Living the dream.

Hey ya'll!

How was your week?? I hope this finds each of you happy and well :)

First week of this transfer was super amazing!! I am so pumped for all
that's happening. Sister Lefebvre, my new companion, is freaking
awesome. She's from Orem, Utah and came out with my trainee 10 months
ago (weird it's been that long...) We get along so well. She loves
nature and is such a happy person. We've had so much fun this week!

Had the funniest experience on Tuesday, our first day together. We
went to see a less active, returning member (who got her temple
recommend on Sunday yay!). We just stopped in to surprise her and when
she saw us at the doorway she jumped and rushed over. "Sisters! Let me
feed you" she said hahah. She took us to her backyard where she has a
beautiful garden and Lechi (Asian fruit I guess) which we ate and
shared a message. What a funny experience. Sis Lefebvre loves Lechi
and so that made her day. Fast forward to Sunday that same member
brought in branches of Lechi for the relief society! Haha! So today we
grafted in those branches to our trees in the backyard (fulfillment of
Jacob 5 I suppose) :)

Anyways! Greatest thing this week was on Wednesday we met Terry! She
was a referral a couple of months ago from a member in Nevada. We
stopped in on her and she immediately said she wants a Book of Mormon
and she feels like she's missing something inside. We testified that
it was the gospel and she said she knows it is. Saturday we took her
and her daughter on a church tour and she accepted a baptism date, no
hesitation. Sunday they came to church and Terry was telling everyone
who asked if she was visiting "I'm here to stay!" So happy.

We also have been meeting a ton of less active/part member families.
Like, everyday. Hoping to start working with a lot of them! One of
them we met Wednesday night after dinner. The member was baptized
about a year and a half ago but has been less active because of work.
She was so happy to see us and said she would be at church on Sunday,
but then couldn't come because she found out she was pregnant and was
in the ER! Woah. But, hopefully next week.

Also, our neighbor Norman had us come over yesterday and we had a
fantastic lesson with him in which the spirit totally taught him that
he needed to read the Book of Mormon everyday. He told us about three
times that he would! And then later that night texted that he was
reading all he could. People are so great.

Life is so good. I have a testimony of this restored gospel and the
priesthood authority. We received blessings from our bishop yesterday
to start off the transfer with Heavenly Father's guidance and wow were
they powerful. I know He loves us. I know He answers prayers.

Everyday I have the opportunity to testify of putting the Savior first
in our lives. 3 Nephi 13:33 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and
his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."
That is the truth, for Ive seen it in my own life.

I love you all! Let me know what's going on out there and send me your
testimonies. The Lord loves you! Don't forget to smile this week :)

Sister Woolley

Picture: that's a Lechi tree. How cool!?

"Why does it always smell like fish!?"

Hey y'all!

Happy Father's Day! I am so blessed to have a wonderful father who
loves and supports me. Thank you daddy :) and I am grateful to a
step-father who has also been there to love and help me, thank you
Dave! Father's have a strong impact on not only their children but all
around them. And of course I am thankful for a Father in Heaven who
blesses me each and every day :)

Transfer calls came and I am staying in beautiful Satellite Beach and
training another new STL, Sister Lefebvre! She's been out about 10
months and is super sweet :)

So this was probably the strangest week of my mission. I couldn't do
much walking from the accident last week.. I used those crutches for
most of the time. We taught a lot of our lessons at the church and
made sure to rest- so strange. But, I'm feeling a lot better and we
had some awesome events this week!

First off, Venita got baptized! That came up quick for both of us. It
was such a great service. She was all smiles the whole time :) we had
a good turnout from the Ward. Sister Quist and I did a musical number,
she played piano and I sang "I Believe in Christ". The sweetest part
of all was when Venita came out of the water. She was beaming. And the
spirit was so strong. When she walked up the steps and we handed her
her towel she just put the towel to her face and cried. She was so
happy and so overcome with the spirit. :) She was confirmed the next
day in sacrament meeting. It's just hard to explain the way it feels
to be a part of someone making this life decision. I am SO happy for
her. Random miracle too, her newborn was quiet the ENTIRE service. And
he's never quiet! Also, her husband seemed so comfortable and happy
too- he's next!

