Easter in Olympia

Hey ya'll!

I hope you had a super great Easter, all centered on our beloved
Savior, Jesus Christ. Both Sister Burnette and I had the opportunity
to bear our testimonies during fast and testimony meeting yesterday
and what a great experience that was. Everyone who got up to bear
their testimonies spoke by the spirit and it was such a spiritual
meeting for the edifying of all who were there.

To start off, Sister Burnette is getting ready to depart. She leaves
tomorrow. It's been hard for her because she loves the mission and
doesn't want to leave. I feel so blessed to have been able to serve
these last two transfers with her! She is a very hard working
missionary and we did great together :)

Part of the Florida Orlando Mission culture is to have a member at
every lesson, so we bring members out with us to everything. What's
really funny is that about 5 times this week, members we had with us
bailed at the very last minute for multiple reasons that were quite
ironic: one just completely forgot and one actually broke his wrist
two hours before. What!? He's okay, don't worry.

On one of our finding attempts this week the only people we could find
and teach were Haitians and Hispanics! So we gave a lot of referrals
to the Spanish elders and taught the Haitians. Most of them have
decent English. Between us and the elders in the Ward, we'll have to
start a Haitian branch here haha.

We had a really cool experience with a woman we met last week. She
recently lost her husband and we had shown her the Easter video and
given her a Book of Mormon. We popped in this week and she let us
right in. We shared part of the restoration and she is really open to
us coming back. She's got two daughters as well so we are excited to
begin teaching them!

Thursday night we got a phone call from the mission office with an
interesting request.. A couple from Davenport (out of our mission) was
coming to do temple work for the wife's mom and her dad (who wasn't a
member) was coming and wanted to learn more about the temple! So we
had the opportunity on Friday to teach this man, Dennis, outside of
the temple about what we do inside. He had taken the lessons before
but had never even read the Book of Mormon! We basically taught him
the restoration and part of the Plan of Salvation and by the end he
said he would finally read the Book of Mormon. What a sweet man. It
was a great experience for us as well and I'm grateful we got to do
that. :)

With our Haitian investigator who is taught mainly in creole and we
testify simply in English... He knows that the church is the only true
church! His struggle is that he works on Sunday. Could y'all pray that
Jim can get work off on Sunday's so he can come to church?

Last night we taught the sweet family :) I think they're struggling a
bit so please keep them in your prayers as well.

Saturday night was the women's broadcast! It was amazing and I hope
you all watched it. I loved the theme about service. It really hit
home. One talked about seeing through windows instead of mirrors,
mainly, focusing on others than on ourselves, and I really loved that.
I hope we can each make an effort this week to really focus on others
and therefore focusing on Christ. Because, "when ye are in the service
of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God" Mosiah
2:17.

I love you all and I'm so grateful for each of you! Thank you for the
uplifting emails and prayers. I am praying for you as well and I know
that God is watching out for each of you. Stay on the straight and
narrow!

Love,
Sister Woolley

Pictures: Sis. Burnette and I teaching at the temple :)

The family! 

Agency, man

Hello dear family and friends!

I've learned a lot this week. I learned mostly about the Lord's timing
and His love for me and for His children. We had several ups and
several downs of this week. But, like they say on the mish, the good
always outweighs the bad.

A quick update that refers to my subject title.. At the start of this
week things were going super well with Kelly. By Thursday though she
had decided to do some "research" on her own and found some
anti-Mormon misinformation. We had a long talk with her over the phone
on Friday. It comes down to whether or not Joseph Smith was a prophet
and the if the Book of Mormon is true. She wants some time on her own
so we will not be working with her anymore at this time. We are
heartbroken. It's interesting the quick relationships we gain with
"strangers" on the mission. I have such a deep love for her because of
the many many spiritual experiences we've had together. She recognized
the spirit every week she came to church. Please pray that she'll come
back.

If there's something more I learned from that experience it's that I
do have a strong testimony of Joseph Smith, the Restoration, the Book
of Mormon, and Jesus Christ. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that
this is the Lord's true church. I know that Jesus Christ is the my
Savior. I know that the Priesthood authority was restored through the
earth through Joseph Smith and that is the only way we can receive
saving ordinances to return to live God again. I am grateful for this
knowledge and my testimony and I know it only comes through personal
work and faith as it did with Alma in Alma 5:45-46.

