December 13, 2010

This week has been another week. We didn't have any baptisms this week but we have plans for 4 this coming week so that is awesome. And I'm really out of things to say cause no one writes me! Oh, for Steph, I would like to say thank you for your letter. I hope school ends well for you, I love you. One of my neighbors was playing The Beatles or Los Beatles. It made me happy to hear some good music. We had
a huge rain storm again yesterday in the afternoon and someone losttheir home. It was sad and kinda scary. My companion and I were visiting people at the time, but we are cared for by the Lord. Last Monday my companion and I and two other Hermanas that were with us went to a museum with mummies that were buried alive.  The place was very small but interesting. The rest of the day we played volleyball and Hna Penovich and I were eaten alive by mosquitos.  I'll send pics of it. I love you and miss you all. God is real and Jesus lived, died, and lives for us. I hope to heard from you soon. Oh, Dad and Mom thanks also for the letters you send, and I'm still waiting for those pictures.

December 6, 2010

Wow sounds like a mad house there! Kinda glad I'm in Peru. For us it was a good week. We had a baptism this week and she took 6 months to finally do it! Wow it is nice to have one person finally take the plunge. Yesterday was the other part of the elections so we had to stay in our rooms again for almost the whole day. At 6 last night we were able to work. It was ok - I finished the whole missionary reference library yesterday. Good colletion of books. We`ve gotten a lot of rain these days. The weather of Huanuco is crazy! In one day it can rain a whole bunch, then be super hot and then in the night super cold! I kinda miss the deserts weather of nothing. Oh yeah I hope you send the general conference issue of the Ensign cause I just found out we don't get one. Yes I get to call home, actually I get to call home on the 18th first to tell you when I'm calling for Christmas. I only get to talk for like 5 mins and my whole zone will be there so just be home so I can relay the info. I'm a little scared if I have to call Grandma's, only because then I have to talk to Rocio and my Spanish isn't that good I dont think. Things here are Christmas practically. I hope it passes soon, Christmas that is. I printed off some of the photos from Halloween that you sent me so now everybody knows what my family looks like except my mom. One sister asked if my mom exsisted. So there needs to be a picture of mom. And everyone has seen Stephanie as a pumpkin. Well I love you all lots; I'm going to try to send photos right now.

I hope your tests go well mom. You and Steph - what class did you have together? Ask Steph how Spanish class was for her? Oh, tell Steph I got her letter. I hope her wisdom teeth went out well. Dad said something about her surgery coming up. Oh and ask her if the All American Rejects have a song named I`ll be Loving You because some kids were playing this song in the street and the band sounded familar and the song too. So maybe I heard it before the mission too; I can't remember any more. I miss music lol. Tell her I love her and miss her. Tell Bobby that I miss him too, although maybe he doesn't miss me more than my Playstation which maybe he's found by now.

I like this photo just because, if you can see, there are farms on the side of the mountain.
Here are pictures of me and my companion dead on a Sunday night before P-Day. I have my first comp from the MTC here in Huanuco with me for Christmas. oh and the last photo mostly becasue in there is a red and white tower and that tower thing is on top of a building used for a church and there is a little red basket on this tower where a pastor of this church stands and preaches and calls repentance to all of Huanuco on Sundays! Can we say Zoramites?.  Tell Steph that I love her like a million times!!  Oh, and tell Trisha thanks for her letter too!!

November 29, 2010

Ok, Family: This week has been, well, another week. We had a baptism planned, but he drank coffee so we have to wait two weeks, yeah! que mas? So far all things are going good; health is good, little tired. Still learning more about the Bible every day and learning how much people don't know about the great works that God has done amoung the children of God. I finally have a camara, but I don't have really any pictures, so next week I might have some for you. How was Thankgiving? I think if I'm home before Christmas next year you need to buy an extra turkey and we can have Thanksgiving for me. This year my companion and I bought chicken that came with french fries, so close, right? Haha! And my companion made a sign that said Happy Tanksgiving! Haha, she missed the "h' twice; it was funny, but cool. Not much to say, so I love you and hope that I get some letters soon. If mom hasn't sent the box yet tell her to send some Ibuprofen and a bottle of multi vitamins, too. I don't have any and the diet, when it comes to being balanced, is terrible. But we had a member here that made Gnocci from scratch. He is our mission leader of the ward and he is from Argentina and isn't the biggest fan of the Peruvian food here. It's funny but his wife is from Peru so he lives here. Ok so send me pictures unless you forgot to take some. I love you and miss you. Until I hear from you. Love, Hermana Wood

