That Hurricane Was Something Big....

I have been thinking a lot this week about the week before Jack reported to the MTC.
In fact I wrote about it in my blog...
So I won't go into much detail here.
But it was a unique experience to have a hurricane pass over your house.
It was even more unique to barely notice it.
Because all you could think about was your son leaving for two years.
I thought that I lost a lot because of the hurricane.
I know I lost a fence...

some trees

some shingles

and some of the milestones of having a missionary leaving;
(my one and only missionary)
no open house...because no power
no sacrament meeting talk....no church meetings for two weeks plus our building was filled with a hundred missionaries camping out; using the baptismal font to wash off in, after hours upon hours of relief service in the community. Irony. No missionary farewell because a building full of missionaries.
No friends to say goodbye to Jack and pat him on the back and tell him goodbye.
No Houston temple to attend....closed because of the storm damage.
The storm uprooted massive trees...

twisted metal like it was paper

It was a perfect representation for the way I was feeling.
But like all storms.
It had an end.
And it had it's silver lining...
There was an amazing sense of community.
Neighbors helping neighbors.
Church members fulfilling sacred responsibilities to take care of one another.

 This is the cute family that came to physically check on us and assess our needs. Todd and I made our rounds as well to check on our assigned people, swapping shared stories of damage and the storm like old war veterans.
Missionaries out in the community sharing the gospel while helping out anyone who needed it.
My whole extended family living together for four days at my parents house; the only house that had electricity. Playing games, talking. laughing, eating food before it spoiled without refrigeration and giving thanks for the minimal damage we had experienced.
Using supplies that we had stored up because of wise counsel from our church leaders and making note of the things that we could use to do even better next time.
The Morton family in our stake who run the mission prep course and prepare a steak dinner for every missionary and their family before leaving who told us that no matter what the damage from the storm or what the power situation was THERE WOULD be a steak dinner for Jack....no matter what.
And they delivered...big time.
The stake president and his counselor, the bishop and others holding a very sacred meeting in that home where Jack was able to give his talk, play the piano piece he had composed for his farewell (at my begging request) and most importantly partake of the sacrament together.
Going through for Jack's endowments in the Mt Timponogas temple, a beautiful edifice, where his sister would be sealed to her husband 4 months later and it made me feel like a little bit of Jack was there.

 It was a unique experience.
Now as I anticipate the end of Jack's mission I realize that my storm had an end as well.
And the silver lining?
It is magnificent.

Hey everyone!

                Thanks for all the emails and the pictures. That's pretty crazy that Galveston is still trying to repair all the damage. That hurricane was something big.

                This week has been pretty good. I’m trying to remember all the experiences that we had this week, but it’s hard to remember sometimes. We had another lesson with the Flores family, and it seems as if the father still doesn’t want to get married. Our new strategy is to bring married couples who are members to share with them the blessings of Temple marriage.

                Speaking about the Temple, tomorrow we get to go with all the zone leaders. I am excited as usual. Going to the Temple here is amazing. I feel most at home when I go to the Temple. And it’s the only place I know of here that has carpet. You guys should be very thankful that you have carpet in the house. And hot running water. Here we just have cement, and if it’s a nice house we have tile. Every week we have to sweep all the volcanic ash that STILL finds it’s way into the house. Yesterday was a pretty windy day, and I managed to get even more volcanic ash in my hair. I think it will still be here when you guys come down here. That will be something to look forward to.

                Well, tomorrow may be one of the last times that I go to the Temple, because I may be going to Peten!!! At least I really hope I do. This week we had interviews with President Torres, and one of the first questions he asked me was where I wanted to end my mission. That question was music to my ears, and I told him that I wanted to end my mission in my first area, San Jose Peten, to try and reactivate some of my converts that have strayed from the path. He said that his question didn’t necessarily mean that he was going to send me there, but I think there’s a good chance. This next week is changes, and I am excited to see if I have a change. If I don’t that will be okay as well. I like it here in Llano Largo. No matter what I will be getting a new companion. Elder Richardson has 6 more days left in his mission, and I think he is ready to go home. He has been a good companion. His parents are coming down to pick him up. They have a really loose schedule planned, and want to go to peten coban antigua and the capital all in a week. I’m not sure it will work out. Which reminds me, you need to send me the plan that you guys have made, so I can revise it if needed.

