A Dusty-Filled Week of Miracles

Hola!! Hope everyone had a great week! Whoa this week was such a good one!! We saw so many little miracles and I am so so happy here. 

Updates on the investigators: Julia. She is one of a kind! She has a billion questions-but questions are real good. Haha lets just say she is making us study the Bible like we have never studied it before. On Wednesday when we went to visit her, she was super sad. She is having some family problems. Her daughter has an abusive husband, and it makes Julia so so sad to see her daughter suffer. She told us she feels like God isn't listening to her prayers. We started our lesson and when we were about to read from the Book of Mormon she went to grab her glasses. She couldn't find her glasses. We searched for about 10 minutes in her whole tienda looking, but couldn't find the glasses. We told her we should say a prayer to find them. She offered the prayer. Literally 1 minute after the prayer, she looked up to find her glasses on the shelf... where we thought we had looked! She told us she knows God answers her prayers and she just needs a little more patience :) She came to church again yesterday and now has more and more friends in the ward! A lady from the ward invited us to a family night with Julia yesterday. We told Julia she didn't need to bring anything, but when we showed up to the house she whipped out of her purse a huge bottle of Inka Cola and a bag of rice, hahaha she is the best.

Remember the girl, Karen that I talked about last week? That was inactive? Yeah her life has completely turned around in the last week and a half. COMPLETELY. We met with her yesterday. She told us she has been reading the Book of Mormon and praying every single day. She told us that she has made the decision to serve a MISSION. What!!!!! We were shocked!! She told us that we have changed her life and she wants to do the same for others. In just a week and a half all of this has happened!!! We couldn't believe it. Honestly I couldn't sleep at all last night just thinking and thinking about her. Her parents are so beyond happy too :) Miracle!! 

This week Hermana Alais let me know that Jadiye was going to be baptized Saturday!! One of our investigators from Alto Selva Alegre. We got permission to go to the baptism. But one of our investigators, Maribel, who is so hard to get a hold of, told us the only time she could meet with us was Saturday at 5:00. The same time as the baptism. I wanted to go to the baptism so bad, but had a super strong feeling that we should stay in our area and have the lesson with Maribel. So we stayed in our area. At 4:50 Saturday Maribel called us to cancel the appointment because she hadn't gotten home. I was super bugged because we missed the baptism for nothing.. We were walking and started to contact when a member from the ward, Erika, called us. She asked if we were close to the Zamacola Market. We were only a block away. She told us we had to come to the market because she wanted us to meet someone. We went to the market and sure enough we met Valerise! She is a single mom with 3 daughters. She is a long time friend of Erika, and they ran into each other after a long time of being apart. Valerise has been looking for a religion because there have been lots of problems in her family and she needs help. We had a lesson with her right then and there and she is seriously a golden investigator. Came to church yesterday and told us that she wants to be baptized with her oldest daughter, Juana, when her Juana hits 8 years old in September. Miracle! So many little miracles this week - wish I could share a couple more but out of time ha. My testimony is growing so much more each day here. I love this area of Zamacola and the people of Peru have my heart! Talk to you soon,

Hermana Wood

Alma 37:6-7

Felices Fiestas Patrias!

Holaaaa! 

First off-happy birthday today to JAREN!! Celebrating there in spirit-love you so much. 

Hope everyone had a great week! It was an eventful week here. The day of Peru was Friday and they went all out here. Seriously the whole city decked out in red and white, music, all of the schools marching in the streets, and lots of food!! Feels like everyone fed us cake and hot chocolate this week haha. And it was the day of Zamacola Saturday so the streets were filled with lots of celebrating this week. 

Our investigator pool is getting bigger and bigger! The bishop referred us to a less active-member this week and we got so lost while searching for this house. We asked directions in a store and got talking with the lady who works in the tienda, Julia, who is about 70 years old mas o menos. She is Jehovas Witness and she has so so many questions about our church. We ended up talking for a long time with her and clicked really quick. She says she has been looking for the truth because she has so many doubts with her religion. We were able to visit her about everyday this week, she came to church yesterday, and has a baptismal date for August 19! woot, she is great. 

We've still been visiting the family Vera this week, and they are so great. We are still teaching Analia as well. EFY is this week in Arequipa! We wanted so bad that Analia could go, but her mom wouldn't give her permission to miss school. She got permission to go for 1 day though, hopefully she enjoys it! Analia says that she knows what we are teaching is true, but her mom is a little tougher, because she is catholic and doesn't want Analia changing religions. poco a poco! 