November 22, 2010

This week we have 3, almost 4, people with dates to be baptized. That's pretty cool! This week I realized my language is somewhere in the middle of Spanish and English. It's pure Spanglish. My Spanish is terrible, but my English seems to be missing words. How's the family? Sounds like the house is just crazy with its organization. Only Bobby has a room solo. I hope to hear form you all soon, and I'm excited to see photos from Thanksgiving. No celebrations here, but it's for the best because I love Thanksgiving, but things are being decorated for Christmas and they have this thing where the negritos (black people) of Huanuco dance on Christmas. Not sure about the historia, maybe you can look it up and tell me something about it. Well, I love you and hope all is well. I don't know what else to say because I have no letters from anyone except mom... love you and talk to ya next week. This week is cambios and I heard that one of the Hermanas went home due to illness, appendicitis. So that means that cambios for the Hermanas is going to be crazy, lol. Love you lots- Hermana Wood

November 15, 2010

Yeah, the "wako" story is hilarious. The lady that ran out of her store is my favorite part. I laughed when it happened. It was funny to me. My companion is from Guatamala and she's never had one in her city; that's why she didn't know what it was. We just started teaching a lady named Rocio; it makes me like her more -lol. As for Brody, it's nice that he's easy going. I hope you show him pictures of me, and I hope he can walk soon with everyone holding him. We teach this one guy who has a niece who is 3 who can't really talk. She just makes noises and she can't sound out words. I have great hopes for that Madisyn and the church. Starting to pray! Alright! Let's see. This week has been a continual struggle with the work, but it continues just the same. Oh, before I forget, say happy birthday to Uncle Jeff for me and Cousin Marlayna and Aunt Amanda de Ken. I loved the photos, now I just need to buy a usb to save them on. I have a cd to save them, but this computer doesn't read cd's, so yeah! Just think - this time next year I'll be in my last change and getting ready to come home - wow. Today is exactly 4 and half months. It feels silly, but I really want to go to Disneyland; probably because they shoot off fire crackers like everyday here somewhere, and every other week or month is some fiesta of the Santo of Huanuco. Ask Dad how to talk to Catholics; there are like a million of them and all I want to say is, "Honestly, who started your church?" I'm studying the Old Testament right now and loving it. I love seeing how God has a plan for all things and always keeps his promises. I'm  starting to understand so much of why some things are the way they are and what a grand blessing it is to also have the Book of Mormon and modern prophets and apostles to help us in these days! I love you and miss you all. Keep writing those letters.  Oh, tell Steph she makes a very chevere (cool) pumpkin. And tell everyone there the church is true because it is. And tell Dad I got his letter - I'm excited for U of A; they are doing well, and congrats on his golf tournament (wow, that's a hard word to spell these days). OH, this week we had a conference with Elder Nash, our area general authority. It was awesome! He is an awesome guy and his wife is great too. Both gave me very encouraging words and it was nice to have a general authority. Good luck with conference there. Tell bobby I love him and miss him like crazy! Tell Theresa I love her, and Cathy too, and Jeni and Steph and I guess Josh, lol. I love them all and miss em´ and have no picture of Machu Picchu disculpame por favor. I love you and may God bless you. Keep the commandments! lol Love, Hermana Wood


P.S.  Tell Fia that I'm happy for her and that I'm teaching people here in Peru the few Samoan words I know - lol.

