Hi Everybody!! 

This weeks letter is going to be super short. Coming out to email has been the second time I have been outside of our apartment in the past four days... We've had an interesting week. 

Last Monday was pretty normal, except for the fact that we got four new referrals... What? That never happens ever! It was insane. We got the first two really close together, then we got the other two later that day. We have never had this many referrals at one time. It's amazing! I don't know what we did to deserve so many blessings, but we are so grateful. We've tried to contact most of them, with no success, but we will keep trying. :) 

Tuesday we were able to go have dinner with a nonmember who we met through one of the members in our ward. She is the sweetest lady I have ever met. She is from Vietnam, and her husband recently passed away. She took us into her heart, and she just loves us. We love her a lot. On Christmas, we gave her the Book of Mormon, when she took it from us, she was so touched by it. We bore our testimonies about it and talked about what a gift it was. She told us she would read it and was so grateful that we would share that with her. The spirit in the room while we talked was so sweet. I will always remember that experience. 

Wednesday was amazing! It's so cool to see the Spirit touch people, and testify to them the truthfulness of the Gospel. We were contacting in a park, trying to talk to everyone we saw. I tried to talk to this one couple who said they were busy, so I looked down for a minute to grab a card, and when I looked up, they were halfway across the park! So I put my bag down, and ran after them. They looked kind of startled when I ran up behind them, but they took the card and said they would look at the video on it, so it was worth it. When I got back to my companion, she was dying of laughter. I must admit after the fact it was pretty funny. I have never chased people down before. :) We also gave out three Books of Mormon. People were just very willing to talk to us, and I was so grateful for that. 

Thursday was definitely interesting. We took our car in to get fixed in the morning, and then after that, we dove straight into visiting people. Hermana Garcia slowly seemed to be losing energy, then suddenly when we were at dinner, she seemed to lose all of what energy she had left. We went home, (we had to be in by 7 anyways) and let her sleep. 

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday,

We have been stuck at home. Sister Garcia has been slowly feeling a little bit better, but is no where near feeling well. I feel so useless because I can't do much to help her. I've watched the Best Two Years and 17 Miracles like 5 times each, while making covers for planners, cleaning the apartment, etc. I've also read almost the entire book of Alma in the past two days. I'm hoping to maybe finish the Book of Mormon in the next two days because the Nurse says she needs to rest more, and stay at home. So that should be interesting. 

In my personal study, I was reading about the Lamanites trying to invade the cities of the Nephites under the direction of Amalickiah. It says, 

22 Now when they found that they could not obtain power over the Nephites by the pass, they began to dig down their banks of earth that they might obtain a pass to their armies, that they might have an equal chance to fight; but behold, in these attempts they were swept off by the stones and arrows which were thrown at them; and instead of filling up their ditches by pulling down the banks of earth, they were filled up in a measure with their dead and wounded bodies.

 23 Thus the Nephites had all power over their enemies; and thus the Lamanites did attempt to destroy the Nephites until their chief captains were all slain; yea, and more than a thousand of the Lamanites were slain; while, on the other hand, there was not a single soul of the Nephites which was slain.

 24 There were about fifty who were wounded, who had been exposed to the arrows of the Lamanites through the pass, but they were shielded by their shields, and their breastplates, and their head-plates, insomuch that their wounds were upon their legs, many of which were very severe.

I was wondering how these scriptures applied to us, and then the thought came to me that if we, like the Nephites have not fortified ourselves, and shield ourselves, we will not be able to protect ourselves from the adversary. He will do everything he can to get at us, he will try the entrance, when he can't in, he'll try to climb, or dig, or do anything he can to get to us. I have gained a testimony of how important each piece of the armor of God is in protecting us. We also must fight back. The Nephites didn't just sit there. They threw stones and arrows, they didn't just let the enemy come in and invite them to have some tea. (Throwback to one of Elder Hollands talks) Anyways, I thought that it was really cool that all the scriptures are applicable. :) 

I've learned a lot this week, and looking back over my email, it's not short at all, so sorry about that. I hope you are all doing well, and that you have all had a Happy New Year! I love you all lots. This week I am ponderizing Alma 29:9. 

