Inner Battles, Birthdays, and Blessings...

Hope this week has been treating y'all well!  It has been another interesting week for Sister Jensen and I.  Somehow, we survived, and were blessed with many many miracles and tender mercies.   Heavenly Father sure has an interesting way of teaching us the things that we need to know, and what we need to do to progress.  I have no doubt that our Father in Heaven knows each one of us.  I know that He has a plan for us all. "...all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land;and he never doth vary from that which he hath said;therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you." ( Mosiah 2:22) Heavenly Father does not ask much of us.  All he wants is for us to be happy.  What we sometimes don't understand is that a fullness of joy comes from obedience to the Commandments, and keeping our covenants.  These commandments and covenants have been given to us because He loves us.  He knows that these commandments and covenants will keep us safe, and allow the spirit to be with us always.  

Tuesday started out as a great day.  We had a fabulous district meeting.  We discussed topics of obedience and diligence.  Both of which seem to be the fundamentals of successful missionary work and life long discipleship.  I am so grateful to be serving around such amazing missionaries who love the work so much. 

We had an appointment with the Reeves Gals.  They didn't seem to be progressing much up to this point.  They haven't really kept their commitments that we leave with them, and they refuse to commit to coming to church.  So this lesson we had with them is better known as a "do or die" lesson.  We went with the intent of trying to figure out if we should drop them for a while because they just aren't grasping the gospel.  But we had a great lesson with them.  We focused on the importance of attending church, prayer, and reading the scriptures.  Somehow it clicked!  Thank heavens for the spirit in that lesson. :)  They committed to coming to church on Sunday! :)  

We also had an exchange with the Geneva Alabama Sisters later in the afternoon.  They are such great missionaries.  If anyone learned anything during that exchange, it was me.  Some crazy things happened to us all, but we got through.  I learned that feelings of discouragement, and negativity are not just my thoughts.  Those feelings are clearly not from God, so they must come from another source.  Sister Jensen and I were able to have quite the breakthrough because of that exchange.  #blessingsfromabove!

Wednesday was quite the day.  Sister Jensen and I finished our exchange with the Geneva Sisters, and then had to head to Tallahassee for our exchange with the Lead STL's.  We had to drive separate cars though.  It was really weird.  There were four cars in our zone that are about to be retired.  So the Zone Leaders and Sister Jensen and I all drove separate cars to Tallahassee and back.  During that two hour drive by myself, I had the opportunity to just converse with Heavenly Father.  I am so grateful for that moment because I don't think I would have as much clarity and peace if I hadn't.  

Thursday was a much needed day.  I got to go on an exchange with Sister Stephens.  She is such an example to me.  I learned a lot about grace on my exchange with Sister Stephens. In my studies that morning, i came across the scripture, 1 Timothy 1:11-15 which reads: "According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust. And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.  And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. 

 Those verses just helped me to realize that my work is pleasing to the Lord. I am strengthened by His Grace. As Brad Wilcox would say, "Jesus doesn't make up the difference, He IS the Difference. " Also, we got a new car on the exchange.  Her name is Carmella.  She is the cutest car i have ever driven!!!  I just love her!  #blessings

Saturday was Jensen's 20th Birthday!  So Sister Porter, Sister Stapley and I decided to surprise her!  we tactfully came up with a plan that we needed to go on an emergency exchange.  Sister Stapley and i bought groceries and decorations.  Friday night we decorated the apartment, and Saturday morning we fixed breakfast for us all.  We made stuffed french toast with nutella and peanut butter.  It was the best thing ever!!! we also had sausage and hash browns.  Sister Jensen had no bloomin' idea that we were doing that for her!  Also the Elders got sister Jensen a Mrs. Potato head.  It was hilarious!!!  She is a very beloved sister that is for sure! :)

I am grateful for the opposition, and the blessings this week. I have learned so much. More than i can express. As Sister Jensen and I pressed forward for the rest of the week, Heavenly Father blessed us with three new investigators that have the greatest desire to grow closer to him. Its amazing. I am feeling so blessed and privileged to be part of this great work. Time is running short, so this is all for this week folks.  Have a blessed one! 

