Miracles

"Miracles!"

     This week has been so incredible! I have learned so much! One of my favorite parts of the week was when all of our appointments cancelled. I was really bummed when our first one with Kathy cancelled. Shortly after our dinner appointment cancelled another one of our "gators" called and cancelled. We had four that day and ended up with one. After the second one I knew there was someone we needed to find; I could feel it. We went down to a street where we had planned to talk to a potential investigator. We ended up knocking and as we were doing this we saw a girl across the street come home and walk into her home. Sister Arndt and I felt a little awkward going to her house because she had seen us as well. We decided to do it anyway and she ended up becoming a new investigator! She thanked us for bringing her a Book of Mormon and after we committed her to read the intro she told us that she would end up reading more of it. I was so excited! Later that day we went to the back up of our second investigator and we were knocking in Nevada street. We came to this home and a young mother answered the door. She told us that she was Lutheran and I thought she was going to close the door in our face. We talked to her for a while and she committed to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it! We set up a return appointment and again thanked us for stopping by. I am so excited to teach her! She is incredible.
    One of the things I learned this week was recognizing how as missionaries we can see people's potential. I had heard that before but when I was set apart I didn't see the difference. This week I realized that when we see people's potential we see how much the Lord loves these people and how they can influence the church for good. 
When I first got out here I was worried about loving the people but this week the Lord has shown me how to do that and how much he loves each one of us.
Sister Arndt and I also had an amazing experience in companionship study. Jamie will appreciate this. I had read in Alma 44:10. The last sentence in the verse was highlighted and I remember talking about it with him and it was really powerful then. I read that sentence that morning and I liked it and wrote it down but I wasn't sure really why I had liked it anymore. As I was telling Sister Arndt about it I decided I wasn't going to read her the words exactly but for some reason I changed my mind and read her those words. The second they came out of my mouth the room was flooded with the spirit. It was so powerful! I was not expecting that at all! So we discussed it and talked about how we as missionaries can help end the conflict with Satan. When we have sins we must use the healing power and mercy of the atonement to finally end the problem and forsake our sins. The spirit was so strong during that study. What a way to start the day!

    Halloween was just like any other day. We totally forgot that is was a holiday. We called people and asked members to come to some appointments with us not realizing that they would be busy with family stuff. Oops! Who hangs out with family these days? Not the missionaries! We had to be out of our apartment at 9 am that day and in by 7pm. That was weird but nice at the same time. It gets dark here around 6:00 which makes knocking hard because people think that it is a lot later than it really is, so they get mad at us for knocking in their door so late. Oh well this is their salvation that is on the line. I think they can handle talking to us for five minutes.

    Things out here are great! I miss you and and love you all! Sorry this is so short! I will send a better update next week!

Sister Skeeter"

     

1 Week Down, Lot's more to go!

Madi's first week in the field.

"1 week down, lots more to go!"

    "Wow, this week has been crazy! I really have no clue where to even start. I guess I will start with my companion. Crazy story her and I. We were both on this sister missionary facebook page and she ended up adding me about two days before she reported. I messaged her and asked her a few questions. While we were chatting back and forth I thought "watch we will be companions at one point." Little did I know. So fast forward to first day in the field. We had an interview with the mission president and he told me that my trainer was a really great missionary and that she hadn't been out for very long. My thoughts immediately went to Sister Arndt. I asked him how long she had been out and he said about two transfers. I thought it would be her but I didn't want to get my hopes up. The next day all of the trainers walked in to the meeting room and she was with them. They called out each new Elder or Sister and their trainer. I was the last one of course because I was a "W" so as each sister got assigned to someone I was more and more sure that she would be my trainer. And guess what! I was totally right! Not a big deal. I can just see the future...ok maybe not. So she has been so great! We have a lot of fun together and she is super good at encouraging me. It makes it a lot easier to have someone who has been through all of this recently.

     As for the work out here. I got so lucky! I am in the Ventura 4th ward and we cover some of Ventura city and Saticoy city. Holy cow. Saticoy is a pretty poor area and we aren't allowed to be there at night. Sketchy! It's ok though because most of those people we have to refer to the hermanas. I walked into this mission and started with 3 amazing investigators! They are so ready for the gospel and I wish they would all just commit to baptism already! Two of them had dates but they had to be pushed back due to some issues and they other one does not want to commit until she is 100% positive this is right. The cool this is that you can tell they are all really trying to find out if this is the true church. I love watching them change and seeing how much they really want to follow Jesus Christ. 