November 8, 2010

So far things here are OK. We had another crazy storm on Saturday night. Here the dirt on the mountains isn't very sturdy, and people build homes on them so when it rains really hard there's always a chance of a land slide. We live, I think, a good distance from the mountain that is closest to us, but Saturday night our neighbors (we technically live in a part of their house) were running and screaming down the stairs and they pounded on our window and door screaming "wako"!!! Well, we get our shoes on and ask what is a wako, but a bunch of people are running, so we just start running with them. Mind you, it's like 10:30 at night. So we´re running. We out run everyone, my companion is scared, and I'm a little frightened, but we have no idea what a wako is. So we make it a couple of blocks and there's a lady in her doorway of her home; we stop for a second because there are no people around us, and we see nothing coming behind us. Then we ask the lady what is a wako. I promise the lady didn't even blink. Her eyes got big and she yelled "wako"??? She yelled inside the home "wako!" and took off. So now we are really scared, so we continue to run to our pensionista´s house, and she finally explains what is a wako: landslide. Then we're too scared to run back to see if it was real and the elders kinda laugh at us when we called to tell them where we were, and so we slept at our pension´s house. In the morning we learn that it was a false alarm, and our neighbors were worried for us so much that they went to the church at 2 am to look for us. But then they called the elders who told them where we were. Wow, no more wakos! Other than that, not much. We are having difficulties with our area, but faith will make it work. We have people to teach, but not many with the desire to change or pray or read. Oh, this morning I saw Barney the purple dinosaur walk down the street.  Last night my companion got an earful about the problems with the USA and Latinos and Arizona from a contact, and it was funny because 1) he had an American tshirt on and 2) he didn't think I understood, but my Spanish is coming in just fine, so I understood him.  Ok, so that's the news from Huanuco Peru. Love you all and thanks for the pictures!-Love, Hermana Wood

November 1, 2010

OK, so this week was no different. Yesterday we had a huge rain storm so that was interesting; and today we have no water, so we went to the other hermanas place. Baptism this week in the park the other day. Some religion was having a power point about the truth about Halloween and the bad things of it, lol. I laughed. Then yesterday in church a cell phone went off with the ring tone of Sean Kingston, "Somebody call 911".  As for the work here, life is rough. We teach, but people right now aren't keeping commitments, plus we had a festival for Señor de Burgos here (that is the saint of Huanuco), so that was fun. It's starting to become difficult to remember to write in English. I feel silly because I've had to erase a couple things because the sentance was in Spanish. I think my dream last night was in spanish too, it was strange. It was acually about one of our inversigators. We are teaching him and his wife and he has a hard time having faith in answers from God and with the Book of Mormon. Let's see, what else? Yesterday we had two lunches because we had an appointment before our actual lunch date with another member and when you tell a member that you are only there for a visit they still want to feed you. So my companion says ok, but just a little. Well, with food here a little is a lot! So we had way too much food and I felt sick for a few hours. So tell me about Halloween. It's not very big here, but there were some trick or treaters until the big rain storm came. I drew a pumkin face on an orange in my apartment to celebrate. Well, I want to see pictures of costumes. Love you all. Hermana Wood

October 25, 2010

Hey everybody!

Things here are good still, getting eaten by mosquitoes when I forget my repellent. One day I´ll learn, lol. I got letters from Mom and Les today, so thank you for those! Tell Les so far I haven't eaten anything that was strange. He told me Austin told him that Pumpkin Soup is good until you find out it's made of pumpkins and Les said Yeah, it's kinda like eating rice and chicken heads until you learn you're eating chicken heads and then asked if I ever had that experience yet. For me, nope; but then I don't ask what I'm eating. I don't want to know sometimes or ever - lol. But here they have a purple corn chicha morada and I think it is terrible, but they make a drink out of it, and a soup that is awful, and so every time someone gives me something that is a purple drink or soup my stomach cringes. Probably won't be able to drink grape soda for a while. Sounds like U of A is doing awesome! I hope homecoming went well. And Dad says that basketball is starting, that sounds good. I hope the Suns do well. Sounds like everyone is on the move there. This week we had another baptism, it was very nice. This area is beautiful minus the mosquitoes, but has proved to be more challenging than my old area. Or maybe I just understand more - lol. There are many Catholicos y 7th Day Adventists and Jehovah Witnesses. Mucho faiths but we keep trying to meet people. I finally finished Jesus the Christ. It was an awesome book; read it if you haven't yet. Oh, last week we went for a hike as a zone to a little waterfall. It was awesome because in the middle of the hike I realized I was hiking in the Andes! How cool! People only dream of this stuff and I'm living it! Tell Josh sorry, no Machu Piccu. Oh, and tell Jenni Happy Birthday! I hope it's a good one. Tell her I'm thinking of her and the kids, too. well, I love you and I will hopefully hear more from you all soon! Love, Hna Wood
Oh tell Dad to say Hi to Uncle Grant and Uncle Wayne for me! Oh, and Laura and Aunt Suzanne.