I said I learned about God's love for me as well. Prayer is such a
powerful thing! I feel so much peace and comfort in the fact that
Heavenly Father is pleased with the work I am doing. He's given each
of His children agency which they can then exercise for themselves.
I'm sure it's heartbreaking for Him to watch as each of us use our
agency to either follow Him or turn away from Him everyday. But, the
Atonement is there for us to change. Any day we can change! If you
haven't watched the new Easter video, Hallelujah, go watch it. I'm
grateful for the Easter season to be able to celebrate Jesus Christ's
resurrection :) I know He lives!

But what cool experiences we've had this week! Monday evening we were
on a street we frequent when a car pulled into the driveway just
before we were heading home for the night. The man who got out was a
sweet Haitian named Pierre and it turns out he's a member of the
church! He's lived in the states for 30 years and hasn't found the
church. We are pumped to work with him!

Also, we found in our records a woman who had been taught by
missionaries a while ago. We showed up to her house on Tuesday with a
member and she was super excited to see us. The member totally clicked
with her as well and we were able to go back on Thursday and teach her
the restoration which she seems very excited about.

We got to see the sweet family we're working with again :) they're
going through finals so they've been busy. It was a great experience
with them. Two weeks ago we bought each of them a little picture of
Jesus Christ that we thought they'd like. When we gave it to them on
Saturday they were all so excited! It was so cute to see their
reactions.

On Wednesday I went on exchanges with Sister Fairbanks in Lake Reams!
We served together back in July and so it was fun to spend the day
together again. We talked to a lot of people on the streets all day
and I got fried! But it was so fun and she is doing really well :)

Friday morning we got to attend the temple!!! It was so nice. I'm so
thankful for the temple. I'm thankful to be able to serve right by the
temple, even if we don't get to attend often. There is a certain
strength that comes from attending the temple often, so if you aren't
going often I'd encourage you to make a plan and go! I love the temple
<3

All I can say is, we worked hard this week and the Lord will provide!
Thank you for all the support. I hope you know I love each of you.
Have a fantastic week and Happy Easter!

Sister Woolley

Pictures:

at the temple!

and lunch after 

Families Can be Together Forever

Hey y'all! Just another amazing week here in Orlando!
Shoutout to my little brother Dylan-- Happy Birthday today!! I can't
believe you're 11 :) don't forget to eat pie for pie day!

We are finding families left and right which has been the coolest
thing! I've wanted to teach families my whole mission and here they
are! Monday night we were walking through one of our favorite
apartment complexes called Hawthorne (where we find so many people
because they're humble there yay) and we ran into a former
investigator who stopped us and told us to come teach him and his
family. So we did! His wife is really sweet and they've got four
children. They didn't come to church but we feel really good about
them.

Remember Kelly? Kelly is doing fantastic!! We taught her several times
this week and she is loving the gospel. Wednesday night we took her on
a temple tour and let me just tell you... It was the best. President
Wood in the mission presidency gave the presentation and then we
walked around the temple together. We had Sister Nelson come with us
who is a great friend for Kelly now. The spirit was so strong. When we
went into the lobby of the temple there were so many people in there
(YSA group was there :/ haha) so we had to stand and Sis. Burnette and
I were all worried she would feel uncomfortable. But, in the midst of
it all she looked peaceful and said "it's funny. Even though there are
so many people in here, I feel like I can be alone and just feel
peace". Then we went back outside by the orange trees and had her sit
alone and pray for a few minutes. I went off a little ways and prayed
as well and the Spirit once again confirmed that the church is true
and the temple is the Lord's house and that the Lord's love for me and
for others is real. We came back together and Kelly had been crying
and said she couldn't stop looking up towards angel Moroni :) we then
were able to re-extend her baptism date for March 26th and she said
yes. Please please pray for Kelly!!
She took her boyfriend and son to church on Sunday and Timmy, her son,
loved it. Such a smart 10 year old! He was with her when we taught the
word of wisdom and together they are dumping out the things they
shouldn't drink anymore. The church is so true!

Okay, slightly obsessed about Kelly but I just love her to death.
Other than her, we also found a cute Haitian family to teach. Last
week a twelve year old girl we met said we should go teach her friend.
We went by and they let us teach them and they are great! Asking for
referrals works wonders.
Also, we received another referral last week who we got to teach
yesterday- a mom and her two kids. They are awesome. We are going to
see them tonight so pray that they will accept the gospel!