      The funny thing about this work is that all of the people you would think are nice and want to hear the gospel are the most rude and the most tatooed and rougher looking people are usually the nicest and most easy to teach. Makes sense right?...Not really. However it makes for some incredible miracle and stories!

       Also guess what. I got sick. Yep, already! So far it hasn't been keeping me from doing the work. The scale says I have gained 10 lbs but I am pretty sure that, that is all mucus in my throat and nose. I know, that is what you all wanted to hear. haha Anyway, I survive on Ibuprofen and there is a ton of pressure on my face right now so I think I might call Sister Castro (presidents wife and medical lady) and let her know what's up. Other than that I am doing really well! I love it here and can't wait until I am not brand new. ha funny story about that! 

       Our mission president told us to tell people when they ask how long we have been out to tell them that we are "in the middle" of our mission. This is true because we are all in the middle. So this is where the awkward comes in. You say that and people start asking what other areas you have been in. I usually just say that I have only served in Ventura (they don't need to know they are my first ward) and some of the time that works. However! Most of the time they get more specific and ask what other wards you have been in. At first I didn't care about people knowing I was knew, but poor Sister Arndt has been trying so hard to keep that a secret. So she is usually there trying to get people to stop asking questions and we both just end up awkwardly laughing. Saying you're "in the middle" does NOT work! oh well! 

      So some of you may be asking why it would be bad to tell people you are brand new. The other reason is so that they respect you and what you say. You don't want them thinking that you are new so you don't know anything. That is one of the things I love about our mission. Here there are no such thing as "greenies". We are all called to the same work and responsibilities. We all have that power and authority no matter how new you are. It makes it so much more enjoyable when the older missionaries treat you the same way they treat the ones that are going home.

       Oh man! The other day we ate THE most spicy salsa ever!! We have this mexican woman in the ward and she makes real mexican food with A LOT of spice. This stuff had 5 different kinds of habaneros (sp?) which included ghost peppers. It was SO yummy but I could only have tiny bits at a time because my mouth was on fire! I need to tell Elder Woods about that so he can be jealous!

       Also I have a question for you all. What is it with Mexicans and chihuahuas and pitbulls!? EVERY single person we find has one. I hate dogs. 

      Ok I think that is all for now! Oh! For those of you wanting to write me! All of our mail goes to the mission office and all packages have to bee sent first class/priority if you want it to get to me. Here is the address for you!
Sister Madison Woods  (yep you have to put my full name.)
3301 W Gonzales Rd.
Oxnard California 93036 

I love you all and miss you!

Love,

Sister Skeeter"

Also pictures to come later!

Madi with her first companion in the field Sister Arndt. Madi shares a story about her in her first letter home.

We didn't hear much from Madi while she was in the MTC but here are a few pictures of her and her companion in the MTC.

Ok, I think I am finally figuring out this blogging thing again. Madi, Sister Woods, would like me, her mom to post her weekly letters on here from her mission. I thought I would start from the beginning with her two farewells. She had a farewell in Utah and California. The first few pictures show some of the decorations Mikayla and I made for the farewells. The other pictures are with people who came to her farewells. I wish we would have taken pictures of everyone who came, especially family, but we forgot. Oh well.

He Qualifies the Called.

