Holly Marie Bair!!!

Congratulations on your sealing in the temple Humper! That was an
awesome Email to read and pictures to see. It looks like you all had a
ton ton ton of fun and Holly looks very happy in the pictures and
thats all that matters right? You all are so funny with that cardboard
cut out lol. I have zero idea how you made that happen but i love it.
very creepy, but i love it. lol especially that body...who is that?
because ive never worn that tie in my life haha. All the girls looked
very beautiful with their dresses and cowgirl boots. I especially like
the flintstones necklaces too ;) thats what wilma wore right....? haha

So it sounds like we all kinda had a hectic week because this week
here in La Union was pretty crazy as well. On monday night we got a
call from our zone leaders and they told us that the next day we would
report to some place that we had never heard of before at 8 am and
work as translators all day long until 6 pm....and thats all they told
us....haha So we ended up finding the place, went inside and waited
for a little while until we see this huge group of gringos walking
towards us....ill be quite honest that freaked me out a little bit.
The only white people i have talked to in a long time have been
missionaries....oh man im gonna be so awkward when i get back. But
yeah so this huge group of people walked in and we ended up finding
out that they were mostly all mormons working as humanitarians here in
Piura for a few weeks. Apparently one of the kids that was there
started it up for his Eagle project and it worked so well theyve kept
it going for a few years now. But what they do is they have a TON of
glasses that have been donated, like a few thousand. and they are all
organized and then anyone that wants to come can come but its first
come first serve. So they come in, get their eyes checked and then
they try and find a pair of glasses that fits their vision more or
less. its a lot of guess work but the people were SO thankful for what
they were doing. All we did as missionaries all day was translate
between the eye doctors and patients. It was very scary at first but
my spanish has come a long ways so it all turned out okay. i could
definitiely tell that i was blessing in my language too. Thank
goodness for that. The whole time i was just thinking about mom and
how this is what you do everyday....given its in a sterile environment
and its much more exact...but it was really cool. I loved it because
we ended up seeing a few of our investigators there and it was great
to give everyone a chance to see that we are normal people and that we
are there to serve them as missionaries. Oh and one thing i learned
here is that Carnosidad is really prevelant here. Im not sure what it
is in english, literally it would translate to carnosity, but idk if
thats right mom. but basically its because everyone here goes out into
their rice fields and work everyday and the sun is way strong here so
they get this sickness in their eyes that steadily gets worse and
worse until they are blinded. So we gave out a TON of sunglasses.
thank you very much for those sunglasses mommy, i will definitely be
wearing them now that i know the sun is stronger here than in the
states.

So that was an awesome experience, We got to help a lot of people with
their vision...i cant imagine having to walk around with out my
glasses all day everyday :s but then right after that we went straight
to the church at about 6 30 because we were supposed to be there at 6
to meet with Katy Paico. We got there JUST in time as she was leaving
the church. She still had to go becuase she was late for someting, but
before she left we asked her how her mom was doing and she told us
taht her mom miraculously changed her mind and that she could get
baptized! how awesome was that?! it was definitiely a big boost and a
testimony builder for me in regards to fasting. So we had the chance
to baptize her this week along with the mom of Yerson who was baptized
a few weeks ago. Such a blessing and an awesome experience. They both
have such strong testimonies and are so strong in what they know.

But another really really weird thing happened this week. We were
walking through La Union coming back from a meeting we had as the 4 of
us Elders and we walk by this park and see ANOTHER group of
gringos....like i said before, at this point they freak us out so we
tried to sneak by without them noticing us...haha but they ended up
seeing us and screaming at us in really bad spanish to go over there
(i love trying to act like my spanish is even better ;)) We went over
there and ended up finding out that they were teenage kids from the US
that were all christians. they were traveling through PERU doing some
kind of theatre show about jesus and his ressurection. We talked with
them for a bit and then they asked us to stay after so they could ask
us questions. Let me just tell you....it was sooooo weird trying to
share the gospel in English. It went okay and it felt awesome bearing
my testimony about the book of mormon in English because its been so
long. One of the kids named Zach from Oklahoma was especially curious
but sceptical at the same time. In the end he understood the
importance of whether or not the Book of Mormon is a true book. Only
problem? he didnt speak Spanish and all we had were Spanish books of
mormon....He said he was gonna search for one when he got back to the
states and email us when he read it. I really really really hope he
finds one and reads it earnestly. I love this work so much. In english
or spanish in the states or Peru, its true. It doesn't matter who's
sharing it but its true.

Sorry there isnt any time to respond to everyones emails. I loved the
pictures a ton. Thanks for all the love you all send my way. I could
definitiely feel it this week.

