Angels to Beckon Me

I had an interesting ephipany a couple of days ago.
And it involved all of you.
We had Stake Conference this weekend,
We had a visit from one of the General Authorities,
Elder Sitati from Kenya.
He was here to seek out a new Stake President since President Gifford Nielson was called to be an area seventy at General Conference this month.
It was an great meeting and I enjoyed listening to the speakers.
I am always amazed at the blessing I recieve from going to meetings on Saturday.
You see I am a little bit of a whiner when it comes to Saturday meetings.
Saturday is a special day....
It's my get myself ready for Sunday...
NOT my Sunday.
But Heavenly Father has infinite patience and good humor with me
And every time I go to a Saturday meeting he rewards me with some good stuff.
Every time,
This particular meeting was really interesting and I enjoyed it,
But................
No special wow for my Saturday obedience.
(Not that I HAVE to have it to be obedient, it's just been nice is all I'm saying)
Then came the closing hymn
and it happened.
Bang Boom Wow (what word really describes a message of inspiration)
The message just for me.
And all my missionary mom friends too.
First I have to tell you that in every prayer I have said these last 19 months I have asked for the same thing.
Angels.
Big burly strong imposing angels.
You know like the ones that are in the famous Stripling Warrior painting by Frieberg.
The ones who were on the front lines in the war in Heaven.
I ask that they surround Jack and keep him safe.
I don't think that there has been a day in the last 579 days that I have not asked for that.

 (Like these guys)

At the meeting, we sang Nearer My God to Thee (hymn #100)When we got to this verse is when I had my epiphany.

"There let the way appear,
Steps unto heav’n;
All that thou sendest me,
In mercy giv’n;
Angels to beckon me
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!"
And it hit me.
They were surrounding me as well.... right at that moment.
Not just Jack.
At first I felt a little panicky that there couldn't be enough of them.
Leave them in Guatemala. I thought.
But then I knew
There are enough.
And the image of all of you friends and moms I have never met came into my head...
(really you did, but I am not sure you look exactly as I pictured you...although you were ALL really attractive)
They are around you too.
There are enough for all of us.
I had never pictured that before.
I had never asked for that either.
Maybe it is Jack praying for them to come my way.
Maybe it a blessing of Jacks mission
Maybe it is just a loving Father reminding me that He is there.
I quickly wiped away the tears so no one would think I was crying over a hymn.
But it was a wonderful comforting thought.
So I just thought you would want to know.

Here is the latest from Elder Winn:

Hey everyone!

Thanks for the emails! It sounds like everyone is doing great there in Texas. And it was exciting to hear about the new stake president. I think President Barrow will do a great job.

                This week has been a fairly regular week. I’ve been spending a lot of time studying. I have even been waking up earlier to be able to have more time to study. I have recently been having a strong desire to study the scriptures. Right now i am in the middle of the book of Ether, and i am enjoying it. I’ve been thinking a lot about the ways i feel the Spirit. I think that in a lot of ways I don't feel it like most other people do. I don't really get the burning feeling, or anything like that. I like how it’s described in chapter 6? of Ether though. It is described as an impulse to do good. I have definitely felt that on my mission, a desire to do better, to serve with more love, and to be more diligent. The Spirit is also manifested through faith, and I feel that my faith has increased throughout my mission.

                This week has been rather normal. We’ve been trying to teach the investigators that we have, and find new ones. We’ve also been rejected this week, but that happens all the time. If the people only knew what we had to offer them. Our main problem is getting people to go to church. Many of our investigators live pretty far away, and we all have to take a bus to get to church. It’s not expensive, but a lot of our investigators are really poor, and even if they had the money, the thought of spending it deters them from going. It’s kind of strange, because we have a lot of people committed to baptism, but they don't go to church. We’re trying to figure out the best way to help them get there.

                What else happened this week. This week we’re going to have a zone conference, and zone leader council with Elder Fallabela, from the 70. I am looking forward to it. I have never heard him speak before, so this will be a great opportunity. Zone conference is on Thursday and zl council is on Friday. Both days we’re going to have to wake up early, because we live pretty far away, and there is always a lot of traffic in the morning. We live of one of the biggest highways in the country, and yet it is a 2 lane road. Coming back home will be very different.