                Anyways, I’m not going to lie, I really want to go back to Peten. It has by far been my favorite area, and I would love to end my mission there. Saturday at night they tell us our changes. Keep you fingers crossed.

                Yesterday I had a nest experience. We were teaching a new investigator the Restoration, and I began teaching. The people we were teaching are named Alfredo and Ilda, and they are references from one of the members. When the members give us references, we put in all of our effort to make sure they can feel the Spirit. Anyways, I started teaching, and I felt like I couldn't really get my point across. I was kind of stuttering in my Spanish, and I didn’t think I was teaching very well. When it was my companions turn to teach I said a silent prayer asking God to help me speak the words that He really wanted me to speak. Then when it was my turn to teach again, I felt like my tongue was loosed, and that I could say all the things that I needed too. I also noticed that they were paying a lot more attention to me. For me it was yet another testimony that God answers our prayers, and that this is His work. It was a simple experience, but it impacted me.

                Well, lets go and do question time!

1.       Did you get your package yet? (told you I would keep asking)

Yes, and no. It’s at the office, but tomorrow i will be getting it! Thanks!!

2. WHEN IS YOUR RELEASE DATE AND CAN I BUY THE TICKETS YET??

It never changed. It-s still the 28th, so yes you can buy the tickets.

3. Do you think you will be transferred at change time?
YES! Well, i don't know, because that would mean they would have to put 2 new elders in. But that could happen. I hope so.

 

6. Do you think that you will get to go to Peten the last change?
hopefully!

7. Do you think that your awesome mother will be too hot in Peten?
It is very very hot there in peten!

8. What was the best thing you ate this week? The worst?

The best was a steak dinner that the lady we lived with gave us. She also gave us ceviche! Which is relaly good. It’s raw shrimp with tomato and lots of lime.

The worst was some chicken that i think went bad. Ewwww that’s raw chicken!!!! Lol

Well, thank you for everything. You guys are an awesome family and I love you guys very much. Have a great week! And a Happy 4th of July!

Love,

Elder Winn

PS Happy birthday to meeeeeee! In a week!!

=)

99 Days till A Hug From My Son

99 days till a hug from my son...
99 days till a hug.
And then I'll grab hold
Not stop when I'm told
99 days till a hug from my son.

99 days till I see his sweet face
99 days till I see.
The changes that came
From bearing His name
99 days till I see his sweet face.

99 days till his voice I will hear
99 days till I hear,
The stories of love
Miracles sent from above.
99 days till his voice I will hear.

99 days till his home I will see
99 days till I see
The country he claims
a second home it remains.
99 days till his home I will see.

99 days till his mission is done
99 days till it's done.
A young man he left
Now mature and adept
99 days till his mission is done.

99 days till I embrace my son
and thank my Father above.
For blessings of safety, love and concern
Straight from Heaven with love.

Hey everyone!

                Thanks for the emails. This week has been great as usual, and today i am using a slightly better computer, which helps. We just got back from a zone activity. Today we made pancakes as a zone. I’m running out of ideas for zone activities, as you can tell. =) It was fun though.                

                Elder Richardson and I are still trying to find people to get to church. In all of my areas this is definitely one of the hardest. I think it’s because people have to take the bus to get to church. It’s not all that expensive, but it’s something, and the people here don’t have much. Last Sunday only Meri came to church. She is part of the Flores family. She really wants to get baptized, and it upsets her that her husband doesn’t want to get married. We have a lesson with them tonight about marriage. We going to focus on the fact that a family needs to be sealed in the Temple in order to be eternal.

