Buon natale

hey friends. 

Buon Natale. I cannot tell you how happy i am to spend Christmas here again. I want nothing more. Literally we have been asked by at least 10 different families to come spend it with them.

WE BE LOVED!

meno mals, thats all i can say.. Perks about being here is they don't just celebrate Christmas eve and day, but anche the day after! So we are going to a members house tonight with the Anziani. This family invited us to come sing Christmas carols with them to their neighbors and then to give them Book of Mormons!!. I love member work.. it makes my world a thousand times better. Then tomorrow we have to go to this city called Voghera four hours early because heyyy it is Christmas and i guess the trains just dont want to work but that is where our Christmas day family is.. and THEN the day after we got another lunch with a family who has an inactive son. SO MUCH FUN!!

i love christmas!!!

so i really don't have a lot today. I just love this mission. Yesterday at new missionary training we were singing the mission hymn and i just started to cry. My heart has just been enveloped by this work and the gospel. This mission just seems like it is my life, always has been and always will be.. I have found my testimony of the gospel here. Who i need to be and how i need to be. I love my Savior. I cannot comprehend His love or the gift He gave us by giving His life but it pushes me each day to be a little better. To do a little better, and love a little more. I know the things we talk about every day are the truth. I have never found the Spirit anywhere else or in anything else that has touched my heart so forcefully again and again then i have found in the gospel. I love this gospel. I love this church and i know we are guided by an inspired Prophet of God. This year share your testimony with someone. Help bring back those who have fallen. Be an example, but most importantly be a disciple of our Savior. That is my theme for my Sisters, is to really become a desciple of our Savior. That was one of my main mission goals. It is simple but not always easy. We walk after the footsteps of our master. I love this time of year and the Spirit i feel every day as i testify to my Italians about my Savior whether it be on the streets, in the subway, or in a lesson. I love Him and i know He loves me. Buon Natale! Vi voglio bene, e voi che siete ritornati a casa, ricordate sempre, noi siamo discepoli di Gesù Cristo!!. Il nostro Capo, e fratello. ((: 

Con amore,

Sorella Woods

and please watch... BUDDY THE ELF; WHATS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR???

and it's the final countdown

Got baby numero 3.. And her name is Warren!!! I didn't get to name her but our last names go fairly well together and she will be killing me off.. and we get to do all this while i try to be a one man show sister training leader.. Hopefully it just consists of calling the sisters, just smothering them in my mother superior love and getting to go do some work in other cities. 

and there is the reason for the title, i am literally in my last 2 transfers... and then that song just pops in my head... Weirdest thing of my whole life. This has been the quickest and most amazing by farrrr, experience of my life. I am super grateful to be staying here in Pavia though. I feel like i really can't make my mark and effect the people i need to effect in a short time. So even though it is only my third city and i never made it south or to Venezia, i am happy. 

SO HAPPY.

Like zero desire at all to come home.. Usually when i see a picute of home or of the mountains,  i always go ahhh, i miss that place. Sorella Warren showed me a picture from her MTC group, and i just looked at the picture and it hit me that i have to go back eventually... and the desire.. non c'è.

But life goes on. Simps are making progress. I am seeing the change in them and in me every day.. So great. We were walking down the street the other day and we had probably talked to over 20 people, and all we got was no, no, no, no ma grazie.. oh you're welcome.. no no. So we decided to stop and sing.. We are just luck it's Chirstmas time and it is fairly normal at least in my eyes to have random people singing on the side of the road.. People just stared like we were the strangest thing they had ever seen and then we just kept walking.. ANd you know in the best two years when they are waiting for the call, because HE'S GONNA CALL, well 

SHE CALLED!!

a lady that we met weeks ago. And she called us yesterday to set an appt with us. WE ARE SO BLESSED! 

Well this about sums up my A.D.D thoughts for the week.