October 18, 2010

Hola familia! Como estan! Things here are good. Right now I'm in the the area of Huanaco which is south of Lima and is much smaller, which I like. My companion is Hna Salazar de Guatamala. She is awesome. So I have some sad news to tell you, though. I don't have pictures of anything. My camara was stolen on a bus somewhere in Lima last Monday, so entonces. I hope you kept all the pictures I sent you, hopefully on a memoria card. If you don't know how ask Stephanie maybe- lol. Other than that I'm fine. I received my card in the mail today so I can purchase another camara here. Oh, there are like a million mesquitos here and I hate them - no soy comida! But they think my legs are. I have repellent and I now carry it everywhere with me. Oh, I'm now in an area with Hna Roberts, one of my first comps from Provo. Ok, about here: it's a desert, but I guess they are just waiting for the rainy season? No sè, then the mountains become really green. It's really cool - I live in the Andes! My Spanish is coming; I'm understanding more, but my speaking is still slow. My comp helps me a lot. I had to give a talk in church this week, that went alright. I mostly read scriptures so the people could understand! jaja. We also had a baptsim this week, that was nice and cool.  No I haven't eaten anything too strange. I miss my old pensionista because this one cooks differently. Like the other day I had choufa (fried rice) for breakfast. I miss beans. I love you all and I miss you more than beans lol. I'm sure the house is crazy! I love you all- Hermana Wood

Oh dad, how's the football going? I'm in Huanaco now. I live on Perdo Arrozo y Buenos Aires. Look that up =). It's really pretty here, I'm learning to love the culture and to understand the people better. Also I'm learning how amazing the scriptures are. Almost everything is in there! I'm learning lots! I hope you enjoyed conference. I hope you are still saving money for Disneyland and all the hamburgers that I want to eat when I get home, jaja. The climate here is pretty warm right now, so I'm not worried about warm weather anymore, jaja. I love you Papà and I hope things are well. I know, probably crazy, but I pray for you. Love, Hermana Wood

October 11, 2010

Yeah, my pensionista is awsome, but it's not going to last. I'm being moved to another area on Wedensday! Wow, that was a fast change huh? Here everything on the TV stops for elections; we didn't even have church. It's got to be nice to have the whole family home though; well, minus me -haha. Well, they should get jobs at Disneyland, then the whol family can get in for free! haha - I can't wait to go to Disneyland then - lol.

Wow, I love all the pictures!  Way to go Austin!  And I see Theresa went back to blonde lol.  Blondes are more fun anyway - sorry, Steph.  And it looks like you loved conference!  Yeah, we watched this weekend, but it was in Spanish so I accidentally fell asleep in the first two sessions.  I brought my Liahona to the first session on Sunday and I somehow managed to listen to the last one but didn't understand much.  I'm waiting for the Liahona to come with the talks in English.  I hope Cathy had a good birthday.  Tell everyone hi for me.  I miss you all!  I'll let you know when I know where I'm headed to, which will be next week!  I love you all. Love, Hermana Wood

October 4, 2010

My companion is ok, she doesn't really explain a lot to me and she seems to get annoyed when I need her to speak slower because when I ask her to she rolls her eyes and talks at me like I'm 5. So I just stopped asking her and when I don't understand something she knows because I'm usually just standing there staring at her. She's nice and tells me she loves me all the time, but the rest I don't understand. She can speak English some, so I just let her speak in English the best she can. She goes home next week; her year and a half is over. My pensionista is awesome! She cooks for us, she washes our clothes and is more like a mom\friend than anyone in the mission. She also irons my clothes for me. None of the other pensions do that, and if we are late for meals she doesn't care, she just makes us food. I heard from the other elders they aren't so lucky. If they are late because of an appointment, no food. Que triste. Her name is Mamà Mirna. And her family is great too. The missionaries just kinda become part of the family in a sense. Her husband is a returned missionary, he served in Uruguay and he's pretty cool. He speaks some English too, so he translates some things I don't understand. Yeah, I have been spoiled with my pension. I'm sure I will miss her and the family when I have to leave this area. I hope you have a good time at conference. This week was elections in Peru, so no conference until next week. Not much else happening here. I love you guys and I´ll talk at you next Monday. Hey have Steph and other members of the family email me. Yeah, they have to forward it to you first and you can forward it to me, but I miss hearing from my sisters and brother too. Te amo muchisimo! Hermana Wood
Oh, tell Jeff in the office that I was going through my old letters and I found his and it was funny how much more I understood the letter now than I did two months ago. lol.

