"How long have you been away from civilization??"

Hello everyone!!

Another beautiful week on Olympia! For starters, it has been SO cold
and I'm just loving it. People, we're in Florida get wearing coats and
tights. Yay.

Like I said last week we've been having meetings galore and this week
we had a worldwide missionary training which was pretty legit. Nothing
new is happening but it was good to get back to the basics of
missionary work.

Guess what! A Less Active we're working with, Linda Long, came to 

church yesterday!!!!!! holy cow it was awesome.

So we found a lot of new investigators this week! We had some really
cool experiences where we were definitely led by the spirit. One of
them is a former investigator who has family members who are members.
She opened the door and was so happy to see us! She said she's ready
to learn :)

Yesterday we had a super cool experience. We went to go see an
investigator we had picked up a few weeks ago and FINALLY got to meet
with him. His best friend just moved in last Monday as well. We taught
them both and the spirit was so strong. Ah we are so excited!

On Saturday we met this woman named Heather (I freaked out a little,
miss you Heather!!) and taught her. She came to church on Sunday! I
was slightly shocked when she walked in but it was so great. Prayers
for her please!

We're working with a part member/less active family. The dad served a
mission in New Zealand and we found out that it's the same mission my
dad served in!! Even cooler, they served in the same zone! So, dad, I
will be sending you a picture of his picture :)
Another less active family we're working with, the Jean-Gilles have 3
kids that just love when we come over. Last night we taught them and
then asked the kids to invite their friends to church. The oldest
(he's 13) kind of freaked out and said he wouldn't do it so we role
played with him and it was the funniest thing. We tried to act as his
friends and he kept saying "they'd never do that!" Until he asked how
long we had been away from civilization haha! Apparently I no longer
know the social norms haha.

I was reading in Mosiah 16-17 this morning about Abinadi. As I was
reading I realized how much chapter 16 outlined the atonement and then
17 is abinadi's final testimony. He is SO bold and courageous. He
exemplifies the Savior in his courage and I hope we can all be firm in
the faith.

I love you all! Thank you for all you do. Don't forget that God loves you :)

One more thing. Supposedly we're down to 75,000 missionaries in the world. 

Everyone needs to serve a mission!

Sister Woolley

Pictures:

We saw 5 peacocks while tracting. what. 

The temple. The temple is gorgeous. Florida is gorgeous

Storm Troopers and General Authorities

Hey ya'll! I hope everyone had a fantastic week! Is the new year going well thus far?? What's the highlight of the week?

We had quite the time this week, several ups and downs. But I feel like I've learned a ton about the Savior and I'm so grateful for the Atonement and His love. There's a talk I read from Bruce C. Hafan called "The Atonement: All for All" and I would highly suggest it to everyone to study this week. He talks about how Jesus Christ literally gave His all when performing the Atonement. We can't even comprehend what he's done for us. And He did it out of love! And so, in order for us to access the blessings of the Atonement, we too must give our all. Holding nothing back we need to give our whole heart to Him. Just as when Christ called His disciples to follow Him they left their nets behind them and gave their life to His service. It needs to be the same for us. And in return we receive so much strength and joy from His gospel <3

So, this week was interesting. We had MLC and Zone Conference with Elder Maynes of 70! He is awesome. I learned SO much and it just was a reboost for the work :) Also, on Sunday we had a Regional Broadcast for church where Elder Hales, Elder Rasband, Elder Clayton, and Sister Reeves to the whole South East area woohoo! Now that was cool. Elder Hales talked a lot about strengthening the family so if it's available, go back and watch it because it was amazing.

Work wise... 

We have this sweet lady named Mary that we're teaching now. The YSA elders met her and passed her off to us. We're feeling pretty good about her :) Also, our sweet Iranian family are doing great. Reza, the grandpa, came to church on Sunday! We were ecstatic!

Other than that we are just finding and finding, searching for those people who are willing to commit to the gospel. A couple of our solid investigators have dropped us so it's been hard but we're pushing forward. I'm grateful for the Savior and the strength He gives me :) 

On a happy note we had some STELLAR lessons with some less active members we're working with and a member of the Bishopric who came with us. We had some really spiritual lessons with the. Our member invited one of them to church and it was the sweetest invitation there. Hopefully soon!!

