Shinguards to Sandals: We Go Forth Enlisted with Helaman's Army

Sister Wood - Sister Barlow and Elder Fulivai.....and mystery photo bomber

KUMUSTA KUMUSTA KUMUSTA!

Yet another week has passed here at the MTC. Don't ask me where the time has gone dahil hindi ko alam. (because I don't know). I have to really think about what all has happened this week dahil it just flies by.

First, I just want to make a note that EVERYONE sings here. All. The. Time. You know singing is just not my thing, so yeah I have had to get used to that. BUT more than anyone, the sisters sing. And their favorite place is in the shower. It gets a little loud and screechy, but patience is somthing that I am working on here, so they just need to keep belting it out! JUST KEEP GOING, IT DOESN'T EVEN PHASE ME! :)

Anyways, another load of missionaries came on Wednesday and I have seen a few people I know. We get to do the hosting this Wednesday, so it will be fun to do right before we leave! So if your are coming in this Wednesday I want to know!

I sent some pictures of the gym at 2M. Do you want to hear something funny? Actually there are two funny things. The first one is, everyone here thinks I am so strong.... hilarious right? I don't know if it is just cause I am the only girl that lifts weights, or... yeah I don't know why. I just make sure they know that I was literally the weakest one on the soccer team, and if they want to see strong, they should see my teammates. Now the other thing was, I went to the normal gym yesterday where the basketball courts are and some elders were playing lighting (basketball) and I wanted to hop in and play. On a side note real quick, there are a lot of girls here that I have played against whether it be in soccer or basketball, and you can kind of feel the "mind tension" between us haha. So one other girl was playing with these guys too, and she was behind me in line. That game is the worst if someone gets you out, and next thing I know... (just so I don't disclose names) a girl who was on the basketball team that we played when we were both undefeated, shoots after me and makes it first.... I was so angry!!! AH! But then we played another round, and I did the same thing to her, so yes payback (felt good). Then, not to sound stupid or anything, but the guys were getting so mad because between me and her we were destroying them... (remember the email about all guys being athletic haha). I figured out that I had to make my shot first time, because we all know my weakness..... layups..... they still haunt me to this day haha.

We had to say goodbye to our teacher that we have had the whole time on Thursday. It was kind of sad. He had helped us get to where we were, and you can see the photos we took that I sent!

Kasama ko and I taught some SWEET lessons this week. Everyone take a moment and clap for us BECAUSE WE COMMITTED OUR FIRST INVESTIGATOR OF OUR MISSION TO BAPTISM!!! YAY! Honestly, even though they are "fake" investigators, it was the coolest thing in the world. It felt so real! I really am a real missionary! WHAT! We worked hard to prepare this baptism lesson and it really had me stressed out because we weren't sure if he would, but finally we just said okay we just have to have faith! I wanted the invitation to be baptized to be perfect, because it isn't good when it is all broken up and their are a bunch of pauses. It makes you sound less confident. So I practiced the invitation that is straight out of Preach My Gospel because the wording of it is perfect....except in tagalog it is forever long. But I am never going to forget it now because it will be so useful! So we didn't have a special room to go in like we usually do to teach. We had to go right outside our class in the hallway. Which was super annoying because people were being loud out there, so it gave me doubts about how it would go. We started the lesson and it was going smoothly. I said my last phrase and was supposed to start inviting him. Then my kasama nudged me and wanted to bear her testimony before. The moment she began everything around us went quiet. I kid you not it was as if we were the only ones in the whole building. She got emotional and the Spirit was so strong it was like wow. So my heart started pounding and I was fighting back tears because I had to give this invite and I wanted it to flow perfectly! She finishes and I stay composed and start saying:

Susundan mo ba ang halimbawa ni Jesucristo sa pamamagitan ng pagpapabinyag sa isang taong maytaglay ng awtoridad ng priesthood ng Diyos? Magdaraos kami ng serbiyso ng binyag sa Augusto una. Ihahanda mo ba ang sarili ng magbinyag sa petsang iyon.

Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God? We will be holding a baptismal service on August 1st. Will you prepare to be baptized on that date?

He agreed to be baptized and it was the coolest experience thus far! I can't when those are actually real people in the Philippines. AND missionary work isn't a competition at all, but we may or may not have been the only companionship to commit this specific investigator to baptism... Hahaha.

For Relief Society last Sunday, Carole Mikita from KSL News came and spoke to us and it was by far my favorite devotional. She told of experiences she has had while traveling the world getting news on the church and it was so cool. LOVED it. I also wanted to share a piece of a song we sing every week. They have made a song called As Sisters Of Zion that is specific for sister missionaries. I may have already talked about it, but this line stuck out to me this week: "We go forth enlisted with Helaman's army, in numbers much greater than every before." I just loved it because we really are enlisted with "Helaman's Army" or the Elders. Both of us combined make this army that is really just unstoppable. Especially in the numbers we have now. It is honestly incredible.

WE GOT OUR TRAVEL PLANS! IN A WEEK AND HALF I WILL BE IN THE PHILIPPINES! We get to fly to San Fran then to Tokyo then to Manila. The only issue I am thinking about is that our flight from Manila we can only have A TOTAL of 55 lbs. Hahahaha like seriously? So sorry mom I am going to have to pay 28 cents per pound I am over.

To end, my mom wanted to know how I am doing without social media/music. The music is what has been killing me. But strangely enough my mind is now trained to hum church songs all the time haha. Every once in a while I will go on a Taylor Swift singing spree, but not very much.. surprise I know. So yeah, the music is what I miss the most. When I go work out in 2M though, I just listen to my church music, so at least it is something! But the social media? I don't miss one bit. Dang... life is so nice without it! As much as missionaries sometimes don't like being cut off from the world, it is something that I think we LOVE too. We have one focus, and one goal. Help others come unto Christ. We don't need any type of social network to interfere! And I am actually so happy that I won't be getting a missionary Facebook since I will be in the Philippines haha. I just wouldn't like it. So it all worked out perfectly.

We are going in to our last week here. What in the world? I have tried to stay as focused as I can because I need all the help I can get before going to the Philippines. But I am so excited I can't even contain myself. Well, I feel like this e-mail is longer than it needs to be haha. Salamat to all of the people that have wrote/emailed me! I appreciate it so much!

1 more P-Day at the MTC!

Mahal Kita!

- Sister Wood

Sister Wood and friend from BYU - Ben Patch

While on her temple walk this little girl came up to Sister Wood and wanted her picture taken with her. Apparently she is a huge BYU women's soccer fan.

"The Jessica Ringwood Man" (not sure what this means exactly but this is what she said) Apparently he recognized Sister Wood and talked BYU soccer with her for a good 15 minutes. Crazy good fans - Even at the MTC