Love Y'all! 

Sister Melissa Jean Wood 

    

        

         

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Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people:yea, he trieth their patience and their faith.

Hey Y'all!

Man, was this a week!  It went by pretty quickly, but still was quite the week.  I will just share some highlights, and low points, and tender mercies of the Lord.  

Highlights:

We had to opportunity to go on some exchanges with the Troy Sisters, and the Mariana Sisters.  Both of those exchanges were a lot of fun, and very much needed.  I learned a lot from the spirit, and from these amazing sisters!!  I am so grateful to be serving around such incredible people who want nothing more than to serve the lord with all their heart might mind and strength.  For exchanges we have the sisters pray about a purpose to have during the exchange.  It can be about anything they want to improve on or learn.  Both the exchanges this week seemed to be helping me more than the sisters.  Funny how that works.  Heavenly Father knew that I needed to learn more about Joy, and recognizing and relying on the spirit.  

Sunday was awesome.  I have really grown such a special love for the Sabbath day.  From the outside looking in, Sundays don't seem like they would be any different for missionaries.  But they are.  I absolutely love partaking of the sacrament.  That is a sacred time that we are given each week to connect with heaven in a way we cannot during the rest of the week.  The speakers spoke a lot about faith and patience. Which were the two very things that were being tried this week.  How grateful I am to know that our Heavenly Father knows and loves me personally.  He knows exactly what I am feeling and going through.  He has an intricate plan set out for each of us.  How wondrous and great! 

Lows:

This week, Sister Jensen and I were realizing that all of our investigators either aren't progressing, wont meet with us, or wont set appointments.  So we got discouraged there for a hot second.  We are realizing that a transfer has come and almost gone and we arent seeing a whole lot of success.  We have both felt very detached from our emotions, and just heavy loads of stress and discouragement.  

Tender Mercies:

However, the Lord knows and loves Sister Jensen and I and blessed us with a lot of tender mercies this week.  

While we were on exchanges, i got a random phone call from a number i didn't know.  I answered and the man on the other end asked if we were the sister missionaries.  I was so excited to say yes!!  He expressed that he has met with missionaries before.  He is currently going through a rough time and wanted to meet with us so he could get closer to god!  We will be meeting with ErvIn this week!  We are so excited!!! 

Another tender mercy is that of when I had the chance to receive a priesthood blessing.  I am so grateful to the spirit and the power of the priesthood that allows us to receive such powerful blessings.  I know without a doubt that heavenly father knows me and has a plan for me.  As he does for all of his children.  

We had the impression to go and visit one of our former investigators, Joe.  We got there and began talking with him and told us that he is afraid he is going to die soon.  I think that explains the feelings of urgency we had to go and see him.  He expressed to us that just feels like he has unfinished business here.  He wants to do everything he was meant to before he passes on.  All that I could think about was that he needs to get baptized soon.  That is what is missing in his life, the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.  

While we were sitting on his porch, trying to have a discussion with Joe, his son in law and daughter came.  His son in law, Darius, joined in on our conversation.  He had a lot of questions as to how we can get closer to God and feel like we are accomplishing all that we need to.  So we set up a return appointment with him for today.  We will be teaching him about the restoration!  I seriously cannot wait!  Brother Darius is just one of my favorite people already.  

Heavenly Father didn't just send us to Joe's for Joe, but for Darius as well.  Sister Jensen and I are just feeling so blessed to be part of such a great work!!  

Sorry i dont have a ton of pictures for the week.  Like i said... it was a week. :) 

Be blessed y'all! 

Sister Wood

Exchanges and Half Mission

Hey y'all!

This week has been one for the books!  Sister Jensen and I had two exchanges this week, as well as MLC, Half Mission Conference, and a Baptism!  This week has been packed full of tender mercies.  I know that Heavenly Father is so aware of me and the people that Sister Jensen and I get the privilege of working with.  