I hope you all are doing well! It sounds like things are home are going great :) I am so grateful for each of you and the influence you have had and will continue to have on me. Thank you! I love you all so much. Let me know if there's anything I can pray for. Have a great week!!

Sister Woolley

P.S. I hit my year mark this week. Not sure how time has flown so quickly, but I can honestly say it's been the best year of my life :) 

Pictures:

Our ward mission leader has 5 adorable kids. He bought them this balloon Stormtrooper and it made my day haha.

Also, we met his man (who may know my brother in law) who had a bird that flew onto my comps' shoulder and sat there while we talked about the Plan of Salvation haha :) 

"recycling!!" and a relay race

Hello Hello!! I hope everyone had a fantastic first full week of January! I'm loving it

We had a ton of miracles this week, holy cow the Lord is blessing us. Sister Burnette is amazing and just makes me laugh so hard too :)

For starters, yesterday was amazing. A few days ago we got a media referral for a woman named Tabatha who requested a Bible. Okay. So we called her up and she asked us to bring two bibles, one for her and one for her 15 year old son. Cool! So last night we went to see her
with a member and she is legit. We taught her and her son the whole restoration and committed them to baptism. Tabatha said a kneeling closer prayer at the end and was crying as she closed the prayer and her son was just all smiles. So. Cool. I am grateful for referrals!

On Tuesday we got to have interviews with our dear President Berry. I just love ever hung about him :) also, the APs were in charge of our district meeting that day and therefore we had a Preach My Gospel relay race which was probably the greatest thing ever. We were split
into two teams against our companions and it was the funniest thing. On team had to put on a Santa costume while the other put on a jack sparrow costume and then it was timed and we had to teach the restoration as fast as we could, find a scripture on a certain topic,and even shoot a hoop, among many other activities. I know, random. BUT SO FUN. And we learned from it so it was great!

On Thursday we had another cool experience. We went to see a Less Active woman that we had previously scheduled an appointment with. She completely opened up to us and told us she needs help with her faith and we told her that's our job to help her! So she's allowing us to come once a week for now and we're really confident about working with her :) yay!!

ALSO we were driving down the road and saw this man in his driveway. We awkwardly pulled off the side of the road, jumped out of the car, and taught him. He's awesome!

On Saturday we had exchanges again and we probably had one of the most interesting days I've had on the mission. Holy cow. It went from people running away and yelling at us in the morning (no big deal) to a couple AMAZING on the spot lessons and a couple of new investigators woo! to a crazyyy lesson where a Hatian man wouldn't let us speak, starting yelling about recycling, and we just up and left. wow. So we ate dinner at Yellow Dog Eats (amazing) in the pouring raing (also great) and felt much better. It was quite the day! A great day nonetheless.

Sorry this is so long. Real quick, Brenda is really struggling. We haven't met with her since Wednesday and work has been crazy. Can everyone please pray for her? I have such a testimony of prayer and I know it will help.

The church is true! I love it with my whole heart :) I love each of you and I know that Heavenly Father loves you so much. The Book of Mormon is true and it will bring SO much peace if you read it everyday. Please do! The gospel can and will change your whole heart if you let it.

I love you all. Hope to hear from you soon!

Sister Woolley

Pictures: Hermana Shelley :)

2016

Hello all!!!

Happy New Year! First off... How is it 2016? How did that happen? Second off, I'm SUPER excited for all this year holds :) And I'd love to hear everyone's resolutions for the year! How are you coming closer to Christ this year? What will you do for Him?

Also, it's been FREEZING these last two days (yesterday was 54 degrees and neither of us wore a sweater oops...) but it finally feels like winter so I'm loving it. I swear it almost snowed yesterday... Haha.

Well, besides the new year, there was lots of change this week. On Tuesday we went to transfer meeting and I said goodbye to my dear sister Arsenault. She is now whitewashing in a trio! Love you! And I am now with Sister Burnette from Olympia, Washington! (Now in the Olympia Ward in Florida haha). She is awesome! Fun fact, I am her second Sister Woolley companion. And she's my 11th comp in general. Woo! She really teaches by the spirit and makes me laugh so the transfer started off great!

