Man, life is crazy... I can't even explain how nuts it has been for the past 6 days now. Doubling in is hard, but it's also really good. I am grateful for my companion, Sister Coombs, because she is handling it like a champ.

We're doing good! This ward is on FIRE. It's so cool. We came in to 3 investigators, and 5 Recent Converts... That's crazy cool. We also don't ward share with Elders, so that will be a change as well. The people here are so so so kind. They are wonderful. They make the adjustment process a lot easier. I'm super grateful for them this week. Sister Coombs and I get along really well, so that is a major plus. She goes home in the middle of August, so this is her last full transfer.... I will be killing another one of my companions. (Probably, unless they decide to go nuts on us, and separate us for her last 3 weeks...) 

We've just kind of been going crazy all week, trying to meet with all the leadership in the ward, also trying to meet the investigators, less-actives and recent converts. It has all been kind of a blur. They introduced us in church yesterday, so hopefully we made a good impression. I already know that we are going to love it here. I'm excited to work with Sister Coombs, she has a ton of fire, and just wants to go to work! I'm excited to see miracles with her. :) 

We saw a crazy ton of miracles this week. I am so grateful for Heavenly Father for helping us. I know that he is leading us, and is with us while we are on this roller coaster ride. The Sisters before us were AMAZING, and took really good care of this ward. I am so grateful for them. We were able, through a miraculous set of circumstances, to meet with 3/4 recent converts, even after we were told that 2 of them really weren't all that excited to meet with us. Doubling in and out of an area is difficult, but it's good too. 

So yeah, that's about it! I hope you all have a great week! Thank you for all that you do! Please let me know if I can do anything for anyone. :) You are all great! Remember that I love you all! 

Love, Sister Wood :) 

Pic 1) Sister Coombs and I!!!

Pic 2) Hermana Garcia cut her hair! And she's going home... :( She left yesterday. So sad. Time is weird, and goes by really fast. 

DSC01919.JPG

DSC01930.JPG

So, I got some exciting news on Saturday! I will be leaving Marblehead.... :( I was really sad, the ward was really sad, Sister Phinney is sad, but excited, because she will be training a new missionary!!! I totally called it at the beginning of the transfer that this was going to happen. I did get to sing in church yesterday, and everyone came to say goodbye, which was good. :) I will be going back to Newport Beach!! I will be serving in the Newport Hills ward, and I will be doubling in with Sister Coombs. :) I love Sister Coombs! We both have served in Newport before, and I think that we will have a good time together. 

This week was good! It was crazy busy. I am so grateful for all the people that I have been able to serve here. We met a lot of people this week, and invited a lot of people to do a lot of things, and went contacting a lot. It was good. Sister Phinney had to go to San Diego this week with one of our Mission Presidency, so I was able to spend some time with Sister Dinning and Sister Corpuz. :) We had an awesome time together. 

I'm so sorry that I don't have much time, but pictures are worth a thousand words, so I will send a bunch. I love you all and will definitely send more information next week! 

In Ether it says, 

4 Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.

I love that scripture, I love the hope that it gives. I know that we can with surety hope for a better world, and as we strive to be like him, he will watch over us and help us in any way that he can. He is helping us, and is in every moment of everyday. My invitation to you guys this week is to pray and ask Heavenly Father to help you see his hand more prevalently in your lives, he will help you see miracles. 

I love you all! If I can do anything for  you, please let me know! If you want to send me anything, my address is:

 

Sister Anne Wood 

23 Lake Road

Irvine, California 92604

Have an amazing week! 

Love, Sister Wood 

DSC01825.JPG

DSC01831.JPG

DSC01846.JPG

We are here at the END of ANOTHER transfer. Can you believe that? Nope? Me neither. It's weird. REALLY weird how time works on the mission. I have just now decided to veto transfers. We'll just have a free for all on missionary work! Just kidding, I know that wouldn't work, but still. It would be kind of nice. Ah well, c'est la vie. I'll keep you updated on what's happening, cause we find out on Saturday. People seem to think that I'll be leaving, so we'll see. I would be really sad to leave Marblehead, and Sister Phinney. But, I will go where the Lord needs me. 