Email to Mom, 9/30/2010

Yeah for UofA!!! Sounds like they are doing great. Tell dad I wish I could give him an address but sadly I really can't- addresses are difficutl to pin down here. Spanish is coming. Most people here say my accent isn't half bad either. No one believes I've only been in the mission for one month because of it. But little by little I'm learning more words. An elder here says after the first change for some reason the spanish comes quicker. Uncle Les wrote me and he said it took him 4 months to be comfortable with spanish, which seems to be the general consenses. Did you tell Lorena that I'm in Peru and I will come home a spanish wiz!? I remember her well. Oh, tell Trisha Riggs hello and thanks for the letter. I can't believe Cathys B-day is here already! Happy birthday Cathy! I can't believe I've been here for three months well on the mission. Yeah for Fia, tell her congrats for me!


Oh, we had another baptism this last weekend. We baptized a mom and one of her sons! It was really cool - in time, the whole family! We also had a small earthquake last week- well, Inca did, but we felt it for like a second. I didn't like it. I pray every night for no more for the next year and three months! lol. Things here are going, my comp and I have challenged two couples to push up their wedding day so they can get baptized sooner and then get sealed in the temple sooner. So far I don't know the results but I´ll let you know when I know.  I love you all and miss you! Tell everyone hi for me! Go U of A. I'm told that when it gets hot here it´s like ASU- not much clothes- lol jk. I love you, I´ll write on Monday too, so write me a lot!-Hermana Wood!

Email to Dad, September 30, 2010

That's good you found Josh a job, I pray for him & Jeni a lot. I'm excited for U of A. Oh, so my pensionista, her husband has this saying: a woman that doesnt make me angry is a not a woman, it is a man. I hope you like that. He has two daughters and one son. My pensionista does my laundry and cooks all my meals and is my mom on the mission- well, the one I have right now is my mom out here. I heard there isn't another pensionista like her here. I saw someone with a USC hat the other day, it made me laugh. I love you and miss you lots and I miss the games. We´ll have to go to a few when i get home! Say hi to Uncle Wayne or Tio Wayne for me and the rest of the family. If you see Matt tell him it's true they only eat cornflakes here! I love you so much! Talk to you later. Oh and I started singing Hey Jude the other day, it was funny, and Hello I |Love You by The Doors, tell Stephanie! Go Glee! Tell her I want to go to Disneyland when I get home!

I messed up. This is from Sept. 6

On Mon, Sep 6, 2010 at 12:05 PM, Elizabeth Wood wrote:

I'm learning Spanish really a lot faster now. I'm adjusting to the food. I have a really nice penchanista (I don't know if that is how you spell it) but she's really nice and she cooks really well and she cares for the missionaries like they are her own kids. Her family is pretty nice, too. Her husband knows pretty good English so if I don't understand he will translate for me when we are over for meals. They have three kids and all are pretty cool. The oldest is a girl and she's 16. The middle is a boy and he mostly keeps to himself, he's like 14. And then there is the baby girl and she is about 5-ish and she is full of energy always. She speaks Spanish to me like a million miles a minute, but it's ok. She never repeats anything she says because she doesn't get that I don't understand her. But I love her, she's funny. My companion is pretty cool. She's pretty patient with me and does most of the work. but she has me bear my testimony and now is making me do the greeting with contacts. We are teaching a family where the mother is less active and the father isn't a member, but the kids have been real receptive and the mother loves that her kids are hearing the gospel; she is real supportive. One of her kids will be baptized really soon which is cool and we are working with another. The other two are real young still. The father wants to hear the gospel but is busy working a lot. He drives motor taxis, which, let me tell you, are crazy. They are like go carts on a real road. My companion loves them, I hate them. If the food doesn't kill me, the motor taxis might, just from a sheer heart attack! LOL. In another family we are teaching, the parents aren't married, but they have been really receptive to our message and even are planning to get married. It's pretty cool the way we get to help these people. Well, I love you guys and miss you. Hope all is well back there. Love, Hermana Wood

5 things I'm greatful for: 1) the gospel, 2) my family, 3) my health, 4) hot showers, and 5) my many blessings in the USA.