Love you all

Love Sorella Woods

Hey hey heyyy

TRANSFERS...

and i'm not going anywhere.. Pavia is my death!
Baby Burt... TRIESTE! and i am triste. Perfect companion. After three
months, and 24/7 hours a day together i still learn from her every day. I
grew a new best friend. ((: One of my dreams is to go see Trieste, but
Heavenly Father has put me here to work, not see Italy. So it just gives me
a greater excuse to come back after.. huzzah!
but... guess what?
*BABY NUMERO 3*
And sister training leader... How do you do that? Not exactly sure, but
should be interesting. Dibb just called and said i need you to do three in
a row. Well, i accept. I actually wanted to die training, so sono super
stoked!
We met with this amazing man last night that i talked to weeks ago on the
train home and gave him a BOM. He just said, i hope that this will change
my life as it has yours. And miracles literally are happening everyday. A
woman followed us off the train the other day and walked after us for at
least 5 minutes just to talk to us. People just keep accepting our cards
and our message to the world. And this is the best time of the year to be
talking about Jesus Christ. It almost makes me sad to see these people
walking around with bags and bags of garbbage. I mean, i love Christmas and
all that goes with it, but they are missing the greatest part!
ECCO, perche i am here!
Well family. Too lazy to write more. BUT i am so happy, and i am super
stoked for this responsibility to realls just focus my brain so i can kill
it in these last two.
Any prayer requests?
Mine would be pray for these people here that the new baby and i can find a
baptism. I love you all. (:
Love Sorella Woods

IT'S CHRISTMAS...time at least

I love Christmas! CHristmas music. Christmas food. Christmas lights, tress, everything!! They have an actual outside iceskating rink that they just put up in the middle of centro with who would have guessed,, cotton candy and any other deepfried italian sugar covered dessert filled with Nutella thing you could ever want. I really am so grateful to have another Christmas season here in the mission. There is nothing better! I love what my brain focus is and how really it's about the things that are the greatest and most important

cioè, the gospel! But really. We are just all so blessed. So i feel like Burt and i have been doing our part as far as missionary work. We work hard and we talk, and we ended the Novembre with a verrrryyy smaaallll amount of new investigators

MONTH OF SATAN, WHAT CAN I SAY MORE?

So Monday we had not one appt so it was a ricerca day!!! FAVORITE DAYSSSS, not. But alas, we made it out on time and hit the streets to talk and talk.. And we have this deal going, whoever speaks english first outside instead of italian gets to clean the kitchen for the day.. so we really are trying!

So we had talked to a vast number of people, and we had little less then an hour.. and no lessons. NO simps.. nada, niente, nope. So we stopped in centro and we prayed. Didn't feel anything in particular as i prayed, but we opened our eyes and just started to walk again. I saw a woman and a man on a bench in front of us and wouldn't you know it, new investigator! 10 minutes after that another lesson taught and quasi simp.. By the grace of God, but really. So later that night we go to do a passby at a less actives and just find the non member husband as usual. DI solito we dont talk to him much. He is just cold and has never really seemed to like us or our weekly if not twice a week knock on the door. But this time for some reason i just started to ask him questions. 10 minutes later we had committed him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. He said he would do it and we would talk Saturday with the family about what he found. The Spirit was so strong and i am so grateful for that guidance that came.. I am blessed that i am at that point in my life where Heavenly Father can use me as His instrument at any time He needs. Just such a good week! Seriously, if we would just stop worrying about the stupid little things in life and remember everything is planned out for our good if we do our part, there would never be a problem. Love you all! I hope you all have a good week.

Happy Birthday Baby CLAY CLAY!

Love

Sorella Woods

baby burt and i just doing what we do

#favoritebabyever

#ShareTheGift

NOVEMBER 26^th’s EMAIL

 Do ittttttt. Share the gift of the life of our Savior has given us! We're so blessed! So we had our conference about technology... and no IPAD's, at least not in the future of my mission, but my eyes were definetly opened to the fact that i dont need technology in my hands to help others to utilize it. We have been so blessed to be put in this time to have the tools we have. Anziano Fingerlie literally gave us a list of things that i'm totalllly going to do..

