Week 77--"SISTER. . .The Gospel is NOT a drop mic!"

Hello, Everyone!!!

First of all, I must attribute the hilarious title of this email to one of my favorite Sisters ever, Sister Osmond, who returned home last Thursday! #sistercomeback #thussaiththelord.

This is one of my favorite mission quotes which was said to my new companion, Sister Nixon during a role-play. ("The church is true. BOOM!" "Sister!!")  I have been laughing about it all week. Why, you might wonder? Because sometimes the Gospel really does seem like a drop mic! For example, last week I met a Super Contentious Guru Indian man on the bus who proceeded to tell me that my testimony, my spiritual confirmation of the veracity of the Book of Mormon was a "hallucination." I was so mad at him! Sister Poole said it looked like I was about to punch him in the face ( I wouldn't, so don't worry! I'm pretty sweet, I'm told, however I do get rather intense when I share my testimony and have become quite "feisty" on my mission!! :)) but to make a run-on sentence complete, I was telling my companions about what to do in that kind of situation. You don't punch them in the face (that's not what Jesus would do! Nor is it effective) but you say "I know this is true because I've lived it. I know it's true because I know it about as well as I know that I'm alive. The Church is true the Book is blue. Living this has made me happier than anything else in the world. That's why I'm out here sharing it." BOOM (that's the drop mic)" You testify and BAM that's it, walk away. It's a fine balance between sweetness and boldness. :) The Gospel really is that epic. But, Sister Osmond is right, it is NOT a drop mic!!! xD We must be respectful always and testify with love. THis was a prime example. :) 

Anyways... I have only 10 more days on my mission! Which is crazy. ANd I might have forgotten to mention that I am now training two missionaries! It's another fabulous trio. :D 

The goal this week? Taking the cello out on capital square. We are inviting the elders and it will be awesome!

We have been very busy trying to cover both wards and deal with the fact that we have 4 miles left in the car, enough to go around the block like once, so the members have been saving our lives again by giving us rides. We have accumulated a massive "brownie" list of people to make brownies for. :) 

Serving a mission makes you feel so needy sometimes! I try to remind myself I'm giving them opportunities for blessings. :) 

So we had a great experience tracting this week. We decided to knock on 5 doors out in the Boonies of Wisconsin (pronounced Wis-CAHHN-SIN) and we were able to place Books of Mormon in 4 out of 5! Everyone was like: "Sure." *Since when?! Haha. This 14 year old girl was in her nightgown. We gave her a Book of Mormon and she was like "group hug!" It was so precious. :P There were some other stories like following up with Jwanda (jwanda get baptized?!) but those can wait for 10 more days or so! Ah, I have too many silly mission stories. 

Also, I'm going home really soon so this is the time for me to share what my mission has meant to me. This means that my email next week will be super short (to make up for the huge email I"m writing this week!)

So, here we go!! 

Ahem. :)

In 18 short )months, I've experienced the most concentrated emotional, social and spiritual growth of my life. I decided to serve a mission because I knew, based on events of my life, that God wanted me to serve. I knew it would help me become who He wanted. I really had no idea what to expect, but I knew it would be hard. 

I was right. My mission was far from easy. It was the complete opposite. It was replete with new experiences, both positive and negative, rejection, unanticipated physical and emotional trials, sorrow and struggles I didn't know I had. There were times when I felt I could sink no lower. Despite all the amazing experiences I've had (many of them breathtakingly epic and awesome) I am most grateful for these times of agony for it was then that I learned to find the Savior. I learned for the first time to truly , fully and completely rely on Him, which brought such profound peace and strength, and ultimately, a sense of self-worth and confidence that I'd never felt before. My mission was a miracle. I have so many wonderful, faith-filled memories, times when I was able to act as the Lord's instrument, filled with the spirit, and touch lives. I met incredible life-long friends. I learned to turn my fears into faith through Christ, how to turn outward and truly love others as He would. I learned to trust Him. I learned  that through Christ we can do all things (Philippians 4:13). I experienced a deep and true conversion and a change of heart I didn't realize I needed. My Savior and His Atonement have become written indelibly in my heart. I've learned more than I can possibly express. Most importantly, I know what truly matters in life. I know that my testimony of the Savior and the Restoration of HIs church is my most important and prized possession and that an eternal family is an essential priority in my life. Thanks to Him, I've become and am continuing to become the person God wants me to become, the person described in my patriarchal blessing, in ways I never could have achieved without this experience. I thank Heavenly Father every day for the blessing of serving a mission!

