Wednesday, March 26, 2014 - Week 31

Hey Fam! First of all..... I got transferred! I`m in Villa Gonzalez now. It`s only like 40 min from where I was, but it`s something new.I`m with Hermana Martinez, a Dominican. She only has 3 transfers left in her mission. She`s really sweet. Okay backtracking now. The zone conference with Elder Zivic was awesome! We heard from him, Pres and Sister Douglas, and the assistants. Francisco couldn`t come back from Cotui last week to be baptized. :( His Dad was losing his land (all he has) so Francisco had to stay and help him. Rubi wasn`t baptized either. We decided she needed more time without drinking coffee to make sure she wouldn`t continue. But she`s gone about 2 weeks now without any! I`m gonna see if I can get permission to go back to see her baptism. We got a call on Thursday saying that Hermana Navas was going to train so that`s when we knew for sure about transfers! We had to go to Santiago the next day for her to have a training meeting. I went out on splits with another sister during it. Ruben is doing awesome as the YM President! We went out with him on Friday to visit a bunch of young men that are inactive. There is one that really wants to come back to church and has been coming the last couple weeks. He gave the closing prayer in church on Sunday! :) Saturday we went to Santiago to have lunch with our branch president. He bought us pizza. :) And we got to watch Ephraim`s Rescue! Remember that movie? That night the Elders had a baptism, but there was no water in the church! So we all went in taxi to Santiago to have it in a different church. It was super special. A mom and 2 of her sons. Yesterday was when I found out about where and who I would be with for transfers in our zone meeting. Then we went out to eat with the elders in Tamboril.. the last time all together. :( We got a call while we were eating saying that Francisco came back only for a couple hours and wanted to say goodbye to me! So we hurried back to Tamboril and got to see him. He said he`s going to stay in Cotui and study so we have to pass him along to the missionaries there. After that we went to visit Katherine. It was hard to say goodbye. Bascially the whole day yesterday was really hard. I hate goodbyes. Last night we went to President Rodriguez`s house and Ruben and Esther and their kids, Emilio, Ricardo, and the Elders all went to say goodbye to me. We ate my favorite, spaghetti and fried platanos and played signs! Who knew they knew that game!!?? Then all of them began talking about me and how they`re going to miss me, etc. It was so sweet. Ruben started crying! He said he was so thankful for me and that I helped his family come to the church. I hope they stay strong! They all mean so much to me! Emilio says he works in Villa Gonzalez so maybe I`ll see him! But yeah that`s about it. Crazy crazy week. So I`ve tried doing what Scott said with the food. They still take offense and serve you the same amount. I`ve just learned to eat it. I haven`t seen any tarantulas thank goodness! The house I was in didn`t have any bugs at all. Thanks for sending the shoes! I`m sure I`ll be able to last my whole mission with both pairs. Bueno... I haven`t thought about the monthly challenge yet... I`ll have to tell you next week. That`s great that the one act advanced! Wish I could be there to watch all of them with you! Well I hope everything is great! Pray for me this week! New comp, new area, new people. It`s gonna be a long week. Haha. But it will be good. I love you all so much!!

