Ontario, California -August 25, 2014

Hey family,

Well first off, I am sure you are all wanting to know about the transfers.  I am  staying in the Mountain View ward with Sister Manumua.  It will be another six weeks...

I am glad that everyone is off to school again. Mom is probably super happy.  It also sounds like Camille and Adam are having quite an adventure in Iowa.  I can't believe that Ian and Rolando are seniors!! That is insane.  Holy cow.  In just a few months, they will have their mission calls, and be on their way.  

It is so weird that Amber is home.  I have been emailing her her whole mission and now she is home! No more stories or pictures.  I bet she did a great job though.  I just love Amber.  She is amazing.  

I would love to go see dad at the airport on Wednesday.  More then you know right now, but I would probably get in trouble for that, so I guess I better not. I guess the worst is they could send me home 12 weeks early.  At least I would be close to a full mission.  But I would like to keep those three months.  

On Saturday we had our mission conference.  Elder Russell M Nelson had a great grand kid born the day before and was down visiting the family.  He knows President and Sister Hobbs and asked them if he could come talk to the mission. So we all got together.  He also brought Elder Ketcher (the is probably spelled wrong) from the 70.  I think he just got called last conference.  It was really good.  Elder Nelson is just a funny old man.  Our bishop told us a story about him in Med school.  Elder Nelson and another kid had been asked to go to a summer class and then come back and teach all students the things they learned.  So one day they had a cadaver and were doing something with the lungs.  They decided to take a foot pump and connect it to the trachea from behind so no one could see.  As soon as the class got close to look, they stepped on the pump and made the lungs inflate.  He said there was one little nurse who got extra close and when it happened she ran out of the room and never came back! hahah so funny! Who would have thought Elder Nelson used to pull pranks like that?

It was good.  He talked about obedience and a few other things and then opened it up to a question and answer.  There were lots of good questions asked.  One of my favorite things he said was in response to a question about those little sins we all hold on to and even though we try, we just keep going back to them and how we can have faith and hope when we keep making the same mistakes over and over again.  His response was, "Once you stop making mistakes, you're dead"  Then he went on and explained that throughout our entire lives, we are all going to make mistakes.  Some will be bigger then others, but all make them none the less.  As long as we have a desire to change and are on the path up and not down, then you will be good.  Stop fretting over little things and thinking you aren't good enough to make it to the Celestial kingdom.  Keep trying and keep going.  It was really good.

We went back up to Mt Baldy this weekend.  We went from 9 to 4 on Friday so it was a full day! We were definitely tired by the end.  We just shoveled a whole lot more dirt, mud and rocks.  All day. But it was good and we all really loved helping out.  The people that live in Mt Baldy were very appreciative.  

That is about all that happened.  It was a slow week.  We met with monica and her kids this week and they all came to church.  We have a lesson with them today! yay!  Manuel also came to church this week.  We have a lesson with him today as well.  And the Zunigas family didn't come to church, but we have a lesson with them today.  Hopefully we can figure out what their hold up is an help them out.  It has been 6 weeks since they have come to church....AHHH

Well have a good week.  I will talk to you next week.  Have a good week.  Be safe.  Have fun here in Ontario dad!! It is the place to be! haha

Love you all

Sister Woodward

Ontario, California -August 18, 2014

Hello Family,

My trainer Sister Morgan flew home today.  And Amber goes home on Thursday! So crazy.  It was during Amber's farewell that I decided to go on my mission and now she is coming home.  I can't believe how fast time has gone since then.  Less then three months til I am home and less then 2 til Cameron is home.  Does he know what he is doing for school?  Has he even thought about it yet?  Does he realize he is running out of time??

Well this was a good week for us.  We were finally able to have a lesson with the Zunigas family.  They told us they weren't sure if they would be ready for baptism on September 13th and they haven't come to church in 5 weeks, so they are probably right. We have a lesson with them tonight and are going to talk to them about that again.  Hopefully we will set a date that they will feel okay reaching.  

We had a lesson with Monica and her kids this week as well.  They all came to church and loved it again.  They are doing well and are planning on being baptized on September 13th.  Monica has a few issues with the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity, so those lesson could be interesting.  She doesn't agree with them.  So I am not sure how she will react during the lesson as we teach them to her kids.  Hopefully she will be on board, but I am afraid she will raise some objections.  

Manuel came to church as well.  He stayed all three hours and we had a lesson with him after church.  He has a date for September 6th and is excited for that.  He will need to have an interview with President Hobbs instead of just our district leader.  We will see how that goes.  We are trying our best to fit all the lesson in the next two weeks which is going to be a struggle.

