We seem to shovel dirt a lot!

After waiting and waiting yesterday for an email
and not getting one.
It was like going to bed hungry....starving.
I wasn't worried this time though because of the support of my missionary mom
friends who reassured me that it would come and the other moms in Jack's zone
who had not heard from their sons either.
And let's face it...
the old adage is true,
Misery loves company...
and I had the BEST of company.
My patience was rewarded with an email that made me both cry and laugh.
I had to laugh when Jack answered the question about service.
"Yes, we helped a lady shovel dirt and put it somewhere. It’s something we do alot here in guatemala. We seem to shovel dirt alot."
That is classic Jack for two reasons:
Obviously he doesn't think that the shoveling of dirt is productive and
he uses the word alot......A LOT!
I wish I had taught him that there is not word "alot" before he left for Guatemala.
If only I had known he would use it for descriptive purposes A LOT!
(Hey I am sorry it is the school teacher in me. He also likes the word "quality". I love seeing the bits and pieces of Jack in his emails. I like that "alot")
The part that made me cry was his description of the temple and how it is the place that is the closest he can get to feeling like he is at home.
Thank heavens for temples.
It really IS the closest we can get to being "home".

 Jack's first temple trip at Mount Timpanogos Temple. He wanted to go for his first time to the Houston Texas Temple but it was closed because of Hurricane Ike. When he comes home we will go there ASAP.
 

Hey everyone!

Thanks for all the emails. Today I got alot of emails, which was nice. It’s great to hear from all of you.

So today i’m writing on Tuesday because today we went to the Temple, which means we take pday on Tuesday. Going to the Temple is always a highlight, and today we went with the Area Presidency, which was also a cool experience. Elder Dunkley and I had to organize the bus, which was a little stressful, but we were able to get everything running smoothly. I like going to the Temple. It is a refuge from all the base of this world. Particularly here in Guatemala, it’s very refreshing to be able to be there. It’s the closest i can get to feeling like i’m at home.

                This week has been great. It started a little rough, because i woke up on Tuesday morning with a pretty heavy migraine. That’s the third i have gotten here on the mission, and they get pretty bad. I know how dad feels now. I finally got to sleep though, and was able to work in the afternoon.

                This week we’ve been focusing on finding families. We’ve found a few, and now we’re working on keeping them as investigators. That’s always the hardest part, getting from the first lesson to the second. Many times people will invite us in once, and tell us to come back, but then look for excuses to not listen. We’ve been working with the members, and we got a reference of a less active man and his wife that is not a member. They are the Rico Family. The husband is a little reluctant to listen to us, but we watched a video with them last Sunday, and we had a quality lesson. They then asked us to give their baby a blessing, and it was a pretty uplifting experience for them.

                So this Sunday I had a a quality experience. We spent all Saturday trying to get people to church, and i was pretty excited for Sunday morning. We woke up early to search for people, and to my disappointment we found that everyone wouldn't or couldn't come. I went to church slightly defeated, because i had prayed alot the night before that someone would come to church. To my surprise in the middle of the meeting i saw a recent convert come in with her sister who isn't a member. My prayer had been answered, maybe not in the time i was waiting for, but it was answered. When i came up to talk to them, they told me that at 9;00 when church started, they felt a strong impression that they should go to church. I am grateful that God always answers our prayers.

                Well, it looks like it’s question time!

1.       Do you pinky swear that you read ALL of Dad and I's boring emails? (remember you are a missionary and cannot tell a fib)

Of course i read them all. And i like them all!

2. Do you have any advice for me on how to strengthen my scripture reading as it pertains to the book of Alma and the wars?

Well, something interesting that i have learned in the mission is that the war chapters are important in testifying of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. The person who compiled the book of Alma was Mormon, who was also a military man, so it would make sense that alot of his writings have to do with the wars and contentions of his people, because that was what he was interested in. Anyways, i found that interesting. There’s a reason that there’s war chapters in there. Also, you can think of the physical defenses that they make in preparation of their enemies, as a type of spiritual defense that we have to build. Lots of interesting things there.

3. What condition is the bed you sleep on? I saw Elder Smiths bed and it looked nice.

We got new beds this week! So it’s awesome.

4. How come your living conditions always look a little..um....how shall we say....."that lived in look"? 

Remember mother that i live in a third world country. =)

5. What area where you in when you lived in the nicest place in your mission? the worst?

Nicest was Lomas, and the worst, as far as living conditions, was Peten.

6. What did you eat this week that I would not want to eat?

Ceviche! I love it. It’s raw shrimp in tomato and onion and lots of lime. I don't think it would fall too well on your stomach though. =)

7. Who has the BEST mother in the whole Guatemala mission? hint hint wink wink nudge nudge

Nerent to her!

8. What kind of souvenirs should I think about buying when I come?

That's a good question. You’ll have to see them all! =)

Do you need anything?  Let us know if we can send anything to you.

No, i am doing great now.


Have you helped with any service projects lately?  What were they?

Yes, we helped a lady shovel dirt and put it somewhere. It’s something we do alot here in Guatemala. We seem to shovel dirt alot.

What's your favorite lesson of all to teach?

I like to teach about the Book of Mormon, because i think it’s one of the greatest things we have to offer, and it was written for these people.

Well, i would love to write more, but my time is up. Thanks everyone for your love and support. I love you guys, and pray for you often. The mission is great, and my testimony of the Church is strong and firm.

Love,

Elder Winn