                The zone seems to be doing better this change. Last change it was pretty amazing how many interviews we had to do, but this change the zone is doing a lot better. We’re trying to commit more people to be baptized, and we’re focusing on being more diligent. That seems to always be the focus.

                Well, i think it is question time. I’ll send another email about the trip stuff.

1.       Do I need to buy a calling plan to call you on mothers day?

I have no idea yet. I will tell you by next week.

2. What was the best thing you ate this week?

Elder Dunkley and I made a tasty brownie. That would definitely be the best. 3.    The worst?
Cow foot stew. Gross!!! It included the cows spinal cord. Not recommendable. =)
 Well, there weren't a lot of questions, so question time was a little short. =)
 Well thanks for your emails ans love. I know that this Church is true. I also know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. I know that the Church was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith, and that with the Restored Gospel we can live with our families forever. That was the reason why i came here, and it continues to be the reason for why i am here.
Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Winn

Tender Mercies from Zone 18

This is Jack's first area,
fresh out of the CCM (missionary training center)
It is in what is called the Peten.
He looks so young.
His skin is not yet tanned and toughened by the elements,
His shirt and tie and belt look fresh and clean.
He looks excited but with maybe a hint of apprehension or confusion being in a land where he doesn't yet understand the language.
I never noticed these things until I looked at this picture again tonight.
I was reminded of it by a message that my good friend missionary mom Leslie sent me.
It is her sons first week out in the mission field,
And as fate would have it (or our prayers answered)
Our sons are serving in the same zone.
They actually played ultimate frisbee and ate pizza together.
I haven't even had the privilege of meeting Leslie face to face but they had lunch today.
I'm not sure if that is fair. lol
She expressed a little fear over his being assigned to Zone 18.
ZONE 18!
All the Guatemala missionary moms know that it is spoken with a whisper. It is the one that everyone is a little apprehensive about. It is the zone where if you look Guatemala up on the internet that you can read scary things about. I know this because when Jack first left the CCM I prayed that he would not go there. I was not yet ready to take the leap of faith that Zone 18 implied.
After every transfer Jack would joke that I must be praying very hard to keep him out of the capital and out of zone 18 and so for the first year of his mission he served north of the capital in Peten and then in Coban. With every transfer reported I breathed a little sigh of relief.
There was even one transfer that he was sent to the capital only to be turned back around after a 7 hour bus ride,
back to Coban for an emergency transfer
and another 7 hours on the bus.
I started to believe that my praying was really having an effect.
Silly me.
The day finally came.
He was headed for the capital.
Not zone 18 but the capital nonetheless.
Of course he was happy to go and assured me that he was in a safe area and not to worry.
After being in the capital for 6 months he got sick. Really sick. He told me he was ok but I knew that he wasn't. He had fever and body pain. We talked about whether he had dengue fever. He said that everyone there got sick like this but I was skeptical. I spent the afternoon discussing with anyone who would listen what I should I do.
Should I call the mission office?
Should I call my daughter's in-laws who live there to check on him?
He told me that he was ok but I couldn't let it go.
I couldn't sleep much that night When I found myself still obsessing about it the next day I knew that I had to do something.
So I prayed.
I was alone so I knelt in my living room and prayed.
I prayed about as long as I have ever prayed,
That I would know what to do and would have peace about the situation.
And of course I prayed for Jack to be made whole.
And then it happened.
Peace.
Jack would be fine.
I didn't need to do anything.
It was already being taken care of.
I could stand down. My heart was filled with joy to know that he was going to be fine
and relief that I could let go of that burden.
But that is when the whisper began,

It really wasn't a whisper as much as it was a thought that keep coming to my mind.
"He is going to be transferred to zone 18 but he will be alright there"All throughout the next week when things were quiet, I would hear,
"Remember he will be alright when he is transferred to zone 18."
"Don't forget the feeling you had after your prayers when he is sent to zone 18"
When I got the email from Jack that Monday,
He told me that he had been transferred and not to worry because he was in a safe area, much safer than the last area. (that's what he always says)
He didn't mention that it was zone 18.
He didn't have to.
I already knew.
In fact I told him that I knew it was in zone 18.
I think I might have surprised him.
I told him I have Mom ESP.
(Extra Special Promptings)
So no worries Leslie. Jordan is in the best of care....but you already knew that.
Here's to lunch in August where we can swap more pictures and stories of good ole Zone 18.

