Jazzie Teaches George Bush

hey team! This week went by even faster than the last....I dont even know what to say. I feel like I blinked and then it was over. We worked harder this week than I have in my entire mission. We honestly didnt waste even a little bit of time and I am really happy with the progress we are seeing. Its not to say that the mission is perfect yet, but I am to the point where there is just so much more good and fun than sad times. wooh hoo!!

Today we spent our pday with our favorite family of grandparents here. We hang out with them when days are hard and I always have my hammock to come to when its just way too hot. But today we decided to climb trees in the morning...my comp has a passion for it..who knew? I guess thats what all the little kids do in Peru. she made it almost all the way to the top. I made it half way then got scared haha. Now we are cooking lunch here too so I gotta run and help soon. 

My friend that has crutches went to church again and he was so excited to be there. He calls us Elders...and every time we correct him he just denies the fact that we are just hermanas haha. Also his name is George and this week he was telling me, and screaming that his name is George Bush...thats about the craziest he got this week. but he is changing his life step by step.

I think we are going to have a miracle baptism this week!! his name is Moses and he is so great. We have been teaching him for 2 weeks but he used to go to church with another member family. he loves the church and wants to get baptized this week so he can go to the temple. It would be a miracle! Please keep him in your prayers.

The work is moving forward and so are we. I am learning more and more every day and I love the mission so much. Time is flyingggg and I only have 7 months left to enjoy it while I have it. Thank you for all the support and love. love to all my favorite fans haha have a great week :)

love, Hermana Woods

Feb. 16th last week

hey team, this week flewwww by again. I honestly havent had a more challenging, rewarding, difficult, successful week on the misison. It is hard to explain but everything was an adventure this week. I have decided that God really does give us the added strength that we need and love for the place that we are in. I love Honduras so much...but if I wasnt a missionary, I dont think that I would so much. It is so hot, the people here are crazy and lazy and the food is gross.

But I love that I was called here, I look beyond that stuff and only focus on the good. I love finding the people who need the most help, the people who live in broken families, have addictions, teenage pregnancies (this week our investigator that was supposed to get baptized next week..we found out that she has a husband of 45 and she is 15-..and that is normal here. so sad) and things like that. Every single person here is loved by our Heavenly Father as much as he loves me. For the reason alone, I love the people here! I have learned so much on my mission and I will continue to do so as time goes on. I only have 7 and a half months left so time to get goin!!

We had Zone conference this week and the first half was rough..our misison as a whole isnt doin so hot right now so we got hit hard with obedience lectures, dats and all that. but then after lunch we had a surprise and we got to watch Meet the Mormons! Our president gave us all popcorn, chocolate and a soda and it was great! They love us and we are ready to hit the ground running. }

Everything is going well here! We went to the beach today and I am veryyy sunburned, but thats what life is like here in Choluteca. I love it here! Thank you to all of my friends, and fans. I love you all so much. go team Woods! have a great week, I know I will :)

love, Hermana Woods

here are some pics! my camera works again, yay!

Miracle Week

hey friends and family, what a week!! things are goin great here in Choluteca honduras :) although it is veryyyyy hot..... We are finally seeing progress, and even though the baptisms arent comin yet, we are seeing people's lives change for the better. I have a story to share with you all today!

so first of all, I want you to all meet my friend George. he is a less active member that hasn't been to church in 6 years. We met him when he was walking with his crutches about a month ago when we were on our way to church. He says "hermanas Elderes, I am a member and I want to go to church today. Let's go" After talking we realized he was a little bit drunk..but he still wanted to go to church so we all went.