The busy-ness of the week started off on Tuesday after district meeting.  I went to the beautiful Eufaula Alabama with Sister Olson.  She is a fabulous Sister Missionary.  She just cares so much about her work and the people they teach.  I had a lot of fun with her and hope i get another chance to go on an exchange with her.  Eufaula is BEAUTIFUL!!  Alabama is just BEAUTIFUL!  If I ever live in the south, I will live in Alabama.   We went to what is called the Shorter Mansion.  Its a beautiful old mansion in Eufaula.  Its now a museum filled with the rich history of this cute little town.  I just love things like this, so I couldn't resist.  Apparently, this mansion is featured in the movie "Sweet Home Alabama!!

              

Thursday was the day we had MLC (Mission Leadership Council) with President and Sister Smith, along with Elder Sitati, who was touring the mission with his wife.  We receive a lot of wise council from Elder Sitati and his wife.  They are such intelligent people.  They are originally from Kenya.  So it was really cool to hear how they became members of the church and see how far he has come.  We learned a lot about how we as missionaries need to be converted to the gospel before we go and teach it to others.  Our soul purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ.  As we do so, we come unto him.  I have seen that come to pass over the course of my mission.  The more I search for Christ and seek for the power of His Atonement, I have come closer to him.  I have been blessed to see my own testimony grow into a life long conversion.  I am so grateful for our Savior for taking upon himself the sins of the world.  I know I would not be able to serve a full time mission without the help, strength and support of the savior.  

The Half mission conference was not only edifying, but it was fun to see some friends that i have made over the course of my mission. I got to see my lovely Sister Richins!!  She is doing so well in Bonifay!  I got to see some people i was in the MTC with.  Its crazy how 16 months have flown right on by.  Also, there is an Elder Wood, so I couldn't resist getting a picture.  

               

One of the biggest highlights of the week, however, was Eli getting "BABATIZED."  (that is how he says it hehe)  I just really love this small human.  He is such a joy to be around.  Sister Jensen and I were so blown away by his knowledge and understanding of the gospel every time we taught him.  He was a little nervous for his baptism, but he did it!  He just glowed!!  Then, Sunday rolls around.  Sister Jensen are at the church meeting with the Elders, and all of a sudden we get a call from Eli's grandma, Sister Ponder.  She told us that Eli was not wanting to come to church to get confirmed.  He was scared to sit in front of the whole congregation and get confirmed.  I asked if I could talk to Eli.  He hesitantly got on the phone.  I asked him what he was feeling.  He was really nervous.  I did my best to comfort him and help him feel better about coming.  After I talked to him, i just got this overwhelming feeling of peace.  I knew that everything was going to be okay.  He showed up!!  Elder Van Confirmed him.  It was a wonderful blessing.  It talked about how Eli will someday hold the Priesthood, and be able to bless his family and many others.  It also talked about how he will serve a mission!  Sister Jensen and I are feeling so blessed and privileged to be part of Eli's journey of discipleship.  This little boy will grow up to do great things if he relies on the companionship of the spirit.  

      

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I am just loving every moment of my time here in the Florida Tallahassee Mission. Heavenly Father has blessed me with such great friends and people to love and serve. He knew exactly what i needed this week, and that was support from my dear friends.  I got to see a good amount of them this week.  This church, and restored gospel is nothing but true!  I am inspired more and more to deepen my conversion and understanding of the Gospel.  The more i learn, the more i want to share what i know with others.  

Y'all have a fabulous week!  Know that Sister Wood Loves and misses y'all!  

Peace and Blessings! ​

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Sister Melissa Jean Wood 

Hey Y'all!
This week was an eventful one, that is for sure.  Highs, Lows, and many feelings in between. It was hard for me to be fully motivated this week. I have been suffering from a head cold for the past week or so. Apparently I am allergic to the peanut dust and cotton.  I only know that because it is harvest time right now in Sweet Home Alabama. Regardless, Heavenly Father has definitely provided me with a lot of strength and energy when I needed it.

