MTC Week Three!!!!!

Okay....I have officially been in the MTC for THREE WHOLE WEEKS NOW!!!!!!!!! I am over halfway done with my stay here! How absolutely crazy is that?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? WOAH. Time seriously flies here! It is kinda weird- the days can sometimes feel super long but the weeks feel like days...haha, if that makes sense. It is going fast! It can't believe I am already almost a whole month into my mission! Only 17 more months to go! WOAH. SO fast!

So what has happened this week? First of all- TRC. An absolutely amazing thing. Once a week we do this thing called TRC. It is where we meet with volunteer LDS members and talk with them and teach them a lesson. I was pretty nervous going into it last week. This was something we hadn't really done before- work with someone who is ALREADY a member of the church. But members definitely need love and encouragement too! Anyways, Hermana Rasband and I prepared what we could and prayed and went in with the spirit.

The first 20 minutes we were with two women- one was from Venezuela and the other had served a Spanish speaking mission. GOODNESS, the Sister from Venezuela spoke fast! Haha, that makes me kind of nervous for future interactions with native speakers. But it was all so good! We talked with them and shared scriptures and it was great! AND THEN, we spent 20 minutes with a member of the church who had served his mission in Chile. Our time with him was absolutely incredible. After some surface questions about his family and school and stuff my companion got right to it and asked him about what challenges he was currently facing. Haha, my companion said later that after she had asked that she got a little nervous because we have only been teaching lessons to "pretend" investigators (our teachers) and that this man had real trials. But it was so great! He opened up to us about something he has been facing and we were able to share stories and scriptures and testimonies with him. The spirit was SO strong! We both walked out of there so amazed and grateful. Our teacher said that she overheard him asking someone later if he could come back every week because this was exactly what he needed!!!!! AND when checking my emails today I discovered that I had one from him! This is what he said:

"Hey Sister Woodfield, I just want to start by apologizing if this is completely weird and letting you know I'm not a creep, promise. I'm the guy you and your companion taught in the TRC today. I just wanted to let you know that your words and the words of your companion really helped me this morning to feel and receive some answers I've been searching for for a long time. You guys are already working miracles and your just a few weeks out. I really appreciate what you are both doing and the amazing spirit you both have. That same spirit helped me come to some really important conclusions today and I thought I would hit you up with a quick email and let you both know I'm super grateful for your testimonies and both of you. Keep up the good work and I hope to hear more of your successes."

Isn't that amazing!?!?! I feel so blessed to be a missionary! It is incredible to be set apart as a missionary and be an instrument in the Lord's hands for helping out as many of His precious children that I can- Be they investigators, members, my district, my companion- ANYONE. ;) So TRC was definitely an amazing experience that I will always be so grateful for. When I did it I just felt this overwhelming love for those people. I KNOW God knows them personally and loves them so much.

Another wonderful thing I have been able to do is be in the MTC choir! SO FUN! The choir is HUGE! I think at least half of all the missionaries here (and that is A LOT) show up for it! The director is hilarious and I always feel so uplifted and inspired. It truly is an amazing experience to sing with hundreds and hundreds of other missionaries being unified under the same purpose. Two Tuesdays ago our devotional was being broadcasted to all 14 MTCs around the world- and at one point I was one the big screen! Haha, it was pretty cool! The MTC choir is an amazing experience and quite relaxing after some long days.

So the 4 Hermanas in my district including me are the only Hermanas left in my whole zone now. The last 4 Hermanas left earlier this week. We got pretty close with them and it was sad to have them go but I am also so excited for them! They went to Birmingham Alabama- Spanish speaking. Cool! Also, four of the elders in our district are gone now as well. They finally got their visas to Columbia and are now in the Columbia MTC.

Oh man, running out of time! Let's see- I love the MTC. I love being a missionary! The Spanish has been more confusing and frustrating the last few days but it is all good! Learning Spanish isn't going to come without some work! And I am amazed at how far I have already come! My wonderful companion took six years of French before coming here so she is able to pick up on a lot of grammar stuff- definitely a big help. :) The gift of tongues is amazing and real. I know this with all of my heart. The Lord is with me! I know the Lord is with my wonderful family and friends as well! Thanks for all of the love and support! I LOVE getting all of the letters, dearelders, and packages that I have. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!

Also, Dad- Five words I want to describe me as a missionary- obedient, diligent, loving, bold (with quiet dignity- not an overbearing bold), and Christlike. I have A LOT of work to do and I am never going to be perfect, but I will definitely work my best at being those things!