I guess my testimony on all this is that the gospel really does bless
families. It has been given to us so that our families can find peace
and happiness and joy in this life and in the life to come. The temple
is the goal for everyone. We get to attend on Friday and I cannot wait
to be inside to feel the spirit and to receive revelation. Attend the
temple as often as you can!!

One more fun thing that happened. Last night at our stake president's
house there was a fireside for all "prospective missionaries" in the
stake. So we got to attend along with the zone leaders to share our
testimonies. President and Sister Berry had asked me to talk about the
blessings I've receive personally from serving a mission and I just
went on and on there were so many! The biggest that I find is how my
relationship with the Savior has grown. I hold that very dear :)

I love you all! Have an amazing week :) don't forget to share the
gospel, because if you don't, who will!?

Love,
Sister Woolley

Kelly at the temple tour!

District P-day at a glow in the dark mini gold :) 

"What makes you happy?" "Pizza AND family"

Hello family and friends!!

How is March treating y'all thus far? Thank you for the emails! I hope

all is well for each of you. Can I say for the hundredth time- another

miracle filled week!! Holy cow. It's hard to explain but I will try.

I am just loving this area so much! We got a new bishopric yesterday

and guess who it is?? Our Ward mission leader... It's bittersweet

because he has been an AMAZING Ward mission leader but what's great is

we still get to work closely with him! And, as they say, when the

bishop is excited about missionary work, the Ward is excited about

missionary work. So, he will do SO much good for the Ward and their

missionary efforts. We're pumped about that!! We don't know who the

new Ward mission leader is but we know new Bishop Scherer will choose

well :) My subject title is our bishop's son's answer to the question, cute.

Wednesday we had Zone Conference and guess who got to give a training

again! It was a really cool experience again. I prepared so much for

the training and when I got up there the spirit was definitely able to

guide my words, I didn't even need my notes for the most part! Woo!

What I really love is being able to work so closely with all the

missionaries and learn from each of them and share the experiences

I've had as well. The rest of Zone Conference was amazing and I

learned a ton, as always!

Also, President Berry focused a lot on the importance of teaching

Repentance and I just loved that. Sister Berry shared "The Parable of

the Donut" which is too hard to explain but if you can look it up do

find it! It relates to the Atonement and how Christ has suffered for

each one of us individually whether we choose to accept it or not. The

choice is ours, the blessing is available to all.

We had two exchanges this week so on Thursday I got to go to Semoran

area with a new missionary and she did such a great job! It's Spanish

work and her Spanish is great for having been out 4 weeks :) on

Saturday I stayed here with a sister who is also doing Spanish work

and we had some crazy experiences, one including a really cool miracle

of stopping to help two guys with their car (not that we can do much

but it's a good excuse to talk with them haha) and ended up teaching

them the First Vision on the spot. Those are some of my favorite

moments.

Okay now for the really good part!

The family we are teaching is doing AMAZING!!! We are so excited.

Almost all of them came to church, minus Marie, Maria's twin sister,

who was sick. Ahh they loved it! After church we asked the kids what

they learned and they were all so excited to share with us who they

met and how fun it was. That day we also taught them about the Plan of

Salvation and Angie raises her hand and says "this just really makes

me want to work extra hard so we can live in the celestial kingdom"

ahh there's nothing sweeter to hear a 12 year old say :) they are so

great. Please keep them in your prayers!!

ALSO Kelly came to church :) Kelly is doing so great. Her date is for

April 9th but we may move it to March 26th because yesterday during

the sacrament she received an answer to her prayer. She knows that the

Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet <3 we are

just blown away by these people. Alma 16:16- the Lord IS preparing

people all over!!

To add to it, two other men we are teaching showed up! One came up

behind us and just said "surprise, surprise, you didn't think I'd

come!" And we didn't haha.

We just see miracle after miracle and I am so grateful for the

opportunity I have to witness the gospel change these people's lives.

I love these people with my whole heart and I want to do all I can for

them and for the Lord. The power of prayer is so real. Prayer,

fasting, and hard work is the way for miracles to occur. Make an

effort this week to recognize the Lord's hand in your life and I

promise you will see it more.

I love you all!! Have a great week :)

Love,

Sister Woolley