I will give you my testimony....

This week on Tuesday was Elder Winn's birthday.
For some reason it is the toughest day for me...
His being so far away.
Before he left I thought that it would be hard on the big holidays,
Christmas, Thanksgiving, Mother's Day....
Even Halloween my favorite,
since Jack is the only one of my children to have the same passion for pumpkin carving.
But as it has turned out,
it is his birthday.
I think because it is the day that I focus solely on Jack.
And I remember what a privilege and blessing and sacrifice it has been to be his mother.
And I reminisce about the day that it all began.
I put it all in an email....
but it was not as good as being with him.
I spent his birthday flying home from Utah,
where I had had a whirlwind long weekend of family, fun and gorgeous weather.
I knew from the previous July 6th that I might feel a little melancholy so I guess it was fitting
that I was flying home alone.
I usually fly a straight through but since it was a one way ticket I flew Frontier which stopped in Denver.
Denver; beautiful city....bad bad airport.
It seems like everyone has been stuck in Denver at least once in their life.
My four hour flight home became a 12 hour flight home.
Lots of time to think about what a wonderful ride Motherhood is....
And what an interesting experience to mother a missionary.
It has crystallized and made more precious the simple joys of being a mother.
A smile....a laugh.....a inside joke.....a hug and for the last two years..
an email.
I think that Heavenly Father prompted Jack to send me another tender mercy.
The day before his birthday he sent his usual email but also added
a bonus.
This.....

It's my mother's day letter.
He took a picture of it. (Winn's are not known for their prompt mailing abilities)
And even though it was not the mothers day that the world celebrates...
It came just in time.....
the day that I recognize as the day I became Jack's mother and
then
he gave me the greatest gift of all.
His testimony.
What more could a mother ask for.

Happy Birthday Son....I love you more than words can express.

P.S. I got another little gift as well. As I flopped into bed at 3 a.m. after the long day of travel, I had a dream. Jack just showed up with his mission finished and I hugged him. It was a hug that seemed to last and last. And then I woke up. Gotta love those dreams.

Hey Everyone!

                Thanks for all the emails! And for all the birthday wishes. Happy birthday to MEEEEE! Well, it’s not until tomorrow, but we can celebrate today.

                Thanks for the package. I haven't opened the wrapped gifts yet, but i really have been enjoying the multitude of dark chocolate, and the m&ms and the almonds. I opened it in the misión office and everyone was shocked that there could be soo much chocolate in a package. (I sent him 60 dark chocolate bars, enough for one a day until the end of his mission if he ate one from Monday to Friday....even though I know they won't last that long. lol)  I will enjoy it for quite some time.

                Well, today was change day. I thought i was leaving my area and going to Peten, but I am staying here in Llano Largo as a zone leader. I am now the oldest zone leader in the misión. After this change I will have had almost a year being a zone leader. I enjoy the opportunity to serve. And I like being in my area. I feel like I still have work to do here. I still hope to go to peten for my last change, which I think will happen. I am glad though, that I have some more time here. There are some families that I would like to see baptized.

                Elder Richardson finally left. He was pretty ready to leave. I think that last week was pretty hard for him.  He was a good companion though, and I learned a lot from him.

                My new companion is Elder Vasquez from El Salvador. He has 13 months in the mission, and is a pretty cool guy. I don’t know that much about him, but from what I hear he is a really good missionary. I was hoping to have a latino companion so I could work on my Spanish. For the last 6 months I have been with gringo companions. I am excited to be his companion.

                They made our zone a little smaller, which is a good thing. Now there are 21 missionaries in the zone, including 5 sisters. Every companionship had a change, which was another really good thing. Now the zone has a lot of new missionaries, and they usually come really excited to work in their areas.

                We have a pretty interesting investigator names Luis. He is a reference from that one lady who was rude to us. He has been to church 3 times now, and I have invited him a few times to baptism, but he doesn’t accept, yet he has the desire to go to church. Two weeks ago he came to church in a suit, which is something rare here in Guatemala. Last week he came in street clothes. I think he is really confused. His family is Catholic, Evangelical, and Jehovah´s Witness. That’s presented some problems. They all try and get him to go to their churches. When we teach him, he pulls out different doubts and doctrines that come from those religions. It’s been an interesting experience with him. I think he knows out church is true, because that’s the church he chooses to attend. Keep him in your prayers.

                Today in the bus I sat next to an Evangelical pastor. It was a long bus ride and we had a very interesting conversation. He explained to me the doctrines of his church, and I explained and testified of the restoration of the Gospel. Then we began to talk a lot about the organization of the primitive church of Christ. I was able to testify of our modern prophet and the twelve apostles. He wasn’t really convinced, but maybe someday. He was a really nice man though, and I really enjoyed our conversation.

                I really love being a missionary. It has been such a great experience for me to be here in Guatemala, working with these amazing people. I have learned so much and I have received a countless number of blessings. I love my mission.

                So, last week we went to the rich part of town a few times, to go to the mission office for zl council and Elder Richardson’s last interview. I noticed something interesting. As we were walking down the streets I noticed all the people walking with their name brand clothes, their expensive cell phones, their laptops, and their fancy cars, drinking their expensive coffee and eating their expensive muffins, and as I watched them I was filled with a sense of almost contempt. For a moment I looked at them all with disdain, thinking to myself, how is it possible that people can live like that, while other people barely survive off of tortillas and beans. Then I thought that my life in the states was pretty similar. Anyways, there’s nothing wrong with having money, but having lived with the poor for almost two years now has really inspired me to be more generous. I never knew how lucky I was to have grown up in the circumstances that I did. I felt very uncomfortable in the rich section of town, and I was happy to get back to zone 18. My mission has taught me a life lesson. We need to be a more charitable and generous people.

                Well, enough of my rambling. =) Question time!

4. Is your release date really the 30th?? Why the change and do you think it will change again?

Yes, it is. That was a surprise. I hope you guys didn’t buy the tickets yet. The Area Presidency changed it for all missionaries for some unknown reason. But yes, it is the 30^th.

5. Was it hard to see Elder Richardson go home. Did you see his parents? Was that hard?

Not really. It was hard for him. I didn’t see his parents. Remind me to tell you guys the funny story about his parents a breakfast at their hotel.

6. Is it raining a lot there?

Yes. It is raining right now. It’s rain season. It rains every day.

7. What was the best thing you ate all week? The worst?

I went to Wendys for my birthday celebration. We had to leave the mission so we took the opportunity to go.  The worst was tamales! Someone made them for me for my birthday. It was very nice of them though.

8. Where are you going to eat on your birthday? Dad and I are buying!!!

I already ate Wendys! It was tasty!

9. Did you buy your Spanish set of scriptures?

Yes! Thanks! I love them. I am reading them and using them everyday.

10. Isn’t it great that your awesome mother gave birth to you 21 years ago??

Yes, and nerent to her.

Thanks to Megan and Lauren for their emails. I couldn’t respond personally today, because I ran out of time. Thanks to everyone for wishing me a happy birthday. You guys are great.

Thanks for keeping me in your prayers. I love you guys, and I pray for you often.

The Church is true. I know it.

Love,

Elder Winn