                With Nyor and Araceli it is a little difficult, because he says he´s too sick to leave the house. I believed him for a while, but this morning I saw him out and about as we were running, so I don’t really know what to do with him.

                Luis is doing pretty well. He had a great lesson with him yesterday, and we challenged him to baptism. He said that he wasn’t quite ready yet, but that he would pray and ask God if he needed to get baptized. We have a lot of members helping us out with him. He is one of our more positive investigators.

                Other than them we need to find some new people to teach. I have been through a lot of investigators here, and with most of them I’m able to set a baptismal date with them, but shortly after they fall away. I know that there are people here that are ready to hear the Gospel, and I know that I will be able to find them. I really like my area, and I am excited to find these people.

                Let’s see, what else is new. We’ve been teaching English classes lately. We don’t have a huge attendance, but we have an investigator, a less active member, and a few active members that are attending. We’re trying to have that be a way to get people to be able to enter the church and see how it is.      

                Esperanza and Jasmin, my converts here, are still active and going to church. They came a half an hour early yesterday. They really like the church.

                I finished reading the Book of Mormon this week. I have a strong testimony that it is true, and I know that the message it contains was written for us. I also am finishing up reading the Pearl of Great Price out loud in Spanish. That’s part of my language study now, reading out loud in Spanish. Right now I started reading the New Testament in Spanish again. One of the cool things about knowing Spanish is being able to read the Bible in that language. It’s a translation from Greek to Spanish, just like the King James version is a translation from Greek to English. The main message is the same, but it’s interesting to note a few translation differences between the two. For example, yesterday I was reading the book of Acts, in chapter 3 I think, where it names Christ as the Prince of Live. In the Spanish version it comes out differently. It gives Him the title of Author of Life, which I thought was pretty interesting, seeing as how the word author shows Christ´s divine role in creating the world and all of its inhabitants. Anyways, I thought that was pretty interesting. It goes to show that the Bible came out inevitably different than what it originally was, due to all of the translations. Being able to speak another language gives me a little more insight on that.               

                Speaking about languages, I think it would be cool to lean another language when I get home. I’m thinking about French or Italian. I really enjoy learning Spanish.

                Well, I suppose it’s question time!

1.       Have you got your birthday package yet? (I will ask this one until you get it) lol

No, not yet! I will probably get it this week though.

2. Are your missionary sessions at the temple in English every time?
lol. No. they are in Spanish every time.

2.       Do you think that you could do the session in Spanish?
yes. I do it frequently.

3.       Did they celebrate Father's Day there yesterday? Or was it like Mother's Day where it was on a different day?
Yes they did. It was on Saturday though. At least I think they celebrated it. I didn’t really notice to be honest.

5. How do they celebrate Father's Day?
I have no idea.

6. So what recipe did you cook with your Oreos, marshmallows and powdered milk? What was the best thing you ate this week?
I made rice crispy treats! This week I bought real milk instead of powdered milk. It’s twice as expensive, but it’s more than twice as good.

The best thing I ate was McDonald's. =)

7. Do you want me to bring anything from the distribution center like Spanish CTR rings?, Proclamation to the Family, The Living Christ, Gospel Art Books, Pictures of Temples or the First Presidency? I did buy 11 CTR rings when I was there yesterday to give to kids when we come. What do you think?

I would say the CTR rings are a good thing to get. Oh, and also consecrated oil key chains. All the priesthood men here want and need those.

8. Isn't your mom just peachy?? Nerent to her!

Do you ride the bus much for transportation in your area?  Or do you mostly walk?

In my area I do a lot of both. The bus is really cheap. It’s only 12 cents, but a lot of times we walk. Out of all my areas I walk the most in this one. It’s good exercise though. I would say we walk about 4 to 7 miles a day.

How is the recovery effort going for the tropical storm and volcano eruption?  What was the final death count?  Was there much damage in your immediate area?

I think it’s almost done.  I haven’t heard too much about it. Here in the area it didn’t effect many people, other than the first few days when we were all trying to get rid of the ash.  I don’t remember the death count, but I don’t think it is very high.