This week was great! Quick overview! 

Monday: P-day! We all got to go to Deseret Book! (We being Sister Phinney, me, Sister Dinning, and Sister Corpuz.) It was so so much fun! It's outside of the mission, and we got a little bit lost, but we made it and are alive! We had dinner at the Jones' house, who feed us at least once every two weeks. They are the best! 

Tuesday: We had an awesome District Meeting. I have four district leaders, so it's always kind of interesting. But it's always fun and spiritual as well. We went to Mission Viejo so I could practice my song for MLC, and had correlation with Brother Bingham.

Wednesday: We taught Bob!!! We took our ward High Priest group leader with us! It was perfect! They totally hit it off, and the lesson just flowed. He wants to come to church, but decided to wait til his lady is back from a trip. So we will hopefully be seeing our new investigator at church next Sunday! :) It was so so so cool. I am so grateful for the miracle that came from that. He's great. 

Thursday: I sang at MLC, which was great, then we went tracting! Ever since Bob, I have had a testimony of tracting. No one was interested, but we had a good time, and were able to give out a few Book of Mormons. :) I love tracting/ contacting with Sister Phinney. We just have a good time together. We had dinner at a member's house, and one of the Elders former investigators was there, and asked if she could be re-taught the lessons, because she wants to be baptized! Even cooler, was that her dad has also given his permission, and wants her younger brother to start going with her to church! That was a super cool miracle. 

Friday: We had Sister District Meeting. It was super fun. We also were told that our District was having a blitz in one of the Elders areas, 5 minutes before it started, if we wanted to join. Thanks Elders. But it was good! We were second guessing ourselves the whole time we were driving there, because we were going to the temple that night as well. We were only going to have 15 minutes of missionary work time before we would have to leave. We kept asking if we should just turn around and leave, but wounds up staying our course. I am so glad that we did. In 15 minutes, we were able to tract a cul-de-sac, and every single door opened to us. We had 8 contacts, handed out 3 copies of the Book of Mormon, and one person said that they would go to the temple music devotional. Then we had to leave. But it was so crazy amazing!!! I know that because we had faith, and wanted to support our district, we were blessed to see miracles. It was so cool. Then we were able to go and do a session at the Newport Beach Temple with a returning less-active in our ward. It was so so so amazing. 

Saturday: was full of service. We went at 8 am to a park, and helped spread woodchips in the playground. Our whole zone was there, and it was lots of fun. One of my district leaders is convinced that I'm getting transferred, and told me he would miss me when I left. We'll have to see...  We then went to Stella's and went to Costco with her. We had dinner with the Jones' family again, and they made all of Sister Phinney's favorite foods. It was super fun! They fed us twice this week because transfers are coming up, and they wanted us over as many times as they could before then. Hopefully their worry is for nothing. :) We also went and had a lesson with a LA that we've been working with the entire time I've been in Marblehead. I love her lots, and will hopefully be able to go to the temple with her sometime. It was a phenomenal day. 

Sunday: Good and busy. I love this ward. So so so much. So many good people. And so many people who love us. I am so grateful for them, and so blessed to work with them. We just had a good day. We went to the Temple music night, saw some people, enjoyed the music, and walked the temple grounds & gave a tour. 

It was such a GOOD week. I am so grateful for all the times that I was able to see Heavenly Father's hand in my day. He's watching over each of us. I am so grateful for him. We recently have been talking a lot about God's love. If you have a chance, check out John 3:16 & 17, and the song "He Sent His Son" in the Primary Songbook. It's so good. My invitation to you guys is to pray and to ask Heavenly Father to help you see yourself as he sees you. I promise that he will help you get a glimpse of how much he loves you. 

Thank you for all that you do! Keep up the good work! I love you all! 

