HELLO!!

 

How is everyone? I´m doing good over here in Portugal! The rain has begun and I´m probably gonna be a popsicle here in a couple days. I´m way stoked about it!

Something funny from this week: We had Zone Conference this week and it was way good! I seriously love President and Sister Fluckiger. They are great. After lunch me, two other Sisters, and two Elders were asked to do a little musical number for everyone. Nbd, right? So we practiced once before and it was great cause everyone was singing really loud so I just thought I´d be able to sing normal and not worry about anyone hearing my awful voice. Boy was I wrong. When we were singing in front of everyone all the other missionaries singing with me sang SO QUIET. It was basically like i was doing a solo and they were my back up singers. But it was terrible because my voice is NOT GOOD! Needless to say it was hilar.  I feel like a freaking superstar over here.

So the work this week has been a little diferente! Sorry for the Portuguese words, the computer just autocorrects them and i don´t do anything about it. ANYWHO, yeah. Sometimes literally no one wants to talk to us! I had a little experience this week with feeling inadequate, frustrated, and just kind of lousy. It happens to all of us! I read a talk called something like "It´s Always Better to Look Up." I can´t remembre who wrote it, but he tells a story about when he was first called as a Seventy and he was feeling completely overwhelmed and inadequate to carry out his calling. He was in the elevator on his way down to go home, hanging his head and thinking about all he had to do, when the elevator stopped on the next floor and none other than President Monson got in with him! President Monson said to him, "What are you looking at down there?" Then they chatted for a bit and stuff as they went down, and when President Monson was saying goodbye he said something like, "Remember, it´s always better to look up." I love this story! I love our Prophet!! This story really helped me out this week, it truly is better to look up and put our trust in God. If we put our trust in God and pray always, Heavenly Father will hear our prayers. We will be able to go forth in His might and He will deliver us (Mosiah 9:17-18). I know that we have a loving Heavenly Father who wants us to succeed. He and our Savior will do all they can to help us if we put our strength in them and continually look up! Ah man, I love Them. This gospel is the best!

Have a great week all! LOVE YOU!!

Sister Wood  

Alien Voices

 Hello family and friends!! How are you all? How was Conference? IN ENGLISH? Haha. We got to watch two sessions, in Portugese, in the chapel with the ward. It was great because I love our ward soooo much. It was also quite hilarious because, due to some sort of technical mishap, the voice of the translation sounded like an alien. Like imagine the most alien-esque voice you can and that´s what we heard as we were trying to listen to the Prophet. Needless to say, I´m quite excited to get my Conference Ensign in English in a month or two. Also... did President Uchtdorf look really tan to anyone else? Ah man, I´m so grateful for our leaders.

   This week was good, kinda nuts, but everything always ends up okay! My comp´s wallet got stolen, so therefore she lost all her money and important documents (ie residency card, medical card, etc). Don´t ask my why she was carrying all that around. SO yeah, crazy stuff. But everything always works out! Tudo bem!

   So because I´m still a super noob missionary and have a ton to learn, we do little practice lessons every day to help me out. Other missionaries do them too, but we do A LOT OF PRATICAS. And I kind of hate it haha. But this week I had a really cool experience! I was teaching Sister Correa about the Book of Mormon and why it is important. Pretty basic, not all that exciting, or so I thought! As I was sitting there trying to explain, I was OVERCOME with my testimony of the Book of Mormon. The Spirit was so strong and we both started crying! And laughing haha.  It just goes to show that sharing testimony, even if it´s just a practice lesson with your companion, can/WILL strengthen you! It seems so silly, but I won´t forget the way I felt as I testified of the truthfulness of this book. Heavenly Father gave me this experience to help me see my testimony of the Book of Mormon, and i know that it is true! Tender mercies all day erry day.

   Well, that´s about it! I love you all and am so grateful for your examples. Have a great week!

Peace&Blessins,

Sister Wood

Pretty flowers with Sister Correa, 

The Cure to learn English, and Portuguese AdventureTime, and Francisco´s Baptism

Olá! How is everyone doing? I hope you all had a great week! 

   So my title for this email probably makes me sound like a really disobedient missionary haha, but let me explain. On Saturdays we teach an English class and it´s way fun! Usually only like three people come, but it´s all good. We have this recent convert in our ward named Paulo and he comes to English class every week. He´s bem fixe. Anywho, it´s real hard to learn a new language so we have to use the way that helps the most. And for Paulo, that´s music! He has good taste haha. So this past week we were learning the days of the week, and Paulo loves The Cure, so naturally we sang Friday, I´m In Love. It was HILAR. Just us, sitting out front of the church singing, "I don´t care if Monday´s blue, Tuesday´s gray and Wednesday too. Thursday I don´t care about you, it´s Friday, I´m in love" haha. We also sing the Beatles and Prince sometimes. It´s a party! 