Hermana Woolf

Tuesday, March 18, 2014 – Week 30

Hey fam! Not gonna lie, I totally forgot about St. Patrick´s Day. Haha. I didn´t wear green but neither did anyone else in this country. Lol. So it´s been quite a rough week. Francisco up and left Tamboril on Thursday without telling anyone. I guess there were problems in his family in Cotui so he had to go out there. We had no contact with him. Only Esther got ahold of him once and he told her that he didn´t know when he would come back- that he needed to stay there until everything was worked out... It´s been pretty emotional for me. Not knowing if he´ll come back for his baptism or not. We still have a few lessons to teach him before Saturday. We´ve been praying a lot to have a miracle. We called last night and he told us he would come back Wednesday! An answer to our prayers! Now we just have to finish the lessons and he can be baptized. But we still have to teach the word of wisdom and the law of chastity. If he has any problems with these commandments, he can´t be baptized. I´m really nervous, but I don´t think there´s any problems. The only thing I´m worried about is coffee. I really, really hope he doesn´t drink coffee. I´ll be praying a lot. Speaking of coffee, Rubi has been drinking coffee still. :( We went on Saturday to talk to her about it again. I don´t think she understood before. She said she had only drank a little bit, and we told her that she couldn´t drink it at all. "NEVER??" She said... Then we went and talked to her grandma who gives her the coffee to tell her that Rubi can´t drink it. She said she wouldn´t give it anymore. Anyways I don´t think Rubi can be baptized this week. :(  I´m not exactly sure what the time frame is to wait before someone can be baptized with problems with the WofW but I´ll ask our branch president. That´s been pretty hard for me. I really wanted to be here for that. But God has his time for everything. Anyways, enough with the sad stuff. We had stake conference this weekend with Elder Zivic! It was great! He´s from Argentina. President Douglas also spoke. For the Saturday session all the missionaries and young adults ages 12 to 18 were invited and the whole thing was on missionary work! I loved it! Hopefully it motivated the members to get more involved! Ruben received the Melckezidic Priesthood! We had a class on Sunday for people that want to find a new job. A lady from the stake came to help. I don´t know if I´ve told you about Sudeyvid but she´s one of our investigators that is super awesome. She has progressed so fast! She could be baptized tomorrow but hasn´t attended church because of her job. She´s the only one that works there and it´s every single day. She really wants to find a new job so it was great to have this class and that she could go. But she´s really gonna try to come to church this sunday. She´s trying to find someone to cover at her job for a the hours of church. We´ll see. Jason has had a big problem with smoking but is giving it up!! He is doing super good! Less and less every week. Last night we had an FHE with a ward in our branch- the family of Oliver. We talked about unity in the family which they really need. Also we had yuka balls! Haha. Yuka is like potatoes kinda of. So they boiled them, smashed them up like mashed potatoes, made balls and put cheese inside, and then fried them. lol. It was pretty good. My stomach can´t take all the grease though. Everything I mean everything is fried here. So I´m pretty sure I´m being transferred this week. Our insider, the sister in the same ward as the assistants, says I´m for sure leaving. But I am still so nervous. It´s not sure until the transfers happen. President Douglas can change things at the last minute. He told Elder Sotelo that he´s going to stay in Tamboril another transfer! He has the same time as me here! And he just finished training Elder Rodriguez so I don´t know why he´s staying. Anyways... I´ve started to tell people. Not everyone. Just the people I won´t see again before Wednesday. Some families in the branch are planning like a going away night for me on Tuesday. It should be fun... and sad... Hopefully I don´t find out after that I´m staying. Haha. How embarrassing (wow i cannot spell in English anymore). But we´ll see! We´ll see the assistants tomorrow so maybe I can get some more info from them. I bought a few things today with my card to give to some of the important people here in Tamboril. Add it to my bill. :) But yeah that´s been my week. Pretty action packed. Thanks for buying me new shoes! I should have tried out the shoes more before I left. The brown ones are too big and fall off my feet while I´m walking so I just use the black ones. So did you not get my email last week about the missionary medical? lol. I was hoping you guys would never find out about that. I didn´t know they sent you something. Yeah I was sick like a month ago and had to go to the hospital. It really wasn´t that bad. Just stomach pain from eating on the street. My own fault. Things are fine now. :) Sounds like a great topic you taught on Sunday Mom (the significance of the Sacrament). I teach that to all my inactives. We have like 12 sisters or so in RS. I´ll be sure to read about Grace in True to the Faith, Dad! I love that book. I´ve used it so many times in the mission. Well I love you all so much! Next week I might be writing from a new area!!!!! Have fun with the sister missionaries tonight! Give them a reference if you have one. :)

Hermana Woolf

 

This is super old back in December but someone just sent it to me so passing it along. My zone.