LOVE, Hermana Lindsey Woodfield

HELLOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! :D

Can you believe I have been here for two weeks already? It feels like I was just sitting down to type up my last email!!! The time really does fly when you are focused on the work. It is great!!!! This week was amazing!! Everyday there are so many things to learn and improve on. I feel sooo blessed to be here in the MTC. What a great experience! I already feel like I have grown SO MUCH. My testimony and knowledge of the gospel has increased a lot and I can feel myself little by little becoming more of the person Jesus Christ wants me to be. I still have SOOOOO FAR to go but it feels good to be working on it!

Okay, what a week!!! First of all, this past Sunday my Branch President pulled me aside and asked if I would accept the assignment to be our zone's new Sister Training Leader. WOAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am the Sister Training Leader for 3 weeks! I feel soo humbled and grateful for this opportunity! Basically I go with the zone leaders to help explain things to new districts in our zone each week. I also help give them a tour around campus! Hmmmm...knowing directions is a personal struggle I have always had to face so I really need to work on knowing my way around now!! Haha, since I have been here for 2 weeks now I do feel more confident with my way around but instances still happen where my companion wonders where in the world I am trying to go. Good thing she knows her way around. :) Anyways, I help talk to the new districts as well as just watch out for the sisters in our zone. When I first received this assignment I was pretty nervous but I feel really good about it! I know that "The Lord doesn't call the qualified. He qualifies the called." DEFINITELY grateful for that! Tonight is my first time talking to our new district that came in this week and helping to give them a tour- wish me luck! Haha, I am excited!

On Sunday I had to go to some training meetings and became companions with the zone leaders for a while. It was so weird to be separated from my companion, Hermana Rasband, for a few hours! We spend 24/7 together so even a little bit apart feels like half of me is missing! It was happy reunion when we finally were able to meet back up. It kind of felt like a scene from a movie- I saw her from the top of a huge room full of people. She was waving her arms like crazy at me. I ran down the stairs (and, of course, tripped at one point) and we hugged! Haha, someone should have taped it and played it in slow motion. :) Anyways, Hermana Rasband and I are still getting along GREAT! I love how we have similar senses of humor so we can laugh a lot! Last night we had a great time coming up with different ways of studying Spanish vocabulary...it became quite interesting.

Something else we went through this past week that was hard but definitely made us stronger- we had a hard time last Saturday night. We were feeling overwhelmed with everything we had to do. It had been taking us so long to write out our lessons and then translate it all into Spanish. We felt like that was not what we were supposed to be doing and knew that we needed to get away from the scripted lessons so that the Spirit had room to work. It was scary for us to think about going into a lesson not knowing exactly what we were to say and the possibility of not understanding our investigators... but we knew we needed to get rid of our "crutch" (writing out everything) and trust more in the Spirit and the Lord. It was a whole new level of faith and trust for me. IT WAS WONDERFUL. Hermana Rasband and I felt so much better after talking and deciding to trust in the Lord more. We were going to prepare what we could and then just go in with faith. Our next lesson was absolutely amazing! I am so grateful!!! I felt the spirit so strongly and even had to hold back tears at one point!!! Our investigator (who is really one of our teachers) at one point even looked a little teary- eyed! Not sure if that was because of what she felt or because she had been yawning but either way it was a blessing to see! So anyways, I hope all of this has made sense- basically, my companion and I have been relying more on the Spirit and it has been amazing.

OH MY GOODNESS- everyone should go read the talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland called "Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence". Seriously, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go read it! Study it! Ponder over it! Use it for family home evening! This talk is absolutely amazing and I loved reading it!

Something funny that happened- Hermana Rasband and I were teaching one of our investigators, Uriel. We had been talking about prayer and how to pray. I handed him a pamphlet that explained what to do with prayer. He looked over it and started to read from it but I thought he was actually praying!! So I folded my arms and closed my eyes and when he said "amen" I let out a big "AMEN". Both Uriel and Hermana Rasband looked at me in surprise and confusion. Hermana Rasband quickly informed me that he hadn't actually prayed yet. We laughed a lot about it later...it was pretty funny. :)

OH- cool thing I want to mention- we had a substitute teacher for a few days and guess who it was?!?!?! President Eyring's granddaughter!!! SO COOL!!!! :)

Okay, time to answer some questions you have asked. Ryan- the food here is pretty good!! And I actually haven't had the chocolate milk yet but I'm 99% positive that it is the same chocolate milk that is at BYU. If that is the case then yes, it is wonderful. :)

The language is going well! Sometimes it is easy to let myself get discouraged and frustrated but I just have to remind myself that I have only been here for 2 weeks and more things will come. I am seriously sooooo grateful and amazed at the gift of tongues!! I have already learned so much and can speak so much!!!! IT AMAZES ME! The Spanish language is beautiful and I am so blessed to have this opportunity to preach the gospel in it! My district is amazing! We have all gotten SUPER close! We have had a lot of fun times!!!!!