   The other night we were at a member´s house having dinner and they´re daughter was watching AdventureTime. All I have to say is that AdventureTime is still hilarious in Portuguese. 

   And most importantly, FRANCISCO WAS BAPTISED!! Wooo! I talked about him a couple weeks ago, he´s the son of our recent convert Isabel. He is actually one of the coolest people i know. The Atonement has completely changed his life and he glows with his testimony of the Savior. It´s truly incredible to see! He´s eighteen, so mission age!! The other night after his baptismal interview he comes out and says, "Sisters, you forgot to tell me something really important!" and we ask him what he means, then he said, "You didn´t tell me that there are people waiting for me share my testimony and how i feel now that i have the gospel!" Haha it was awesome! Truly a blessing for me to know Francisco, Isabel, and this whole ward in Leiria. They teach me so so much every day and I am so grateful to be here! Mission rocks. 

   So yeah, that´s about it! Today is the first day of second transfer and we´re staying here. Totes excited. I hope you all have a great week, and ENJOY GENERAL CONFERENCE!! So jelly, I wish I got to watch it in English haha. Tudo Bem! 

Loves and hugs to all yall, 

Sister Wood 

Running

  Heyo family and friends! How are you all?

 

   This week has been great! Getting more into the swing of things with mission life, so that´s good. This is the last week of the transfer and so yeah that´s weird! I feel like i got here like two days ago. I was gonna say I feel like I got here yesterday, but everyone says that. I wanted to be unique. #hipster

 

   So the reason for my title is this: we had to literally run home, as fast as we could, to get home on time this week. Almost every night we made it home with just seconds to spare haha. Usually we´re carrying stuff (like a huge casserole thing a member gave us that i was carrying like a football) and it is mayhem. People laugh and dumb boys start running with us and we know we look ridiculous, but it´s fun! When we get home and we´re breathing hard and all sweaty, we just laugh because we know that we´re doing our work until the last minute of the day. It´s a great feeling! But also i like a nice leisurely walk home sometimes too haha :)

 

   Anywho, this week we´ve been really trying to work with recent converts in our ward.  They´re testimonies are so strong and it is SO UPLIFTING. There´s this one lady, Elisabete, and she is the sweetest. Her testimony is solid and she loves to read the Book of Mormon, so we read with her and all feel the Spirit together. We also have another RC that we teach, Paulo, and he is actually the nicest guy I´ve ever met. They don´t know a lot about the gospel yet, just the basics. But what they do know they love to talk about and share. I think sometimes we, as life long members, get caught up in the deeper doctrines of the gospel, and we tend to forget how simple and clear it really is. These recent converts are really teaching me the importance of focusing on the basic principles of the gospel like prayer, scripture study, and going to church. The examples of the people in this ward in Leiria are truly giving me strength and helping my testimony grow. I love being a missionary!

 

Beijinhos to all of you, have a great week! Love you!

 

Sister Wood

Nutella for Dayzzzz

Heyo! 

Reason for this title... So Nutella is a freaking big deal here. We eat Nutella filled donuts, Nutella on cookies, Nutella croissants, Nutella MCFLURRYS FROM MCDONALDS! Seriously, Nutella is like manna from heaven. Also I officially had my first solid meal of pastries the other day, so that ruled. Lots of new things happened this week! Here´s a few: 

-Pastries for dinner (not even a little bit sad)

-I almost got kissed by a man and had to quickly force my hand in between our faces for a handshake. SO AWKWARD

-We were teaching this girl named Dina about the Book of Mormon when she pulled out her little bag of tobacco and started rolling up a cig.. The Spirit does not like cigs. 

-First week of crazy rainstorms of the mission. Apparently it´s just gonna get worse from here on out! As you all know, i love being cold and soaked! 

-A crazy little girl started wacking us with a broom at one of our recent convert´s house. Felt good. 

-MOST IMPORTANT NEW: We have an investigator named Gabriel who read the Book of Mormon, prayed about it, and really knows that it is true. So cool! That doesn´t just happen for a lot of people. Such a blessing! 

So yeah, being a missionary is so fun. I´m learning a lot every day about the Atonement and how it changes not only our actions, but our natures. And also we´re learning about the power of faith. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and miracles WILL HAPPEN when we have faith. :) 

I love you all and pray for you every day! Thanks for you examples <3

Tchau! 

Defying the Odds

HEYO!!