Emails to mom & dad - Prep Day has changed to Mondays

Sent: Monday, September 13, 2010 10:20 AM
To: Wood, Gary E

Can you send me some nylons, oh and some American candy? This week we are getting an investigator for baptism; she is really excited. We are also teaching a couple families. I think that is my favortie part- teaching families. Hey, Dad, thanks for teaching me to love the Bible because it pays off down here. I'm glad I understand the history of the Bible as much as the spiritual aspects of the Bible. I love you all and miss ya. A guy in church has a Diamondback baseball hat and it made me smile. I tried to compliment him on it but my Spanish is terrible and he didn't understand completely, but it was cool nontheless. Also another guy was wearing a Nebraska Corn Huskers shirt. I'm realizing that people have no idea what their shirts say here; a lot of them are in English and don't wear it based on understanding the symbols or anything like that. But for me, I just smile now. Well, say Happy Birthday to Uncle Ken for me; it's in a couple of days.

To mom on 9/13/10:
Oh, I wanted to know if you could send me the chili con carne recipe to me. I love you all, I hope all is well, I hope you write soon. Mom, I got all your dearelder.com letters and I got a card from Uncle Mike's fam and a letter from BJ Hills, but so far that's it- but thanks for the letters! Keep sending them. I sent a longer letter to Dad, have him forward it you. I love you and say Hola to Jeff for me, and Theresa and Cathy and Bobby and Steph and Jenni and Josh and Madi and Brody and everyone else.

August 25, 2010 email

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Elizabeth Wood
Date: Wed, Aug 25, 2010 at 1:29 PM
Subject: Re: Hi.
To: "Wood, Gary E"


OK so I should have a lot of letters waiting for me at the mission home. Sounds like a great day. Aww that's next week! Awww crazy! My spanish is... well, it's kinda there. It's not as good as I wish it were, but I've been reminded it takes about 4 to 6 months to learn the language. So I'm just trying to make myself speak because the more you speak the more you learn. Lima is starting to grow on me and I would send you pictures but I have not received any pictures yet from you guys, so you are just going to have to steal Steph's camera and take pictures and send them so I can send you more. My friend right next to me got a picture of her cat!!! Let's see here- it was been cold and overcast, or its called inversion. I have now gained a cold from it. But today there is sunshine yeah!!!! Oh so you need to say Happy Birthday to Uncle Matt for me and also tell him that my CCM mission pres. here is Matt's mission president from his mission in Mexico. Pres Whetten and Hna Whetten, they remember him and they say hi. Oh I have Miley Cyrus in my head because it was playing on the bus on the way to the temple. Those buses are crazy! The driver was playing a cd of hers. So this is my last week here! This time next week I don't know what I'll be doing or where I'll be. Hopefully it'll be like Disneyland and I will have lots of mail or maybe I will have none who knows out here. Oh, Trish wrote me on dearelder.com- tell her I got it and thanks! It made my day since it was the first physical letter I've received while being here. My district leader was very happy to give it to me since we all keep tabs on who has gotten letters and who hasn't. OK I love you guys and hope all is well with everyone. Keep reading those scriptures. Oh, have a crazy story to tell you about witches. My teacher said that when he was on his mission he and his companion ran into a man who believed in out-of-body experiences and that he had them. They asked more about it and he said he actually had been in their apartment. They asked what was in there apartment like, and he said one missionary was messy and the other was very neat with there were things which were true. Then the missionaries said they would rearrange everything and see if he could see what was moved. So they did, but then they talked to their mission pres. about it and the mission pres said to put their garments on the windows and doors, so they did. The next day the missionaries talked to this guy again to see if he could get into their apartment. He said he tried but there was something in the way that wouldn't let him in. Crazy!!! Temples are amesome and I'm learning about the protection there really is in the temple! Love you guys much! Love Hermana Wood