Here is a quote that changed my life last week. And since "sharing is caring" I thought I would return the favor. :)

President Eyring taught “I will tell you the rule by which you may know the Spirit of God from the spirit of evil. The Spirit of God always produces joy and satisfaction of mind. When you have the Spirit, you are happy. When you have the other spirit you are not happy. The spirit of doubt is the spirit of the evil one. It produces uneasiness and other feelings (anger, anxiety, frustration, self-pity, suspicion, fear, impatience, bitterness, touchiness, arrogance, boredom, discouragement, despondency, humiliation, envy, hesitancy to take initiative, resentment, contempt, indifference, sadness, feelings of failure) that interfere with happiness. Happiness is an indication that you are on the right course.”

I also liked the "everlasting faith" described in Alma 7:6. I think this is the type of faith my mission has given  me. Words can't describe the depth of my love and appreciation for God for giving me this opportunity! And my family and friends for all of your support. :)

And with all that, and with all the love I can squeeze into an email, I conclude. 

Love,

SIster Woods 

Week 75--Madisonian Week of Epic Adventures!

Hello!

I don't have much time again, but it was an incredible week! Why, you might be wondering? Allow me to explain. :)

Zone conference was epic! Though my wrists hurt, I played the cello again and I received many nice comments. I also bore my "final" testimony which I was nervited about but it turned out just great just like things usually do. Why do I worry so much? Haha. ;P #jesustakethewheel. Zone conference was especially great becasue President Cutler gave a training about how eternal life=family life (it just wouldn't be zone conference without one of those! ;)) and he made an elder eat 4 snickers bars! It was hilarious. It was supposed to represent the lies Satan tells us to convince us to commit sin and overall it loses its appeal... as we could see. That poor elder was like "I don't want another one" but President said "will you if I really wanted you to?" And he said "Yes of course." Poor guy! Well, I'd feel more sorry if it were a sister because Elders in this mission tend to be beanpoles by the end of their missions. 

So all the bus drivers know us now. They say: "Really? You're on my bus again?!" Haha. One is named Rick and the other one is Paul. They are really nice and we were able to share a card with one and answer questions for the other one. Next step: give 'em a Book of Mormon. ;) 

We had an interesting bus experience! So there we were in teh corner and in walks a guy who asks us if we have a cuetip. Our response: "No. But we can offer you a card with a great website to learn more about Christ! :)" Haha. For this purposes of this story we will call him "Curious Baptist." Curious because he asked us lots of questions and wants to read the book of Mormon. Next walks in the Jehovah's Witness lady. We offer her a card and of course she says "no. I'm a Jehovah's Witness" to which we respond: "cool! We are really curious about you because people are alwyas getting us confused." We had a good conversation. We will call her "the first nice Jehovah's Witness." Next walks in a recovering alcoholic. We talk to her and she tells us about her recovery and how she's an agnostic. We respond with Ether 12:27, relating it to her experience with overcoming her addiction. She gets way excited, gladly accepts the book and tells us she will tell all her friends about it and call us later. Woopee, I know. :) Then we walk off the bus and this lady runs up to us, grabs us by the arm, in tears, and asks us to pray for her. We gave her a hug, told her how she's a wonderful daughter of God. It was such a tender moment! We gave her a card and were so grateful we could plant all those seeds on one bus! :)

Next miracle. We text people we meet on the bus and they actually respond! WHAT?! I know. It's crazy. Well these 2 cute chinese girls really wanted to meet with us and luckily we were impressed to bring the Chinese member who was able to translate with us back and forth. It was so.... COOL! The Lord knows how much I love Asian people so He allowed me to teach them on my mission! :) Haha. It was pretty hilarious because we had no idea what they were saying but they smiled, laughed, seemed to enjoy the Book of MOrmona nd wanted to come to church. Then it started pouring rain, like rainforest rain, so we booked it out of there. Haha we took that as our cue to be done teaching. :) 

Then we met with this Italian guy, John Luca who is looking for friends. He isn't super interested but he is a scientist and we were able to relate everything, meaning his faith, to cells via Alma 32 (if the cells grow it means he's doing something right!). It was fun. :) He said he'd be interested in "trying out the experiment." I was able to relate the story of how I came out on a mission and it worked out great! 