Here is the latest from Elder Winn who is currently serving in wonderfully protected zone 18:

Hey everyone!

Thanks for all the emails. Like always, it’s good to hear from you.

                This week has been pretty good. It’s been fairly normal, but the normal weeks are sometimes the better ones. We’ve been trying to find new people to teach. I’ve been realizing this week that i pretty much know all of my area, and have knocked almost all the doors. That’s okay though, i’m used to knocking doors that have been knocked already. Almost always somebody new answers the door.

                We found a few promising investigators. Almost everyone here needs to get married, which is hard here. The system of getting papers and identification is pretty archaic, but we’re in the process with some of our investigators.

                Recently we’ve been working with this one lady named Luria. She has prooved to be a little difficult. She has a strong evangelical belief, and knows the Bible fairly well. We’ve been trying to teach her about the Book of Mormon, and have her pray about it. She reads it alot, and agrees with everything it says, but she wont pray about it. She says she doesnt understand why there’s a need for the Book of Mormon when we already have the Bible. She claims that the Bible is all we need. We’ve tried showing her things that the Book of Mormon has to offer that isnt in the Bible, but she doesnt seem to accept it. It’s a little frustrating, becuase i know that if she would just pray and ask God about it she would have an answer. Well, much to our surprise, she went to church yesterday, and i think she enjoyed it. Hopefully she will get around to praying about the Book. That will be the only way she will progress.

                Other than her, we have some investigators that are progressing slowly. Some of them we have had to drop this week, either because they dont keep thier commitments, or they hide from us. It’s sad to have that happen, because I know that what we have to offer is of great importance to them, but I also know that there are people out there prepared to recieve the Gospel.

                These past few weeks i have been really working on how i can be a better missionary, and how i can develop some habits that will help me throughout my life. I’m trying to follow every rule exactly, and am also trying to live the Gospel to it’s fullest. I think i’m noticing a change. That’s the great thing about the Gospel. It’s all about progression. I feel like i am getting better each and every day, and i am glad for the opportunity that i have to be able to change. I fully believe that I am a different person than who i was 18 months ago, and i am confident that i will be different than who I am now in the next 6 months. I enjoy getting better and progressing.

                Recently in my studies I have been reading the Book of Mormon like crazy. I just finished the Book of Helaman this week, and am extited to get to the eartlhy advent of the Savior in the Americas. The Book of Mormon is great, and i feel like i learn more from that book than any other book. I am also reading Jesus the Christ for the second time. I really like that book as well.

                Okay It’s question time! This may be a short email because i have to write about where we’re going to go when you come up, but anyways. Question time!

1.       Did you get a new missionary from the CCM named Elder Smith in your zone? If so then take good care of him. His mom is one of my favorite missionary buddies.

Yes we did, and we will take good care of him. He seems like a good kid.

2. Did you hear about the man who died that I talked about in the email? Did you know who he was?

Yes, he was an ex mission president, but i havent heard alot about the story.

3. Do you visit all of the missionaries in your zone in person or is most of the work done over the phone?

Well, we see them each Monday and Wednesday, but most of our work is done over the phone.

4. Do you know when President Torres will let you know the rules for the mother's day call? Do I need to get a plan so that I can call from our home phone? Where would I be calling to?

I dunno. If he doesnt say anything, i’ll probably be calling you guys, because it’s easier. But if you guys call me, you will have to use a phone card. I think it comes out to be 12 cents a minute, which is double what it costs for me to call, but oh well

5. Do you ever dream in Spanish?

Every once and a while, but i never really remember my dreams. If i dream about the mission it’s usually in spanish

6. Do you and Elder Dunkley ever talk Spanish to each other or just English?

Lol, just english. I speak spanish pretty decently, but it’s soo m uch easier for me to speak english.

7. What was the best thing that you ate this week?

Um. Probably taco bell. That usually wins. =)

8. After eating tripe soup last week does your amazing mother's red beans and rice sound like heaven?

Yes! But you stopped making them for us!

