Mangoes from Heaven!

it's mango season in perú!

guess who got baptized on saturday? solange!!! we've known her for less than a month, but already she was ready and willing to enter into the waters of baptism! she's so amazing - and practically already a missionary!! when a jehovah's witness abruptly confronted her about praying in public and asked what religion she was, solange proudly told her she was going to be baptized into the mormon church, then invited the woman to her baptism!! (she didn't come.) actually, none of solange's friends or family came. she's mentioned to us that "her friends hate her," and that her father was threatening to stop supporting her and her toddler financially because of her decision to be baptized. :( this has not been easy for her. but, she knows god loves her and has a plan for her! i pray she will be strong in the church for the rest of her life!!

 solange's baptism!

baptism selfie

the official count of how many mangoes i've eaten this week reached a radical 57. i feel fine, and it's actually been nice to naturally cleanse (sorry if that's tmi). we finally were brave enough to ask mamita berita, our pensionista, to cook us dinner instead of giving us bowls of mangoes every night, so we've been eating real-ish food for dinner lately. but, that doesn't stop the mangoes falling from heaven! i love it so much. :) speaking of binge eating, this week i also ate an entire, giant bar of 100% peruvian cacao. (i highly recommend it.)

mangoes with mango juice for dinner

a typical night in mamita berita's house

lastly this week, in studying a liahona short story, i learned that life needs to be lived with passion and energy. each minute is a treasure, and once it passes, it's gone forever (reflected only weakly in memory). i've learned that if you're going to serve others or worship the lord, you're happiest and most effective when you do it with all the joy and energy you have. live with energy this week! it will be easier if you can find yourself 57 mangoes to eat! LOVE YOU ALL!!

more mangoes!

when members give you cookies and chocolate and mangoes

and you eat almost everything in one night!

hermana wood

More from this week's messages to/from Hermana Wood's dad:

QUESTIONS from Hermana Wood's dad:

• Do Peruvians love to play soccer? In Brazil, kids played in the streets and vacant lots all the time. I don't know how they do it, but they play wearing flip flops!
• Do the youth have mid-week activities, like we do in the States? How many youth are in your ward?

ANSWERS from Hermana Wood:

• of course! if you're a latino, you love soccer! they play everywhere. they even set up courts in the middle of the dirt roads, with two sticks on the ground as goal posts. they have to stop playing when motokars pass, haha. and, they always pick up the ball and say "CAREFUL!" and stop playing when we pass. :)
• saturday at 3pm is their weekly youth activity! idk exactly how many youth are in the ward....like 20-25 total?

also, remembering how you described your missionary experience in brazil, i think i've reached a point where i'm comfortable with sweating all day, every day. haha! thinking about extending has pushed me to really try to love the hard parts of missionary work; i figure that if i can love to work, it will bless me for the rest of my life. LOVE YOU, daddy!

More from this week's message to Hermana Wood's mom:
this week our district sang a hymn in sacrament meeting! we sang "o my father" to the tune of "come thou fount of every blessing" (in spanish), but elder fiame (a samoan from utah) and i sang part of it in english! and, i had a little solo! it was terrifying. we had to sing really loud, because rain was pouring on the metal rooftop of the chapel - i was so grateful my voice didn't crack! fiame said i sounded good. i hope so - at least no one was plugging their ears. LOVE YOU, mommy!