So as a slight after though, transfers were today and....Im outta
here. Ive gotta pack everything up today and we will find out bright
and early tomorrow morning who our companions are and where we are
going. exciting stuff! I love you all so much, i miss you tons. "One
great big happy (crazy) family!" :D

Until next week!

Love, Elder Woodburn

Feliz Día del Padre

Happy Fathers day father of mine whom i love so much!!!! :) I hope you
had an awesome day and took advantage of that nice day off from the
wedding madness!!! haha I love the pics you all sent that corn in the
hole one has to be set up, i can see that goofy look on james face :)
haha I love the bacon one...makes me wish i could eat it. Im not sure
if i ever told you but one of the foods we cant eat here as
missionaries is pig. Any kind of pig, not entirely sure why...its just
a really dirty food here and the pigs arent raised right. so i really
miss my BACON!!!! ;) oh and when did hump get a robe? weirdo ;) haha
lets see what else did i notice? Mert is wacky with her fly swatters,
and if im not mistaken that picture was taken at in-n-out? if thats
the case...not cool man not cool ;) oh and mert better not be wearing
my shirt....hehe

So this last week went by really fast. I was definitely suprised. We
went to work as usual. This last tuesday we ended up fasting with Katy
Paico the 17 year old investigator that we have so that her mom would
open up a little bit more. But then our weekly appointment came around
on saturday and she didnt show up, and then sunday came around for
church and she didnt show up to that either which was the first time,
so we decided to call her up and she went on to tell us how her mom
had gotten even worse after the fast and that she wouldnt let her meet
with us or go to church. It was pretty rough for her and a weird way
to get a prayer answered but it was just another testimony to me that
its not our will, its heavely fathers will and in the end its all
going to turn out okay as long as we are doing what we need to be. I
know that soon enough she will have the chance to be baptized, its
just unfortunate that transfers are coming up next week and i might
not get to see it :( So just keep her in your prayers that she can
keep her faith because im sure its been especially difficult for her
with this being her answer, but we are going to meet with her
tommorrow hopefully so ill let you know how it goes.

So remember how my P-Blessing said that i would give a lot of
blessings of health on my mission?yeah well that has definitiely come
to pass so far. Im not sure how many exactly, i havent been counting,
but the opportunity has come up quite a bit. It has just really made
me thankful that im worthy when they ask. Because obviously its just a
suprise when they come up and say Elders, could you give me a
blessing? and we are just like...uh yeah sure haha. It has made me
promise myself that i will always be worthy and willing to give a
blessing or help someone in need. Now i understand why President
Monson said that the priesthood is an opportunity to serve.

Oh and this last weeek everyone around here has been saying "El Niño
esta por venir!!!" "the niño is coming! not sure if you all have heard
of the niño or if there is a different word for it in English, but its
a really big storm that comes every once in a while. Im not entirely
sure how it works to be honest, but all i know is that it came in 1983
and it was so bad that it didnt stop raining for a week and just about
everyones houses got flooded and destroyed. Apparently the news is all
over it and trying to predict that it will come. You all should look
it up and let me know what you can find out. As for me? im pumped! i
say bring that storm on! i need some excitment! it would defintiely
give us some good service to do afterwards haha.

Other than that all is well in the La Union, This last friday we had a
fireside with a ton of missionaries from different areas as a farewell
to presdient chipman since he is leaving in about 2 weeks now. It was
really awesome, song lots of hyms and lots of testimonies. The coolest
thing was see a lot of Elders that i havent seen in a while like Elder
Frame "draco malfoy" and Elder Cabrera. Im not sure why but seein him
just brought back tons of awesome memories from the times in Los
Angelels 2. He was a great comp and hes still doing good.

Love you all tons and i hope this week goes great! Ill keep you all in
prayers that everything goes well! (especially you mommy ;) deep
breaths deep breaths ;))

Congrats to Alli for graduating and congrats to Humper and TGB for
getting sealed in the temple for time and all eternity!

Love
Elder Woodburn

Futbol Futbol Futbol!

A very marry week to all! This week seemed to go by really fast. It
sounds like you all had a really great week too. Especially Saturday!
ah man I cant believe that bump got to go through the temple already!
Which temple did she take out her endowments at again? South Jordan?
or did she just head on over to Bountiful? Ah thats so cool! I really
wish i could have been there to go through too! but thats okay, she
had tons of loved ones there to support her :) Even more than that
though i cant believe that she will be married in two weeks! holy cow!
Honestly though i dont think that it will ever REALLY sink in until i
get home and see that shes not living at home and shes with TGB. So
weird! Bumper you looked very very beautiful in those pictures :) Im
glad you had such and awesome day and i hope you get the opportunity
to go back often :D Oh yeah and be sure to tell TGB that he looked
pretty too ;)