With Venita's baptism and extending dates to a couple of other people
I've been thinking a lot about the covenant we make. In Matthew
3:16-17 it reads,

16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the
water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the
Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:

17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased.

Something else that makes my heart happy is that Alaila, who I taught
in Olympia, got baptized last week and then Jamie, who I also taught
in Olympia, was baptized pm Saturday. I got to talk to her for a few
minutes. I am so proud of these wonderful women for making this choice
to be baptized. Such a blessing to have been able to work with them!!

The voice of our Heavenly Father was heard. He was pleased when His
Son, Jesus Christ was baptized and I know for a fact He is pleased
when one of us, His sons and daughters, are baptized. I want everyone
to realize this fact! My one true desire is to please my Heavenly
Father. I just imagine Him up there smiling down on us when we make
righteous choices. That just brings me such joy! And I want everyone
to feel that joy from their Father too :)

I discovered a lot this week the principle of being in the right place
at the right time. We had several amazing opportunities to help those
who really needed it. A seemingly small event that meant a lot to me
was when we were driving and stopped at a red light. I rolled down my
window to contact the man next to us. I told him who we were and what
we do and he said "your timing couldn't be more perfect". I told him
that God loves Him and he shook his head as if he wasn't worthy of
God's love. I testified (through the car!) that the Savior can heal
anyone and fix any mistake and he just had a look of hope on his face.
Sadly the light turned green and all I could do was tell him to look
at the church website and I prayed so hard that he would. Who knows
what will come of it?
Another experience happened where we contacted a group of young adults
and one of them burst in to tears and said that she had just been
praying that morning for help. She knew we were sent from God.

I share these small experiences because it makes me reflect upon my
mission. I am SO thankful to each day out on my name badge and
represent my Savior. It's a privilege to be where He needs us to be
and say what He needs us to say. I'm entering my last 6 weeks of the
mission and I am so sad that it will be coming to a close but so ready
to work even harder each and every day to help my brothers and
sisters.

I know the Savior lives. I know He loves each one of you. What will
you do this week to please your Heavenly Father?

Thank you all for your love and support! Stay strong and keep smiling,
the Lord is on our side :)

Sister Woolley

P.S. Pictures to come soon! We got to go to the beach this morning and
it was heaven :)

D&C 84:88 "mine angels round about you"

Hey everyone!!

So, we had quite the week. I'll start off with the traumatic event... got in a slight car accident yesterday. Well, we were T-boned. It was the scariest thing of my life. I got to talk to my momma about it on the phone and don't ya'll worry, I'm doing fine! The coolest thing that came from this is the fact that I know for a fact angels protected us. Neither of us have any broken bones, just a lot of pain and bruising. The crutches in the picture are just to ease the pain on my left leg. What an adventure! I got to ride in an ambulance for the first time and my Mission President came down. woo! Again I can just testify to the fact that the Lord is watching over His missionaries. I can't even describe the experience but it was crazy. The members have been so sweet and have helped out so much already :)

Anyways, on to the week! 

Venita is doing awesome. She came yesterday to church and announced her own baptism to everyone! 

We had ZTM (Zone Training Meeting) once again and so both Wednesday and Thursday morning we were out in Vero Beach and then Rockledge for it. woo! But it was so good. I got to train on finding-- my FAVORITE topic yay. After the Thursday one we had a potluck lunch with all the missionaries which was fun :) something I LOVED was in Ether 12:12-18 about faith. We can't do anything without faith first in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Miracles can then occur!!

Here's a super cool miracle! We had dinner on Wednesday in a member's home with our investigator and she ended up bringing a friend of hers too. As we were going to the house we felt prompted to change our lesson plan to teaching the Plan of Salvation. So we did! It was a really simple lesson but as we got to what happens after this life the woman that the member brought was SO happy. Her son had passed away several years ago and the thought that she would see him again brought her so much peace right then. She said she was ready to learn more about the Restored gospel. SO AMAZING. 

Also we had a miracle on Thursday where we knocked into a woman who said she's looking for a church. We went back on Saturday and met her granddaughter who is semi-atheist. We taught her about Jesus Christ and how to pray and she said the prayer at the end which was beautiful and the spirit was SO strong telling her that God is real. Heck yes He's real! That was so rewarding. 

