April 27, 2015 Skinnypants

Date: April 27, 2015 at 3:00:23 PM MST

Subject: Re: Great Week!

Dear Family, Jazzie only wanted to write to me and Todd this week. We have challenged each other to go off soda and caffine. She is way ahead of me by about two months. But we are both feeling great! This is the last part of her letter that she wrote. 

okay I love you! also Im Jazzie skinny pants wooh hoo! I HAVE GONE MORE THAN 2 months without coke...thats a huge victory!!! im gonna go by a blender and some protein. I cant wait to go to the temple with you wooh hoo. If you loved me before, youll love me even ,more when I see you in 5 months wooh hoo!!!! xoxoxoxoxo

April 20 On to the next adventure!

Date: April 20, 2015 at 3:51:57 PM MST

Subject: On to the next adventure!

From

Hey team, so here´s the update..my comp left and now Im training again wooh hoo! My comp is Hermana Martinez from Guatemala, she is so tiny that people always ask her if she´s 13..15 if they´re being generous..but shes 21 haha also it doesnt help that I am super tall. The people here have no problem telling me that I´m a giant either haha but I just tell them that I am super normal!

Things are going really well though. It really amazes me that I get more happy every single week! I really hope that its like that when I get back to the real world. We are opening the area and so we don´t really have a ton to work with right now, but we will this week. We are putting on a performance for the city at the end of May and we started practices yesterday, all the missionaries from my zone are participating, its gonna be sweet! Im the soloist..but Im a little nervous cause I have to memorize the song in spanish and Its reallyyy high, and hard but Im excited! 

News of the week....I ate cow tongue. and it was gross! The little girl next to me quietly whispers to me that it was cow tongue and I just pictured a big ol cow mooing with his tongue all slobbery...not a good picture. So needless to say, I said thanks but no thanks hhaa. On another note, I am teaching the people here how to make tortillas because they have no idea. Everyone still is in shock at the singing gringa who can make tortillas.

I love being a missionary!! We will have a great week again this week, I know it. Thank you for all the love and support. I hope all his well with everyone :) sorry there are no pics today, Ill get on that next week! adios!

Hermana Woods!

April 13, 2015 Better Days

hey team, this week was way better than the last one! And it went by soooo fast that I don't even know what to say haha but all is well! My comp and I are having a lot of fun, even though I think that she will have transfers this week and I will have my 8th companion..I am always changing comps but its great to get to meet new people! so far I have had companions from Arizona, Bolivia, Panama, Mexico, Honduras, Peru and Guatemala. Kinda cool, huh? I love all my companions, they have been so great! Ill keep you posted with who my next one is, next week! But I think that I will be staying in this area. 

I am in Danli and in the middle of the mountains. Its not too hot and its not too cold. There is a lot of poverty here though, so very sad but living right in the middle of it I think that I get used to it. Its the way of life for the people here. And the only way I can help is spiritually, which I think is the best way. Also there are two giant mountains with Crosses at the top so its not too hard to know where I am. My area is pretty small, but its rough because its only mountains and stairs! Its such a different world from the south and the city. But the missionary work is all the same! There are good days, really bad days, and awesome days. I feel like its just like real life too. Thats why I just try to always look at the positive side of things, smile and keep on keepin on! 

the only other things that happened this week are that my comp had a birthday! I made her breakfast honduras style...eggs, beans, tortillas, plateno which is kinda like banana and hot chocolate..yum haha I am so over the food here but only 6 months left then I will be back in the good ol USA..wishing that I was still in Honduras with my little best friends here. 

Life is good, the mission is great and I am happy! Thank you for all your support and if you are reading this, for keeping up with your favorite missionary girl :) here's to another week of miracles! Until next time

From Michelle: These dresses Jazzie and her companion and the kids are wearing are from a school project my friends daughter did at her high school global studies. We helped her make and sent over 50 dresses to Jazzie in Honduras for her to give out to the struggling families there.

Hermana Woods

1 YEAR OUT

Hey family and friends, I am here to announce that I have officially left the good ol´South, Choluteca and hit the mountains! I am now in Danli and its a mix of the city and the south region. Its just like my first area! Just besides that fact that this area is a lot more poor, and its more city like. Our mission has 3 regions and they are all so different from each other. This week was full of so many challenges, but in the midst of them, I got to go to the temple, meet another amazing comp and listen to our beloved Prophet and leaders to be spiritually filled for the next 6 months. I LOVED general conference! And I am sure that everyone who watched it felt the same. 

