December 27

Hey! So before I forget, what I was saying about pdays on the Skype call is that we never really know when we are going to have our pday in the week haha so if you want to make sure that I get your email just email Sunday night and you’ll be good

Turns out everyone one was right, Christmas on the mission really is unforgettable.

So we have this family that we are teaching from the Congo and about two or 3 weeks ago their house burned down, they all survived but the story is just so crazy, their dad is injured the worst and he has to stay in the hospital for another 4 weeks. And so last Saturday we were suppose to do a Skype call with the new missionaries but instead President Pratt took sister claus and I out shopping and just left the APs to do the Skype call haha. It was so fun, we just went to the mall and to Walmart and bought a bunch of stuff that their family needed, we found out that we are not the best shoppers haha we were all just running around in circles! Then Christmas eve we drove to their house and put all the presents on the door step and hid and waited for them to get home from the hospital from visiting their dad! It was so special! They were so excited! 

Then Christmas Day we played exploding kittens and werewolf with our district haha it was fun! But not as fun as Skyping you guys! Ugh seeing your faces and hearing your voices was just the best thing in the world!

After that we headed over to the Pratts! I still can’t believe that we got to spend Christmas with them haha they said that they had never had missionaries over for Christmas yet they have 3 of their daughters here and 2 of their grandkids (violet and Shepard) their daughters remind me a lot of my older sisters and it was just so fun playing with the kids! Dinner was DELICIOUS! But the best part of the night was playing mouth guard hahahaha if you don’t know what game I am talking about look it up! Oh my goodness it was so so so hilarious!!! Sister Pratt took some convincing to play haha she was like “I need to be dignified” but then her daughters convinced her. When it was Sister Pratts turn we were all crying we were laughing so hard. President Pratt could hardly handle it hahah. That is something I never dreamed I would get to see on my mission hahaha hands down it was the best Christmas ️

I love you all so much!

December 20, 2017

Hello, hello sooo transfers happened........

bye bye Amherst!:'(

I am being transferred to dartmouth to be an stlt ahhhh! that means a lot of different conferences and training to prepare and a lot of time with president pratt(which I am very excited about:))I am so nervous though haha I need to be such a good example for all of the sisters in the mission. I feel like I am going to learn so much and that is what I am most excited about! Since the beginning of my mission I have prayed for help to have both feet in the mission and I definitely see this as a big opportunity to do that. I want to serve with all I've got, with all of my mind, and talents and that is what this calling will require!

It's hard to leave amherst and everyone here right before christmas. It's crazy how on your mission you just become apart of so many peoples lives. I've learned how to hold in the tears better haha I mostly just cry when I read letters:) We went and said goodbye to nicole this morning, that was hard, i really really hope that she keeps reading the book of mormon and receives an answer that it's true! she hasn't come to church yet because she has been singing in the choir at the united church but they just had their big christmas performance and so she should be able to come now! We went to watch her and it was really cool, the united church is huge and has these giant glass stained windows and a giant organ. It's a beautiful building and our building in amherst is so small but I hope that at church she looks past that and pays more attention to how she feels inside. Our other investigator randi is on date for the 6th of january. she is still battling to quit smoking so we don't know if she will make that date but hopefully sometime in January she will be baptized! I am going to miss our lessons with Chloe (the 12 year old) a lot haha she cracks me up. She comes up with the most funny analogies for things and we just sit there an patiently listen until she finds the right analogy that she likes. The other day she was trying to compare enos begging for forgiveness to a kid begging for a phone haha but she didn't end up really liking that one. I am going to miss the lee wens crazy family a lot haha helena is one of a kind! Laurie murphay is a less active that we have been working with and I think this next year she will make it to the temple!! I gave a talk the other sunday about the importance of daily scripture study and she said that is really touched her, there was this one quote that went something like "filling ourselves daily with the word of God is more important than work, school, sleep (there were some other things listed too but I can't remember what they were). It just really puts it into perspective though. God is number one in our lives, but do our daily actions show that? If someone were to look at the layout of our day yesterday, would they know that we have a faith in Christ and that we are members of His church. Would they know that living the gospel is our number one priority? Maybe we are not making a sufficient enough effort to apply the gospel of Christ into our everyday lives:) and the easiest way to learn how to apply the gospel is to study the gospel; faith in Christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism (keeping/making covenants, recieving the gift or receiving more of the  gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Recently I read this really awesome talk by Robert d Hales called "behold, we count them happy which endure" and it's really good. I love learning about endurance. Endurance running is something that I've always (weirdly) liked haha I can't wait to just go on the longest run by myself when I get home! So many times when we learn about enduring to the end it is compared to running race. Something elder hales says is that we are not just sent to earth to start the race, we were sent to finish the race! in other words; we were not just sent to the earth to be born, we were went to endure and return to our Heavenly Father with honor. 

it has been amazing to be so focused on Christ this Christmas. Take away all the lights, and the trees and the music and the presents and what is left? A little baby in a manger:)

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!!! I can't believe that I get to talk to my family in 5 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

love sister wood

December 13, 2017

CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!