What else?? Unfortunately, we are not able to go to the Provo temple because it is not open. From what I know, we won't be able to go to any other temples either. So that is sad but it is all good! I am really grateful for the times I was able to go before coming here. Also, the whole visa thing and actually going-to-Argentina-at-the-end-of-my-MTC-stay-thing is not looking good. A LOT of missionaries (actually I think everyone that I know of) who are going to Argentina are being reassigned to go to a state until their visas come. I am totally good with whatever happens though. I think it would be AWESOME to go to state mission for awhile! I am really looking forward to whatever comes!!!

Well, I love you all!!! Thanks so VERY much for all of the letters and dearelders and packages!! I AM SO BLESSED! I cherish and love every single thing I get! It is so great to hear from and about everyone! Thanks so much for the updates! I would love to continue receiving them! THANKS SO MUCH! All of the love and support really mean a lot to me. :)

Have a great week! My family and friends are all in my prayers! LOVE YOU!

Hermana Lindsey Woodfield

The MTC . . . . Week One!!!

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Lindsey's letter is further down below. Just a quick note from Lindsey's dad . . . .

Thank you all for your support of Lindsey! I’ll post her letters and pictures on this site as we receive them so you can follow her experiences over the next 18 months. Lindsey’s letter from today is full of missionary lingo so I figured it would be helpful to provide some definitions.

“MTC” - Acronym for “missionary training center”. The LDS church operates 15 MTCs around the world. The largest of which is in Provo, Utah adjacent to the campus of BYU. An MTC is the first stop for new missionaries. Those learning a foreign language typically spend six weeks in an MTC. Those fluent in their assigned language spend just two weeks. Lindsey will be in the Provo MTC until sometime in mid August.

“P-Day” – Short for “preparation day”. Missionaries have one preparation day each week. During P-Days they have time to write letters, do laundry, etc.

“Elder”, “Sister”, ”Hermana” – Male missionaries go by the title “Elder” followed by their last name. Female missionaries carry the title “Sister” followed by their last name. “Hermana” is the Spanish word for sister and, as such, is the title used by Lindsey and her companion since they are headed to a Spanish speaking mission.

“Dear Elder” - A reference to the website “dearelder.com” which provides a free messaging service through which family and friends can write notes and have them printed and delivered same day to a missionary in the MTC.

“Companion” – Each missionary is paired with another missionary called a “companion”. A missionary and his/her companion follow the same daily schedule and are assigned to be roommates and study partners. Lindsey and Hermana Rasband will be companions during their six weeks in the MTC. Once in Argentina, Lindsey will rotate companions every few months.

“District” – Typically six to twelve missionaries who are learning the same language and attend all classes together. They also share the same schedule for mealtimes, P-Days, and Sunday worship.
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Hello my dear loved ones!

WOW! I made it to P day! Sorry I haven't been able to write sooner than this. We learned early on that our P day wasn't until the next Thursday (today). I felt so bad because I could just imagine my dear family checking your emails multiple times every day. I wanted to say "wait!!!! Let me help! Don't check until Thursday!" haha, so anyways, sorry about the long wait. FYI, my P days are on Thursdays. :) I ran into Sydney Sones (or I guess it it Pierce now??) and I asked her to try to get a hold of you to let you know about my late P day. I'm not sure if she was ever able to contact you all buuuut I tried!

SO, wow. I AM A MISSIONARY! HOLY COW! Where do I even start?!?!?!! Seriously, a mission is jam packed with so much greatness! Where to begin?? First of all, THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR THE "DEAR ELDERS" AND PACKAGES! I got SO many dear elders from my wonderful family and some friends! Thank you! And then I got wonderful packages as well! Thanks family for the wonderful snacks and letters- I loved them! And if possible, please tell the other Texas Woodfields that I am so grateful for their package as well! I am so blessed to be a part of such an amazing family! Missionaries LOVE letters and packages! District leaders are the ones who get the mail so everybody closes in on them twice a day when the mail comes! I feel so loved! Thank you!!!!!!!

