Sweet Sixteen!

thanksgiving dessert

thanksgiving this year was definitely kicked up a notch from last year's "half a cooked banana!" remember that? :) our pensionista prepared a peruvian version of mashed potatoes, rolls, and a piece of chicken. actually, thanksgiving dinner was lunch, because lunch is the big meal here. but later, after dinner, we went to a cake place in our area and bought little roll cakes (that were not worth five soles, haha). we also drank apple cider that morning. :)

briggs searching for the perfect coconut

this week, when we were out looking for people to teach, we saw a cute couple walking ahead of us. we've been trying really hard to find a family to teach, so we said let's go talk to them! we started speed-walking to catch up, and (literally) right when we got there, they both hopped into a motokar and sped away. my companion and i just looked at each other, discouraged.

but, then i said "we walked over here for a reason." so, searching for it, we started walking again. we randomly approached a house, and a man saw us knocking. he made a very exasperated noise, then came out to see what we wanted. hermana briggs and i exchanged another look, feeling a little exasperated. but, we started sharing a small message about the BOM with him.

then, briggs slowly pulled a book of mormon out of her bag, glanced at me, and offered: "hermano, this book is for you. will you read it?" we almost never give away BOMs like that, because we are so far away from the mission offices that it's hard to get more once we run out (they come once a month). i nodded at her, and the guy accepted it! turns out he didn't even live in that house, so we may never see him again. as we were leaving the man, hermana briggs leaned over and whispered "that is the weirdest impression i've ever received. hopefully he reads it!!"

utah girls in the mountains once more

even though thanksgiving is over, i hope we'll all remember to be grateful!! with christmas coming up, each of us has an opportunity to "ilumina el mundo" (light the world)! let's truly CELEBRATE IT this year!! love you all!!!

our pensionista's daugher's birthday -

she loved the card we made! :)

p.s. i complete 16 months in the mission today - happy sweet sixteen to me!! i can date now, right? (haha, just kidding.)

cake on p-day

hermana wood

Sister Leader in the "City of Palms"

bye, hija!

bye, mamita berita!

bye, pucallpa!

so, i was transferred, and i'm now in tarapoto, the jungliest part of my jungle mission, with my first gringa comp - hermana BRIGGS!!!! briggs is the sweet blonde whose "birth" i witnessed (when she was trained in pucallpa) more than a year ago! she is now my companion and will be finishing my mission with me this february (we'll actually be flying home to salt lake city together)! we are so blessed! also, i was called as sister leader, so lots of adventures ahead.

speaking of adventures, i missed my flight from pucallpa to tarapoto - lol (not my fault) - so i got to spend a night in iquitos with my bff, hermana SNYDER (a sister who i haven't seen since my first transfer in the mission over a year ago)!! all of those reunions were the best start to this week!!!

reunited after over a year!

(hermana snyder in iquitos)

TARAPOTO, "la ciudad de las palmeras," is a mountain city [356 metres (or 1168 feet) above sea level on the "high jungle plateau," aka the "cloud forest"]! i feel strangely like i'm in utah in the summertime!! but, the air is cool; in fact, it's the coolest place in the mission (which i'm very grateful for). also, i've become fast friends with our pensionista and all of the members - i already love everyone! and, two of my previous comps, osorio and garrcia, are here, as well! such sweet reunions!! being companions with a "gringa," though, is showing me just how low my english skills have gotten. it's hard to keep a conversation going sometimes, haha. also, there are no wards in tarapoto and no stake, either! it's just branches and districts!! but, i'm committed to see a stake here before i come home in february. :) i'm going to work my hardest to make that happen!!!

can you see the mountains in the background?

one funny thing: we were in branch council, and a muslim man came in who only spoke english (so hermana briggs and i had to translate for everyone), and he basically wanted the church to give him money to travel to the boarder of brazil and perú, haha. i was like "well, we can't help you financially, but we can give you as much spiritual help as you need!!" he couldn't speak spanish, so for the first time in my mission, i was in need of an english restoration of the church pamphlet (and there weren't any to be found). but, we were able to do some coordinating for him, and some members are going to help him out.

