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