1. Share mormon messages on Facebook with others

2. Invite everyone to things like talks, farewells, programs, homecomings (you can utilize that one here pretty soon) JUST INVITE

3. Hashtags... (cough)  #ShareTheGift

4. familysearch.org

etc,etc,etc

The most important thing in this life is our families. Everyone has a family and everyone deserves a chance to be with theirs again. But they cant enjoy these blessings now if we do not open our mouths or utilize the things given to us.

Sorella Burt and i started the week with a fast. This week is consecration week and with that we are opening our mouths so much more to anyone who will stop. Thoughts, actions, everything we are doing is to try and focus on our work here in Pavia. We want 10 new investigators, talk to at least 70 new people, and we want to teach at least 21 lessons.. High goals but God makes us promises and then fulfills them if we do our part. Met some crazies this week who dont want to hear a word and are actually in the just rude catagorey, but we are also meeting those who have been prepared.

I'll say it again,, WE ARE SO BLESSED.

Life is too cool friends. Every day is just a new adventure. A new day to make someone else's day.

Love you all, 

and just to drill it in your brains, please 

#ShareTheGift

Sorella Woods

Suckiest day ever..

NOVEMBER 19^th’s EMAIL

Was a Monday.. this past Monday in fact.. and we don't even know why it sucked so bad. It just did.. and it was raining literally ALL day. So that night we were doing some good old 12 weeks and we were watching a video on paying tithing and all of a sudden i feel like God was chastising me in a very...loving way i guess i could put it. Malachi says in the old testament that the windows of heaven are opened to us as long as we pay a full tithe.. i was sitting there watching the video thinking, 'man, what i would do to make my problems right now just having to pay tithing.' and then ever so abruptly a voice in my head said, 'this is your tithing Sorella Woods' and my whole perspective changed. I have been told before many a times that serving is like paying your tithing, but i never really got it..Until Monday night, and God revealed it all. I have been given SO much my whole life and all He has asked for is this year and a half. I went to bed that night just so happy. I feel like i have been in this rut. I'm so close to home but there is SOO much more work to do. I cant wait to see my family, or hold my new babies in the family for that fact, or go to school again (never thought i would say that) but this is my time now to pay back just 10% of all the Lord has given me and all that He will give me. I want to be paying back everything that i owe every day! And with that perspective in mind, everything has just kind of turned around. That fire to find and talk has come back so strong again. The faith that people are literally on the street who will listen to us is there. God really is so great. He lets us learn, and suffer just a little bit. Not ever more then we can handle, but enough to give us the opportunity to exercise our faith, and then learn from that faith exercised. Miracles do come as we do exactly what the Lord has asked. Heavens window is opened. We set a bap date with another lady who we met months ago. We invited another one to be baptized who basically invited herself to church. The members are wanting to work with us and they just show us so much love. So, basically lesson learned. 

Have a good week.

Love!