here's our branch presidente, jimmy.
excited to work with him!!!

love you all,
hermana wood

More from this week's message to Hermana Wood's mom:

found a chocolate store. we're happy sisters! :)

okay, so my house is like a hotel. i was shocked as soon as i walked in. and, every day i look forward to the shower i get to take at night - WE HAVE WATER PRESSURE! is this what it's like to actually shower? to get an idea: turn the sink on to the lowest it can be without turning it off. that's how my showers were most days in pucallpa, haha. so, i'm so happy! and briggs is the sweetest most amazing person ever. we are just so excited to work hard!! LOVE YOU.

The Most Important Work in the World

i love my mangoes!!

lots and lots :)

as my friend who is currently serving in ecuador put it, "there are two very important 12-week periods in a missionary's life: the first 12 and the last 12." and today, i start those last 12. time is slipping away so quickly!

i'm officially giving english classes twice a week in the chapel. we have quite a crowd, and i've gotten pretty good at it. i might be a spanish teacher when i get back. ;)

jungle

we walk a ton in the jungle and, this past week, all of that walking landed me in the "clinica" for a procedure on one of my feet and a strong dose of antibiotics. my toenail on my big right toe started cutting into the skin there, and it made a big wound. then, (as fate would have it) i accidentally slipped that very foot into some questionable water when we were crossing a narrow bridge after a rainstorm. needless to say, that toe got infected real quick (even though i washed it, like i always do, and put alcohol on it).

at the clinica, they gave me antibiotics and then shot anesthetic straight into my toe before cutting out part of the nail. (OW!) i think i scared my sister leader, the girl in the pic with me, because i started babbling for like 10 straight minutes to get my mind off of what they were doing. blessing, though - it doesn't even hurt at all. and, bonus blessing, i also got the first doughnut i've had in over a year (because there's a doughnut shop right next to the clinica)! what i won't do for chocolate fried goodness! :)

me and my sister leader in the clinica

right after the procedure

doughnut time! :)

in all honestly, there were many days this week that were just…bleh. that's the only word i can think of to describe them. missionary work is always crazy and there's just so much happening at once that sometimes you feel...bleh. but, god is even more aware of us during the bleh times. i know this because at the end of one of those days this week, we were teaching lesson one for the second time in a row that night (and maybe the millionth time that week) to someone new. but, as my comp related joseph smith's first vision, the song "praise to the man" started playing in my head (in an interesting mix of english and spanish) and tears filled my eyes. i felt in that moment that this is the most important work in the world. nothing to feel bleh about. since then, i've been trying to find more joy and excitement in the day-to-day that has been my life for the past 15 months.

beautiful catholic chapel

Video of Catholic Chapel

a great quote about patience by elder maxwell has been helping: "patience also helps us realize that while we may be ready to move on, having had enough of a particular learning experience, our continued presence is often needed as a part of the learning environment of others." patience is perseverance with a purpose! LOVE YOU ALL.

hermana wood

More from this week's message to Hermana Wood's dad:
transfers are tonight! i don't think i'll get transferred. i really hope not. i'd be fine to die [finish my mission] here! if i do get transferred...ahh idk, i just want to stay here, haha. i haven't seen moyobamba or tarapoto, but it's so far away from everything. who knows, we shall see what happens! if i get transferred it'll be tomorrow morning! LOVE YOU.

mamita and my two brothers. now i have four!

