Thursday, October 9, 2014 - Week 59

Hey! How is everyone?? Conference was great this past weekend! Saturday we had some difficulties and so I didn´t see much of the first session and the second one I watched in Spanish. It´s just not the same. Watching Elder Holland speak but not hearing his voice... haha. and the translators don´t put any emotion into it like he does. But it was good. Sunday we got the computer working and I got to see it all in English! I loved Elder Bednar´s talk! (probably because I´m a missionary) Haha but seriously. It was so good. We really don´t share the gospel to convert people to our church. It´s because we want to share the joy we have with them. There also seemed to be a theme of revelation and prophets on Sunday too. I feel like they are really trying to speak to the non-members more and more in Conference. Also didn´t you love that they have the members of the Seventy speak in their native languages now!? That´s so cool! I wish we could have heard it though and just had English subtitles. But overall it was amazing! We had a few people come, but not nearly as many as promised us they would... Haha. I guess it´s hard when there´s change. But hoping for more this Sunday. One investigator is having a hard time giving up coffee. I don´t think she really understands why it´s bad for her. Her two daughters have given it up completely though and her husband (who wasn´t present when we taught the Word of Wisdom but that we taught on Monday) also agreed to give it up. He was even explaining to us why it´s bad for our body. I hope the 3 of them can help her. I´m going strong on the soda! Some days it´s so hard, but I´m not just doing it for me. I´m doing it for someone else I love. It makes resisting it so much easier. But things are going well with them. It´s been kinda hard because if we go to their house and the dad isn´t there, we still teach the rest of the family, but then when he is there, we have to repeat everything so he´s caught up. But he´s showing a lot of interest and wants to go to church again this week. So this week the brother of a lady in the branch died. He´s been going through lots of operations and has been living in the hospital for a couple months, but they thought he was getting better. His death was a surprise. Like 15 of us got together and went and visited her the next day. Wow I´ve never experienced anything like that. She was sobbing and blaming herself for not being there and not doing more. It was really sad. I can´t imagine how that must feel. We just hugged her a lot and gave her loving words, but there wasn´t much we could do. Then we went and visited all her siblings that live close by too. I hope she could feel God´s love in that moment. But it´s so great to have a family in the church to help support each other. So yesterday, I got to go to Tamboril again!!! I love going to Tamboril! Since my comp is dying (ending her mission) in 2 weeks we got to go again to say goodbye. And 2 of my other comps are dying too so the 4 of us (Woolf, Monegro, Navas, and Pierre) all went together to visit everyone! We visited so many people! Like 10 houses! They were all so surprised to see all of us. Everyone is doing great! We did get some sad news though. The couple that was baptized aren´t going to be ready next month to go to the temple. They need to take the temple preparation class first and it would help to at least visit the temple once before going to get sealed! They don´t have much money though so I don´t know what will happen. There are 2 other couples in the branch that are preparing to get sealed too so they will be doing the class together. We´re going to plan for January now. Although, I have no idea how long the class takes... Do you know? I hope they can go while I´m still here. But we also got some good news! The girl that was baptized while I was in Tamboril wants to serve a mission!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She´s going to start her papers now and she can go out (earliest) in February (a year from her baptism). Wow I´m been so blessed to meet these people. Sometimes I get discouraged that I haven´t had a ton of baptisms, but one of my converts is going to get sealed, and the other is going on a mission! How can I be disappointed about that! They are such wonderful people! I´m so happy for them! I´ll get to visit them again in just 4 months. The time is flying. Thanks Mom for sending the package. I’ll be able to go and get it on Wednesday. Chikengunya has died down a ton. I almost never even hear that word anymore. Haha. It´s cuz EVERYONE has already had it and really the affects have gone away for almost all of them. I´m glad to hear seminary is going well and you get a bit of a break. Why isn´t there school on Friday and Monday? I actually did hear about Meet the Mormons! It came up on the LDS website so I got to see a trailer of it and see David Archuleta sing too! That´s my favorite EFY song! You´ll have to tell me how it is. Is it starting to get cold yet? Anyways, I love you all!! Have a wonderful week!

