Where did God come from?

Hello hello!

I hope y'all have had a fantastic week so far! Spring is certainly
here and Florida is getting hot again (I guess it never really cooled
down for a long period of time haha). And the work is progressing more
and more! Time is flying and I don't like that. I can honestly say
this was probably one of the best weeks. Sister O'Hara and I both
agree that it was crazy spiritual too. Where to start??

Monday night! We did family home evening with Bill, an RM named Abby,
and Bill's member friend Brother Nash and it was amazing. I'll try to
explain but I doubt I'll do it justice! We had everyone pick their
favorite bible story and write the reference on a piece of paper then
place it in a cup. We then had one person draw from the cup and we'd
all turn to the reference, read it, then watch the bible video about
the story. Whoever chose the story then bore testimony of why it's
their favorite. Let me tell ya- that was AMAZING. The spirit was
incredibly strong and there was not a dry eye that night. Bill
absolutely loved it. And to make it complete Abby brought strawberry
pie that we all enjoyed :) it was like a little family!
While on the topic of Bill, he is just doing so great. He passed his
baptismal interview and he's all good to go! Sadly he got sick again
on Sunday so he couldn't come to church but he definitely wanted to be
there. Please everyone pray that his health will allow him to be
baptized and confirmed!!

Wednesday was legit too!! We had Bill and Sister Long (a returning
member!!) go to the family history center together and work on getting
names for the temple :) so cute! Right afterwards we got to go on a
temple tour with Alaila (I adore her) and a member who brought his non
member friend Jamie! We met for the first time and she said she has
tons of questions. They both loved the temple tour. We sang I Am A
Child of God with them and it was a super great experience.

The very next day we had an awesome experience at the park. Our first
appointment of the day fell through so we said a prayer asking where
we needed to go. We decided to contact at the local park. So off we
went. We met some amazing people at the park but the very last one was
the coolest experience. We met a woman who is going thorough a tough
time. We taught her about the Book of Mormon and she said she'd like
to read it. She was talking about wanting to pray and seek direction
from God. The temple is right down the street so we told her about it
and asked if she wanted to come see it. She said yes so we drove on
down and she followed us! We walked around and taught her about
baptism and eternal families and hen we let her into the foyer where
she sat and read the Book of Mormon. We were blown away!!! What Ana
amazing experience. She said she had a great time so we're hoping to
be able to teach her and her kids!!

On Friday we taught yet again at the temple! Alaila's older brother Nick was 

struggling with something and he texted us about it. We had a member pick

him and Alaila up and met us at the temple. There was a wedding going on, fun

fact. That was one of our best lessons with Nick because there were no distractions

and the Spirit is just so strong on the temple grounds. That makes 4 days straight 

we were on the temple grounds!! 

I'm just super thankful to be here. I'm so grateful for this area and my companion.

She is helping me so much and is an amazing example to me. We had some really

sweet experiences with the Spirit this week. I know without a doubt that Heavenly

Father loves each one us personally. Take some time today to ask Him to allow you

to feel His love and I promise that He will. Sister O'Hara and I talked a lot about 

our worth in God's eyes. I want each of you to know- no matter what you do, your

worth in God's eyes stays the same. Now that doesn't mean we don't need to follow

His commandments. If we want to please Him and want to return to live with Him we 

need to obey. But He will ALWAYS love us the same.

I love you all! Have a beautiful week :)

Sister Woolley

P.S. the subject title... one of Alaila's questions holy cow. ;)

 At the mission office... holding tools because we helped fix the car.. 

On the temple tour!!

Come unto Christ

Hello there!!

Well the sunshine state is just sunny and bright as always :) good
things are happening here in Florida!

The first great thing, yesterday, little Melanie, the 10 year old we
were teaching, got baptized! Holy cow it was the cutest event. Her dad
got to baptize her and when she came out of the water he gave her a
big hug and told her he loved her and it was such a spiritual moment.
This is what it's all about! It was a privilege to have been a part of
this and help this family :)

Then there's Bill. Bill is doing fantastic!! Oh my goodness I love
him. We had two really cool experiences with him this week. We went to
his favorite member's home again for dinner and we showed him the
Restoration video and he was all smiles the whole time :) the member
fell asleep which was funny. Then on Friday we took him on a temple
tour. This is the second person I've taught who's spouse has passed
away and I think one of the sweetest things is teaching them about the
temple and the Plan of Salvation and how they can go inside and be
sealed to their spouse for eternity. He can't wait! We walked around
the temple grounds with him and again he was all smiles. He loved
church and the members and fits right on in!

