week, but we are going to visit her as soon as she returns. I know it was no coincidence that we knocked her door in this moment. As Hermana Alais says, she is so ready! 

We are seeing miracles here! I am just feeling so grateful to be a missionary. The church is truer than ever and I love it with all my heart. Until next week!

xo

2 Nephi 32:8-9

Hermana Wood

Pics: Luana's picture of us, and fruit of the week

Cambios!

It was a great week here in Arequipa! I officially finished my training, holla! Transfers are today and guess what.. I'm gonna be staying in Alto Selva Alegre WITH Hermana Alais!! We are so stoked. We are the new hermana leaders which scares me a little, but we are excited. 

This week we started teaching the cutest little family. Tiffany and Junior are married with 2 kids, Luana who is 7 and benjamin who is 2. They are so great. When we found Tiffany she told us that she has been looking for God in her life, and we were an answer to her prayers. Junior is a little quieter and laid back, but he is great too. They liked church this week and we are hoping they continue to progress! They could use the extra prayers :) Andres, who is 80, left on a work trip the week after I told you guys about him, and he finally comes back this week! Yay at last hah. Mary and Laura, a mom and her 11 year old daughter are progressing a lot. They have had all of the lessons and have a baptism date, but they still just need to come to church 2 more times. These are a few of the investigators we are focusing on most this week. I will give more updates the next week! It is getting colder here in Arequipa, we are going into winter! Also-this week tried guinea pig for the first time. Ha it is popular here for special occasions, but wasn't a huge fan. Guinea pigs should be pets, not food :)

xo

1 Ne 18:1-3

Hermana Wood

Hola!

Hello hello! It was so so good to see all your faces over skype yesterday. Everyone looks so so good! This is "vacationing" time in Arequipa, so this week was a little slower with our investigators, because half of them have been out of town. But for the most part they are progressing and we are seeing big changes with them :) Mother's day is a huge deal here and everyone celebrates lots for this day. We had a talent night at our church Friday night in honor of Mother's Day. For mine and Hermana Alais number we performed one of our raps with some choreography and all. Ha it was so funny. I wish I took more pictures to send. Sorry this email is so short, but we are leaving on an adventure right now for p day! I will write you more next week:) Love you all so much! Stay faithful this week! Go make it a great one!

xo

D&C 78:18

Pics: fav cereal (thanks for the best package!), plaza de armas, francesco gave his cat a makeover, and the little peruvian kids are the cutest ever

Update from Alto Selva Alegre

Hope everyone had the best week! This week was a good one. Nothing too crazy happened this week, but I am really excited about our investigators right now. Highlights of the week: Paola had her 10th birthday & we were able to celebrate a little with her. Paola really wants to be baptized and loves the church, but the mom, Patricia, isn't super supportive which is tough. Poco a poco! Paola is the cutest. Every time she prays she prays for all the little kids in the world who are suffering from hunger and dangerous circumstances and ah my heart. Shes the sweetest! 

We had a family night with a family in our ward this week who are from Milan, Italy. Ha dad-I asked them if they knew the song about the elephant that you sing to us in Italian and the dad sang the whole song for me! Ha it made me so happy. 

Also I got to see the Dayley family this week from our old ward! President called and said a package was at the mission home for me, and sure enough the Dayley family was there too:) They are traveling through Peru and it was so nice to see them, a little piece of home! On Friday this week we were contacting and it was one of those days that felt like the whole world was catholic and no one wanted to listen. The same morning, Hermana Alais had gotten a call with the news that her first convert in the mission, Ilean who was 20 years old, passed away from cancer. She was having a really hard time. So yeah we were walking and walking and contacting without success so we stopped to say a prayer. After our prayer, literally 5 minutes after our prayer, we knocked a house with a single mom with 2 kids. They listened to us and it was probably one of my favorite lessons-they were so receptive. They came to church yesterday too and we have the next apt with them tomorrow. I know that we have a father in heaven who answers our prayers and loves us so much. He loves us more than we can comprehend and he wants us all back. Each and everyone of us. I am so grateful to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord to teach people how to make it back. The church is true! Love it with all my heart. Have the best week! (can't wait to talk and see your faces over skype so soon!)

Helaman 5:12

Hermana Wood

Happy Holidays from Arequipa

Happy holidays from Arequipa because apparently today is the "Dia del trabajador", here. Not exactly sure what that means, but last night to kick off May 1, there were fireworks and fiestas, and today no one works. Ha doesn't really effect us but oh well:) Ah congrats to Jaren and Savannah this week! Heart broken I can't be with you for the wedding, but I am there in spirit! So so happy for you two. 

The work is going well here. We have a few investigators that I am really excited about. I will tell about one of them-Andres. Andres is 80 years old, but don't let the age fool you, because he seems only 60 years old. His health is great as well. He has been separated from his wife for years, lives with his catholic kids and grand kids, has worked in the rice fields his whole life, (still works), and he is just great. We met him a week ago and he is progressing lots. He had a baptismal date for 27 de May, but yesterday that changed a little. We had a lesson with him and read 2 Nephi 31 where we learn more about the doctrine of Christ and baptism as "la puerta". First to start the lesson, we asked if he could offer the prayer. We all closed our eyes and bowed our heads and sat there in silence for about 18 minutes. He was praying in his head, and Hermana Alais and I didn't know what to really do so we just sat there and waited. and waited.. and waited. When he finished his prayer there were tears in his eyes and he said he could feel our Savior's love for him. Ok then we read the chapter, analyzing throughout. Andres was pretty quiet throughout and we asked him after what he thought of the reading. He said that it clicked. He realized that baptism is the saving ordinance that he needs and ah the spirit was so strong! He said that he wants to be baptized now. We moved his baptismal date to May 20. Ya and the story goes on, because directly after the lesson, we went to the devotional. President Johnson had a devotional last night for investigators and missionaries from my zone and one other zone. He spoke of the restoration. Andres came along with 3 of our other investigators and Jazmin who was baptized last month. All of our investigators really enjoyed the fireside and were able to feel the spirit really strong. Andres after, cried a little more and told us that while president was speaking he had his answer. The spirit confirmed that everything we have taught is true. He knows this church is true and oh my heart-it was such a cool experience. He asked that we go to the grounds of the future temple of Arequipa after. We had to go back to our cuarto, but our mission leader took him to the temple grounds and called us after to say that Andres is just so ready and prepared for this gospel. Testimony builders happening left and right here. 

We were working with the members lots this week. There is a little boy, Brayan, who is 5 years old in our ward and his mom passed away 3 months ago. He lives with his aunts in our ward. He is so shy and won't talk to the other little kids in the ward. It was his birthday Friday and we were able to put on a birthday party for him in the house of our pencionista with the primary president. We invited the whole primary and there was a huge turnout. One of Hermana Alais' converts from her first area is a clown and came as a surprise. Brayan was so happy :) Also-Jazmin who was baptized last month has come with us to appointments this week and has a desire to serve a mission in the future! The gospel really changes lives. She is happier than ever and She just has a light about her. It has been so cool watching her testimony develop. 

Things are going well here. Go have a great week! Make sure you "Arequip"ing the commandments:) I love you all mucho!

xo

Mosiah 24:12-15

Hermana Wood