Was there much relief efforts from the Church that you are aware of?

Yes, mostly in providing food to the people who were affected.

Do you elders spend much time doing service projects for people?  What kinds of service do you mostly do?

About once every week or so we do a service project. We usually just help people move dirt around. They do that a lot here. It’s tough work, but I enjoy it.

I know you are pretty fluent in Spanish now.  Do you ever have people try to get you to teach them a little English?

               Yes, and all the little kids, and even some of the adults, love yelling the little bit of English they know at us.

Well, thanks for all the emails and all your love. The mission is great. I love what I am doing.

I hope you guys have a great week!

Love,

Elder Winn

Guatemala City Guatemala LDS (Mormon) Temple - Mormonism

I felt like someone was pushing me....

When Jack was serving in his first area Peten,
he assured me that it was the safest place in the mission.
Being a new missionary mom, I believed him.
I felt a sense of security.
Now a year and a half later he is serving in Zone 18.
He knows that I know the stories about Zone 18.
Of course he says that he is in the "safest part" of Zone 18.
But he doesn't need to keep the truth from me to protect me.
Heavenly Father has been taking care of that job, as you can imagine,
with perfection.
I don't always receive it perfectly but that is how it is sent and
it is enough.
Yesterday when we were sending emails back and forth...
(I just "happened" to be at my computer when he sat down to a computer in the internet cafe)
He was telling me where to try and book a hotel for our Guatemala adventure in September.
He said,

"the temple is closer to our mission

zone 15 is the nicest zone

zone 14 or 9 are good ones too

zone 6 and 18 are not! lol

but i love the people there =)

in peten just make sue it´s in san benito, santa elena, or flores

flores is really nice"
To which I replied,
"hey Buster you told me that Zone 18 was SAFE. lol lol lol
Man am I a seasoned missionary mom veteran not to get stressed out about the zone you are in???
You better be safe though!!!
or else."
And then he shot back....

"lol

it´s safe.. just don't read the Guatemalan news  lol

the temple is in zone 15

it´s nice there

oh btw

i prolly wont be writing again until Tuesday

we have a service project on Monday" (I included that part for the Guat North moms whose sons are in Jack's zone. ;)
To which I replied,
if it's about the 6 severed heads found in public places...too late. your dad filled me in on that one. (I cannot imagine why he told me) But I long ago had to leave all that on the Lord's shoulders so don't worry about me worrying, I try to keep it to a minimum. Do you still feel safe and protected? If not I will try to pray harder. lol Thanks for the heads up on Tuesday.
He then said,

yeah, that's the news.

didn't happen in my area though. so don't worry. i still feel safe

I then typed back,

Just make sure that you keep your head on your shoulders and follow all of the rules and I will try to not worry.
btw you ALWAYS say your area is not the bad area....good try. But thanks for trying to protect me. lol You are a good son!
There should be a whole gang of really muscular angels surrounding you. I pray for those guys EVERY night!
Do you ever see or feel their presences?
And then he sent this short answer that made me cry....it still makes me cry when I type this. But first a little background...
When he was serving in "safe" Peten he and his companion were approached by a man who stopped his car to get out and talk to them. Jack had a bad feeling and they kept walking. The man then exited his car brandishing a machete and yelling. Jack and his companion started running....fast. Now Jack has never been known for his athletic prowess but he said that he ran faster than he had ever run before. Yesterdays email answer explained why,
He said,

in peten when they were trying to kill me i did. lol

i ran faster than i had strength to run. i felt like someone was pushing me.
I know who was pushing him.
It was those angels.
They are not only big and tough they are
FAST
too.
I spent the rest of the afternoon with a thankful heart.

Hey everyone!

                Thanks for all of your emails. Today has been a good day. We played capture the flag, only this time I didn’t run into the wall. Then we went to McDonald's as a zone. Then we did our weekly shopping. I pretty much only bought Oreo, powdered milk and marshmallows, but what could be better than that? =)

                This week has been excellent. We are working with a family that I think will progress. Their names are Nyor and Araceli. They weren’t able to come to church this weekend because they were pretty sick, but they are reading the Book of Mormon, and they have felt the Spirit as we teach.