We get to go back up to Mount Baldy this Friday.  We are excited to go and help up there again.  Our bishop announced it in Sacrament and that was the first we heard of us going up.  So that was a surprise.  But the whole Ontario stake has been asked to go up and help that day.  There should be a lot of people.

Elder Nelson is coming this weekend to Upland, so he is having a conference with our whole mission.  Not with Redlands this time though.  We are all excited for that.  It should be fun. He seems like a cool guy but also quite intimidating.  Also transfers next Monday so I will let you know what happens.  Crazy that it is already here again.  So look forward to that next Monday!!

Love you all and have a good week

Sister Woodward

Ontario, California -August 11, 2014

Hi guys,

Last Monday our zone went hiking up in Mount Baldy.  Well we drove to trail head, walked for maybe 15 minutes and drove home.  There was a sister in the group that was complaining and demanding that we had to be home by 10 so she could get to the rest of her p-day.  So by the time we got there and the time we had to drive home, we didn't really hike.  It was kind of ridiculous.

As we were up there, a lot of people had been telling us that the trails we had been hiking on were all flooded the night before.  We thought, oh cool. what a nice story, but nothing else of it.  Monday night we got a text from our zone leaders saying that on Sunday night because of the rain, Mount Baldy had flash floods, and mudslides.  A few people were even killed and so all day Tuesday we were going up to help with the clean up.

Long story short, our zone leaders complicated everything with the rides because they are 18 year old boys and dont know how to organize anything!!!! but we got up there.  It was crazy.  I don't know how we missed it the day before.  Sister Manumua and I got assigned to a house where the mud had broken in the back door and was at least 4 feet deep.  It was thick, heavy and filled with boulders.  It was a lot of work and in the time we were there, we barely made a dent.  There is so much to do.  All the other missionaries in our zone were assigned to different homes.  They had camera crews, newspaper reporters, bulldozers and other heavy equipment trying to help.  If you google the local paper here, there might be pictures and a few missionaries quoted in there.  I think we are going back up this week to help again.  President is switching off each day which missionaries are going up.

Thursday we had exchanges.  I stayed in my area with Sister Soleta.  She is from the Philippines.  We had a fun day.  It was good.  We had so much set up that we didn't even have time for lunch.  That happens quite often in this area.  

This last week we had 2 lessons with Monica and her kids.  They are all excited to get baptized.  We have another lesson with them this week. One of our lessons we taught the plan of salvation.  I wasn't sure how much they even understood.  They didn't say much during the lesson.  Later that day, our zone leaders text us and told us they ran into Isaiah when he was out walking their dog (Imagine that.  a 15 year old boy walking the dog)  They said that Isaiah had told them we had a lesson earlier with them.  He then went through the whole plan of salvation.  They said he got it all right.  So I guess he did understand it all.  Pretty cool.

Saturday night the Sisters in the YSA branch text us and asked if we could find a ride for an investigator they had found who should be in our ward because he is almost 31.  We had our RS Pres and her husband pick him up.  His name is Manuel.  He came to sacrament meeting and loved it.  Both speakers did a really good job.  We then went with the YSA sisters to his house for a lesson at 4.  He read part of the book of mormon since he last lesson.  I guess he took the lessons a few years ago and was all ready to get baptized.  He then got in trouble with the law and couldn't be baptized.  He decided to completely clean up his life and take care of everything before he found the missionaries again.  So he is all good now and a few weeks ago, he saw Sisters Crowley and Buck on the street and asked them to teach him the lessons.  So we set a date with him for the 6th of September.  We are excited.  He is too.  It is going to be good and he is so ready!  He can't wait.

So it was a good week overall.  We had fun and even found someone new to teach! YAY! I love this area and I sure don't want to leave in 2 weeks. I hope President lets me stay. 

Well thanks for everything.  I hope you have a good week.

Love you all

Sister Woodward

Ontario, California -August 4, 2014

Hey family,

Well it sounds like it has been quite a busy week at home.  I am glad that everyone got to Iowa and back safely and that Darcy's ankle is healing up well.  Good good.  We can't have her out for the Sparta game.  

And school is all starting soon.  That is quite fun.  I bet mom is the most excited, or maybe Gislene.  It is probably a close call.  Speaking of school, I think I have made my decision about school....drumroll please... I think I am going to move all the way up to Rexburg, Idaho and go to BYU-I.  (okay mom, stop with the marriage jokes).  I have a super good friend in the mission, Sister Havens, who I am going to room with, if we get on the same track, so we are praying for that.  I wanted to go to USU but God is telling me otherwise and so I figure it would be smart to listen to Him.  Just though I would let you all know. 