9. Do you need anything?

not really. Just to figure out the college thing. I’ve been thinking about that lately

10. Do you still think that you would like bacon cream cheese chicken?  

YES! That should be the first meal we eat when i come home!

Would you have any interest in working part time as a teacher in the MTC? 

That would be pretty cool. I’ve heard it’s really hard to get a job there, but i would love working there.

Are you still playing piano for sacrament meeting?  Is it every week?  Or do they have anyone else in the ward who can play?  Do you feel like you are improving your sight reading skills?

Yes, every Sunday. I am getting alot better. I cant play them perfect, but i use a mix of reading it and playing it by ear.

Tell us a little bit about President and Sister Torres.  Is he a pretty strict disciplinarian?  Or is he pretty easy going?  Does he have an interesting sense of humor, or is he pretty serious?
He’s getting a little more strict, but he is a really nice guy. I have alot of respect for him, and have enjoyed working closely with him these past few months.

You mentioned a little bit of difficulty with some in the mission in being diligent and completely obedient.  Is that still a problem?  What are you doing to try to encourage the elders and sisters to follow the rules?
Yeah, that’s still a problem. We’re trying to help some of our Elders be more obedient and dilligent, but it’s difficult. There’s not a whole lot we can do other than express our love towards them and our interest that they be succesfull.

Do you enjoy doing baptismal interviews?
Yes, and no. I like doing them when they are well taught, and when they pass the interview. I do not like doing it when we have to fail them. It’s a little awkward.

Well, thanks for all your prayers and love. The mission is great, and i enjoy what i do. I hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Winn

You know what I love about Missionary Moms?

This is what I love about missionary moms!!
This picture.
Jack didn't send it to me but my friend Cherie did.
Those are our handsome sons...standing together.
Don't they look great.
She said that she thought I might enjoy seeing it.
That of course is an understatement.
Missionary moms live for every photo that they can find of their sons.
I have been known to spot Jack in the background of a picture where he is barely visible.
I treasure even those pictures.
When he sends me pictures (like he did today!! YAY 5 of them and with Cherie's that makes 6!!) I look at them and smile and soak it all in.
I even enlarge them as large as I can and study his face to see if there are any changes.
And there are.
He looks more like a man.
He is a man.
I look at his shoes and his tie and his belt and inspect them for wear because he never tells me that he needs anything.
I look to see if his teeth look like they are in good condition and if it looks like he has been brushing and flossing.
I look to see the remnants of the wound on his chin from his running into the brick wall two weeks ago.
Because even though I have let him go
Entrusted him to the Lord.
I am still a mom.
His mom.
And I miss him.
So to Cherie and Leslie and Bonnie and Kristine and Rosalba and all of the other moms who encourage me and share with me and support me....
And get excited to spot my son in their sons pictures.....
Thank you!
You rock!!
I love my missionary mom sisters.
(here are some of the pics Jack sent today)
There are some of your sons in the background. Sorry that they are not bigger. But I know if anyone will recognize them from afar it is their mothers.

This picture makes me laugh. It's good to see the goofy side of Jack still intact.

Now here is his email:

Hey everyone!

                Well, this week has been a great week. Thanks for all of the emails! And, i got a few more postcards this week. Thanks. =) I enjoy getting those.

                Today was change day, and Elder Dunkley and I were thrilled to learn that we don't have a change. We will be staying in Llano Largo, which is good, because i really enjoy this area. It’s not very small, nor is it very big, and there’s a lot to be done here. We’re going to have a lot of new missionaries come into the zone, which will be good, because they always have a lot of desire to work hard.

                This last week was pretty different. I didn't get to work a lot in my own area. We did a lot of divisions to do baptismal interviews. Also, one of the elders in our zone has chicken pox, and he and his companion have to stay in the house all week until it goes away. A lot of the week was spent with them, doing divisions so the healthy elder could work in his area to prepare his two baptisms that he had last Saturday. Speaking about those two baptisms, I was able to attend them. That was a very special moment for me, because they were the family of one of my converts,  Ana Garcia. It was her sister in law and her sister. It was great to be able to meet them, and they expressed their gratitude to me for teaching Ana. They told me that Ana has been the door through which their family has received many blessings. The best is that there are still more people from her family investigating the church. The elders there told me that their conversions were easy, because they are all ready to receive the Gospel. I am very grateful for the opportunity that i had to be able to teach Ana, and to be able to see so many people come into the Church because of her. President shared her conversion story in change conference today.