Sorella Woods

MIRACOLI

NOVEMBER 5th's email

Ogni giorno.. So i am lazy and dont want to write the WHOLE story so just ask me about it when i get home. We were on a train and just so happened to sit next to this girl. She is from Texas but lives here in Italy (long story) but she was on the wrong train. So she got off with us and the next train wasnt for two hours, and she had an appt. she had to be to in one hour in a whole differnt city... So the impression came to my mind to invtite her to our appt with us.. Normally that just wouldnt be a thing you do inviting a stranger to someones home but it came from the Spirit so i did. Turns out this family we were going to didnt have a car at home to drive her in but a scooter... problem with that is she had her suitcase and that is a no go on the scooter route. So the son took her on the scooter and we took the bag so she could come pick it up from us later that night when she got back to Pavia. On the train ride home it came to our minds to write a note in a Book of Mormon and put it in her bag... so we did... Later that night we got her bag back to her so she could head home to BERGAMO, and then we headed home... So that whole night Burt and i just keep looking at eachother just waiting for a text or something from her... Never got one, so we decided 1. she hates us. 2. She just was so ingrossed in the BOM that she hadnt had the time to text us.. or 3. She hadnt unpacked yet... Naturally we were thinking it was option 1 until lunch time the next day.. I walked into the kitchen crying because we had gotten the most miraculous text from her about our note and the BOM..., and how she was so blessed from Heavenly Father to have met these two girls that were 'in the RIGHT place at the RIGHT time..' And the most amazing part is, we had nothing, absolutely NOTHING to do with this.. It was all Heavenly Father. We were simply the instruments He worked through. Another testament to me about how real God is and how aware He is of me as His servant. 

MIRACLE STAMP*

and miracle 2. The family that we randomly found one day while doing ricerca 'by being in the right place at the right time..' who the mom is a member and the sister but they havent found the church here in over to years!! Well the mom is now reactivated! And we just set a bap date with her son for the end of this month. Pavia is probably the hardest city i have served in finding new people wise, but it is turning into one of the most miraculous. I love this gospel and the work we do every day. It is so real and so exciting. It is hard, but so fulfilling. 

For all my americans. HAPPY HALLOWEEN, and THANKSGIVING soon.. Eat as much as you can for me. (:

Love Sorella Woods

...and i just got a call from Dibb.. We got a third comp coming end of the week!!

...

I am coming up with a blank today. We didnt end up getting our third companion... At first we were bummed because of the adventure it would have been but then we quickly came to the conclusion that our little group of 2 is just perfect.. practicaly in every way. I could die with Burt in all honesty. She is an amazing missionary. I really dont even know what day it is besides the fact that i am emailing. But seriously, every day is a blur. It was a really good week though. The time just keeps going and going though. It really is crazy! I went and did a scambio in Navigli this week, so that was fun. We actually just ended up getting lost in this beautiful city that Sorella Smart nor i had been to..Whenever something like that happens i just look around and think, man i am such a lucky duck to be lost in some random city in  Italy. And we left our two babies here in Pavia because Smart is training too.. AND BURT DID SO GOOD. She realized she can do everything without me!. Italy.. And every day just feels normal. We have to remind ourselves frequently that we are in Italy just to enjoy the fact of it. But honestly, it is just every day normal life. MISSION TOUR!!!! I am so excited. Main reason for the fact of seeing people that i havent seen my whole mission. SO STOKED. Other then that, there really isnt much else news. We just walk out the door every day and yell 'we're saving souls!' and then we go to work. I am just so happy and content.. I get a little trunkie when i start thinking about the future because there is so much to do, and my brain has gotten into this 'you have to do everything and couqer the world' mode, but then i realize every day how blessed and lucky i am to bring others to this light. There are still so many people waiting for me. (: They gave us some talks to start preparing for the conference... and they're all about technology...

can anybody say IPAD....

IPAD IPAD IPAD!!! I might actually get an ipad before i go home! BEST DAY EVER.

Love you friends. Have a fun week.

Love

Sorella Woods

Heyyyy...

For Dad

My wall of love

Yeah, worst letter i will ever write.. not making promises, but i am doing some other stuff so i will sum it all up in a list.

1. I love obedience.. obedience to something as simple as the mission rules, to the bigger things like the commandments.. I am so blessed because i choose to be obedient.

2. We found 2 LEGIT ladies in centro last week. We will meet them this week. And we found them both on nights where we had nothing NOTHING to do, so we went and started the search even though it sucked. and we were blessed.. Obedience blessings...? Yup.

3. I love my mission every day more, and more. I love these people and this time that really is so short.

4. I love you all. Sorry i dont write you all or tell you everything but you will get to see me for the rest of your lives, so in general, it really doesnt matter.. you wont get me to shutup afterwards.. enjoy the silence now.. 