Well this week has been good for us.  It has been interesting.  Not the normal week for missionaries.  We did have a lesson with both Ceci Zunigas and her family, as well as Monica Costa and her family.  Both lessons went really well.  We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ to both families.  Monica and her kids came to church and enjoyed it again.  We talked to them about a baptismal date and they want to do it for September 13th-yeah I know the same day as the Zunigas family.  So that would be 7 baptisms in one day, which might be a little much.  Monica wants to maybe do it a week or two earlier (August 30th) but one of her daughters likes the number 13 and wants to do it then.  So we will see what happens.

We also went back to Sister Shelby's house and finished her yard.  That was another 3 hours of work.  Right after that, we heard of a new couple that was moving into our ward.  Sister Manumua headed over to help.  They just moved from Odgen and some of her sisters went to Sky View and live in southern Cache valley right now.  That was cool.  We also went to the food pantry to help again.  

Sister Manumua got sick, so we were out for 2 days with that.  She was having super bad stomach problems.  Then yesterday at church, my face and eye lids were super itchy, but I didn't think anything of it.  When I got home, I washed my face and my face and eyes were all swollen.  I don't know what it was because I didn't eat anything (fast Sunday) and I haven't changed anything with my make up.  So that was fun.  I took some allergy medicine and was asleep for the rest of the evening and night.  So we weren't able to do as much proselyting this week as normal, but it was still a good week.  

We have zone meeting this week, zone conference combined with upland next week and then a mission conference with Elder Nelson  the next week.  So these next three weeks are going to be crazy.  And then right after that it is time for transfers again! Crazy how fast time goes.  

I get home on November 17th actually.  So about a month exactly after Cameron.  Our mission flies the missionaries out on Monday.  So just a few days earlier then mom thought, but I guess I can wait an extra Sunday.  That would have been cool and so much easier to do a combined homecoming, but I guess that isn't going to happen.  But I can plan on the 30th.  It doesn't really make a difference to me.  

Well I think that is all.  I hope you kick some sparta butt!  Go girls go! have a fun week.  105 days left! better start the countdown chain! haha

Love you all

Sister Woodward

Ontario, California -July 28, 2014

Hey family,

Our week was crazy.  Be ready for quite the email.  I will see what I can get in, in the time I have left.  

Monday: P-day nothing too out of the ordinary

Tuesday:  District meeting then zone lunch afterwards. We made pancakes.  That was a lot of fun.  In the evening we had a lesson with the Zunigas family.  Just as a reminder, we are teaching the mom, Ceci, two sons, Oscar and Evay (no idea how to spell that one) and a daughter, Brianna.  We had Brother and Sister Doddridge join us for their lesson.  When we got there Oscar had hurt his knee and was down stairs.  He didn't think he could walk up the stairs for the pain.  Brother Doddridge offered to give him a blessing.  He then talked about the Priesthood-where it came from, what it is, what it does, who can hold it ect.  Ceci's nephew was there as well.  He was the first one to be baptized in their family.  He is the one that introduced Ceci and her sons to the church.  He bore his testimony on the Priesthood and the blessings he has received since he got it a few years ago.  It was a wonderful lesson.  Then we dragged Oscar upstairs and Brother Doddridge gave a blessing to Oscar.  It was great.

Wednesday:  In the morning, the Elders in our ward and Sister Manumua and I went to a single lady's home in our ward.  Her husband passed away recently and she was trying to get her yard work under control.  She asked us to weed against her back wall.  Sister Manumua and I got straight to work while the Elders did whatever elders do-I still can't figure that out.  We weeded probably a section that was 3 feet wide and maybe 35 feet long (not exaggerating) in the time the elders did a section 4 feet by 5 feet-maybe.  It was ridiculous.  Sister Shelby (the member) came to us and told us we put the elders to shame by a lot.

After that we went to the food bank and gave some service there. We helped fill orders and restock shelves.  There is this program coming out by the church called Just Serve.  They want us to serve, imagine that. So us and four elders from our district go every week there.  It is fun.  

Thursday:  There is a less active lady in our ward named Angela.  She said she needed some help in the morning.  We went over and she said she had a bunch of family coming into town and needed help putting together tamales.  So that is what we did.  We learned how to put them together (can I just say, way too much work for such little food!)  She then gave us a dozen doughnuts for helping.  Well we sure weren't going to eat a dozen doughnuts so what do you think we did with them?  That's right.  We found Elders.  They loved it.  