More from this week's message to Hermana Wood's mom:
kevin came to church and is continuing to progress! vicotorino also came! he and his wife are having a few problems, though; in fact, we had a lesson where meri, his wife, called him out on some issues. another member couple was with us, so victorino started defending himself to the couple and bashing on the church his wife attends. after like 30 minutes, i finally said "hermanos, we belong to the church of jesus christ - the true church. and, if both of you aren't reading your books of mormon TOGETHER and praying TOGETHER to know for yourselves that it's true, you can't progress together." i testified about the BOM, and you should've seen meri's face; she looked shocked, but i committed the couple to pray and read together. we'll see how that works out. i told them both how much i love them and expressed how much the savior loves them. i also told them that we'd pray for them throughout the week. after the closing prayer (offered by her husband), meri looked at me with tears on her cheeks and said "sister, i feel the 'espiritu santo' [holy ghost]." now THAT is gratifying as a missionary. THAT is what success is. helping others feel the spirit and be influenced by it. LOVE YOU.

Peruvian Miracle

us with our pensionista, mamita berita

this week, we learned (from a member) that there are parasites in the grass here, so you can't walk through it if the grass is tall. that wasn't too disturbing; i mean, who needs grass? what almost gave me a stroke was to learn that there are also parasites in the air we breathe. apparently, you need to get de-parasitized every six months. #peru

in other exciting news (ready for this one?), after a tour of the church and one of the most quiet, spiritual lessons i've ever had in the sacrament meeting room, kevin accepted a baptismal date! we are so happy for him!! we had to dig deep to find out what his needs are, and we tailored lots of lesson plans for him. we actually ended up asking him the first three baptismal interview questions: do you believe god is our eternal father? that christ is his son? and, that the church has been restored? he responded "yes" to all, which helped us help him recognize his testimony. and this week, kevin bought himself a white shirt and tie and came to stake conference! and, he's posting pictures of himself doing church stuff on facebook, "so that my friends know i'm changing my life," he says. i could not be happier for him! he is reading the BOM every day, and praying, and has truly come to know that the gospel is true. he's scheduled to be baptized on the 26th of november! i have LOVED sharing the gospel with kevin!! he is truly prepared and ready to start a new life. :)

mormon helping hands!

(never knew the sun could be so strong at 8am!)

lend a hand!

we picked up garbage on the streets!

also, my pensionista's son made me eat rice this week. it was sort of necessary as the dish is called "rice and chicken" and consists of nothing else, besides tomatoes (and an excess of onions, because my comp doesn't like them and gave me double), but i regretted every bite, haha. #antirice

speaking of meals, presidente and hermana li took us out to lunch this week - just at the moment when i most needed an italian pizza! as my friend in canada once said, "god just knows, doesn't he?" :)

trick or treating with a book of mormon

lastly, we received a referral this week of a family who wants to get married and start attending a church, but they didn't know which to choose. this, my friends, is a "peruvian miracle" in every sense. i've never seen this happen on my mission (and may never again). GRATITUDE! i am full of gratitude! and love for all of you!! :) see you three months from today.

fam, thank you SO SO SO MUCH for the package!!!!!!

hermana wood

More from this week's message to Hermana Wood's mom:
hey, mom! i love these pics!! man, i have a good looking family. and, jordan is just glowing! aaah, i wish i could've been there for the wedding!!

we are working with a couple named meri and victorino who are amazing. meri totally opened up to us last night; we went to see how she'd been doing with her reading and ended up staying a long time just listening to her talk. she said she "feels so amazing when we're with her," and that she "feels god with us," but that when we go, she "gets stressed out again." i asked, what do you think you can do to always feel the way you do when we're teaching you? she looked at her BOM on the couch next to her, back at me, and said "read this book!" i promised her that was true! she wants to get married soon, and we're helping her to set some goals for her life. love being a missionary! LOVE YOU.