Love, Sister Wood :) 

DSC01789.JPG

DSC01790.JPG

DSC01796.JPG

I am so sorry that I didn't email yesterday! Due to Memorial Day, we had issues. But I'm not dead, and still working hard here in San Clemente. 

This week was super cool! 

We went to see Stella this week,  she asked us why we never go see her on the weekdays, or at night, so this week we went on Wednesday at 7. She is so awesome. She doesn't really have a lot of people to talk with, because her husband and her son both passed away. So we go over. She was telling us about how her grandson committed suicide, and then a few weeks later, her son died. She was crying, and I started crying, and as I was listening, I thought about the lesson that we had planned the night before. It was John 3:16, and I was going to sing He Sent His Son. For a split second, I thought, how can we share that with her, when she feels so alone and forgotten? Then the thought came, that the message of his love was exactly what she needed. The Spirit was so strong as we testified to her that Heavenly Father was looking out for her, and knew her personally. 

Thursday we had Zone Training Meeting. It was so good. So many wonderful trainings. We learned a lot about having unity with your companion, and doing everything you can to help them. That was super cool. 

FRIDAY was AMAZING. Seriously, so many miracles happened. I will try to be brief. We started out our morning by tracting. We then get a call, asking us to go pick up some Sisters who couldn't drive, because their appointment fell through. So we went and picked them up, but rather than getting back on the freeway to go home, I took a different route. I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going, other than I knew that we were heading to the Stake Center. On our way, we happened to be driving up Bob's street. If you don't remember who Bob is, here is an excerpt from my email from Week 23.

 "So on Tuesday we were on exchanges and I was with Sister Hollenbeck, At the beginning of this transfer, we promised to go tracting for an hour every single day, so the first thing we were doing was tracting. We were finishing tracting a street, and we went up to one of the last houses on the street, as Sister Hollenbeck went up to the door and knocked on it, I saw something, and I realized that we had already knocked on this door. Most people aren't happy to see us the first time we come to the door, so I was worried that we were about to get yelled at. So when the man opened the door, I was relieved to see one of the nicer people that I've talked to. His name is Bob. I started out with the genius line of, "Hi! I've met you before!" He laughed a little bit, and responded with, "I know!" It was pretty funny. We had a really good conversation with him, (because he hadn't been able to talk to us last time due to a conference call) and gave him a Book of Mormon. He was really touched that we would give that to him, and he promised that he would read it. We invited him to learn more about the Gospel, but he said, "Let me read the book first, then we can talk about it." !!!!! It was so exciting. We will stop by sometime in the next few weeks and see how he is doing. :) We also went contacting down on some hiking trails where we contacted 80 people and handed out 9 Book of Mormons!!  (Books of Mormon? Still don't know the plural of that) It was awesome!"

 

So that's Bob. So we were driving up Bob's street. I would also like to point out that that excerpt was from over 3 months ago. We have stopped by many times trying to see Bob since then, but no one was home. As we were driving up his street, Sister Phinney says, "Let's go see Bob." And I was like, sure, let's go see Bob! So we go up to the house, and guess what???? Bob was there!! He invited us in, but we had two other Sisters waiting for us in the car, so we are going to see him tomorrow with a member of our ward!!!! I'm trying to not get my hopes up too high, but it's just so darn exciting! 

Saturday was amazing too. I was on an exchange with Sister Corpuz, and we saw so many miracles together. First miracle, we taught a lesson on the Book of Mormon to a girl in our business center, because Sister Corpuz needed to print off a talk, and started talking to her. We later found the book we gave her on the book shelf there, which was sad. But it was a cool lesson. :) Second, we were able to go and see a LA in their ward who they have been trying to see since I was in their area two transfers ago. We finally met her! She wants to feed them dinner. :) We went to a Filipino dinner, because Sister Corpuz speaks Tagalog, and is working on getting to know members to fellowship their 4 Filipino investigators. It was so fun! Then we went to dinner in the Liberty Park ward, and had an awesome lesson with the family. At the end, the wife told us that she felt inspired to ask if we needed anything, like sweaters, or shoes. We said not right now, but thanked her. In the car, Sister Corpuz told me that she needed a sweater, and hadn't wanted to ask for it. It was really cool that that woman had been inspired to ask about that. Sister Corpuz said she would ask for one. It was just such a wonderful day.