We had the ward activity this week to celebrate 28 de Julio. It turned out perfect! Lots of people came and the ward loved it. All of the organizations decked out for their dances as well. We were able to pick up quite a few contacts of non members too! I will give more updates of the investigators next week. :) 

We met an inactive this week, Karen, she is 19 years old, and her family is active. We had a family night with them this week. We talked about the importance of the prayer and the Book of Mormon. Karen shared how she has had something missing in her life. She told us how much she misses the spirit and she feels so lost. We shared how it's never too late to turn to Christ. He is always reaching his hand out to us and he loves us so much! It was a really special lesson and finished up with Karen sharing a testimony and she told us she is going to change. She was able to come to church yesterday which made us real happy. :) Another testimony builder. We aren't alone here! We have a father in heaven who knows us so perfectly and he is always there. He is so loving. He loves each and every one of us more than we can imagine. The poorest, the richest, the saints, and the sinners just as much as he loves you and me. He loves us enough to let us hold his words in our hands. The Book of Mormon is TRUE. We are living in a time of lots of challenges and hardships. It is so important that we can all have our own personal testimonies of this book to protect us from the adversary. As pres. Monson says, If we read each day with a prayerful spirit we will be in conditions to resist temptations, listen to the voice of the spirit, and receive the help from our heavenly father each day. Never miss a day of reading this book! I know that this gospel brings happiness and more peace than anything in this world. The church is true! Know it, live it, and love it. Have a good one! xo

Mateo 10:39

Hermana Wood

Pics: going peruvian with the braids and all. Fruit stands are heavenly here! Baptism of Asiri, she has my heart! 

Tiffany's Baptism!!

Hello hello! 

Hope you all had a great week! This was a good week. The work is picking up in Zamacola. We have been trying to work lots with the members, which is helping us a lot. To start out this week, there was an earthquake!! We were walking back to our cuarto last Monday night and suddenly the ground was shaking and everyone flooded out of their houses looking into the sky. haha It was so strange but a fun experience! 

Highlight of the week was Tiffany's baptism!!! I was so happy I was able to be there with her Saturday. One of the most special things EVER is hearing the converts bear their testimonies. It was a tougher route with Tiffany, but to hear her give witness that she knows with all of her heart that this is the true church, ah the best ever! She cried and shared how she was lost but now found. When we were teaching Tiffany, she had a couple questions that were so hard for us, that we had to talk with Pres. Johnson for his advice. He asked to meet with her about a month ago, and he helped her a lot. She has pres. on such a high pedestal and asked that he would baptize her, so president baptized her! The gospel changes lives. it is the happiest news! Junior was so happy and proud of her too. Next step for them-the temple! 

We had divisions Wednesday this week with the hermana leaders. Our hermana leaders are Hermana Alais and Narbaez.. in alto selva alegre!!! I got to return for a day and it was such a happy day. I was with hermana Narbaez and it was fun to teach a couple investigators again. We started teaching the cutest 2 little girls, 11 and 9, this week. The Vera familia. The family has been inactive for years, and the dad passed away a few months ago. Now it is just Dolli (the mom) and the two girls. We have been working with them lots and the little girls are the sweetest ever. They are coming to church again and the girls want to prepare for their baptism! With their dad it is a really sad situation, and I have so much respect for how strong the mom, Dolli, is. Keep them in your prayers, they need this gospel! 

We spoke in church yesterday and had hardly any time to prepare, but it went well. July 28, Friday, it the day of Peru!! There are so many flags out and the city is covered in red and white (The only time I'm lovin the red and white;)) haha They are going all out for this week! We are having a big ward activity this Friday to celebrate. We have been in charge which has been a little stressful, but we are excited! Every organization of the ward is assigned to a country. They have to present a dance (because everyone lovesss to dance here) and food from the country, and the story of how the church arrived in that country. We have been inviting every soul of Zamacola so hopefully we have a good turnout! 

Yesterday we planned a "ward attack" and it helped us so much. Hermana Cejas and I made a list of our investigators, and inactive families. Yesterday night ward members came to the chapel, we split them all off into companionships to visit about 3 names from the list every companionship. With the investigator, or inactive, they had to plan an appointment for us missionaries, invite them to the activity, and share a spiritual thought. It turned out really well and we've got lots of appointments for this week:) Also my companion and I started something new. Every morning we think of a theme. For example, everyone with a hat. Anyone with a baby. Anyone with a red shirt, etc. And throughout the day, if we see anyone who matches the theme, we have to contact them no matter what. So far it has been helpful and we will keep up with it this week. We are trying to think out of the box a little more ha. 

I think that's it for this week! Praying for you always! Go make it the best week :)

Alma 38

Hermana Wood

Pics: fam Vera, helping our pencionista make alfajores, pday gang-uno!!, Sweet Lorena a member

6 months??

Holaaaa desde Arequipa! 

Hope everyone had a great week! It was a little slower here this week, still knocking lots of doors and meeting members. We are gaining the support and trust of the members which is really nice because now they are working with us and helping. :) Slowly but surely in this area! 

Our pencionista and her family are the sweetest and just treat us like family. They have a cake business and make the best tres leches cakes! They taste a lot like grandmas tres leches :) Ah guess what? Tiffany from my other ward, it is her baptism this Saturday. And guess what? My zone leaders gave me permission to go!! Whooo I am stoked! 