Dream Come True

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!! IT'S HALLOWEEN, AND IT'S P-DAY, which is a sister missionary's dream come true!!!!!! we are going to do SO much festive stuff today (as much as we can in the amazon). my comp and i are dressed as missionaries serving in a USA mission - i'm even wearing my english name tag. :)

Romantic Dinner Video

in other news, this has been another great week of service! from finger-painting styrofoam cups to being temporary family history center sisters for the caravan to the temple this last week, we have been all over the place! but, our extra effort is being compensated, because we found FOUR new investigators this week; a former investigator decided to come to church on sunday, we have like three families we're teaching (which is big for this area), and random good things just keep happening to us! the lord sees even small efforts and rewards them!

also, i'm coming to the close of my purificandonos (40-day fast), and it has been incredible! the most challenging thing for me to "give up" was singing worldly songs out loud or in my head. by worldly, i mean it's just become a habit to always sing EFY songs or some type of christian rock, haha. and while those aren't necessarily bad, i've found that focusing on the hymns (only) has given me more chances to feel the spirit! there have been lots of little changes in my "day-to-day" that are making all the difference in my "week-to-week." i've been able to feel the spirit a lot more in the lessons, too!

my favorite lesson this week was with kevin: we taught the importance of repenting NOW, because the savior is coming again soon! hermana pac and i made a detailed lesson plan and prayed so hard for the lesson to go well beforehand. then, with kevin, we read in alma about how the day of this life is the time to prepare to meet god. my companion and i both testified about repentance. then i found myself saying, "kevin, you are not alone in this process. you've had help, and right now in this room there are angels with us. they are the same angels who have been with you before." i felt so strongly that what i said was true!! i had no idea what i was saying, but it just came out like that. i doubt i could've had that revelation without the 40-day fast i'm doing, so i'm grateful for the added direction from the spirit!!

Crossing the River Video

last but not least, be careful eating dragon fruit! here it's called "tuna" (in fact, i was really hoping to see a dolphin-safe can of albacore tuna when our pensionista offered it to us). unfortunately, i found out that the skin of dragon fruit is full of little thorns, which are VERY hard to remove, haha. so, beware! LOVE YOU ALL!

p.s.
another bit of news i forgot to mention! this last week, elder godoy, the area president for perú, colombia, bolivia, and ecuador, came and visited. he gave a great training on the plan of salvation! it was super cool - he is so awesome! through a series of events, i ended up playing the closing song and was up on the stand next to him when the meeting ended. i had previously considered talking to him about my extension date, and on a whim i decided to do it right then! he gave me a lot of comfort and said my extension got rejected because "life is like a video game. once you pass phase 1, you have to move on! why stay on level 1 when the lord has so much more prearped for you?" he then said, "you've worked hard on your mission, i can feel that. now it's time to start the next phase!" that was SUCH a comfort! i dont doubt that he is called of god! so, i felt a lot better after talking to him - also, a little trunky. :) LOVE YOU! i'll tell this story in more detail when we skype at christmas!

hermana wood

Yarinacocha Has Talent!

Just received this video from a member of the Church in Perú!

Yarinacocha Has Talent Video

Service Makes Life Better

well, i've reached the point on my mission where i put straight baby powder on my face, because it absorbs all the sweat. ;) that's something i never would’ve done, under any circumstance, before coming to the amazon. i thought it was ingenious, until one day, the elders looked at me funny and told me my face was "whiter than normal." ha.

pasto ["pasture"]

this has been a week of service! among the various activities we did were gathering corn kernels from the street so that some ladies could feed their chickens and make a chicha drink, praying with kevin when we found him on the street (then helping him find his lost motokar key for 20 minutes), helping a woman knock mangoes out of a tree with a long stick (tender mercy they didn't fall on my head) and inviting her to church, and finally, picking up a woman's food stand when the most insane wind came howling (even perú knows it's october – sppooooky).

my fav member, jessica. we are all tired. :)

but, we weren't the only ones lending a hand and making the world a better place this week. one morning, i awoke to "hermanas! someone's at the door for you!" that's a rare occurrence, but it's even stranger at 6:19am! a member had come to deliver a bucket of mangoes for us. :) the lord also blessed our less-active members and recent converts to be able to go to the temple with the caravan next wednesday (pray for them to be safe on the 18-hour bus ride). two less-active families we've been working with are getting sealed. and, remember pierro? he's going to do baptisms for the first time. :) i'm so happy for them!

what's this fruit?

