Week 21 - Aruba

Hello everyone!!!!! 

Welp, Sister Petersen is home (in Utah) and I have been with Sister Taylor and Sister Garcia this past week! It has been fun! Honestly not too much happened this week so this is going to be a short email, but the biggest thing that happened was........SEBASTIAN RECEIVED THE PRIESTHOOD!!!! He is so awesome. Sebastian and Marlien were at church yesterday and i just felt sooooo happy. Marlien leaned over to me during one of the classes and just whispered, "thank you for coming to me house". My heart melted. I love her so much people!!!

Also I just realized that this will probably be my last transfer (6 weeks) in Aruba because we can only legally stay on each island for 6 months every year, and I am coming up to 6 months! I will definitely miss this place SO much but i am also excited for the adventures that are ahead!

We have been contacting (knocking doors or meeting people on the street) a lottttt recently and we have actually been contacting a lot of really cool and prepared people!! We contacted this young man named Immanuel. It was a really cool contact because he just let the spirit into his heart and we taught totally by the spirit! We basically taught the entire restoration and he just connected all the dots! It was sooooo cooooool!!!!!!! Just getting to witness the spirit was such an amazing experience. We were totally guided to him as well, because we were supposed to have a lesson with someone else at that time but it got pushed back, so we had a small amount of time to contact. Then, we were guided to him! It really strengthened my testimony that the Lord will guide us to those who He is preparing and that those who are prepared will be able to be taught by the spirit and understand! It was really quite amazing.   

Other than that, not much else happened this week! It has been really fun though and both of my companions are really sweet!!! We are working hard and diligently! :)

Also.... Happy Birthday Felicia!!! I love youuuuu!!!!! And 2 more weeks left of the BoM challenge!!!! Even if you havent started it yet, I know you can finish it because I have read it in two weeks before!!! And i can promise that if life has been tough, this book will help you more than anything else. Read it!!!!!I love and miss you all sooooo much and I hope you all have a great week!

Hermana Woodbury

Week 20 - Aruba

Halloooo con baiiiii? (Hello!  How are you doing?)

Okayyyy soooooooo things have changed with Marlien since my last email.....She pulled the worlds biggest 180 in the universe. SHE GOT BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!!!! I honestly am still in shock because of the crazy roller coaster leading up to this point. We had no idea what we could do to help her.. The Egberts (mission president) were in Aruba and we got to go teaching with Sister Egbert! While we were out with her we asked her what her thoughts about Marlien were because we honestly had no idea what to do. She recommended to show Marien the short Restoration video, which is exactly what we ended up doing. After watching the video, we asked Marlien if she believed Joseph Smith was a prophet and she said "yes". We about fell over in our seats. Honestly!  She told us that she still wants to be baptized. This all happened on Monday! We extended her original date (last Saturday) and she said yes! Then we just made it happen! Her baptism was amazing. We also taught her temples last week and that lesson was soooo beautiful. She loved it. She said it was the most beautiful lesson we had ever taught her. It was so amazing!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROOKS!!!! Love you!!!  Also 3 weeks left of the BoM challenge!!! I hope you are doing it!! It is sooo important that you do so!

Transfer calls were this last Saturday...and I am staying in Aruba! When Sister Petersen goes home I'll transfer to the Oranjestad area and will be in a threesome with Sister Taylor and Sister Garcia! This will be sister Taylor's last transfer before she goes home, and it's only sister Garcia's second!  Crazy!

Also this week we found out that Belkis isn't legally married and she has no way of getting married for a long time.  Darn. She loves the Church though and she will be baptized as soon is she gets married :)

Things are calming down in the Santa Cruz area because the Elders who work in Paradera are going to take our area/recent converts!  We haven't really been looking for new people to teach because the elders wont really be going to Santa Cruz except to visit our recent converts! I'm excited for next transfer though!  The area I will be in is mostly Latinos so it will be fun :)

I hope you are all doing well! I love and miss you all so much!!!!  Have a great week!

-Sister Woodbury

Week 19 - Aruba

Hallooooooo!!!!