So they already found their apartment and everything huh? does that
mean they are going to be cleaning out the garage and taking any and
all of the furniture that might be considered unsued? lol make her
take that orange couch! haha Suckers :p Everyone is already heading
down for the wedding? it seems so soon! Oh and i cant believe that
maggie is still alive! how crazy is that?!? shell probably still be
alive when i get back home! make sure you all party hard for the next
two weeks though! im sure itll be a ton of fun and ill be sure to eat
a lot of rice to celebrate too as opposed to throwing it at you BUMP
;)

Oh so just a few random things that i thought of throughout the week
and wrote down in my agenda.
1. Any word on the shoes at the missionary mall? how do they redeem
them there? do they make you pay for them to send em to me or what?
cuz im fairly certain that my shoes arent going to last another year
out here. One of my shoes tore again on the top of it. i forgot to
take a pic but ill be sure to do it and send it next week for you. but
theres no rush to get them sent to me. If anything it would be cheaper
for me to just buy shoes here and save those for after the mission or
hook james up with a pair.
2. Oh funny story, so Im really thankful for all of the many prayers
that you all have been sendin our way because they definitely helped,
yesterday Elder Chichia and i were in our room all afternoon because
he was destroyed and not feeling well at all. which i kinda felt bad
about until the other elders, Elder Valladares and Aguilar came back
and told us that Peru had been playing Uraguay all afternoon and that
they didnt get into a single house...haha thats how it is here. Peru
is one of the worst soccer teams of South America and they still shut
down the town to watch them play. classic.
3. So the olympics are coming up...and it seems like everywhere i go
people are watching TV and i hear the epic olympics music for the
commercials they play...it gets me every time and it has only just
begun....so itll be an intersting next 3 months or so. haha

Thank you all for your love and support as always. I couldnt do this without it!

Hasta la próxima semana!


Love
Elder Woodburn

Hola hola hola!

So this week i put in that CD that you sent me mommy from the kids
primary songs and i usually just put it on random and listen to what
ever pops up and then all of a sudden one song came on and like my
whole childhood came flooding back in. "I am like a star shining
brightly...shining for the whole world to see!" haha I just remember
that i sang that in Primary one time right? and if i rememebr right i
think i had a costume? a star to put on my face or something right?
haha anyways, it made my day when that song came on because i had
completely forgotten about it but now i sing it in my head all the
time :)

So lets see, whats new here. So I heard that the 1st presidency just
sent out a worldwide lettter saying that ALL 18 year olds can now
leave on missions...lucky lucky. They lower the age a year after i
leave on the mission haha. So i guess over the next year i will
probably be seeing some youngins. which is really funny considering
everyone already laughs at us when we tell them we are 19. oh well :)
oh yeah and we were also talking about Mitt Romney and voting. first
of all, thatd be awesome if he became president, how is that looking,
but second of all, is it possible for me to vote from here in peru?
absentee ballot or anything? oh yeah and btw....i never signed up for
the draft...lol hope thats not a problem. Dont wanna be a draft dogger
like Joel!

But yeah so this week we had our final interviews with President
Chipman. It was pretty cool. Since hes leaving now and isnt going to
have the chance to give us our "exit interviews" he basically gave
them to us now, telling us that we need to learn to apply all that we
learn here on the mission to real life and keep on progressing after
the mission and going to the temple regularly.   Something that he told me like 3
times was "todo va a salir bien"  "everything will go well" so idk if
he had the spirit of prophecy and that im gonna fall away from the
church and then end up coming back or....haha jk jk but it was a
pretty cool interview and it will be sad to see him leave at the end
of this month.

We had some pretty difficult  set backs this week in the work which was
pretty frustrating. Katy, who i think i wrote about last week (and if
not...my bad) but she has all the desire in the world to be baptized,
she goes to church but this week she told us that her mom doesnt want
her to get baptized and since she doesnt turn 18 until August she
cant. So its a little bit rough and we cant talk to her mom because
she is always traveling so well have to pray and see. Then there was
another girl that was ready to attend church with us for the first
time but it turned out that her dad didnt want her to go either. Thats
been the most frustrating thing so far is that its hard enough when
people have their own agency and dont choose to listen to this message
or go to church, but its even harder when someone is taking away
another's agency by making decisions for them. It just
frustrates me a little bit but i know that in the end everything will
be worked out, we just have to be paient. 

But yeah miss you all tons, wish i could be there to hang out, and
make jokes but like you said, a year is coming up and ill be back
before you all know it! keep on the straight and narrow! its the only
way to go! sé que esta es la iglesia verdadera!

Hasta la próxima semana!
Love
Elder Woodburn!