                We are also working with the Flores family. They all came to church this Sunday. We need to get them married, and the husband doesn’t want to, but we´re still working with them. Keep hem in your prayers.

                We´re also working with Roberto and Damaris. He wants to get baptized, and his divorce papers are coming through, but we can’t get either of them to church! It´s a little frustrating, but we´re trying to find the way to get them to church. I think we need to find a member that can take them.

                Speaking about help from members, congratulations on helping the Torres family get baptized. Help from the members is very important. I bet it felt very good to be there. I'm excited to talk to them when I get back.

                I went on divisions with Elder Smith this week. (not the new one) He is one of the greatest missionaries that I have seen here on the mission. I really enjoyed being with him for that day, and we had a lot of great experiences together. There´s a lot of great missionaries here in the mission. I like being able to go on divisions with the missionaries in the zone. I learn a lot from them.

                Let’s see. Elder Richardson is doing well. He is about done with his mission. I still feel like I have a lot of time left.

                I got a letter from Nancy Castillo today. She´s my convert from Lomas. It was kind of a sad letter. Things are difficult for that family. I feel bad for her, because she wants the Gospel in her family more than anything, yet her husband is still difficult. She told me in her letter to thank you guys though, for sending me out in the mission. That is nice of her. Please keep her in your prayers. She is still active though! That makes me happy.

                                               Question time!

1.       What is your release date?

Sept 28!

2.       Did you hear about the giant sinkhole before I sent you the pictures? Do you hear much local news or are you pretty insulated?

I heard about it because it’s in our mission. I have been in that church in the picture.

3.       What does Elder Richardson like to eat? Do you eat together the same meals?

Well, he likes to eat, that’s for sure. He eats and eats and eats. We cooked together for a week, but he ate all my food! =) this week we´re eating separately.

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

Bisquick pancakes! I found them in the store, and even though the wee expensive I bought them, and they were delicious.

5.       Am I just suppose to decide all of our places to go to when we get to Guatemala or do you want a loose schedule that we can figure things out when we are together?

Make a plan and send it to me!

6.       Do I get to meet the lady who is not nice to you?

Lol. Probably not

7.       Should you warn her that I am coming?

I should. I bet you could take her.

8.       Does she know that your awesome mother is pretty scary when her cub is not treated right.lol lol?

I´ll let her know. =)

9.       What was the best thing or most interesting fact from the week?

The best part was that the Flores  family came to church. That made me happy.

Well, I would have loved to write more, but the keyboard that I am using barely works, and my time has ended. Thanks for everything though. I love you guys and pray for you often. Next week I will write more!

I love my mission, and I know the Church is true.

Love.

Elder Winn

 

Nobody can attack my testimony

(This story is from my blog themomshell.blogspot.com and I added it so that you would understand the answer to question number 7 from Jack. Plus it has nothing to do with volcanoes or tropical storms or people who harass young missionaries, which is a bonus I think, because I've had enough of all those things.)