Such a fantastic week oh my goodness!!!!
Family and friends Sebastian got baptized and confirmed!!! That was BY FAR the most spiritual baptism and confirmation that i have ever been able to witness. Everyone who was there kept on talking about how spiritual it was and we were all just absolutely BEAMING. The closing song was "There is Sunshine in My Soul Today" and MAN was that soooo fitting. I just cannot put it into words. That baptism was amazing and I am soooo grateful for the opportunity I had to attend. So the story behind Sebastian is that his mom's cousin and her husband are SUCH strong members of the Church here in Aruba. They are the best. So when we contacted him we didn't know that, but we made that connection a little bit later on. So Sebastian's mom's cousin (Michell Parra- I love her to absolute pieces) and her husband (Jose Parra) have been SUCH a major help. If it weren't for them i really don't think he would have been able to be baptized. Michell told us (before we received permission from Sebastian's mom) that we would never be able to receive permission... well all she really said was that she would pray for him because his mom usually doesn't like this kind of stuff... But he asked her and she was TOTALLY okay with it!!  The Lord has prepared him so much and everything is just lined up so perfectly for him. He is preparing to receive the priesthood next Sunday :) We love this kid.

Buuuut anywayyyy!!! HAPPY HAPPY  BIRTHDAY TO MY LITTLE NIECE ABIGAIL!!!! I LOVE YOU!!

Also 1 month left for the BOM Challenge!!!! I just wanted to include the talk given by Prophet Thomas S. Monson because this incredible man receives direct revelation from the Lord for every person on this earth. He is really really old and weak now, but he had the energy to give us a three minute message back in April. He could have talked to us about anything, but all he really talked about was the Book of Mormon, and the importance of reading it every single day. Please hearken unto his word, because his word is the Lord's word!!! READ THE BOM EVERY DAY!!!

Here's the talk...

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/04/the-power-of-the-book-of-mormon?lang=eng&cid=email-shared

The Power of the Book of Mormon

By President Thomas S. Monson

I implore each of us to prayerfully study and ponder the Book of Mormon each day.

My dear brothers and sisters, I greet you most warmly as we are met again in a great general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Before I begin my formal message today, I would like to announce five new temples which will be built in the following locations: Brasília, Brazil; greater Manila, Philippines, area; Nairobi, Kenya; Pocatello, Idaho, USA; and Saratoga Springs, Utah, USA.

This morning I speak about the power of the Book of Mormon and the critical need we have as members of this Church to study, ponder, and apply its teachings in our lives. The importance of having a firm and sure testimony of the Book of Mormon cannot be overstated.

We live in a time of great trouble and wickedness. What will protect us from the sin and evil so prevalent in the world today? I maintain that a strong testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and of His gospel will help see us through to safety. If you are not reading the Book of Mormon each day, please do so. If you will read it prayerfully and with a sincere desire to know the truth, the Holy Ghost will manifest its truth to you. If it is true—and I solemnly testify that it is—then Joseph Smith was a prophet who saw God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

Because the Book of Mormon is true, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s Church on the earth, and the holy priesthood of God has been restored for the benefit and blessing of His children.

If you do not have a firm testimony of these things, do that which is necessary to obtain one. It is essential for you to have your own testimony in these difficult times, for the testimonies of others will carry you only so far. However, once obtained, a testimony needs to be kept vital and alive through continued obedience to the commandments of God and through daily prayer and scripture study.

My dear associates in the work of the Lord, I implore each of us to prayerfully study and ponder the Book of Mormon each day. As we do so, we will be in a position to hear the voice of the Spirit, to resist temptation, to overcome doubt and fear, and to receive heaven’s help in our lives. I so testify with all my heart in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I LOVE THIS TALK!!! Please read it and let it touch your heart!! I implore you, and so does the prophet, to read the Book of Mormon every single day, member or non member!

Buuuut so anyway hahaha....

This week we went to zone conference in Curacao!! It was such a great zone conference and I felt the spirit sooo strong there as well. I learned a lot and it was just a really really good conference. My companion, Sister Petersen gave her departing testimony and that was sad! She will be HOME next Thursday night! Ahhhh! 

Okay soooo Marlyn still is not doing great... She googled Joseph Smith which is a great thing to do if you are looking for information that is either completely false, partly true, or true but has a skewed perspective. Honestly I don't know what is going to happen with her but we are praying for the best :/

Also Belkis! She knows that this Church is true and she wants to get baptized and originally she wanted to get baptized fast, but after talking with her husband she wants to go "poco a poco" (little by little/ take it slow) so we are working with her now! It has been a little bit challenging because she keeps telling us she wants to be baptized but not anytime soon. Aghhh.

Other than all of that craziness, this week we also did a ton of senior couple stuff! Sooooo fun! We did a ton of senior couple stuff every single day for like half the day. I hardly have a Chaco tan line anymore from being in the car.  haha! Fun stuff! I love you and miss you all so much! Have a great week!!