 A month passed by and he was hard to find. We decided to visit him on Saturday and when we got there he was passed out on the floor of his adobe house. We thought he was drunk but it turned out that something horrible happened. Someone stole his crutches, then another guy came and stole his money ( he had quite a bit because he is poor and always asks for money, he also has a backwards knee and the other one has big screws in it) It broke my heart to see him like that, we decided to share a message with him and say a few prayers as well. The spirit was really strong in the lesson as we talked about how the Lord sometimes teached us lessons the hard way. he promised to put his life back in order if someone would lend him crutches. We left the house and kept hm in our prayers all day and tried to find crutches. the night passes and we passed by to take him to church in the morning in a truck..but he wasnt home, we thought he had gone to the bar. Much to our surprise, we walked into the chapel and who was the person seated on the front row? GEORGE! With a pair of crutches...how did it happen? I don't know, but what I do know is that God is a God of miracles. i am so thankful to receive his help day after day. George is one of my great friends and its because we look at him, not as an old drunk guy but really as a child and son of God, which he is. 

The mission has really opened my eyes and changed my perspective. I see people differently now, and it's amazing. I love serving and i love helping people. I am so sad that I will be home this year and it will all end one day. So I am enjoying this precious time while i have it.

There were other great experiences this week but those will just have to wait. We met a ton of new people and families. I am learning every day and I love my comp. life is good. thank you for all your prayers and support, I can feel them. Also shoutout to my mom and Aunt Jennifer for the birthday packages! now I dont walk around with broken shoes :)  I love you all, have a great week!

Hermana Woods :)

New Comp and a GREAT BIRTHDAY

Hey everyone!! Thank you soo much for the birthday wishes and love. It was a great day! Well actually a really normal day..but all is well. We ate about 6 different times that day and we couldn't work the next day cause it made me sick haha so don't worry, I got well taken care of! We didn't have a baptism though..it fell through and I am still very sad about it. Satan just gets people sometimes...but we still have hope!

So changes were this week and I am staying in my area yay!! I LOVE my new comp...I always do but this one is really special. We were in the same zone when she started the mission. Her name is Hermana Mamani, from Peru. Up until now, every comp I've had has been from a different country, cool huh? We were sitting next to each other when they announced us as comps and we jumped up so excited! also...she's from a tiny town so she only eats fruit and get mad when I eat chocolate and coke..so the diet has officially begun! wooh hoo!

Today we had to take a surprise trip to the city...so I'm in Tegus right now and we have to go to take a 3 hour bus ride back to the south. My comp is getting glasses...not a fun Pday but thats okay! We are learning a lot and meeting tonssss of people now.

Also my ward mission leader (my BFF) he's a grandpa but we are seriously besties..anyway him and his wife surprised me with a chocolate cake on my birthday so I was the happiest girl ever! They don't have chocolate cake here...just 3 milk cake haha. Thank you for the love and support, I felt it this week. Have a great one!! 

Love, Hermana Woods! :)

Happy Birthday Jazzie!!!

Hey family and friends! Guess who is the birthday girl this week...Hermanaa Woods, sopresa!! haha I cant believe that I will be 20..I feel so old! I have done a lot of thinking this week and I am learning so much. I feel like I have hit my peak as a missionary. I now take things more seriously, love the people even more and hope I teach as Christ himself would want me to.

I was looking at my shoes this week that I have used for 9 months basically everyday and they are really worn out. So much so that it hurts every time I wear them, and at first that bothered me but now I am glad that it does. Any normal person would just look at them and think they're a worn out pair of shoes, but they are more than that to me. Because I have done so many things in these pair of not so cute missionary shoes... I have seen miracles, watched lives change, cried from feeling for these people, walked to many doors who have rejected us and even broken my foot in these shoes. I am so thankful for all that I have gone through so far and what I have ahead of me still.

This mission is full of amazing experiences! This week a sweet lady in our ward passed away. I was asked to give a talk at the funeral..I am not sure why they picked me, I honestly didn't know the lady, but I was honored to be a part of this day. I talked about the Plan of Salvation and how much God really does love us. I felt the spirit so strongly as I shared this message of happiness to a room full of people with tear filled eyes. I cried for these people as well because I genuinely feel a deep love for them. I finished my talk with a hymn by singing I need thee Every Hour and Lead Kindly Light and I felt the spirit so strongly. I know where that sweet hermana is and that she is better off where she is now. And that families really are together forever!

