Saturday, June 28, 2014

Expect the unexpected..

  

So this all starts with i was space transfered here to Bergamo.. and i have had three companinons here already in three transfers.. So this past transfer i was thinking, hey i might actually get to stay with a companion more than one transfer.. And Gillespie and i just get along great, so why not? So its GEM day and were cleaning the house.. and the phone rings..Its president..
First, if you get a call from him on transfer days, you know its something more..especially if its Monday..
'Hey, Sorella Woods, how you doing?'
..'goooddd.... thank you... Can i help you?'
'Yes. You are staying in Bergamo!.. and then he chuckles.. then proceeds to say 'but you're not staying with Sorella Gillespie' and chuckles again. 'there are 2 sorelle coming in and you will be training one of them'
IM GOING TO BE A MOM! Yesterday Sorella Beard and Lamos walked up to me and asked how it feels to be pregnant..I just sat there thinking what if someone heard them aske me that..ah man. haha, so much fun. Im seriously so stoked though. Everybody keeps asking me if im nervous. Why in the world would i be? We've got greenie power coming to Bergamo!! Can anyone say MIRACLES! Im one of the two Sorelle that got chosen out of all the other sorelle, and i ask myself why.. Obviously God has a bigger plan than i can see. Dibb said this is probably the most important calling he gives to people... and Heavenly Father told him me? ... i mean im not saying im a bad missionary or something, but i almost had to ask Dibb if he as sure.. It is a huge blessing though and i know i am going to grow and learn so much.. that is what makes me excited. When i can help another person, and see it change my life as well. The work has been a little slow here, and some days i dont know where to go or who to talk too, but we're going to do it.. I will be here for seven months by the time i leave.. Thats crazy, but its for a reason that i feel like i wont know tell the end of it... but we've got a little while so we will see. This week has been a little crazy after the call because there is a wedding this Friday that sorella Gillespie was playing the piano for.. That was a fun call to make to the bride... She(the Bride) ended up calling Dibb, and now Gillespie is staying tell Friday!! and guess who her comp is... JONES!!! My comps are always comps with my comps! Try saying that 10xs fast.. We are going to have a ball of a time. Thats about it.. I pick the child up tomorrow in Milano. It is going to be a great next 12 weeks... i just think about my first 12 weeks, and lets just say i dont think i would redo them.. so pray for us!! Thats about all i can do at this point. Love you! Have a fun week!
Love Sorella Woods








Friday, June 20, 2014

Ohhh heyyy,




Its just your favorite Sorella Woods... and i think im the only one, so i
really can be the favorite. This week has flown, just like all the others i
suppose. We have transfers next week ALREADY. That is hard to believe! I
dont know if im staying or going.. but i really have found a love for
Bergamo and i kind of hope to stay, but its whatever the big man thinks...
that being Pres, and then whatever the BIG BIG man thinks. But we will see.
So zone conference was legit. We went to Verona and there was our zone and
then two others... which HEYYYY, that means i got to see Gillette one last
time!!! Highlight of the whole thing.. actually because im on the role of
having only one transfer with each comp, i got to see Jones, 2 of my old
district leaders, and a Tolman from my group! Seriously sooo much fun. We
actually got to beat a box with a stick... let me explain. SO, president
wants to clean the 'impurities' out of the mission. Basically all the
stupid stuff missionaries think are okay... so every impurity the AP's let
us beat a box with a stick.. not going to toot my own horn or anything but
i put a pretty nice hole in the box.. Here's to being a more obedient
missionary and mission in general!!! And they let us have fun.. so no
complaints here. They also sang to me for me birfday and gave me a twix. So
AP Anziano Walden was my first district leader and served with me in
Sanremo my first two transfers.. Well he just happens to know all the
information about everything so he told me all about Sanremo!!! HOME!! I
seriously almost started crying.. poor kid probably didnt know what to do.
SO, Yosmaira is doing sooo well and is so strong. Alexandra is going out
with the missionaries for lessons!! Shes a better member than i was. Kevin
is doing fine, but could be better so pray for him!! And Evelyn, she is
just a ball of sunshine.. and she is going just as strong and might be my
replacement after im dead!! I am so stoked.. This is the kind of happiness
that they say that comes from this work.. So one other. While i was serving
there, we were trying to help a less active and her family. This was when i
was with Egbert. The husband was not a member and he was the first person i
ever invited to be baptized.. that was the first day i really felt the
Spirit work through me.. Well time went on and he wanted none of it. They
wouldnt come to church.. he smoked.. just wasnt going anywhere.. but we
would go over every now and then when they would let us. Well by the end of
my time there, they wouldnt let us come see them... Well its turned 360
degrees. Walden told me that Alessandro (the dad) has a baptism date and
they are going to church with their two beautiful children.. i seriously
cannot explain the joy that i have.. I sat there smiling like an idiot and
literal tears started to feel my eyes when he said that. I just cant
believe it. We just can never forget that we do so much wherever we are if
we let the Lord guide us.. i really thought nothing would come of that...
but here i see that VanAlfen is still creating miracles with people that i
thought i did nothing for. This is the incomprehensible joy that Alma talks
about.. This is the joy that comes when someone chooses to accept Jesus
Christ.. it is so real, and so exciting! I love doing this work everyday.
Everyday there is something to look forward to.. Everyday some new crazy to
become friends with, or an experience that will change my life or someone
elses. I am so blessed. (:
Love you all, Sorella Woods


































Thursday, June 12, 2014

Well hello summer...