Friday: We did our weekly planning with the zone leaders...Fun stuff.  It wasn't too bad. Just long.  Then Sister Shelby wanted to take Sister Manumua and I out to dinner.  We went to her house and then headed to Upland (don't worry we got permission).  And guess who we picked up there? SISTER RILEY and her new companion! It was so much fun! We were all so excited.  So we went and had a lovely dinner together! Loved it

Saturday: (here we go)  So we didn't finish Sister Shelby's yard on Wednesday so we came back Saturday.  We brought our zone leaders though so we would actually get some work done.  And luckily the elders in our ward were on exchanges and the one that we are pretty positive has never seen a weed before in his life, was gone.  We had to go back over the Elders area from Wednesday because they really didn't do anything. Then we planted a bunch of trees and vines and bushes were we weeded the other day.  We mowed the lawn and trimmed bushes and we started weeding a whole other section as well.  Didn't get done with that in time so we are going back once more.  It should all get finished this week.

Next we had a lesson with our zone leaders and someone they had tracted into in our area.  They are in the Tongan ward so they cover all of Ontario.  We went over there.  The mom, Monica is a less active and when the elders came by she asked them to come back later and give her a blessing.  They had us come with them since we are the missionaries in her ward.  She had told us that there have been quite a few times that she has thought about returning to church and something happens-once the missionaries came and left a card on her door.  She got home from work and found it (That just happened to be Sister Respecia)  Another time, she was driving thinking about it and Elders rode by on her bikes.  Another time she was at work, Payless, and two sister missionaries walked it.  Well can you guess which Sisters those happened to be?  Let me tell you a story:

About a year ago while serving in Rancho Cucamonga with Sister Pollard, we were meeting a member at one of her favorite stores called Fashion Rush on a pday.  We got there a few minutes early and decided to go look at payless next door. So we walked in and the cashier was super nice and overly friendly.  We figured she had to be a member.  As we got talking she said she was a less active member from Ontario and told us the same things that she told us in this lesson about the missionaries coming at the right times over and over again.

So it was actually me that ran into her at work when she had been thinking about going back to church and now I am teaching her.

So we invited her and her three kids, Isaiah 15, Victoria 12 and Tatiana 11 to come to church the next day.  Monica explained that it was Isaiah's 15th birthday and he wasn't sure if he wanted to go to church.  We told him we would bring him ice cream for his birthday if they came.  The Elders talked about the priesthood, gave Monica an amazing blessing (so cool the things that were promised-family being together for eternity)  and we left

We then went to our other investigators home.  Her name is Sabrina and she is addicted to pain killers and once she can kick that addiction she is going to get baptized.  We had a super powerful lesson with her about the plan of salvation and then I told her of things I had learned when teaching Sam back in San Bernardino.  I had seen how when he read the Book of Mormon daily, he had added strength to overcome his addiction to coffee.  I promised her the same power, strength and blessings.  It was wonderful.  God has it all figured out.  I realized I had to be in San B. teaching Sam for a transfer so that I could come and teach Sabrina a year later and help her! AHH so cool.

Sunday: Sister Manumua and I were standing at the door of the church waiting for the Zunigas family to come it.  Church was about to start and we went to our seats.  As we sat down, a few rows in front of us, we saw the bishops wife talking to Monica and her kids! WHAT??? I guess Sister Freeman knew Monica because their kids went to the same school.  They were friends.  So they stayed through Sacrement then Sister Freeman grabbed them and gave them a tour of the church.  She showed them where their classes were and wouldn't let them leave.  Tatiana is super out going so she was fine going to primary.  Monica went to gospel essentials with Sister Freeman and we went to class with Isaiah and Victoria because they were super nervous.

After that hour we got them all to their third hour.  Sister Freeman was going into Primary.  We took Monica to Relief Sociey.  We got our ward mission leader to take care of Isaiah and found a young women who was 12 to sit with Victoria.  It was great.  After church we all met up with them. Tatiana came running from Primary saying "I love this! Can we do this all the time?"  Isaiah came out from priesthood with a ride all set up for mutual on Tuesday for him and his sister.  Victoria came out with handfuls of cookies and said she loved young womens! Oh it was so good.  We were so happy. And it made Monica a little less worried since she had seen how much fun her kids had.  It was great.

We noticed that Isaiah was really interested in the priesthood.  During Sunday School, there was a picture of Peter James and John giving the Priesthood to Joseph Smith.  It is the same one in the Restoration pamphlet we had left the day before. He grabbed the picture and was reading about it on the back.  We realized it was necessary for the Elders to find Monica so that Isaiah could see the priesthood and have that connection.  It wasn't until the blessing that Isaiah really opened up.  