I love this gospel so much and I love being a missionary even more! This week we have changes again..so we will see what happens. Have a great week!and eat some birthday cake for me because good cake and ice cream don't exist here haha Love you all tons.

Hermana Woods :)

pics: my rockin sister shoes! and my daughters and I at the beach! we went there today and played volleyball, so fun!!

Damas et Caballeres

Hey friends and family! I seriously feel like I just blinked and now its Pday again...I am just confused as to what happened with the week. But all good things! Oh yeah, I know...we went to the temple this week! We took the 4  hour trip to the city to go and it was so great. It was so nice to feel the peace and love that is there. Its also great cause we take an 8 hour road trip with a bus full of missionaries, so its good bonding time.

This week I wanna talk about 2 girls who are way special, and really a miracle! There is a mom and a daughter, Herlinda and Neidy. Neidy is 16 and we've been teaching them for 2 weeks and she already wants to serve a misión! We seriously love them so much and its great teaching a mom and daughter who are so close, just how I am with my mom. I really do have more family here, who knew?

Also I went to visit Bessy and her family today beacause I just missed them so much. They live in the área over, but I went to surprise them and they were so excited! It wasn't the same cause I didn't have my Hermana Torres with me, but it was still fun. Bessy is having twins!! I told her to name one Jasmine and the other Woods hahah that would be sweet, huh? I love that family!!

Changes are next week and I will have a new comp...again! mine is going to El Salvador for her real misión. We will see what happens with this new transfer, Im feelin that it will be a good one. I LOVE being a missionary, there is seriously nothing better. Thank you for being my friends! have a great week :)

hermana Woods!

classy 5 star bathroom...road trip style. Thats how we wash our hands and flush the toilets haha I just had to share. Then pics of the temple and my favorite family!

Senora Santa

Heyy Team! I seriously can NOT believe that its adios 2014 and hollaaaa 2015. and I have news this missionary girl will be home this year haha yay! But dont worry...Im still not baggy to be home yet. There are still lives to brighten, hearts to touch and souls to save. Speaking of which I have a great story to tell this week!! well with what happened in the past 4 days. miracles still exist!!

So we are opening this area and we had to start from scratch on everythinggg except these 2 sweet, awesome kids named Montserath..Monse for short and Dustin. Monse just turned 13 and Dustin is 10. There are what we say pilas! Which is super awesome investigators who just love the gospel and understand everything. The first time I met Monse, I feel in love. This girl has a heart like I have never seen before. They live in one room and don have anything except eachother. There is a lack of love from the single mom but this girl has it all.

The thing is, is that these kids still faithfully believe in santa clause (WARNING if you are reading this and have little kids that believe...stop reading it to them haha) She wrote a letter to him and put it under her bed..and I said well of course you havent ever gotten a present cause Santa doesnt KNOW by magic where your letter is if there isnt a plate of cookies...you have to send it in the mail! So she gave me her letter and we mailed it...to my scrap book that I will keep forever. All she asked for this christmas was for peace and love in her home, that the kids without presents would get them, world peace and that the people without homes would have homes for that day....how sweet is that!

So we decided to be santa secretly and it was such a joy to see the looks on their face! I have never loved giving a gift more than this night that we had with them. They were overjoyed and I am so happy that they still have the christmas spirit with them! Then they gave a present to Jesus Christ as well. They were baptized two days later!!

This baptism was so special! Monse went first and then wanted to see her little brother so she comes running in and slips and falls and we all die laughing...but she says...it doesnt hurt, I dont feel a thing cause God helped me! then she stood there getting the whole chapel wet and we watched her brother. They really are the sweetest kids and I am so luck to have met them!

Sorry to write a novel today..but some miracles are just worth sharing! I love this work. happy new year and happy 9 months and half way mark to this girl!! love you all tons. 

hermana Woods! aka Señora Santa