Lastly we visited Shante, a lady who wouldn't really talk to us after we handed her the Book of Mormon, haha. It was cool becasue we knocked on her door as she was praying for guidance. We taught her a bit and she has some great questions! We are excited. After I said the closing prayer she said "Did you girls feel that?! I just felt the Holy Spirit all over. Do you know what that is?" Haha. 

I need to go but I love you all and hope you have a great week! I'll tell about Dante next week. :) 

Love,

Sister Woods 

Week 74--"Week Ahhhhh!"

Hello, Everyone!

In case you haven't heard it's back to the buses for me. #crazybuses And I'm training an adorable missionary named Sister Poole! Not only does she put the "ool" in "cool" but she is from Idaho and is a master chef! She made brownies yesterday and plans to make homemade salsa soon. I am definitely okay with that. :) 

As some of you might be aware, I was in a car for 4/6 weeks I've been in Madison so these past 2 weeks have been very challenging to get used to the buses! THese buses are CRAY CRAY. In other words, the lovely members get to rescue us lots when we get stranded, haha. But these wonderful members are awesome and don't seem to mind. Actually we figured it out this week! We only got stranded on ONE sketchy street out in the hood. We finally got where we needed to go successfully, across town! And it was an appointment at a Mexican restaurant, too, with Shaun, who is a big guy who writes gospel music (he wrote his own "Stand with Jesus" song and sang it at church yesterday!) So that was awesome! As usual on my mission I got overly excited about Mexican food (because I so was ravenous from walking around all day) that I ate all the chips before the lady came back with our drinks, haha! I really like all the walking because it's helping me shed some poundage before I go home, which is always a great thing. I can tell I've already lost some. :D 

We met lots of people on the bus this week, people we needed to speak to. I've seen so many miracles from talking with everyone. I even met an Italian lady who taught me to say my name in Italian (Sorrella Bosco), Indian ladies, a Turkish family, and there was a cute Mom living in  a meth house who needed to hear about the Book of Mormon and about how families can be together forever. I was so proud of my trainee because she totally "embraced the awkward" (that's our motto :P) and moved over to sit by a lady and teach her about the Book of Mormon! It was so scary for her but she is awesome and did a great job! It has been incredibly rewarding to see how much she's grown in her faith, teaching, and confidence in just 2 short weeks! She is testifying and teaching like a pro! :) 

We met an awesome Sudan lady this week. We met she and her daughter outside and she's like "I've heard things about Mormons. You practice polygamy (FALSE! not anymore. everyone and their mom says that and it's wrong! ) and you don't drink coffee and you are very healthy people. Tell me more about your church. Sit down." So, after doing a silent fist pump in our hearts we taught her the full Restoration lesson and invited her to be baptized. It was so cool because she said "I know that everything you just told me is true. That makes sense to me. I believe you." That hasn't ever happened before! So we are excited to teach her again tomorrow. 

I also finished all the Standard Works today. JS History is so epic! I just need to finish True to the Faith and I"ll have finished the whole mission library. I'm also working on the Master Scripture List to memorize that Kyle sent me and I should be finished memorizing all 200 before I go home! :) I"m also hoping to do some "chantacting" (teaching the Plan of Salvation using chalk) and some cello contacting on Capital Square before I go home. :) 

We are practicing teaching with members which is really great. People have been feeding us lots of peaches which I find just "peachy." :) Coley, the 3 year eternigator has a baptism MONTH (September) so we are reteaching all the lessons to help her decide. Pray for her! I'm also playing the cello on Wed. at zone conference, on Sunday in sacrament meeting, and in a few weeks with the choir. My wrists don't hurt too bad, thankfully! I also realized that I have only a month left of my mission!!! AHHHHH!!!!! Gotta finish strong! :)

The church is true!!!!!!!

Love you all,

Sister Woods :D 

Week 73-"Sha-wano hear about the Gospel??!"

Hello, Everyone!!

My oh my it's been another eventful week! There is a picture that goes along with the title of this email (notice street sign in picture).   :) 

Well I am a busy sista and don't have all the time in the world here but I would like to share a few words~ 

As I write this I am plagued by a horrible carpal tunnel that has been viciously intensifying over the past 5 days. Please pray for me! I normally try to be "tough" and don't like to draw attention to things like that but I could sure use the extra prayers. 