 In my studies this week I was reading Alma 32 to freshen up on my efforts of having greater faith. I realized that sometimes we are compelled to be humble so that we can cultivate a new and fresh faith. I am so grateful for that. I am so grateful that I have the knowledge that Heavenly Father knows me and loves me enough to help me grow.
This week we had the sad event of our BCD (Baptism and Confirmation Date) with Chris dropping. We met with Chris and were excited to teach him the lesson we prepared about the Plan of Salvation. When we got there, the spirit was just letting us know something was off. As the appointment rolled forward, Chris expressed to us that he no longer wants to get baptized because he wants to remain a baptist. We asked if we could share one last lesson with him in hopes that the plan of salvation would resolve some of his concerns.  As we taught and testified of precious truths, we could tell that Chris was just not listening.  He had is head in his hands, looking down at the table the entire time we were talking.  Whenever we would ask him a question, he wouldn't even look at us.  He would just shrug his shoulders, and utter "I don't know." At that point all we could do was share our love with him and boldly testify of Jesus Christ.  We testified that this is his church that has been restored to the earth by the prophet Joseph Smith.  We testified that God new him and led us to him so he could listen to this message and choose to accept or reject it.  

 It was a tough thing to take in. We know that he had felt the spirit witness to him that the things we have been teaching were true. At the beginning of us teaching him, he couldn't get enough of the Book of Mormon. He attended church twice in a row. He was excited to quit smoking before his baptism on the 22. But some how, some way, he has let his doubts consume him and he no longer wants to meet with us. I am grateful for the opportunity we had to teach him and feel the spirit witness so strongly that the gospel has truly been restored. In response to that lesson of pure rejection, Sister Jensen and I got  frosty's at Wendy's and we listened to a bunch of different versions of "praise to the man." That made everything better!

Later this week we went on exchanges with the Dothan 2 Sisters.  I got to spend the day with Sister Stapley.  She is pretty fabulous!  She is a Master Herbalist.  How snazzy is that?!  She is very wise, and a great teacher.  She is dedicated to her purpose of being a missionary and spreading the gospel for all to hear.  I learned a lot of lessons of humility and meekness from this dear sister :)  We had some good talks, that is for sure.   

I absolutely LOVE going on exchanges with other sisters.  I always tell the sisters that one exchange a transfer is not enough for sister wood to learn what she needs to learn.  So heavenly Father provided me with the opportunity to go on 7 Exchanges each transfer with all these amazing sisters.  I really do learn so much from them.  They motivate me to always be finding ways to improve and work harder! I just love these sisters so so much.  They truly are consecrated servants of the Lord.  

So... Conference.   Can we just say that it was AMAZING!  It was so neat to me to hear the brethren speak and testify of the simplicity and fundamental principles and ordinances of the Gospel.  Faith, Repentance, and Joy were themes that really stuck out to me.  

Y'all I am so grateful for this Restored Gospel. It has brought true and lasting joy and peace into my life.  I absolutely loved President Nelson's talk on Joy.  Everything he said rang true to me. "… Joy is a gift for the faithful. It is the gift that comes from intentionally trying to live a righteous life, as taught by Jesus Christ." Joy comes from centering our lives on Jesus Christ.  I have definitely found the most joy by doing so.  As I study and learn more about the savior, i have found that my joy is full. I feel such joy because my faith is continuing in growth and strength.   Faith is the first principle of the gospel and is the source to everything I know and do. One of my favorite scriptures on faith is: Helaman 3:35 Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God.  Repentance is a gift from our Heavenly Father.  I have come to really love and cherish this beautiful gift.  It is an act of faith like Elder Renlund put so beautifully. "Real repentance must involve faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, faith that He can change us, faith that He can forgive us, and faith that He will help us avoid more mistakes. … Without the Redeemer, the inherent hope and joy evaporate, and repentance becomes simply miserable behavior modification. But by exercising faith in Him, we become converted to His ability and willingness to forgive sin. … … Repentance is a choice."

I am so grateful we have the love and guidance of a living prophet, and apostles.  I know they are special witnesses of Jesus Christ.  They will always lead us in the right direction, and that is looking to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  

I know Christ lives. I know he leads his church today though our beloved prophet, President Thomas S. Monson.  

Never forget who we are, and Whose we are.  

Have a blessed week Y'all! 

Sister Melissa Jean Wood

Here are some adventures of the Week :)

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