 

   I´m defying all odds because I have yet to trip on this blasted cobblestone. So HA! It´s way slippery and I have close calls erry day but I refuse to fall in a skirt in front of all the Portuguese men that just love the Sisters. Too much.

 

   ANYWHO, this week truly has been incredible! Finding people has been hard, nobody wanted to talk to us this week. Why is everyone in a hurry all the time? Haha. Tudo bem! Although that aspect of the work was kind of hard this week, we saw some huge miracles with our investigators. First and foremost, ISABEL WAS BAPTISED ON SATURDAY!! Truly one of the sweetest experiences of my life. Last week i told you a little about her, and her desire to know if God exists. I also mentioned that her son Francisco is also our investigator. So here´s the miracle. A few months ago, before either of them met the missionaries, Francisco was super into drugs and crap like that. And Isabel was at a complete loss of what she could do for her son. In her desperation she uttered a prayer to Heavenly Father asking for help. She said something to the effect of "if there is a God, please help Francisco." Then she completely forgot about this prayer! A few days afterward she met the missionaries in the street, and then a few days after that Francisco also met the missionaries in the street. And for the last three months they have been taking the discussions and trying to have faith. On Tuesday Isabel and Francisco were talking about how their lives have changed since meeting and being taught by the Sisters. And the Holy Ghost helped Isabel remember that prayer she uttered so long ago, the prayer to help Francisco. Since meeting the missionaries, Francisco has stopped doing drugs. He got a good job. They get along better as a family and go to church together. Isabel remembered her prayer, and she knew that these changes in their lives could only come from God. She knows He is our Heavenly Father and that Jesus Christ is our Savior because of the way Francisco has changed. And let me tell you, he has CHANGED. I can literally see in his eyes the way the Atonement has changed his nature. And for this reason, Isabel has a testimony and was baptised on Saturday. Francisco is marked to be baptised on the twentieth. Straight up MIRACLE.

   I know that we have a Father in Heavenly who loves us. He knows how to bless us, and it may not come in the way we expect. This is true for Isabel and for me. I´ve been praying to understand our investigators, and I thought that meant that I would be able to understand the Portuguese they say. But I´ve seen this week that the way Heavenly Father is helping me understand our investigators is truly through the Spirit. I may not know exactly what they are saying, but I can feel the Holy Ghost as he works miracles in their lives. It truly is a blessing. I´m SO grateful to be a missionary!

 

   Loves and hugs to all of ya. Have a super great week! I´m gonna go eat a pastry now. <3

 

Sister Wood

FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT

Olá minha familia e amigos! 

How is everyone doing? Things here in Leiria are just dandy. This city reminds me a lot of San Fran. But there is a castle right by our apartment. It´s actually really cool, but this past weekend there was a music festival there and it was a little crazy. It was SO LOUD and SO BAD. I don´t actually know if the words were bad, i think they weren´t, but the singing was just terrible. It was HILARIOUS. 

 

So the food here is so good. Like, it´s so good that i´m going to start running in the morning so i don´t get fat. That´s a big deal! haha :) 

  

Onto more important things! We are seeing miracles here! I´ll tell you about one. We´re teaching this lady named Isabel and her son Francisco. They are awesome, but have a lot of doubts and weird ideas. Isabel has a really hard time believing in God, and she´s doing all she can to gain some faith. She reads the Book of Mormon and prays every day, but she keeps saying that she never feels anything different. We fasted with her on Saturday so that she could feel the Holy Ghost and know that God is real. She wants to know so bad! So in our lesson with her after church yesterday we had a three part miracle. First, the member that taught with us was perfect. Working with the members here is a huuuuge blessing because this ward ROCKS. Second, I actually shared more than just a simple testimony! The gift of tongues is real, people. The Spirit directed me to read 2 Nephi 28:30 with Isabel, about how the Lord gives us things line upon line. We don´t know all the answers, but Heavenly Father has given us what we need. And third, Sister Correa testified at the end that we are here in Leiria for ISABEL. It was powerful and the Spirit touched all of our hearts. And for the first time, Isabel could feel the difference of the Spirit. It seriously was a wonderful experience! Maybe i can´t speak Portuguese, but i can feel the love our Father in Heaven has for His children here. It is incredible! 

 

So about the title of this email: Fake it till you make it. I´m faking it til i make it with Portuguese, as you all know! But one thing i often forget is that there´s no sense in trying to fake it with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. They know exactly what´s going on and exactly what we need! This week as i´ve realized this and tried to turn more fully to them, tender mercies have come. We have a Savior who knows us perfectly, and a Father in Heaven who wants to help us! I know they live and i love them SO MUCH!! 

Have a great week everyone! loves for dayz <3 

Sister Wood