sometimes as a missionary – just kidding – every day as a missionary, you run around trying to make it to all of your appointments, and many (if not all) of them fall through; sometimes every single one. that would've made this week very discouraging if we hadn't served and been served! i have such a strong testimony that service makes life better and makes us more christlike! one night, my comp (hermana pac) observed sadly "wow. every 'cita' ["appointment"] fell through. it wasn't a very good day, was it?" i replied "hermana, did you feel the spirit today?" ("yes," she said.) "then, today was a good day!" :)

love you all!!!

hermana wood

The Proposal

ice cream sisters for life :)

service as a zone - cleaning out rain gutters!

hola, friends and familia!

interesting story: as we were walking to our last appointment of the afternoon one day this week, a man crossed our path. he stopped us and asked if we could answer a question for him. i said "of course!" he asked what church we were from. we responded "the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints!" then, he proceeded to explain to us that a cocaine company in the united states had robbed him, that they were doing injustices around the world, and that he wanted it to stop NOW! in fact, he expressed a strong desire to go to the states and sort it all out, himself. somehow, that required him to have a north american wife. after he explained that, he looked at me very intently. i stared back at him. :) then, he continued "if you have any gringa friends who would be willing to enter a fictitious marriage with me, please give me their contact information!" ok. long story short, we invited him to church!

when the sisters lock the keys in a sunday school classroom,

and you have two rods of wood and a blue ribbon

this week i learned patience and humility. for those of you serving missions right now, you know those are the two hardest attributes to learn. but, the lessons are worth the difficulty. i love my savior, and i know this is his work! love you all so much!!

hermana wood

More from this week's message to Hermana Wood's dad:
the elders had a baptism scheduled for this weekend, so we were inviting our investigators to attend the upcoming baptism all week. in fact, we were running around for like an hour beforehand to pick people up and remind everyone about the baptism. and, we had FOUR investigators come! we were very excited!! the sad part is that no one came to church on sunday; but hey, we'll take what we can get. :)

river fish!

our investigator, kevin, is doing alright. he stopped reading and praying and won't come to church, but he keeps saying he wants to be the bishop! haha. we're going to try something with him this week - we're just going to go every day and read the BOM with him. we can't advance with his lessons (because he's technically not progressing), but we can help him read! we'll see how it goes. LOVE YOU.

our pensionista keeps chicken babies (chicks?)

under a cake lid, or the mom won't take care of them

More from this week's message to Hermana Wood's mom:

this week we contacted a reeeally old lady, mainly because hermana pac wanted to talk with her. i didn't really see the point, because this woman could barely understand us, but i went with it. at the end of our conversation with her, just as we were about to walk away, a man came out of the house right in front of us and said "sisters! are you from yarinacocha ward or alamedas ward?" we responded "yarinacocha!" "oh good!" he exclaimed. "come with me, I HAVE TWO FAMILIES I WANT YOU TO TEACH." we went inside with him and visited for a while. the next day, we met his wife, and last night we met their two daughters who are AMAZING. what a tender mercy! we received in total ELEVEN referrals from members this week, including like FOUR families. we are being so blessed! LOVE YOU.

Ready to Work!

where do i begin with this week? it has been a roller-coaster ride from start to finish!

meet my "greenie" from guatemala!
(don't mind the garbage behind us.)

at the beginning of the week, hermana garcia left me (aka was transferred to serve in another area of the mission). she went to a land far away called tarapoto, and i was really sad.

last ice cream run

fun on our last p-day

bye, garcia! off to tarapoto!

that same night (monday), just after hearing my beloved comp was being transferred, i learned that i would be training a new missionary. so, i have a "brand new baby daughter" now!!! her name is hermana pac, she is from guatemala, and her mom lives in provo. she is the sweetest missionary ever, and i love her so much!