Hermana Woolf

 

Wednesday, October 1, 2014 - Week 58

Hey! Happy October and General Conference week! How is everyone? Are you breakin out the 24 hour kits for you and dad, Mom? Haha. It must be weird not having any of the kids around. But that´s great that Scott and Maureah could visit this weekend! That must have been so fun! Sounds like the fair was great! Things are good here. It´s still broiling hot! Seriously! It´s October! But hopefully it cools down soon. I got sunburned today!! But we´ve been getting lots of rain too. Like pouring down, drenched head to toe, rain. But I really prefer being wet to being hot. Haha. So I didn´t get to watch the womens conference... :( The electricity went out right when we were starting it so we didn´t get to see it. But it will come in the Liahona. One family is really progressing. They came to church again on Sunday. We taught them about the word of wisdom on Monday and they all have problems with coffee. :/ So I´m not sure they will be able to be baptized on the date we put. It all depends how fast they can give it up. They all seemed willing to try. But I´m sure it´s very difficult. In the lession I got an impression to promise them that if they gave it up, I would give up soda. (not that it compares at all in difficulty) But it´s something I´m really addicted to so now I have to keep a commitment as well. Haha. Oh man it´s gonna be hard. You have no idea how much people drink soda in this country. And it doesn´t help that it´s the cheapest thing you can buy. But I´m gonna do it. I´m sure it will help with the losing weight challenge too. :) We had exchanges this week with the sister leaders. One of my best friends in the mission is my sister leader now and I got to go out with her! It was sooo fun! It was my 3rd day in the mission being with an American companion. Feels good to speak English. Haha. But funny story. So we bought a cake mix cuz there was a super good deal going on and we were making it that night. Well I didn´t know that my companion had put something in the oven..... it was cooking and it kept smelling like it was burning but every time we checked it, it wasn´t even close to being done yet. Well when I finally took the cake out, Hna Farris screamed WHAT IS THAT!!!??? Then I screamed, thinking there was a rat or something inside, and looked and it was a fruit they have here that was completely black and dripping. Haha. It was soo funny. We had a great time. Another investigator is progressing so fast. It´s soo hard not knowing how to get him to church. This last Sunday he was going to try to walk down his super long street and then go in a bus, not knowing if he even can, but it was raining. He really wants to go. We´re praying to find a way to help him get there. But he´s friends with a guy in a branch so he´s going to go to his house this weekend to watch conference with him on his computer. At least he´ll be able to see that. I´m excited for Conference! Hopefully it works this time and I can watch it in English. If not, we might go to the stake center, but I really want to be here because we´ve invited the whole world to come and I wanna be here if they do. We had a meeting yesterday with all the leaders in the branch to tell them about our goals and help them understand their responsibility to help friendship. They committed to help us have 7 lessions a week with a member present so hopefully it works. We really need their support. I don´t think they understand why it´s necessary to be member missionaries. We had a multizone activity today! It was sooo awesome! All the missionaries in Santiago (more than 100) came. It was on an old abandoned air strip. They have basketball courts and volleyball courts and soccer fields. I got to see lots of my friends. It was fun. Oh and I bought a new skirt! They have like a thrift store here and ALL the skirts are long! It was a miracle! I found a really cute one. But that´s basically what´s been happening this week. That´s great that the lady you´re visiting is progressing and accepted a baptismal date! Sometimes I am super doubtful that people will change, and then miracles happen. Well, I love you all so much! Enjoy conference!