I found new meaning this morning in the part of the Standard of Truth we recite each morning. The "no unhallowed hand[s] can stop the work from progressing" was definitely meant to apply to me at this time! :)

But on to some great news! I'm training a new missionary. I've secretly wanted this my whole mission but now that I was "100%" sure that wasn't going to happen, it did! Crazy how that works. I"m really excited! :)

Our trio is breaking up! SIster Weaver is going home and Sister Osmond and I are both parting ways and training. :( It's been really great. 

Great news. Brother Brown has accepted a baptism date! OK, his story is amazing. 5 months ago he was agnostic, didn't believe in God at all. BUT he's been reading the Book of Mormon with his wife for 62 days in a row now and he has a STRONG testimony that the Savior lives! He knows it's true. :D I told him, he's got a stronger testimony than I did when I joined the church at 8 years old AND more than anyone else I've seen join the church on my mission. The most tender and special part is that he told me he felt the spirit so strongly last Sunday when I played the cello. :) AWww! I brought the cello over to his house to play just for him and I surely will at his baptism. I'm so grateful and excited for him! And, i need to clarify that I have only taught him like 4 times now. But I'm grateful I got to take part in his conversion. He has some concerns, like  I would totally join if everything depended on the BOM being true. Well YAYA it does!! Haha. I told him that his concerns, (about not having read the Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price) are a lot like Sister Brown's ice cream (SO DELICIOUS!!!). You know it's good with just one bite! You don't need to eat the whole thing to know it's amazing. ;) He liked that. Also, we are keeping his date a "secret" from the ward, and the Lord totally led us to the Stake Center at EXACTLY the right time to stop the Bishop from congratulating him on his baptism date. Ahhh, miracles!

We are meeting awesome new people. Life is grand! And Sarah is working actively toward her date too and Latoya will be baptized in Green Bay. Not sure if I can go yet. :) And there's a lady named Kelly in the 4th ward who will be baptized soon. She has mouth cancer, has endured blood clots and radiation and is SO POSITIVE! I might have mentioned she flagged the missionaries down and said "HEY are you LDS?" Bahaha. :) I love her. 

I also played the cello again in sacrament meeting (after downing a million ibuprofen) and President was there! That was surprising. :D We also gave talks in the 1st ward! We all talked about the sabbath day and it was fun to present it as a "trilogy." Haha, it was hilarious!

We went to visit a less active and met a totally prepared soul named Lavesha. She has totally been to church before, has such strong faith and asked to meet with us! She totally agreed to baptism and can you tell she is totally awesome!!!? :) Yep. 

I also forgot to mention last week that we ate goose claws at a chinese family's house!!!! You spread the fingers apart and eat the webbing. There are pictures... or at least there should be, AHEM! :) They told us they season and boil it, then eat it on the couch as they watch movies... like popcorn!!!! #eeweth

The Lord is pouring out his tender mercies and it's ridiculous. I've learned so much especially lately. I know that times are hardest right before the blessings. See D&C 58:3-4 for a doctrinal backing for that statement. Seriously, I have learned that SO MUCH these past weeks. We go out tracting in the 100 something degree heat and are dying of sweat and are about to give up right before we find some awesome new investigators. My carpal tunnel flared up right before I start training a new missionary. I'm about to sink in despair before I'm placed in the most amazing trio of all time. I testify that as we pass through the sentinels of suffering in our lives, there is a bright beam of mercy just up ahead. "Every trial and experience you have ever passed through is necessary for your salvation." -Brigham Young. Remember that! It all comes down to faith and acting out of love for Christ.  If it weren't for suffering, even upon those who are "truly good and without guile" (not me necessarily) how could we ever learn to do that? Our every wrong action would be immediately condemned and we would cease and thus cease to act according to our free will. Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven. I wouldn't trade all the painful trials I've faced over the past 18 months for anything, not for the world. I've truly discovered that the Lord is beyond merciful and that the most valuable thing I can possible possess is my testimony and conviction of the reality of the Son of God and the restoration of HIs church in these latter days. I know this with all my soul and I wouldn't have attained that without adversity. But, above all I hope you can see that I am beyond happy and that the happiness in our lives far outweighs the sorrow and always will as we turn to God. I have many more thoughts on this subject but, alas, it will come forth in due time. :) 

I love you all!!

Have an amazing week!

Love,

Sister Lacey Woods 

Week 72--"An Interesting Week"

Hello everyone!

I have only a few minutes to write but here goes! 

we went on an epic tour! Epic is a massive place where program designers work and it is massive! There are lots of themes like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, etc. 