So about two weeks ago i could still wear a jacket outside.. now if you
walk outside with more than one layer on, its like instant heat stroke...
and its only JUNE.. we literally have been laying on the stone floor in our
apartment to try and stay cool.. because hey, Italy doesnt have air
conditioning, and there is this thing called humidity that i have never nor
do i ever want to experience again.. Whoever said Italy is a good summer
vacation was wrong unless you are spending your vacation at the beach or in
a pool.. This week has been a pretty great. We missed our bus this past
Friday, and we just happened to be in Zogno which is one of the furthest
places in our area.. so we walked down the mountain...for 2 hours in this
wonderful heat.. In all reality though, Gillespie and i had a pretty great
time.. how could you not if your in Italy... We have this awful record of
missing our busses or tram. Like last night we literally ran to the
station, and right as we get there the tram drives off.. but once again,
thats just life. Work has been good, and at the same time slow... We have
met some really amazing people. We talked to this girl named Celeste two
weeks ago and she texted us last week telling us she could come see us and
she wanted the BOM. So we end up seeing her and she starts telling us that
she has already told her mom about us, and her mom wants to hear too!!
ELECT! She is too legit... and RITA!! We finally have an appt with her
tonight. I am so stoked that i cant even say how happy i am! She was so
close to her baptism, and there has to be a reason Heavenly Father has put
us in her path again. Hopefully tonight we can get another date set and see
more miracles.. MOstly we are just waiting for people to be done with
school and vacations so we can meet with them more frequently..I feel like
its this build up of people, and then they are all going to hit us at the
same time and then we will be too busy... thats the dream at least...
Hopefully we will be able to see something though. Have a fun week, i know
i will, and i love you all!
Love Sorella Woods

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Half way dead..

dont even know what i did in the past 9 months.. I feel like i just woke up to go to the MTC and then ... oh hey look, youre in Italy and youve been there for the past 9 months.. How does that even happen? Its crazy because i feel like this has just been my life forever, but it has been so dang quick.. Weird life i tell you. I miss soo many moments that have already past, and im still here.. This will forever be the best decision i could have ever made.. or rather that the best thing that Heavenly Father could have ever given me.. So this week has been really great... Well really great, and really..not so great. We dont have any progressing investigators, but we just talk to everyone and that makes it great. Yesterday a man from Africa asked me if he could take me out.. i told him no because im a missionary..
You want to know his comeback.. He said 'well im a missionary too.'... hahaha,i about died. I couldnt help but laugh right there, but hey, he said he is coming to church.. No date is going to happen, but ill love to see him in church. Another man we were talking to told me the only way i could pray was to rub his 'god given' oil on my hand.. he then put the oil that smelled like a dumpster on my hand so i could pray... nice guy,, real nice guy... What i dont understand is where in the world do these things even come from.. Half the people that we talk to are 100% shocked when we ask to pray with them on the street... First, because yes, you dont get asked that every day, and second, because they dont think its allowed.. Why would there be a reason that we could not talk to our Father at any time during the day???.. Its crazy. This really just shows me more and more every day the need for the restoration of the gospel. I was reading in the Book of Mormon yesterday, and i just really thought about the only way i have this book in my hands is because of the Restoration. The Book of Mormon changes people... How could a book change people, change me personally every day if it were not true?? It couldnt.. There is no other book in this world that can do that.. and we literally can hold the evidence in our hands. ITS AMAZING!! Like seriously people.. just open the book and read the first page.. you feel instantly what Heavenly Father needs you to feel. It is just too dang cool. With that, i will just say its been a fun week. I love this mission.. HIS mission more than i could ever explain to anyone.. I used to say that in the beginning because i felt like i had to love being here or i would burn in the pits or something ridiculous like that, but i dont think i really loved it... But now, i can say with all sincerity that i have, i love this work. I love being here, and i would rather be nowhere else than here, doing the work of salvation. 
Con amore, Sorella Woods

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Highlights of the week


1. Made Gillespie cut off my hair.. which she hated.
2. Chased Rita onto the tram! Which means, we found RITA!!! Its seriously
been like playing the game where's Waldo, except she doesnt have a striped
shirt on.. which makes it all that much more difficult.. and its taken
weeks instead of 5 minutes to find her.
3. Finally we met with this miracle referral from the Anziani.. and she
wants to meet with us Thursday, Friday, and Saturday... What? What? And
shes Italian.. That never happens, like ever.
4. Right after that lesson, we set a bap date with another Italian woman
who i talked to on tram over a week ago only because she wouldnt stop
staring at me... little did i know, she would turn out to be SUPER legit.
5. Stayed up tell 12:30 hunting this monster italian creature that was in
our apartment... and it was never found.
So all in all, i would say its been a fairly good week. Met a lot of nice
people, some of them spoke i dont know what language, but they were still
pretty great... Didn't sleep a whole lot... got a lot of no's and... yeah,
a lot of no's, but hey.. what you gonna do... ate some good ol' Ben and
Jerrys. and chased some people down which turned into MIRACLES! I just love
being here, because hey, we're in Italy. Have a great week! (:
Love Sorella Woods