Ok Sisters. This post is for those of you who have just gotten your call or are planning to serve.
     Everyone is going to tell you how difficult things are going to get. But they never tell you how hard things really will be. Sure we can do anything with the Lord but that doesn't mean that He is going to completely take away our troubles. We still have to get through them and learn. He is just there to make it lighter.
      Let me start with this. The adversary knows what kind of missionary you are going to be. He knows you are going to be amazing and make a difference in the world. Because of this he is going to do everything in his power to stop you from going. Don't give in to him!!! If you are in my situation then the Lord has told you specifically to go out and serve. I think I kind of ticked satan off when I decided to follow my Heavenly Father and go. I have had my call for about 3 months now and I leave in just a week from today. Yikes!
       When I first got my call I didn't notice an immediate difference in the difficulty of my life. But as weeks went on I realized that things were not the same. It took me a little bit but I began to realize that satan was working on my really hard.
       There were days where I would worry about the dumbest things. I started to worry about my weight more than ever, which is not like me. I have never really stressed about that but all of a sudden I was worrying about how much I weighed, what my body looked like, and what I was eating. Girls I learned this awesome quote from relief society. If satan tells you your body isn't perfect you say to him "at least I have a body."
      There were other days when I felt like I wasn't good enough to go. He was constantly reminding me of how much I hadn't wanted to go before and how I really just wanted to get married and have a family (ok I promise I am not a psycho who is obsessed with that. I just know that is our divine role as woman and can't wait for that opportunity). Once my mind was made up I knew I was going; no matter how much I had wanted other things before. I knew at that point that I just had to get through whatever the adversary was going to throw at me. He told me so many other things and it got to me. I worried about not being ready to go, about messing things up out in the field, what if I don't get along with my companion? What if this, what if that. SO much to think about and it started to weigh down on me.
     Eventually as I was talking to one of my friends they told me that I should kneel down and ask the Lord to help me know what were my own thoughts and what were satan's. If you are having these kinds of thoughts I encourage you to do the same. One other thing I would consider praying about is your preparedness. Like I said I worried about not being prepared enough. If you don't think you are doing all that you can ask Him to help you to know if you are; if not ask Him to help you know what more you can do.
        Sisters, do NOT forget the power of prayer. Having the comfort of a loving Heavenly Father will help SO much and will give you the strength you didn't even know you had. He doesn't want you to be miserable. We came down here to feel happiness right (2 Nephi 2:25)?
        What I am saying with all of this is that when they say it is going to be difficult; it is. It is going to be difficult in its own way. It will be more emotionally taxing than anything else. There really isn't a way to prepare for what is coming, but just know you have a father in heaven who is looking out for you.
       Remember, He doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called. You are going to be an incredible missionary! Prepare the best you can for your mission and do your best our in the field. If you do those you will do all the Lord has planned for you to do :). Good Luck Sisters! I wish you the best!

-Sister Skeeter

10%

I have been meaning to post for awhile but I forget once I wake up and remember every night as I'm going to sleep. I finally remembered today. So there are a couple of things I want to post about today. I think I am going to do them in two separate posts....maybe.


First and most importantly.

World,

      This is my best friend :) I thought I should introduce you to him because he has been incredible. I have known this guy for 5 years now.
    Here is my side of our story:
      We definitely did not start out as best friends that is for sure. He was in my seminary class and we were buddies but nowhere near friend status and he kind of scared me. He was a "rebel" senior and as I have mentioned before I was little miss goody-two-shoes the sophomore. I volunteered for things and he would mock me for it. It was all in good fun but he still terrified me. How did I have any chance of even being real friends with him? I didn't really.
     We ran with completely different crowds and lets be honest he was a "cool" kid. I was a nerd.
      He left on a mission and told me that out of everyone he knew in high school he wouldn't talk to 90% of them ever again, and because of that I shouldn't write him. "ok whatever" I thought. I wasn't super close to him anyway. Little did we know....
      While he was gone, I moved on with the rest of my high school life and went on to college not expecting to hear from him again.
       It was my first semester and two years later. My roommate came in the door and asked how I knew Elder Williams. I was confused and had no idea who she was talking about. Then I remembered.  I quickly debated on whether or not I should message him on stalkbook and ask him about this roommate. I was hesitant but I wanted to see how the mission had gone, how it had changed him, and his relation to my roomy. So with no success of talking myself out of it, I messaged him. Surprisingly he answered and we had a small conversation which died out quickly. As the months went on we talked a little bit but again the conversations were awkward and mostly small talk.
       After about two semesters he told me that he had gotten skype and that we should skype one day. I worried about how uncomfortable it would be but decided we could. I mean why not? So we finally did. I was scared that things would be like high school again where he would just be making fun of every little thing I said. I was nervous to say the least. It ended up being just that, but hey we were talking again so whatever. I later found out that my nervousness had definitely not been hidden well. Oh well. We eventually got to the point where we could have a decent conversation. Then he got a girlfriend (or so I thought) and that was that. I was sure she wouldn't appreciate me talking/texting him so much so I stopped.

       Here is where the story gets good. Remember that one time I got asked to go down to Utah to be a nanny? Well that is a crucial part of our story. I got back down there and he ended up being in my singles ward. Those nine months out there were interesting between us. We were finally at the point where we were real friends, but we both always had someone else we were dating so it would have been inappropriate for us to be hanging out just the two of us.