Love you soo much!!! We are so happy and the transfer is already over... but we are together again!! I told Pres i want to die training. Baby number 3! I have never loved something so much.. Only two more transfers after this one. It is going quick my friends, but i wont wish the time away. Love you all!

Love Sorella Woods

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! 

(:

Try a little harder to be a little better-October 22nd's email

Theme... we like to title our weeks.. sometimes days and maybe even hours..It was that kind of week last week to need that title.. and then yesterday when we had a day literally without any appointments.. That meant hitting the streets for the whole day.. Hourssss. But we made it through and taught three lessons! So the good Lord blesses us when we do what we are supposed to do. So we have this investigator who is in the hospital because she has cancer, and that is the only thing that is stopping her from being baptized. All of us missionaries went to see her and her mom this past Sunday and everything had just gone down hill for her health wise. That night the anziani gave her a priesthood blessing. I left that night feeling just so torn up, but i had felt the power of the priesthood and the Spirit that came to be with us that night. We cant change things a lot of the time.. And in the end the only thing left to do is go heavenward. It really is amazing that in the long run of it all is the thing that we will always come back to will be God. We need Him and His help every day. I cannot immagine going a day without His help and i really have learned how to rely on Him as i have been here because He has been the only one to turn to. Pavia is a hard city. It is hard to find new people to teach and who are ready. But i know they are here. Gods plan is so specific.. I just have to make sure i am always doing my part. We went and volunteered at a soup kitchen this past Saturday with the catholic church, and seriously, it was the coolest thing! I cant wait to do it at home. All of these people without a cent to their name come and eat a home cooked (may i add cooked my a retired Italian chef) meal made by these wonderful people.. These people who volunteer are the people who are wallking as Christ did. It hit me though as i watched to see how ungrateful some of these people were who came to eat. One man asked me what school did the chef go to to make this garbbage... i laughed, said eat it, its good. but then was so shocked!!. It then came to my mind the phrase we must be poor in heart. THese people who have nothing in the world would be assumed to be humble and grateful, but its not true.. I could be the poorest person on the planet, and still not be poor in heart. Being humble has nothing to do with the money in my wallet but really who we are in the inside. It was a cool thing to realize.. The coolest part about this is everyone that is there is pretty much catholic and they all would ask who are you? Whats your name? Sorella Woods. And then we got to talk about the church and us being missionaries to all of these people who were volunteers. We are changing the way these people in this community will look at missionaries.. Burt and i just walked away with stupid smiles, and then we both yelled we are pioneers! Mixing the religions and serving together as one here in Italy! Well friends, i think that sums the week up.. Im at a sketch internet point so no pictures today.. Dont want to send you i virus. BUt i love you!! And i just am as happy as can be. Nothing in the world is better than this. 

Kiss nugget for me.

Love Sorella Woods

We don't care, we're missionaries

What we generally have to say in those moments which usually happen every day where you feel creepy or awkward with some stranger on the street.. I feel like a stalker sometimes.. SO we have been into just hashtagging everything because hashtags are just so much better as a missionary

#wesharebecausewecare

or 

#dontthinkjustdoit

Yeah, this is what peps us up on those days where everyone and their dog says no... AND THEN this amazing thought popped into my head. I love my mission, really love it. Part of me will always be stuck here, but eventually i will want to go home. So as Sorella Burt and i were talking last night it dawned on me that just everyone in the world is on a 'mission' and they all want to make it home in the end too. That home where there is family, love, and just you feel comfortable. Whether they know they want to go home or not, we all will need to get there in the end. So here comes the birlliance