Hermana Woolf

Thursday, September 25, 2014 - Week 57

heyyyy. how is everyone?? sorry i'm writing a day late... there are WAY too many holidays in this country. haha. everyone was closed yesterday for some catholic holiday. but it's been a great week! we had the zone conference with Elder cornish on thursday. it was soooo good. he talked to us about how to have more success. he said that it all starts with our planning. if we aren't organized, we will have way less baptisms. and he also mentioned several tips to help us have more like work with the members, continue to find new people every day, find inactives, serve, etc. it really got us excited to work even harder. we've also had a lot of success with the people we're teaching this week! Eva's husband is starting to show lots of interest now! before it was just eva and her 2 daughters that participated in the lessions. but on saturday he came and joined in. he was going through a hard time recently and promised god that he would go to church if he helped him through this difficulty. well God did. and so he had to keep his part of the deal. so him, eva, and their daughters all came on sunday!!!! it was sooo awesome! i really have a lot of hope for this family.  i hope they get baptized soon. also, we've been visiting this guy. i don't know if i've told you about him yet... but his wife and kids live in the states. well he has been showing lots of interest. we invited him last week to church and he said he would come and we said we would save him a seat.. and jokingly we told  him that if he didn't come, we would take a pic of his empty seat to show him the next visit. well... he didn't come... so we took the pic with looking super sad. haha. we showed him it on thursday and he thought it was really funny. well he came on sunday! but there was someone already sitting next to us when he got there and he was like "you didn't save me a seat!" haha it was really funny. but he stayed the whole time and really liked it! Another man we’re teaching and his family couldn't come on sunday because his son was sick, but he told us he wanted the blessings of the góspel for his wife and son that aren't baptized yet and we told him if he starts coming back, he can be the one to baptize them, and we seemed happy about that. we've been visiting an inactive lady for a long time now and she has come twice to church, but it's hard to come alone so we're trying to work with her husband. well this week we really got him excited to come this sunday. he even went looking for his white shirt and was practicing with his tie! :) it was really cute. some people just need some encouragment and someone to get them excited again. i hope they come. Another man is really progressing as well. he read and studied and practically memorized his assignment to read 3 nephi 11. he explained the whole thing to us, and he accepted an invitation to be baptized! but... we still have the problem of getting him to church. there isn't anyone with a car. he's going to try to find a friend to help him though. we're hoping! but that's about it. super successful week! we're being blessed! my companion is finishing the mission in just a month so she can visit her old áreas. we're going to go to tamboril again in like 2 weeks! and everyone from her group that have been there are going with us... my mom hermana monegro, my step mom hemarna navas and Elder castro that was there with me for my first transfer. i'm excited! we were going to go yesterday, but the branch in tamboril had a trip planned to the temple. that's so exciting that Scott and Maureah are coming for a few days! that will be so fun to go to the state fair! have you guys been going to dallas summer musicals? well i love you all soooo much! have a wonderful week!

hermana woolf

 