Well, I loved spending time with my dear college friends Maddie, Kirsten, and Kaitlyn when I got here! I also loved being with my wonderful grandparents! What great people and examples! SO BLESSED! So I got really nervous about an hour before entering the MTC. What was I about to get myself into?!?! Haha, but as soon as I was dropped off I was whisked away and it all started with a bang! I received some missionary items and then all of a sudden I was in a classroom with Spanish all around! I walked in and the teacher was like "sarjghalerghalrghagbnvblsreuihaqruegfbvlkjvcbsagh". :) Was I in the right room?? Haha, the other ELEVEN people in my district seemed to have the same confused face as me though. Yeah, there are 12 members of my district! That is pretty big! We were originally only supposed to have 8 but 4 more Elders were there because they were supposed to be going to the Columbia MTC but their visas didn't come. So we have had a big district but it has been way fun! We are all already so close and have had some good times working together with spiritual stuff as well as eating together and other things! An Elder got a package of jelly beans that contain good and bad flavors and we all went around and tried some! That reminded me of when our family did that for family home evening! Good times!

Oh man, so much to tell you and not enough time to write it all! So, the Spanish immersion was kind of scary and overwhelming at first but get this- HERMANA RASBAND (my companion) AND I HAVE ALREADY TAUGHT FOUR LESSONS IN SPANISH! We are teaching our fifth one tonight! A little over a week ago I had no idea about Spanish and now I can pray, bear my testimony, and give lessons in Spanish. My Spanish still has A LOOOONG way to go but I know the Spirit is definitely helping me.

What else?? I really love my companion, Hermana Rasband! We are alike in a lot of ways and get along really well! We have been trying really hard to be 100% obedient and get everything done. It is hard- sometimes we don't finish everything even when we spent all of our time working hard, but it feels great to know that we are putting everything we have into being diligent and trying.

I thought with so many people here at the MTC that I wouldn't see anyone I knew before- WRONG. Haha, the MTC has a funny of way of letting you see everyone you know even with all of the people! I have seen Tyler about 5 times now! He seems to be doing REALLY well- super happy and hardworking! I have also seen some friends from BYU, a friend from an EFY group, Megan Matteson, Jesse Nevin (yesterday, only got to say hi but hopefully I will see him again and see how he is doing), Travis Hoiyt (Kaitlyn's husband-works in the mail room) and Sydney Sones! SO COOL!

So on the fourth of July we had a fireside that night! It was really good and in it we got to watch the movie "17 Miracles". We then were invited to go outside and eat ice cream while watching fireworks that were going on at the Stadium across from us. Really cool! There are so many great devotionals, talks, and experiences here! My testimony and understanding of the gospel has grown SO MUCH. I LOVE IT! And yesterday Hermana Rasband and I had an amazing lesson! The spirit was so strong and we were just in awe after we taught our investigator Uriel. The first three lessons we basically scripted out everything we were going to say. We do not know Spanish very well and we wanted to be able to say what we wanted. However, our teacher told our district before our 4th lesson that it is more powerful to give a lesson that is not read word for word- even though the Spanish must just be words and phrases. So that is what we did, and MAN did the Spirit help us! A lot of our talking was not perfect Spanish at all but that is okay. Something that has been said multiple times that I absolutely love is that it is way more important to learn the language of the Spirit then the language of Spanish. Even if the investigators don't quite understand with their minds hopefully they feel with their hearts!

Sorry I don't have much more time to write! I will try to write a letter today with more details about everything! Just know I am doing well! This mission is hard but it is SO worth it! I know this is where I am supposed to be. There is such a great energy and Spirit here! The first few days felt kinda long and overwhelming but ever since Sunday it has felt like it is just flying by! I can't believe I am already down to 5 weeks in the MTC!

I love you all so much! Thanks again for your love and support!!!!!!!!!! Yo se que el evangelio de Jesucristo es verdadero. Yo se que el Libro de Mormon es la palabara de Dios y verdadero. Yo se que Jesucristo es el Salvador y el Redentor. Yo se que Dios es amoroso! Este testimonio me ayudar a tener esparanza y vivir feliz!!!!!

Love,

Lindsey
(Hermana Woodfield)

Beginning My Mission!!!!

   I am flying out to Utah tomorrow!!!! WOW! And then I enter the MTC (Missionary Training Center) Wednesday afternoon in Provo, Utah for 6 weeks. Then sometime in mid-August I'll get on a plane headed to Argentina!! Holy cow- this is definitely getting real!! I am SO EXCITED! I feel so blessed to have this wonderful opportunity and for the love and support of my family and friends. :) When I enter the MTC I will be emailing my dad and he will be posting things on this cool blog for me. Argentina, I am on my way!!!! I love yah Texas and I will see you and all of my amazing family and friends in 18 months!

Greatest siblings ever!!!! 

Love,
Hermana Woodfield