Wednesday, March 12 - Week 29

Wow! A baby boy! How exciting! I´m sure that will be so great for Jaden to have a little brother he can play with! Wow 5 grandsons/nephews!! When we start having reunions, they are gonna have a TON of fun! So... I happen to have a few insiders here in the mission. :) of course... you know me... Anyways, my companion´s old companion is in the same area as the assistants to the president now so she knows everything!! We talked to her the other day and she said that I will be leaving Tamboril! Well it´s not for sure for sure until Friday, but it´s pretty sure. She also thinks my comp will be training. And the next group of sisters are 5 Americans and 1 from Costa Rica. It´s very likely she´ll be training an American! But that is not super sure yet. We´ll find out this week. It´s hard not to think about it. I´m actually kinda sad now. Like I do want to leave just to see and experience different areas, but wow there are some people here I am REALLY gonna miss. It´s gonna be hard to leave. I´m kinda nervous about telling people and saying goodbye. I´ve been here for so long I think people think I´m never leaving. Haha. I´m also nervous. New companion, new area, new people. It will definitely be a change. We´re making tshirts as a district this week! It´s only the 4 of us in Tamboril so we´re really close! Things with Francisco are great!! We still have a lot to teach him before next week, but he´s so ready. He was having a few doubts about a week ago only because it´s all really fast. But he prayed and knows this is the right time to baptized so he doesn´t have any more doubts! He´s awesome! Rubi hasn´t been drinking coffee so she should be able to get baptized with Francisco! I hope so! I really want to be here for her baptism! Ruben got called as the Young Men´s President!! He is doing so great!! He´s been at the church practically all week with meetings and going around visiting YM. This will really help him stay active in the church! Wow you won´t believe this! We had 16 people in church on Sunday!! 4 investigators and 12 inactives!!! It was a miracle! The chapel was so full! We are working really hard with the inactives! We´ve rescued? (i don´t know what word to use. That´s the word they use here. lol) a family already. Nieves and her three neices and nephews. We are still working with the parents of these teenagers. They have a desire, but they need to put God before worldly things. It´s amazing the difference when people have been prepared by God. All they need is an invitation and they come back. Others it feels like we´re trying to force them to have a desire. This week will be awesome! Saturday and Sunday we have stake conference and Elder Zivic of the seventy is coming! Then on Wednesday we´ll have the whole day with him as missionaries. I´m really excited! So yeah pday will be on Tuesday next week. Well at least for the missionaries in Santiago. Wow sounds like you guys had a great time with Scott and Maureah and did lots of fun things! Yeah their run is exactly like festival of colors! How cute that Jamie saved that turtle! :) And that´s great Maureah got a new job! So are Christina and Rob gonna continue looking for a new house? That´s too bad they didn´t get the one they wanted. :(  Wow a moviehouse on 2499?? I´m sure that will take away lots of customers from Grapevine and Highland Village. That will be nice though to have one closer to home. I can´t wait to see the 9th grade campus! I´m sure it will be super nice! That´s so great that the missionaries have a baptism!! It must be hard in our area. Not much success. Well I hope all is well. I love and miss you all soooo much!! Keep me updated on everything!! Until next week.