 I learned so much about following the promptings of the Spirit from her.

That's about it! We did take a road trip out of the mission with our roomates yesterday to go to Deseret Book, (with permission of course) to get some much needed things. It was so fun!  Oh, and Sister Phinney gave a great training today on faith. She used Hebrews 11. Thoughts from that are these: 

verse 5- By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

verse 7- By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

verse 11- Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.

verse 23- By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment.

verse 29- By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.

verse 30- By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.

But my favorite of all is verse 6- But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

It was so good. Also, the reason for the title of my email. Things have been a little bit rough this and the last transfer but we made it through. So, I thought these verses were very fitting. 

 19 And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.

20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

I know that if we press forward, relying wholly upon our Savior, having a perfect brightness of hope, we will be blessed. I know that Heavenly Father is watching over us every day. He is always there for us, and will help us every step. I hope you all have a good week! Love you! 

Love, Sister Wood :) 

IMG_0064[1].JPG

IMG_0061[1].JPG

IMG_0053[1].JPG

Hallo Everybody!! 

This week was stupendous! 

Wednesday I went on an exchange with Sister Dinning!! She is so so aweome!! We were able to do some service and have a lot of fun! We helped the Relief Society set up for their luau later that night, which was super fun. Sister Dinning showed me the kind of missionary that I want to be. She is so fun, and makes missionary work fun! We went around talking to people, and she just whipped out her ukelele and started playing it for people as we walked. It was so fun! We stopped by some less-actives and were able to talk to some that they had never been able to meet before which was super cool. We went to the ward luau and learned about living with the Aloha Spirit, and the whole time I was thinking that our whole mission lives with the  Aloha Spirit, thanks to President Orgill. :) 

Thursday we had zone conference!!!! So, so, so, amazing. Seriously, so much fun, and so much revelation. Also, so many tears were shed, because it was President's VERY LAST ZONE CONFERENCE EVER. Gah!  It's so sad. Favorite quotes/ highlights from the conference.

"Do you have the faith to receive answers from God? He wants to answer your questions, but unless you open that conduit with faith, you are blocking him from giving them to you. Joseph Smith got an answer, you can as well if you have the faith." 

"Grace is the enabling power of Jesus Christ. it is neither earned nor deserved, but it is given nonetheless." 

"Our purpose is to uplift and edify. Would you feel uplifted, edified, or loved if someone just tried to stab you with a card and walked away? No! Show them you love them!" <- That was super funny. :) 

"If you aren't happy doing missionary work, you're doing it wrong." 

And my favorite from President Orgill,

"We never, ever stop loving. We never, ever stop caring. We never, ever stop trying. No matter what. No matter how hard, no matter what trials we must confront. No matter how impossible or insurmountable. We always, always keep loving. We always, always keep caring. We always, always keep trying." 

Such a good zone conference. Seriously. so good! 

After zone conference we had dinner then were able to go have a lesson with a less-active that we visit regularly. Her cat always sits on me, as you will see in the picture. :) 

Friday was pretty boring, with weekly planning, but it was still good. :) 

That's pretty much my week! Actually, on Saturday, we saw Julian! It was such a miracle, because we were walking out of our lesson with Stella, and he waved at us from across the street! We were able to go and talk to him. He's super sweet. It was really good to see him again. 

This week was super good. :) Thank you for your love and support! I love you all, and hope you have an amazing week! 

Love, Sister Wood :) 

Picture 1) Exchanges with Sister Dinning!

Picture 2) I really can't explain what she's doing, but it was funny. :)  

DSC01673.JPG

DSC01711.JPG