August 1, 2017

I am so happy that the reunion went so well!! I would've been crying too when grandma walked in and saw everyone. Props to troy for not spilling the beans haha and good job to everybody for not clogging the toilet this time hahaha. 

I got your package!! I almost started crying when I saw it on our doorstep haha I don't even know why, it was just so awesome! sister nowlon and I basically dropped everything and ran up the stairs with it, it was like christmas morning times 10, she says thankyou for the peach tic tacks, it's her birthday on august 23rd but that is next transfer so we might not be companions anymore :( but I already know what my present will be, so I'll just give it to her early. I loved trey and claires drawings, I have so many keep sakes already. Thankyou brookey for the watch too, I love it. Also thankyou for the invitation to the wedding but sadly I won't be able to make it, best wishes to them though. haha jk the invitation is so so pretty! I love it! could kelsie and truman be a more perfect couple!?!? answer:no, they could not. I can't believe that it is august 1st today and that they are getting married this month!! everyone, don't let mom go too many nights without sleeping haha but seriously, I don't know how you do it all mom.

Ok so this week, ahh I hate this part haha, it is so hard to choose what to put in the emails. well we started this stop smoking program with our investigator margaret and the first step was for her to pull out her box of cigarettes and crush them. She had one cigarette left in the box that she had been planning all day to smoke after 8, but just kept yelling at her "you can do it!" "you can crush it!" "you don't need it1" and then she crushed it!!! we were all screaming and clapping hahah it was awesome! On friday nights we have ysa activities and this weeks was really fun, we went out to a campsite and had a fire and passed around a football and volleyball. thursday though sister nowlon and I tried to spread the word about it haha. We spent an hour making invites, but in the end the printer didn't work haha so we just ended up writing on a bunch of sticky notes, super fancy haha. so we went around door knocking and stuff, passing them out but nobody that we gave them to came, a little sad but not as sad as brock's story about posting a thousand fliers and nobody coming, still sorry about that one brock haha. On sunday I basically had to teach the whole ward haha. Brother young, who usually teaches gospel doctrines, was gone so we combined the two classes together. I feel like it helped me get to know the members a lot better though. We talked about sacrifices. We're not asked to sacrifice the firstling of our flocks anymore but we are asked to sacrifice our time, something that is a lot harder to give up for people now. Where are our priorities? Do we serve just to receive blessings or do we serve because we love our God?

So lately, actually no, not lately, for a long time I feel like I've been struggling with my prayers.I've said meaningful prayers now and again but never consistently. i say them but a lot of the time i don't feel like i'm strengthened from them and it's because I know that they haven't been very sincere. But this past week I've been really focussing on praying for our investigators and something has changed. If you feel like you are not getting anything out of your prayers, change what you are praying for. And specifically, start praying for other people, and don't just say please bless them, but really think about what they need, what you can do to help, you might have to pause and ponder but that gives the spirit time to speak to you. Since my prayers have changed this whole week has been different from the rest of my mission:)

So tomorrow sister nowlon and I fly out to halifax!!! We are so excited. It's for something new that the mission is trying, the new missionary training conference! it was just going to be for one day but they extended it to two, so we get back friday night at midnight, just in time for the yw's baptism on saturday at 10! Elder weston is training and so he'll be there too! I'm so excited to see him, it will be so cool to hear hows he's doing. haha it's still so crazy to me that we're in the same mission. 

I'm so sorry to hear about Mara Bennett. She was so sweet and giving and strong. I'm praying for her family, they are all so amazing. I am very blessed to have been able to go through young womans with alyssa and shantelle, they have a lot of their mother's qualities. The plan of salvation is real, that is something that I have absolutely no doubts about. mountains to climb by elder eyring is a really great talk to listen to.

Love you!

sister wood