Hermana Woolf

Top of FormWednesday, March 5, 2014 - Week 28

Hey! Wow okay tons of questions... I´ll start with those. But first: the first thing I want to hear about next week is the sex of the baby!! Okay... questions.. I haven´t met Brenna Hardin in person, but I know who she is. We talked in FB before I left. I think I saw her once in the mission home but we never talked. We email from an internet cafe. Just go in, use the time we want, pay, and leave. Really easy. Transfers are on March 26. I was like 90% positive I would be leaving this transfer, but now I´m not so sure. Almost always President sends missionaries somewhere new when they have 6 months in an area, but all my leaders have been telling me that there won´t be many changes this transfer... They haven´t heard anything specifically about me, but they think I´ll be in Tamboril another transfer with Hermana Navas. :/ I seriously love it here and love my companion, but I am really ready for a change. We´ll see what happens. I have a lot of insiders that will inform me before the transfer comes. Haha. Um yeah I´m learning a little about Guatamala. Her family is all members but all converts. Her mom was working in New York when she was younger and got taught by the missionaries and then got baptized and later on after getting married, her husband got baptized. Hermana Navas was born into the church, but her brother-in-laws are converts. I still haven´t bought the scripture cases. I need to decide what to do first, and I only see the guys who sell them on pday Santiago every 6 weeks... but if I get transferred far away, maybe I should find a way to get them now. We´ll see. YES. You HAVE to eat what people give you here. They have nothing to give but food so if you don´t eat it, they are extremely offended. And you have to eat it all. Only maybe 2 times I have been able to serve myself, but it doesn´t even matter because if you don´t take a ton, they ask why not. Either way I have to eat a ton. I don´t know how I´m losing weight. It really is shocking to me. If you could only see the portion sizes here. When I first came, I couldn´t eat anything! Now I can eat it all. It´s so sad. But good thing we walk all day everyday. They don´t use chao a whole ton, just to say goodbye every once in a while. But they all say bye bye (b-bye) I think of you mom every time I say it. Haha. Okay I think that covers them all. So we had our Independence Day activity on Thursday! It was super fun! So many people came and lots of our investigators! We played volleyball, basketball, dominos, and had a barbeque. On Friday we celebrated my 6 months! We went out for pizza and my awesome comp bought me a donut with a note that said felices 6 meses! On Saturday we went to a members´ home that lives way up in the mountains and we climbed the mountain with them and could see the whole city! Santiago and La Vega. It was so cool! On Sunday no one came to church. Like no one. Not our investigators, not our inactives, not the members. Why? Because it was raining. Literally. That´s the reason. They don´t leave their houses when it´s raining. We really got work with them on that. The only people that showed up were people with cars. We found out why Rubi couldn´t be baptized before. It´s not because she didn´t know who the prophet is. It´s because she has been drinking coffee... I guess whenever she goes to her grandma´s house, her grandma offers her some. We taught her the word of wisdom though and she said she wouldn´t drink it anymore. She can be baptized on the 22nd with Francisco if she stops! Francisco is progressing so fast! He was so prepared for us! He is a for sure baptism. However... Oliver won´t be baptized this month. We finally had a lesson with him yesterday without his family (horrible I know, but it´s the only way he´ll talk) He really opened up and we talked for like an hour. He´s having problems with the word of wisdom. But he´s not addicted to alcohol, he just drinks it every once in a while. So he says it will be easy to stop. He really has a desire to be baptized and to stop drinking so I´m sure he´ll be baptized next month. For now, he just needs some time. We had a zone meeting on Monday and played a trivia game. I was the only girl on the team, so I was the one asked to recite the young women´s theme... I could not remember it!! Haha. 5 years... what happened to my good memory? I got until virtue, then I couldn´t remember the end. I did remember the song primary colors though...??? Haha. We lost, but it was fun! Then we had exchanges. I went to the sister leaders´ area. They are in the city. I like the country so much more! Yesterday we had training all day long with President Douglas and his wife, and our zone and another zone. Pres. Douglas is really big about the Latinos learning English so each of them had to prepare a one min talk in English to present to all of us. You can really tell the ones that do their language study each day and those that don´t. It´s really good though. They will have so many more opportunities in the world, if they know English. I bought a scale the other day with my card. It was like $20 but it´s really nice. It will be really good to have one during the mission. Do you happen to know my blood type? The mission needs to know in case there is an emergency and I have to go to the hospital. I´m pretty sure I´m A+ but I´m not 100% positive. Do you have any medical records from when I was sick? If not, I have to go get tested. :( Wow you guys had snow in March!? What is going on over there? It´s starting to get a little hotter here. I don´t even want to know what summer feels like. So Jamie asked for fall/spring? It´s too bad we won´t be together in the fall and winter, but it will be fun to be together in spring. Thanks for doing my tax return! That´s a great challenge for this month! I would say I´m pretty productive, but I´m sure there is some time I can be more productive. :) I´ll have to start thinking about my challenge. Well that´s about it. I think my letters are getting longer and longer... sorry. Haha. I love you all and miss you! Have fun at Scott and Maureah´s!

Hermana Woolf