An email posted a week late...my apologies.

I didn't post last weeks email because I was here.

Beautiful Park City.

This is a picture of Jack's favorite ski resort. 

He will ski these slopes during the next snowfall.

Incredible to think about.

Unbelievable at times.

I also spent time with some very lovely ladies (and their husbands)

We had a Guatemala North Missionary Mom Conference.
The first of it's kind I believe....
And we had a wonderful time.
I stood in back of the group obscured by everyone else in homage to my son who found the back of the pack in every picture the mission presidents wife took.

I finally met face to face my sister friends who have had my back during that last 6 months of this missionary mom experience. Don't they look like fun? Well they are and I love them.
I also had a tooth extracted.....bone grafts.....ate a lot of ice cream.....visited cemeteries.....went to Swiss Days......ate my moms fantastic cooking......visited relatives....talked......laughed  AND
cried.
After all this was a really a working vacation.
I dropped my last chick off at BYU.

Believe me when I say that dropping that beautiful face far away from home is hard work.
So you can see that I had my hands full.
So my apologies for the tardiness of this post.
Without further adieu here it is....

Hey everyone!

            Thanks for all the emails. I love hearing from you guys.

            Something that I missed here in Flores, well, kind of missed, was hearing all the weird European languages gibbering as I write you guys my emails. There’s a lot of tourists here. =)

            This week has been a busy, but very enjoyable week. It is such an interesting experience to be back here in my first area. Most all of the people that I taught recognize me, and its pretty cool that I can actually communicate with them this time. When I was here the first time, my Spanish wasn’t that great. I’ve received a lot of compliments recently about my Spanish. I know I have been greatly blessed by the Lord to be able to learn this language. I hope to be able to keep it going when I get home. I think my memorizing activity that I do every morning will help me. I can feel my memory getting better and better each day. It’s pretty fun.

            Well, a few interesting stories this week. First, after our district meeting we decided to enjoy some amazing burritos here in San Jose. When we got there, we were met by a couple of drunks, which happens sometimes here in this country. We ignored them of course, but they were pretty persistent in trying to bother us, and make fun of our religion. I have gained some great patience here in the mission. Anyways, the point of the story, is that a day later we finally figure out that it was the mayor of San Jose! I thought that was pretty ridiculous. Supposedly he is always drunk. Every once and a while we try and teach him. Alcohol is terrible.

            I also was able to teach one of my old investigators named Polita. She told us of her conversion story, even though she is not baptized yet. It was spiritually uplifting to be able to hear how the Hold Ghost touched her heart, and how she knows that the Gospel is true, even though she receives a fair amount of persecution from her friends. Her husband is a little opposed to her going to church, but we were going to try and work with him. He was a pastor of a church once, but it seems like almost everyone was a pastor of some church here in peten.

            I had a lesson with Clara, one of my converts that pretty much apostatized. It was an interesting lesson. I could tell that she didn’t really want to listen to us, but she did. We shared about the Atonement and repentance. I'm not sure how she received the teaching. It makes me sad to see her like that, because she once had a strong testimony of the Church. Keep her in your prayers.

            This week was a full moon. Here in peten you can see the stars very clearly, and every month there is a full moon, but it is one of the most beautiful things you can see here. The moon gets reddish, and huge, and it comes up like a sunrise over the lake at night. I have a few pictures. It is an amazing sight to see.

            We also had a lesson with a less active returned missionary named Chino. I taught him a few times when I was first here. Usually teaching inactive returned missionaries can be a frustrating task, but I really like this guy, and I want to be able to help him. He was very excited to see me again, and I think we will be able to reactivate him and his wife. Keep him in your prayers too.

            We also were walking down the main road in San Jose, when we were contacted by a man named Hugo. He said that he was visited by missionaries a while ago, and that he was going to be baptized, but at the last moment he didn’t go through with it. He said that he was studying the Book of Mormon recently, and that she feels that it is true. He seemed to know a lot about it as well, because when we got to his house he showed us the prophecy of the coming together of the Bible and the Book of Mormon in Ezequiel 37 16. He said that he found that scripture through his own personal study, and that impressed me. We taught him and his family. It is the Family Ramirez. Keep them in your prayers. He came to church yesterday.

Well, I think it is question time!

1. How are you inactives doing?

Well, one out of nine went to church this week. I guess that’s better than zero out of nine. I’m working on the rest. My first convert finally accepted a lesson, and when we were teaching her she acted like she had always been active. She didn’t go to church though. I am going to have to give these people some tough love I think. We’ll see how it goes this week.

2. Are you going to go to Tikal at all during this month with your zone?
I don’t think so, but we might.

3. Are you still going to want to go to Tikal with us?
Of course. Its one of the great things to see here in Guatemala. =)

4. Does it rain a lot there in Peten?

Right now it is the rainy season, and it is raining every day. The rain makes it even more hot, because it just rains for a short amount of time, then the sun comes out to evaporate all the water. It is very humid here.

5. Is there anything here in Mormon land that I should get for people there in Guatemala besides Oil vial key chains, pictures of the temple, CTR rings, gospel art books.

Not that I can think of. Maybe Temple Recommend holders. Everyone really likes the one I have.

6. Best thing/worst thing you have eaten. (only 4 more times to answer this one.)
Best thing was definitely the burritos that we got on Wednesday. They are almost as good as Cheap Hotel Burritos, but not quite. =) The worst was a type of fruit that someone gave me, telling me it was a cherry. It was not a cherry. It tasted like grass, but a lot worse. I almost threw it up.

7. What is your favorite thing about being back in Peten?

Well, I don’t know if I can pick a favorite, but the fruit is definitely one of the benefits. Each day I go around picking Guavas off the trees here. And limes, and passion fruit, and Guanabana, and a whole lot of other fruits. Like coconuts! Those are some of the tastiest things here.

8. This is not as much a question as it is a concern….I saw a picture of you riding in the back of a truck that looked like it was going really fast. Do you ride a lot in the back of trucks? That doesn’t seem too safe…..I am a little worried so nerent.

That isn’t a question! It is a concern! =)

9. Your mother is pretty great even though she worries sometimes….agreed?

Nerent to her! Lol =)

Are there any new families you are working with this week that you would like us to pray for?

Polita, Marilu, Family Rameriz, Family Ax, and Clara. Lots of people this week. =)

Is there anything you need?
No. I am good here. I only have about a month left! That’s still a long time though. I have a lot to to before that time goes up.

Tell us something new about your companion.
He speaks 3 languages. English, Spanish, and Dutch. He lived is Belgium for 10 years. We get along pretty well.

That was pretty cool that you were able to hike to the top of the mountain to see the sunrise last pday.  What are you doing tomorrow for pday?

      Today i think we are going to the zoo. We were going to walk around the whole lake, but it was raining, and we weren’t able to.

Well, my time is winding up. Oh, next week I have that training conference again, except this time here in Peten. I think it’s a little strange that I am going to go again, since it will be the same as the one I went to last change, but President specifically said that I had to come. I’m pretty excited, but I don’t know when I will be able to write. I think I will be able to email you guys Monday at around 3 or 4. but if you don’t get an email on Monday, or Tuesday, or all of those days, then you know what’s happening. I’m sure I will be able to write on Monday though. I will try my best.

      Well, it has been a great week here in Peten. I love this place and I love these people. I cant think of a better way to end my mission. I love you guys a lot, and I want you to know that I know that this Gospel is true. I know that God love us, and that Christ came to redeem us from our sins on the conditions of repentance. What a beautiful doctrine. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. It has taught me to have  faith, and to trust in God. This is the True Church of Jesus Christ.

Love

Elder Winn