Thank you for all your prayers and support. 

Love, Sister Annie Wood :) 

Picture 1) The fruits of my labors the past few days :) 

Picture 2) Driving in the car with our super cool sunglasses. :) 

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Hi Everyone!

I am doing spectacularly this week. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to be a missionary. It's crazy awesome. 

This week I got a new companion! Her name is Hermana Garcia! She is so wonderful. She is from Australia, and just got transferred from the Spanish speaking part of the mission, (where she has been for her entire mission up to this point) into an English speaking part of the mission. So that has been a little bit crazy, and we've had an interesting time together trying to adjust, but we are doing well together. She has this crazy long red hair, and is probably the sweetest person on the planet. I feel very blessed to be able to know her. 

After transfers on Wednesday, we had to drop Sister Blair off at the Mission office so she could be driven to the airport. It was so hard to say goodbye to her. There were 8 other sisters going home with her, and so many people were crying. We were all a mess, but she is happy to be home with her family for Christmas. 

We also got to help set up and be a part of the Ward Christmas Party. It was a blast, and an awesome experience. We met so many people that we hadn't ever met before, and were able to talk to the Anaheim Spanish missionaries, which was fun. (The Anaheim Spanish Ward meets in our building, so we had our Christmas party together.) I tried tamales for the first time. They are so good, but maybe a little bit spicy for me. We had an awesome time, and loved spending time with our ward. 

We are still working with Gamal, and hoping that he will keep progressing and working towards his baptismal date. 

I want to talk about Julie. Julie is the 16 year old girl who we met last week. She told us last week on Sunday that she wanted to come to church, and we've had other people tell us that in the past, and then they didn't show up. It's super disappointing when people don't keep commitments. Anyways, we called her on Thursday, and asked if she was planning on coming, and if she needed a ride, etc. She said that she was coming!!! Then she came!!!! Oh man, so much stuff happened yesterday that could have prevented everything from happening like it did, but it was amazing! She stayed at all three hours of church, and she wants to come back next week! She is also letting us come and talk with her tomorrow and on Thursday. I cannot express how blessed I feel that we found her. She was telling us yesterday about how she had been searching for a church, and wanted to come closer to God. What the amazing!!! 

That's about it! I'm so excited for Christmas, and I'm excited to see what the next week brings, because life is never boring as a missionary. I love this gospel, and I love this Christmas season where people are so much more open to talking about Christ and remembering him. 

I love you all so much, and want to wish you a very Merry Christmas. 

Love, Sister Wood :) 

Picture 1) This is Sister Garcia and I along with two of the Bishops daughters. I put a wreath on my head, and soon everyone else had a wreath on their head, so we took a picture. Also, the little girls wanted to wear our coats. This happened while we were setting up for the ward Christmas party. 

Picture 2) Us and Santa!! :) 

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Hi Everyone!

I am doing spectacularly this week. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to be a missionary. It's crazy awesome. 

This week I got a new companion! Her name is Hermana Garcia! She is so wonderful. She is from Australia, and just got transferred from the Spanish speaking part of the mission, (where she has been for her entire mission up to this point) into an English speaking part of the mission. So that has been a little bit crazy, and we've had an interesting time together trying to adjust, but we are doing well together. She has this crazy long red hair, and is probably the sweetest person on the planet. I feel very blessed to be able to know her. 

After transfers on Wednesday, we had to drop Sister Blair off at the Mission office so she could be driven to the airport. It was so hard to say goodbye to her. There were 8 other sisters going home with her, and so many people were crying. We were all a mess, but she is happy to be home with her family for Christmas. 

