One year older and more Latina too!

Whoa thank you so so much for all the birthday love!! I feel so lucky and blessed to have the best family and friends :) 

My companion and pencionista have already made my day so special! Hermana Cejas decked out our room with notes and I got a wake up call from Hermana ALAIS. She got permission from president to call me from Tacna and she gave me a happy birthday rap hah. 

FAM-thank you SO much for the birthday package!!!! All of the notes especially, mean so so much to me. Too thoughtful! Sorry I am completely out of time, but I will give updates next week! (but Eros and Julia are progressing and doing great). 

Birthday shoutouts to MEG tomorrow and LEX Friday!! You deserve the happiest birthdays. Sending lots of love to Utah and Texas! Hope you all have a great week!

Pics: Our pencionista, mama Celinda, went to Cuzco and brought us back these shawls. "te amo gordito"-this picture is for Teyo (the chubby jokes live on!). Look how bad my handstand form has gotten ;). Misti showing off

"La fe es el poder, la obediencia el precio, el amor el motivo, el espíritu es la clave, y Cristo la razon."

XO

hermana wood

Alma 5

15 de Agosto - Happy Day of Arequipa!!!

Holaaaa!!! How are you all doing? 

This week was a little slower here but it was a good one. A lot of appointments fell through, so it was a week of lots of contacting. :) 

Julia is doing well! She is sick with the flu and couldn't come to church yesterday, so now her baptism will be the next Saturday instead. We have changes today!! Hermana Cejas and I will be staying in Zamacola together (woot!) because we are at the halfway point of her training. Sadly Hermana Alais was transferred to Tacna, out of Arequipa. Crossing my fingers I can see her again before she finishes her mission! 

Ok I thought the people were celebrating here lots for the day of Peru, but no... this week is the day of Arequipa and the people are going ALL OUT. Flags of Arequipa everywhere you look. I love it! Soy arequipeña:) ha. I will have to send lots of pictures next week. 

Verenise was super busy with her job this week so we were only able to have 1 lesson with her. But she is doing well! Neli was the highlight of this week. We found her contacting and she is about 70 years old. She lives with her husband, daughter, son in law and granddaughter. She is catholic, but from the first lesson was super interested in our message. We were able to visit her a lot this week and she is so sweet. Her baptism date is for September! Sorry for such a short letter, but I will update you more next week. Go be faithful and have a great week! :) xo

2 Nephi 22:2

Hermana Wood

Pics: happy birthday gabriel! Last district meeting with this district, tamales, bolivian food from my pencionista, and gaby buena from selva alegre sent us the yummiest alfajores mmmm

A Week of Eros, and Celebrating Arequipa

Hello hello! Hope everyone had a great week. :) So much happened here this week!! 

August 15 was a day of celebrating in this whole city. Music, flags, food, and all to celebrate the day of this beautiful city! Last p-day we went to the plaza and watched a big parade with music, dancing, animals, and it whoa it was an experience - I have pictures to send! There was a parade even to celebrate the virgins this week because just about everyone here is catholic. (but we are changing that!) 

Our investigators! Update with Julia.. pretty sad. She has some bad back problems and when she went to the doctor this week, they told her that she needs to have an operation done on her back. She told us that she knew of someone who had this operation and they passed away from the surgery. Julia's health is not the greatest, and she is terrified and she is worried that if she gets this surgery done, she won't make it out. She cried and cried this week. . . we cried too, oh my heart! She is having some financial problems as well, and is barely getting by right now with money. Her faith is really being tested. Because of all the problems that popped up this week, her baptism will be postponed for a little longer. Keep her in your prayers! (please) :) 

Ok EROS. Es lo maximo. His grandpa, Hemano Tohalino, is in our ward and Eros just moved to Arequipa 2 weeks ago to study. He is 18 years old. He is catholic, but is looking into other religions. We started teaching him last Sunday and had a lesson with him just about every day! He has the best questions and whoa his testimony is developing so quickly. He already is set on being baptized the 2nd week of September! We are so stoked working with him because not only will he be a member, but he can totally serve a mission in a year and bless the lives of so many others. ha :) The goal! 

Verenise: she is doing well, and we have still been teaching her, but the dad of her daughters (they have been separated for about 4 years) all of a sudden just came back into her life and is not a good influence. He is an alcoholic and doesn't treat her well. The adversary always seems to work like this when people are starting to learn the gospel. She is so sweet and needs this gospel in her life! Especially for her daughters too. 

We found a family this week from contacting! When we first found them they told us they were Catholics, and didn't care to listen, but when we returned to their house the next day, all of a sudden they were interested. Juana is the mom. She has 2 daughter and lives with her mom, Julia. The dad was working when we taught them, but we shared the plan of Salvation and there was a spirit so strong. Juana is so interested now and we have our next lesson with them Tuesday. :) 

Neli: She has knee problems and has been in bed all week because she hasn't been able to walk. So she can't come to church right now. We have been teaching her in her bed this week and praying and praying that she can get better. 

Ah there are 2 gringos that just moved into our ward!! An older couple and they are the sweetest. It felt SO good to finally speak a little English yesterday in church ha but my grammar was so bad and I can only imagine how my grammar will be in another 11 months.. shoot ha. Yeah there were a few problems that popped up this week with investigators, but we have been seeing the Lord's hand in the work each and every day here. I've said it a lot, but our God is so loving! I know that he isn't just an idea or a feeling. but he is real. He knows each of us personally and he loves us. Remember, pray always. read always. & go to the temple regularly! Gotta always keep up these celestial traditions :) 

Talk to you pronto,

Mosiah 27:14

Hermana Wood

p.s. Happy birthday shoutouts to 2 of my favorite little studs, Ry and Cato!!

Pics: companion made me a cute sign, eros and his grandpa at church, avocados are heavenly here, ricotto rellenooo

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