We said something to Elder Fernando about that and he told us this: After the blessing he was talking to Isaiah.  Isaiah was looking at the same picture in the pamphlet.  Isaiah said that during the blessing he had seen two of the men in that picture actually standing there giving the blessing instead of Elder Fernando and Elder Ercanbrack.  "The two men in white robes" is how he described it. How cool is that.  This family has been being prepared for quite some time now and Sister Manumua and I are so grateful and humbled that we are two of the missionaries that get to help them out.  Amazing family!  They are something special! And we love them already!

Well that was my week.  I hope you have a good week and get through everything okay.  I love you all

Sister Woodward

Ontario, California -July 21, 2014

Hey family,

My new area is good.  It is SO GREEN compared to the desert.  It is pretty close to Rancho and Upland.  It is not at hot, but a little more humid.  It cools down a lot in the evenings and I love that because Apple Valley didn't do that.  My new companion is good.  You pronounce her name Mawn a moo a  That took me a bit of time to get down.  She is fun.  Her english is still coming along.  She is having a hard time explaining things going on here so it will take a bit to get a hold of everything here.  It definitely won't be a piece of cake, but Sister Manumua is super chill and easy going so I think we will get along just fine.

This last week has been crazy.  Our A.C. decided to leak water.  We didn't catch it until the tile in the ceiling broke and all the water came with it.  If we don't turn our air on it gets over 85 degrees.  We went to talk to the office and they told us there was no maintenance until today so we have just been dealing with it.  We keep the air off all day and turn it on at night.  We stuck our garbage can under the part that is leaking and it has been catching all the water.  That has been fun.

On Saturday night, at about 1 in the morning our fire alarmed decided to malfunction. It went off, but only for a few seconds then it was quiet.  Then a couple seconds later, it did it again, and again and again.  It was only the one in our bedroom and not in the rest of the house.  There was no fire and our Carbon Monoxide wasn't going off either.  I got sick of it and took the battery out after about 10 minutes.  I kept hoping it would stop and never did so I took matters into my own hands haha

There is definitely a lot of work in this area.  We have a family right now that we are teaching.  They are the Zunigas. They are hispanic.  There is the mom 2 teenage boys and a 10 year old daughter.  We taught the Restoration this last week and the week before they taught the Plan of Salvation.  They go to church every week and mutual and activity days. They all love it and are excited and on fire.  They have a baptismal date set for September 13th right now.  They will probably be ready before then.  They have family that are members and are very familiar with the church. They just need to take the lessons.

You will be surprised to know that I have learned to like fish on  my mission.  So I would be okay if you saved some for me when I get back.  My stomach has been doing a lot better.  It must have been something I was eating in the desert because I haven't had any problems down here.  It is good.  

I hope all is well at home. Have a good week. Love you all

Sister Woodward

Ontario, California -July 14, 2014

Hey there,

So here is the news-I have been transferred-again!! I am now back down the hill (a little cooler, but more humid)  and I actually am following Sister Riley into an area.  My companion is Sister Maunamua (maybe) and she is from Tonga.  She has been out for three months and seems super cool.  She is a world class athlete in track and field and is probably going to go to the olympics one day.  I think she gave up going to the olympics for a mission actually.  So pretty cool.  Oh and I am in Ontario.  A new area for me.  I haven't been here yet so it will be an adventure. I know most of the missionaries in my zone-fun.

I didn't think I was going to get moved, but I guess I did, and I cried.  The members I lived with were so amazing and I am going to miss them more then anything or anyone else.  When I told Sister Ebmeyer, she started crying, which made me cry.  They are so great.  They told me to come back and visit and bring the whole family, and if I didn't bring the whole family and if we didn't ALL STAY at her house, she would be offended (and trust me she wasn't kidding).  So plan on meeting her one day when I get home.

The last week in Apple Valley was good.  I have been having weird stomach problems.  Every day at about 3 I got super bad stomach pains and I would have to go home and just cry.  So most of the middle of the days, we didn't do anything.  It was a little slow.  I said my goodbyes and packed.  I cleaned and took some pictures (my camera was packed and I haven't unpacked yet, so next week)  It was a slow week for missionary work.  Sister Riley told me in the last 3 months they have found 22 new investigators, so there is definitely a lot of work in this area and I am super excited and I finally have another companion not from Utah!!

Well the new library only gives us an hour to email instead of three at the least one so my emails might be getting shorter.  I hope you have a fun week.  You are all wonderful.  Love ya bunches.

Sister Woodward