We had some awesome experiences with member referrals this week!
Wednesday night we showed up at the church for another temple tour but
our people didn't show up. But! A member was there with his cousin who
we introduced ourselves to and found out that he wants to be taught
and join the church, what!? So we taught him the next night and it
went super well! Yay members!
Then! A member told us to see her neighbor Brit. So we popped on by
Thursday afternoon and she was home and SO excited to see us. We asked
what she would want to get out of meeting with us and she said "well,
I probably want to convert" WHAT. What. We were blown away!! She met
us at the church on Saturday and we had a really cool lesson with her
and she committed to baptism. Sadly, she didn't make it to church on
Sunday because her grandpa was in the hospital (I think he's alright
now) so hopefully next week!

I stayed in the area for both of our exchanges this week which was
crazy! On Saturday I was with Sister Glover, who I've been on
exchanges with two other times, I've been her STL for 4 transfers so
it's fun to know her so well. What a day! It was insane. Things fell
through, miracles happened, and it was great.
Here's one: In the past we working with a less active, Ron, and he
disappeared for about a transfer. I decided to call him up to ask him
to come to a lesson and first HE ANSWERED THE PHONE. Then he showed up
and the investigator didn't so we decided to just teach him
(finally!). While standing outside the church our bishop pulls up and
gets out of the car with a big smile on his face. He shakes Ron's hand
and says "I saw you from the rode and wanted to come say hi". Take
note: the rode isn't super close to the church. I said "how did you
see that far!?" And his only response was "I'm a radiologist". The
spirit definitely had a hand in that one... So we took Ron to the
temple grounds and read 3 Nephi 11 together and wow the spirit was so
strong. He just smiled and said "things always happen for a reason.
The progress is and will be slow but it's there :)

What a blessing it was to attend church and partake of the sacrament
this Sunday. Two weeks ago we had general conference and last week we
had stake conference so FINALLY we got the sacrament. Two weeks is too
long but it really helped me appreciate it more. I'm so grateful for
my Savior Jesus Christ and the Atonement. I know He lives. I know if
we follow Him we really are happy in all things. 3 Nephi 11:37 "And
again I say unto you, ye must repent, and become as a little child,
and be baptized in my name, or ye can in nowise receive these things."
For those who haven't been baptized, it's the greatest choice you can
make. For those who have been, the sacrament is there for us each and
every week to renew our baptismal covenant. Daily repentance. Humbling
ourselves and coming unto Christ. That's the key and He promises to
bless us.

I love you all! Have a marvelous week and don't forget to smile :)

Sister Woolley

Bill's temple tour!!

 in Bill's star trek room

Melanie's baptism :)

Star Trek 'gator

Hey y'all!

How is everyone? I hope life back home is going well!

Another wonderful week in the sunshine state :) I want to start off by
once again telling you all how much I love this area. We had stake
conference this weekend and not only are the members of my Ward
phenomenal but the members of the stake are too! Elder Dubai from the
70 came to speak to us at the Saturday night adult session and the
Sunday general stake conference and holy cow what an inspiration!! One
thing I loved is that he committed every one of the members to find
just ONE person this year to share the Book of Mormon with and
introduce to the full time missionaries. How is that for a challenge?
I'd like to commit you all to pray about that too :)

Not really sure where to start with this week! It was crazy but we saw
amazing miracles, as aways!

On Tuesday we were on exchanges so I stayed in the area with Hermana
Von Feldt who is serving in the Orlando zone. This was our second time
going on exchanges together and I just love her :) we had a fantastic
day including a moment at the end of the day. An appointment fell
through so we went to find people in the apartment complex we were in.
We talked with a woman on a corner and she was interested. We prayed
with her, said goodbye, turned around, and there was another woman
walking up! Talked to her, she's interested in learning, prayed with
her, said goodbye, and once again turned around and a family was
walking up. Holy cow where am I?? That was hilarious for us. So we had
good success on that corner :)

This week we also had Zone Training Meeting (ZTM) and, once again,
because we cover two zones we get to go to both. It's always so crazy!
We drove down early to do apartment checks and then gave a training at
the Orlando ZTM then drove back to Orlando South for theirs while
getting lunch real quick on the way!

