Happy Sisters!!!

these, my friends, are aguajes;

at any given time in iquitos,

there are 239,847 people eating aguajes.

drum roll, please.....so, this week there were.....NO TRANSFERS!! i'm still on "28 de julio" [the name of our street] with my other half, hermana arteaga, and we are happy sisters! :) we were putting up valentine's day decorations on saturday (THANK YOU, FAM), and she said "i hope we never get transferred." life is very sweet, and it got even sweeter when we received valentine m&m's, fat-free marshmallows, and some other definitely not fat-free treats. happy sisters!!!

THE PACKAGE

in other news, we've been working with a lady named tatiana; she's 28, and even though she attends a different church on sundays, we've continued teaching her because she has a testimony of joseph smith and the BOM. she even agreed to a baptism date!! but, when we invited her to OUR church this past sunday, she accepted and then didn't show. we went to her house sunday night and asked what happened. she said "oh yeah, sorry." so, we invited her to church NEXT sunday, and she said "no, i cant; i have to go to my church, too." WHAT!?! i was stunned into silence and my comp had to take over. when i came back to my senses, i told her "look, we love you so so much, tatiana, and we want you to belong to the only true church of jesus christ. we want you to be saved in the kingdom of god and have eternal life through faith and baptism. but tatiana, if you don't come to church, you will never progress spiritually." she nodded at everything we said but didn't say much. still, we're staying positive!!!!

kiddies loved the valentine's bubbles :)

one night this week, we ate chicken and bananas for dinner. i was so happy when i saw that plate of food! then, i stepped outside of the situation and thought to myself: "i'm eating chicken and bananas for dinner." such a weird combination, and even more weird that i was so ecstatic about it! :)

we also had an awesome lunch appointment with an 80-year-old gringo named legrand who's visiting from the states! he gave me peanut butter and fig newtons, so he's my fav.

this is legrand dancing at our lunch appointment :)

anyways, that's all for this week! remember that i love you all!! also remember: more faith, less fear!

hermana wood

More from this week's message to Hermana Wood's brother:
want to hear something funny? so, my comp and i take turns praying in english before leaving the house (she's trying to learn english), and the other day when it was my turn my prayer was INSANE - it didn't make ANY sense! i felt like i couldn't speak english!! after i said "amen," hermana arteaga told me i had used some spanish words!! haha, i hadn't even realized it!! also, i'm starting to use my tongue differently when i speak spanish to make my accent better (we had training from our zone leaders a few weeks ago), and now i use my tongue in english the way i would when i speak spanish. SO confused. i wont be able to speak at all when i come home. :)

Special thanks to Mimi and Papa
for helping us send lots of love to Perú!

More from this week's message to Hermana Wood's mom:
hi mommy!! you are SO the greatest, thank you SO SO MUCH for that package!!! everything arrived in PERFECT condition; the marshmallows, the toiletries - everything!! you are SO thoughtful - i couldn't believe all the details!! down to writing on the ziplock baggies - WHAT?! mother of the year award!!! i LOVED the shampoo and conditioner - they smell so good, and of course the colors matched, haha. the crocs are great and fit me perfectly!! i don't wear the toms anymore, so i've been soley on the purple crocs. and now i have the pink ones, too! :) the color is so fun, so great!! and, oh my gosh, arteaga was the happiest sister ever!! she said she's been wanting a rubber ctr ring, but she didn't know how to get one!! and she also said she had some bracelets back home like the ones you sent - she was so excited to wear them to church on sunday, SO excited!!!

apparently, valentine's day is huge in south america; arteaga says in ecuador you can barely go out because everyone's partying so much. idk what'll happen in iquitos, but i've already seen some teddy bears and hearts in the shop windows!! i also LOVED your love scriptures!! i'm going to ponderize one every day for the next 40 days - so cute! mom, you're the best! thank you!!! and the pink microfiber cooling towel is sick, what the heck?! where did you find that?! definitely will be using that! happy valentine's day, mommy! love you all SO much, and thank you again for everything. arteaga and i were so incredibly happy - i have the best fam ever! :) tell summer thank you for the ADORABLE CARD she made that everyone signed. i loved carson's hand-hearts card, too - he's so adorable!!! speaking of cards, i already wrote and sent out 7 valentines on those cards/envelopes you sent, and i have plans to use the heart confetti and doilies (which made me so happy to see) to make valentines for ward members, because v-day is on a SUNDAYYYY. :) love you, mommy!!!