We also got to help set up and be a part of the Ward Christmas Party. It was a blast, and an awesome experience. We met so many people that we hadn't ever met before, and were able to talk to the Anaheim Spanish missionaries, which was fun. (The Anaheim Spanish Ward meets in our building, so we had our Christmas party together.) I tried tamales for the first time. They are so good, but maybe a little bit spicy for me. We had an awesome time, and loved spending time with our ward. 

We are still working with Gamal, and hoping that he will keep progressing and working towards his baptismal date. 

I want to talk about Julie. Julie is the 16 year old girl who we met last week. She told us last week on Sunday that she wanted to come to church, and we've had other people tell us that in the past, and then they didn't show up. It's super disappointing when people don't keep commitments. Anyways, we called her on Thursday, and asked if she was planning on coming, and if she needed a ride, etc. She said that she was coming!!! Then she came!!!! Oh man, so much stuff happened yesterday that could have prevented everything from happening like it did, but it was amazing! She stayed at all three hours of church, and she wants to come back next week! She is also letting us come and talk with her tomorrow and on Thursday. I cannot express how blessed I feel that we found her. She was telling us yesterday about how she had been searching for a church, and wanted to come closer to God. What the amazing!!! 

That's about it! I'm so excited for Christmas, and I'm excited to see what the next week brings, because life is never boring as a missionary. I love this gospel, and I love this Christmas season where people are so much more open to talking about Christ and remembering him. 

I love you all so much, and want to wish you a very Merry Christmas. 

Love, Sister Wood :) 

Picture 1) This is Sister Garcia and I along with two of the Bishops daughters. I put a wreath on my head, and soon everyone else had a wreath on their head, so we took a picture. Also, the little girls wanted to wear our coats. This happened while we were setting up for the ward Christmas party. 

Picture 2) Us and Santa!! :) 

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Hello!

Can you believe that I have been a missionary for two days shy of three months? Because I can't. It's super weird, and I feel like I am in this alternate universe where time simultaneously stands still and moves really fast at the same time. It seems like just yesterday I was saying goodbye to my family and walking into the MTC. Man, It's seriously weird. 

This week has been nuts. So many things going on all the time. We never have enough time to do everything that we need to. 

On Monday We got to go to Balboa Island, which is this awesome little man-made island in the ocean. There are lots of little shops and places to go. It was a super fun Sisters activity. 

On Tuesday, we had a successful day of tracting and visiting less-actives. We had some interesting conversations with this man who is a professor of theology. We tried really hard not to argue with him and just leave, but he really wanted to talk to us about different religions and why ours was wrong... So we just testified to him, and disengaged. It was a weird conversation. We also had our Christmas... Activity? As a whole mission. It is always fun to see all the people who came out with me. We had a blast, and got to see a lot of friends. 

For the past few weeks, we have been able to go and help at Habitat for Humanity. It has been a great opportunity to do service for us. Service is one of my favorite things to do for people. I love going and helping with whatever we can. It's great. :) Especially when you see how much people need help and see how grateful they are for you. It makes being a missionary so amazing. 

We also had a mission-wide Sisters training meeting. They gave trainings on so many things. Modesty, music, love languages and how to get along better with your companion, and many other things. We heard the story of how our mission president and his wife met and got married, and it was probably one of the sweetest stories I've ever heard. After they were done telling the story, he got down on his knee and proposed to her again. (He has always felt like he didn't do it right the first time.)  I looked around while this was happening, ( I have to admit I shed a few tears as well) and almost all of the Sisters were crying at least a little bit. It just made me laugh, because this would never happen at an Elders training. 