       Toward the end both of us lost our significant others and things kind of fell into place. We started talking a lot more than normal. We hung out and visited friends of ours together at work. We went to our favorite places in Utah together and ended up putting a ton of trust in each other. And as you can see in the pictures we snap chatted constantly (Only appropriate stuff of course! Sicko). This kid and I can talk for hours-literally. There have been multiple conversations that were well over four hours long, whether in grocery store parking lots, over skype, facetime, at tennis courts, playgrounds, or on the phone. There is nothing I haven't told him. Turns out we have a lot in common and this so called rebel is actually one of the sweetest, most loving guys I know. Not to mention he isn't anywhere near a rebel anymore (missions can do wonders! :P)

This is a normal face he makes at things I say

       A few weeks ago I posted pictures of my adventures in Utah and he got mad at me because he wasn't in one of them. This is a very sad fact. I don't know how we got away that whole time of being together without taking a single picture. So we finally got this great idea to take one (yes it is the one at the top). After this I decided that I would do more than just put up one picture of him on here. For how close we are one picture would not do our friendship justice. Hence an entire post dedicated to him. :)
        He has been one of the biggest blessings in my life. When I thought there was no one to talk to he showed up and completely took over the role of caring friend who can listen and talk when needed. There were nights where I would be on the phone with him, while I was having a total melt down. He has no idea how calming it was for me to have him on the other end. When I asked for advice I knew he wouldn't be telling me just what I wanted to hear; he told me the truth, even when it sucked.
         There was one night that I had gotten into an accident and asked him to come over to help me calm down. I figured while we did that we would mostly sit and talk about how I was feeling, dwelling on the unfortunate event, while I cried and cried. That is not how it worked out. He picked me up and told me that we were going to go to a park that he had just discovered and wanted to check out. It was so much fun. We played on that playground like we were five years old again; climbing on things, hanging off monkey bars, and getting sick off of some weird spinny thing. We then went to check out another park but we decided that it was too dark and spooky to get out of the car. So we sat and talked about everything except the accident. That night was the perfect cure. How did he know? To be honest I don't know if he totally did. Either way I went home feeling MUCH better.
         So what makes this kid so great? Well first of all look at that ridiculously cute little face!

He...
1) Is understanding
2) Supports me in what I do
3) Loves me even when I am being a total witch to him (and the world really)
4) Can make me laugh like no one else
5) Makes me a better person
6) Reminds me of who I am
7) Always wants to make his friends feel loved
8) Has an adorable smile
9) Is always ready to lend a hand
10) Cares for anyone around him
11) Is ready to work hard
12) He has a Challenger ( I only put that one if for him. He thinks I only like him for his car)
13) Is unselfish
14) Is a rugby player
15) Is true to his priesthood
16) Can play basketball
17) He is devious (I like this because it just makes him that much more funny)
18) Is ADORABLE with kids
19) Loves his family
20) Isn't afraid to be weird
21) Can play the guitar
22) Knows what to say and when to say it
23) Is just an incredible human
24) Is the greatest dad ever
25) Knows how to make me smile even when I really REALLY don't want to
26) laughs at my jokes
27) is very smart
28) has the same vision for the future that I do


    There is one reason for every year he has been alive. Well in a few days it will be at least haha. Some of the reasons on there might seem shallow but they make him the man he is today and are a part of him.
    He is one person I could not live without. I wish him the best over the next year and a half.

     Jamie, I can't wait to see you again! You have done more for me than you will know and I am so grateful to have you! Who would have thought that I would be part of that tiny 10% you still saw after your mission? I didn't. Don't have too much fun without me. I am going to miss you so much! Always remember WHO you are and WHOSE you are! I love you!
            <3 Sister Madi Fake Middle Name Woods
Some of the many faces of Jamie:

Yes these are all screenshots of him on snap chat  :) I have more that I didn't even add in. Just an FYI I'm not a creep. It was a competition between the two of us to see who could get the most. He won by five....however he didn't post his to a blog. WHAT WHAT!?

Also he has no clue this is up. I am not going to tell him. I am just going to let him happen upon it, so shh don't tell him! ;)

Alright he has already read this but I am adding to it to see if he notices. I was thinking that I should thank him for helping me stay spiritually clean. He was the one person who I never had to worry about what we were doing because I knew he would always keep me temple worthy. It is so hard to find guys like that these days. Even with guys you think are good end up disappointing. He never did and I only hope that he can say the same for me. 

 Now, I have officially said goodbye to him and it has been hard. But do you know what I just realized? I'm not flippin dying! We aren't really saying goodbye. We are just changing the way we communicate for the next few months. I can handle that! (Although I can't lie, I will miss hearing my phone whistle at me and reading your sweet texts). And it will only make our reunion that much more sweet when it comes. I'm so looking forward to that day (or days) when I look in my mailbox and there is a letter from my best friend. Jameson, don't forget me! (Yep I used your full name. I am being serious.) You are the best, and you mean the world to me! :)