Our first day together we found this cool Indian couple to teach and had a bomb lesson with Brenda! We taught her about repentance and watched the little video Because of Him then just sat there and cried. Yep. Us and her member friend just sobbing and testifying of the Atonement. Probably one of the top spiritual lessons I've had. She is on fire and wants to do everything she can to follow Christ. She came to church on Sunday for the second time and said she felt so good. She's talking to her boss about getting Sunday's off so please pray for her! :)

On Thursday we had MLC which is always great. There's some cool events and changes coming that were pumped about! (To be continued)

This transfer we are hoping to really work with our members and have them share the gospel with their friends and family. We're pumped to begin working more with each of them :) so please add the Olympia Ward and its members to your prayers as well. Thank you all! Also, this week's ponderize: Mosiah 8:18. I found it after praying about our Ward and how to work with them. The Lord will provide a way for us to touch many lives but great faith is required. On that subject, I was reading in Enos 1 today and discovering how Enos gained great faith. It definitely takes work and is not easy to gain but it WILL come. And always remember Ether 12:6 :) Heavenly Father knows each and every one of us and will do all He can to help us. And then it's up to us to either follow Him or not. I'm eternally grateful for the choice I've made to serve a mission and I have loved every minute of it thus far. Im grateful for each of you and the support you give to me. I'm grateful for the Restored gospel and the Book of Mormon. Don't forget to read it! Have a fantastic week!!

Love,
Sister Woolley

Sister Arsenault!

 members dog

Sister Burnette!

2015 - a year of miracles

Hello everyone!!

I hope you each had a very merry Christmas!! Ours certainly was :)
Thank you family for the gifts and love and support and everything.
Y'all are the best!
There are going to be tears shed tomorrow as we found out that Sister
Arsenault will be transferred :( We thought for sure we were staying
together. But, she has some more lives to touch and she's going to do
a fantastic job. I have just LOVED serving with her. I have learned so
much from her this transfer and am very grateful for the time we had
together :)

We had a really great week- especially with Christmas and all!
Christmas Eve was actually a super successful day, and I attribute it
to the fact that the spirit is softening everyone's hearts for the
season :) We also went caroling to some nonmembers and less actives
with a family in the Ward and it was so fun!

We have been doing a 12 days of Christmas for a less active man and
his nonmember wife and their son. It has been SO great! We would go
early in the morning, right before getting home at night, and
sometimes in broad daylight (which was really scary) and they never
caught us. Christmas Eve we went by to give them a "treat" which was
their last gift, 12 candy canes, and completely pulled it off where
they didn't know it was us. UNTIL we walked outside, they opened our
note, and ran out to catch us! Oh well. It was amazing because their
hearts were definitely touched and the less active man even held up
his scriptures and told us he had been reading :) miracles!

Another service miracle happened on Saturday. We did some yard work
for a less active woman in the Ward and she just loved it. When we
went inside we shared with her Because of Him and asked her to pray
about how she can come closer to Christ this year. She kind of looked
at us funny and asked how can she pray? A little shocked, we taught
her how to pray  and she prayed out loud with us! It was very sweet.

Because you're probably wondering, Friday was Christmas and also our
weekly planning day so we spent most of the day just planning for next
week haha. But it was amazing! I got to skype the family which was
great. So amazing to see and hear each of you! I love you! And then a
member had us over for a delicious dinner with three nonmembers and it
was awesome. :) Merry Christmas!

And yesterday we got Ron, the less active we've been working with
since I got here, to come to church!!! Hallelujah. The talks in
sacrament meeting were perfect and he said he was so grateful he came
:)

It has just been such a good transfer. We have found some AMAZING
people who are very prepared, the Lord is blessing us and the area.
I'm excited for what this next transfer holds. The New Year is coming
up quickly and I've been pondering about how I've grown this last
year. One thing that is very dear to me is how close I've become to my
Savior. My love and faith in Him has grown immensely and I'm excited
to come even closer to Him this coming year :) My love for the Book of
Mormon has grown so strong as well and I am just so grateful for the
knowledge of this gospel. 2015 has been the greatest, a whole year
spent in the service of my Savior. I want to invite each of us to take
time to pray about how we can grow closer to Jesus Christ in 2016 and
how we can more fully serve Him. I'd love to hear your ideas and plans
:) I'm so thankful for each of you! Stay strong, always improve, and
have a Happy New Year!!

Sister Woolley

 Nielsen family 3 layer cookies 

the district 

Merry Christmas!!