                I spent a lot of the week in an area called Canalitos with some other elders to do baptism interviews. Everyone this week passed, which is good news. Right now we’re focusing on being more diligent and obedient in the zone. Last Tuesday we had zone leader council with President Torres. We talked about the various problems and achievements of each zone, and talked about the ways we can do better. I am looking forward to this change. I think the zone will do very well.

                What else happened this week. Each day of the week there’s a guy who herds a bunch of goats around our neighborhood selling goat milk. When someone wants some, he milks the goat right there. I thought that was pretty interesing. I havent had any goat milk yet, but i’m tempted.

                Speaking about food, this week some member served us cow stomach. It was gross. It was like little strips of nasty cow fat with a little bit of meat in an oily soup. It was not very good. Oh, and we went to eat with the same family yesterday, and the dish was a bean soup with meat, but i swear i got the cow heart. Anyways, i’ve been striking out on the food this week. But it’s nice to eat with the members.

                Yesterday i showed a member family how to make cheesecake. It was delicious.

                Well, i think it’s question time now.  

 1.Where are you?? Lol

Llano Largo still. =)
2. If you are somewhere new there had better be lots and lots of details, like who is your companion and what is your new area like and what is your apartment like? If not the just use this question to tell me what is the best thing you ate all week. Nerent

The best thing i ate this week was definitely not the cow stomach, and definitely the cheesecake.

3. Have you made a list of the places you want to go when we pick you up?

Yes, pretty much. I’ll let you know when i get to call you guys.

4. How is your arm?

It’s doing better now.

5. Have you given anymore thought to what you want to study when you come back? Has your mission changed the way you feel about a future profession?

I want to study either medicine or hospital administration. We’ll have to see

6. What is your favorite thing that happened this week?

Being able to see the family of Ana Garcia get baptized.

7. What is Elder Dunkley like personality wise?

He’s pretty relaxed. We get along very well.

8. How excited are you to call your most awesome mother in less than a month?

Yes!

9. Should you be thinking about mailing a possible mothers day gift for example.....uh.....just off the top of my head.....A LETTER AND A PICTURE CD!!! and by that I mean a letter JUST for your mother!

I should be thinking about it, even though the post offive it FARRRRRRR AWAY!

                Well, this email may be a little short, but i am going to send some pictures! So that will be fun.

Anyways, i hope that everyone has a great week! The mission is great, and i am learning and growing every week. I love you guys, and pray for you often!

Love,

Elder Winn

Running Into Brick Walls and Faith

 

So last week Jack told me that he ran into a brick wall on Pday
They were playing capture the flag for a zone activity.
He said that he messed up his face, specifically his chin.
He assured me that he was ok and I did what I have learned to do
the last 18 and a half months
Let it go.
Put it out of my mind until on my knees
I pray.
It has kept me from going insane.
Through transfers, jungles, machetes, parasites, amoebas and fever,
It is how I have learned to cope,
Put the theory of faith into actual practice.
Besides if I freak out too much Jack will just stop giving me details.
I have a hunch that I don't get ALL of them now anyway.
I had to kinda laugh though today when I received my email
I had attempted to nonchalantly ask him how his chin was.
His answer,
"Great and my arm is getting better too. I can almost extend it all the way now"
ARM?
Oh Jack,
more praying.....

Hey everyone!

                Thanks for all the emails! It’s great to hear from you. It sounds like everyone had a great Easter weekend and a great conference weekend. I sure did.

                First off, Easter was great. Here in Guatemala they celebrate it very differently than we do. It’s a largely Catholic celebration, where they celebrate the whole week, rather than just the Sunday. They celebrate with large parades where they carry statues of Christ and Mary over roads decorated in colorful sawdust. They’re mostly statues of Mary, which to this day I don’t understand. Even though I don’t believe in all the images, or the worshiping of Mary, the processions are intricate and often very beautiful.

                Those who aren’t catholic are very opposed to these traditions, and unfortunately it leads them to have the idea that Easter is not to be celebrated in any religious form. Most of them get a long weekend off work and many of them go to the beaches.