#helpingourbrothersandsistershomefromtheirmissions

That is the goal in mind. I know that i would like to be with my family again.. Yes, here after my mission, but more importantly for the rest of forevers.. and that is just what everyone else wants as well and its our job to get them on the right track. We keep finding these little miracles. We have found a less active who has lived here for two years and has never found the church and she has come all these past weeks! She has two sons who are old enough to be baptized. We have investigators who are just so close to that waters edge! And others who have been investigating for years.. Like this one family. We were in a lesson with them this past week and the impression came to my head to pull out the good old Testament because they are hard core bible believers. So our good friend the Prophet Ezikeil (how do you spell him) helped us give confermation of the divinity of the BOM. At the end of the lesson she just looked at us and said 'i finally have learned something.. i finally understand.' We walked away with them saying they know the BOM is true now from one verse in the bible and that Jospeh Smith was called to be a prophet!!!...AMAZING!. Lesson i learned, never ignore the Spirit when using the scriptures.. The word of God will never fail us. Well friends, good week, good times. It is never easy, but its still the best time of my life. Love you all! Have a great week. 

Love Sorella Woods

 

and here is my baby burt. (:

Real life or is this just fantasy.

I dont know why that came into my head, but good song. But to be honest, reality has hit. The new city gitters and the fun of meeting everybody has kind of died down and the reality of pink washing has hit.. which means basically down to ground zero.

nada

niente..

BUT we will perservere.. Just some days arent great days.. and not every day could just be peachy perfect even though it seemed it could be after the first two weeks. Sorella Burt and i would just look at eachother at the end of each day and be like wow.. Perfect ward, companionship, we are even cooking good meals for ourselves. We are on top of the world!! So what have we been doing.

Ricerca.

The good old search for hours for the ones the Lord has prepared.. and you know. Just a lot of people are not really digging it right now. So the other night as we were just walking down centro for the 10th time i thought about Christ and His ministry. How many people rejected Him even though He was perfect at what He did.. Burt and i just stopped for a couple minutes once we had made it to the train station and just pondered.. If our Savior was rejected every day of His ministry, how could we not be? And yet, He went about doing His work day after day, year after year. Because He knew the importance of it. He accomplished the will of the Father. So we prayed for direction and kept going.. and we didnt find anyone that night or these past nights after.. but it doesnt matter. 

My full effort = success and then God will do the rest.

Well friends, have a peachy week. We will. (: 

and bucket list item can be crossed off.. thousands of stairs latter, we conquered the Duomo.

Love

Sorella Woods

Party time Pavia..

So we couldnt think of a name for our transfer vision and we just kept thinking and thinking, and it never came.. So we left the board blank and said we'd sleep on it. So we went to new missionary training and Pres comes around and starts talking to Sorella Burt and i and he says ' so here we are with the sisters in party town Pavia...'

I tell you what, that man is a genius. At that same moment Burt and i just look at eachother and it was PERFECT. Dibb probably thought we were nuts after we both start jumping up and down because we finally found our name! Dibb is always inspired. We went to Milano for the training. This is time number three that i have done it and it literally is the same training every single time, but somehow i always walk away edified and even more pumped to do the work. Its like the BOM or conference talks.. We read them over and over again.. but whyyy. I tell you, because the words are always the same but the inspiration that the Spirit will bring in that specific moment you need it will not be the same. I have seen that time and time again. I also flipped back to my notes a year ago when i was at that training and i see who i have become and what i need to keep doing. It really is amazing what God will turn us into if we just give it up. There is no reason to be stuck in the garbage this world offers.. Everything thats important leads us back to the gopsel. 

Can anyone tell me what time it is???

LA CONFERENZA GENERALE!!!

i seriously am so stoked. Its like that battery refill or a good Dr.Pepper after a long day... and we dont got that stuff here so general conference will do. Mi raccomando ... watch all the sessions.. They are just too good to miss. We get to hear Prophets of God speak.. for free..thats amazing. Nothing is free nowadays! And prepare yourself with questions and i tell you, you will get the answers. I promise. Have a fun week! I love you!

and here is a picture of a field....

Love Sorella Woods