Ok so next tuesday we find out if we are being transferred and so pday is on a wednesday again, so I will let you know next week if I am leaving amherst or not. We'll be aloud to email you again if we are being transferd so that we can set up a time to do the skype call! I can't believe how fast it is coming!! tomorrow is my 6 months mark and I feel like i've been out for a month! but then I think back to the MTC and that seems like ages ago haha!

We had our christmas conference yesterday and it was so much fun! there we talks given about Christ and HIs birth. President and sister Pratt told us christmas stories, we had a big christmas dinner, there were musical numbers, we sang christmas carols and then we did a big white elephant gift exchange! The gift I ended up with was from elder olsen and it was a moose stuffy and a president trump chocolate bar and a new world translation bible that he got from a Jehovahs witness haha. Elder phillips who is one of my zone leaders got my gift, it was a big fuzzy blanket with a moose on it and some canadian candies haha. Our district also exchanged our secret santa gifts and I got the sweetest present from elder Olmsted. it's called a "wanderer's bracelet" and it has the coordinates of my first area on it(st.johns) he had jasper who is this ysa recent convert order it haha it is so awesome and it made me feel bad about my dollar store presents I got for elder clark.

Caroling on the mission is probably one of the most fun things I've done in my life haha. Last thursday was the first time we did it and the very first house we went to ( we went to a area where it is all just seniors) we were so nervous and excited and I knocked on the door and then we saw the grandpa living there get out of his chair so we quickly decided what song to sing and just before he got to the door we started singing and then he just looked through the binds on the door and turned around hahah we thought that maybe he was going to get his wife or something so we kept singing but he just never came back hahah. other than that all of the other houses were awesome! and the last house we went to was the best. It was this really old lady who had just had a hip replacement and her son and daughter were over and so they opened the door but as soon as she heard us singing she just sprung right up and started shaking her hips back and forth and they kinda had to calm her down a little bit haha but she just loved us so so much and they gave us a bag of popcorn at the end:)

sunday we had our first real snow fall and so after church the lee wens said that they have a tradition that they have to hit a missionary with a snowball after the first snow fall and so after church we all got into this big snowball fight:D it was so much fun. We also had our branch christmas potuck this past week and it went well, there were a few less actives who came, but the best part was that the zeltners (who are LA) came to church the next day!! I am preparing myself to be wiping out a lot this winter, sister lefter has already wiped out once down these people's driveway haha and the mom inside saw and asked if we were alright and we were just dying laughing! my bad circulation is catching up with me haha I feel like i am just walking on nubs haha but the power of our message keeps me motivated and there is always something to laugh about, my time as a missionary is so short and so there is now time to complain. I think living up in edmonton definitely prepared me to come here haha

oh also I got all of the christmas packages at zone conference!! haha I looked crazy with how many packages were for me, I had to explain to people that my birthday is this month too haha but I am just so grateful for every single package and letter and email! I know that I am love<3

there is more that I wish I could write but time is up!

thought for the week "Who is righteous? ANYONE who is Repenting it doesn't matter what choices you've made, or if you feel like you are a good or bad person, if you are not repenting you're wicked and if you are repenting you're righteous" 

I hope that each day we can strive to become more like our savior, that is the greatest gift to give:)

love sister wood  

December 5, 2017

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!! 

I am just a little excited for christmas and also for christmas president pratt approved any music that brings the spirit and so today went to a music store and I bought the josh groban cd and we have been listening to the "believe" song from the polar express (your fav show ry) on repeat haha also happy early birthday rylee!!! There is no one as smiley and sweet as you:) I miss our sleepovers in the playhouse a lot but I'm sure when I get back mikey will let us have a least one haha. So this girl coralee who the elders in moncton are teaching has wanted to be baptized for a long time but her dad hasn't let her but he has finally softened up and she is getting baptized on the 16th! so this morning we drove to moncton and had breakfast with her and then we played scum with the missionaries and her at the church. 

Well today for light the world is honour thy father and thy mother and so mom and dad THANKYOU!! I can't give you a call with the situation we are in haha but you guys are the most amazing parents. you have done everything for me and I just will never be able to express to you how grateful I am. It has been so cool to hear what experiences you are having since i've left on my mission, you are both such good disciples of christ:) I'm sorry this isn't very long but I love you so much and am so grateful for your strength. Growing up I always knew that if my testimony was struggling, I could lean on yours. 

have an awesome week!

love sister wood!