One of the STL's made up a rap and was going to present it during one of the trainings, and at the Christmas party was asking around to see if anyone knew how to beat-box. I have a very, very, very basic form of beat-boxing, (It's not very good) but she asked me to "drop a beat" for her during the Sisters training meeting. It was fun, and an opportunity to share a talent that I had never really considered to be a talent of mine. It was fun. :) 

Last story for today. :) Yesterday, Sister Blair and I went tracting for an hour before dinner. We prayed before, and asked Heavenly Father to help us find someone who we could help. As we were walking, we saw this girl standing in her driveway, and we went and talked to her. We started our normal spiel, "Hi, we're the missionaries! Could we share this quick two minute video with you?" She said yes, so we shared the A Savior is Born video with her. After it was over, I asked her how she felt, she proceeded to tell us about her depression that she had been dealing with for years, and how now she didn't really feel anything anymore. I felt so sad at that moment, because here was this beautiful daughter of God, who didn't think that she could ever feel His love, or even feel happy ever again. I suddenly had this prompting that I had to tell her. So I testified of things that I knew. That she was a daughter of a loving Heavenly Father who only wanted her happiness. I testified of the Atonement, and repentance. As I was talking, she started to cry, and the Spirit in that moment was so strong. I knew that she could feel it, and that the Spirit was telling her that what I was saying was true. I had another thought at that moment, that I needed to invite her to be baptized. I was taken aback, because I had just met this girl, and I didn't want her to think I was nuts for inviting her to be baptized... But I asked that if she had a witness and knew that the things we had shared were true, if she would be baptized, and she said yes! She also said that we could come back and teach her and her family, and that she would come to church! It was such an amazing miracle that we were able to meet her and testify to her, and help her feel the Spirit. I am so excited to see her again. 

Heavenly Father is just waiting to bless us. When we are obedient and do the things that he has asked us to do, he will make miracles happen in our lives. I have seen it time and time again on my mission so far. 

Transfers!!! I will be staying in South Coast for this next transfer, ( our ward was really happy about that :) ) and I will be getting a new companion. Sister Blair returns to New Mexico on Wednesday, which is crazy, because we just got here. I can't believe that it's almost 2016. I'm nervous, but excited for transfers, and I will let you all know what's going on! 

I love you all! Thank you for your prayers and support! 

Love, Sister Wood :) 

Hiya!

Life is so great! I love being a missionary. :) 

Man, this week has been a little bit crazy. Every week is crazy, but this one was super hectic. 

So, on Tuesday we had Sister Blair's departing dinner. ( This is where all of the missionaries going home get to invite one other missionary, and go have dinner and a testimony meeting at the Mission Home.) It was really nice, and I felt blessed that Sister Blair invited me to go with her. She also invited her other greenie, and it was really fun. After the dinner, we all sat in this big circle in the living room, and were asked to share a memory or something we learned from one of the departing missionaries. We were so grateful that Elders and Sisters have separate dinners because as soon as the first person started talking, everyone started crying. Seriously, so many tears. It was a mess. It was really awesome, and really spiritual, but we tried to take some pictures afterwards, and it was all puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks. So many tears. But it was good. 

To make things more interesting, we had zone 24's that night as well. (Where the whole zone gets together and switches companions for 24 hours) We were super late. Most people know that I'm not a super prompt person anyway, (I am getting better at it on my mission) but we were super late. I felt really bad for all of our temporary companions. They were not very pleased with us. We didn't get to bed until almost midnight, which is super late for missionaries. I went on a 24 with Sister Bauer (who I came out with) and Sister Van Den Braun (the British one) in their area. We had an awesome time together. We had a lot of fun, and talked to some awesome people. I am so glad I got to be with them for a day and hear their testimonies. 

We also have started sharing the "A Savior is Born" video. It is so awesome! I love that video, so so so so so so so much. It is awesome. I love sharing it with people as well. Seriously, it's the best. Being a missionary is the best! 

The day after 24's (Thursday I think) I went on an exchange down in the Spanish area. Oh my goodness. I thought I understood Spanish. Who was I kidding? No one. I do not understand or speak Spanish at all. It was so funny, cause I would be sitting there nodding, pretending like I understood what everyone was saying, but then someone would ask me a question, and I'm pretty sure I looked just like a deer in the headlights. I did not get it. My temporary companion, Hermana Garcia, said it was so hard not to laugh, because it was so obvious that I had no clue what was happening. I also got a massive headache from trying to follow along. They called it a "greenie headache" Which makes sense. I am so grateful I got to be there though. I felt the spirit, and I know that no matter what language we are speaking, the gospel is still true, and the spirit can still touch our hearts. It was a very fun day. 