Wednesday, September 17, 2014 - Week 56

Hey fam! How are you all? I'm glad everything went okay dropping off Jamie and she's already having a great time! (Jamie, email me, I have no time this week but I want to hear how's it's going!) This has been a really good week. We're working really hard with a few people right now and seeing progress. One man and his family came to church again this Sunday with his sons. He's almost active now! Which is super good because the branch needs more men with the priesthood. We're trying to help his wife though. She's come to church just one time so far, but we really want to help this family be together in the gospel. He has to divorce his old wife though and then marry his current one which costs a lot of money, but we're hoping for a miracle. We're also working with a couple that finally got a baptismal date set! We had them put it so they could feel comfortable and ready when it comes. They decided on Nov 22. I feel confident this time that it will happen. They seem much more excited now and have come to church like 12 times so they have a lot of knowledge already. We're also working with a woman and her family. They haven't come to church in a couple weeks for different reasons, but they have baptismal dates for the end of October. We're going to try to meet the goal, but I think it will have to be moved. I would really like to baptism the family together and some are progressing faster than others so we'll see what happens. But these are the people progressing the fastest. We're teaching a man that is super awesome, but since he can't walk, there's no way to get him to church. And he lives kinda far. But we just had 2 new families move into the branch that have cars so we're going to try to make friends with them real fast. :) Another thing that makes this week great is that we finally got gas to cook! We went 2 weeks without because we couldn't find anyone to get it for us and then we didn't have money so we had to buy a lot. Sorry I've been taking so much money out recently. They tell us our money will come one day and then it comes late and we don't have money to eat so I had to take out money for me and my companion. I'm going to try hard not to take more out though. So we were going to go to the beach today. Not to swim or anything, but to take pics and stuff. There were 3 zones that we're going to go, but then they canceled last minute.. :( I was so excited. I hope I get to see it before I leave. My comp went to visit one of her old areas today so I had an exchange with another sister. We went and played sports with our zone. It was fun. On Saturdays we've started playing volleyball with teenagers to help them be more involved and have fun. We had a ton of people come last week for the first time and hoping for much more this week. Tomorrow we have a zone conference with Elder Cornish. He's super smart. I'm excited. Also, there's an apostle coming in October!!!! We don't know which one yet, but I'm really excited. We heard Elder Holland was going to come a couple months ago, but couldn't risk getting the chikengunya. Haha. Whoever it is, it will be great. I'm getting really excited for general conference. It's a perfect opportunity to invite investigators because we ask them to pray if Pres Monson is a prophet and they've never seen him or heard him talk. Hopefully many will come. Thanks for all the pics! I'm excited for the reunion next year! I hope we'll be able to be with the fam a lot and not have too much school or homework. Well I don't have much time. I hope you all are doing great! I love you!

Hermana Woolf

Wednesday, September 10, 2014 - Week 55

Hey! WEll............ I`m still in Villa Gonzalez........ Yep. I didn`t get transferred. I really thought I was going this time. But it`s okay. There must be more to do. I`m with my same companion again too. We`re going on 4 transfers together now. She finishes her mission next transfer. Soooo that means I`ll be here for at least 2 more transfers because when she leaves I`ll have to show the area to someone else. I was a little disappointed because I was ready to experience a new area, but God knows best. I`m gonna keep working hard. So this week has been really good. We`ve had a lot of fun making empandas and pizza as a district and we had an FHE this week with a member family. We watched a video of Jesus Christ and had popcorn and played games. It was really fun. We`ve also had a lot of spiritual experiences this week in our lessions. I don`t know if it`s just the people here, or all over the world, but the majority of the people, don`t keep their commitments. So when we find someone that actually will, we`re super happy. Well we contacted this lady a couple weeks ago. We invited her to pray and ask if Thomas S. Monson is a prophet (like we invite everyone to do, but no one ever does). Well she did it. We asked her to explain how she felt and she described the spirit perfectly. I love when people describe the spirit without knowing that it`s the spirit and then we can teach them about it. She said she felt weird, but good at the same time. Moments like that really strengthen my testimony because I can feel the Holy Ghost so strong through their experience. We`ve also met a lot of new people with potential. I`m going to try to contact old investigators this transfer to see if any of them are ready to accept the gospel now. We also had a very VERY weird lession the other day. We were trying to teach this girl about the plan of salvation and she started going off on weird topics like if we believe in aliens and Pres Obama is satanic, and that Haitians are happy when their loved ones die. It was really uncomfortable. No matter what we said to get back on topic and explain that these things aren`t important and that she shouldn`t believe everything she reads on the internet, she just kept going with stranger and stranger topics. Haha. It was hard not to laugh. It was pretty funny. Oh Elder Cornish from the Seventy is coming in a couple weeks to talk to us. He came when I was in the CCM. He`s super smart. I`m excited to learn from him. Wow Jamie is starting college!!! Good luck! I can`t believe it`s in the 20s already! Crazy! Sounds like you`re having a great time in Utah! It will be hard to go back home. That`s so cool you got to go to the Jordan River Temple Mom. That must have been an awesome experience. Well I love you all so much and am praying for you! Have a great week!