                I enjoy Easter for the opportunity it gives us to reflect on the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ and His resurrection. I really enjoyed general conference because many of the speakers talked about that. It made me reflect on that. I love the fact that in our Church all of our energies and focuses are based on Christ’s Atonement.

                We went to all of the sessions, and we were able to listen to them in English, which was great. My favorite session was the Priesthood session. That tends to always be my favorite. I loved President Eyring’s talk about diligence. It’s very true when he said that there is never time to take ‘a rest.’ I thought both of his talks were excellent.

                Probably the greatest part of going to conference was being able to enjoy it with my converts from Lomas. ¾ of them are very active in church, including Sister Castillo. It was great to be able to see them there after 6 months of not seeing them. They’re doing well. Edwin still is having the same problems, and his wife is patiently moving forward, even though her greatest desire it to be sealed in the Temple. I told her to be patient, and that sometimes it takes people years to change.

                Speaking about taking years, we have a really awesome investigator who wants to get baptized. However, she needs to get married, and to be able to do that she needs to take out her papers, and to be able to do that she needs to be a legal resident of Guatemala, which she’s not. She’s from Nicaragua, and is here illegally, which is strange to me. So, she needs to go back to Nicaragua to buy a passport, and then apply for a visa, and then residency, and then needs to come and get married. It’s a tricky situation, and a costly one. I imagine it will take at least a year before everything gets figured out. But, even though I won’t be able to see her get baptized, we’re tying everything we can to get this process started.

                Well, I believe it’s time for question time. There’s a lot today.

               

Did you get to see all sessions of conference? 

Yes, but I missed President Packer’s talk because the connection went out. =0 I’ll have to read it.
Where do you see the sessions, at the stake center?  And how is the broadcast done for the locals there?  Are there Spanish subtitles for the people down there?  Or does someone have to translate everything into Spanish on the fly for them? 

We saw it in the stake center, but most people watch it at home. One of the cool things here is that the BYU channel is on basic cable, and most people have basic cable here. And conference gets translated on the spot, well, kind of. They write out their talks beforehand to get translated.

And do you hear it in Spanish or English? 
English!
What was you favorite talk?
President Eyering’s talk on diligence in the priesthood session.
Did you get your Easter package? 
Yes! Thanks everyone! It had a lot of chocolate that I enjoyed during conference!
How about the postcards?
Yes! Thanks for those. Everyone always asks me why I get so many postcards. I really like them though.
I was not surprised to hear that you dropped a hint to Pres. Torres that you'd love to go back to Peten.  Do you think that might happen?

I doubt it. I imagine I will be staying in the capital for the rest of my mission.

Is your chin healing?  Did Pres. Torres say no more capture the flag on pdays since you got injured?  And stop running into walls!!

Lol. It’s healed now. =)

Did you get to see all sessions of conference? 
Yes =)
1. Did you get the package? If you did which was your favorite thing. Be specific. Lol

My favorite think was the Lindt dark chocolate. I liked it all though. I also shared a lot.

2. Did you get in trouble with President Torres about the injury? How is your chin?

No. He asked hot it happened and I told him I ran into a wall, which was the truth. He didn’t ask anymore about it. =)

5. Did you eat any special Easter meal?

No, I brought a loaf of bread, sweet peas and mustard to eat between sessions. We ran out of food for the week. =)

6. How was your zone conference talk?

I think it went well. I hope so.

7. Did you hear the talk about how great mothers are and how important your awesome mother is? (Feel free to elaborate on your feelings about the talk)

I did hear it. And nerent to you!

8. When are changes and do you think you will leave the area or get a new companion?

Changes are this week. I don’t think I will get a change, but you never know. I hope Elder Dunkley stays as well.

9. How is your health?

Bad! No, just kidding. It’s great. =) I am healthy

10. Someone asked for your recipe for rice and beans and asked what spices do you use?

Um. Just regular rice, and black beans, cooked in a pressure cooker or crock pot with a head of garlic and salt. It’s nothing too special. =)

Well, that’s about all for this week. The mission is great, and I am loving it. Conference was great, and Easter was great. Thanks for all your love and prayers.

Love,

Elder Winn