On Friday, we went to DLC. (District Leadership Council) Where the District Leaders and Zone Leaders, and STL's go and talk about the zone and how to better help the missionaries in the zone. Because Sister Blair is the only STL in our zone, I get to (have to?) go with her. No one can play the piano, so we always sing the hymns A Capella. This is always and adventure because most of the people there... try their hardest to sing in tune, but it's hard with out a piano. Anyways, one of the Elders started the song, but he started it on a super high note. So, we are trying to sing along... but we can't. I just couldn't do it. So I changed the key and shifted down a few notes in the middle of the song. We all lost it. It sounded awful, and we just started laughing really hard. Sister Blair was crying from laughing so hard. We were trying to be reverent, but it took forever to calm down. 

Anyways, that's about it for this week. We have transfer calls this week, and then Transfer meeting next Tuesday. I will definitely let you all know where I'm going! 

I love you all! 

Love, Sister Wood :)   

Greetings Everyone!!

So, I know I talk about this a lot, but the weather is seriously so weird. I can't get used to it. I keep expecting to wake up to snow on the ground, but that doesn't happen in California. Also, everyone is talking about something called El Nino, which is this humongous storm that is supposed to come and hit California. I love the rain and I am crossing my fingers that it happens, cause that would be awesome. Also, California needs the rain, so added bonus. 

There are so many awesome things that happened this week! Seriously, so many miracles. I have learned a lot this week about God's timing. Seriously though, it's nuts. He just puts people in our path when we need them to be there. We have met some amazing people this week. We have had so many experiences where we would go somewhere, and it wouldn't work out, we'd try all of our back up plans, and nothing would be working out, so we would go somewhere that we felt prompted to go, and bam! Someone who needed us right at that moment. It's amazing what the Lord will do with us when we surrender ourselves over to him. 

I love this gospel so much. I love teaching people about it. We were able to have an awesome lesson with one of our investigators about the Book of Mormon. We took one of the new members of our ward with us, and it was amazing. The member bore such a strong testimony and was able to relate so much to our investigator. We knew that it had been inspired that we had taken that specific person with us to teach that lesson. When we asked her how she felt when we read from the Book of Mormon, she talked about how peaceful and happy she felt. I cannot tell you how amazing it feels when you realize that someone is feeling the Spirit because of something that Heavenly Father let you bring into their lives. I know that we as missionaries couldn't do what we do with out the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Without him there to testify and be a witness to the people you are teaching, there would be no point in trying to teach. But with the Holy Ghost, we can do anything, and he can touch the hearts of so many people. 

Last Sunday, the teacher of the Gospel Principles class said he was sick and wouldn't be able to teach the lesson. He asked if we could teach it. We didn't have the book, but we thought we should be able to wing it. We get to the class, and we find out that we will be teaching... The Law of Chastity. I was kind of dreading it. Our newest member, (who had just been baptized the day before) walked in and someone said, "Guess what the lesson is?" He responded, totally kidding, "The Law of Chastity!" We all died laughing, and then he said, "Wait is it really the Law of Chastity?" When we nodded, "I've heard this lesson four times in the past month!"Oh man, it was so funny. 

We also had the opportunity to see the Churches Christmas initiative video. (Like the Because he lives video in Easter) It is so good. My whole mission was sitting in the chapel and we watched the video probably four times. The spirit in that room was so, so  strong. I can't wait for you all to see it. (It comes out on November 29th) It is so good. I'm excited to start using it to find people and help people "Discover why" I am so stoked!!!! It's going to be amazing! 