Love,

Sister Woodbury

Week 18 - Aruba

I don't actually have too much time to write today so this might be on the shorter side buuuuut here we go! Crazy week. Honestly this week didn't really go as planned but it was still good! We did a LOT of senior couple stuff (taking care of things that a senior couple normally would take care of) among teaching and being taught haha! 

So update on our investigators:

Darryl: we haven't been able to meet with him, don't know if we ever will honestly... So sad but We still pray for him every day!

Marlyn: She took a dramatic turn. We had a pretty rough lesson with her. She just cant feel God's love for her at all and she is questioning everything. She said she was going to pray about whether or not we were actually sent from God and then said she will let us know tonight if she still wants to be baptized. Please pray for her!! There were a lot of tears in our last lesson with her. So sad. We are honestly pretty Heartbroken.

On a lighter note.... Sebastian is doing awesome!!!!!!!!! He had his baptismal interview this last week and he is all good to go! His mom signed the form so we are just anxiously anticipating Saturday :)

Belkis: Not sure how much I have talked about her before but she is doing awesome as well! She doesn't know how long she is going to be in Aruba (from Venezuela and REALLY misses home) but we are all hoping she will be around long enough to be baptized on the 22nd! She is really awesome and has SO much faith! She is incredible. She really wanted to know the commandments so we taught all 3 of the biggest ones before we even taught her the Plan of Salvation. She just hopped right on board! She can't read very well but she loves the BoM and said she wouldn't leave it for anything. She is incredible!

That is about it this week about our investigators! How are you all doing on your BOM challenge????? ONE MONTH AND ONE WEEK LEFT!!!! You can do it, I promise!!!! If you are reading, I promise you will be blessed and you will come to know our Heavenly Father soooo much better!!

Also CONGRATS CARTER HANSEN ON YOUR MISSION CALL (Hanoi Vietnam) !!!!   WOW!!!!!!! You are going to be incredible! :)

Thank you all so much for your love and support, I couldn't do this without each and every one of you! I hope you all have a fantastic week and I love and miss you all so much!

Sister Woodbury

 

 

4 Month-aversary!

Bon Dia Rumanan!

Wow this week was full of fun and some minor bummers but overall joy haha! First off, EUCARY GOT BAPTIZED AND CONFIRMED!!! Wooohooooo!!! One of the elders who started teaching her over a year ago was able to attend and it was just really awesome! She is doing amazing and she is a great example

to me!

Update on the rest of our investigators:

Darryl no longer has a testimony of the Book of Mormon and whatever his dad said to him really didn't help. He didn't attend church last week for the first time in over a month and we have a lesson with him tomorrow but we just kind of expect it to be a last little super sad lesson. It has been really sad to see his heart harden and he has just changed a lot :( Keep him in your prayers! God loves him and so do I and we are praying that he gets baptized one day because he has already had a spiritual witness that it is true. 

We have been teaching this little 12 year old nugget named Sebastian! Wow he is awesome and really really prepared. We met him because he was always at the house of one of our other investigators from a while ago who never progressed. We gave him a Book of Mormon a while ago and didn't think much of it and then we didn't go back to that house for a while and the we stopped by just to check up on our non-progressing investigator and he came out and said he'd already read through MOSIAH.  We.Died. So then we started teaching him and he is doing so awesome! He came to church yesterday and is getting baptized on the 15th of this month!! He has prayed about everything and he knows it is true and he is just an incredibly prepared little child of God haha!

Then we have Marlyn who is doing so incredible, family! I love her! She is soooo awesome! She is progressing really well and even though she has the craziest life on the planet she always makes time for us and for the Lord! She is really really awesome and we are really excited for her baptism on the 22nd!

We have also been teaching this Venezuelan woman named Belquis that we contacted a little while ago and she is doing awesome as well! She isn't super educated so it has been kind of hard because we have to keep it super duper simple and we have to take it really slow but she is definitely progressing! She is awesome and really sweet and she told us she hates when we have to leave haha! So sweet! We love her!  That is everyone I can think of today... But we are working really hard and we are finding some really amazing people!

Alsooooo 1 MONTH AND 2 WEEKS LEFT OF THE BOM CHALLENGE!!! Keep it up if you're doing it and start if you're not!! I promise that if you take the time out of your busy life to read that book, that the Lord WILL bless you! I know that without a shadow of a doubt! Also, when you read the Isaiah chapters READ THEM WITH THE FOOTNOTES FROM THE BIBLE AND WITH THE BOM STUDY GUIDE! trust me! I actually understand all of those chapters now haha!

I love and miss you all soooo much and I hope you all have an incredible week! 

-Sister Woodbury