Things are moving slowly but surely here. We have an investigator, Analia, who is 15 and great. We met her last week and she has been able to come to church these last 2 Sundays. Her best friend who lives in another city is LDS, and that was her motivation to listen to us. She is super busy with school, but in the couple lessons that we've had with her, she is making progress! She lives with her mom and her grandma who are super catholic. Her mom is always working and we haven't had the opportunity to talk with her yet, but hopefully this week we can meet with her :) 

Miracle of the week: When we were walking on Wednesday, we noticed a mom and her daughter who were staring at us. We went up to talk with them and introduce ourselves. We got talking, and turns out the mom, Julie, is a member but has been inactive for years. About 10 years ago she got a job where she had to work Sundays and with time, she went inactive. We shared a little message with her and she was so receptive. She lives in the area Belaunde which is the area next to us that shares our chapel. She's not a part of our ward, but we invited her to go to her church yesterday. She was so sweet and took a picture with us and left. haha. Yeah, then at church yesterday... when we were walking out of sacrament meeting, guess who we saw? Julie with her daughter!!!! She went to her ward and started to cry when she saw us!! She told us thank you and said that she "felt like she was at home". Such a sweet experience & super happy for her and her daughter. Definitely a big highlight of the week. :) 

Hope Aaron had the best birthday this past week and happy birthday shoutout to Savannah this week! You deserve the happiest day! Have the best week, all of you! xo

Alma 37:36-37

Hermana Wood

Pics: our bishop and his wife. Pday with the other hermanas to celebrate hermana Cejas birthday. The grandma (hna alais) mom (me) and daughter (hna cejas) haha. I was reading an article from the ensign this week and I turned the page to see this picture.. Megs you are famous! I was shocked!! haha I cut out this little picture and now its on my wall

Zamacola Week 1!

Hello hello!

Week one of Zamacola is in the books. What a week! Monday we had training with the other trainers, and Tuesday our daughters came. I have another Argentina comp! I guess I have something for the Argentinas-& I can't help but speak Spanish like an Argentinian haha. My companion is Hermana Cejas. She is so sweet. We are super different, but we get along well and she has a powerful testimony :) She is pretty shy, but she is coming out of her shell lots! I couldn't run with Hermana Alais because her knees are bad, but Hermana Cejas likes to run and we are able to run every morning! 

Our area Zamacola: The airport is in our area, so we can always hear the planes going in and out. The weather here is pretty much the same as Selva Alegre. It's winter here and pretty cold with wind in the mornings and nights, but during the day there's lots of sun. There are sooo many dogs in our area! We have to ask in all of our prayers for protection from the dogs, because they are so aggressive! Our pencionista is the sweetest! We live with her and she is a member which is really nice. She cooks all the classic Peruvian food, and it is super good. I am already the ward pianist, yay :) 

We opened this area, which means starting from scratch and starting from 0 means knocking lots of doors and  contacting the members. We set appointments with all of the leaders in the ward this week which helped a lot. The members always feed us some type of mate and we are trying new drinks every day. (Still haven't had soda my whole mission..blessed ha) From knocking lots of doors this week, everyone says they are catholic and we haven't had a ton of success, but just gonna keep working harder. Even on the days in the mission where we don't have tons of success, there are always miracles in each day. For example-Thursday we were knocking doors all day and no success. The day was almost over and we decided to go visit a member. We couldn't find the house, so we asked a lady in the street if she could help us with the address. She was super nice and helpful and when we started to introduce ourselves as missionaries after, she cut us off and said "Can you Hermanas come share a message with me this week?" We were pretty surprised but happily agreed and have our appointment with her tomorrow. :) Ha. Also yesterday-the patriarch and his wife live close to our cuarto. Patriarch and his wife didn't come to the church yesterday, so we had been thinking about them. We were walking to an appointment and passed the house of the patriarch and had a feeling that we should knock their door to visit them. Sure enough we entered the house and the wife of patriarch is super sick. She had been praying throughout the day that "The Hermanas from the church would come visit her". She started to cry when she saw us and explained that we were the answer to her prayers. I feel so lucky to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord. It is such a blessing :) Hope you all have a great week! Praying for you always. xo 

Hermana Wood

John 5:30

pics: viewsss in our area, Happy birthday this week to my cute hija, typical food, aji de gallina

Turning into a Mama!

Hello hello! 

I hope everyone had a great week! This week was good. Sure enough, I am leaving Alto Selva Alegre :( Ah Alto Selva Alegre will forever have my heart. And hermana Alais too! She will be staying there. I am going to be training and opening the area "Zamacola". Super nervous but excited to meet my hija tomorrow! Today I am getting settled in the area with a temporary companion, and tomorrow the new ones come in. Hermana Alais will be my Hermana leader which is good, so she won't be too far! Ha. 

It was tough saying bye to the families of Alto Selva Alegre, I will miss them lots! Tiffany's baptism will be this month- I'm so excited for her. When we went to say bye to Tiffany yesterday, she totally surprised me with decorations, cake and all. The pictures will show the evidence ha, way too nice of her. Sorry we don't have much time today, but I will send updates of the new area next week :) As Teyo says: "live each day like its the 4th quarter and your team needs you!" 

I know that the mission is the best place in my life I could be right now. I am so grateful to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord here! Yes, there are tough days, but the miracles make it all worth it.

Have a good one!

Hermana Wood

Ether 12

Pics: Saying my goodbye to Yzma. I will miss these little kids. & pretty Arequipa