Dang! I don't have anymore time, but I am so happy to be out here serving a mission. I have a testimony that Jesus Christ is our Savior. He loves us so much. I love this gospel and I am grateful to be able to devote this year and a half of my life to him and his work. It is amazing to see Heavenly Father's hand in my life. I love you all so much. I have a challenge! This challenge will take a while, but for a whole year, I want you to write down one thing you are grateful for every single day. I will be doing this as well. Starting today. Put that thing in a jar, box, whatever will hold 365 (366, because of leap year :) ) pieces of paper, and next year go through and read all of the things you were grateful for. I am so excited! I promise that if you take this challenge, you will have an increased capacity to see Heavenly Father's influence in your life. 

I love you all!!! 

Love, Sister Wood :) 

I'm finally sending pictures!!! 

1) I got to hold a bird! 

  

So, I know I talk about this a lot, but the weather is seriously so weird. I can't get used to it. I keep expecting to wake up to snow on the ground, but that doesn't happen in California. Also, everyone is talking about something called El Nino, which is this humongous storm that is supposed to come and hit California. I love the rain and I am crossing my fingers that it happens, cause that would be awesome. Also, California needs the rain, so added bonus. 

There are so many awesome things that happened this week! Seriously, so many miracles. I have learned a lot this week about God's timing. Seriously though, it's nuts. He just puts people in our path when we need them to be there. We have met some amazing people this week. We have had so many experiences where we would go somewhere, and it wouldn't work out, we'd try all of our back up plans, and nothing would be working out, so we would go somewhere that we felt prompted to go, and bam! Someone who needed us right at that moment. It's amazing what the Lord will do with us when we surrender ourselves over to him. 

I love this gospel so much. I love teaching people about it. We were able to have an awesome lesson with one of our investigators about the Book of Mormon. We took one of the new members of our ward with us, and it was amazing. The member bore such a strong testimony and was able to relate so much to our investigator. We knew that it had been inspired that we had taken that specific person with us to teach that lesson. When we asked her how she felt when we read from the Book of Mormon, she talked about how peaceful and happy she felt. I cannot tell you how amazing it feels when you realize that someone is feeling the Spirit because of something that Heavenly Father let you bring into their lives. I know that we as missionaries couldn't do what we do with out the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Without him there to testify and be a witness to the people you are teaching, there would be no point in trying to teach. But with the Holy Ghost, we can do anything, and he can touch the hearts of so many people. 

Last Sunday, the teacher of the Gospel Principles class said he was sick and wouldn't be able to teach the lesson. He asked if we could teach it. We didn't have the book, but we thought we should be able to wing it. We get to the class, and we find out that we will be teaching... The Law of Chastity. I was kind of dreading it. Our newest member, (who had just been baptized the day before) walked in and someone said, "Guess what the lesson is?" He responded, totally kidding, "The Law of Chastity!" We all died laughing, and then he said, "Wait is it really the Law of Chastity?" When we nodded, "I've heard this lesson four times in the past month!"Oh man, it was so funny. 

We also had the opportunity to see the Churches Christmas initiative video. (Like the Because he lives video in Easter) It is so good. My whole mission was sitting in the chapel and we watched the video probably four times. The spirit in that room was so, so  strong. I can't wait for you all to see it. (It comes out on November 29th) It is so good. I'm excited to start using it to find people and help people "Discover why" I am so stoked!!!! It's going to be amazing! 

Dang! I don't have anymore time, but I am so happy to be out here serving a mission. I have a testimony that Jesus Christ is our Savior. He loves us so much. I love this gospel and I am grateful to be able to devote this year and a half of my life to him and his work. It is amazing to see Heavenly Father's hand in my life. I love you all so much. I have a challenge! This challenge will take a while, but for a whole year, I want you to write down one thing you are grateful for every single day. I will be doing this as well. Starting today. Put that thing in a jar, box, whatever will hold 365 (366, because of leap year :) ) pieces of paper, and next year go through and read all of the things you were grateful for. I am so excited! I promise that if you take this challenge, you will have an increased capacity to see Heavenly Father's influence in your life. 

I love you all!!! 

Love, Sister Wood :)