Talking to everyone can be very interesting at times! There was a cute Chinese couple installing an AC in their 2nd floor window. So I stopped them and said, "Hey what are you doing? You are doing a great job, it looks like! Can we share a card with you??!" xD Bahaha. 

We decided to have a "spa" p day last week and put on face masks. We couldn't find cucumbers so we used bananas. I wasn't expecting this but mine was green so I ended up looking like Yzma. xD

We worked really hard but didn't get crazy numbers like last time. Just 45 or so. We found out we are staying together as a trio again! Until the end of the transfer. Excitement. 

We had a 2.5 hour nap this morning so that was great! I also played the cello in church but Sis. Cue wanted me to play a different piece last minute to match the theme. It still worked out great! I'm also speaking in church next week. 

Lun Cheng pretty much dropped us... but we found some more cool people! 

THe church is true!

Love,

Sister Woods 

Week 71--"I think God kind of likes me" -a quote by a certain epic sister :)

Hello!

Okay so I didn't think this week could be any better than last week but it was!!!! In fact, I will call this the Cello Week. I'm so exhausted. With that kind of introduction, you know it's gonna be good! :) 

So I got a cello on Monday! Like most people we talk to, the guy at the cello store knows Sister Osmond's family so it was cool to make a connection with him. He also knows one of our investigators who recently finished the Book of Mormon so hopefully we can bring him along to her lesson sometime! 

I've been without a cello for a few weeks so it's been a little bit like I'm a kid in a candy shop or something. I've been playing up a storm whenever we get a few spare moments. In fact, the guy next door stopped us in the hallway and he told us he's heard the cello lately. My first thought was "oh no, I'm sorry!" But then he was like, "No, I've been loving it! I've always wanted to play the cello and it's super relaxing. But what's funny is that I only hear you play for a short time and it completely stops by around 10:30 at night." Bahahaha!!! !So that was hilarious because I can only play during lunch break and right before bed. We shared a card with him and invited him to learn more. He seemed kind of interested so that's cool! I play a song for him every night, haha. 

I also came up with a new contacting approach! Get ready for this. Cello. Contacting! So here's what happens. I take the cello to the park and play some hymns. Meanwhile my companions are hiding up in a tree and jump down, armed with BOMs and pass-along cards #operationtrojancello... just kidding. xD They actually act normal and just go up and talk to the people who pause to listen and invite them to sit on the bench with us and learn more. Just everyday behavior, right? :P We have been able to meet so many cool people!! This lady who is totally not religious and doesn't like religious people stopped us right away and wanted to hear me play. We ended up letting her choose the song "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" and she said a prayer with us! It's been pretty hilarious to see how people are so much more willing to talk to us even if I just walk around with the cello on my back. :) We even met a cello major named Brent! I promise I'll send pictures next week. :) He played the cello too and it was neat to be able to relate how we feel when we play music (i.e. feeling the Spirit) to how it feels to read the Book of Mormon. We ended up giving him one, (one of my first people who has downloaded the app!) and setting up a time to meet again to play music and learn more about the Gospel. And then! In that same hour we also met a guy named Daniel who is going through a hard time and living out of his car, having just lost his job. He was sitting on a bench and listening and he had a dream the night before where he heard music that had lots of Es in it. Well, we invited him over to learn more, taught the Restoration and suddenly the wind blew the page open to "I Stand All Amazed" which coincidentally has lots of Es in it. So we sang it with him and the spirit was so strong!!! We also did a musical number "Trying to Be Like Jesus" at Zone Training and Sister Weaver and Sister Osmond sang. So that was really fun, and a cute sassy lady in the 4th ward insisted I come back and play in that ward next week. I guess I can do that. :) 

I had a funny moment. We felt impressed to knock on this door and it turned out to be a friend of one of the members we had just visited. So I'm like "Oh, your little girls are so cute!" Turns out they were boys. Hahahah! THey wanted to learn more at first, then later cancelled but the mom still came to the baptism of her friend's daughter. I was asked to play the cello there, too. So fun! 