Video of Hermana Pac's Arrival

i found out real quick that pac came ready to work, because in our first lesson (with a couple we had just barely met and shared a simple scripture with) she extended the invitation to be baptized. :) we were talking about a basic belief in god, when i looked at her (to indicate it was her turn to speak), and she asked "will you accept our invitation to be baptized by someone who has the priesthood authority of god?" i bit back a smile - very proud of my little greenie!

joustin got baptized! :)

aaaand the selfie

hermana pac also speaks english, which is great - or, well, "mostly" speaks english. this week the lord has shown me a capacity for patience i didn't think i had. there's so much more responsibility now, and i feel like i'm talking non-stop. my throat is dry from explaining everything to hermana pac for the last five days, but i'm really just so excited to work with this new sister! i love her so much! and, i love you all. more faith, less fear!!!

hermana wood

More from this week's message to Hermana Wood's dad:
everything you told me about missionary work is accurate; the heat and the aching and the heart-aching. i cried like a baby just this morning with my pensionista, as she cried and told us how she's thinking about asking her two adult sons to move out of her house, because they're rejecting the gospel they once knew was true and making a series of other bad decisions. my heart aches for these people! there's a quote on my desk by elder holland that says we need to RUN until we have nothing left to give, then keep going anyway. very true. i love missionary work, i love being here, training, and learning every day. and, I LOVE YOU!!

More from this week's message to Hermana Wood's mom:
thanks for starting to think about sending a christmas package! you can probs send it before halloween again, because my last package took like two months to get here. the mail is really slow right now. i think i got lucky last year when it arrived so early. the mission is so expensive and packages are so expensive that really anything you want to send is fine. :) i don't need anything "en especifico." the christmas package will probably be the last one, though, because i'll be coming home february 6th! my extension date got rejected; the new area presidency says no one in our area - ecuador, perú, colombia, and bolivia - will be able to extend anymore! :(

Enduring Well to the End

mini hermana wood! now we just need her to stop drinking. :)

bishop invited us to lunch!

we had to traverse this to get to our lesson with kevin!

did everyone watch conference this week??? it was so inspiring!!! i'm up to my eyelids in the spirit!!! i loved every second - the general women's meeting, too! everything was just so amazing. i'm printing out all of the talks as soon as they're available - not waiting for the liahona this time. :)

gringos unite

let's not forget the true reason we come together for conference.

just kidding. :)

in other exciting news, this week i completed 14 months of living in the jungle cities of perú without once getting e coli. :) i did get nibbled by a pig once, so that streak is over. but, what i'm learning is that you're "respectable" in the mission (as a sister) when you reach 14 months. (as an elder, that apparently happens at 20 months.) with these 14 months and all this respect, i'm also learning about the blessings that come from obedience. i'm doing a challenge called "purificandonos," or "purifying ourselves." it's basically a 40-day fast of things that drive away the spirit (even small things). i made a list of everything i do, say, or think about that drives the holy ghost away, and i've committed to "fasting" from those things at least until november 2nd. it's not easy, but it will be so worth it!! god is strengthening me as i strive to purify and consecrate myself!!!

we got permission to eat as a zone in the mall after conference!

zone conference

i love you all and hope you can find ways to consecrate yourselves in the coming weeks! this week, i read an amazing quote about hope by elder neal a. maxwell: "those who look forward to a next and better world are usually those anxiously engaged in improving this one…real hope is more than wishful musing…hope is realistic anticipation taking the form of determination - a determination not to merely survive but to endure well to the end."

smile, hermana wood and jesus love you! :)

hermana wood

More from this week's message to Hermana Wood's dad:
i was reading my father's blessing you gave me before i left for the CCM in 2015. i've read it a couple of times while i've been here, but this time was super special, having 14 months in the field. i realized as i read that every promise you gave me has been fulfilled in some way, and everything you blessed me to have or to do i now have or have done, even in small ways. there are still many adventures ahead! but, tears of gratitude were in my eyes to know that i have a father with enough faith to give me (a crazy, hopeless, then-19-year-old) a blessing like that, and to know that i had enough faith to be able to see the blessings flowing into my life. thank you for that blessing, dad, and thank you for everything you do for me. i miss you so much. i hope you have a great week! love you!