This is the view from
our hotel on our recent trip to Los Angeles.
Every time I plan a road trip I spend weeks on the internet agonizing over every detail.
One of the biggies is the hotel.
The hotel choice can make or break a vacation.
(well maybe that's a little dramatic but you know what I mean)
I drive myself crazy reading every review and trying to stay within a budget.
Not too cheap but definitely not too ritzy.
L.A. was really a hard one.
The bigger the city...the more options there are.
I asked Baby Davey what his thoughts were since he lived there for about 8 years.
I told him that I was considering a Quality Inn in Hermosa Beach
He said that it was a good choice.
The whole two days drive to get to LA I wondered and fretted over my choice of hotel.
We would be staying there for 5 nights so I wanted it to be decent.
And it was...
decent.
It had a view of the ocean...kinda
And it was roomy and clean.
I was proud of myself.
After we got home my husband received a phone call from our credit card company,
asking him to verify some charges that seemed unusual for us.
He was a very pleasant sounding man most likely based in India.
He starting listing some of the places that we had used the card.
"McDonald's in Fort Stockton Texas"...check.
"Hotel room in Demming New Mexico"....check.
"Welcome center in Willcox Arizona".....check.
"Cheap hotel in Hermosa Beach"......?
HUH?
My husband asked him to repeat the last charge.
"Cheap hotel in Hermosa Beach"?
Mr. T replied,
"Well I don't know about that...It wasn't that bad a hotel..."
"No Sir" the operate replied....cheaphotel.
"The restaurant."
C-H-I-P-O-T-L-E.
"Oh Mr. T. chuckled, Yes we ate there."

Hey everyone!

                So I hope everyone wasnt too worried that I didn’t write yesterday. We had zone conference, so our pday is today. We just got done having a district leader training meeting, and we have some appointments and an English class to teach at 4, so really it won’t be much of a pday, but there’s often too much to do, and not enough time to do it.

                Recently I’ve been thinking about my time here. Usually I don’t feel like I’m going home soon, but yesterday it all kind of hit me. Elder Richardson is making all his preparations to go home, and I guess that made me think that my time is coming soon as well, perhaps a little too soon. I only have 2 changes left, which means I will only have 2 more companions, or maybe even just one. I could see myself ending my mission here in Llano Largo, which would mean that this is my last area. It’s a weird feeling, and I’m not sure that I am ready for it.

                This last week went very well for us. We had 3 investigators come to church, and we’ve been trying to continue finding families. Marylou wants to get baptized but she has little support, if any, from her husband, and they are not married. He doesn’t plan on marriage either. That’s going to be a challenge. We’re going to have to pray and work a lot with him so that he can have a change of heart.

                Remember the grumpy lady? Well, I knew there was a reason that we had to keep visiting her. I had always felt like we needed to visit her, even when she continually offends me. She gave us a reference of an 18 year old kid named Luis that lives in front of her. We talked to him shortly and invited him to church, before even teaching him a lesson. Well, he came to church, and we had a great lesson with him about the Book of Mormon yesterday. I think he has a lot of potential, and I see a future missionary in him. I am glad that I kept visiting her, because there was definitely a purpose.

                We also taught an interesting lesson to this one younger family. It was a man named Marlos, about 18 years old, and his wife, and his mother. We taught them the Restoration, and I felt the Spirit as we testified of the great restored truths. At the end of the lesson I invited them to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. As Marcos was about to say yes his mother began to attack us with all the words and scriptures she knew. It turned out that she wasn’t listening at all, rather just trying to find things to fight about. For a good 20 minutes she frantically attacked us with all that she had. She then told us never to talk about the Book of Mormon again. At first I wanted to fight her about it, but something told me not to. When she finished I just thanked her for her opinions, bore my testimony, and asked Marcos again if he would read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. I think he was a little surprised that we didn’t try to defend ourselves from his mother’s accusations.  He accepted, and this Thursday we have an appointment with him. We’ll have to see how it goes. Nobody can attack my testimony.

                Okay, time is running out, and it’s question time!

2. Since you had some quality time with your new companion I want details...
3 Where is he from?

Oregon.
4 Are you getting along well?

Yes, we are.
5 What is he like?

He’s really quiet, but he’s obedient and he works hard. He really likes writing things down. I haven’t figured that one out yet, but he’s always writing things down.

6.Do you have a 72 hour emergency kit right by your door?
It more like a 24 hour kit. Lol I’m trying to add to it.

7. What is the first fast food place that you will eat at when you get home.

Cheap Hotel! Lol Chipotle!

8. Your mother is ____Nerent to Her!____(fill in the blank and use as much space as needed)

This is an amazing photo of the volcano Pacaya which erupted last week in Guatemala and that I just had to add. Thanks Bonnie for sending it my way.