We found people who were almost baptized at the gas station! Sister Osmond did while SIster Weaver and I passed out in the car for a few minutes as we were getting gas. #seriouslywipedout. She is such a bold missionary! I've learned so much from her. Yay for new investigators! We found a whole bunch this week. Okay this is crazy but we had 85 other lessons (90 total), 5 member presents, 5 investigators at church, and gave out 21 Books of Mormon this week for both areas. And we had 62 other lessons just in our area and 20 of those occurred in just one day. It has been absolutely exhausting and epic all at the same time! If this trio continues I won't be able to walk after next week and we might need wheelchairs soon. xD 

Egyptian people. So we went to talk to these egyptian people and attempted to give them a Book of Mormon in arabic (it was actually in Hindi) and we ended up singing "I Believe in Christ" for them and in return... they gave us a creepy coloring book about body parts. Bahaha! :) 

Chicken tender mercies at Culver's. I discovered that chicken tenders at Culver's is delicious. We were able to talk to and pray for people that really needed us! The SPirit is amazing.

Jogging girl. So we randomly stopped this jogging girl mid stride and invited her to church. She was like all sweaty and stuff but said "sure!" And guess what... she actually went to church with us!!!!!! xD All the talks seemed to be directed towards her and her love of anthropology. Such a miracle! And she wants to meet with us again. 

Olive Garden. We went there and it was awesome! 

I'm running out of time but our investigators are doing really great, too! 

Missions are seriously the best. I could never have imagined I'd be doing what I'm doing, talking to so many people about my testimony of Jesus, being bold,  and loving it so much. I know it's because I've been blessed and strengthened so abundantly by Heavenly Father. This mission has changed my life! Ever deepening and abiding is my testimony that Jesus Christ lives, his Atonement is real and that he knows me personally. I love this work!!!

I love you all more than honey bunches of oats. And, yes, perhaps, even froyo. :) Haha way more than that!

Love!

Sister Woods 

Week 70--The Greatest Week Ever!!

Hello, Everyone!

As you may or may not have been able to tell by the title of this email, I had an amazing week! Rather, we did! I am now in a trio with Sister Osmond and Sister Weaver. Sister Osmond's companion went home early so she has been rocking it with us, and she even brought a car with her! This means we are all staying in our apartment, laughing nonstop, and covering two areas! People are feeding us like crazy. Both areas are booming, even more than before we became a trio, the first and fourth wards ( we are now the one-fourth sisters :P), and  it is SO EXCITING. I am so flipping excited that I don't know where to begin!!!! So, here we go! :D 

Also, I think I've reached the stage in my mission where people no longer write to me. It's been 2 weeks without a letter!!! Haha. And for me that's a long time. But, alas, it's okay because we had an epic week and there is no time to focus on anything else! But seriously, you can send more. :) 

We got a call from a former investigator, Latoya, saying she wants to meet with us at the church. Turns out she was at church last week (totally missed that one! #hugeward) and wants to be baptized! She has such a strong faith in Christ and a strong desire to attain a brighter hope and future. We are working with her for July 25th. And, she has a great fellowshipper so she's gonna make it!!!! :)

That was just one of literally a hundred miracles this week. We worked so hard!!!!! We didn't even have time to think. And when we did we were singing the Lamb of God CD in the car or laughing hysterically because these sisters are amazing. I call us "Team Wow" (Woods, Osmond, Weaver) aka "God Squad" aka Mormon Mafia...Our motto is "let's ascend together."  I am "sister scripture power", Sister Weaver is "sister that's what's up, and SIster Osmond is "sister go get 'em." And wow does she deserve that nickname! 

I've never talked to so many people in my life. Like, all the people I've ever talked to in 20 years combined could not even compete with this week! It was so epic. :) Even when we work out we are armed with Jesus cards and pass them out left and right, even to ladies across the street, a man in a pit, lady crying in a car, hispanic ladies behind glass doors, to a guy eating a box of donuts, tons of people at a 4th of July celebration picnic, and a even a lady with a watermelon in front of her house. This girl is fearless and it's contagious! xD Just to give you an idea about how crazy our week was, we taught 35 other lessons in each area and gave out 25 Books of Mormon!!! That's so many. xD Sister Osmond has had a great influence on us! We started doing this thing where we stop people, ask if they have Mormon friends and ask if we can share what the Book of Mormon is in 60 seconds! It's amazing!!! OH, and this is hilarious, we also had exchanges ( I called in an abduction), so SIster Osmond went with BOTH the Sister Training Leaders (we had a sleepover with 5 sisters in our apartment!) and SIster Weaver and I stayed in our area and passed out 5 BOMS and had 11 others in a day. Numbers don't matter but it was cool because I beat my personal record! :) Missionary work is an absolute blast! :) We met the COOLEST people! One lady, Latosha, was super excited about the Book of MOrmon ("I gotta read that book!") so she brought her mom over and we gave her one too... annnnd each of her cousins. 5 at once. We referred her over to Sun Prairie. A lady in Wal mart was like "STOP" to us today (it scared me!) and was telling us all about her daughter who just joined the church and is marrying a Mormon and how she wants to meet with us. THis one is my favorite. There are so many Chinese people here so we ordered a bunch of Chinese restoration and plan of salvation pamphlets. So there we are at a park and we spy a cute asian family. So we march right up to em (Sister Go get 'em, haha) and start talking to them. They were so cute and nice! They told us they LOVE talking to such wonderful people and when I said a prayer for them they cried! It was so cute. THen they busted out their selfie stick and we took a picture together! I told them I've been to China and spoke the only CHinese phrase I know and they loved it! Awww.  I totally call dibs on teaching all the cute asian families in the spirit world. :P 

