Humbled and Amazed

HI, EVERYONE! another week in the mission, and i'm still alive. :) i found out this week that there are [more than] ten missions in perú and that the iquitos mission is the poorest. the area i'm in now is the nicest in the mission, so i'm really lucky to be able to adjust slowly, hah. but still, we teach people who live in shacks with dirt floors, and it is so humbling and amazing! it makes me appreciate the states, but even more it makes me appreciate these people.

this week i had a "work visit" with hermana jackson (my sister leader), where i stayed at her house/in her area for one day/night. we talked for soo long and it was really helpful! she told me very few north american sisters are called to this mission, so even though she didn't know me that well, she knows i'm strong because i'm here. so that was a confidence boost!! she said i'm on the right track with my attitude and to keep pushing on!

our investigator, luz, who's 16, has a baptism date! we just need her dad to sign the baptism permission slip, which he should because he's chill. we want to teach her parents, too, but for now she'll be the first to be baptized in her family. :) she's seriously the sweetest, and i love her! the youth here are SO receptive to the gospel and so willing to listen to the missionaries. amazing stuff, people!

we had a zone service project on wednesday, where we helped clear out someone's backyard, and they had this big coconut tree that one of our elders climbed. he threw down coconuts and almost killed people (not a joke), then we got to eat them! i drank the coconut water (which is terrible, never do it), but the actual flesh of the fruit is so good!!

 zone activity last pday - water balloons and paint!
this is me with willes (gringa) and arteaga - they're our neighbors.

also, i found out i'll be training fairly quickly (after my own 12 weeks of training), because all of the old sisters are dying [going home] in like december. i'm going to be one of the older ones, just behind the couple of sisters who have like 6 months currently. so THAT will be an adventure. :)

this is me in our first rain storm!

keep the e-mails coming! literally love you all so much!

hermana wood

More from this week's message to Hermana Wood's mom:
the best time to send any christmas packages will be mid-october! that way (says jackson) they'll get here mid-november, and when the leaders go to iquitos at the first of the month (like always) in december, they'll bring them for me! in general, packages take about a month to arrive.