Hermana Woolf

 

Wednesday, September 3, 2014 - Week 54

Hey! Thanks for all the pics of Finn mom! He is just so cute. Wish I could be there with you all. Well it`s been a good week. We`ve had so many meetings. It`s been crazy. We had our training with Pres Douglas on Thursday which was super good. I learned a lot. After we finished, my comp needed to go to the doctor. So Pres and Hermana Douglas took us in their car. They were asking me how much time I had and I told them I had a year and they were shocked. Haha. Hermana Douglas thought I was still one of her new ones still. Time flys. But we got to the doctor and they were super difficult. The mission just got insurance cards for the missionaries, but they wouldn`t accept it. They had already made a contract with us though. Anyways, Brother and Sister Carroll had to come and pay it. But it was really late and they were about to close. We told them they would arrive in 5 min to pay but the doctor wouldn`t see my comp and left. So we had to go to another doctor. By the time we finished, it was 7:30 at night and the last bus to Villa Gonzalez had already left. Luckily there was another bus that passes close to Villa Gonzalez though so we just walked the rest of the way. It was a long day. Then Friday we had a sisters meeting and had training and played games. It was fun. We put a baptismal date with Eva and her daughters on Saturday for October 18 and they accepted. Hopefully it works out so my companion can have a few baptisms the week before she finishes the mission. So there`s a family in the branch that isn`t super strong that we visit every week. They come to church but almost always arrive like an hour late. So this week I bought the 2 daughters (11 and 14) One Direction notebooks, which they LOVE. And i told them i had a gift for them if they arrived at church before the sacrament was passed, but didn`t tell them what it was. They were dying of curiosity but i wouldn`t tell them. We got to church on Sunday and they were already there. They had gotten there before everyone. Including the branch president who always gets there like 30 min early. Hahahaha. It was awesome. I gave them their notebooks and they screamed and hugged me and went and showed the whole world. Haha. It was cute. Mariano came to church again this week. This time he brought the whole entire family though! We`ve been working with his wife, who isn`t a member. She has a lot of knowledge of the gospel already, but said she couldn`t go to church for some reason. But she came and their 4 kids as well. It was so great. So last night we had quite an interesting lession. We`ve been teaching a family for a long time now, Nefeti and Jesus and their kids. Well Nefeti is very receptive and her son too, but Jesus not so much. He wants answers to everything in the Bible and sometimes there just isn`t a scripture to share. Yesterday Nefeti asked us if they had to get married first to get baptized. We told them yes because of the law of chastity, etc. Well Jesus was not happy. He said that it didn`t make any sense because it would just be to please men and the law but they made covenants with each other and are a true married couple. We tried to explain that we believe in obeying the law of our countries, but he didn`t want to hear it. It was a difficult situation. He doesn`t believe in modern revelation so we couldn´t teach him about the temple sealing. I didn`t know what to say to help him understand. It was hard. But I think he just wants to believe he doesn`t need to be married by the law because he doesn`t have the money to divorce his first wife and marry Nefeti. But hopefully we can explain it better next week. Today we played baseball again. Well... the baseball players played. The sisters sat and watched. Haha. It was fun though. Tonight we`re have a small activity and watching a church movie and Nene is bringing empenadas. I`m excited! So yeah I think I`ll be transfered next week. I`m never sure though. This time I`m not telling anyone I`m leaving. Haha. But it makes sense for me to leave. If not, I`ll be here for a lot longer. But we`ll see what happens. So yeah I`m glad you guys wanna come at the end of my mission! It will be fun. It would be good to stay a few days. I don`t want to stay super long cuz it will be weird being a missionary still but not going to teach. Not many missionaries have their parents come. I`ve only heard of 2 or 3 so far. But it will be fun. Sounds like you`re all having a great time in Utah! So much family lives there. It`s great to get together. Hope you`re all doing great. I love you all! Have a great week!

Hermana Woolf