Speaking of hilarious language barriers, we taught so many lessons to spanish speaking people! Between the three of us we were able to communicate somehow. I was like "Queremos ensenarte sobre JesuChristo!!" Haha!!! :) And SIster Weaver said a prayer in Spanish. It was pretty funbarrassing but we made the people laugh so that was fun. 

ALSO apparently "Lehi" means " a good performance, well done" or something like that. So we walk up to the cute Chinese people and talk about Lehi in the Book of Mormon and they just light up excited. xD Haha! 

We milked cows this week!!!! We used a little machine, and it was scary because I thought I'd get kicked in the face but good news is I didn't! Something unexpected happened, though! So when the cows lift their tails you better run... yep. So much "stuff" emerged and totally almost drenched us! Oh, and we saw a fox! :D 

Both areas have some really great investigators. In SIs. Osmond's area there is the sweetest most frail lady who has cancer, who totally chased down the sisters! They thought she was going to tell them to get off her lawn but it turns out her daughter just joined the church. She is so positive and so faith filled! She really wants to be baptized. Excited about her!

Also, we had an epic lesson with Chole this week. She gets anxiety when we talk about setting a baptism date ( I asked her last week if she thinks the BOM is true and she said yes!) but she wants to know before September. So at least that's a goal to work toward! :) We offered to fast with her yesterday so she can recognize her answer. SHe totally has a testimony but has such a hard time with faith and trusting in it. THis also reminds me (scattered, I know) but our mission is currently working on getting 75 more baptisms before September! We did a mission-wide fast for it yesterday. 

Also, I should add that I was totally fasting last week for an opportinity to work my hardest and finish my mission strong and I kid you not, the next day PResident called us with this wonderful news about the trio. Fasting and prayer bring miracles, I tell you! Miracles! :) 

Also, Lun Cheng is doing great. He went to a baptism with us for the Spanish Elders' investigator and he had an epic, several hour Q and A session with the Delorey's yesterday. He is so logical and is trying so hard to wrap his mind around the concept of eternal life. He is so awesome! It may take awhile, but I know he'll get there eventually. 

Sister Osmond has another investigator who is going places, too, I just feel like this email is too long. :) 

On yet another note, we are going to learn the Restoration cup song (Sis. Osmond knows the song and the cups and I know how to do the cups) and perform it for people at the park this week. It will be so much fun!! Lots of crazy fun ideas we are trying. We also taught this lady the Plan of Salvation at a park bench. We are trying 60 second pamphlet approaches too. I want to see if we can get 50 lessons a week in both areas but we might die trying, haha. :) Lesson=teach a principle and a prayer. 

The fourth was great. We had lots of appointments and went to a pancake breakfast and a baptism. It was neat because we thought that both the girls we invited to Lun Cheng's lesson after the baptism, were members but they weren't! So it was a great experience for them. They both want to go on mission. Ah, I'm rambling I think, but we seriously had so many miracles like that this week. 

I have such a strong testimony of the Restored Gospel and of the Atonement. I know God lives and answers prayers! Miracles happen. I can't even handle it, I'm so happy. I've never been happier! I'm grateful for trials I've faced and overcome through Christ because they have strengthened my faith a ridiculous amount of a lot. I don't think anything can ever shake me from the testimony that I have.This work is epicly true. It changes lives; it has certainly changed mine! 2 Timothy 1:7. :) 

Have a fantastic week!

Love,

Sister Woods 

P.S. I might be getting a cello this week! Also, it's crazy to sing at appointments with SIster Osmond! :P