Hey hey hey all! Thanks for all the birthday wishes! I really appreciate its It's been fantastic- my companion is the sweetest thing and made me breakfast this morning. I've been blessed to spend most all of 19 as a missionary and now half of 20 woohoo! Annnd Christmas is almost here! We had an awesome week here in Olympia. Some cool facts- I mowed a lawn for the first time on the temple grounds which was a ton of fun. A member took us to a restaurant called Texas de Brazil that has the most delicious food ever where they just bring meat to your table, we were in awe haha. Okay cool miracles! Brenda, the member referral from a couple of weeks ago, finally met with us early in the week and straight up asked what she needs to do to be baptized. Perfect! We had a timeline for her baptism all set up and she is SO prepared. We had amazing lessons with her in the church this week and the she most definitely felt the spirit. When we were studying to teach her the Plan of Salvation we thought we should focus on the pre earth life and when we taught it to her she told us her favorite thing was learning that she lived with God before. Oh it was great. I just love seeing the spirit work through us to teach :) Funny miracle- we're working with this young less active man who we taught and then he basically "dropped" us and didn't want us to teach him. Well we both kept thinking of him and decided to drop by one night with cookies for him. We pulled up unannounced and he was just getting home from work. He laughed and talked with us for a while and we showed him A Savior is Born which he loved. He basically said "I thought I blew you off?" But was absolutely happy we came. Sweet! Took Carl on a temple tour and the spirit was so strong. He loved it. He received an answer that he needs to read the Book of Mormon to know if all this is true... It's what we've been telling him over and over and he won't do it. We're not sure what will happen with him. Pray for him please! Okay then Friday we had the Mission Christmas Devotional!!! Probably my favorite thing ever!!! There were a bunch of different musical numbers and President and Sister Berry spoke. They told amazing stories about the reason for Christmas. The whole thing was just so uplifting and I was just all smiles :) then we had dinner and got to see all of our lovely missionary friends, yay! Only once a year does the whole mission get together so we were all super excited. I am just so excited for this Christmas season :) I am so grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ and His birth. I am grateful for the Atonement and I know that, because He came to the earth we can literally be forgiven for all our sins if we but turn to Him. He beckons us to come. Head His call. He loves you. I love you all! Have an amazing week and Merry Christmas!!!  Sister Woolley

The most wonderful time of the year

Hello family and friends!!

Well I don't have much time, so here's the quick update!

I got to go on exchanges again in a Spanish area and eat delicious
food and pick up on most of what is said yet not be able to
communicate much haha. But 'twas fun!
We had zone training meeting on Thursday and because we're over two
zones we went to both! Basically an almost all day event. We did a
training on recognizing how our investigators need to feel and it was
legit. Lots of fun too!
Oh! I got my splint taken off of my hand now, the finger is almost healed up :)

We had an AWESOME day on Saturday where we found three new
investigators. We were walking in an apartment complex and saw a
father and daughter moving in so we went up. Wow one of the first
people who actually let us help them! We moved stuff in for them and
got talking. Showed them the new Christmas video and while I was
showing it I was thinking over and over, how can I introduce the Book
of Mormon to them?? Lo and behold right as the video ended the dad
says, "I've always wanted to read the Book of Mormon." Really!? So
we're going back tomorrow :) miracles!!

Friday night was the Ward Christmas party. Woohoo so fun! We were
asked to perform something with the elders at which we procrastinated
until the morning of to practice... Simply put the first song we tried
was a train wreck, at which one point one of the elders sang out "we
are lost!!!" Haha. We ended up singing a medley of three songs from
the hymn book and it was a success. Anette, one of our investigators,
came with her granddaughter and loved it :) yay!

Sunday I got to give a talk in sacrament meeting about strengthening
our testimonies. One thing that never ceases to amaze me is how much
the little things contribute to our testimonies. Pray. Scripture
study. Going to church. Those three simple things make ALL the
difference in our testimonies. Never loose those. I have a HUGE
testimony that by doing the small and simple things our faith can grow
so much :)

One last thing. I got a letter from the mission office extended my
mission by a week because of the new MTC time period.. So my death
date is now August 3rd haha! Weird. Today marks 11 months of being a
missionary and the happiest 11 months it has been!

I love you all! Have an amazing week :)

Sister Woolley