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