SO this week I hit my year mark! Wooh hoo!! well...I spent the entire day sleeping because I got really reallyyyy sick. But the cute hermanas here brought me a cupcake and it made everything better! Its been a year full of many things:

A year being Hermana Woods, Boots, and Goods

A year full of drinking out of bags of water

A year full of washing my clothes by hand

A year full of speaking, praying, and singing in only spanish

A year full of making best friends

A year full of helping seeing lives change

A year of only communicating with my family and friends via email

A year without technology, music and iphone apps

A year with studying the Bible and the Book of Mormon daily

A year getting to know my Heavenly Father

A year representing our Savior Jesus Christ.

It has really been the best year of my life! I have so many more experiences ahead of me in these last 6 months. These next few will be full of challenges, but I am ready to take them head on! I have the worlds best support team. I have Jesus Christ by my side. What else do I need? I love it here and I wish everyone could have an experience like this! 

Thank you for all the love and support, here´s to a better week and more  miracles! Until next time :)

Hermana Woods!

heres pics of a giant nametag that I found. A pic of us at conference with my mom Hermana Rodriguez, she goes home next week and we are sooo sad about it! 

Trust In The Lord With All Thine Heart: Transfer to a new city tomorrow

Hey friends, I have to live by the scripture that  I put as the heading. The elders just called me to tell me that I have mini changes. Tomorrow I will be leaving this area, all the work that we have done here and going on a new adventure to Danli, some where I've never been before. Its 7 hours away from here. I have to go home and pack right now. I am so many mixed emotions, but more than anything I am super bummed! I have to trust that I am going there for a reason and that I will see miracles in that area too. I have loveddddd choluteca so much. I ave been here for 6 months so it is hard to say goodbye. I feel like I am leaving my house again..

This week was great though, I learned sooo much! We did divisions with our leaders and we are helping our investigators really progress, even though now they are out of my hands I hope that things keep going well with them. 

This week I hit my year mark and I am so excited! I am happy with the work that I have done and I know that I still have a lot more to do. I gotta run and go pack and try to say by to my family here. Thanks for the updates and supports. Please pray for Hermana woods this week a little extra hard. Here's to the next adventure!

Hermana Woods :)

Fear Factor Honduras

Hey everyone, things are going well down here! This week I feel like we were in real life fear factor. I have eaten some crazy things here, but this week tops them all! So we went to an inactive family's house to have a family night and we planned on making baleadas, its just tortillas with beans and cheese. but when we were making them the dad says "hey in the mean time, heres some meat, its beef..." so I ate it with a tortilla and it was really good! Then later I said thanks and that I loved it and he tells me that is was Guasalo.....translation

POSSUM! what the heck?! Hermana Woods ate a possum this week....crazy huh? Its even more weird that I liked it. There's always a first time for everything huh? I seriously almost passed out when he showed me a picture of what is was..i wish I got that on film..

Other than that, this week was great. we are on fire again!! I love being with Hermana mamani. we are seriously laughing all the days long and we have made some great friends here.

theres not really much else to say this week. But all is well! Don't worry about your missionary in Honduras :) I am so happy! Love you all. Thank you for the support! heres some pics of my best

Do Good Be Good

Hey everyone, here's an update from your favorite missionary in Honduras! Sorry I didn't write last week, I just wasn't really feelin it and there wasn't a lot of news. Transfers were this week but I didn't have them, so i will be staying here another 6 weeks in Choluteca...the hottest city in the world I think. But Im gettin some sweet missionary tan lines so its worth it. I love being with my comp. We lost the swing of things this last week but we know we are together for a reason and we will see a lot of miracles this change.

The funniest thing i would have to say that happened is that i am now unofficially the Ward pianist..well keyboardist. There are two ladies that play the piano as well but they always get there late so i end up having to play. The thing is that we also always get there after the meeting starts because we are literally running around getting investigators. I am not kidding...last week we ran 10 blocks to get to church, we had 3 investigators with us and when we got into the chapel we felt like we had just finished a race haha then i run up to the piano to see that the sond has 4 flats...yes i  just play with my right hand haha. for those of you that know, I only know 4 songs on the piano...adele, Taylor Swift, and the first two lines to Jon Schmidts songs hahah. but fearlessly I plunk out on the keyboard and it seems to be a hit.

heres other big news for the week! Remember Bessy and Mario from San luis? They are a family that hermana Torres and i taught back in November, but they finally got divorced!!! Its a real miracle. They will be getting married this month and she will be having twins! I am so excited that I will be here for all of that. Im not in the same área, but we are really close. I LOVE seeing how this góspel changes people{s lives. This is the place to be right now! Even though it is really hard and some days I still feel like quitting, all is well.

Also I am a grandma in the misión now! My daughter (Hermana Arango) is training now and her comp is Darling! I now have 2 daughters and a grand daughter, it is so much fun! things are going well here. Wearin out my shoes and getting sunburned are my new favorite hobbies. Thanks for the support. Love and miss you all!!

hermana Woods :)

heres a pic of me making tortillas...my favorite hobby and some cute puppies that i found!