Those are the main highlights for the week. Sister Quist and I are having a great time and the accident definitely bonded us too I think haha. She's helping me out so much. I know this church is true. I had the opportunity to bear my testimony in sacrament meeting on Sunday and what a blessing that was. I feel my Savior's love so strong and I know He's there for me and for you.

Have a fantastic week!! Love you all <3

Sister Woolley

"'and God created great whales'...Oh, wrong verse"

Hey people!
 I hope you had a MARVELOUS week. I sure did! SO much has happened,
sometimes I stop and try to fathom how much can happen in just one
day, let alone one week!

We had quite the experiences this week. I guess I'll start with
Monday. We got to meet with our new bishop who is amazing and I love
his family so much. We followed the council of Elder Clarke of the 70
who told us last year to buy our bishops ties. So we bought him a
polka dot tie and told him we're here to help. I'm pumped!

On Tuesday we had exchanges :) oh yay how I love exchanges! I left yet
again and got to go to Palm Bay  with Sister Skousen, another one of
the lovely Sister Guynn's trainees who is now training too! We had
such a fun day! You guys. I got to bike ALL day. And I was SO happy.
We met the coolest people. At one point there were two cars at a stop
sign one right behind the other so we just split and contacted them
both and both were interested! We just chatted the whole day and it
was beautiful out, just the best!!

Wednesday we had a lot of success finding and teaching :) had dinner
with a less  active member that missionaries have been working with
for years and HE SAID HE'D PRAY. A couple days later we followed up
and HE DID! That was exciting.

Wednesday night we drove to Lake Nona STL apartment (which was sister
Guynn and Mickelson's!!!) to stay the night for MLC the next day cause
it's so far away. That was a party. Speaking of MLC the next day..
Ahhmazing. Except for the fact that I had to say goodbye to President
and Sister Berry who leave at the end of the transfer. Ahh. It was
super sad. I'm so grateful for all they've done for me over the course
of my mission. Thankfully they live in Draper, UT so I'll be visiting
them :) best mission president in the world!

Thursday night we had a sad moment. Nicole, our amazing investigator,
was progressing super well. She has an amazing testimony of the gospel
and knows it's all true. Sadly though, because of choices in the past,
her baptism will be postponed, we're not sure for how long. I had to
break the news to her and let me tell ya, that was so hard. She's
heartbroken but still willing to do all she needs to do to make it
happen. I feel Heavenly Father's love for her and know that the
Atonement will work on her too.

Also, because of the Ward split we now live in our area so we decided
to tract our street and what do you know, the neighbor right next door
is interested in learning. We downloaded the Book of Mormon on his
phone and the next day we went over, he had already listened to some
of it! He wants to be a better father for his children and is really
open to learning. Going back tonight to teach him!

Yongyi came to church yesterday for the first time :) it was stake
conference but it went super well! Mindy was out of town sadly but
still good to go for her baptism too. We had a super sweet lesson with
her on Thursday about recognizing her answer that this church is true
and she definitely feels the spirit.
And venita is stellar! She finally came to church too and just loved
it :) she's the one who had her baby my first week here. She can't
wait for her baptism. Everything we teach she prays about and accepts
so easily because she knows it's all true. She's almost done reading
the Book of Mormon for the second time!!

Anyways, sorry this is so long. I know this church is true. I know
Joseph Smith was and is a true prophet of God. This week an elder who
will be returning home soon bore his testimony about simple
testimonies. Our testimonies don't need to be elaborate for the spirit
to bear witness of it. A simple testimony is what brings the spirit
and the Lord works through the week and simple. I have a testimony of
my Savior Jesus Christ. I know He lives and loves each one of us. How
grateful I am to represent Him every single day. I know the Book of
Mormon is true. Don't miss a day reading it.

I love you all. Have a happy week :)

Sister Woolley

 

President and Sister Berry, I love them

 Exchanges with Sis Skousen :) happy biking 

SO CLOSE TO THE BEACH. don't worry, we weren't on the sand ;) 

It's gorgeous 

 and Ponce De Leon landing, way cool