That afternoon we went to see a less active member we didn't know. Lo
and behold they have three unbaptized children in the home! (Two teens
and a 21 year old). Wow. On Sunday we went by the second time and got
to teach them. The kids almost have no knowledge about Jesus Christ
and we got to teach them how to pray. What a cool experience. I love
the way you can see in their eyes a desire to know.

Our investigator Bill is just doing amazing. We had a super sweet
lesson and dinner in a member's home on Thursday. The member just
loves Bill! (Yay member friends) :) he's doing so great and is
committed to his baptism. Sadly he got sick on Sunday so wasn't able
to make it to church. But next week he said he'd be there! Please keep
praying for him :) fun fact about him- he was an EMT for the Air Force
and was an admiral in the original Star Trek episodes!! He definitely
has lots of stories to tell :)

Another thing, we began teaching a 10 year old who's parents are
semi-active. Well, she's planning on getting baptized next Sunday so
we are scrambling to reteach the lessons! We saw her Friday night and
she knows and loves the gospel more than any 10 year old I've met.
Wow. I feel so blessed to be a part of this!

Well, in conclusion, I just feel super grateful to be a missionary for
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I'm so grateful to be
companions with Sister O'Hara, she is an amazing missionary! We had a
member tell us that we teach very powerfully together and that was
such a blessing to hear :)

I love you all! Remember how much God loves you. I read this morning,
Alma 58:11 "Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God did visit
us with assurances that he would deliver us; yea, insomuch that he did
speak peace to our souls, and did grant unto us great faith, and did
cause us that we should hope for our deliverance in him."
Have a great week!!

Sister Woolley

The true church of Jesus Christ

Hello hello!

Wow. How are all of you?? Happy April! Can you believe it? I can't.

What a week! My new companion here is Sister O'Hara from Utah. She is
phenomenal! I love the way she works and she makes me laugh all the
time. Her testimony is powerful and I've already seen her love for all
the people :)

Our first day together we went to see our investigator, Bill, and had
a fantastic lesson! The spirit was so strong and he accepted to be
baptized. He came to General Conference on Sunday and loved it. He
said the talks hit him hard and he felt the spirit so strong. His wife
passed away last year so when we taught him about the Plan of
Salvation and the temple he was really happy and loved it :)

Also cool news. We found out from our bishop last night that an
unbaptized 9 year old in the Ward is ready to be baptized so we're
going to crank out the lessons in 2 weeks whew!

I think I talk about it a lot but the members of the Ward are
incredible and we had AMAZING experiences with them sharing the gospel
this week. Thursday night we had dinner with a young couple in the
Ward. For the message we shared the First Vision and talked about the
blessings of the gospel. We then asked who they knew who would benefit
and they thought for a little and brought up a friend. We asked them
to bring out their phone and look through their contacts and they came
up with about 6 people to share the gospel with!!! One of them was
their neighbor. We went over after dinner with the wife and taught
their neighbor and her daughter. That was a solid experience and those
members got SO excited about the positive turnout. Member
missionaries: sharing the gospel with your friends works!! :)
And then last night we had dinner with the wonderful Finnish family in
the Ward and their less active daughter had a nonmember friend there
who we got to teach and he wants to learn more. Miracles all around.

Not to mention the miracles of General Conference this week! Holy cow.
I hope you all watched it because it was amazing and such a recharge.
I sustain our prophet Thomas S. Monson and the apostles and other
general authorities. They are called of God and we need to heed their
words and follow their counsel. I just loved finishing off with Elder
Holland's talk about keeping the faith. Don't give up! Heavenly Father
will help as we strive to our best to follow the Savior and His
teachings.

On Thursday we had the Mission Leadership Council. That's always a fun
time. We've got 5 new members of the council woohoo! Between our
mission president and the APs, I always learn a ton.

We found some amazing people this week. The Lord just placed super
prepared people into our paths and I'm grateful for the trust He
places in us :)

Family and friends I hope you realize your relationship with Heavenly
Father. He is watching out for you and knows you personally. I really
felt that during the conference. We were able to share that with
everyone we saw on Saturday and testify of His love. I know He loves
you! Share that with others!

Love you all,
Sister Woolley

Picture:

My wonderful new companion!