Last Tri-Zone Conference

We switched pday to Tuesday this week because yesterday we had a Tri-zone conference. My last one. It was a very bitter sweet day. Because conferences are like family reunions out here, but more often! Its such a great blessing. But now I don´t get to do those any more. 

For the last one of the year we always have a talent show, and its always so great. This year a district got up and played chubby bunny. (You fill your mouth with giant marshmallows one at a time and you have to say chubby bunny after each one. the winner is the last person still standing.) It was hilarious. And some beautiful musical numbers too. 

My mission also has the tradition that in a missionaries last tri-zone they bear their testimony. It was quite the list, all Hermanas except for one elder. I´m in a pretty big group. :) I was so nervous though. I didn´t want to try to plan anything, because I really just wanted to say what Heavenly Father wanted me to say. When the Elder conducting the meeting said my name in the list, it made my stomach drop. I had sweaty hands and butterflies in the stomach, the whole thing. But when I actually got up there, I was relatively calm. I cried. Its sad, saying goodbye. But the Lord has blessed me with a wonderful mission experience and wonderful people to serve and serve with. And i still have a month. :) So no rush. It was just a very special and memorable moment. 

I love you all so much! Have a wonderful Christmas!

Hna Woolley

p.s. I'm excited as well to come home. and sad. but ive decided to try to just accept each day as it is. so not sit around waititn to go home, and when im home try to not long to be a missionary any more, to enjoy being a RM. easeir said than done, but im doing alright. this week will be good. 

Loving my ward

Wow, ok. We´re in the end of this journey together here in Spain, people. And we´re not talking about it. 

My new companion Hna Smith is so AMAZING! I´m really imressed by her desire to work and love and just improve daily. She´s always telling me about new goals she´s got and really does just have a fire to her. We´re at opposite ends of the mission- she has 4 months- but we work so well together. We´ve both been sick so we´ve had a few hours of stay in time this week, so we haven´t taught tons together. But what we have done, the Lord is definately working through us both. I think this will be a vey fun companionship. 

This week we had the ward Christmas dinner. It was lots of fun! I finally feel like I´m getting to know this ward now that I´m meeting people from another area, so thats very nice. I really love this ward. 

I play the piano in primary every sunday so I played for their little singnig program for the cena too. I´m not the best since I´ve not reallly ever played primary songs before, but I have improved so much from the beginning of the mission. Before, playing in public made me crumble. I really couldn´t do it, I just freaked myself out. Now, i just played one of those songs terribly ( right hand only) but I´m okay with where I am because I know I´m learning and doing my best. And thats all that matters. It does help that my piano skills have improved as well. :) 

But it really did show me another small thing that the mission has taught me. I´ve learned so, so much out here and I just keep going! The Lord is so wonderful to bless me so much, I am just filled with gratitude so often. There just aren´t words. 

So I hope you can enjoy this last week before Christmas, and remmber once again why we´re celebrating. We really do owe all to Christ. And I´m so grateful for that. I love him, and I´m trying to be at the point where I would do anything for Him. I can´t say I´m there yet, but I want to be. 

I love you all so much! This gospel is true!!!!

Loves,

Hna Woolley

Transfer Time

Ok, so we´ve gotten a big transfer surprize here in Málaga. I´m being transfered! What? Right? Just for my last transfer. Its because our area is being white washed. So it will now be Elders in our area and we are both leaving. It was a big surprize to us both. Hna Plummer is going up to a pueblo by Sevilla (badajoz) and I am going to be with Hna Smith! (She was in that picture i fwd to you- girl with teh curly blonde hair) She´s actually in my ward right now, so I´m just hopping one area over, just a short bus ride away. 

So, of course we´re scrambling to get the piso ready for the elders. Clean out all girl things, do those tidying tasks we just have never gotten to, write notes so they know who is who, bus routes, let our few investigators and less actives know, try to set up some citas for them....

We´re going pretty crazy around here. But its okay, because it feels right. I´m sad to leave and that Hna Plummer and I only got one transfer together, but if there is anything I´ve learned out here its to trust the Lord. This is his work, not mine, and he definately knows how to direct it better than I do. So I´ll just follow his lead the best I can and work my hardest. 

I love you all so much! thanks for all your love and prayers, they really do help. I´m praying for you all too :) Have a great week!

Hna Woolley

Thanksgiving Week

Wow! Ok, this week just blew right on by. We had an amazing Thanksgiving Feast as a zone here in málaga. There were about 50 of us there, we´re a really big zone! Everyone brought something, there were lots of chocolate chip cookies (its quite the treat out here, they´re hard to make without good brown sugar), of COURSE mashed potatoes and gravy, turkey, sweet potatoes, fruit salad, cranberry sauce (so good!) and even stuffing. My sweet potato casserole turned out good. I was pleased, and it relieved the stress I´d felt. For those taht don´t know, there are two thinks at thanksgiving dinner that are the most important to me. Sweet potatoe casserole and pumpkin pie. So my casserole had to be perfect. And it wasn´t as good as moms, but it worked :) Two elders made rolls that were fantastic. They´d been practicing for two weeks and they turned out fantastic. So the whole thing was yummy. I ate plenty. But, I didnt stuff like normally. I had to go out and work afterwards, didn´t want to be too sleepy. So I¨m already excited for next year :)

That day and the next three it just POURED rain on us. We were soaked through. Litterally my feet made that squishy cartoon water sound when we walked. A drain whole over flooded too so one street we wer trying to cross was basically a river. So we scooted along the side on the part of the sidewalk that wasn´t a river until we passed it and could cross to the other side. Quite the adventures. It only means lots of laundry, unfortunately. 

Today is warm and sunny though, so life is good. I´m so blessed to serve in such a sunny place, because its so important to me to have the sun. Makes all the difference some days. 

 I don´t have time to write much more, but I wanted to tell you about my studies. I´ll just say that I´m really coming to understand so much better that the gospel really is the only path to true happiness. Everything else leads to short term splurges and sadness. I see so many people who are making ok choices and are just miserable. I would just love to help them see what they need to change. We try, but you can´t make anyone act, they have to grow their own testimonies of what we teach. I think it must be how our Heavenly Father feels about us sometimes. We just don´ñt do it when we know better. And He does all He can to help us, but He can´t ever do it for us. Makes me so incredibly grateful for the knowledge I have and the steps I´m trying to take towards conversion. 

I love this work. Its hard and frustraiting sometimes, but I love it. This just is the true church of God.

Love you all!!!

Hna Woolley

we´re doing lots of looking this week. we´ve dropped almost all our investigators, no one is progressing, not even our less actives. makes it hard to go out sometimes, but we´re really helping each other stay animated to go and work. also never had an area where EVERYONE has such big problems. normally there was at least one or two ppl that were just fun to visit, even if they  had problems. here everyone just dumps all their sadness on us. helps me understand the saying that Christ was a ´´man of sorrows´´ more. its very heavy sometimes. but we have fun together as a companionship, so that makes is doable. 

love you lots!!!!! have a good week. :)